Stay out of it

"Obviously." she said with a roll of her eyes, but she was still in a good mood. She hadnt even noticed the little duckling that had gotten closer to them until he muttered her name and she followed his look. Seeing the little waddling creature was very adorable. It was so little. She was sure she could have it in her hand.
She almost didnt realize how still he sat until she turned her eyes to notice. It made her smile a bit bigger though she didnt say anything but rather just turned her eyes back to the duckling that was carefully moving around. "It is. It will grow up to also stick it's head in the bag." she chuckled.

Her chuckle made him reply with a soft scoff, "fuck, I don't think I've ever seen anything this cute," he admitted, barely able to take his eyes off of the small creature. It wasn't before it quacked, satisfied and full and started to waddle back to its parents that he felt himself breathe easily again. He leaned back a little, letting his muscles relax, getting his breathing back to normal. Chuckling a bit it soon turned in to a small laugh as he laid back on the grass, placing a hand on his stomach as he just laughed. It was strange how he didn't care as much when people were scared, but a duckling? No, he could never forgive himself from scaring it away.

No it really was the cutest, "I have to agree." she muttered, watching it waddle away eventually, going right back to it's parents who quickly checked up on it to make sure it hadnt been hurt. What a brave little creature indeed. Then she turned her eyes to Rhys. She watched him relax and then he started chuckling. Why? Because it was cute? She couldnt help but smile a bit but also still rather confused. "What's so funny?" she asked before poking at his side to get his attention. She wanted to know what he was thinking.

It was hard to keep the giggles at bay, turning to look at her as she asked what he found funny. At least it made him feel less self-conscious as she clearly hadn't noticed just how tense he had been. Or had she? "Besides everything?" he asked, sending her a smile as he shook his head a little. He was being silly. And frankly, he liked that he could be that right now. "I guess if you don't know it'll just add to the mystery of me," he pondered.

As she moved closer, there wasn't even a single bit in him that hesitated, pulling her up on his lap, wrapping one arm around her, the other stretched out to keep the ducks from getting closer. Thinking fast, he grabbed his bag of crumbs, hurling it away from them and to make the ducks migrate to another spot. As they started to waddle away, he could breathe easy, "you're a bit clumsy, aren't you?" he muttered, just looking at the ducks, making sure they weren't getting closer again. He still held on to her, but not in a cruel way. It felt more protective, and she could move out of it easily if she wanted to. However Rhys barely seemed to notice, having his eyes hyper focused on any duck that might try and sneak back.

She was practically hiding herself away against him, and Rhys couldn't think of a time where anyone had been this close to him without them at least showing signs of fear. And yet here she was, actively hugging him, and he could feel her breath on his neck. It was very new for the hybrid and it gave him a feeling he couldn't quite describe. Eventually she pulled away, but she didn't seem to let go. He just remained silent until she spoke again and thanking him. Normally he would've replied with a scoff and a dismissal, but despite her mumble it sounded heartfelt. "Good thing I'm a little scary, huh?" he muttered. It was supposed to sound serious, but it perhaps came out more like a joke if anything. "You're kinda cold," he said, looking at her, his hand feeling her temperature through her shirt. He wasn't as cold as a vampyre, but he wasn't as warm as a daemon either. "Here," he muttered, taking off his jacket carefully, placing it around her shoulders before wrapping his arm around her safely again. Was he being selfish in the fact that he didn't want to let her go? Beneath his jacket he was wearing a white t-shirt, not too see-through.

The admittance made him look at her clothes that was covered in breadcrumbs still, smiling softly as he thought of what a headache it would be to get out of here. She released one arm, and he looked at her hurt hand, reaching out to take it rather delicately. Inspecting it his touch was delicate and not as rough as his hands seemed to give off. Lifting it closer to his face, he leaned down, placing a kiss against the soon to be bruised knuckle. He leaned away shortly after, and without addressing it, he shuffled a bit in his seat. "Hold on," he muttered, hoping her arms was securely around him, and when they were, he would shift his weight. Carrying her, he managed to get up on his feet, a few ducks quacking as a few crumbs were dropped. "Dust yourself off," he told her, still holding her in his arms, the ducks gathering around his feet, nipping at him but unable to reach Emily.

Her hand moving down over his shirt made his muscles tense a little. He wasn't sure why, but it felt good? As the worst crumbs were off of them, he looked around before stepping away from the ducks, letting them tear at the paper bags with the minimal crumbs left in them. Once they were back
by the bench, he placed her down on the ground, albeit a little reluctantly. "There you go," he said, looking at her as she was right now. Then his eyes moved to his jacket, smiling a little, "man, you have stick for arms, don't you?" grabbing at the loose fabric that wouldn't be filled by Emily's arms. He chuckled, looking at her again. He hesitated, part of him wanting to lean in and have her close again, but he didn't, and opted to give her some space. "Can I follow you home .. Or would you rather me not knowing where you live?" he asked.

"What makes you think I don't already know?" he raised an eyebrow, humming as he let go of the loose fabric. But the suggestion of meeting the cat made him nod. "Of course I want to meet the now infamous cat," he said, nodding for her to lead the way. He would follow, walking by her side he stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
"What made you start feeding the cat in the first place?" he asked, wanting to hear more about her. And by that extent he wanted to know more about her. He hadn't asked her out just to walk in silence after all.

