Night's Omen

He expected her to be startled and frightened, but he knew that it was better than her seeing him in the light, which would have had her far more frightened, he was sure of it.  Better that it be dark.  Her hasty retreat back to her room was probably for the best, but just as she couldn't help but wonder who was in the photos, he couldn't help but be curious about her.  He could see far better in the dark than she could, and he'd already seen her in the light of the living room.  She was beautiful, and seemed rather friendly.  He wanted to like her, but knew that probably wasn't a good idea.  Still, he would be kind to her.

"It's not a problem," he told her, staying where he was so that he didn't frighten her anymore than she already was by getting too close.  "I was feeling restless as well."

He should have just left it at that and let her leave, but he ended up giving in to his curiosity, even if he knew he shouldn't.  She needed to just go to bed, so that Jason could take her into town as soon as he was able to.  "Is your room warm enough?  I sent Jason with a better blanket for you."

She hesitated at his voice, and paused. "At least I'm not the only one," she laughed, his remark of restlessness making her feel a little better. On the inquiry of the blanket, she smiled. "Well, considering I've brought it with me, I'd say I like it. I might actually try to smuggle it," she joked. "It's weird, it smells almost like cinnamon. I guess it's whatever you've been washing it with out here. Things in the city certainly don't smell this good," she said.

Skye had no idea that it was the natural scent of an animal she was picking up - her own human nose distorted it to the closest thing she could recognize, which was the lightest scent of cinnamon sticks. Good enough - better than dung, anyways!

"Can you tell me...  I mean, that is to say, do you know who the man in the paintings is?" she asked after another long pause. She sounded shy. "Is he your father? He's quite good looking," she said. She naturally assumed that he was Nick's father, given the time period of the clothing he wore - same thing with the photos. But she couldn't be sure.

He thought her light way of comparing the two of them was almost...cute? but that was perhaps the only way he thought they were at all alike.  They were both restless that night, and that was where the similarities ended.  Maybe they were restless for similar reasons, but that didn't quite count, in his opinion.  Hearing her opinion of the blanket had his interest, though.  She liked the smell of it?  Well, he could certainly say that Jason didn't wash things with cinnamon scented anything, and all he could smell on the blanket was himself, so he had to assume that it was HIS scent she was comparing to cinnamon, and his lips quirked into what passed for a smile with him anymore.  "You must be right, but I hadn't noticed," he agreed simply, not about to correct her.  "Maybe I'm just used to the smell by now."

That was the simplest was of dealing with that, but it was really a shame that he couldn't handle her next comment and question in the same manner.  That was a tougher one, especially hearing her call the man in the photos and painting good looking.  He hadn't heard that regarding himself in a long time, but that it was about those photos didn't surprise him.  He didn't want to lie, though. 

"No, he's not my father, but he's been gone a very long time.  Very few people know what really happened to him, but everything here used to be his," he answered instead.  It was the truth, as far as he was concerned.  There was no rule that said he had to admit that it was him. 

"Ah," she said, nodding. "Well, seems like a nice inheritance, all the same." She didn't pry any further, the tone in his voice changing enough for her to know to leave it alone. She reached out for the door, and then frowned. "I don't mean to be a bother, but the draft took care of my lamp, and you know the house... do you mind walking me back to my room? If it isn't out of the way, I mean," she added quickly, blushing in the darkness.

She needed to get to sleep, but with no lamp, she was as blind as a bat in this massive house.

"Perhaps," he answered, and that was all.  She didn't pry, and he didn't volunteer any additional information, though that made for somewhat boring conversation.  If she hadn't gone on to 'be a bother', they might have stood in the dark without anything to say for a few moments before one of them managed some lame attempt at talking.  He was a little out of practice when it came to treating a lady properly.

"You're not a bother," he assured her, picking up her former light in one hand, and offering her his arm.  He had clothing on, so he didn't think she'd pick up on anything unusual just by touching his arm for guidance.  "I've gotten used to the house being dark.  Stay close."

He intended to lead her back to her room, deposit her safely outside the door, and vanish before she could open it and use the light to her advantage.  Leaving her alone in the dark was hardly the right thing to do, though having her prying around in his things was hardly something he wanted.  "You should avoid that part of the house while you're here.  It's old and not in very good repair.  You wouldn't want to get hurt out here again," he warned her.  It was partially his own fault it was in bad shape, but she didn't need to know that.  So long as she didn't go in there during the day, there was no need for any further explanations.

