Verona smiled, and began stroking Ezekiel's cheek again, and then moving her hand up to play with his hair.
"Aw, so what if you're a man."

After he spoke his words of what seemed to be poetry, Verona fell silent, and listened to him.
She tried her best to match him with something brilliant, but she wasn't a very creative in that sort of thing.
So instead of trying to be witty and ending up saying something dumb, she only smiled, continuing to twist his hair in her fingers.

Ezekiel was growing tired while he laid there with her. His eyes were shut and he seemed to be humming a soft lullaby. He couldn't remember where he'd heard it but it wasn't from his mother.

He paused in the lullaby when he realized where he'd heard it. It was his cousin that used to hum it to him when he was younger. That was before the war and before the nightmares he sometimes had.

"Sometimes," he began again. "I dream about my future. I'm always alone."

He had opened his eyes again and the coming darkness was making it hard to see the details of her face. He knew she'd be in his future, she had to be.

Verona had cringed when he had said the word alone.

Honestly, Verona hadn't thought much of her future, of Ezekiel's future.
Somehow, it was like she only wanted to live in the present, keep moments like this lasting forever.
The truth was, she always saw the future as being with Ezekiel now, never alone.
"Do you want to be alone," she asked him quietly.

She had certainly hoped this was not the case, although she was almost positive that it wasn't.
Well, she prayed that it wasn't..

He sensed this wasn't a very good topic of conversation. It tended to bring unpleasant thoughts to one's mind.

"No," he answered after a moment. "I've been alon ealmost my entire life and it's dreadful."

He wouldn't go into why it was so horrible. The worst part was waking up knowing that there would be no one to help you through a torturous day and face the dangers of changing in public.

It had happened already. He'd changed in public, and he hadn't been alone.

Verona decided not to press the subject anymore; he didn't want to talk.
Also, she ceased with his hair and curled up beside him, her arms now occupied with keeping wrapped around his chest.
She was settling in for the night, crawling under the blanket, and pulling Ezekiel under with her.
"We should sleep, maybe.. You are a man though, so should I sleep on the other side of the bed?"

Of course, she was only teasing, or was she?
Verona would leave that up to Ezekiel to decide, and she knew his answer would be 'no'.

Ezekiel was glad when the subject was over.
When she moved towards him felt comforted by her warmth. It was nice to know that he wouldn't have to wake up and get panicked about whether or not he would ever see her again.

"You're fine there," Ezekiel said in a barely audible whisper.

He sounded tired and he went back to humming the lullaby softly. His eyes were closed as he was laying there and he seemed to drift off to sleep.

((time skip may be required... say the next morning?))

(sounds good.)

As the bright and burning sun filtered through the white, thin curtains, Verona began stir slightly.
She awoke to see herself still holding onto Ezekiel, who was as still as he was the night before.
He was perfect.

Slowly, Verona moved away from him, and sat up still under the sheets.
She pulled her arms above her head, yawning and stretching, and then finally pulling the sheets back a little bit.

She didn't want to wake Ezekiel, but at this point it seemed unavoidable as she tried to move about.

Ezekiel didn't stir when she moved. He tended to sleep pretty hard and he had needed it that night. He mumbled something about eating breakfast before rolling onto his stomach and pulling the sheets over his head.

If he was awake he wouldn't have gotten up but since he wasn't there was no problem with the not getting up issue.

A few moments later Helen knocked on the door. She was going to prepare them breakfast and when Verona answered it she smiled.

"I was wondering if you two would prefer to eat breakfast up here or downstairs," Helen asked.

Verona smiled at Helen's offer,"I think I will come downstairs, Ezekiel must be really tired.."

Stepping from the room, Verona followed Helen into the kitchen downstairs.
Whatever she had made smelled amazing as she spotted Sebastian, who could only stare at her lower body, no guess as to why.

"Would you please," Verona said while walking past him.

It was no wonder why he was doing so, Verona could have easily passed for a hooker of some sort, especially with the blond hair.
Although, she was a natural blond, no one would have known.

