A Drink or Two...

Who: Olivia & Mathias
When: Evening
Where: The Happy Medium

Maybe it was morbid to be curious about the scene of a murder. But Olivia had morbid tendencies at times, and given that she didn't have much to do on a Saturday night in a new town, she could always chalk up her curiosity to exploring the rest of Marquette. The Happy Medium wasn't too far from the park she had visited before, and despite the rumors addressed in the paper that morning, the bar didn't appear to be closed. There were people inside, many of whom were drinking, seemingly unfazed by the headlines.

Olivia walked inside and glanced around, studying the supernatural depictions carved into the bar. It was a strange feeling place, and Olivia now understood what the article had meant when it claimed the bar attracted less than savory business. But then again, people were generally afraid and against things they didn't quite understand. The leather stools were vacant but for a few, so Olivia slipped onto the one closest to the edge, and lit a cigarette, debating whether or not it would be worth it to waste her remaining money on a drink.

It wasn't unusual for Mathias to find out that somewhere he'd been had, a few hours after he'd left been the scene of something hideous. Of course, part of that was that Mathias tended to go to dodgy places. And part of that was that he tended to left shit behind him.

Last night he hadn't thought that either situation applied. That had proved not to be true when he'd read the day's papers. It was morbid curiosity that had drawn Mathias back there that evening, but the moment he walked in, he spotted a familiar face and headed over. "Buy you a drink, Princess?" he asked, slipping onto the bar stool next to her.

Startled, Olivia glanced toward the voice with slight irritation, but smiled when she recognized the face. She immediately relaxed, despite the fact that they had only spoken once.

"Sure, I'll have a beer," she agreed, deciding that one drink wouldn't hurt. Olivia pulled out another cigarette and silently offered it to him. "You didn't have to sleep in your car last night, did you?"

Mathias turned and ordered a couple of beers, before turning back to Olivia. "Me? Nah - checked into a motel. You?" he asked, a cheeky grin on his face. He took the cigarette and lit it, before handing her his lighter with a wink - totally ignoring the bowl of books of matches which lay between them.

She chuckled and took the lighter, forgetting the fact that she had bought herself two new ones earlier that day. She clutched it tightly in her hand.

"The same. Venture Motel a little ways down the street." Olivia motioned with her hand. "Though I don't plan on staying there much longer if I can help it. Motels tend to creep me out." With a shrug, Olivia took a small drag off of her cigarette. "Though I'm sure that doesn't make much sense if you consider what happened around here."

Mathias raised an eyebrow and looked at her, appraisingly. "I'm in room 306 - you?" he asked her. He figured it was a small town, it wasn't that surprising they were checked into the same place. He turned as the bartender brought their drinks over and he pushed one towards her. "You heard about that too, huh? And yet you're still here..." He took a drag on his cigarette.

Olivia grinned at the coincidence and picked up her beer. "302, actually. Nice view overlooking absolutely nothing of interest. As for what happened last night, I've seen my fair share of...well, let's just say I don't frighten easily." She took a quick sip of her beer to wet her throat. "You're here too, so it must not bother you much either."

"Nice view of nothing, eh? That's one up on me - I have a nice view of a brick wall. I hate motels, always have." He took another pull on his cigarette and reached for his beer. "I was here last night - left before everything happened though. It doesn't bother me so much as reminds me that the world is a fucked up place. Which I knew already but... Yeah. Let's just say I don't scare so easy either."

Olivia studied him closely, turning slightly on her stool so that her entire body faced him. She remembered he told her before that he liked to wander, and judging by the bag he had with him yesterday, he didn't stay in one place very long either.

"I can't argue with you there." She stabbed her cigarette in the closest ashtray and reached for her beer again. "I wish this kind of stuff still affected me but I decided early on I wasn't going to be one of those people who had to constantly look over their shoulder at night. Things happen, people die..." Olivia shrugged. "You move on from it." She paused a beat and winced. "That makes me sound incredibly insensitive, doesn't it?"

