Rik had smiled softly at the contact of their hands. His smile faded when she jerked her hand back. His heart twisted in his chest thinking he had hurt her. "Oh..I ..I didn't hurt you did I?" He asked her, pulling his hands away and tugging at his wild golden hair. He felt horrible at the thought of hurting her, of even hurting her slightly. That's when he noticed it, his hands weren't tingling anymore. He was upset at hurting her, but he didn't feel anything, not even the slight tingle he got just before she touched him. He looked at her, his grey eyes wide in shock. "What..what just happened? I..I don't feel the sparks anymore." He said to her, his voice low and deep, confusion and shock written on his face.

Drake's cheeks flushed more when he felt Lily playing with his short hair. He tried to ignore it as he looked across the room at the two still holding one another. "Lilian wants her necklace back." he stated simply, but in a firm voice. Drake gave lily's hand a small squeeze as he tried to remind himself to stay calm.

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Molly looked across the room at the bright orange figure speaking. The Heater. Behind him she saw the slightly smaller pale blue figure. They were both rather bright and made her head start hurting again. She closed her eyes and rested her head on Trent's shoulder while they did whatever it was that they needed to take care of. "At this rate, I am never going to get dinner made." She mumbled into him.

Sarah frowned at his exclamation, "No, I'm completely fine." then looked back at her own hand confusedly, looking back at him as she shook her head, biting her lip a moment before she shook her head, "I don't..... I don't know. I feel different now. Better." she said as she continued to look at him, unconsciously brushing her hair out of her face a moment to reveal her glowing multicolored eyes. The quickly shook her hair back into her face when she realized what she'd done. She began to fear she'd hurt him and eased away from him more, crossing her arms, "You're not hurt, are you?"

Lilly stepped to peer around at Trent, noting that Drake's cheeks had flushed but she didn't feel like taking her hand out of his hair, it was pretty soft, at least to her. "Careful Drake." She said soothingly feeling a small fluctuation in his temperature as he asked for her necklace. She couldn't help but glare at Trent for a moment before turning her attention away.

Trent frowned at the tone Drake had but dug in his pockets for a moment before leading Molly with him as he handed the necklace to his sister, "I'm sorry Lilly. I was young though. I didn't have control over my powers. I just lost it when our parents put me out on the streets." He explained but it didn't seem to get the young woman to like her any more than before. "Supper will be ready in a while.

As soon as the necklace was in Lily's hand, Drake ushered her back into the other room. He didn't want to do something stupid, on purpose or on accident. He sat down in his spot near Diva, leaving room between them for Lily to sit. He looked up to the guy Rich who just seemed to be taking everything in. "So how long have all of you guys been with Grant anyway?" He wanted to take his mind of the anger at Trent and try to cool down.

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Molly kept her eyes closed as Trent took her with him to deliver the necklace. Once they had left she slowly opened her eyes again and looked up at Trent. "Don't worry, She will come around eventually." She offered him a small smile, but she knew it probably wouldn't help much.

Taking his hands, Molly pulled him back towards the counter and stove. after she pulled an arsenal of vegetables and potatoes out of a cabinet, she handed the cutting board to Trent. "You said you wouldn't let me cut them." She tried to distract herself from the throbbing in her temples, but it probably showed on her face anyway.
She filled a pot with water and placed it on the burner after adding in some of the meat Grant and the boys had bought the other day. Grabbing specific herbs from the shelves she had memorized, she added them to the pot and gave it a stir.
After a few moments she stopped and leaned on the counter for support. The pounding in her head was steadily getting worse, why wasn't the tea kicking in?

Rik sighed in relief at the news he didn't hurt her. He rubbed his hands down his face, then looked at her. At that moment she had pushed her hair from her face and he caught a glimpse of her multicolored eyes. The sight of them caught him by surprise and took his breath away. He was entranced by them, he felt himself move closer to her then she covered face again. He shook his head. "No, you didn't hurt me at all. I'm one touch bastard, it'll take a lot more than a little hand touching to take me down." He said, placing his hands on the floor on either side of him.

"I feel different too, like I'm less charged than before. I wonder...I wonder if...no it couldn't." He said, looking up at the ceiling, then back at her.

Lilly followed Drake again but sat close to him when they sat back down, curling beside him as she hoped he didn't mind. She continued to play with his hair after she pout the necklace back on. Richard looked down at him with a small frown before shrugging, "Well, I'm not sure how many years. It's been a long time though." He said apologetically.