"What did you make Helen," she asked politely.

Ezekiel had stirred slightly after they'd left and was roused from his sleep after he managed to roll off the bed and fall onto the floor.

He looked around after he'd fallen and upon not seeing Verona he panicked. If she wasn't here that must mean that it had all just been a dream.

His side ached from the fall and he groaned slightly. It was at this point that he noticed her dress on his bags.

"I have made eggs," Helen said. "There's also some bacon and bread. I don't have that fancy thing called a toaster."

Helen had laughed slightly after she spoke but stopped when she heard something. Apparently Ezekiel had fallen off the bed.

"He'll be a bit cranky this morning," Helen said.

"Should I go and get him," Verona asked with a bit of concern.
She didn't want Ezekiel to be cranky, especially if she was here.

Walking over to Helen, she took a plate of food, and sat at a small wooden table.
The food smelled delicious at least.

Verona began by eating some of the bacon first, and then began to just eat whatever she could grab.
Really, she hadn't had much to eat within the past two days, she just hadn't been happy enough to be hungry.

Helen had responded with the usual no since there was really no way to prevent someone from being crabby after they'd fallen off a bed. She was correct though when he came down the stairs looking a bit upset about something.

When he saw Verona though he brightened up a bit and walked over to her. He wrapped his arms around her despite the fact that she was trying to eat.

"Smells good Helen," he said. "Do you have enough for me?"

It was more of joke than anything else since he usually ate a lot. It was a habit he'd picked up due to the fact changing into another form usually drained him of a lot of his energy.

With a mouthful of eggs, Verona giggled as Ezekiel greeted her, "Morning." She chimed as she finished chewing.
She scarfed down the rest of her food quickly, finishing off her eggs and bread. Even though the bread wasn't toasted, it was bread, and it went well with the rest of the food.
"How did you sleep," she asked Ezekiel.

Only seconds later, Helen arrived with a large plateful of the same thing she had given Verona, only there was a bit more of it.
Verona smiled at the size as Helen set it down him.

Maybe things would be fun today, a bit boring maybe, and that would even be fine.
Verona just didn't want to end up back in the city just yet, especially if she had to face Eric.

"Decently," Ezekiel answered before finding his own seat.

He didn't tell her about the nightmare he had since he didn't want her to worry.

He dug into his food after that, enjoying it for once, and looked quite pleased. He ate just as fast as Verona did though he seemed to pause occasionally just to glance at her.

"Eat just as fast as mean," Sebastian joked.

((kinda short, sorry))

Smiling, Verona got from her chair, and took Helen her plate.
"I can wash it if you'd like," she offered as she stepped in front of Helen.

Verona had always enjoyed helping around her own home, but since her parents always seemed to be home, it made it hard for her.
You see, Verona's father and mother were both anti-work, and Verona liked to help the maids with their chores.
But her father watched her and such, not only around the house, but with everywhere she went.

"I don't mind helping out if you need an extra hand," she said cheerily.
"I personally enjoy helping, so if you ever need anything, just ask."

Helen smiled slightly and seemed pleased by the offer. She glanced at Sebastian who was grinning at the moment as he watched Ezekiel devour his food.

"I would love that," Helen said. "Sebastian here, never lifts a finger to help except in the garden out back."

Sebastian only scowled slightly though he was glad that Ezekiel was here because he might actually get a little help in the garden.

It was today that Helen was supposed to go into the city but she'd decided that it would be best if she didn't. Maybe the next day would be better so she could get everything settled here.

"That's what I thought," Verona said with a smile.
Washing up her plate quickly, Verona hummed a familiar tune, and then walked back over to Ezekiel who had just finished.
And judging by how fast he had consumed the food, Verona was sure he had enjoyed it.

She took his plate, and washed it the same way she had done her own, in her skimpy and makeshift gown.
As she finished up, she walked back over to Ezekiel, and plopped down in his lap.
"Are you full now," she asked him teasingly.