"Makes you sound kinda jaded, sure," Mathias agreed, but giving the sentence a slightly better spin. "You see lots of death, do you?" he asked her, since she brought it up. Nothing in his demeanour suggested that he'd be disappointed or shocked if she had done though.

Olivia blinked once at his question and avoided answering by taking another drink. She wasn't open with her "friends", let alone strangers. Still, she didn't really have to tell the complete truth. When did she ever?

"Not a lot, but enough. This is going to sound horribly, horribly cliche, but I've been around," she said with a small smile. "I sort of got tired of the violence of the bigger cities which is why I ended up here. But I guess smaller towns aren't protected from psychopaths. I don't think I'm jaded, exactly, just...okay, well jaded just a little." Sighing, Olivia shook her head and forced a smile. "What about you then? What's the pull of moving around a lot for you? Don't you have any family?"

Mathias shrugged, casually sipping his beer as he loaded the oft-repeated lie. "Not really - none that I'm, y'know, close to or anything. It's just me," he told her. "And I've been on the road since I was eighteen - I get bored easily. Bad case of wanderlust." It was close enough to the truth that he could keep to it under any circumstances, whilst still being a total lie - especially considering that his family was right here in town. Like he was going to tell that to a stranger.

"Ah." She rested her elbow on the bar counter and stared for a moment before smiling. "I don't think I believe you. Everyone has someone you know. You get bored easily, so you keep moving from city to city, but after awhile, I would think that would get boring too, wouldn't it?"

Mathias smiled as he took a drink of his beer. "Not so far - variety, it's the spice of life," he told her, sidestepping the comment about having someone. "City to city, country to country - there's a whole world out there. Go one place, stay, settle for a bit, but I'm not cut out for routine - sooner or later, I'm gonna be moving on." He shrugged. "Maybe one day that'll change, but I haven't found a reason to stop anywhere long term yet."

Olivia considered his words, focusing on her drink for several moments. She'd never found a reason to stay long term either, for which she was thankful. The moment she got stuck in one spot, her life was going to be over.

She wrapped her fingers tightly around the beer bottle and looked at him. "There is a whole world out there, a world you just said was fucked up. Leave, stay, settle awhile, leave again..." She lifted the bottle to her lips to hide her smile. "Sounds pretty routine to me, Mathias."

Mathias' eyes glittered as he looked at her. "Not the way I do it," he told her. He let that comment linger for a while, but shrugging, the light dying slightly. "But, maybe you're right, maybe it is just another sort of routine. What do you suggest then, for the man who gets itchy feet far too easily?"

He was an intriguing person, that was for sure. She could relate to his need to pick up and leave, to never settle, but she had a feeling their reasonings were very different from one another.

"I wish I had something wise to tell you," Olivia said before taking another long drink of her beer. "As it is, I don't think there's anything I can tell you. I think maybe your wanderlust goes deeper than you may think. But I don't know you well enough to tell you what it is. Everyone has a reason for running, whether they know it or not. Maybe when you figure out that reason, and deal with it, you'll be more comfortable in one spot and developing relationships worth staying for."

Mathias considered this. "Maybe I'm not running," he suggested, pulling on his beer and swallowing the chilled liquid before continuing. "Maybe I'm hunting - looking for something. How about you?" he asked, turning the conversation onto her. "What keeps you on the road?"

Olivia quirked an eyebrow curiously at his remark. Hunting for what exactly? The statement left an unsettled feeling in her stomach which she promptly ignored when he questioned her. His attempt to switch the subject onto her told her all she really needed to know.

She could sidestep the truth as well as he could.

"Wanderlust," she answered with a cheeky grin, finishing off her beer. "Nothing holds my interest for very long. You know how it is."

"You know, a wise person once told me that wanderlust often goes deeper than you may think. That everyone has a reason for running," he replied, somewhat flirtatiously, his eyes laughing.

Olivia stuck her tongue between her teeth for a moment before laughing. That in itself felt strange. Setting her bottle on the counter, she pushed it away.

