**When It Pains, It Roars** (finished)

[Fenrir Shade]

Fenrir once again laughs, "Yeah, sure. Lemme tell you about it. I do this all the time."  

[WritingWithLove]

"Sure you do, Fenny." she said with a smile and a roll of her eyes. She yawned broadly and sighed. "What time is it?"  

[Fenrir Shade]

Fenrir looks to the stove, "A little after three in the morning. It's getting kinda late I guess." He finishes with another bowl and sets it on a counter in front of her.  

[WritingWithLove]

"Three, huh?" she asked, finishing her current bowl of ice cream and picking up the new one. "Okay then. I'm used to staying up late... or early, as it were." she sighed. She wondered what was going on in her city. Probably nothing unusual , she thought to herself, Just guys stumbling around after having too much to drink, and flirty girls offering them more.
She looked to Fenrir and asked, "You gonna have somethin' to eat, or are you too busy lookin' at me?" She gave a mischievous laugh, hoping he wouldn't take the joke too personally.  

[Fenrir Shade]

The comment made Fenrir start to freak out, 'Wait, am I looking at her? I mean, I've glanced at her, sure, but... Was it really that obvious? It's male nature to look at an attractive woman, right? But it's rude, and I've always tried to refrain from partaking in perverse actions. Why is she different? I don't...' He then sees the look in her eyes and realizes it was a joke, and relief washes over him. He laughs at the joke, and at himself for being too jumpy... and stupid... "Well, right now I'm focusing on your Sundaes. There's a lot of ice cream left, we've only gone through twenty flavors... and last time I checked there are exactly three hundred and forty one. We've got a long way to go..."  

[WritingWithLove]

Briar noticed that he had seemed surprised, but she forced herself to think little of it. I probably just caught him off-guard. Besides, there's nothing special about me.
"Then I guess we'd better get to it!" she said with a smile, "I can stay up all night!" She winked and ate a bite of ice cream, more as a tease than a test.  

[Fenrir Shade]

Fenrir notices the wink and moves into the freezer to avoid an awkward moment that he would inevitably cause, "You know, I think it will take us all night to get through this." 'What Spyke said was true, I suck when it comes to talking to women...'  

[WritingWithLove]

Fearing that she'd made Fenrir uncomfortable, Briar sighed and set her bowl down. Great, you over-ambitious girl, see what the little confidence you have does to you? she could hear her mother say. Maybe... Maybe she was right.
"Fenny, what if I'm not cut out for all this?"  

[Fenrir Shade]

Fenrir goes back out into the kitchen, "What do you mean? Of course you are! Why wouldn't you be?"  

[WritingWithLove]

"I dunno," she said, maintaining her Strong-Girl facade, "I mean... I'm pretty good with kids and all, but what if I don't, like, fit in?"  

[Fenrir Shade]

"Really? I'm a convicted killer, and I fit in perfectly fine. You' don't look like you've done anything wrong your entire life! Of course you can fit in! And even if you've done something wrong, everyone here is very understanding. Trust me, if I can fit in, the awkward guy who has a track of Man-Slaughter, you can definitely fit in." replies Fenrir, giving her a sincere smile.  

[WritingWithLove]

"I guess so." she replied. For some reason, she wanted to tell him all about herself, which was usually extremely out of character; of course, lately a lot of things had made her act out of her norm, and he was no exception.
"Hey Fenny, do you have anywhere you like to hang out around here?" she asked with hope.  

[Fenrir Shade]

"Well, I like to hang out in the Shadow Realm, but I don't think that counts... Hmm... I guess either the roof, or out by the lake. But we just left the rain, so I doubt you want to go back out in it." he replies.  

[WritingWithLove]

"Right, right." she replied, feeling stupid. She ate a bit more ice cream and glanced at the clock. "Four already?" she said with disbelief. It seemed like Time had stopped for a while. She wondered why.
Wanting to prolong the conversation, she asked, "What kinds of things do you like to do? You know, besides taking in girls who happen to be in the vicinity?" She chuckled and ate another bit of her dessert.  

[Fenrir Shade]

Fenrir was growing accustomed to her sense of humor, and smiled. "Well, I help the King with whatever crisis the world befalls every-now-and-then. Other than that I just hang out around the castle, play video games, practice with my Mother's Dagger, hone my shadow powers, stuff like that. You? Other than getting lost in rainstorms of course."