when stars align, something always crashes [[open]]

[Lilith Prescott]

It was near midnight as Lilith continually made her way across the cemetery, looking for the perfect photo. She loved the trees here, combined with the twinkling stars it made for quite a pretty picture, even in the dead of the night. The moon was full and she smiled as she skipped along.

Lilith stopped, turned around where she was, her face turning up to the stars. It was going to be her birthday in exactly 13 minutes.

"1...2....3" Lilith smiled. "What a funny age." Lilith had stopped moving while she counted, as it required most of her concentration. She caught a glimpse of a hill out of her peripherals and smiled with joy as she turned to run up it. Once at the top, she did a twirl. "THIS SPOT IS PERFECT!" She shouted with glee!

The mistake made here was when Lilith tried to jump in heels. As she came down, her ankle tilted just a little off, causing her to fall down and effectively end up at the bottom of the hill on her back, her skirt pushed up a bit to where you could just see her bright pink underwear and her hair a wild mess around her head. Lilith looked up to the sky from where she lay.
"ow...."

She glanced at her watch.

12:02.

"Happy birthday to me."

[Drew Schultz]

The cemetery was usually quiet after dark, against stereotype. Teenagers who wanted to prove themselves tough were usually the only people that intruded on Drew's solitude when he walked there at night. His parents were probably put to rest in just such a place, and he could only hope that it was somewhere half as peaceful as this one. He didn't remember their names, and he'd never been able to track them down, so he had no way of knowing. Perhaps it was, like this one, a hilly expanse of mismatched stones of gray and brown, interspersed with trees that leaned and crooked from age. Perhaps, like this one, you could see the stars overhead, despite the city lights and the frequent rain.

His worn black work boots were silent as he walked through the grass, his nose twitching as he passed through the gap in the leaning Victorian fence. There was someone else here, though he didn't recognize the scent. All he could tell was that she was female, and not entirely human. His pupils were almost completely dilated, leaving little of the brown around the edges to allow him to see more clearly in the dark. Leaning against the massive cypress tree, he brushed some hanging moss out of his face when he heard her voice.

She didn't seem to register his presence as she shouted into the sky, not seeming to realize what a dangerous move that could be in the dead of night. His eyes narrowed as he glanced around, still sniffing at the air. There didn't seem to be anyone around. She'd been lucky.

What was less lucky was her fall down the hill, and yet luck hadn't left her entirely. There had been no crack from her ankle, which meant that her ridiculous heels hadn't gotten their revenge. Sighing with a roll of his eyes, he approached the spot where she lay, his hands in his pockets. People seemed not to react as badly to his unexpected presence if he kept his hands somewhat confined. He stopped a few paces away, lifting his eyebrow at her in query.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his low bass voice carrying in the still graveyard. "Have you hit your head?"

He could see just the edge of her underwear, and it made the back of his neck warm in a blush as he shuffled in embarrassment and looked away, clearing his throat.

[Lilith Prescott]

Lilith was debating how soon she wanted to stand up, thinking she was alone till she heard a low voice asking if she was ok and if she had hit her head. She frowned, sitting up slightly and glancing at the man who stood a few paces away. She blinked. Wow he is tall!She looked down to stand up, saw her skirt was pushed up and let out a small squeal pulling it down. "PLEASE TELL ME YOU DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING?!"

Lilith jumped up, fixing her skirt, a blush stealing across her face for a moment before she looked at the man in front of her. "Holy shnikies your tall!" Lilith let out a small laugh, not bothering to fix her messy hair, then realizing what she said might have sounded rude she let out a small gasp. "Oh no! I didn't mean tall bad..I meant tall good. I mean...maybe you don't like being tall, but tall people can just grab onto things on top of shelves, and can always reach things us short people can't get. Not that being short is bad, I personally like being short because I think I look cute being short and then I can wear tall heels without dwarfing anyone which is amazing! But being tall isn't bad! I didn't mean it like that, I mean you look good tall. I mean...not look good like that but being tall seems to suit you ya know..." Lilith took a breath, not realizing she was rambling. "Anyways I'm sorry if I disturbed you! I just found this perfect place to take a picture and--"

Lilith held up her camera, the lens had a huge crack in it and her eyes widened. "OH NO! Not again!!!" Lilith ran to the top of the hill where her bad was. Running in heels on grass might not have been her most brilliant idea as she hid a small dip and promptly fell back down, twisting her ankle. "ow...not again..." She kept a wrap in her bag just for things like this, but it was way up there. She glanced back at the man at the bottom of the hill...uncertain if she should use her telekinesis in front of him. She huffed. What was she supposed to do now?! "Uh...a little help? Maybe?"

