A Darker Shade of Night: Dragondancer+BlisteredBlood

“Thanks for the offer, I have a feeling we may take you up on it as our time together goes on. But you’ll need your sleep this time too, after I remove the tracking signature and compulsion.” She saw him peer around the room, distrust shadowing his eyes briefly. Guessing what he was looking for when he glanced from wall to wall, Laela explained, “This is a daylight-safe room, as well as a....holding room. Therefore, no windows.”

Laela turned as Ander and Beniamin walked through the open door into the room. “Where the hell you been?” Ander growled at her. “A call would have been nice, at least let us know you still breathed!” Laela rolled her eyes, but smiled gently at him. It was nice to be worried about. When he glared over at Hishiro, she shook her head at him.

Gently walking Rosalie over to Beniamin, she looked pointedly at him and Ander, “I’ve got to get that tracking signature out of him, before we have a ghoul-fest Part Two over here, and I’m just not in the mood.” As the three of them filed out of the room, Laela closed the door behind them and turned around to face Heishiro. “This will definitely require your trust, so just make up your mind now to do as I say, and accept what I need to do. When I am finished, you will be free of Vardon’s foul touch, and he will not be able to track you or leave you at the mercy of his compulsion.”

It wasn't so much that distrust had shadowed his eyes when Heishiro glanced around the room, but it was more or less a sort of questionnaire that had gone through his mind that once this was all done and over with, would he be able to see the sunlight once more and not end up as someone's dinner or worse. Besides, he still had a lot of unfinished business left to do before he could finally accept his fate. But, at least here and now, they were out of harm's way and they wouldn't have to worry about another throng of ghouls to deal with before this vampire removed the tacking signature as well as the compulsion that still was present in his mind.

"Yeah, guess you're right about that." Heishiro muttered aloud when he heard the door finally close behind her and then turned his eyes over to her with an eyebrow raised. "Alright. So what do I need to do?" He asked her outright as his hands went to his hips.

Laela had much experience with compulsions and some with their removal; but they were always a tricky thing, with the potential for real harm to the victim. Especially when implanted by someone as powerful - and evil - as Vardon. So she planned on doing this the right way, cutting no corners...she hoped Heishiro would allow himself to trust her so she could get this thing done. She couldn’t succeed with force in this matter, so his trust would mean the difference between success and failure. Failure would be a tremendous disappointment for her, but could prove fatal for the man.

Walking into the bathroom, she came back with a tan colored bath towel in her hand. Looking Heishiro in the eyes, she instructed, “You must remove all of your clothing,” and handed him the towel.

A quirked eyebrow was Heishiro's initial reply when he heard her mention to him that he had to remove all of his clothing, but then again, with the potential of another ghoul attack waiting in the wings like it was last time, there was no room for an argument. So instead of saying anything, Heishiro simply shrugged his shoulder before he complied as he then began to remove his armor first after unhooking each strap that held the thing together then set it down on the ground then pushed it over with his boot.

Speaking of which, Heishiro would then peel the boots of next and push those over after getting his gloves off of his his hands and casting them over into the same pile the rest of his stuff were in with only the undershirt and pants to go now. From here, he started with the shirt first, peeling that off and tossing it over into the pile. Following this, Heishiro would then reach his hands down to the waist band of his pants and slid them off, revealing his boxer underwear to her then dropped them down to his ankles before stepping out and pushing them over to the same pile. But before he got the underwear off, Heishiro first wrapped the towel around his waist before he bent down a bit to remove them from under the towel. It took a bit of doing, but after the underwear came down and tossed those off to the side, Heishiro now stood there with just the towel at his waist, feeling slightly awkward about all of this.

"Well," Heishiro said as he looked over to her with the bit of embarrassment present on his face. "What's next?"

Laela was pleased that Heishiro complied with her request without complaint. We have certainly made quite good progress since our initial encounter! she thought in amusement to herself. She almost rolled her eyes at the slow and deliberate pace Heishiro set for the removal of his armor and clothing, being reminded of the same process - but in reverse - back during the rather unpleasant ghoul attack. However, this version was decidedly more enjoyable than the previous one.

She tried to give him a bit of privacy by turning her back to him as he stripped, when she went to the bed and yanked the quilt and top sheet all the way down the bed. When she turned back to him he was stepping out of his pants and standing in his boxers. Her eyes glanced over his body appreciatively, his tall, toned form pleasant to look at. She couldn’t help but smile at him as he maneuvered to maintain his modesty while removing his boxers under the towel she had given him.

