A Late Ride

Who: Mathias and Olivia
Where: Venture Motel/Middle of Nowhere
When: Close to midnight

The ankle felt better and thankfully the swelling had gone done. She hadn't really wanted to spend most of the day with it elevated on the motel bed, watching infomercials, but that's what she got for not paying attention. It was well past sunset now, and the clock next to the bed moved closer to midnight. It was ridiculously late, but she wasn't tired. Olivia tossed and turned for nearly twenty minutes before she gave up entirely on the whole sleeping thing.

She changed back into her clothes, tied her hair up and slipped on her sandals before grabbing some cash and slipping it into her pocket. She left her motel room, hesitating for several moments in the hallway before she shrugged off her reluctance and knocked at Mathias's door. Maybe he'd be sleeping and she could just go off on her own and...and Olivia sighed, wondering why she was knocking on his door one minute and wishing he wouldn't answer in the next.

Mathias wasn't asleep, though to be honest, if he had been the knock would have woken him. Being a light sleeper was stock in trade when you lived the kind of life he did. Currently, though, he was flipping through the channels on the TV, the volume low, watching nothing in particular. He flicked it off as someone knocked at the door and he checked his watch. It was late - which immediately put him on edge.

He got up off the bed silently, pulling on jeans and a shirt and tucking a knife in its sheath down into the small of his back as he tightened the belt. It wasn't much as a hidden weapon, but it would do. He wasn't expecting trouble - but it was late and he was still alive because he expected trouble when he shouldn't. He moved across the room, silently and opened the door and inch, very little of his body showing down the gap. Unfortunately the door of the cheap motel had neither chain nor spyhole.

Olivia crossed her arms beneath her breasts, smirked, and lifted an eyebrow at the slight crack of the door. Okay, so it was late, and this town was strange, but it still seemed silly to her to see someone like Mathias so cautious.

"Expecting someone?" she asked, her voice low and full of amusement. She lifted her hands, palms up. "I promise, I'm unarmed."

He smiled and stepped back, opening the door. His shirt covered the knife anyway, so he just left it where it was. He'd deal with getting rid of it later, if they happened to get into a situation where that made it necessary. "Princess," he allowed, beckoning her in with a sweep of his arm. "Sorry, I couldn't think who it could be - it's late. What can I do you for?" he asked.

She glanced past him into his room, thankful to see his bed didn't really look lik it'd been slept in, so at least she probably didn't wake him. Slipping her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, she stepped inside, though she knew it probably wasn't a good idea to linger in his room very long. "I can't sleep," she admitted with a shrug. "And there's a serious shortage of quality television this late at night. I almost bought a Wonder Mop from the homeshopping network." Meeting his gaze, she smiled. "Want to go somewhere?"

He laughed. "You too, huh? Something about that sales pitch, right?" he asked. Not that he'd actually been watching the same thing, but he knew the type and he thought she'd appreciate it. Maybe. He paused, raising a brow. "Go somewhere? What did you have in mind?" he asked, though he was already picking up his keys and wallet.

"Well, the composition of the mophead does help prevent growth of odor-causing mold and bacteria," she joked, pleased when he grabbed his keys. Olivia took a step back into the hallway, feeling more on uneven ground there than she did in his room. "I don't know...I don't care to be honest. I've walked around this place a few times since I got here. I'm getting kind of restless. You know of any spots outside of town?"

His eyes flicked to the bag that remained packed and by the door and he paused for half a moment before determinedly walking out of the room without it. Which took a hell of a lot more effort than it should have been. And had him fighting the urge to go back for it. He set them walking quickly down the corridor - this wasn't going to turn out like that, he told himself. He'd said he wouldn't leave town and he wasn't going to cause trouble. It was just a drive and probably a drink. It'd be fine. He realized he wasn't speaking and looked at her. "Not really - I haven't been here all that long. I know a few places away aways, but I'm guessing you don't want to drive half the night... We could head over Ishpeming way, that's not too far. Course, round here half the places shut at ten, but hopefully we can find something."

Olivia didn't want to admit she wouldn't mind driving half the night. Hell, if they ended up in Canada, she wouldn't mind. She also didn't care if everything they came across was closed. Being out of the motel was enough for her. "Ishpeming is fine," she told him, walking out of the motel and toward his car. It was cooler now, and she regretted only for a moment that she didn't grab her jacket. Shooting him a look as she opened the passenger side door, Olivia hesitated. "You sure this is all right?" And she had to work in the morning, though the idea of being out late and being at work at six am didn't bother her as much as it probably should have. "I know it's really late."

He met her eyes over the car door and smiled. "Princess - if it wasn't alright, we'd still be in my room," he told her, his eyes dancing with the suggestion of things that would have happened if they'd stayed in his room. And then he opened his car door and slid in, starting up the engine.

She rolled her eyes, but with a grin, and got into his car, shutting the door firmly behind her. "Only if there was something on the television keeping my interest." His confidence was both an attractive trait and a frustrating one. She was stronger than he thought she was. She remained silent for a few moments until they were on the road, before relaxing in the seat. Olivia turned her head to look at him. "Sorry if this is a personal question, but do you have a job? Obviously you bounce from place to place, but do you ever work?" Considering her own struggles for cash while she was traveling, she was honestly curious.

He kept his eyes on the road, heading them out of town and into the darkness. He didn't know the area overly well, but he thought he knew of somewhere they could go, somewhere he'd passed the other day when he was driving around to orient himself. "A job? Sometimes," he admitted. "Everyone's got to earn cash, right? But nothing regular - I do whatever comes up," he told her. Which he did. And sometimes that paid very well - mostly because Mathis wasn't overly concerned about the legality of what he did.

She made a small noise in her throat in response, glancing out the window as darkened trees sped by. Olivia wasn't a stranger to the idea of doing the cash under the table jobs.There was a point where she did anything to make some easy money. Well, not anything, but close enough. "So you did a lot of things that skirted the line of legality," she mused, tearing her gaze from the darkness to look at him again. The next question slipped out before she could stop it. "Did you ever kill anyone?"

"Did you?" he shot back without missing a beat.

