Joseph directed Ruby by trudging ahead, stumbling by the stone and cursing in his broken breath that secured a place near the foot of the streetlight pole. But for his drowsy state, it was the stone's fault to come under his feet ─ none of his.

Instinctively, she shot her head up as she chaffed along the murkiness of creepy little plants edging the sidewalk as their shadows formed on the pavement made out of solid concrete.

They looked as though they were any runaway couple -- one who didn't value the night for sleep until they found a permanent shelter that would keep them safe from their thwarted enemy's wrath for eternity. Cliché? No, it was not in their case.

Pressed down, were her eyes where grainy eyeliner swooshed on the lids. Her lips were sealed together to soothe the inner corners of the two pink cushions against the frigid winter.

Joseph had taken a turn to the right--perhaps, to the main entrance of his house. He would've entered inside quietly but something had happened which caused him to whirl around, flinch and linger there a little longer with a dour frown forming on his lips.

Overdriven by the command of fresh air that caressed her dry face. The smell of jasmines and a visualization of an idyllic scene of white jasmines providing a reciprocating effect to the torch-lit garden occurred to her. She didn't realize for how long precisely she'd been wandering off in the garden dream sequence until she bumped into a hard, ultra-tech cemented wall. A thud sounded louder. But, way louder was her shriek.

"Ahhh!"

"Hey, stay quiet little idiot! I don't want your sleepwalking to be the cause of my exit from this area where I've been living for . . . whatever. Why am I even explaining this to her?" Joseph whisper-bellowed, rubbing his face with weak hands, and motioned her to follow him further but stopped as he added on, "Come inside. Only if you can silently."

For once she had sketched him as an honest, kindful man. But the second he opened his mouth, the same old same old words hit her hard. Before, she could even recall the moment where he blurted the crumpled mysterious soliloquy about his aloof state of living from a few minutes earlier discourse ─ which still didn't lead to any solid conclusion ─ her mind shunned all such thoughts and accepted the brutal reality of his cunning character. A leopard can't change its spot, it was so true.

Ruby fisted the lapels of her jacket and brought it closer to the center. She dragged her feet as she followed his suit and very soon they merged in the dark tunnel.

As the lights turned on, she was welcomed by the great emptying sigh of the house.

"Everything is the same," Ruby muttered calmly, and her fingers ghosted on the genuine leather covering the sofa; it was soft and warm to the touch and gave a distinctive aroma- rich and appealing.

Her eyes scanned across the room and she moved forward in awe to explore the adjoining kitchen.

"You can stay over a night in your room. It was earmarked for your lodging and then leave before sunrise. I hope it's our last─"

Instantly, he placed a hand on the wall. His struggle to stand erect escaped from her eyes as she was reminiscing the past moments (although they held no good memories). His knees were too weak to fight against the death grip of sleep deprivation and a mild hangover. A faint sound of his body falling on the sofa perked her ears up, and she paced toward him.

"Joseph, should I take you to your room?" she asked nervously. Although she knew he would say a big no, surprisingly, he didn't. Rather, with animated gestures he pulled himself up and started to walk on his own, pressing his hand harshly on the other side of his head.

She went along with him as he mounted the stairs feebly. She accompanied him to his room thereafter. He had never allowed her to enter this eyrie of a bedroom at any cost. But there she was, standing on the borderline of trespassing from the porch into his coveted space.

His body ricocheted on the bed and a sigh escaped from both of their mouths in unison. She untangled her arms from underneath his body and straightened up.

She held her breath and was teetering on the edge of darting out of his room at the spiteful remark flying from the edgy man's mouth. Now, now, now. Much to her surprise, not only she was safely standing there but also had a word with him.

"Joseph . . ."

"Umm . . ."

"I want to ─" a prolonged silence stretched as her mind battled on and something weird popped out of her mouth. "─make you a tea. Just don't get up from the bed. I'll be right back." Ruby vanished from his room back into his kitchen.

Not to oversee the fact that he allowed her to loiter in his do-not-enter bedroom and the instances where he showed up out of the blue: when he saved her from Madame Tào's microscopic eyes; or the accidental meeting at the themed party; or his drunken soul lurking in the dark to bring her to his home.

There was something mysterious about this man and his deeds.

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At this point, when the entire city was sleeping, Ruby scarcely felt any signs of sleepiness. Only God knew where did she get that energy from. Her feet swept against the ceramic, scratch-resistant tiles anxiously.

The clock kept on ticking.

She searched all through the cabinets and found a pan. Ruby wanted to prepare it quickly before he drifted to sleep. Quickly running her hands over the containers on the upper shelf assembled perfectly according to their sizes and a label that marked the contents filled in it, helped her to find the tea bags.

After a good four minutes invested in hyperactivity and a few seconds spent over giving the last touch of a stir, she climbed up the stairs with a small round plate clutched between her thumb and the fingers stuck on its cold base. On it, kept was a glass hot piping cup of tea with its vapor smearing against the ullage.

Upon hearing a high-pitched voice erupting from the bathroom, she placed the plate on the side table slowly and ambled hastily. Ruby merely would've pushed back the slightly ajar door, and there she saw him standing in sound health and looking at her indecisively.

"What?"

With his hair tentacles soaked and a line of water gliding down his high-cut cheekbones, it was more than enough for her to register that he had freshened up himself and puked out all of it and was now in his right senses.

Should she finish her old, unfinished talk with him? Would that tiny thread connecting her to him and acting upon the past precedent to help a stranger really be worth it? Well, that was an aberration, given Ruby never cared to care about anyone except Emily. This was a new development for her.

She turned around and offered him the tea. He came out and reluctantly took it after getting threatening hints from her widened eyes.

"You don't have to do this. Now go and sleep. I'll drop you home while I go out for work tomorrow," Joseph said and stopped drinking after slurping one and probably the last sip.

She nodded and pivoted on her heels only to halt near the doorjamb. "Joseph . . ." she purred, looking deeply into his eyes.

"Go on."

She juddered past the minimal elements in his room "I want to be your Elizabeth Warner." She was sure that it wasn't the power of the ever-continuing blues that had served her eyes for twenty years, but something much newer. "And this time I'll not go back on my words."

"Thank you." He bobbed his head. Joseph paid her no mind as he knew nothing was going to happen. He temporarily answered positive only to keep the weight of the deceptive plan off Ruby's chest.

"For risking my life and accepting the offer, or for the tea─I don't know what it tastes like?" she chuckled.

"For both."

Word count - 1320

a/n; Okay so ze gal iz readyy.