Pointing to the bed, Laela told him, “Go lay down on your back in the bed; you can loosely drape the towel over any part where you feel the need.” She then went into the bathroom, and pulling a cup from the cabinet under the sink, she filled it with water from the tap. Walking over to the nightstand, she placed the cup of water next to the bed. Sitting on the chair near the bed, she reached down and pulled off her knee-high boots and socks.

At first, Heishiro didn't quite get what having to strip down to nothing had to do with removing the tracking signature and compulsion that resided in his head, but then again, there has been a lot of stranger remedies for strange illnesses. For example, some college kids believed that the only way to cure a hangover was to use some Hair Of The Dog, fried eggs, a beer, another set of fried eggs, pancakes, one day past its due date milk, cold pizza, gargle with mouthwash and god knows what else until they said they were feeling much better... Only to do it all over again the following night.

When directed towards the bed, Heishiro nodded in reply as he then moved to the bed and then laid down on his back before loosening up on the towel at his waist then then just drape it across his waistline, looking up at her once he was laying down. "Alright." He said.

Laela sat on the bed next to Heishiro, looking down at him lying there, knowing he was no doubt curious and probably a little nervous about what was about to go down. “Okay, here’s how it works,” she began, trying to think of the simplest way to explain the process to him - not talking down to him, but not getting in to all the complex specifics either. This was real life, not some professorial lecture where the most dire consequence would be him receiving a low mark on an exam. She would tell him only what he needed to know, and try to explain in a way that he would comprehend.

“As I tried to explain the basics to you before, a compulsion is a transference of energy, with that energy encasing an external command that is implanted into the victim, a command that the victim has no choice but to carry out. A...malicious electric impulse....is within your brain right now. So, I have to move my energy into your brain, find the impulse, and destroy it. When I destroy it, it will disintegrate its energy inside your body, and can reform somewhere else within your system if it is not completely eliminated. So, after I destroy the impulse, I must invoke your body’s very own system of defense, which will raise the temperature of your body so that the remnants of this...virus...are eradicated from your system. So you will feel very feverish for a short while, and the poison will be sweated from your body. Afterward, you will feel weak and will be dehydrated. You will need to rehydrate well and get a long sleep to allow your body recover.”

Looking into his eyes to see if he understood, she then placed her hand on his shoulder and pulled him to a sitting position. Slipping behind him on the bed, she rested her back against the headboard and crossed her legs as she maneuvered into a sitting position, placing a small pillow over her crossed ankles. Laela then pulled Heishiro back down to lay his head and shoulders on the pillow in her lap.

"So, if I'm to understand this right, what I basically got inside of my head as if this very moment is basically something more along the lines of a virus that needs to be removed or else something bad will happen to me." Heishiro answered as he looked up at the vampire as she sat beside him at first. "And when you remove it through whatever means you need to use on me, it'll leave me in a partly weakened state." Heishiro spoke as if he was hearing this correctly before shrugging his shoulders for a moment then began to sit up a bit as he felt her begin to adjust herself onto him so that she could settle herself into a more comfortable position then laid back once more, feeling his head coming into a pillow she had set on her lap.

"Well, I guess I'll have to trust you on this, see as how you know what's best for this current situation." Heishiro spoke once more, despite he still was a slight bit apprehensive about it. For starters, what if it didn't work or worse, what if upon removal it did more damage to him than she had thought originally? But then again, a shake of his head dispelled such thoughts from his mind as he then looked up to her once more and then gave her a firm nod. "Right. You know what to do. Let's get this over with so you guys can sleep better in the morning." He spoke.

Laela listened as Heishiro reiterated out loud what she had just told him, knowing he was processing the information in his own manner. She hoped her layman’s explanation made enough sense to him to assuage most of his nervousness. When he affirmed his readiness, she placed her hands on his head, fingers splayed over his forehead and temples. The uniqueness of the situation struck her; a human laying willingly and docilely in her lap, with her about to greatly aid him, not drink him.