Trent took out a knife and started cutting the veggies, "So I did." He agreed, "So what are we making tonight?" He asked as he carefully cut up the vegetables. He set down the knife when she bent over though and looked around for a kitchen towel to wrap over her eyes. He didn't know where her bandages were. "Here, you should probably cover your eyes up for now and then go lay down after dinner."

Her breath caught as she realized he'd come closer and she looked straight at him, panicking slightly when she felt her heart begin to speed up and her breath quicken by his closeness. She'd thought she was too close to be within her arm's reach but now he was closer than she'd normally allow anyone. "You wonder if?" She asked but she thought her mind had already made the leap with him. "That I absorbed your excess?" She nodded, "I don't feel as tired anymore so it makes sense."

Rik smiled at the thought that she could take his excess charge. "That's interesting! So you can pretty much negate my powers like Lily and Drake negates each others!" He said, leaning in closer to her again. He was excited, he wasn't sure why he was, but at this moment he was buzzing with excitement. Before he knew what he was doing, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her. "I never thought I'd meet someone who could do that!" He said, giving her a squeeze before pulling away slightly. "You'll have to tell me more about your visions and such." He rambled on. He didn't even think that this was too much contact for her at the moment or that she may not want to share her visions with him. He had totally forgotten that he had just met the girl. He felt like he had known her for ages, he felt at ease with her. Knowing that he wouldn't hurt her with a slight charge made it easier for him to touch her.

Sarah gasped as she was hugged, her eyes getting large, and the moment she was able she pushed herself out of his arms, "No!" She cried softly, backing away quickly and looking like a frightened animal for a split second as her mouth hung open in shock. She didn't understand the slight thrill her body felt when he hugged her nor her thudding heart. Her face turned a deep red as she backed up a little more for good measure, "N-no." she said again, calmer as she stood and stumbled out of the room quickly. She should have seen it coming but she hadn't and it scared her. It was less scary than the draw, made even stronger now, to Rik she felt.

Drake wrapped an arm around Lily, if she was going to sit so close, he might as well just hold her close so that's what he did. He looked up at Rich and raised an eyebrow at his answer. It wasn't what he was looking for. "Guess you guys really are like a family huh." it wasn't really a question more of an observation.

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Molly pulled the towel away from her eyes and gave Trent a small smile for the kind gesture. She then dug around in the pocket of her shorts and produced her bandages. After wrapping them over her eyes she let out a sigh. She didn't really like wearing them, and she had been getting better with not having to wear them so much, so it was a little disappointing that she had to put them on again.

"I think i will lay down while you guys eat. I don't think I'll be eating tonight." She pulled her bangs out of the bandages and let them hang loose in font of her face. "The only question is where can i sleep that no one will wake me up later..." She added as she stirred the pot. "Drake, lily and Rik still need places to sleep..." She tried to rearrange everyone in her head, but gave up quickly when it just made the pain worse. "I hate migraines." she mumbled .

Rik fell back on his heels as she pushed him away. He was confused and slightly hurt at her reaction. He had thought they were getting along. Before he could ask her what was wrong, she had gotten up and scrambled away from him. He sat back, confusion and hurt working in his face. "Huh...what did I do?" He asked himself. He had gotten so caught up in his excitement, he hadn't thought about her need for personal space. He rested his head against his knees, calling himself an idiot. "You fool..you pushed too far." He whispered to himself. He just sat there for a moment, thinking about her lovely eyes and the way her skin felt against his and how he messed it all up.

Rik closed his eyes, the aroma of food waifing in from the kitchen made his stomach growl. He shook his head at himself, he didn't deserve to eat, not after what he just did. Rik rubbed his face with his hands again, feeling the charge start to come back to him. He looked at his hands, thinking how nice it was not to feel like he was going to fry anyone if he touched them.

Lilly looked at him when she felt the arm around her, looking down at the locket then sighing as she let it fall against her chest, "Well that's what I've been told." she looked up at him before over to Diva. She was growing bored.

Grant heard Molly speaking and answered from the table, "Your room should be fine. Sarah will be sleeping there with you and is always pretty quiet, keeps to herself. I'm going to have Trent and Rich keep sleeping in their room, Diva in hers. Rik, Drake, and Lilly will sleep in my room since it's the biggest. I'll be in living room from now on. Perhaps we'll start expanding the house. We certainly need to make more room and now we have enough people to do exactly that."

