Sick of Wasting Away (Open)

[Linden McKay]

He'd finally reached that point in time that everyone told him he would hit. Ceri wasn't talking to him. Jaythen wouldn't even answer his calls. His parents were sympathetic, but just as frustrated as his siblings were. It'd be amazing if his family ever talked to him again. Forgetting his little sister's birthday just because he was wasted was no excuse, but it was the excuse he'd had at the time. What else could he have said? He was too busy having a fling to remember? That would have been worse in his opinion, but either way Ceri would have reacted the same way. She was still ignoring him.

Now Linden was at the point of desperately wanting his family back. He'd ruined a lot of things over the years, but never this badly. Not once had he and Ceri fought so bad that she stopped talking to him. He was her mentor for crying out loud! And just recently his mother had told him she was put on new medication because her OCD was getting out of hand. He wasn't even there to help her with it. She always went to him when it got worse, but she hadn't even mentioned it. That hurt a lot more than being ignored by the rest of his siblings. He'd never had a great relationship with them like he had with her. And he messed it all up.

Linden drove out to the lake that was a little way away from the dorms. He didn't feel like getting sucked back into his usual crowd of goons that had no manners at all. After the last time he'd been with Mira...well he wasn't really happy with his friends. The way they acted was despicable and he was pretty frustrated with them. It wouldn't have surprised him if Miranda never talked to him after that, too. He was just pissing everyone off lately. If only he could get paid for screwing things up, he'd be even richer.

With a huff of irritation, Linden got out of his car and walked down to the lake. It was a relatively nice day and he was dressed to suit the weather. Hoping for just a little relief, he sat down at the edge of the lake and wrapped his arms around his knees. A bottle of water was gripped by his hands, tighter than usual because of the withdrawal he was feeling. Linden hadn't had a drink since that night with Mira; the night he forgot his sister's birthday.

[Miranda Suery]

It was strange to miss someone. Miranda hadn’t ever felt it before, not since she met Shiloh. She didn’t know why she let that girl use her and pretend to be her friend, but sometimes it was better than nothing. Usually it wasn’t though. Being an only child had taught her a few things. That even if she wanted someone to be around her all the time, it wasn’t going to happen. And, she was used to being alone. She wasn’t sure if she preferred it that way or if she was just used to it.

Now that school was over, Miranda wasn’t really sure what to do with herself. Work hadn’t given her any more hours and the only thing she could think of doing was reading and walking around aimlessly. She loved to window shop, since she couldn’t afford much of anything anyways. School being out meant that parties were few and far between, so her binge drinking had also come to an end. It was strange to view the world through sober eyes on weekends. One year down of her degree, only a few more to go. By the time she was done she would have a diploma and no one to really celebrate with, since she had managed to go through the entire year without making any friends. Not that she hadn’t tried, she just really didn’t know how.

Today, she would try reading and walking at the same time. She had picked up a guide on how to make and keep friends. It was a bunch of bad advice on how to be friendly and open, and accepting people for who they are. Well, if that was the key, why didn’t anyone want to be her friend? She just didn’t let people in, and she did that on purpose. Now she wasn’t so sure if keeping people at arms length was worth being lonely.

Reaching the small lake that wasn’t far from the university, Mira slipped off her loafers and walked along the sand at the end, letting the freezing water bring life to her otherwise tired body. Her mind wasn’t on anything in particular, the breeze making her hair float around and she pushed it away. She glanced up to see none other than Mr. McKay looking pensive. She hadn’t heard from him in a while, not that she had made the first move or anything. She strictly didn’t want to make any attachments. But the way he was just sitting there, looking like he was about to cry. She wasn’t so cold hearted to just let him sit there and suffer alone.

“Hey Linden,” she said, closing her book, gesturing with it towards him, “mind if I join you?”