Clearing her mind of all thoughts, Laela closed her eyes and honed her focus inward. She allowed her energy to coalesce inside her, concentrating a ball of her energy into an ever decreasing compact form. Her body began subtly vibrating, and her fingers increased their pressure on Heishiro’s head as she transferred her energy from her body, through her fingertips and into Heishiro. A slight electric current tingled on her fingers, her breathing deep and regular. She moved her energy presence along his brain’s inner pathways, sensing his various cells and molecules. As she traversed within his veins, capillaries and tissue, she felt closely for any sign of Vardon’s touch.

Suddenly, she felt physically ill, her stomach knotting up and a painful pressure in her head. Moving her energy carefully inside Heishiro, she stalked the compulsion implant she knew she was almost upon. Taking one last deep breath, she propelled her ball of energy toward the malignant compulsion with all the force and power at her disposal. A glowing red-orange corona materialized all along Heishiro’s bared skin, his body trembling slightly. Abruptly, she pulsed her last reserve of energy into Heishiro, and sucked in her breath as the repercussion waves of the destroyed compulsion crashed over her, Heishiro’s body shuddering violently.

Renewing her concentration, she vibrated her energy throughout Heishiro’s body at a high level, forcing his immune system to kick into high gear, and his body temperature to elevate precipitously. Laela kept the force and vibration up, while Heishiro’s immune response attacked and neutralized what it perceived as a dangerous viral infection. His body shaking in reaction, sweat began oozing from his pores, a faint red tinge to the liquid. His breathing started coming in panting breaths, his muscles seizing up with the violent shivers. Laela’s breathing was coming fast as well, the stress of her exertions showing on her strained face.

Finally, the sweat from his body ran clear, and Laela did not feel any remaining touch of Vardon within his body. She slowed and then stilled her heating vibrations, allowing Heishiro’s body to slowly return to it’s normal temperature, his trembling finally ceasing. Letting her hands slide from his head and fall to her sides, she leaned her head back in exhaustion. She knew Heishiro would be a little sore, extremely exhausted, and once he was able, would need to do some serious rehydration. But for the moment, both man and vampire were completely spent from the experience.

When it was all over, Heishiro's body laid there semi-lifelessly as his eyes were closed most in exhaustion, his head turned to the side and breathing in a slightly labored manner. Needless to say, the whole ordeal of having her poke around inside of his body like she was really took a lot out of him as his body gave out a few convulses here and there as he laid there, any reserve energy that he had previously drained of him entirely as he slipped into a state of sleep even if there was a pained expression on his face. The towel located at his waist didn't seem to help much with how heavily he was sweating the compulsion out of his system, not to mention the fact that he looked deathly pale for a little while. But, at least the color would eventually seep back into his body in due time.

But for now, the only thing that could be called for now was plenty of bed rest - maybe even a shower when he was feeling better, besides he HATED the feeling of having sweat on his body for too long! - and plenty of fluids and good, solid food. Man, he made a great call to box the rest of the food at the diner up to go, because chances are, he would be starving and parched later.

At that point, Heishiro's body just laid there, completely exhausted from the whole experience as he fell into an unconscious sleep-like state, his entire body still tense even after it was all over, despite it felt as thought it was complete and total torture for him for what ran on endlessly.

After a short while, Laela raised her head back up and opened her eyes. She looked down at Heishiro’s unconscious form and made note of his breathing and pulse rate. Satisfied that he would be fine, she gently lifted his head to slide her body out from under him, leaving his head resting on the pillow that had been in her lap. She had half-expected him to call out to ghosts from his past, like he had when she had drunk from him. She hoped this ordeal hadn’t drained him too much, but was very glad to have been successful.

She checked in the bathroom to make sure there was soap in the shower and a bath towel for him, as she assumed he would want to wash as soon as he was able. The glass of water was on the night stand for when he awoke, and his food was near his clothing, where he had placed the sack before stripping down. She was uncertain if he would prefer the food as-is, or to be refrigerated. Cold leftovers sounded less appealing in her mind, so she left the food where he had placed it.

As she stood at the door, her hand on the knob, she paused in contemplation. Some of the things Heishero had said to her had sunk in and hit home. His allowing himself to be so vulnerable before her had spoken volumes to her about how much he had let himself trust her. How could she not return the gesture? If he proved her false and betrayed her, she would not hesitate to rip his throat out. But, if theirs was a true alliance, and they had begun a partnership of sorts this night, then the only way to move forward was through mutual trust. Sighing heavily and feeling a bit uncomfortable with her decision, Laela walked out of the room and closed the door behind her, but did not lock it.