"That's not an answer," Olivia responded calmly, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"It was hardly a nice question," Mathias pointed out. "Generally it's not one you ask to a guy you've only known a couple of days. 'Oh, hi, nice to meet you - have you ever killed anyone?" he said, looking across at her. "Just wondering where that came from, that's all."

The fact that he was dodging the question told Olivia enough, but she didn't push any further. Instead she studied his profile. "I didn't mean to offend you by it. I was just curious. And for the record," she added, looking back out the window, "no, I've never killed anyone."

He considered this for a moment, then pulled over at the side of the road - in the dark. In the middle of nowhere. Leaving the engine idling, he turned to her. "What do you think?" he asked her, the night around them silent apart rom the sound of the engine. Black apart from the headlight beams and the dullglow from the dashboard. "Do you think I've killed people?"

Olivia wasn't scared of him, or the fact that they were alone on a road in the middle of nowhere (at least to her). She looked at him again, calmly. Olivia knew she should probably smile, lie and say no, of course not, you're a decent person, blah, blah, blah. With anyone else, she would have. But for some reason, she felt a strange pull around Mathias to be truthful. "To be honest, I don't know. You're on your own, you never stay in one spot, and you told me you like to cause chaos. Does that mean I think you're capable of killing people? No. If it meant survival, then maybe. Who wouldn't?"

"Lots of people," he replied. He couldn't help but be impressed by her calm though - he'd been aiming to intimidate her and yet... nothing. It was intriguing, to say the least - not to mention slightly thrilling. He smiled, despite himself. Who are you? he wondered, staring at her, entranced for a second. He shook himself out of that and turned back to the wheel, pulling them back out and onto the road. "Do you really want to know the answer to your question?" he asked, surprising himself a little - normally he would have just lied.

"I would be lying if I said no," Olivia replied, resting her head back against the seat. "But if you don't want to tell me, you don't have too. Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean you can't tell me to mind my own business. Though, I have a feeling that wouldn't have stopped you," she added with a small smile.

"I have never set out to cause the death of a human being," he said, picking his words carefully. "But, yes, people have died because of me." Which was honest - a little more honest than he'd like to be but there was something about her that suggested that she expected him to lie to her and that was bothering him more than telling her the truth. As strange as that may seem.

She considered his words for a moment, and then nodded. She wasn't surprised, nor was she repulsed in any sense. She'd seen death, and felt like she had been the cause of it more than once before. Sometimes you had to do what you had to do to make it another day. But believed him when he said he'd never set out to kill someone, and that answer was enough to satisfy her. Silence fell between them for several moments before she finally spoke again. "I'm sorry I asked you that," she managed. "Not because of the answer, but because it was really...kind of inappropriate. You're right, I only just met you. Sometimes I start talking without really thinking first."

"Do you feel better, for knowing?" he asked, trying not to sound pissy. He concentrated on driving, pulling them off the road they were on and onto another, heading off in a new direction. He didn't much care where they ended up now. He couldn't believe that she'd just got that out of him.

Olivia lifted an eyebrow at the controlled tone of his voice. "I don't think it's an issue of feeling better or not, Mathias. It's not something I set out to get out of you. You don't have to be angry that you told me the truth, it's not as if I'm going to hold it against you, or judge you." She wanted to reach out and touch his arm, but she refrained. "You're allowed to be honest to another human being every now and then."

Yeah? Really? Well, funny that - since I'm not human, Mathias thought, then stopped and pulled himself up. Okay, so where the hell had that come from? Okay, so one the one hand, it was true - him being half demon and all, made him actually not human. Totally. But, he hadn't had issue with that since he was Caleb's age. And now it was rearing it's head. The fuck? Oh yeah, this was just ten kinds of weird. He really needed to get himself back on track here, not let her get to him so damn much. He'd been in control last time they'd met. Nothing had changed since then. Of course, that meant saying something. Which he'd noted he was failing at right now.

There was more silence again, which she was fine with. She had a feeling if Mathias was angry with her, she'd know it. Then again, she'd just met him, so maybe she couldn't read him as well as she thought she could. Bothered slightly, Olivia clenched her hand on her leg. She shouldn't worry so much about what he thought, or wonder what he was thinking currently. Olivia couldn't afford to let herself get sucked into actually caring about another person. This light flirtation, the occasional deep conversation...those were all right. She had her secrets locked away properly, and she was sure there was more to Mathias that met the eye. She hadn't even begun to scratch the surface of who he was. Olivia was fine with where things currently sat between them. She was. Biting her bottom lip briefly, she spared him another look. "So," she said lightly. "You like spicy foods, huh?"

"Why did you come round tonight?" Mathias asked her, having ignored her question for a few minutes. "Why did you ask me to come out with you? To suddenly turn round and start asking me that kind of thing." Yes, it bothered him, as much as he'd prefer to pretend that it didn't. He was starting to wish he'd brought his damn bag with him now. A twitch that just wouldn't leave him.

She stared out the front of the car, noting there was nothing but road ahead of them. No lights, no nothing. It didn't bother her as much as it should have. "I told you I couldn't sleep," she replied simply. "And you told me to knock if I felt like it, and I felt like it. If I ask you questions, it's because I want to know the answers. I can handle the answers. I told you I don't frighten easily."

Mathias' fingers tapped lightly against the steering wheel as he drove them through the night, a nervous twitch borne of the fact that he was facing the undeniable realization that this was the point at which he skipped town. Really, it was. This girl intrigued him. And 'intrigued' was a bad place for Mathias to be at. The other night was fine - the other night was somewhere between 'playing' and 'turned on'. It had been nothing, it had been on his terms and he could have walked away and not looked back. Now? He was fascinated and kinda pissed off at her. Fuck. Somewhere since she knocked the rules had changed - at no point had she reacted like she was supposed to. Not that she ever had, in retrospect. he just hadn't noticed it before. "Why not?" he asked her on a whim - since he couldn't just turn the car around, take her back to the motel and check out. He was stuck here and he knew it. Maybe he should start looking for somewhere else to stay tomorrow though. "Why don't you scare easily?"