[Linden McKay]

Being so lost in thought was not something Linden was used to. Thinking wasn't something he had to do often. He didn't have to put much thought into what he did at school, he definitely didn't think before he spoke, so thinking was just dumb. At least, that was what Linden liked to tell himself. However, he'd ended up getting lost in thought and when he heard a voice, he about jumped. Half expecting it to be his imagination and half hoping it was his sister, he was surprised that both were not the case.

Miranda stood before him and that was probably the biggest shock he'd received in a few weeks.

After dwelling on the fact that he was so sure she'd been totally pissed at him, it was crazy. She was really there. Right? Withdrawal didn't bring hallucinations, at least he hadn't heard anything like that before. But that didn't explain why she was there. Let alone why she was speaking to him. And then she asked if she could join him?! Weird. He had to be dreaming. So what do you do when you think you're dreaming? That's right, you smack yourself repeatedly, which is exactly what he did. Well, not so much repeatedly as he just smacked himself once, really hard.

"Mother F!" He wailed once he realized that he was very much awake and his left cheek now stung like an S.O.B. Had he really just done that while he was sober? Yes, yes he had. Linden's cheek began to burn and turn bright red. "Well that's just brilliant Linden, first you stop drinking, then you hit yourself while you're sober. And in front of a girl no less...real damn smooth genius." He mumbled under his breath a little rant before looking up at her. He still couldn't figure out why she wasn't screaming profanities at him after the way his friends treated her.

"Yeah, sure. It's not like I'm expecting anybody. Not with the way I've been acting at least..." Lin sighed. With trembling fingers, he ran his hand through his hair. The water bottle in his other hand shook as well, but he tried not to notice it. That was only going to remind him that he wanted alcohol really badly. But he wasn't drinking anymore, not for a while. He wanted Ceri to just forgive him already so that he could limit himself to a drink every other day. Or every weekend if he could last that long.

Linden looked down at his shaking hands finally and sighed again, "How've you been Mira? I mean, after what happened with the uber-douche at my dorm." He asked quietly trying to make it less awkward. He still felt so bad for what happened. Chris had been such a dick to her and it was Linden's fault that Chris was even around her. Why did he hang out with guys like that?

[Miranda Suery]

Miranda had never been pissed at Linden. She was sure he wasn’t like the rest of the people he hung out with and just hung around for the same reason she did. There was nothing better to do and no better people to see. When Linden looked at her, he seemed completely out of it, shocked that she was even there at all. Her smiled faltered slightly and she looked down at her feet. There was something desperately wrong with her, wasn’t there? She tried not to dwell on it too much and instead tried to plan her escape.

She frowned deeply when he smacked himself, and took a couple steps back as a reaction. What the actual fuck? “Uh...” Was all that came out of her mouth as he seemed even more shocked that the slap hurt him. Then she cracked up laughing. It wasn’t something that happened often and made her sides and face hurt. A lot. “Are you high?” She asked, stepping back to him. He wouldn’t hit her, no, she was sure of that as well. He was just high, which could be amusing if she played her cards right.

“And then you start talking to yourself,” she added, sitting next to him in a similar position, her book dangling in front of her knees while she looked at him. He was different when he wasn’t drunk out of his mind. A little more attractive. Probably because he wasn’t appearing blurry to her. She raised an eyebrow at him, before glancing back to the water. “You haven’t been acting any differently,” she said, not that she would know what ‘normal’ was for him. They didn’t really talk. They were hardly friends.

Miranda was completely unaware that he had a drinking problem. Honestly she just pretended to be drunk half the time when she slept around so that people wouldn’t feel bad sleeping with her. For some reason people aren’t as willing knowing she’s sober. Alcohol was just a vehicle, and sometimes it crashed. She looked back to him and studied him a little. Twitchy, fidgety Linden was something she didn’t know how to handle, nor did she know if she could or if it was any of her business at all.