Richard had noticed the odd little exchange between Rik and Sarah, the two talking to each other but he glanced away abs when he looked back the man seemed depressed and Sarah was no where to be found. With a curious gaze he plopped down beside the man, "Hey." he said in a friendly manner, "You okay? Where's Sarah? Did she have one of those really bad visions again?" Rarely Sarah would see something in her visions, so terrible or so painful that she'd leave the house without warning and disappear for days. No one had been able to figure out where she went.

Diva was nearly finished when Drake and Lilly came back, so she took her time with looking at the final pieces before putting them into their respective piles. The trading items were put in the box that they used for such a thing while the rest were taken to rest on an end table for everyone to look at and decide whether they thought they wanted it. Diva had taken a rather unusual piece of colored glass, the body blue and about the size of the first joint of her pinkie, yet shimmering various colors when the light hit it. She liked it, and though she really wasn't one for jewelry, thought that it would be a nice pendant. All she'd have to do was find some copper wire to rig a resting place for it and then thread some sort of thread or chain through it. She hoped she'd be able to find a chain, since the thread could snap easier. Whatever the case, she pocketed it.

Turning around, she was shocked to find Rik hugging Sarah. Hugging! Sarah didn't like hugs, she didn't like people touching her to begin with, and she made it clear when she pushed away. However, it wasn't slow, it was more fluid. Diva was confused; were their powers complimenting each other just like Drake and Lilly? Sarah certainly seemed to have more energy than she normally did.

Hm...interesting. Diva thought. So now it was Molly and Trent, Drake and Lilly, and Sarah and Rik. It made Diva feel a little lonely, since there was definitely a gap now that others could not cross, but she pushed it aside. No need to feel that way, she should just be happy for them. Though she might find herself outside of the house more often to try and give them at least some form of privacy.

Lilly watched Diva for a little while before shifting slightly to face her more, she seemed like a friendly person yet lonely, Lilly felt badly for it, "So if you don't mind my asking, how did Grant find you?" she asked, curiously, unsure if it was a rude question. Some of the people here, according to Trent, didn't like telling how they came to live here but she'd gotten the sense it was mostly Sarah. She'd gotten the over all feeling that Sarah didn't like to share anything at all.

As the smell of food began to waft through t he house, Drakes stomach made it known that it still wanted food. He clamped a hand over his stomach as his cheeks turned red. "I don't know who's cooking but it smells great." He glanced down at Lily and noticed her bored expression. But then she asked a question, it was a good one since they seemed to have to get themselves in trouble before Grant would notice them.

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Molly took the chopped up food that Trent had and added it to the pot. She stood and stirred it for a few moments before another sigh escaped her. She looked over at where Grant was sitting. "Dinner's ready." she said softly as she put a hand on her temples. Then she reached out for Trent, whom she knew was still right next to her. After wrapping her arms around him she rested her head on his chest for just a moment. "I'm going to go lay down for a bit." but she didn't really move to go to her room. Her head was pounding and making her dizzy so she stayed put until she regained her sense of balance.

Diva was a little shocked at the question, but it only showed by the slight widening of her eyes. However, she was soon over it and gave a shrug, "Oh, I don't mind."

Folding her hands, she closed her eyes for a moment, taking a breath before continuing, "Well, he found me after I had been living by myself for a real long time...I don't even really know how long I was by myself. I'm not from here, originally, I come from a city really far up north. But after what happened, I just moved from place to place, avoiding Infected and trying to survive by the little work I could find. I was in the wastelands when suddenly this Infected person came out of nowhere. I was completely terrified, but I couldn't get away no matter how many times I slipped in and out of shadows, so that only left me having to fight. Apparently that Infected was being followed by Grant and the others, so they came across me fighting it, and after it was all over, Grant invited me back. And the rest is history."

She gave a grin, "I was definitely happy to be allowed to live here, that's for sure. Before you three came, I was the newbie."

Diva chuckled when Drake's stomach growled, "That would be Molly; she's our 'wife'...don't tell her I said it, she hates when I joke with her on that. That, and 'mother'."