[Drew Schultz]

Drew blinked blankly at the rapid outpouring of words, taken aback by her manner. Once she finally stopped talking, he blinked again before a grin spread across his lips and he began to laugh. His throaty voice sounded like a massive dog when he laughed, even moreso in the quiet dark of the cemetery, but he only allowed himself the amount of noise for a couple of seconds before subsiding with a grin. He'd never met someone who was so boisterous when they first met. It was refreshing to meet someone who wasn't intimidated by his size and bearing, even if it was so unexpected.

Also unexpected was her sudden flight up the hill, once she revealed a camera with a massive crack running through the lens. The camera made him a little uneasy, and the grin faded from his face as he began to wonder if he should have trusted her so easily. After all, it wasn't only men who were with Axium, was it? His instincts, however, couldn't find anything remotely harmful about the girl. She was entirely too clumsy to make any kind of stealth operative, and if she was here to find him, she would hardly have showed him the camera, would she? He flinched as he heard a small give in her ankle, and he knew that the harm that she had avoided earlier with her heels had been a lot closer this time.

Sighing deep in his throat, he climbed to the top of the hill and grabbed the bag before shuffling back down, trying to avoid sliding in the grass that was wet with the day's humidity. Once he was at her side again, he knelt at her feet and glanced up at her for a moment to make sure she knew he wasn't going to hurt her. When she didn't seem alarmed, he gently lifted the injured foot and pulled the shoe free. His fingers were rough and callused, but exceedingly gentle as he felt the injured joint for a break. It was swollen, but nothing seemed out of place.

"I don't think it's broken," he said quietly, lifting the wrap out of the bag.

Without another word, he began to wind the cloth around the injury, binding it tightly enough to keep the swelling down, but loosely enough that it wouldn't cut off the circulation. He had plenty of experience in sprains and joints being put out of place. With the wrap in place, he lifted her shoe from where it lay in the grass and held it out to her, looking back up for the first time since he'd knelt.

[Lilith Prescott]

The mans laughter was loud. It would have taken Lilith by surprise if she wasn't busy spraining her ankle. The stranger grabbed her bag, carefully making his way to her. Lilith gave a small nod as he took off her shoe and gingerly felt her ankle. "owwwww!" Her ankle really hurt, but she was glad it wasn't broken. How could she doing all these amazing things, and then fall and sprain her ankle without a thought. She looked up at the twinkling stars as the stranger wrapped her ankle.

"It sure is a pretty night." Liliths mind was wandering off her situation until the man gave her back her shoe. There was no way she was going to be able to clasp the ankle strap around her swollen ankle so she just took her other shoe off and stood up gingerly, testing out her ankle. It could take some weight, it would just be a painful walk back to her car. At least she didn't walk here from her apartment. Lilith leaned down, picking up her bag and placing her camera in it. She would just have to go get it fixed again...if only it hadn't been her favorite lens.

Standing up straight she smiled at the stranger. "Thank you so much! Oh! My name is Lilith!" Lilith held out her hand, placing both feet firmly on the ground, completely forgetting that she had just sprained her ankle and tensing up in pain. "GAH!" She teetered forward, instinctively grabbing onto the stranger with her free hand.

Once she had her balance again she looked up, a slight blush on her pale cheeks. "I..am...so...sorry! I didn't mean to just grab hold of your shirt! I mean I did but I didn't! Oh man..this is embarrassing!" Lilith looked at her hand still gripping at the strangers shirt and let go quickly, teetering backwards by the sudden movement and trying to stay on one foot, but regaining her balance again. At this rate, Lilith thought if she stayed alive long enough to make it to her car then it would a pretty okay night.