He was talking. That was a good thing at least. "Because I can't afford to scare easily." It was a safe answer, but a truthful one. "Because I've been on my own for four years and I learned quickly that being scared makes you vulnerable, and weak. There are people with that animalistic sense, you know? They can smell fear, and they feed off of it." She'd seen more than she cared to. "Like I told you before, I don't want to be someone who has to look over their shoulder in the dark, or be afraid of the things that go bump in the night." She should really shut up now. She didn't like being this honest with someone else. Somehow it made her feel as weak as fear would have and yet, God, she couldn't stop. Olivia turned in her seat toward him. "I'd rather take things at face value and deal with them. If there's someone who I want to know more about, I'd rather ask the questions I really want the answers to than say, ask about your preferred movie genre. Does that answer that question?"

"And yet you flipped onto the fact I like spicy foods," Mathias pointed out. "Or is there only so much truth you can handle before you go back to pleasantries?" he asked her, his tone easy and relaxed despite his words.

"Because I could tell the question bothered you," Olivia replied. "And it wasn't my intention to do that." Though it might be easier, and safer now to switch back to pleasantries. Still, she was up for whatever challenge he may present to her. She wanted to point out that it seemed like he was the one who was unable to handle certain truths, but she didn't think it was the wisest path to take right now. "I can handle a lot more than you think I can. Where are we going, by the way?"

He'd just been about to admit that he had no idea - that he'd turned off their intended route a ways back and he didn't know where they were now when he saw lights up ahead, lights that looked like some kind of a bar. "There. We're going there," he told her as he pulled into the parking lot and turned off the engine. He turned to her. "Just for future reference - 'have you ever killed anyone?' is a question that will bother 99.9% of the population. If you're concerned with 'bothering' people - don't ask that question." He turned and exited the car without saying another word, striding towards the entrance to the bar - he needed a drink.

Olivia watched him through the front window, wincing slightly before she pushed open the door and got out of his car. Okay, so he was probably pissed, but at least she was able to provoke something emotion out of him rather than amused indifference, or that cocky air of confidence. Olivia caught up with him at the door and gripped his arm, wanting to clear the air before the drinking began. Alcohol, she had learned, only heightened certain moods and she didn't want him to be irritated with her. "I'm sorry for upsetting you. You could have lied if you wanted too, and that would have been that. I think you're angry that you actually told me the truth."

He stopped as she grabbed him and started to wrench himself out of her grip. And then stopped himself and turned to her instead. She was right and what annoyed him more was that they both knew it. And what got to Mathias was that he'd built an entire lifestyle on not-quite-lying. He'd taken the truth and made it into something that fit his purpose, to be whatever he wanted it to be. And so far that had worked well for him - it had even worked well for him last time they'd met. And now? Now she was just asking more direct questions. And, dammit - he didn't want to lie to her. "You expect people to lie to you, don't you?" he asked, figuring that if she could ask direct, highly personal questions, then so could he.

Olivia released his arm, knowing she shouldn't touch him. Keeping her hands to herself would be a good thing. "People do lie to me," Olivia said, not really upset by the revelation. It was what it was. "People have lied to me my whole life. It doesn't mean I'm entirely untrusting. I've lied too. A lot. And you know, I've gotten to a point where I don't care if I'm lied too. It happens. People have to protect themselves. If you don't want to be honest with me, you don't have too. We can go inside and drink, and spout more bullshit if you makes you feel better. You said you wanted me to trust you, Mathias, but trust isn't based on lies, is it?"

Mathias raised an eyebrow and looked down at her. "You may have missed it, Princess, but I didn't lie to you," he pointed out.

She gave him a small smile, refusing to look away from him. "No, but I think we both know that you wanted to. And the fact that you didn't bugs you. So, look, if you want, I'll steer clear of the personal stuff. This," she said, motioning between them, "can be as superficial as you want."

He didn't look away, not for a moment, taking confidence from the fact that he was fairly sure that she wanted to. That was firmer ground for him. "You have that little faith in people," he told her. "You'd prefer it, wouldn't you? If you could tell yourself that I wanted this to be superficial. If you could use the fact that I'd answered a question that you put to me honestly, despite the fact it was difficult for me, as a reason to keep things distant. You don't want to trust me, do you? How much bullshit do you spout in your life, Olivia? Would you prefer to keep this superficial?" he asked, grabbing her hand as she motioned between them, holding it lightly, but firmly.

She frowned and had the sudden urge to snatch her hand out of his. His words sank in and she wondered how the hell he'd managed to turn this around on her. Not that what he was saying was completely false, but it didn't sit well inside of her that he had called her out on it. Olivia gathered herself and lifted her chin somewhat defiantly. "If I wanted this to stay superficial, I wouldn't have asked you such a personal question." Her heart, for some reason, was beating entirely too fast. "You're the one who had such an adverse reaction to it, not me."

"And if I wanted this to stay entirely superficial - I wouldn't have answered it," he shot back without missing a beat, not letting go of her hand. He paused, entirely unsettled by his admission and then he dropped her hand, turning on his heel and walking into the bar, letting her follow as she would. He needed a drink. He really needed a drink.

Sighing, Olivia stared after him for a brief moment before following. She really needed to work on that 'thinking before you speak' concept. She'd been fine with this when it was just entertainment, like yesterday. She couldn't believe one question had somehow turned everything upside down. The bar looked like...well, a bar that one would find in the middle of nowhere. There were a few people here and there and Olivia felt extremely out of place. She joined Mathias at the bar and wished she had brought her cigarettes. "Would we be on even ground if I told you I was probably the cause of more than one death since I've left home?" she asked, her voice low as she stood next to him.

The bar tender delivered their drinks before Mathias could answer - two beers, two shots to go with. Mathis downed his shot without looking at her, before taking a cigarette from his packet and offering her one. He leaned against the bar and lit up before finally looking down at her. "Princess, it doesn't matter what you have and haven't done," he told her, reaching up to kneed his forehead. "But I will ask you one question. And I'd appreciate an honest answer. How much are you comparing me to every guy you've ever met in the past?"

Avoidance. It was a lovely concept. She took the shot sitting on the counter top and downed it quickly, wrinkling her nose at the taste. It burned her throat but then a pleasant warmth spread throughout her stomach. She lit the cigarette he had given her and considered his question. This is where she could draw the line. She could lie. She was a damn good liar when she had to be, or wanted to be. He didn't care about her past, which was strange because every guy she'd met had run screaming after learning one thing or another about her. She studied the tip of her cigarette before finally turning toward him. "Probably more than is fair to you." There. Honesty.