Rik looked up and saw that Richard had come and sat by him. He ran a hand through his hair before answering him. "I think I overstepped my boundaries with her. I got a little too excited and hugged her. I think it freaked her out and now I think she's mad at me." He said, resting his arms across his legs. He glanced back at where she had run off too, sighing again. Rik felt bad, he knew it had to been his fault and now he won't try to touch her, no matter how much he wanted to.

"I'll keep my distance from her now, I guess." He said, giving the younger man a gentle smile. "She gets real bad visions sometimes?" He asked Rich, a frown working his gentle face. "Like how bad?" He asked.

Lilly was surprised by how Diva had been found but she smiled at her comment about being the newbie, "Well now we're the newbies." She wondered if Diva was glad she wasn't the newest member of the group anymore but she could understand it if she was glad about it. It's not easy being new in any kind of situation. At Drake's comment she smiled, "Do you think Molly would mind if we went into the kitchen?"

Trent watched Molly as she cooked but when she announced it was ready he nodded, glancing back at Grant who shrugged but made no move to get up. The young man grabbed a bowl, setting the other bowls down on the counter and filled his grabbing a fork and a spoon. Then he wrapped one arm around her and waited, holding the hot bowl in his other hand, "I'll come eat with you."

Richard's eyes grew wide as he heard what Grant had done but then he waved his hand dismissively, "Nah, Rik. She'll probably come around. I can go check on her, see if she's okay for you if you want. Well... Get Diva to do it. She seems to tolerate Diva the most. " At his question the boy blinked, "Um.... Well sometimes they're bad enough she'll start crying. One was bad enough one time she started screaming and disappeared for about a week. Usually it's only a couple days when she has bad visions."

Drake scratched his head. "Do you guys really think its all that smart to let a blind chick make your food?" He cocked an eyebrow unsure of the thought. But as his stomach kept complaining He got to his feet and waited for Lily to join him. "Well either way, i'm going to eat it... but the thought still doesn't sit all that well with me. I mean does she even know what she puts in it? or when its done?"

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Molly's head hurt to much for her to even let her cheeks get red when Trent wrapped an arm around her. "OKay." She said softly as she began leading him back to her room. She paused a moment as they passed the living room. With the bandages over her eyes, she couldn't see their color, but she could still hear them. She looked to where someone was getting to their feet. The voice told her it was Drake. "Trust me, you'd want me cooking too if you ever had to taste Grant's food." Then she proceeded to walk down the hall to her room.

After opening her door, Molly led Trent over to her small mattress in the corner. She sat down and waited for him to sit next to her. She wanted to use his lap as a pillow, if he'd let her.

Rik nodded to the kid. "Yeah...I'll ask her if she would. I don't want to be a bother though." He said. He stood, patting Richard on the shoulder. "Thanks. That helped." He said. He didn't like the idea of Sarah taking off after a bad vision. He wanted her to to lean on him when she had a bad vision. He walked over to Diva, smiling at her and the other two. "Hey, Diva. I got a favor to ask you." He said, sitting down on the couch. He pulled out his own napsack, pulling out a bandanna and a pair of sunglasses. He held them out to her, a smile on his face. "These are for you. I got them in town after you showed me the way. They're to replace the ones you lost in the fight with the infected." He said.

"Yes, but for how long?" Diva joked back, "I was it for years...we'll have to see how long you hold the coveted title. Now I can't blame my mistakes on being the 'new girl'. Drat!"

She snapped her fingers in mock displeasure. Listening to Drake talk about Molly's cooking made Diva laugh, her having to cover her mouth with her hands when Molly came out and talked about Grant's cooking.

"We, or at least I, never thought it odd, Drake." Diva said, "I have to agree with her on that, though...Grant's cooking could stop a hundred Infected in their tracks. When Molly can't cook. we either eat the vegetables raw or Trent, Rich, and I take over. I've tasted Grant's cooking once, and although I love him to death, I am never eating it again. And you should give Molly more credit, Drake. She may be blind, but her other senses make up for it, along with the experiences she's picked up over the years."

The talk of food made her stomach grumble lightly, and the smells coming from the kitchen only adding to her hunger. Getting up from the couch, she was about to go to the kitchen to grab one of the bowels when Rik stopped her, and she sat back down on the couch. She tilted her head slightly in question when he said he needed a favor of her, wondering what it was. When he showed her the sunglasses and bandanna, there was evident delight in her smile.

"Wow, you didn't..." She started, looking at the two items and then back at Rik, clearly grateful, "Thank you. I'll take good care of them."