Turning toward him, her laughter died into a smile and she shook her head. "It's really complicated, and incredibly boring. And to be honest, you wouldn't believe me, even if I told you." Pulling another cigarette out of her pack, she lit it with his lighter before pushing a strand of dark hair from her eyes. "What is it you can do, Mathias?" she asked, transitioning the subject off of her. She shouldn't have had that beer, she was already feeling loose lipped. "Besides bouncing from town to town? Surely you have more going for you than simple wanderlust."

"I cause chaos," he said, the honest and blunt truth - though by the joke dancing in his eyes and the look of suppressed laughter on his face, she quite possibly could take that as a joke. He leaned forward. "Try me - I'm good with complicated and I've seen things that you couldn't even begin to imagine," he told her.

Olivia considered his challenge for a moment. Though he appeared to be joking when he said he caused chaos, a part of her believed it. He looked like the type. And she'd seen his type. A lot.

Still, looking into his eyes, she could tell he was also somewhat sincere in stating his claim. But Olivia didn't know him. He seemed decent, and she felt as if she could trust him - but that's usually how it started before the lies came out.

Pulling her cigarette away, Olivia mimicked his stance and leaned toward him. "It's not so much what I've seen, or done," she explained slowly. "It's what I haven't done which is why I keep moving." Cryptic yes, but she wasn't about to attempt to explain her phobia of staying in one place and developing attachments.

Mathias had been watching her body language as much as what she'd said and he caught the consideration, the pause, the suggestion, the temptation. But, for now, he let it slide - though he wasn't letting her go that easily. He raised an eyebrow. "Okay, so now you have me intrigued," he admitted. "What haven't you done?" he asked, the devil in his eyes, as though he could help her with that one - if she just told him.

With a short laugh, Olivia shook her head. He was smooth, but she'd met men like him before. "I'm not really the type to spill my dark secrets to a stranger, even if he's bought me a drink," Olivia explained, leaning back from him. "And to be honest, it's not something that can be fixed, so for me, talking about it is pointless and only serves to have people think a lot less of me."

"Well, then get to know me a little better, and then spill your dark secrets to me," he suggested, catching the barman's eye and indicating he should bring over more drinks for the both of them. "And I promise not to think any less of you," he added, with sincerity.

Okay, so she really wasn't expecting that. The barmen set two more beers in front of them and she stared at it before shifting her gaze to Mathias. He was persistent at least.

"I promise you, my secrets aren't really that exciting," she began, wanting to deter him from anymore curiosity. She picked up her drink, wrapping her fingers around the cold bottle. "And shouldn't this be a little give and take? You show me yours, I show you mine type of deal?"

Mathias picked up his fresh beer and sipped it, contemplatively. "I was sixteen the first time I saw a man die," he told her, having judged what kind of thing would get a reaction from her. And judged carefully which piece of information to pass out. He thought that one would work. And she was right - give and take. He'd given. The ball was in her court.

She didn't outwardly show it, but the easy admission startled her. Olivia shifted her gaze down to her beer bottle, staring at the label. Her stomach was suddenly churning and she shifted on the stool, wishing she hadn't found herself in this position. Flirting was one thing, baring your soul to someone you didn't know was another. She'd tried it once before and had woken up alone.

He had made a step, however, and while she could tell herself he was lying just to get her to talk, she could tell he was sincere. Still staring at the red label on her bottle, Olivia gave a tiny shrug. "I was eighteen. I could have helped him...I knew how. And I didn't."

Mathias took this, considered it, and nodded. What he didn't do was the obvious. What he didn't do was ask 'why not'. "I didn't expect it - took a while to even realise it," he told her, still actually speaking with raw honesty. Mathis was a strange creature, at times. He could pick and choose with apparent ease what he would share and what he would keep closes to his chest, apparently able to bare his innermost thoughts and feelings, share his soul with someone, to appear totally open and raw, yet still keep elements of himself hidden so well that, to the other person, they simply didn't exist. And how he made his choices of what to share, and what to hide, appeared a mystery.

Olivia really had no intention of admitting to him that the man she failed to help was the last. She was afraid that maybe she was cursed - beyond the obvious anyway - that death was somehow drawn to her. She'd seen the quick, the agonizing, and the gruesome. They all weighed heavily on her, even the ones she couldn't have helped.

