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The second one. Definitely the second picture.

He pressed save, and held the phone out for her to show him more, but the moment she leaned into him, his mind blanked out. It was important information, and he wasn't getting any of it..

"Uh huh." But at least he made it seem like he was. Unless she looked up at him, then his cover would be blown. He'd finally given in and just started studying her hair for a while. They were thin strands, but so many, curled in a thick bundle that he wanted to squeeze just to see what it felt like. "All right." Strands fell away from the curve of her ear, dropping against her dark cheek. Her skin had its own unique color, and he couldn't place it. He'd never known anyone with that color skin, before. "Mhmm." And her neck was thin, graceful, but hidden beneath her hair and the way she hunched shyly. A shame, really. "That's fascinating. Tell me more."

Whoops.

Bastion pulled back just enough to ease the tension, and looked at his phone very ardently, trying to focus on it. "Sorry. Sorry. I didn't mean to - sorry." He chuckled nervously under his breath, and tried to remember what she'd been telling him when he lost track of everything. "Message.. you. Here." He pushed the button, and her phone received the following message.



Then he closed the phone and put it away, sliding it into his vest.

"You wish to do more things with me?" Now he was, perhaps, teasing just a little bit. "You would honor me with your time? I'm touched." He reached out and tugged the tip of one of her ponytails, curling it around his finger. "I have no preferences, as I've never actually been gifted such sweet treasure. Can I just say, anything?" His finger continued twirling, until finally, he gave in to his deepest desire.. and squished the meat of one of her pigtails.

"I'll be happy doing anything. Does this bother you? Your hair interests me quite a lot, but if this is inappropriate, I'll stop."

Bastion fell back, lounging on the back of the couch. His hand fell away from the bulk of her hair, but his finger remained intertwined in the curl at the end of the pigtail. "You know I want to. Sophie, you know I do." He'd made his position very clear. "But I'm equally hopeless. Together, we are twice as hopeless. Is that a bad thing? I wonder."

He smiled lazily, his eyes lidding in a strange and comforting lull of haziness. "I will watch a movie with you. I will sit here and stare at a wall with you, if that is what you truly wished. I'm quite happy where I am. In fact.." His eyes closed completely. "I offer you fair warning, it might be difficult to make me leave."

That was a lie, but it felt nice to say. He would have left the moment she looked unhappy, but this particular couch, in this particular room, with this particular young ghoul, felt very cozy and comfortable at the moment.

If he were to actually have an opinion, a horror movie did sound best. They tailored to his interests. He did not, however, realize that she was going to pull the curtains closed. When they were left in darkness, he felt a new anxiety bubble up in his gut. The natural element of intimacy that darkness brought was layered by the glow of his eyes, wavering gold in the darkness, that he knew would be too obvious. Closing them was pointless - he had to be able to watch the movie. So he simply lowered his eyes, and turned them away, as if ashamed to look in her direction.

The insanity did not shame him, normally. But in a moment of weakness, he wondered if he'd made a mistake not mentioning it before this moment. Before he'd gotten attached.

Denying that was a little futile, now.

His eyes flickered up to watch the movie, but Bastion made no move to get closer. He sat, reclined on the couch, and watched the movie with a forlorn sense of foreboding that had nothing to do with the movie; until she jumped.

Bastion had hardly blinked. Was it because his mind was on darker things? It didn't matter; as soon as he realized the movie was scaring her, he sat up and gently pulled the pillow away from her hold. She had a tight grip, it wasn't easy.. but he adjusted her arm around him, instead. His own arm rested firm around her waist, letting her lean against him.

"I'll protect you." He promised. No cushion would ever do his job.

A lesser man might have let the feel of a ghoul pressing against his chest in a dark room give him terrible thoughts. Bastion had promised himself otherwise, however, and when Sophie took him as her protector, just as he'd offered, he wrapped his arms around her and patted her back affectionately. "Don't apologize. I just said I would protect you. That is what we do. I've given you my pledge, and now, if the movie scares you, you're free to use me as you'd use your pillow, for comfort. I won't complain."

Noni would have found the moments of fright laughable. Bastion might have been interested in them, but from the moment a movie had been mentioned he'd already acquiesced to the fact that he would hardly pay attention to it. It felt good to be useful. To bring the ghoul comfort. He was happy to do it.

In the back of his mind, he wondered if this was what Soren enjoyed from being Noni's protector.

Then he remembered what his Noni had said about not needing any.. no, Soren enjoyed something completely different from being his cousin's appointed guardian. Something that finally did make Bastion flush hot for even thinking about it.

He was never going to look at the stallion in the eye again.

"Just, ah, relax. Nothing will harm you as long as I've got you." He was not that type of guardian. He never would be. And slowly, he shoved those thoughts out of his head, because there could be no more inappropriate place to think them than here.

Bastion knew he wasn't going to pay attention to the movie, but when she did the same, it was far more difficult for him to keep his eyes on her. He should have turned them away, or perhaps even closed them to keep the infection hidden beneath his lids, but instead he just watched her. He watched carefully as her eyes took in his features. He guessed where they were looking, with each movement. And his brow furrowed in despair. Was she looking at the streaks of grey across his face? He had a very sudden, very desperate urge to leave.

That urge died in the pit of his stomach, forced down by a sudden feeling of vertigo. One eyebrow arched high, disbelief playing softly on his features. "And you really are going to have to get out more often, if you think I am handsome. Shall I take you out everywhere, my rose? Show you off to the world, so they can steal you away from me? Perhaps. It would be a shame to lock away such beauty."

He pressed his thumb against her chin, and the back of his fingers brushed against the line of her jaw, before his face erupted in a content smile. His head tilted, very subtly, towards the movie; a silent, gentle indication for her to return to enjoying it, instead of filling his heart with hope.

"Excellent." In truth, Bastion much preferred remaining exactly where he was, at that moment. Because there, in the dark, everything seemed perfectly well and good. There was nothing left to worry about, in the quiet of a dark room, alone. He kept her safe in his arms, and turned his gaze towards the skellyvision, but when she murmured further, he quirked his head and took a moment of silence to try and figure out exactly what she meant.

But he couldn't.

"Don't do what?" He asked, innocent to her intentions. Was his hand somewhere inappropriate? He checked to make sure. No, he felt the hold he had her in was completely innocent.. no touching of anything he shouldn't be. "Am I disturbing you in some way?"

It felt like a slap in the face. It felt familiar, actually - it felt like Noni was channelling herself through the ghoul's words. Bastion chuckled, a high pitched sound filled with surprise. "Oh. That." He'd given her no reason to think otherwise. He understood perfectly why she'd think so highly of him. She just didn't know any better.

"I think, my rose, you say such pretty things because you haven't yet gotten to know me. But, if it's any consolation," He reached up, pulling her fingers out of her pigtail, and curling his own hand around hers. "I'd really love to fix that. Getting to know you, everything about you, would please me very greatly. And in return, whatever you wish to know about me.. even if it changes your mind. I will deliver, as good as my word." He brought the hand to his lips, and kissed the back of it.

"You deserve only the truth."

Movie? What movie?