She went on to describe how it had all come to be, and he scoffed as she called the tuna on sale a sign. "So you believe in fate and all that?" he asked, because that was what he could deduct from what she had told him. He smiled, chuckling a bit as he shook his head a little. It was a little silly, but he guessed everyone had their quirks. "I mean, I guess I shouldn't put it past you .. You probably believe in karma too?" Was that an unfair assessment? It wasn't totally clear whether or not he found it bad, but he surely didn't believe in it.

"I definitely do not." she scoffed. But a few signs here and there made perfect sense to her, eyeing him as he seemed to find it funny. She narrowed her eyes a little at the notion, though the mention of karma she hummed at. "To a degree, I guess, I do." she said with a thoughtful expression. It would make sense with how her life had turned out, though she wouldnt say that she had ever earned enough bad karma to turn out this way. "Dont you believe in anything? Or let me guess.. you're way too tough to let fate decide anything for you?"

He scoffed, "something like that," he had to agree. It wasn't that he didn't believe that coincidences could happen and the stars could align, but he wasn't counting on ever experiencing it himself. Not with what he knew from his own life. "But I guess fate or luck did have something to do with the fact that you sorta agreed to this date," he chuckled, shrugging as it wasn't that big of a deal. And yet it was for him a few big steps in an unknown direction. He hadn't ever had anyone even pretend to care for him, so he wasn't getting his hopes up with Emily. But there was something about her; Whether it was the way she walked or talked, or perhaps how she didn't shy away from him. Regardless, he liked how it was right now. Just having someone to talk to. "I guess I want to believe in fate, but it hasn't ever really worked in my favor," he chuckled.

It was almost typical. But then again, if she thought about it, if she went around doing what he did, while not even knowing the full extent of it. And she wouldnt try to think about it too much, after all they were having a good time now. "Then it's a good thing that it's not an actual date." she stood her ground with a smile.
She corrected her strap and small talked with him the rest of the way to her apartment. When they got there, she could hear the cat cry in the alley. "It's usually waiting for me to come home this time around." she chuckled. "Come on then." she said, reaching down to grab his hand and pull him along as she went up to the door of her apartment. She lived small but also rather cozy. The most notable was probably the polaroid pictures at her bed, plastered to the wall. She dropped her bag. "I gotta change out of this crumb shirt." she said, walking over to her closet, opening it up to look inside.

If he wasn't surprised when he had seen her at the park, he felt much more surprised now that she pulled him with her into her apartment. Looking around at her décor he was sure he hadn't ever been in a home like this. It seemed sweet and cozy and very unlike what he lived in. Well to be fair he just had a mattress and a fridge, not even having bothered to put up shelves let alone pictures. He walked over to her bed, looking at the polaroid pictures that was on display. Her words making him chuckle, "you afraid the ducks will follow you here?" he teased, leaning down to inspect a pillow with a weird design on it before straightening out his back.
Turning his head he saw her change out of the shirt she was wearing. He knew she probably didn't want him staring, but he couldn't help himself. Her skin was a little blemished, he thought perhaps her clumsiness meant she was prone to bruising as well so he wasn't too worried about that. He stepped closer, almost unable to stop himself, but he kept his distance still. "I really like your tattoos," he said softly.

"You never know. They really looked hungry." she argued, standing in a tank top as she looked for a new shirt. He could look if he wanted, she kept her back so the scar on her neck wouldnt be seen. She preferred it that way if she had to be honest. His compliment made her look down for a moment before she grabbed her hoodie and pulled it over her head. The neck on it was long so she would be covered. "Thanks." she said with a sigh. She was very unhappy the moment she had woken up in her second life to find herself covered in them, but apparently magic like that was peculiar. Either way, she couldnt just tell him that it was someone else's tattoos that had copied onto her body and she couldnt do a thing about it. "Do you have any?" she asked, pulling her hair out of the back and turning to look at him.

She didn't sound too pleased, but he guessed there was just things that you would always feel a bit self-conscious about. As she turned around he had moved a little closer, smiling slightly at her question, "yeah, but only tiny ones .. The tattoo artists I've spoken with say my skin is weird to tattoo, so anything too big would be too hard of a task," he shrugged. But he ended up pulling his white t-shirt off over his head, letting her see the littered tattoos that he did have. The one she would notice first was perhaps the sun and moon he had on his collarbone. They were simple, just how he had described them. On his ribs he had a snake swallowing itself and on his arm an eye with a tear next to it.

Her question was strange, but he gathered she wondered if the pain he felt differed from what she had felt. "Didn't really feel it much," he confessed. There were times in his life where he could rarely feel his body, so he didn't think too much of pain when it did come in to his field of vision. She inspected him, and he chuckled, "yeah, no scarring either," he said, taking her hand and guiding it to his skin, letting her feel just how flush with his skin the tattoo was. "For a while I really wanted a facial tattoo," he said, letting go of her hand to touch the tattoo on her cheek, humming to himself as he considered it, "though .. I bet it wouldn't help people being less intimidated of me."