"Did you know him?" Olivia asked, setting her beer on the counter, not wanting to relive the moments she worked too hard to keep buried in her mind.

"No," Mathias told her, easily. "He was just some guy. I was out - bad part of town, late at night. Stupid kid in the wrong place at the wrong time. And then, suddenly, bam - some guy in front of me was dead." Had had his head torn off his shoulders, actually. Which generally would have been a suggestion that 'he's dead' would have been an instant reaction. But shock was a weird thing. And it had taken a minute - even with staring at the guy's face five foot from his body. Taken a moment and then Mathias had run from the demon before him. Like the fucking wind.

"Wrong place, wrong time," Olivia mused. "It happens more than you think." She personally knew that for a fact. Olivia finally managed to look at Mathias, having gathered herself inwardly. "I guess when you're on your own, you see things you may not be prepared to see. Or maybe you are, I don't know." She snuffed out the cigarette she had lit earlier, her appetite for nicotine dulled. "If you were capable of saving that guy's life, would you have done it?"

"I wasn't," Mathias told her, firmly. "I could have been a fucking god and I wouldn't have been able to save that guy's life. Not without some severe prescience and a whole lotta luck. Violent or not, sometimes it's just someone's time," he told her. He believed that - he had to believe that, or his whole world would come crashing down.

Olivia nodded, not wanting to push the subject any further. Some deaths were quick, and violent, and yes, sometimes it's just time. But what about the other times? When someone is laying in front of you bleeding to death from a gunshot wound? When a friend has slashed his wrists in the other room and you merely walk away?

The images flooded her and she clenched her eyes shut briefly before clearing her throat and setting her beer bottle on the bar top. "You're right. You can't always help people, even if you want too." Olivia forced a small smile. "Once you accept that, it makes living and leaving easy, doesn't it?"

He looked at her - not buying the act for a moment. "No - and you know that as well as I do," he openly challenged, looking her square in the eyes.

Olivia felt the weight of his statement, but she wasn't about to show any vulnerability by looking away. "It has to be easy, or else this simple life you've made for yourself isn't as fulfilling as you think it is. No relationships, no family, no one to stick around for...nothing but you and the road, right? How can you be so happy if you have the weight of death on your shoulders? Knowing you could have helped, or hell, knowing you couldn't have. It doesn't matter, it's still there, in your mind, and if you don't just let it go then...then what kind of life is that?" Olivia asked, feeling her body flush angrily. "It's misery."

"Maybe I'm a masochist then," Mathias suggested, still challenging. "Come on, Princess - I'm showing you mine, Show me yours."

"Are you?" She didn't like being provoked. More so, she didn't like that she was rising to the bait and revealing more than she meant too. "The way I see it, Mathias, you're showing me what you want me to see," Olivia pointed out, resisting the urge to poke him in the chest. "Is it real? Or is it just enough? I'm not sure that's really fair."

"Course I'm showing you what I want you to see," Mathias told her, easily and with a smile. "Name me one person in this entire world who'd do otherwise? Sane, non-creepy person," he amended, quickly. "It's what we all do - we meet people we like, we want to get on with them, we're hardly going to launch straight into the bad stuff, are we?" He looked at her, waiting for her response. After a pause, he backed down. "You know, you could just say that you don't want to talk about it and change the subject. I hear the weather's gonna turn a lot colder soon around here..."

Olivia frowned, wondering why she let herself get so worked up. It was a defense mechanism she supposed. Find someone she enjoyed being around and do whatever it took to mess it up.

Sighing, she shook her head. "You're right, I'm sorry. I'm just not used to..." Olivia motioned between them. "Social interaction." She forced a smile and picked up her beer again. "Maybe you can hear all the bad stuff another time. I've got plenty of it to share you know." She took a long drink before considering. "You're driving me back to the motel, aren't you? Can't let a girl walk home inebriated."