Slowly taking the sunglasses and bandanna from him, she laid them in her lap before continuing, "So what can I help you with?"

Lilly frowned at Drake's question about the food before shaking her head, "I'm not sure it would really matter if it's not cooked all the way. Once she has it prepared finishing it is easy. I know I'm not going to complain about being fed warm food that's not half rotten." She chastised him lightly as she got to her feet and laced fingers with him to go in the kitchen.

Trent was silent as they passed through the living room and still quiet as he entered her room with her, standing aside a moment as a small blur streaked out of the room after him and passed quickly into Diva's room. "I wonder what's wrong with her." With a small frown he sat down beside Molly and placed the spoon in her hand, "I have enough for us both if you start feeling like you could eat."

Rik smiled at her as she took the items from him. "Well, I was wondering if you could check on Sarah for me. I think I may have scared her, I don't want her to be scared." He said, rubbing his head, making his hair stand up again. "Anyways, the sunglasses and bandanna are a little thank you gift for earlier." He added. He rubbed his palms on his pant legs, still able to feel Sarah's skin on his hand. Rik liked Diva a lot, she was a cool person and a real good friend. He could tell that just from meeting her, he hoped that she'd looked out for Sarah for him.

Rik hoped that Sarah will warm up to him again, but wouldn't blame her if she didn't. The thought made him sad, his chest felt tight and his head ached. He focused on Diva and her kind face, trying to push those strange thoughts from his head.

"I didn't mean to be offensive, I was just curious..." Drake said quietly. He was always terrible with words, they always came out wrong. But a small smile came to his face when lily laced her fingers with his. He led them into the kitchen where he found the bowl's after handing one to lily he took one himself. Once he had his food and Lily had her's he went to the table to sit. When he saw that Grant didn't have anything he raised an eyebrow. "Are you not eating?" He asked curiously before he took a bite.

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Molly took the spoon but shook her head with a small frown. "If i eat it, it wont stay down very long. Maybe later." She scooted over a little bit and then laid down, resting her head against his leg. Normally when migraines came, she would disappear alone for a while, but it was nice to have him there for once. She curled up next to him and tried to relax and let her head rest.

She wondered if she would ever get to the point that she wouldn't need the bandages. The migraines were a nuisance and Molly hoped that maybe one day she wouldn't get them anymore.

"Well...I will say I was shocked when I saw you hugging her." Diva admitted, "Sarah isn't much for physical contact, but I did also notice that her movements were around our pace instead of slow like normal."

Looking at Rik's face, she gave a light laugh, "Don't worry, Rik, I'm sure she's not scared of you. You have to be one of the few people, if any, who have had a long conversation like that with her. Add the hugging into the mix and she's probably just overwhelmed by all the new things that have happened."

Observing him for a moment more, she gave a gentle smile, "Wow, you really like her, don't you? Well...just take it slow. You've already passed the great hurdle of getting her to speak."

Giving his shoulder a gentle pat, she rose from the couch, keeping the sunglasses and bandanna safely in her hands, "I'll go check on her now. Why don't you grab some food? Molly's cooking is really good."

Walking to her room, she gave it a quiet knock to alert Sarah that she was coming in. Putting the sunglasses and bandanna on her dresser, she looked for the other woman and finally found her, sitting down near her, "Hey Sarah, just checking to see how you are. Actually, Rik wanted me to see how you are. He's afraid he scared you."

"I'm sure you didn't." Lilly answered to him, taking the bowl and following him to the table. While they ate she had a realization and her face turned crimson as she looked at Drake then turned quickly back to the bowl. At the realization her hand had reflexively tightened on his but she tried to pretend it hadn't happened and took interest when Grant answered Drake,
Certainly I'm going to eat. Once everyone, or everyone who's eating with us tonight, joins us."

Trent rubbed her scalp when she laid her head in his lap and nodded, "Sure. That's why I said when you feel like it. I just wanted you to know where your spoon was." He said easily, taking a bite of the soup. His stomach rumbled happily at being fed finally and he promptly began to dig in.

Sarah looked up when she was spoken to, nodding to let her know she'd heard and she opened her mouth as if to speak before stopping to think then looking back up at her, "He hugged me." She knew she was repeating what Diva already knew but the words had a different meaning. The underlying meaning in the words were that she was confused and didn't know what she should do. That she was confused.