**The Nanny**

[Fenrir Shade]

"...I've never done this before. I've never had any distractions, any derivative from clear logical thought. But lately, all I can think about is her. Since I first met her even. I even gave her my room because she needed a place to stay. But I'm not cut out for this sort of thing! I've never been in a relationship, in fact I've specifically avoided them because I knew that I would screw something up. But that was back when I was a hired blade, back when I though that love was a sign of weakness. But now, I know that I was wrong. Swift is the strongest guy I know, not physically, but mentally and spiritually. And he's married. I want to be with her, but I don't know if she shares that opinion." continues Fenrir, not checking the shadows to see her.  

[Fadedepic]

Martini wasn't reading anymore, but he still had the book up and was looking at it as if he was. "Fenrir, we've all killed people. Its the ends that matter. You killed evil, malicious people. Doesn't make you a bad guy. You shouldn't lose sleep over it. Besides, you're a smart, handsome, strong, levelheaded young man. Just be confident."  

[WritingWithLove]

Briar's knees buckled, and she wondered whether or not to speak.
He... likes me? she thought as a heavy blush spread across her face.
She decided to stay calm, despite her heart soaring. She felt like the rest of her could fly, too! Unable to hide her smile, she casually came out from her hiding spot and took a seat next to Fenrir. "Have you ever read this book before?" she asked as she set it down on the table in front of him. She scooted her chair closer so that their legs were barely touching.
Don't blow this!  

[Fenrir Shade]

"I guess..." he says to Martini. He jumps from Briar's sudden appearance, not expecting her to be there. 'Did she hear me? I hope not... Or maybe if she did, and she like me back, then that would be better... But no. I have to assume worst-case-scenario. I can't get too hyped up.' He looks at the book, "Um, no, I don't think I have." He actually had, a long time ago, his mother had read them to him, but he couldn't remember that far back.

((Quick question, is it the standard fairy tales? Or the Brothers Grimm ones? Cause she's only called Briar Rose in the Grimm version. But then again, in the Disney version, that's what she called herself before revealing her true name.))  

[WritingWithLove]

((Brothers Grimm version. I prefer them, and I find them a bit more interesting. Plus some other stories could be in there too, if we wanted. Like Alice In Wonderland or something.))

"Really?" Briar asked. She couldn't imagine anyone not reading it before, but then again, this was her first time at a library, so she wasn't one to judge when it came to have and have-not life experiances.
She leaned over to see what Martini was reading. Some of the words on the title were too "advanced" for her, but she recognized enough of them to know that he was reading something about "Greek gods." She wondered what it was like to be able to read things like that and understand.
"S-so," she said, getting back on topic, "you wanna read some of 'em now?" Without waiting for an answer, she opened the book to the Table of Contents and said, "Pick one!"  

[Fenrir Shade]

((Alright. Sounds good to me.))

"Um, alright, I pick..." he closes his eyes to add some randomness to it, and brings his finger down on one, ironically Sleeping Beauty. "That one."  

[WritingWithLove]

Briar eagerly flipped to the page, trying to ignore the feeling of bitter nostalgia that was resting in her gut. "O-once... upon... a... time..." she started, reading to herself, "there was a qu-queen who had a beautiful baby d-daughter. She asked all the fairies in the kingdom to the... the chri... chris..."
She froze, feeling incredibly stupid. She kicked herself for even thinking that she could read aloud well, but she couldn't even get through the first page without screwing up. She shifted in her seat nervously, thinking, He'll definitely not like me now! I can't even say chr... chris-ten-ing right!  

[Fadedepic]

Martini put his book down and turned around to Briar. "Briar... You... Can't read that well, can you?"  

[WritingWithLove]

Oh shoot.
Busted.

"I'm a great reader!" she said, denying the truth. "I'm the best damn reader anyone's ever seen! I-I'm just tired, that's all! I can out-read anyone!"

Lies, lies, lies! Petty girl.
Shut up! It's not my fault that all I had to read were perscription bottles and old newspapers!

Briar ground her teeth and crossed her arms. "Okay, no, I'm not the best, but I can get by!" she admitted with anger, more towards herself than Martini.  

[Fenrir Shade]

"Hey, That's fine. So you can't read with the best of them. It's easy to learn, and at least you know the basics. What really matters is if you can fight with the best of them, which you can. Because we face hundreds of threats every month, and knowing how to kick a** is more important at times." says Fenrir, understanding her pain. She was unskilled at reading, he was unskilled in dating.  

[WritingWithLove]

((Sorry, but that last line made me smile. smile ))

Briar grinned, not having expected him to be so forgiving about it. "Hell yeah I can fight! I can kick some serious a**!" she exclaimed with pride. "Just call me Briar Kick-A** Rose!" She chuckled at her own joke and winked.  

[Fenrir Shade]

Fenrir lightly chuckled at her, "Exactly."  

[WritingWithLove]

She smiled broadly, feeling great because someone finally got her sense of humor. She hugged him and said without thinking, "You're so awesome! I, like, love you!"  

[Fadedepic]

((RARRGH!! It really SUCKS when someone says that you can play an instrument, and they say they'll teach you, and then they either don't teach you anything and show off, teach you complex things when you can't even play yet, or just stick you in a room with the instrument and tell you to 'mess around' with it!))

Martini sighed. "Yes, because Violence is always the answer. Whenever there's a problem, violence. Whenever you need to solve something, violence. When people say, 'Hey, why don't we stop using violence?' Guess what the responce is? You guessed it - violence." He picked up the book and began reading again. "All this killing... And to think we actually made things worthwhile."  

[WritingWithLove]

((Oh, I feel ya. stare ))

"It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, and it's better to be safe than sorry." Briar pointed out, still not realizing that she had told Fenrir "I love you."