"You... The Pods were invented... for you..." I gasped.

"Technically, they were invented in preparation for someone important who might need them" he said.

"And they never felt anyone was important enough until you came along"

"No, they did not" he replied, not really cocky, just... factual.

"So then that means you had a pod.... a hundred years before they were released to the public. The Elite Public, more specifically" meaning he had been saving lives and fixing things before I was even born.

"Yes"

"So you-"

"I want to turn the page" he said bluntly, grabbing my wrist.

"Well, well you see I, it's... that's it. No more" I chuckled nervously.

"Lies make me angry" was his only reply.

"Maybe I would prefer to keep some things private" I retorted.

"Then you should not have handed me the book" he said, applying more force to moving my hand.

"I... Well..." I stumbled, but it was too late. He had already turned the page.

In hues and shades of black and gray sat a perfect replica of Brittock's face in paper form. The angle of his cheek bones, the strike of his nose, the curve of his lips, all perfectly captured like a photograph. The only color on the page was the vibrant blue hue of his eyes. I spent hours testing blues that had taken me months to find in order to get the correct balance of lights and darks.

One of my favorite past times had been watching him plan out his future, write down his ideas on maps and in books. He would sit at his rickety table and write for hours, then he would stop, glancing up, steepling his fingers while he thought to himself. He seemed to be staring at nothing, but with intensity that hinted at his deep thoughts.

It was that image that I chose to draw, and I had captured it perfectly.

Creepily, awkwardly, scarily perfectly.

"I drew that one day when I was bored, hardly ever thought about it" I said, trying to play off my embarrassment and nervousness. He closed the the sketch book gently, letting the spine rest in his lap. Releasing his grip on the covers, he let the book fall open. The pages fluttered downward, opening directly to his image.

"Then why is this the most frequently visited page in the entire book?" his sharp eyes slid to me slowly, making me want to crawl away and hide with the intensity.

"Because I... I..." I had no idea what I was supposed to say.

Without a word, Brittock slung one of his long legs over my own, straddling me, simultaneously pinning me to the railing. He swayed with the action, but used his hands to hold stead fast on to the poles to the left and right of my side. I tried to shrink into myself in an attempt to get away from his close proximity.

"You are drunk" I insisted, my voice higher pitched than normal.

"Yes" he murmured as he leaned in toward my face.

"No" I placed my hand on his face, pushing him away slightly.

"Why?" he growled.

"Because... because...." I sighed with exasperation, "because you are my enigma and I want to understand you, I want to find out more about you, I want to know you. Kissing you gives me the reward of the challenge without actually completing it" I explained quietly, "and technically I still hate you" I added with a nervous chuckle, trying to add levity to the hypo-charged atmosphere.

He searched my eyes for a few moments before dropping his head in frustration. He let his body flop sideways, landing with a thud on the ground, legs splayed across mine haphazardly.

"I like you much more like this" I said with chuckle.

"I love your laugh" He groaned out loud, rubbing his chest and stomach.

"Alright big guy, calm down" I said, quickly crawling to my feet. "C'mon, let's get you to bed" I offered him my hand, which he took without his usual grace.

"You are too small to hold me up" he said.

"Am not! I'm very tall and strong for a woman!" I yelled, pulling with all my might. He was practically standing when I realized his six and half feet was too much weight for me, especially since he was two hundred plus pounds of dead weight muscle. He fell forward, into my arms, pushing me backwards with all his power.

"Wah!" I choked out as he let himself fall on top of me, only when we actually made impact, he was underneath me.

"You are such an ass!" I yelled with a laugh as I slapped his chest.

I hesitated when I felt odd vibrations coming from his chest cavity.

When I looked up at his face, I found his eyes squeezed shut as his chest shook violently. Suddenly, a loud, booming tone cut through the silent air as Brittock let loose a deep sound.

I felt my mouth drop open and a smile overcome my face as I realized the quirk to the corner of his mouth was a smile.

He was laughing. Out loud!

I tried to pull myself up his body in order to look at the magnificent sight, but I realized both of his large hands were firmly grasped on my hips.

He laughed his fill, the sound of the joyous percussions slowly dying down to quiet chuckles.

"I've never heard you laugh before" I said with a smile, still feeding off of his laughter.

"I have not laughed in thousands of years..." He admitted, relinquishing me from his hold.

"Please, please get up now. You need to sleep this off" I insisted, pulling him up. He reached his feet clumsily, leaning on me as he threw his arm around my shoulders. We made our way to the elevator, down a floor, and into his room.

"I do not drink to get drunk... usually" he said quietly as I let him flop into his comforter.

"Then why did you?"

"Because the sun always sets in the west"

"What does that mean?" I asked, dragging him further into his bed.

"It means that no matter how good my life gets, no matter what light enters my surroundings, it always passes, leaving darkness. Like clockwork" Brittock's voice was low, his arm thrown over his eyes.

"But the opposite is true as well... Every time the sun sets, it has plans to rise the next day. And even then, the dark is never truly pitch black. There's always the moon. It may be a different kind of light, but it's still a source" I said, looking through his window blinds at the brightness of the midnight moon.

He removed his arm from his face to look at me.

"I need someone to remind me of that" I wish I had the ability to keep myself composed under his intense scrutiny. My heart threatened to rip itself from my chest on the very spot.

"Well you will be fine on your own if you can remember. You're pretty self-sufficient" I teased nervously, making my way toward his bedroom door.

"Stay" he insisted, sitting up in bed.

"I-I can't-"

"Stay" he repeated, his tone demanding.

I stared, violently tapping my foot and biting my lip as I weighed my options. Sighing, I dropped my backpack and padded back to his bed. Making sure to stay on top of the comforter, I laid down on the edge of his bed, hoping I could stay awake long enough for him to fall into a deep sleep.

"Thank you" Brittock whispered before his breathing evened out and he fell fast asleep.