Mathias contemplated her. "Of course I'll drive you back," he promised, before taking a sip of his beer. "There's going to be another time?" he asked, not sounding at all unpleased about this. "Okay - then tell me something good about yourself. Let's leave the bad stuff. Show me what you want me to see."

She flushed but smiled regardless. "Only if you want there to be. I figure it's a small town, we're bound to run into each other, unless you take off...or I take off." She felt at ease again, thankful that she hadn't caved and spilled her guts out. And thankful that he was still sitting there.

"Something good." Olivia contemplated. Something good? "I have a photographic memory." She grinned and studied him. "Ask me next week what you were wearing tonight and I'll tell you from your shoes to the material of your shirt. Hell, ask me what he was wearing and I'll tell you," she continued, nodding toward the barman. "Is that a good thing? Or are you looking for something deeper, like loyalty and trustworthiness?"

He cocked a smile. "I'm not taking off," he told her with reasonable confidence. Normally, he wouldn't be so sure, but now he knew he wasn't going anywhere for a while. "And I'd like there to be. Did you just want to leave it at that? Just running into each other? Or we could, I dunno, arrange to meet up sometime?" he suggested, casually. He took a cigarette from his pack and offered one to her. "I wasn't looking for anything at all, Princess. Just something you wanted to tell me," he shrugged. "But that's gotta be a useful skill."

"I'm not taking off either." For now. "So yeah...if you wanted to meet up sometime, I wouldn't mind it." Olivia smiled before taking the cigarette from his fingers. It was wrong on so many levels to enjoy the company of someone she just met yesterday. She used his lighter again before reluctantly handing it back to him. "What about you? Do I get something good?"

He smirked slightly, a light dancing in the back of his eyes for a moment, suggesting that he was going to say something that he actually didn't. "I like spicy food - anything with a bite, or a real kick," he said, knowing it was a fairly random fact.

Olivia turned to exhale the smoke before rolling her eyes. "For one, I hate spicy food. Makes my mouth burn and makes me turn all red. It's pretty embarrassing. Two, come on...food?" She shook her head and tried to hide her grin. "Give me something with substance or we might as well be discussing the weather."

He chuckled. "Well, I don't have anything as cool as an eidetic memory to tell you about," he said, almost, but not quite pouting. Mathias didn't pout, but he did do that thing with his eyes and lips that made you think he was about to. It was an effect he'd worked on over the years. "Okay - I'm a runner. I broke most of the records at high school and a couple at county level and went to college on a track and field scholarship, before I decided it wasn't for me and dropped out. That's when I started to travel."

"Okay, now see, that was substance. Much better than spicy foods anyway." She noted that the running was probably a big reason for his lean physique. Which she tried not to focus too much on. "I bet the running comes in handy regardless," Olivia added with a smirk. "Especially if you like to cause trouble, like you claim. Were your parents upset when you dropped out?"

"Furious," he laughed. "I don't think they'll ever really forgive me - especially not my mom. Which is probably why we're not so close any more," he said, carefully linking the information back to his earlier line without missing a beat.

"Well, dropping out of college to hit the road...I guess parents want more for their children than that," Olivia said with a shrug. "Especially if they were the ones footing the bill for school. But if you have any siblings, then maybe you did your parents a favor dropping out, since it just saves them money in the long run. It depends on which way makes you feel better about it."

"Eh, they weren't - scholarship, remember?" he shrugged. "But my mom, I think, had big plans for her little boy - bigger than him bumming round the world for his entire life, y'know?" He took a final drag on his cigarette and ground it out. "You don't get to brag to all and sundry about having a kid who does that, rather than is something impressive - doctor, lawyer, something like that," he added, keeping the subject firmly on him and away from 'siblings'.

It was strange. Very strange. Her father...no, Marcos, had been adamantly against her becoming a doctor. He probably preferred her bumming around the country rather than doing anything worthwhile. So hearing the complete opposite from Mathias, she tried to imagine what it would be like to have normal parents who had high aspirations for their child. Hell, she tried to imagine what it would be like to have parents.

"You have to do what makes you happy," she conceded. "Even if it's bumming around the world. I think a lot of people who may look down on what you do with your life are just jealous that they can't just up and come and go as they please the way you can."