“Chris?” She asked, grinning a bit. “He didn’t tell you what I did I guess,” she said, searching for a way to cheer him up. “He had a nice surprise waiting for him in his shower head. After he told me he wasn’t far from your dorm it wasn’t hard to figure out which one was his.” Miranda had snuck in and unscrewed the cap, placed a dead mouse on it with superglue, and stuck the whole thing back on, screws and all. She wasn’t stupid, and she doubted Chris would ever smell good again. “Let’s just say he’ll smell like sewer rat for quite some time.” She smiled at Linden. She wasn’t going to question why he did what he did.

“I’m alright though, thanks.” He was shaking still, and she touched his hands. That boundary had been crossed a long time ago. It was easy to talk to him and no one else and she didn’t know why. “You don’t seem alright though.”

[Linden McKay]

Linden didn't smoke. Not ever. And he'd never snort either because both were just foul and disgusting to him. So pot was out of the question. He got his high off of alcohol. Sweet, burning, tingly alcohol that made him fun to be around. He was so sure that without it, no one would like him. Unfortunately for him, alcohol had the opposite affect. When he drank no one liked his personality. He was so funny and charming when he wasn't totally wasted, but that was rare anymore. Drinking was how he passed time by. It was also how he picked up his friends. That should have been his first hint to stop.

The slap was loud and it hurt, but it was the first thing he'd felt in a while. Drinking always made him numb, now he felt all the pain that was usually self-inflicted because he wasn't the most stable person. It had been quite the wake up call, too. But Linden knew it probably freaked Miranda out, just a tad. When she asked if he was high, it only confirmed what he expected. She thought he was losing his mind. "No, I'm just...uh. Well I don't really know." He said in a bit of a mutter, though it was barely loud enough for her to hear.

She pointed out that he was talking to himself and it really started to make him sound crazy. Had he lost his mind? It was possible. Being sober was making him go insane. But wasn't it supposed to be the other way around? That's what he always thought at least. Maybe he was just...different, yeah that was a nice way of putting it. As she continued talking he stared blankly at his hands, "It feels like I have been...and now I'm starting to sound melodramatic. Lovely." He had to refrain from groaning out loud. What was his problem?

He was not only having a minor meltdown, but he was stressing hardcore. School was done and over with, but he was still worried about next year. He'd barely made it through this year because he was partying too much, what if that happened again? Linden couldn't even imagine failing out of college. His parents would be so disappointed in him. Not to mention Ceri would have been proved right. He didn't want to be a disappointment to his family, least of all his sister who looked up to him.

"I haven't talked to him since what he did, but I'm sure you showed him not to mess with you ever again. Remind me not to do anything like that around you. And if I do...spare me." He said with a short, somewhat humorless laugh. It was very un-Linden like. He was always happy and in a great mood, but he'd been off lately and wasn't really having luck getting back on track. "As if he smells any better without whatever you've done. I swear, his hygiene is just awful. I'm glad you did something to get back at him though, he deserved every bit of it."

Linden glanced up at her when she reached out and touched his hand. He almost shied away from the contact because it had been a while since anyone had really touched him in a comforting way. Instead, he just tensed and looked away. "I've been better...a lot better actually."

[Miranda Suery]

Miranda couldn’t speak to this, but she would probably like him with or without the alcohol. The brunette wanted to make sure she was herself for him through and through. It was the only real thing she had any part of. She couldn’t hear him and decided to let it go. His actions probably weren’t what he was expecting, so she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and let him slide past this one.

She smiled at him and gave him a nudge. “I’ll spare you,” she said with a grin. There weren’t any words to help him out of this slump. How could she help anyways? She didn’t even know what was going on, and she hated meddling in other people’s lives. She looked back out at the water and put her hands behind her back, leaning into her palms the book beside her.

“I don’t know the first thing about you Linden, but I mean, we’re here right now, and well, I have ears.” She said, then sighed. She let him go, he was obviously uncomfortable. She was terrible at this whole thing. She was sad to see him in a bad mood but didn’t know what to do about it. School was out so that couldn’t be it, but she didn’t want to play guessing games.

Instead, she just did what she did best and sat patiently and quietly. She would leave if asked to, but liked having someone else’s company, even if nothing was said. Her hand sent to the sand underneath them and she drew a happy face by Linden.