[Drew Schultz]

Drew's eyes widened as she fell into him, and a blush touched the back of his cheeks for the second time in as many minutes. At her stumbling, he sighed heavily at the back of his throat. With her evident clumsiness, she was going to break her neck trying to get home at this rate. Shaking his head as he gently took her hand to steady her, he examined her for a long moment. If he left her in this state, he would feel bad about it later. There was only one car in the parking lot, since he had walked to the cemetery, and he had to guess that it was hers. He would have been shocked if she had walked all the way here in heels, considering that there were no houses or apartments at this end of town. With her wardrobe and fancy camera, she certainly couldn't be homeless.

"Come on," he huffed, resigned. "I'll get you back to your car. Be more careful next time."

Kneeling in front of her, he heaved her onto his back and lifted her, adjusting her arms so that she wasn't choking him with her grip. Her breath on his neck made him nervous, and a wave of heat rippled from his neck down his back before he shook his head and got a grip on himself. With one arm under each leg, he kept his hands carefully near her knees and started back down the hill. She was hardly a burden, with how small she really was, and her slight weight put his instincts more at ease. Regardless of the advantage she had over him in this position, she was small enough that it didn't rouse much of a defensive reaction. That was good for both of them.

The tattoo on the back of his neck was bared to her attention, since his hair was fairly short and his t-shirt did nothing to cover it, but it was the scars that he was worried might alarm her. The pair of bullet grazes along the left side of his neck stood out against his tanned skin, pale and upraised, and the edge of a long scar across his back peeked out along his shoulder. He could only hope that she either wouldn't notice or wouldn't care. He'd come to terms with the fact that he looked dangerous a long time ago.

"This is your car, right?" he asked, not even winded by the minor exertion.

The grit and gravel crackled under his boots as he stepped off the grass and onto the pavement. The lone streetlight overhead was an irritant, and he squinted against it until his eyes adjusted, and they reached the car. Kneeling again, he waited for her to disembark.

[Lilith Prescott]

Lilith let out a gasp as she was lifted up onto the strangers back. It had escaped her attention that although she had introduced herself, he had not introduced himself. The stranger started carrying her towards the car, and she position her arms so that she was gripping his shoulders, instead of them being around his neck, and pulling her upper body back some. She had felt a little embarrassed about being pressed up against him like she was, because her arms were short and by no means was the stranger thin. She did however, notice how careful he was with his hands. Being in a skirt and riding on someones back was not the best situation, but it worked and she made sure that her skirt hadn't ridden up on her. 

"Thanks...I'm sorry to put you through so much trouble." Lilith still had a cheerful tone to her voice as she looked around. She glanced down, seeing how far up she was finally from the ground and quickly latched on a little tighter to the stranger. Heights was one of the things she wasn't a fan off, even if it wasn't that high, the guy was tall so she was towering above the ground right now. He is really warm... Lilith blinked as she noticed the tattoo on the back of his neck. It was a jumble of letters and numbers which confused Lilith. And intrigued her at the same time. "So...what are these numbers?" She asked, looking at the strangers side profile of his face, or what she could see anyways in her position, and running a finger across the back of his neck where the tattoo was. Maybe it was a fad? It was a weird one but some people liked stuff like that. Lilith had her own tattoo's of course but she had never seen one quite like that.

When she asked this question she realized they were at her car and she nodded, getting off the strangers back gently, trying to be somewhat careful with her ankle. "Thank so much! I am really sorry!" Lilith pulled her keys out of her bag. She looked around and noticed that there wasn't any other car in the area. "Can I give you a ride somewhere? Its the least I can do! You helped me out so much!"

[Drew Schultz]

The hair stood on the back of his neck as she ran her finger across the barcode, and he breathed deeply through his nose to keep himself calm. It had been a few years since he'd last felt the scanner graze his neck to confirm his identity, but the sensation was an ingrained memory of a nightmarish world. She didn't know, and he didn't really want to go into it. Harmless as she seemed, there was no knowing whether there was truth in her benign appearance, and even if she really was as harmless as she looked, she would be in danger if she knew the secrets that Axium would kill to keep. So instead of answering her questions, he simply remained silent, as was his custom. A person of few words was far less likely to give away secrets than a chatterbox, but even if he didn't have secrets to keep, he had always been a quiet person.