In the time that he had been left there to rest, Heishiro's breath would eventually return to it's normal rate and his heart rate woud also slow back down from its labored pace as he eventually drifted off into a seemingly peaceful sleep. Perhaps one of the more peaceful feelings of such he had in one of the longest times ever, from his standpoint. Especially when you put together the fact that he had finally had the damn compulsion removed from his head - despite it took a great deal out of his body as a result - but for the most part, it honestly felt as though he could actually sleep a little bit better now.

There was no dreams - ironically, not even a single nightmare - that had filtered through his mind this time around as he laid there on the bed by himself. All that Heishiro had slept through was just an empty black void that seemed to just... Well. Do nothing, really. He would remain that way for a little while longer before his eyes eventually opened, seeing that the vampire had left him here in the room by himself. However, he couldn't help but feel as though his skin felt extremely cold and rather clammy at that. A bit of a disgusted feeling came over him as he slowly sat up despite a bit of a dull ache washed through his head for a moment, possibly due to the sudden change in blood pressure. "Ugh..." Heishiro sounded out as he put a hand to his face, his eyes tightly shut for a moment as the ache subsided.

Slowly, his eyes reopened for a moment as he looked around with his eyes attempting to readjust to the slight amount of brightness that was here, looking over to the nightstand where the lamp was left on. Once more, Heishiro rubbed at his eyes for a moment as he carefully rose from the bed, staggering about slightly as he went over to retrieve a couple of his clothes, namely his underwear and his pants for now as he then began to head over to the bathroom hat was close by. Needless to say, he was in fact slightly disoriented, but he knew that would fade away in due time.

Once in the bathroom, he closed the door behind him and then locked it for privacy's sake as he then looked to see where he was at the moment. For the most part, it looked pretty conventional, a tub there with a showerhead above, a little ways away from it and a sink near that.

Heishiro moved over to the tub and began to fiddle with the knobs on it for a little while as he began to operate it, getting the water's temperature to exactly what he felt was the right one and then settled himself into the tub with a sigh, letting himself sink down into the water with his eyes closed.

Laela awakened as the last rays of light fell below the horizon outside the house, the deep pink of the sky draining to a bruised purple, then black. She arose from her bed, its softness having enveloped her comfortably for all the hours of the day while she slept. Unlocking the door and the many safeguards of her sleeping chamber, she rushed through her shower and dressing, an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She wondered how Heishiro had fared during her slumber - had he slept through the day as well, soon to awaken refreshed? Or had he waited for the sunlight to wreak mischief upon them - or simply fled?

She left her personal rooms, and before even heading to the main room to greet anyone, she walked to the back room where she had left Heishiro. Slowly and quietly opening the door, she peeked inside. The bed was empty; but, Heishiro’s armor and sword remained on the floor, and the door to the bathroom was closed. All is well, she breathed a sigh of relief. Looking over at the rumpled and sweat-stained sheets tangled on the bed, she walked in and stripped the bed of all sheets and the mattress protector, and walked out of the room with the linens in her arms. Tossing them onto the floor of laundry room, she grabbed some fresh sheets and mattress pad from the linen closet and walked back to Heishiro’s room.

To tell the honest truth, Heishiro had fallen asleep in the tub purely out of exhaustion, and he hadn't even noticed that he had, he was so out of it. When he did awaken, it was hard to say how much time he had lost due to him being out for so long - but of course, with now windows in the place, it made things a bit more difficult to tell - and time to him seemed to have come to a bit of a standstill. When he awakened, Heishiro peered around in a bit of confusion, wondering how he had ended up here in the tub, but then he remembered that he had brought himself in this thing when he last awakened what seemed to be hours ago and then was planning on washing himself off in here then go back to sleep on the bed.

At that moment, Heishiro would then sit up slowly to reheat the water to a more comfortable temperature then began to wash himself off meticulously. With that completed, Heishiro would then move himself out of the tub and emitted a bit of a surprised gasp when he saw that he had pruned up a bit. Dammit all... He thought with a minor look of frustration on his face before he then began to use a second towel to dry himself off and with it done some time later, he would then replace his underwear and pants back on, padding out of the bathroom, pausing when he saw the vampire there. "Hnn. Didn't think I'd see you here." Heshiro said as he put his hands to his hips. "So, how was your nap, eh?" He asked.