"Then stop it," he told her, taking a long drink of his beer. And wishing for another shot. But he wasn't going to order one. He could hold his alcohol, his upped constitution saw to that, but he still had to drive tonight. "I am not every guy you ever met. Stop assuming I am. You've never met someone like me before." And you're probably damn lucky you haven't.

She began to speak but stopped abruptly. Ignoring her beer, she ordered another shot. Olivia wanted to believe him, but she'd only known him a few days. She didn't quite trust him yet. And she didn't quite trust herself with him. "I guess that remains to be seen, doesn't it?" Olivia asked when the bartender set the small glass in front of her. "So far, I have to say you've surprised me. We'll have to see how long that lasts."

He would regain control of this conversation - he was determined to. He knew he had snatches of it, but he kept losing his grip. But he'd get it back - he always did. "Surprised you?" he asked her, his next attempt. "How so?"

"Well, first of all," she began, pausing long enough to shoot back the liquor in her hand. She liked that warm flowing feeling inside of her. "I told you I wasn't going to sleep with you, and you're still talking to me." She smiled slyly and slipped up onto the nearest stool. "Of course, that could be your plan. You know, show your a decent guy, don't want to take advantage, blah, blah, and hope that your sincerity will turn me on enough to seduce you myself. Second of all, you probably had every intention of lying to me about certain parts of your life, but you told me the truth. Yes, that was surprising, and yes, as I said,I expected you to lie to me. But that was just one question. I'm sure there are a lot more things going on in your life that I could ask about and not get an honest answer. I guess we'll have to wait and see." She grabbed her beer, though she had no desire to drink it.

Mathias considered this and leaned in slightly, lowering his voice. "Come now, Princess. We both know that I could have got past your door last night, if I'd really wanted to." It was a low blow and he knew it, but dammit, he needed to feel more in control here than he had so far. So he'd take the low blow. And he did as he straightened up and coolly drew on his cigarette.

Olivia snapped her gaze to him, her smile fading from her face. She wasn't sure what the point of the statement had been. She didn't know if he meant to take her down a notch, or to imply that she was easier than she thought herself to be, but it didn't really matter at this point. "You can lash out at me, if you need too," Olivia responded after a moment. "But if I can be certain of anything, Mathias, it's that I would have gone to bed last night, alone, just like I will tonight, and tomorrow., and so on." She stabbed her cigarette out, having only taken two drags from it. "I really get to you, don't I?"

He ignored her question. "How sure are you of that, Princess? Because I don't believe you, not for a minute. I don't believe that there wasn't at least one moment there when you didn't want to just give in. And I? Wasn't even really trying," he told her, with a smile - all the while telling himself that really, he needed to shut the fuck up right now. Because she was. She was really getting to him.

Olivia licked her lip before she pushed her beer away and faced him, sighing inwardly even as she smiled. He didn't know her, and right now he was treating her like he probably treated any other woman he wanted to get rid of. "You don't think I know what you're doing?" she asked, slipping from the stool to stand. She was shorter than he was, but she wanted to feel like she had her feet on the ground, both figuratively and literally. "Now see, this is where the surprises end, Mathias, because now you've just reverted into those guys I've been comparing you to. I've seen this before. Become a bastard, say some mean things, make the girl cry and storm off...and you're safe." She shrugged. "I've done it myself in the past, when I've gotten close to someone. If you want me to fuck off, that's fine, but respect me enough to say it instead of playing this tired out game."

Mathias stared at her for a minute, before turning and stubbing out his cigarette. He took out his wallet and paid for their drinks before he turned back to her. "I think I should take you home," he said, not quite meeting her eyes.

She had been terribly wrong about him. And it was disappointing her more than it should have. Olivia released a small laugh, and pulled out a few crumpled bills from her pocket before shoving them into his hand. "I can pay for my own drink, thanks." Turning on her heel, she pushed open the door to the bar and headed out into the night, the dirt from the ground kicking up around her feet. She could find her way home as well.

He followed her out, leaving the money she'd given her on the bar. He didn't want it. "Olivia," he called, seeing her head off away from where he'd parked the car. He lengthened his stride and caught up with her, taking her by the arm and spinning her round. "Where are you going?"

"Home," she stated, yanking her arm out of his grasp. "I don't need you to take me. Walking seems like a much better alternative than letting you take jabs at me because you don't like whatever you're feeling."

"Don't be ridiculous - we're miles from anywhere. Marquette isn't walking distance for you," he told her. "Come on - let me drive you back. If you want, I'll promise not to say two words to you," he told her.

Olivia knew he was right, though she was willing to risk the miles and certainty of getting lost just to tell him to fuck off. Her temper dulled slightly and she lifted a hand to her forehead for a moment before sighing. "Fine." She pushed past him to walk toward his car. She got inside and waited for him, unable to keep her mouth shut once he started the engine. "Can I ask you something? This whole, I'm not like every other guy you've met deal? Was that all bull?"

He pulled out onto the road and headed back towards Marquette. "No," he told her after what seemed to be an eternity of silence filled only by the hum of the car engine. "No, that wasn't bull." But he could appreciate how it would seem like it to her. He didn't have the first clue what he was doing here, other than it wasn't what he would normally do - which was to get back to his motel room, check out and leave town. Right now. Shoulda brought my damn bag, he thought to himself. Except that, of course, leaving town wasn't an option. He'd made promises.

"You don't have to sabotage this," she said, tired now as she settled back in the seat. Tonight hadn't really gone the way she had intended it to. "I like talking to you, when you're not being an ass and I'm not sticking my foot in my mouth by asking you personal questions, and I'm sorry for that." Olivia sighed, resting hear head back, her eyes closing. "But you know, I'm not looking for anything from you, not a relationship, not sex...just...I don't know. I won't be in town for long, and this is all just temporary. You don't have to worry that I'm after something from you, because I'm not."