Skye followed him in silence, wondering why it was that he stayed so warm while she had to nestle underneath a veritable burrow of blankets to maintain any sort of body heat. When they arrived at her door, she opened it and turned, but he was already back down the hall.

"Okay, I won't. I am sorry, really. I guess I should learn to keep a book or something with me. I get so restless... But don't worry, I get the point. Not interested in falling through the floor," she said, tilting her head a little. She couldn't but make out just barely his form, she wondered why he was so quick to leave. She looked down at her watch and realized it was nearing 3 o'clock, and then suddenly knew why.

"Thanks for escorting me back. I'll see you tomorrow... Sleep well, Mr. LeCroix," she sang, shutting her door. She took her shoes off and sighed a little, then got dressed down and climbed into the massive bed. She closed her eyes and listened to the strange sounds of the world around her before eventually drifting off into sleep.

When she awoke, she walked to the window first and foremost, still wrapped in the blanket she'd been given, and gasped. The snow drifts had to be at least four feet high outside. Her car was probably buried by now, and the roads... She was stuck. She swore to herself, and rushed to her phone on the dresser, but the battery had given out the night before, and she had no way of calling anyone to let them know where she was.

"Damn!" she exclaimed in spite of her usual quiet nature.

He made it a point not to linger once she was at her door, not willing to have her see him in the light from her room, but he hesitated some as she spoke to him.  He wanted to tell her to just call him Nick, but he simply nodded in case she could still see that, and disappeared down the corridor.  He liked her, that much was true, but he also knew better.  It would only make things worse if he allowed himself to grow at all fond of her.

In the morning, he ate before she was awake, and vacated any area he thought she might show up in, but only after berating Jason for a period of time for not warning her away from that section of the house.  Jason blamed it on his disbelief that she would have wandered off in the middle of the night in a strange house, and Nick could believe that was why the kid didn't tell her, but he still told him off for it.  That could have been much worse for both him AND Skye than it had been.  At least he now knew her name, though.  She'd told Jason, so he actually had something to call her, instead of just 'lady' or 'woman'. 

He was sure to send Jason up with a mug of hot chocolate for her before he returned to his own quarters to get out of sight.  He would have opted for coffee, but there was something about hot cocoa that was better on a snowy morning.  It was certainly snowy, so she might want that cocoa.  Especially given the reaction Jason found himself facing as he reached her door.

"Umm, you okay in there, Miss Rousseau?" he asked, knocking on the door.  He wasn't about to open it unless she was hurt or something, but he was instantly a little worried.

Skye leaped as she heard Jason's voice coming from the door, and scrambled to her clothes. "I'm fine, give me a second!" she shouted, jumping into the dark skinny jeans she'd left in a puddle on the floor the night before. She yanked on her camisole, and then pulled her long-sleeved black v-neck sweater over it. When she got to the door, she had one calf-high furry boot on, while the other dangled in her hand.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, blowing a strand of brown hair from her face. "Sorry, you caught me looking out the window. It really came down last night, huh? My car is probably buried." She looked cheerful enough, but the flat tone in her voice denoted her disappointment. Skye had things she needed to do this week, and being snowed in at some strangers' house wasn't really in her schedule. She tugged on her other boot while she spoke, and then wound her hair up into a messy bun.

Jason waited, somewhat worried despite her assurances that she was fine, but she looked pleasant enough when she opened the door.  He knew as soon as she mentioned the snow that she couldn't have been happy about it, but he at least appreciated her attempt at friendliness.  He'd have preferred that she be able to get out of there that morning, too.  Nick was being weird at breakfast, and that kind of worried Jason.

He smiled brightly for her and offered her the hot chocolate first thing, hoping to soften her up with the warm, sweet drink first.  "Mr. LeCroix suggested hot chocolate, but we have coffee if you'd prefer."  Jason preferred coffee, but Nick had been adamant. 

"It really did snow a lot last night, but I promise, we'll have you out of here as soon as it's possible.  Getting your car out today would probably be a nightmare, though," he pointed out.  He could only imagine, and he didn't want to be the one who had to do it.  Nick wouldn't have as much trouble, but he didn't really blend in with normal people, so that tended to be a problem.

"Oh, wow, hot chocolate!" she said, taking the mug from him happily. Her bad mood seemed to visibly dissipate when she got hold of it, and she took a long sip, despite it being hot. Skye was cold, so any warmth was welcomed to her.