Laela looked up as Heishiro opened the bathroom door and entered back into the room. She took in his shirtless form, his tall muscularly toned body, and it was pleasing to her. She flashed back to the pleasurable intensity she had experienced when she drank his blood, and licked her lips briefly. Closing her eyes and shaking her head to clear the natural direction of her predator’s mind, she focused on Heishiro as an individual, and not potential human prey. I need to feed; being hungry around him will do none of us any good

Brusquely, Laela tossed the mattress pad and sheet set onto the bed. “I thought you might like some clean sheets,” she explained. “Feel free to sleep as long as you need. When you are ready, you may make use of our kitchen to warm up your food if you like. All of us will go out at some point tonight to...eat...as well, so don’t worry if you awake and none of us are here. One or all of us will return soon after.”

She looked closely at him as she spoke, “I know you’ve endured a lot over the past couple days...all things considered, are you feeling well enough? Is there anything you need that I can bring you upon my return?”

"Ugh. Feels like I slept for the entire day, really." Heishiro answered with a shake of his head as he then passed a hand through his hair, unaware of her predatory nature once again coursing through the vampire. "But yeah, I'll be alright. Besides, I still got a lotta food I haven't finished as of yet." He added as he then looked at her with a shrug of his shoulders.

When asked if there was anything that he needed at the moment, Heishiro once again shook his head dismissively before he looked at her once more. "I know there has been a lot that I endured over the the course we've 'known' each other for, but I think I'll be alright. I do need to get a change of clothes, though. They're at my place in town." Heishiro explained before gesturing out of the safehouse. "So, if it's alright with you guys, do you think one of you can drop me off at my hotel room so I can get them? After that, I think I'll be alright after that." He added as he put his hands to his hips.

When Heishiro casually requested to be taken to his hotel room, Laela again felt the knot in her stomach due to her discomfort about trusting someone who pretty much was still mostly unknown to her. Not a complete stranger, maybe - but close enough to make her cautious, protective side rise to the surface. Too many bad experiences with betrayals in her past. She was trying to get better about not judging new people based on past experiences. Heishiro had not betrayed her - to the contrary, actually - and deserved her full trust until proven otherwise.

“Fine,” she said out loud to Heishiro, “when you are ready, just come join us in the main room - and like I said, if you find us all gone, just make yourself at home and at least one of us will return shortly. You are our guest now, so...mi casa es su casa.” She smiled briefly before she turned to leave, pulling the door closed behind her, giving Heishiro his privacy to do as he wished.

After he was left to himself, Heishiro remained there, standing in silence as he thought about what he was going to do next. To be honest, he didn't really know himself as to what he was going to do other than the fact that he was going to be here by himself up until someone joined him once more. At this point, Heishiro looked over to the bag of food that was still beside his equipment, arching a brow at it with a sigh before walking over to it and putting his socks and boots on first before picking up the bag there and then followed her out of the bedroom, closing it behind him as he continued to move around.

Ander was sitting at the dining room table, and his eyes looked past Laela as she walked into the room, to scowl at Heishiro as he followed her into the large room that combined the living room, kitchen and dining room into one big open area. Laela frowned meaningfully at Ander and spoke to him sharply, “Ander, you remember our guest, Heishiro?” She strolled over to join him at the large dining table that was strewn with papers, and began to casually sift through the paperwork, letting Heishiro settle into the group in his own way, not wanting to make a big deal out of it and thereby possibly cause even more discord.

At their entrance, Rosalie’s blonde head shot up to smile at them from where she sat at the kitchen island bar. She was reading a graphic novel, but slammed the book closed and hopped down from the stool to meet them. Looking at the bag of leftovers in Heishiro’s hands, she asked, “Do you need help warming them up? Ummm...I mean, if you’re hungry now I can help, or I guess you can just stash them in the fridge if you’re not hungry yet. Are you hungry?” She grinned up at him unabashedly.

When Heishiro came out in the living room, he could sense that there was a hint of malice in the atmosphere and at that, he stopped in place for a moment and glanced towards the source of that aggression, seeing the male vampire known as Ander sitting there glare at him with a rather bitter look in his face. Heishiro said nothing as he stood there with the bag in his hand as he then slowly moved towards the kitchen area despite he also turned an aggravated set of eyes towards him in return.

