Eva wasn't sure whether she should laugh or cry so she settled for both, curling onto her bed in tearful whoops of mirth. When the phone rang again, she could barely catch her breath to answer. "H-hell-lo," she said, clutching at her chest to regain the ability to breath. "Are you all better then?" She couldn't not tease, it had been just so silly of him.

He blushed maddly even though she couldn't see him. "y-yeah...s-sorry. i didn't realize the window was open..." Akane laughed hysterically at this.

"should have changed when i started hitting on you..."

Eva stopped her laughing now, still wiping the tears from her eyes. "Don't apologize," she said, "you're not as ugly as neon green." She used a teasing voice on him again. "You've got better muscle definition than I thought... I'll stick with that." She would never be able to tell him that what she'd seen had stirred her up on the insides. "You related to David in any way?"

At this he laughed outright. "not that i know of. but thanks. i appriciate it. anyway, i'm going to run to the hardware store and i'll be right over okay?"

A relaxed grin covered her face. "Okay... ermm.... tell Akane to shut up, by the way... I think I hear him buzzing over there. Either that or there's something wrong with one of these phones. If he doesn't shut up I'll personally beat him upside the head." She tossed her towel to the floor and grabbed clothes out of her dresser. "Okay?"

This shut him up immeadiately. "that's really interesting Eva. how did you know it was him?" he seemed horribly confused by this.

"Why would Mal follow you home?" she asked, "Akane gets more amusement from torturing you... and the buzzing is a bit different... less like a microwave and more like a tv.... if you understand what I mean at all..." she giggled nervously. She heard electronics... Most people didn't.

He shrugged. "huh. i've never heard of that before but i'm fascinated. well i'll be over shortly." and he hung up. "come on Akane, lets go."

Eva smiled and hung up the phone, dropping it on her bed. Now, she had her panties (her favorite pair that she'd bought, with a yellow band and wings on the front and back) and bra(matching the panties) on and she was ready to find a new outfit for the day. Something about the white jeans hanging there caught her eye and she tossed them on the bed. Then there was the patterned shirt with the wrap around waist, but that was far too easy to pull off. If she was hanging out with Andrew, she wanted something she trusted herself more in... and that didn't seem so obviously slutty. Since it was a warm day, she chose a white tank top under a sleeveless tie-in-the-front sweater that was made of a light and breezy material. The autumn color was one of her favorites and accented the highlights in her hair. Leaving behind shoes for the moment she walked down the stairs. The house was so lonely when there was nobody there with her. Then she remembered. "Colin!!!" she called.

The little boy came scampering out, large blue eyes looking up at her in half worry. "Y-yes?" he was a very shy child but he didn't get any bad feelings from her.


Andrew pulled on his black shades and got in his car. First he went to the hardware store, then to the grocery store. it was time for a coloring. he figured he'd do that later that night after he was all sweaty from working.

Eva smiled at him. "There you are," she said, "I don't want to bore you or anything, but this house is so terribly lonely. Do you mind spending time with me? I can play with you if you like."

He smiled brightly at this and nodded. "i wanna show you my boxes! i found you in them!!" he seemed so excited about this.

Andrew looked through paint samples. he wasn't sure wha color to paint it so he grabbed several samples and headed off to the grocery store.

Eva smiled. "Show me," she agreed. She was curious about these boxes. What exactly were they?

He scampered back into the room and out again with the boxes. they were odd cubes of light that almost looked like crystals. "this is the one with you in it. see look, it plays movies in color!"

he pressed his fingers on the sides and the top opened to reveal a small screene. "See! see!" he pressed his finger on the screene and it began to play. a good three and a half centuries worth of Malichai's favorite memories. most of them were of his previous keeps. but Eva had a special section in it.

Eva stared. She'd never seen anything like these cubes before. She reached out, but didn't touch the box, the lights within it playing over her surprised and awed face. Too bad Mal didn't seem to have a reflection or else she could have seen his face again. She was surprised. His former keeps were all girls as well... except for a single boy who seemed to end up in the arms of a male lover. She didn't realize that her mouth was more and more beginning to resemble an 'O'.

The boy was happy. "every time i watch there's new ones. there doesn't seem to be an end at all to them. and there's all different time periods and stuff. it's really neat!"

"It's... amazing," Eva said, "Why are there so many with me that are popping out from the rest though? Maybe it's because I'm the most recent?" She tilted her head to the side, recognizing a moment where she was laughing with a boy from first grade when she was about to win a spelling bee. The only contest she'd ever won.

He shrugged. "i think it's in order of how special they are. Malichai said they were his favorite memories. maybe he just like you most."

Eva smiled. "I doubt it," she said, "I tend to be a pain in the behind..." She wondered if Andrew's angel had had something like this box. She looked at Colin. "Can I ask you a question?' she asked.

He closed the box and looked up as he put it in his pocket, the box shrinking to a perfect size. "sure. what do you want to ask?" he smiled brightly at her.

"I know I've seen him before," she said, sitting on the floor in front of him and leaning on her knees, "but I can't remember exactly what he looks like. Could you tell me? Just so that I can remember again?"

He nodded his head yes. "He has really long wild curly blond hair that seems like it's everywhere. and he's really tall. and he likes to wear a lot of white and he has really big blue eyes kinda like mine but they sparkle. that's how i knew he was an angel when he found me. because his eyes were so pretty."

Eva smiled. "He sounds beautiful," she said, "and it seems like I'm lucky to still have him." She leaned her head on her knees, staring at Colin without knowing what to say next. "Thank you."

He tilted his head a bit, still smiling. "What for? do you like the boxes? aren't the neat? i'm so glad he gave them to me."

Eva smiled back. "They're very neat," she said, unable to answer his first question. Then she thought about the day before. "Do you not like Andrew? You don't seem to mind me too terribly."