More silence followed before he spoke once more. "I know you're not," he said, not looking at her. Yet more silence. "Look, it's not about that. I just don't do this - you know, if you just wanted sex, everything would be a lot easier?" Okay, so the joke wasn't particularly funny - less so because he was half serious. If it could have just been about mindless sex then it would have been simple. But it wasn't - and it was never going to be. "And it's not about 'relationships' or 'commitment' or anything like that. Neither of us do that anyway, so it was never going to be about that."

He was right. Of course he was. Olivia had only one relationship in her life and it had ended disastrously. That had been enough to turn her off of the idea of commitment. She wasn't going to change her mind for a guy who was in the same corner she was. She just wasn't. "So it's not about sex, because I already told you where I stood on that. And it's not about relationships, because neither of us do those either." She paused and tried her hardest not to look at him. If she didn't do meaningless sex, or relationships...how much did that really reveal about her? Olivia suddenly felt like she had the word "Virgin!!" flashing on her forehead. Shaking the feeling away, she kept her tone indifferent. "So what is this, then?" she asked. "Can't we just...pretend tonight didn't happen?"

"You ever actually tried to do that?" Mathias asked, glancing over at her with the resigned look of someone who might just have tried that once or twice in his life. He looked back at the road ahead. "Never works. What is this?" What did he say to that? He could just finish the job of tearing everything apart right now and have done. He'd done it before, of course. He imagined he'd do it again. But there was something about the damn girl that made him not want to outright lie to her. Which is what had got them here in the first place. Fuck it - well, if he was going to start being actually truthful... "I don't live the nicest life," he said, almost reluctantly. "What I do can be dangerous and people around me can get hurt. So, I learnt a long time ago, best just not to have people around me. For all concerned."

Olivia couldn't help it. She rolled her eyes at him and laughed, shaking her head against the seat. "Mathias...it's very chivalrous of you to play that card and try to warn me off. But there's probably nothing you've done that I haven't seen before. My life isn't sunshine either." She stretched her legs out in front of her. "And I know how to take care of myself. I don't need you to protect me by trying to scare me off. You're different than people I've met in my life, but you play the same hands when it comes to something you're unsure about. Whether it's trying to take a dig at me to get me pissed off, or playing the danger card..." She finally looked at him. "Give me something real here."

He laughed right back at her - a short, sharp bark. "Princess, I've see and done things you would not believe, never mind have actual experience of. This isn't about chivalry, it's about not having your blood on my conscience because someone uses you as a way to get to me." He looked at her, the lights of Marquette a dull glow on the horizon. "If you want something real? That's real."

She fell silent, digesting his words. Olivia was starting to get annoyed at the constant urge she felt to touch him. But she knew it would look odd if she sat on her hands to keep them at bay. Maybe it wasn't as personal as asking him if he's killed before, but she'd already crossed that line. "Do you have people looking for you?" she asked, staring at the lights ahead. "People who would hurt you if they found you?"

"There're people who'd like to try," Mathias told her, a hint of his usual cockiness surfacing for a moment.

"I told you I can take care of myself," she repeated, another puzzle piece of Mathias seemingly falling into place. "It's ridiculous to think I would stop speaking to you just because of some unseen threat you feel you have. I know what's out there, and what can happen to people. It doesn't scare me, okay?"

"Why not?" he asked her as they reached the city limits. He looked across at her. "Why does it not scare you, if you actually know what's out there?" He wondered if she was naive, stupid, lying, misguided - all of the above, maybe. Or maybe she had more going for her than first appeared. Like Caleb had had. But then again, he still worried about his brother - and he wouldn't claim connection to him either to a stranger.

"Because I have nothing to be afraid of," she shot back, her eyes glittering now. "People like me aren't very long for this world, Mathias. Eventually I'm going to get stuck somewhere, and I'm going to die. It's going to happen once I settle down, all right? That's why I keep moving, but I'm not afraid. You can sit there and think your life is too dangerous for me to comprehend, and think maybe I'm just a silly girl who doesn't know better, but I do."

He pulled the car into the motel parking lot and turned off the engine, but he made no move to get out of the car. Instead, he turned bodily to face her. "You say you're not afraid of death, but you're running from it," he told her. "You think you're going to die once you've settled down and you say you're okay with that, that you know it's the way it has to be. But in the same breath, you say that's why you keep moving. You're running away, Princess - you're afraid of death, just like everybody else."

She looked away, clutching the sides of her seat as her heart pounded against her chest. Maybe she was now seeing why he got so mad about her asking him personal questions. She didn't want to hear this, or acknowledge that he was right. It gave him way too much power. "Maybe I'm just delaying the inevitable for a bit. It doesn't scare me, but maybe I don't want to die just yet. If it happens, so be it, but yeah, I'd prefer to be around for a bit longer." Trailing off, she felt resigned to the fact that she was wide open now. Sighing, Olivia turned her head toward him lazily. "What do you want from me then, Mathias? Just tell me, and you got it."

He sighed, shaking his head a little. "I don't want anything from you," he told her. He wasn't sure whether that was the truth or not. He knew that the sensible thing would be to tell her that what he wanted was for her to leave him alone, but he couldn't do that. And it would also be a lie - and he seemed to have difficulty with that and her. He looked at her in the half light cast by the parking lot illumination and made a decision. "No - I do want something from you. Come back to my room with me," he told her. "I promise not to touch you - but I need a drink and I'd like you to join me."

That wasn't the answer she had been prepared for and it took her by surprise. Once again. She hesitated, knowing it was better for her to say no, thank you and go back to her room. Hell, it would probably be best for her to run now. Very far, and very fast. Instead she nodded. "All right." Olivia turned and got out of the car, taking a moment to try and control the beating of her heart. Vulnerability was something she didn't like revealing. At this point, a drink sounded more than ideal.

He joined her, locking the car before heading to his room. He flipped on the lights as they walked in, closing the door behind them and gesturing that she should sit as he took a mostly full bottle of tequila out of his bag and rescued two plastic cups from the bathroom.

Olivia sat on the edge of the mattress, clasping her hands between her knees. She grinned when she saw him walk toward her with the bottle and plastic cups. "We're living the high life now, aren't we?"