[Linden McKay]

Linden began to think of everything he was saying. He sounded cryptic and confusing. Of course Miranda wouldn't have a clue about what he was mumbling about. Who would besides his siblings? He didn't open up to people. He barely talked about his family or his life. Least of all with Miranda. It wasn't even that he was ashamed of his family, in fact he took pride in how close they were, it was that he was afraid of someone getting the upper hand on him. Also, he wasn't keen on talking about personal mumbo jumbo.

Her response made him crack a small smile and he laughed again with a more genuine sound. At least she would take it easy on him. Though, he had to admit, he wasn't expecting her to try and cheer him up. It was rather odd that she became more friendly now that he was sober and not trying to get in her pants. Maybe that was why so many girls got angry with him while he was drunk? Oh well.

Her offer to be a pair of ears for him to bear his problems to also caught him off guard. She was always so quiet about herself and he barely knew her, just as she barely knew him. But maybe that could help. Maybe the less she knew about him the better the advice would be. People always based their advice off of what they knew about him and not the situation itself. Who knew, maybe she'd help more than anyone else at this point.

Linden looked down at the sand and smiled again, at least she was trying. With that he took a deep breath, "It's just, I've been wasting my life away with all these parties and all the drinking and due to those things...I forgot my sister's birthday and now she won't even talk to me. She won't even look at me." He put his head in his hands and groaned, "The worst part is that she's the only one in my family that I can actually open up to without feeling like I'm being judged."

[Miranda Suery]

Miranda wondered why she was giving Linden the time of day. Not because she was mad at him or anything like that. It was an internal struggle of trying to figure out if she was getting too comfortable with him, or if there was a kind of personality shift going on. Somewhere in the back of her mind she decided it might be safer to simply let him go. Never text him again, never sleep with him again, and just find someone else to get her fix from. Really though, she didn’t want to do that, it just seemed like they were getting too friendly. Friendly wasn’t something she wanted to be known for.

Either way, she wasn’t going to hold a grudge. Miranda wasn’t like a lot of girls in that regard. He hadn’t done anything wrong to her as far as she could tell. His so called friends on the other hand deserved every bit of bad luck fate’s hand bestowed upon them. When he laughed she could feel herself smile and was glad that he had at least a bit of a reprieve from what otherwise seemed to be a bad day. It was something she didn’t want to think about too much. It might cause her to change her mind about helping him.

Usually Miranda only pretended to want to know people, but it was obvious she cared for Linden, at least a little bit. And that was more than what happened between her and a lot of other people. And so, he began to talk and she did her best to truly listen, not just file what he was saying under Other People’s Problems. She blinked as he finished speaking. What was she supposed to say to that?

“She’ll get over it,” she decided to say finally. Miranda didn’t sound rude saying this, it was just pure and simple. If she was his sister then they would have to get over it together, or the relationship wouldn’t heal. “She probably misses you as much as you miss her...” Her voice trailed off as she figured it out. “I’m sorry your body is in shock, but it’s probably for the best.” She tried to smile, and her eyes caught something in the sand.

The tip of her finger caught on something, and she pulled out a pretty red rock. It looked like some type of granite if she wasn’t mistaken, and if you used your imagination it could pass for a heart. Silently, she put it in Linden’s hands as he cupped his face. He could give it to his sister as a sorry present. It might be corny enough to work. “Things will get better.” She said, before her eyes looked back down to the sand. It was just easier than looking him in the eye.

[Linden McKay]

Linden's problem wasn't that he had trouble being friendly or that he tried not being friendly, his problem was the opposite. He could be the nicest guy on the outside, but his true feelings always stayed to himself. That was why he rarely made enemies, but it also didn't help him in the relationship department. As far as he knew, he wasn't ready for a serious and intense relationship. He liked having fun and fooling around, but that was also what had gotten him into this mess. Too much fooling around and not enough maturity. He was older than Ceri and yet his maturity level seemed to drop when he went out partying. Instead of acting twenty-one, he acted like he was sixteen and had never had a drink in his life.