When she was able to stand on her own two feet, he stood again and backed up a pace, putting his hands back in his pockets. He acknowledged her thanks with a simple nod. At her question, however, he shook his head and looked at the ground, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. He had never been fond of cars because they were such enclosed spaces, and living in the city had given him an opportunity to live without having to use them much. Even though public transit was more cramped, at least it had more exits.

"No, that's not necessary," he said, looking up at her again. "I prefer walking. Thank you anyway."

His finger rubbed at the tattoo unconsciously as he spoke, running over the mild upraised bumps of the letters. He had considered getting the tattoo covered with something else, but he wasn't sure he could handle the experience of allowing a stranger to put a needle to his flesh again. Perhaps if ever he made a friend who was a tattoo artist, he would be able to get rid of the mark and the questions that came with it.

"It was nice to meet you, Lilith," he said, inclining his head in a small nod.

[Lilith Prescott]

Lilith let out a breath. He didn't want a ride, he said it was nice meeting her, and the silence between them got longer. Lilith looked up at him with a smile. "It was nice meeting you too..mr...ah..." Lilith still didn't know his name and a frown flitted across her face before she shrugged. "I mean whatever. Thanks again for all your help but I feel I must do something...anything! Please let me make it up to you!" Lilith had never met anyone before that had helped her and didn't really want anything in return.

She guessed she could be lucky he wasn't being a creep or a pervert and hadn't asked any sexual favors...the last time that happened she had lit the man on fire promptly and walked away, seething. She leaned against her car. But this guy didn't want anything....or maybe she hadn't offered something he did want. Did he not find her attractive? Lilith shook her head, that was ridiculous! She did not care, she just wanted to pay the guy back. She blinked, scribbling her phone number down on a piece of paper she had grabbed from her bag.

"Look, if you think of anything..anything at all I can help you with or maybe you want to hang out oh I don't know. Here" She handed the man her phone number. "I mean...just give me a call! I am a freelance photographer so I am free anytime and if you want to have coffee or you finally think of something I can do to help you out in any way...well almost any way. Not the sexual way. Oh my gosh I can't believe I just said that! I mean not that you are a pervert or anything! I mean....oh dang it. Just....yeah call me!" Lilith felt her cheeks turn a little pink. Why did her words always run away from her!

[Drew Schultz]

Drew blushed deeply and rubbed the back of his neck as she spoke. She was attractive, and she kept accidentally flashing him, if it really was an accident, but he wasn't exactly looking for some sort of favors in return for his help. The very thought made him feel awkward about the encounter. Why did she have to make it weird? But he took the phone number and looked at it. The only people who had his phone number were his bosses. He didn't even have it memorized, because he almost never had to give it out. But what possible use could he ever have for a photographer? She was trying to be polite, so didn't say anything, but pocketed the number instead. He smiled mildly at her, the expression feeling forced and rusty on his lips, and not quite reaching his eyes.

"I might just do that," he said, wishing he meant it. "Take care of yourself."

With another small nod, he turned and headed back to the grass. Walking along the fence, he glanced around and sniffed the air to ensure that no one had seen them. The graveyard did seem to be otherwise abandoned. Still, he glanced back only once to ensure that she had begun to leave before he pulled the number out again. The paper seemed so small, but it could cause the girl so much pain if anyone found out that he had helped her. There was really only one sensible course of action to protect her. He had to destroy the evidence that she had any connection to her.

But he was loathe to go through with it. Her simple acceptance of the appearance that anyone else called scary... It was a gift, even if she didn't know it. A kindness that he didn't deserve. Christ, had he really gotten so sentimental? It was either destroy the small slip of paper, or risk her being captured and tortured if ever the connection was discovered. His fist closed around the paper as he closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes again, they were glowing gently blue. His lips moved in a silent incantation, and he felt the page burn and crumple into ash. The slight breeze carried away the dust as he opened his fist, and he continued walking away, his eyes fading back to brown.