There wasn't exactly a lot of furniture in the base-level motel room. It was either the bed, or the floor - and Mathias had no intention of being uncomfortable. The company had enough of a way of doing that already. So he sat on the other side of the bed, balancing the cups between them as he poured them each a heavy measure. "Don't you just know it?" he teased, before drinking half of his in one go. He felt it burn its way down to his stomach, but it felt good. He leveled his gaze at her. "I have a suggestion," he said, the back of his mind already clamoring that this was a fucking bad idea and he should just shut up RIGHT NOW. He ignored it. "You wanted something real." He paused again, before continuing. "So, here's my suggestion. You have a drink. I have a drink. We can ask each other questions. In turn. Anything you want. And you have to answer truthfully. And if you don't want to? Then you drink."

Olivia took the cup and studied the liquor inside. She was wary, but his suggestion seemed to indicate he was willing to talk to her truthfully, even if he was hiding it behind tequila. And God, she could never stomach tequila. She'd be passed out on the floor in less than five shots. Still, she wasn't one to back down, especially when he'd given her an open shot at him. "Okay, sure. But if you're just trying to just trying to get me drunk in a roundabout way, it's not going to work," she added on lightly.

Mathias grinned. "All you have to do to stop that is to tell the truth," he pointed out, his confidence hiding how much of a Bad Idea he knew this really was. What, exactly, did he think he was doing, encouraging the girl? He told himself that he had a damn good constitution and stomach of alcohol - he didn't have to answer anything he didn't want to. "I'll even let you go first."

"Okay," she said, studying him closely as her mind ticked through the endless questions she could throw at him. She could throw him the easy stuff first and work her way up. She'd already asked if he had ever killed anyone. Where else do you go after that? He was still fairly closed off and her mind ran through their conversation at the Happy Medium the night before. "Do you have any siblings?"

Bitch. She'd started with the one thing he's not wanted to talk about. But the way it was phrased, a drink was as good as a yes anyhow. "Yes," he told her - giving the least possible information, and giving it begrudgingly. Maybe she wouldn't pursue that line of questioning. "What makes you think you're going to die when you settle down?" he asked in turn.

Asshole. Olivia frowned and stared down into the tequila. A hangover in the morning, or an hour long explanation of her so-called destiny? Scowling, she knocked it back and inhale sharply as it burned her throat before shoving the cup at him to refill it. Her eyes were already starting to water. "No repeating questions either," she stated before running a hand over her hair. Shifting on the bed, she leaned back against the headboard, maintaining a safe distance from him. "When's the last time you saw your family?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

Oh no, no you don't. 'About five hours ago' wasn't passing his lips any time tonight, that was for sure. "No repeating questions," he agreed, as he tossed back his shot and poured both of them another. He decided against the question: What's your obsession with my family, not wanting to encourage her at all and went with, "How old were you when you left home?" There, a nice easy one for her.

Olivia paused in surprise at his unwillingness to answer. Touchy subject perhaps? She wanted to push, but decided to wait a bit longer. For some reason she couldn't see Mathias as a family person, and was strange to know he had siblings out there, somewhere. "Eighteen," she replied easily. "I left after high school." And he had already told her he dropped out of college to travel, so she wasn't about to fall back on the same question. Licking her lip and still tasting the tequila, Olivia considered. "How many women have you played this game with?"

"None," he admitted with a casual shrug. "No men either, in case you were wondering," he added, offering up more information on that relatively comfortable question. Oh no, he'd never put himself in a position of playing a game like this before. And he doubted he ever would do again.

Olivia laughed at that, somewhat thankful for the revelation, though she already knew the answer to it. "I guess that's good to know. I'm honored to be the first, I suppose," she added, trailing her finger around the top of the cup. "Why do you not like talking about your family?"

He toyed with his shot, looking like he was seriously contemplating drinking again. For a long time he sat in silence, his cup half way to his mouth as he contemplated whether or not the question was safe to answer, and if so, what words he could use to make it safer still. In the end, he lowered the cup, still full. "Told you - people would like to try and hurt me - or those connected with me." Let her take that and hopefully shut up about it. And hopefully assume from that that he'd severed all connection with them the way he'd just tried to with her. "Why did you leave?" he asked her. "Home - after high school," he clarified.

"Because the man who I thought was my father, wasn't, and I had enough of living in Maine," she said truthfully, curious now as she leaned forward, her cup still full. The two shots in the bar, as well as the tequila, was doing strange things to her mind. "Have you cut contact with them then? Your family? Do they know where you are?"

"That's at least two questions, Princess," he pointed out to her, shifting on the bed to stretch out lazily on his side, resting on an elbow, his cup cradled in his hand. As always, he managed to look supremely comfortable and incredibly relaxed.

Olivia shrugged, sinking down into the pillows. Even with her hazy mind at the moment, she could read him pretty well. The short answers, the indecision to answer or drink. If he had severed contact with his family, then it shouldn't be so difficult to answer, unless he was afraid she's start prying deeper. "So?" she said. "Answer one of them then."

"No, I haven't cut contact with them," he admitted, eventually. It seemed the easier question to answer - and answering the other one would answer the first anyhow. He considered her, leaning forward a little. "What's your interest in my family?" he asked her, possibly a little too sharply, but her single minded questioning had him on edge.

She smiled and thought about not answering and taking a drink, just to piss him off. Instead, Olivia decided to answer, not wanting to irritate him anymore than she already had. "It's not an interest in your family, it's an interest in you. Family says a lot about a person and you're reluctant to talk about them." Olivia decided to let him off the hook, for now. "Has there ever been any place you haven't wanted to leave?"

"Sure, plenty of them," he told her, before deciding to flip it round to her. "What happened to your real father?" he asked her. Since family said so much about a person, he'd ask about hers.

Olivia began to ask him another question when she paused at his, careful as not to clench her cup too tightly and spill tequila all over herself. It was only fair, she supposed, that he pry into her life as well. "He left," she answered simply. If he could sidestep details, so could she. "Name one," Olivia continued, happy to get back on track. "One place you wished you didn't have to leave."

"Laos," he said, equally simply. "Where did he go?" He fired the question back at her, not giving her a moment's pause.

Frustrated, Olivia shot him a look. "How the hell am I suppose to know where he went?" she asked sharply. "He just left. I was a baby, I don't even know the man."