Of course he was full, he had just consumed almost double what she had.

"The food was good wasn't it?"

When Ezekiel had his plate taken away he took a glass that was filled with water and drank some. It was good, as he'd expected.

He hadn't expected Verona come over to him and just sit on him right in front of the other two. He looked slightly surprised and had difficulty answering her question at first.

"It was delicious," he said with a grin. "Now I think we need to get you a pair of pants so that you can go outside if you please. I might help Sebastian a bit with the garden today."

Helen smiled slightly at this response and Sebastian seemed pleased with the offer.

Nodding, Verona slid off of him and waited.
"Am I supposed to wear your big man pants, or am I supposed to put my dress back on?"

Crossing her arms, Verona smiled, hoping that that certainly would not be the case.
It was bad enough Ezekiel's shirt was huge on her, but his pants would be massive, and would swallow her whole.

"I don't think I will be able to wear your pants, o maybe I will have to get some clothes from somewhere that are my size."

Pulling down on the shirt a bit, she attempted to keep it a bit lower than it had been.

"Don't worry dear," Helen said with a smile. "I've already prepared some clothes for you. Just follow me and you'll be able to try them on."

Ezekiel looked slightly shocked and glanced at Sebastian who merely shrugged. Apparently there was something about Helen that he did not know and it was beginning to bother him.

"So when do we start work on the garden," Ezekiel asked.

"Whenever really," Sebastian responded. "Just not too late in the day because it starts to get hot at that point but we can always take a dip in the stream that's only about a mile away."

Verona followed Helen into a small room, that looked to be a closet of some sort.
"Thank you," she said as Helen handed her some pants and a shirt.
The pants were light beige, and the looked kind of like some sort of bloomers, that women used to wear under dresses. They came just below her knees, and ruffled at the ends where the closed tightly.
The shirt was white and a bit baggy, but it fit enough to show off her figure.

After Helen left, Verona dressed quickly, and then examined herself in a small mirror.
Never in her life had she worn pants before, so of course it looked quite odd as she walked back into the kitchen area, with bloomers, a white top, and her hair pulled up.

When Verona had come downstairs Sebastian and Ezekiel had just been getting ready to go out the garden. Helen had stopped them though since she wanted Ezekiel to see Verona.

"You look nice in that," Ezekiel said with a smile. "I think you could pull of dirty rags if you wanted to."

The last part was more of a joke but he smiled at her. Sebastian seemed impatient to get outside so he half-dragged him out the garden.

"Why thank you," Verona said with a bit of a laugh as she followed the two outside.

It was already quite warm, but it wasn't too bad.
It was fine for working in the garden, and in a bit when they were done Verona would be sure to help Helen.

Linking her arm into Ezekiel's, she walked with the two down towards the garden, the dust below them decorating the air.

When they got to the garden, it was small, and very green. It looked unusual to in such a deserted looking place, but it was a nice garden nonetheless.

"Wow," she said with surprise. "I never would have expected there to be something so green out here.."

Sebastian had followed them out and upon hearing Verona's comment blushed slightly. He'd done almost all the work, and that included hauling a lot of water here to water the garden.

"So what do we need to do?" Ezekiel asked, barely noticing the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt.

Sebastian picked up a few tools and began to show Ezekiel where all the work was need. There were weeds to be pulled, vegetables to be picked, and the watering was also needed.

"I'll get the water today," Sebastian said. "You start on this."

As Sebastian left, Verona bent down, and sat in the dirt, beginning to pull up the weeds.
It was indeed a nice garden, and most everything looked fresh, healthy and big.
It seemed as though a lot of work had been put into the small garden.

"Come and help me Ezekiel," she said looking up at him.

Behind his head, the sun shown brightly, blinding, and warm. His face was shadowed over, and you could barely make out his handsome features.
The features she loved.

Verona smiled softly at him, "Come on, I am not going to do all the work by myself."