How did he manage to keep anyone close for long? He was honest with everyone, brutally so at times, but they always came back wanting something from him. Whether it be answers, advice, money or a good time, they always came back. And he was just as giving as ever. Was it good for him to give out so much? He thought it was, but he didn't realize that giving material things to people also took a little but of himself out. The boy was clueless when it came to deep understanding of feelings. Heck what guy wasn't?

Actually explaining his problem took a lot of effort. He didn't like drama. At all. In fact, it was one thing that would make him dislike a person. Yes, he was a great listener and he would give great advice, but he wouldn't get pulled into the drama that he was giving advice about. If he did, well, the people involved wouldn't be hearing from him any time soon.

The words were simple, almost harshly so, but Linden did well with harsh realities and simple words. It was easier to comprehend. "She hates me though, Mira. Every time I try to fix it, she pushes me away and now it's even worse because her medication was boosted." He frowned again when he realized he was acting totally cliché. Damn those chick flicks Ren and Ceri forced him to watch when he was younger.

Linden was too busy staring off into space to notice what she was doing. When he felt the small rock in his hand he pulled back and looked down at it. It was beautiful, the way the sun hit it making it appear to be glowing. But would it work? Miranda would know better than him considering she was a girl and all, but Ceri was so much different than Miranda. "I really hope you're right Miranda. Y'know it's seriously creeping me out that I'm talking to you about this sort of stuff. I never pegged you as the counseling type," He smirked.

[Miranda Suery]

Miranda had honestly never had a real relationship, or rather, a traditional one. She had had many flings, many one night stands, but never did she have someone steady. Linden was about as close to that as anyone had been. Miranda didn’t have any enemies, but she didn’t have many friends either. It was a good and bad thing, she just didn’t care of people and their manipulative ways. Miranda was mature and she knew what she was doing when she slept around or drank herself silly. Granted she didn’t do it as often as Linden did. She expected to be at the top of her class at the end of the semester.

Linden was a nice guy, and Miranda did keep coming back. He was also good in bed, which was probably just as important as his personality, or what little of it she knew about. She wasn’t concerned about feelings. They had a connection, she could feel it. It had everything to do with her meta abilities, but she hadn’t used them when Linden was around. She just knew. Besides, he hadn’t asked her to prove anything yet.

At the moment, Miranda sought only to put Linden at ease about his sister. Things would work out, and since she was a female, she could understand why his sister was so upset. The closer you were to someone, the more that hurt affected you. So it was probably a good thing Linden was feeling the way he did right now.

No one had ever called her Mira before. “Medication?” She asked, wondering what Linden was talking about. She shook her head, unsure of what to say now. Was his sister depressed or something? “She doesn’t hate you Linden, you can’t be hurting this much if she really hated you, then you wouldn’t care at all.” It made sense to her, but she smiled as she realized maybe he wouldn’t understand what she was talking about at all. Again, it was a woman thing.

Miranda smiled softly, pushing her hair out of her face. “You’ll be happy again soon,” she said, referring to the time that needed to pass for his sister to forgive him. But she would. And then Mira laughed, it was a tinkling sound she wasn’t used to that didn’t happen very often. “We don’t exactly talk, do we?” She asked, blushing slightly. She sighed, slipping off her shoes to dig her toes into the sand, the book she had brought with her still sitting beside her, away from Linden. “I like listening,” she said as a general comment. She held her smile as she watched the tiny granules of sand slip over her feet, her head tilting to the side as she studied the tiny particles of rocks.

“You’re good company,” she said out of the blue, “your sister will come back to you.” Mira resisted the urge to touch his hands again. They were crazy soft, for a boy’s.