"Someone may have told you," Mathias answered, taking that to be his question. He noted her look of frustration but ignored it, internally satisfied that he'd got to her like she'd got to him. He allowed himself a moment of malicious pleasure that it served her right. "You ever try looking for him?"

"That wasn't your question," Olivia replied, realizing what he had done. Pushing herself up into sitting position, Olivia did her best to glare at him. "That doesn't count. Do you have brothers or sisters?" She could push if he wanted her to.

"You asked me a question - I answered it," Mathias told her, not moving from his relaxed position. "But, okay - I retract the question. But I reserve the right to ask it again. It doesn't fall under the no repeat rule." He didn't give her the chance to object. "I have brothers. Now - did you ever try looking for him?" he repeated.

Olivia bit back the urge to curse and settled against the pillows again. She didn't know how he managed to twist things to his benefit, but he did. "I never tried looking for him, no. I never wanted to," she added, in case he should decide to question it. She was beginning to wonder if this game was a wise idea, or just a way for Mathias to get inside her head and push her buttons. She leaned toward him a little. "What are your brothers' names?"

Mathias gave her a look at that and very deliberately threw back the drink, tossing his head back with it and swallowing slowly. Oh yeah - that was a question that he had no fucking intention of answering. He took a moment, his tongue flickering over his lips to catch any stray drops of alcohol, his eyes half closed as he savored the warmth spreading through him. Couldn't beat good tequila. He swallowed once again, then looked back at her, swapping his cup to the other hand as he unscrewed the bottle cap and poured himself another measure, before setting it back down on the side. "Why did you come to Marquette?" he asked her.

Satisfied when he downed the drink, Olivia relaxed, unable to help the small smirk on her lips. She was doing pretty well so far, her cup only refilled once. She purposely ignored her body's reaction when his tongue peaked out from between his lips. "Why? Because I was hitching a ride and ended up here. No real rhyme or reason to is. But it's a small, nice place, so I decided to stay for a bit. Why did you come to Marquette? You said it was to visit friends, but I think if that were true, wouldn't they be here tossing tequila with you instead of me."

"It's a quiet backwater and the people I last pissed off wouldn't look for me here," Mathias told her. Which happened to be the truth. The honest truth, only missing out the fact that he'd chosen this specific backwater because his brother lived here. "What do you believe in?" he asked, picking the question seemingly at random. Mostly, he was interested in her response.

So he was hiding, more or less. "Believe in?" she asked, confused. "Do you mean like, higher power? UFOs? Freedom of speech?" Olivia smiled. "That question could take awhile to answer."

"I'm not going anywhere," Mathias told her with a smug grin. "Answer it howver you like - pick one."

"I believe in myself," Olivia responded easily. Whether he knew it or not, it was a dangerous question with many answers. Several of which he would come away from it thinking she was insane. "That's about it. And what about you?"

"The same," he agreed. Interesting. He contemplated her for a long moment, the smile on his face turning to a more musing look. "Only in yourself?" he asked, pursuing the line.

Olivia nodded, the answer a simple one. Her gaze met his and she decided to speak what was on her mind. "I believe in what I can depend on. And right now, that's myself. No family, no friends. Just myself. It's easy, and it's simple." It was her turn for a question. "Do you really think so highly of yourself? That you assume you can bed anyone you please?" A drastic change, sure, but if she was getting answers from him, they might as well be worthwhile. She was hoping he'd answer properly enough to turn her off of him for good.

He question surprised him, coming the way it did - and that much was obvious in his face for a moment, before he covered. "I don't assume that I can bed anyone I please," he told her. And he didn't. He knew he was good at playing the game, he knew he had a way about him and he knew he rarely failed if he really set his mind to seduction. But that was rarely - not never. And he'd crashed and burned in the past. Of course, that also helped him out in the future. Because someone who assumed they would win was setting themselves up to lose. He knew he would be on thin ice, asking the obvious retort question, but he decided to ask it anyway. "Was I wrong then, was there not even a chance?" he asked her, knowing that he didn't have to specify at what he may or may not have had a chance. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer to that question.

She thought about drinking, if they were still playing that game. Let him wonder himself, rather than give him a straight answer. Olivia gave a small smile and set her cup on the table next to the bed. "It's hard for me to answer that question properly," she admitted. "Because I wasn't lying, I don't have one night stands. But that's always been easy for me to stick to, because most of the time when someone kisses me, I don't feel anything that would remotely resemble passion, or whatever it is you're suppose to feel." Stupid tequila. "If you had kissed me last night...maybe. But you chose being a gentleman, so I guess you'll never know."

He chuckled at that. "Good answer," he allowed. "I guess I never will. I'll tell you what I think," he said - knowing she hadn't asked, but she hadn't questioned him either, so he'd give her his thoughts. "I think that, by the look on your face last night, your body language, if I'd been really good, if I'd tried really hard, then I think I would have been in with a possibility. And then I think that you would have woken up this morning and you would have hated me. And you would have hated you. And I wasn't out to do that to you. So, I chose to be a gentleman."

He was a never ending maze of confusion. "You only knew me for a few hours by that time," she pointed out. "Why did you care if I would have hated you? Isn't that the point of one nighters? Have sex and take off in the morning, never to have to see each other again?"

"Well, yes," Mathias agreed, easily - he'd had enough of them to know how it worked, after all. "But generally I prefer my women to be on the same wavelength as me. I would prefer to be with someone who actively wanted me, rather than someone I had to seduce into doing something they wouldn't normally do. And I have enough people in my life who hate me without adding you to the list for no other reason than I couldn't keep it in my pants." Oh, look - there was the tequila talking. Normally Math tried to be slightly more subtle than that.

"Ah, I get it. I guess that makes sense." Olivia bit her lower lip briefly while contemplating. "Have you ever...I mean, has there ever been anyone you might have wanted more with than just sex?" How they had gotten on this path, she didn't quite know. She was beginning to wonder how she even made it into his room. Or why she was resting so comfortably on his pillow.

Mathias dropped his eyes and looked away at the question, unable to maintain eye contact. "Not for a long time," he muttered, finally looking uncomfortable. He should ask a question, he knew - he just couldn't for the life of him think of one right now.

