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((OOC: Lulz. This pretty baby is going to eat that boy alive.))

The great creature sensed a puny touch, barely more than a passing whisper, trying to touch It. Trying to understand It. It let out a chuffling noise that possibly served it for a chuckle. The tiny, fragile human creature It had passed was trying to comprehend It?

It was amused. Luckily It had chosen to be amused rather than insulted. As though such a pathetic thing could truly understand It, could truly know It.

To entertain itself, It sent back a rush of thoughts to the tiny human trying to touch It. They were so alien, so horrible, so utterly different from human thought that a weak mind might be driven to insanity. Of all humans, It enjoyed the weak ones best.

~

Tianara gave him an odd look at the comment about Joshua. About to defend him, she paused - wasn't that just what she'd been angrily thinking herself? But she'd been angry. Adrian was just...saying it.

She pushed it away, as well as the nagging corner of her thoughts that said Told you so. He hadn't meant for it to come across that way, that was all.

Giving him a shy smile in return and trying to keep from blushing at the hug, she walked in ahead of him.

If he was thinking anything to himself while she had her back to him, she'd have no idea.

It enjoyed the sense of unutterable pain that It could feel coming from the tiny mind. But the little mind did not break. This was not very pleasing to It, but strong minds were entertaining to toy with, in their own way.

It would allow the tiny creature to live, for now. Most humans did not have a mind so strong. This one must have learned it somewhere.

It would keep an eye on this one. It would keep a corner of Its mind on it.

And when the time came, the puny creature would lead It to Its true prey.

It pulled Its thoughts back from the human, only leaving the slightest hint of Itself there to connect. It would easily be able to find this little creature again.

~

Tianara glanced back at him in surprise for one second, then smiled easily back and headed up the stairs. Once at the top, she hesitated and then walked into the living area they'd been in before.

Maybe he was busy. She shouldn't have come here. She was in the way.

Putting her hands into her jeans pockets and only now noticing that her clothes were still wet and clinging after her time in the water, Tianara stepped carefully onto the hard stone-like floor in the kitchen (it was linoleum, but she had no idea what that was). She'd wait here until she was dry enough to sit down or walk on the softer stuff. She didn't want to destroy Adrian's things with salt water.

((OOC: She's not gonna. He hasn't made a move on her yet, so she'd just be all sad and like no one will ever love me instead of OMG you douchebag *stab*, which is what I want. >3 Unless you plan to have him make a move on her once he comes back up.))

Tianara stood in the kitchen for several minutes, looking faraway and a little tired. She had reached out one more time in an attempt to touch Joshua's mind, but she couldn't hear him at all now, let alone anyone farther out.

She'd never felt so cut off and alone.

For the briefest of seconds, she felt her mind brush something as she pulled back - something enormous and alien and beyond horrifying. With a little whimper, she pulled back into herself as fast as she could.

Was that the creature in the woods?

If so, how on earth was she supposed to get home?

Back to the cove, she corrected herself hastily. The cove wasn't her home. She wouldn't be there for long...one way or another. Feeling shaken and still cold to the bone, she wrapped her arms around herself and wished she could reach someone. Anyone.

((OOC: razz Well, then. I shall send Tianara out and let her be depressed.))

Tianara frowned when she heard a funny squeaking noise. What was that? Curious despite herself, the little brunette walked out of the upstairs room and paused at the top of the stairs. She couldn't see anything, and they wouldn't be able to see her, but she could hear just fine.

"I love you, Adrian."

"I know."

Tianara felt a sharp tug at her heart, but her eyes just lowered. Of course. She should have known he would already have someone he loved.

Letting out a soft breath, she turned away and padded back into the living area. By now, she was mostly dry enough that she felt safe sitting down. She stared quietly across the room, not letting herself think or feel anything.

She would not cry. She would not cry.

She should have known.

Tianara smiled a little, wearily, when he sat beside her. "Just a little, I suppose." She didn't think anything of it when he put his arm around her shoulder - Joshua did the same sort of thing now and again, and it didn't do more than make her feel a little sad again.

She shrugged slightly at his comment. "Yes, so I hear," she replied. "But that's a long ways away for me." She started a little when she felt his hand move down her side. "What are you doing?"

That was certainly not something anyone had done to her before, and she wasn't sure she liked it. It felt uncomfortable, and made her twitch slightly.

Still mostly caught up in her own upset, she was totally missing the signals.

Tianara felt him draw her closer, and on instinct, she pulled back from him again. "Adrian," she repeated, "what are you doing?"

She wanted to chalk up his words to kindness, because she had heard the girl downstairs. But his actions didn't seem to match up. For a minute, she was seriously confused, and getting a little too close to scared again for her own good.

Her eyes were on his, and they were asking for an answer. She wanted to know that he didn't mean anything by this, that whatever he was doing was something...

Joshua's words played back in her head again, and involuntarily she winced. That part of her mind that always saw things for what they really were pushed aside her innocent crush, and took centre stage.

"Is that it?" Her voice was resigned, sad, tired. Hurt. "Am I the next one in the lineup, then?" She got up from the couch and looked at him for a long moment.

I thought you were nice.

What he'd said about Joshua 'playing the idiot' annoyed her, because now she was seeing more clearly that he hadn't been the idiot at all. No, that was her.

She wanted to believe him. She really, really wanted to believe him. If she could just make that annoying honest part of her brain shut up, she might have been able to believe him because she wanted to so badly.

But she didn't.

She took a step back, gently freeing herself from him. "You know what I'm talking about," she replied, trying to keep her voice steady. It hurt to say it, but she knew now that she'd made a mistake. "I'm not special. Not to you, anyway."

The pain of being deceived, the knowledge that she had been so stupid...

It abruptly drained away, and she felt unbelievably tired. Empty.

And so cold.

"This is ridiculous," she said softly. "I thought you were nice. I really did." Turning away, she looked at the door.

It was time to go. She wanted to leave here before that coldness turned back into hurt. It didn't matter what happened. She was not going to cry.

"I should go."

Tianara smiled faintly, but there was something bitter in it - she had known what it was to be deceived before only once, and that memory was crowding in and hurting her even more than this warranted. "No, that's okay," she replied. "I know you can be nice."

Joshua wouldn't be friends with you if you couldn't be nice. Sometimes. But that won't make it any better. Not like this.

"But you aren't. Not really. I was wrong."

She went to the door. It was time to get out of here. Where she would go after this, she didn't really know, but there had to be another way to get back to the cove. Maybe she could go find Aria and Allen - they would be able to direct her.

When she opened it, she sent one more faint, sad smile over her shoulder. "Goodbye, Adrian. Thank you for everything."

She closed the door behind her, and it was a very final sound.

It didn't take more than a few minutes for her to get out of the building and move quickly down the street. She thought she remembered how to find Allen's house, and hopefully they were there.