[Linden McKay]

Having any sort of stable relationship would be good for Linden, but he didn't know that. Not yet at least. He didn't know that having one girl would make him mature. Nor did he ever want to figure that out. He'd shut off his mind to that area and wasn't ready to open it quite yet. It helped that he'd hardly found any girls that drew him to wanting that. Sure, Miranda was close, but they had too much of a physical thing and not enough emotional. There was the girl at the club that he'd met, but based off of her opinions of people like him, he doubted that would work out. Even if she had made him feel a little differently.

Linden wasn't ready to stick with one girl yet because he was afraid that he'd lose himself in the process. He'd get a bossy woman and wouldn't be able to say no to her. It just wasn't looking good. Of course, he wanted what his parents had eventually and they had been about his age when they'd been together, but that didn't mean he was ready for it!

Thinking about Ceri always pulled down on his mood because he hadn't seen the girl smile in too long. Her smile was what kept him smiling. It was addicting and infectious. It was a wonder his little sister didn't have boys snapping at her heels trying to get with her. But he knew the reason why. Everyone saw her as a control freak. Everyone that wasn't her family at least. And that pissed Linden off to no end.

"She was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and the medication she was taking before wasn't helping. Stress isn't helping much either I guess," He frowned. He sighed trying to understand what she was getting at. "I'm hurting this much because she hates me, what you're saying contradicts itself...you know that right?" He laughed once in utter confusion. Women...always so confusing!

He looked at her as if she was crazy, but smiled, "I sure hope so because this sucks. I'm such a downer nowadays." He laughed and smiled wider when he heard the sound of her laugh. Something he hadn't really heard. Ever. "Well...no we really don't talk. More grunting and sighing and whatnot. Not many words come outta that," He laughed again seeing her blush. She was beautiful, but more so now than when he was just out to get in her pants. Why did it seem like everything was suddenly so different now that he hadn't been drinking? Her smile was gorgeous and made him think of a model's smile.

"Y'know Miranda, you're pretty good company too. Even when we aren't doing other...stuff," He winked at her and smirked wider. His flirting was slowly starting to resurface and it made him relax further. Strange affect she had on him....

[Miranda Suery]

Having a stable relationship would probably help Miranda perfect her little to no people skills, but she didn’t have the courage to be in one. Let alone ask someone to be in one with her, because having a relationship with yourself is nearly impossible. She didn’t think she needed one though, and was plenty amused with life on her own. She wasn’t a romantic, she wasn’t someone desperately looking for a husband, she just wanted to live life on her own terms. Linden was a great person, but she didn’t want to know him on a deeper level. She didn’t want complications. That’s when she started to push people away.

“What kind of OCD? There are varying degrees.” She blushed as she spoke. Alright, settle down there miss know it all. She wished he wasn’t frowning like that. OCD wasn’t something to fret over. Any mental disease could be helped, and just because someone had OCD or ADHD, or anything else for that matter, that didn’t make them their disease. People are simply far more complex than that. There was also nothing Linden could do about his sister’s stress levels, though Mira didn’t think of telling him that. She laughed when he did, pressing the tops of her nails to her lips. She watched him with ease. They were saying the same thing in the end. Linden cared.

Miranda continued to play with the sand about them as they laughed. Already things were on the up and up. According to the book she was reading, the best way to make friends, was to take an interest in people. Maybe she could call Linden a friend pretty soon. “Don’t forget moaning,” she blurted out, her eyes growing wide. She couldn’t believe she just said that out loud. A moment passed and she stared back out at the lake. When had she begun to sound so stupid?

She glanced back at him, a single eyebrow raised. “Thanks?” She said, unsure of whether that was supposed to be a compliment or not. The look on his face said he was only teasing her, and her lips formed a small ‘o’ in realization. “Oh! You’re flirting with me...” She snapped her mouth shut and willed the blush to slide off her face as she stared back out to the lake. This is so... unusual.

Standing up, Mira began to unbutton her shorts, and they fell to the sand. Her eyes met Linden’s, a sexy stare occupied her retinas. “Don’t get excited. I’m going for a swim.” Or in other words, I’m trying to get away from this awkwardness. Or, I’m tired of being so awkward. She tore off her shirt and stepped towards the lake in her grey underwear.