Mathias actually had to bite back a comment about Dorian at that point - and give himself a mental talking to about what he was and wasn't allowed to say to people. This girl did not come in any way under the heading of 'people you can talk to about things you honestly care about'. She could be anyone. "That's the conclusion I came to," he admitted. "I wasn't going to live my life for someone else. I had to live it for me, do what I wanted to do, what would make me happy."

"Then you're incredibly lucky," Olivia said before she could really think about it. She envied him, and she hated envying anything. Putting out her cigarette she gave him a small smile. The beer was making her think too much, which was strange as it usually had the opposite effect. "It's getting late, I think..."

"...That I should drive you home now," he agreed, finishing off his own beer and standing. He slipped on his jacket and smiled as he offered her his arm. "My lady..." he said, continuing the whole royalty theme he had going with her.

She chuckled, but slipped her arm through his as he led her outside. "I'm hoping I won't have to call that motel home for much longer. I don't like the beds."

"It's a law," he told her, walking her to the door. "'Motel beds have to be uncomfortable'. They make them especially - something to do with throughflow of custom and turnover. It's highly technical," he added, sounding (almost) completely serious.

Olivia shook her head and waited until he had opened the door to his car for her. She slipped in, suddenly very aware that she was going on his word that he shared the same motel as she did. For all she knew he could have been some psychopath. She was usually a good judge of people, so she doubted it...but still, her lack of sense at the moment irritated her.

When Mathias got into the car, she looked at him in regards to his comment about motel beds. "You know, you're real good at spouting bullshit and making it sound like the truth."

He started up the engine and pulled away from the curb - doing a U-turn and heading off in the direction of their motel. "It's a gift - maybe I should have gone into acting. Or politics - but that's a bit too much bullshit, even for me," he joked, not denying what she'd said at all.

She glanced at his profile, relaxing in the seat. "Doesn't it ever bother you that people won't be able to distinguish between what's bullshit and what's the truth?"

He looked across at he, then back to the road. "You knew the bit about the motels was bullshit," he pointed out.

Olivia parted her lips to respond, but couldn't form a logical response. How did he do that?

Shooting him a look, Olivia folded her arms under her breasts. "Yeah, but that was pretty obvious, given the subject. It was the way you said it, not to mention the fact that you agreed with me. And you didn't answer my question."

"You just answered it for me," he said, smiling as he looked at the road. "You could tell the difference between truth and bullshit because of the tone of my voice, the way I said it - and you've only known me, what? Just over twenty four hours?" he pointed out.

She gaped at him for several moments before turning away to stare out the window and hide her smile. "I'm starting to sympathize with your mother. You would have made a really good lawyer."

He watched her out of the corner of his eye, not bothering to hide his own smile as he turned into the motel parking lot and pulled up into a parking space. He turned off the engine. "So, here we are," he announced, unnecessarily.

She clutched the handle of the door to open it and looked at him, lifting an eyebrow. "A gentleman would walk me to my room, you know." Her eyes swam with amusement. "You don't have to worry, I'm not going to invite you in, or anything."

He looked across at her, then opened the door, walking fast round to the other side as she opened hers and finishing the move for her, holding his hand out to help her up. "Well, I wouldn't want to be considered anything less than a gentleman," he teased. "And what makes you think I'd be worried you were going to invite me in?" he asked, curiously.

She began to dig through her messenger bag for her room key as they walked inside. She had entirely too much junk. "Just a joke," she said. Olivia found the key and pulled it from her bag before looking at him. "Granted, not a very funny one. Just some self deprecating humor."

"Or just a sidestepping way of letting me know I shuldn't even think about trying anything," he added, looking at her sideways with a slight smirk.

Olivia smiled, but didn't bother looking at him. "You can try. Whether or not you would be successful is another story."

Mathias considered this, assessing what tack to take, treading carefully. In the end, he decided to go with honesty - somehow he thought she'd appreciate that. She seemed to have a thing about bullshit. "Would you be pissed at me if I did?" he asked her. "Because I've enjoyed tonight. I like you, I like talking to you. I don't want to fuck that up in some misguided and unwelcome attempt at a come on," he said, lightly, half watching her from the corners of his eyes, waiting for her reaction.

