Popping the Pills.

Talon looked hard at me, a hard smile on his face. “You’re not making this easy, are you?”
I groaned and let myself fall back onto the cot. “And you’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?”
He laughed dryly. “Not purposely, but yes, probably so. This life is... Well, it must be...”
“It’s harder than my old one, yeah.” I admitted for him. “But I think it’s harder for you to teach me how to live than it is to actually try.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Was that somewhat of a compliment?”
“Possibly. I wouldn’t push it.”
He chuckled, surprising me, and came over, sitting on the bed. “Look, I realize that we didn’t get off to the best start, and I do know what it feels like to be new to a place like this.” I tried to ignore the close proximity between us, and from the looks of it, so was he. “Truly, you’re not repulsive or completely undesirable, but...” He smiled regretfully. “You’re just not my kind of choice.”
Surprisingly, I felt a little twinge of hurt at his fair-enough statement, and looked over at the opposite wall. “I didn’t ask to be saddled with this kind of situation either.” I said, a little more gruffly than I meant.
“And I know that,” he countered lightly. “But clearly, we’ve got to make do. Erick and Vitali know what they’re doing,” He sighed. “Even if I don’t. But they’re honorable, and you’re in good hands. No one will question your identity too much if you’re my fiancée.”
I looked over at him incredulously. He’d said the “fiancée” word, for once, without spitting it, and even had a look on his face that resembled genuine kindness – the kindness you show friends of friends; distant but benevolent.
“Um, well, okay,” I babbled, “but people already are.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah,” I struggled not to panick. His average, normal, everyday good mood was throwing me off. The Talon I’d dealt with for the last few days wasn’t anything like this. “there was a whole group of people, well, actually just a woman and her twelve kids, protesting that I wasn’t really engaged to you because I didn’t have…”
A fatal blush creeped up in my cheeks as I stopped in my tracks.
“You didn’t have what?” He looked slightly annoyed. “There’s nothing that people in Jericho have that you shouldn’t, and whoever says differently is a liar.”
“…A wedding ring.” I finished lamely, closing my eyes. “It’s kind of stupid.”
There was a pause, and then I heard Talon laugh. “Actually… no, that’s not stupid.” he laughed again, and I opened my eyes. “I apparently don’t give people the credit they deserve; that was very observant, though on any other grounds, I would have probably had them confined until the wedding was over.”
“’On any other grounds?’”
He shook his head. “It’s nothing, really. Basically, we’re not having a wedding. On any other occasion, when two people are actually making the commitment, the bride usually doesn’t take well to people saying she isn’t legitimate. But that doesn’t matter now.” He closed his eyes and was still for a moment. When he reopened them, they were bright and mischevious. “Wait here,” He told me.

---

It's so freakishly awesome to be back home, let me just say. Oklahoma has NEVER looked so good. I mean, yeah, it's pretty in Europe, but when you're not with your family, it kind of kills the beauty a little bit.
So, as seen above, Talon is going through character PMS - Panicky Mood Swings - that are driving me crazy. I CAN'T MAKE HIM BE BAD-ish. At this point in the story, both Adele and Talon are supposed to be getting closer. I mean, he leaves in a WEEK, and it's the last day to go soft on her before he goes all mysteriously mean again.
Dangit. I don't know. Maybe he needs ANOTHER day.
Whatever. I've got him popping pills in the corner of my mind, while Adele's sitting there, laughing at him hysterically.
Maybe I can get this worked out. :E