[Linden McKay]

Linden had been known to be romantic on a few occasions, after all he had sisters to make him watch sappy movies. He was also a trained gentleman which only added to the perfect man image he apparently had. A lot of girls saw this chivalrous, passionate guy that could sweep them off their feet, when really it was just Linden. Linden was a sarcastic, occasionally polite, funny guy who charmed women into bed with him. Two very different people. He didn't understand where girls got this delusional picture of him from, but it tended to irk him a bit.

"Uhm, the doc said something about being an orderly/washer-contamination obsessive. She places things in the 'correct' order and has a slight panic attack if it's moved and also she has a fear of contamination, but not other people when their sick, more object contamination. She's very particular about her stuff mostly," He said with a small smile as he thought of his sister. He didn't mind her having OCD because it was part of what made her who she was. It was why he loved her so much. What he had a problem with was how everyone else saw her. He saw her blush and smirked.

The satisfaction of getting any girl to blush was just amusing. Linden liked it because it boosted the ego he tended to get when flirting. It also lit up her face and made her that much more beautiful. Add a smile to that and he'd be ready to kiss her. Of course, he'd kissed her plenty of times, but it was different. This whole thing was different and he wasn't sure why. He didn't know if it was because they weren't clinging to each other or because he was actually talking to her about part of his life, but either way, it was different.

Her comment made him burst out laughing. Her lack of filtering was just hysterical. Regaining composure, he nodded slightly, but couldn't keep from shaking with laughter. Wow. "Uhm, yeah there's...there's that, too. And lots of name calling," He laughed again and nudged her gently to show her that it didn't bother him. In fact, it had actually added to what he already thought of her. Which was nothing besides the fact that she was good in bed....or so he claimed.

"It was a compliment I swear! I'm just not used to this I guess," Linden whispered looking down at his hands. It was so weird being with her without being full out naked and sweating on a bed. This would be normal if it was anybody else, but because it was the two of them...it just freaked Linden out a bit. The realization made him laugh again and he shook his head slightly, "Am I getting bad at flirting discretely or what?"

When she stood up, his eyes followed her and he couldn't help but admire how attractive she was. And when she started undressing...well it only made his admiration stronger. He met her eyes and tried hard to focus on anything besides his desire, "Me, excited? Please. It takes a lot more than just a gorgeous girl undressing in front of me to excite me, sweetheart. I'm used to this." His voice shook slightly, but the smirk on his face stayed strong.

[Miranda Suery]

It wasn’t that Mira was opposed to being romanced, she simply wasn’t seeking it. She also didn’t expect it. Maybe she had damned all the men in this world, but she wasn’t going to hold her breath for prince charming. Someone normal would do. Besides, what was romantic for Mira probably wouldn’t be romantic to any other girl. She was odd that way. Her physical connection was what was special to her. No one knew about that but her though. She didn’t notice if Linden was the perfect man or not, she simply liked being with him. There wasn’t a lot of charming that needed to be required for him to nab Miranda. It was just fucking.

She found his sister’s OCD fascinating, but that wasn’t the point she was trying to reach. “See, you guys know each other, don’t worry about her.” Miranda couldn’t help but smile reassuringly. Linden was worrying over something that would right itself.

Miranda blushed a lot. It came with her nature. She was easily confounded when it came to people, and blushed from the slightest of glances. Of course right now it was due to Linden, but it wasn’t really because he was so amazing at flirting. She just reacted this way. Mira reached out and touched Linden’s face, her fingertips brushing against the edge of that smirk of his. She did it to get him to stop smirking at her, because she needed to get her head back on straight. He needed to stop being attractive in more than a physical way.

She held a smile as he roared with laughter. Miranda glanced down, before looking back up at Linden as he nudged her. He had a handsome smile. “So we do talk then.” She stated, wiggling her eyebrows at him. Where that came from, she wasn’t sure. Something she had read recently? Or maybe she was trying to make up for her word vomit. Oh well, at least he had laughed because of her blunder.