Olivia paused, several doors away from her own room. She turned and studied him, impressed that he had the decency, and the balls, to actually ask her. He was honest with her, so it was her turn to be honest with him.

"I like you too, which is surprising to me, because I barely know you," she said, trying to choose her words carefully. Olivia couldn't believe she was having this conversation. "So, if you want to try something, more than likely I won't resist it, but..." And this was the awkward part. Olivia met his gaze square on. "I don't do one night stands and until I really can trust myself with you, it probably won't go past kissing me goodnight. So if something meaningless and fun is what you're looking for, it's best not to try anything at all." She'd had this conversation with guys plenty of times in the past, and she was pretty sure this one would end up the way the others had.

Mathias was inwardly fairly sure that he could take this passed a simple kiss good night if he really wanted to. He'd had women say that to him in the past, only to change their minds a while later. He could be remarkably persuasive when he wanted to be. But she'd been very clear about the fact that she didn't do one night stands. And Mathias didn't do relationships. Which left them at a bit of an impasse - he'd been honest. He did like her. He enjoyed her company. And he didn't want to fuck that up. So he wasn't going to get her to do anything she'd regret come the morning. And so he looked at her and nodded. "Fair enough," he agreed.

She had been right, and she had fully expected it, so Olivia really wasn't sure why she felt immense disappointment. He was definitely not the type to do relationships, and to be honest, neither was she. But she had promised herself early on she wasn't going to lose her virginity to a stranger, and Mathias, regardless of her feelings for him now, was a stranger.

Nodding, she forced a small smile and continued to her room.

He followed her, half a step behind, until they reached her room, when he turned to her, almost, but not quite, standing between her and the door. "I don't know how long I'm gonna be in town," he told her. "But it'll probably be a while. And I would like to see you again whilst I'm here. Get to know you better." He smirked a little. "Who knows - maybe you'll even begin to trust me..."

She stared in surprise, but regained her composure quickly. Usually once the whole I'm not sleeping with you conversation was had, she never saw the guy again.

"If I didn't trust you, at least a little, we wouldn't be having this conversation," Olivia replied simply. She shifted the key between her fingers before smiling again. "I'd like to see you again too. Just let me know when."

Of course, Mathias was anything but predictable. And he enjoyed doing what wasn't expected of him. And he could see by her reaction that he wasn't acting just like every other guy she'd ever met. Which meant, in his opinion, that he was doing something right. "Well, I'm only three doors down, why don't you give me a ring, or a knock sometime," he suggested, deciding to leave it up to her.

"I think I might," she stated, reaching behind him to slip the keycard into the door to unlock it. God, but he smelled good.

Olivia wrinkled her nose at the incredibly girlish thought before turning back to him. "Thanks, Mathias." What she was thanking him for, she didn't know. The company, the ride home, the understanding of her stance...who the hell knew. "Goodnight."

It was almost as if he'd been waiting for her to turn back, as if he'd known that she would. Possibly he had done - possibly he'd just got lucky, or was using his naturally swift reactions. But when she turned back, he was there, and a hand went to rest lightly on her waist. And for a moment, he looked for all the world as if he was going to ignore everything and go for that kiss goodnight. He held the look for a moment before he leant down - and kissed her lightly on the cheek, before stepping back. "Night, Princess," he said, softly, before walking passed her and heading for his own room, flipping his keys from his pocket as he walked.

She stared at his retreating back, for a brief moment wanting to say fuck all to her virginity and tell him to come inside. Instead she quickly stepped back into her room and shut the door, locking it firmly which was more to keep her in than to keep him out.

Olivia then sat on the edge of her bed and sighed. Groaning, Olivia pressed her palms against her eyes before standing to go take a shower. She could handle him. She could handle practically anything. Still, there was a small uneasy feeling in her stomach. Olivia came to Marquette to get away from trouble, and Mathias was going to be trouble.