From there, he paused once again when he saw Rosalie stand there in front of him, his aggravated expression settled down into a smile before he bent down a bit and then patted her on the head a few times. "Nah, I'll be alright." He answered with a reassuring tone of voice as he then straightened himself up and then headed into the kitchen area.

Rosalie blushed cutely at Heishiro’s kind tone of voice and the pats he gave on her head. She reached out and took his free hand in hers and pulled him into the kitchen. “This is our ‘frigerator, keeps things cold - and really cold!” She smiled up at him, as she pointed to the black side-by-side refrigerator/freezer. “We’ve got an induction cooktop” she looked over at Laela to make sure she'd said it right, “no flame!” she explained, checking his face to see if Heishiro was properly impressed. “Microwave, toaster oven, coffee maker - everything for cooking!” She leaned happily back into the countertop to watch what he would do.

Laela couldn’t hide her smile at Rosalie’s enthusiasm. She spoke to Heishiro, “Rosalie loves...playing...with food. You may have already surmised or known that we don’t eat the same way you do. Most of us don’t feel the loss, or even enjoy the taste of food if we ever try it. But Rosalie...she’s a fan of food even though she doesn’t really eat it. Girl can watch those cooking shows for hours on end! So she means it when she offers to help...” she hinted to him.

At first, Heishiro honestly believed that he could handle things by himself, but when Rosalie was showing her kind of enthusiasm towards him in showing him everything that was here in the kitchen, Heishiro decided to let down his guard for a change and then let her help him out. But only because the other vampire in the vicinity hinted towards him about it. "Alright, alright, you win." Heishiro answered with a little chuckle before setting the bag up on the counter and then replaced his hands on his hips once more.

"Alright Rosalie," Heishiro said once more before bending down a bit. "I'll let ya help me out. Besides, it's kinda been a while since I last used stuff like this, so do you think you can show me how some of these work?" He then asked.

Laela smiled gratefully at Heishiro, her eyes glowing with good humor at his kindness to the young girl. She turned back to the table reluctantly, digging back in to the paperwork with Ander. Ander’s brow still held a bit of a frown toward Heishiro, but the glare in his eyes was diminished and there was a slight quirk to his lips as he witnessed Rosalie’s enjoyment of Heishiro including her in his meal preparation. He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, and then brought his focus back to the task at hand.

Rosalie clasped her hands gleefully in front of her, a bright smile lighting her face. She then moved her face into a serious expression as she fixed her eyes on his bag of food. “Whatchya got in there?” she asked him, poking her finger lightly on the outside of the bag.

"Well," Heishiro answered with the same smile on his face as he then looked into the bag. "I think I still got a few things that I didn't finish at the diner last night." He added as he glanced back over to Rosalie a little while later then began to fish them out of the bag and placed the containers out onto the counter. "Not quite sure what's left, but have a look and do what you think is best there." He said one more time as he the finished putting the containers a little while later before turning his attention back over to her a little while later then glanced over to the other two that were digging into what he thought was a mountain of paperwork of some sort or another.

With a brow arched in curiosity, he stepped over to the island counter and then placed his elbows onto it for a minute then leaned forward with the same curious expression. "What's up with the papers over there?" He asked the two at the table nearby.

Ander subtly shook his head at Laela when Heishiro asked his question, the look in his eyes making his thoughts clear to her. Laela breathed out slowly as she turned her body in the chair to face toward Heishiro. As she opened her mouth to speak to him, she was interrupted by Rosalie’s excited squeal, “Peach Pie!”

Rosalie had watched with big eyes as Heishiro told her it was leftovers in his bag, and when he had pulled out the various containers from the bag and placed them on the counter. Rosalie had stepped up to the counter and begun to peek inside each white styrofoam box to see what it contained. “Peach pie!” she exclaimed in excitement, as she opened the first box. “Pork chops and mashed potatoes, a salad, umm...fish and rice, uhh...pot pie?” She announced as she identified each leftover dish. “And...a grilled cheese sandwich!” Her smile beamed back over at him as she reminded him, “I made you a grilled cheese sandwich - do you remember?” She skipped over to where he leaned at the island counter, tugging on his shirt to bring him back to her project. “Which one is your favorite?” she questioned him as she pointed to the opened containers on the counter.