“And what am I? The relationship expert?” She asked, but this time, she was toying with him. Of course she wasn’t. If she really wanted that, she would’ve become more needy, would have said something to Linden about wanting a ‘serious’ relationship with him. At least with her, what you saw is what you got. This relationship was totally backwards. They were starting with sex and ending in a possible relationship. Nothing about this was normal, but Mira was used to that. “I don’t remember you being discreet,” she said, a beaming smile sent his way. Today was turning out to be alright. Maybe more so.

At least there were little to no boundaries between them. They would be hard pressed to go back to holding each other at an arm’s length. There were some things you simply couldn’t go backwards with. But Mira didn’t mind so much, she didn’t have anything to hide, she just didn’t think she had much to offer either. She smiled at him over her shoulder. She was well aware of the many women he spent his evenings with. It just didn’t bother her. She entered the cool water and gasped. Immediately her skin turned to goose flesh, and she didn’t go in farther than her hips.

Pacing back and forth in the same depth of water, Mira looked out to Linden, wondering if he was just going to watch her muck about in her gitch. And then an odd thought entered her mind that made her smile like mad. Linden had slept with a lot of women, and she with a lot of men, but something about this was just, different. Special. And that was the nicest thought she’d had in a long time.

[Linden McKay]

Linden liked physical stuff A LOT. Probably more than any other guys to be honest, but he wasn't a perverse freak that needed to screw all day everyday. Has it happened? Yes, but it's not an everyday thing. He liked going out to run as a different form of exercise. He liked playing video games and watching tv and fiddling with his lap top. So was physical needed everyday? No. He had his usual flings with a number of girls, but only one did he keep going back to. Miranda was just really good at it and he enjoyed himself immensely when he was with her. Even now when he wasn't with her in the physical way he liked being with her.

As he tried sorting through the bit of medical stuff he knew about his sister, he watched her. The reassuring smile was comforting and that in itself creeped him out. What the hell was happening to him?! He returned the smile with a dazzling one of his own, "Maybe you're right, but I tend to worry about people that I'm close to. It's a force of habit I suppose."

Linden couldn't help it, he was a natural flirt that used jokes and sarcasm to charm ladies. It helped that he was completely adorable, but he knew that already. When her fingers brushed the edge of his mouth he internally cursed. His heart should not be jolted by a simple touch like that! His smirk only widened and he nipped at her finger playfully, "Careful, I bite." He winked at her and laughed again at his ridiculous joking.

Her smile only managed to keep him smiling and he shrugged, "I suppose we do in one way at least. It's one hell of a conversation that's for sure. Scintillating indeed." He shook his head, eyes filled with amusement. He hadn't thought about his problems at all in the past few minutes all because they were discussing their sex lives. Interesting how that worked.

Linden nodded seriously, but cracked another smirk, "Oh yes quite the relationship expert." He liked that she wasn't clingy or dependent, in fact that was one of the things he found most attractive about her. Linden couldn't handle the needy type of girl, he wanted a girl who could stand up for herself which Miranda had shown quite a few times. It was weird though because he'd never really thought of her this way before. He'd always seen her as a hot piece of ass, but now she was a strong woman that made him laugh and calmed him. "Oh thanks, real nice. You know you fell for my charm, too," He joked because that was definitely not the case.

Boundaries with Linden tended to be invisible once the person got close to him. That or if they screwed him more than once. He didn't mind her closeness. He welcomed it at times. She had so much to offer him, but something about her made him think she hadn't realized it. Her smile sent chills up his spine and he wondered if she saw anything in him differently today than she had before. Maybe it was just him. Her gasp made him snicker and he leaned back on his hands, half tempted to go in himself, but as he glanced down at his package 'discretely' he decided against it at the moment.

Linden watched her. Something about her fascinated him and he couldn't keep from wanting to be around her. It was scary. And different. But special. He didn't mind the way she made him feel now because it was more than he'd felt in a while.