Olivia noted the silence, deciding not to push him any further on that topic. She didn't believe she'd ever met one person who hadn't had their heart broken one way or another. Whether or not Mathias had...at the moment it wasn't her business. Instead, she decided to go with her gut, rather than the loud, screaming, wailing sirens in her head to go back to her own room. She inched toward him on the bed and ran her fingers through his hair, for reasons unknown to her. Olivia wasn't thinking, that was going to be her excuse. Bending down, she covered his lips with hers. She just had to see...just once, if she was in as much trouble as she thought she might be.

Mathias' mind was full of Erzulie, as ridiculous as that was, considering he'd left the woman behind fourteen years ago. It had been some time since he'd even thought about her, but everything with Caleb had brought that back to the fore recently, and he'd never really forgotten about her. He could still lose himself in her - the way he always had been able to. Except then there were fingers in his hair and lips meeting his, catching him unawares and he started slightly, before instinctively kissing her back, his hand reaching behind him to drop his cup on the side, before returning to her, reaching to the small of her back to pull her into him, deepening the kiss.

Wrong! Wrong! Her mind was screaming at her, all sense of logic quickly dissipating when Olivia wrapped an arm around his shoulders and neck and pulled him on top of her. Every single skin cell seemed to burn and she vaguely wondered if anyone had kissed her this way before. Or maybe it was all in her head. Parting her lips, she allowed him to deepen the kiss, wondering if that groan had actually come from her. Olivia pulled him closer, her hands sliding down his sides until they slipped under his shirt to touch his skin.

Leave. Leave now. Now, right now. This minute, pull away and walk out - your bag's packed and by the door... LEAVE. That would be the sensible thing, he knew. And what he should do. Especially knowing what he knew now. He'd been serious before, he didn't need to seduce women into doing what they wouldn't normally. He'd only ever found pleasure in that when he'd set himself the challenge of it, when it was his intent, usually within a wider play. Not here, not like this - to hurt people for no reason. He didn't mess with individuals. He messed with groups, with societies, to make change and difference, to mix things up. This girl was alone, by herself - this was pointless. Pointless and warm. And soft, and good. So damn good. And no matter how he told himself not to, his hands roamed along her sides, brushing past her breasts, beginning to explore her body.

Okay, so that was nice...and, yes, that was very nice, but it's time to stop now. Seriously. Olivia had to stop and she kept telling herself she would. In just a minute. Her heart was heaving against her chest, she could feel it pounding inside. Maybe it was about to burst, she didn't know for sure. Stroking her tongue against his, Olivia arched into his hands, suddenly realizing that this? Could become incredibly addicting. She scratched her nails lightly down his back to his jeans, roaming them along his belt with the intent to stop at the front of his jeans and pull it off. But something stopped her. Something that didn't really feel like his belt, but was shoved in the waistband. Olivia tugged at it, tearing her lips from his as she lifted it up to examine it. She'd seen knife sheaths before. And this was a knife sheath. "What is this?" she asked breathlessly, unsure whether or not to be incredibly aroused, or frightened. It was a strange, strange mixture of emotion.

It took Mathias a moment to connect with the question, since he'd succeeded in switching off the thinking part of his brain, just to stop the loud protestations at what he was obviously seriously considering doing. He drew back, responding at first to the fact that she was no longer kissing him and to the mere tone of her voice, that questioning tone, than to the actual words. His eyes were dark and needy as he looked first at her, then managed to focus on the knife that she was holding. The knife in its leather sheath. The one he'd armed himself with earlier without a second thought. He stared at it, then at her, not speaking - what could he say? 'It's a knife' seemed really rather pathetic, after all.

Olivia shot him a look when he didn't answer before slipping her arm from beneath him and opening the sheath, pulling out the knife. She examined it, not surprised by the fact that he had it, but by the fact that he had it on him. "I guess you like to be prepared?" she asked him easily before lifting an eyebrow curiously. "You don't plan on using it tonight, do you?"

"Not now," he admitted, watching her carefully as she examined his knife. He wasn't sure what to make of the way she was looking at it. "I didn't know who was at the door," he explained.

Olivia swallowed and nodded, turning to drop the knife to the floor. Finding it had drawn her back to reality. It wasn't the knife that bothered her, but the position she was finding herself in. Literally. She wanted to wrap herself around him again and just let go completely, but she worried she wasn't thinking properly, and was basing this decision on...something she couldn't really understand. Reaching up, she slid her hands through his hair before lifting slightly to press her lips against his again. "I do want you, Mathias. You can have me, if you want me. It doesn't have to mean anything. I can leave in the morning, just like the others, and you won't have to worry about me hating you." She made sure her tone conveyed sincerity, even if she was starting to shake beneath him.

He leaned in to kiss her again, deeply and passionately, pulling her hard against him and drawing the kiss out as long as he could. Because he could. And because he couldn't and wouldn't deny that it was tempting. Because he wanted her and she would know that now, there was no hiding it. But even Mathias had his rules - twisted as they were to any normal person. He had his limits and his own strange morality. And so he let her go, albeit very reluctantly. "Say that when you're sober. And when you're serious." He told her, knowing full damn well that if she ever said that sober, if she ever said that serious, he'd know it was way past time for him to be leaving - promise to his brothers or no.

Olivia lay back, panting as she stared at him. Her entire world had just been tossed into upheaval, the limits she had set for herself four years ago crushed in what, one evening? She felt an odd mixture of gratefulness and rejection. It swam unpleasantly in her stomach and she turned away from him, pushing herself up and off of his bed. Would she ever be able to tell him that sober? That she could handle just sex and none of the strings? Maybe. But probably not. But if he kissed her again the way he just had? Oh, God. Olivia closed her eyes briefly. She was so....fucked. Her head was spinning, so she took a moment before looking back at him. "I should go." Yes. Going would be ideal. "G'night." She pulled open the door to the hall, reaching into her pockets for her own room key. Check out time was noon. But she would be gone long before then.

He didn't try and stop her. Didn't even rise when she did. Instead he lay on the bed and watched her leave, his eyes ticking to his bag as she closed the door behind her. He'd be gone by morning, he knew. He didn't know where - he couldn't leave town. But somewhere. Somewhere that wasn't a motel she could find him at. He'd find somewhere to stay. But he wouldn't be here for her to come knocking again. That was asking for trouble.