"Well, my phone took a crap last night sometime, and you have no electricity. I won't make you take me back to town if the roads are as bad as you say they are. Do you think tomorrow will be any better?" she asked, arching an eyebrow at him as she inhaled the inviting scent of hot cocoa.

"I guess I could busy myself here... can you show me around now that there's daylight? I'd like to go outside for a little bit anyways, but I don't know if I'm keen on walking around by myself." She smiled a little. Jason sure was cute - even if he seemed a little skittish. Maybe she bothered him, she didn't know. She didn't think she did, but then again, Skye had a way about her that was more upfront than people were used to.

It actually wasn't Skye that had Jason skittish, but Nick.  The Master of the House could be a bit...disagreeable sometimes.  Jason couldn't tell if Nick had been happy or pissed to run into Skye the night before, and so he wasn't going to tell her not to wander.  Nick would have to be more specific if he wanted that.

Seeing her reaction to the hot chocolate, Jason suddenly wished it had been his idea, but he wasn't about to lie about it.  Besides the fact that Jason wasn't much of a liar, he figured Nick might eat him if he found out the kid had taken credit for his idea.  It was only hot chocolate, but Skye was a very pretty lady.  Surely Nick had noticed?  If not, Jason surely had.  Show her around?  His pleasure.  "Absolutely!  I'm at your service!  Breakfast is ready if you'd like that first, and you can decide where you wanna go.  Any ideas?"

This was shaping up to be a good day.

"Great!" she cheered. She couldn't deny she was a little excited to spend the day with a cute guy. She finished her breakfast, which consisted of two blueberry muffins and a glass of orange juice, plus the hot chocolate (which equated to three seperate trips to the bathroom due to her stereotypically female bladder) and then begged to see the back yard, which was just as she suspected: huge.

"Wow!" she said as Jason held the door open for her to go outside. "It's like some sort of menagerie! Do you have a petting zoo back here, too?" she exclaimed, stepping off of the porch. It was massive, like something from a movie. "I guess at night I didn't realize how big this place was... it's like some sort of superstar mansion. Holy shit, is that a HEDGE MAZE?"

Skye was off and running before Jason could say anything else about it. It would probably be a good thing if Nick wasn't somewhere in the hedge maze.

"Not quite," he laughed at her comment regarding the 'zoo', mostly because the only animals they had hanging around happened to be Nick himself.  "Just the lion." 

Jason actually didn't have the slightest inkling where Nick was, and once they made it out into the back yard and Skye saw the hedge maze, he found himself almost as clueless about Skye's whereabouts.  She took off into that maze so quickly that the only way he could have tracked her would have been to have a blood hound with him, or the sense of smell one had.  Nick could probably find her, but he didn't want to bug the guy, and didn't know where he was, anyway.  So much for it being a good day.

"Skye!  Skye?  Where'd you go?" he called out, trying to follow, but the fact that he couldn't catch up to her while running made him wonder if he'd taken a turn that she hadn't.  Great.

Nick, on the other hand, knew exactly where everyone was, and was currently cursing himself for thinking that he might get some peace and quiet in the maze.  Most city people wouldn't try one, for fear of getting lost or attacked, after the night before.  Skye was either far more daring than most, or just didn't even realize that she might be in danger.  Not that he would let any danger befall her there, but what if he had been the danger? 

Fortunately for her, he wasn't, but he wasn't helping her yet, either.  He merely followed her progress, keeping out of sight and just ensuring that he knew where she was and how to get out.  It was inevitable that she'd get lost, so it was just a matter of when she'd realize it.  Maybe she wouldn't, and she'd just find her way out, but he wasn't counting on that.

"Jason! I'm over here!" she shouted, but she kept moving, and soon, she couldn't hear his voice at all. She rounded turn after turn, burying herself deeper into the maze. She had no idea, but the thing was as wide as a football field, and nearly twice as long. She could be in there for days. After about ten minutes, she slowed down to a walk. She hit her first dead end finally, and tried to back-track, but suddenly she hit more and more dead ends.

"Shit," she hissed to herself softly, coming back to the same potted vase she'd found the last four times she'd tried to leave the small area she was in. "Which way was back?" She stood still, thinking, and then looked around for a moment. She reached forward and tried to push through the bushes, intending to just force her way back, but the branches were far too close to try it, and she groaned.

"JASON?" she called, looking up at the sky. She listened for a moment, but didn't hear anything. She tried to follow her footprints back, but for some reason, they seemed to be hard to keep up with, like they were vanishing.