Eli had woken up on Dirk's couch. The sun was in his eyes and his head was throbbing from the amount of beer he'd consumed the night before. "No, go away," he groaned at the sunlight and covered his eyes. But it was of no use. Mother Nature had seen those dark blue eyes open and touched his lower abdomen. "Damnit," he cursed and finally rolled off of the couch. He knew the house as if it were his own, having practically lived there as a child. He plodded along in his socks and white boxers, scratching his head with one hand, his butt with the other. "No more beer for you," he spoke into the bathroom mirror before turning away to relieve himself into the commode.

Genny awoke around the same time Eli did, but she wasn't suffering the after effects of the alcohol. All the same, she did lie in bed for a long while, reliving the evening before. There was a wince for her outburst to Jester, a smile for Dirk and Quinn, and a giggle for the dancing lessons with Eli. Hearing someone moving around, she dragged herself out of bed, wearing - of all things - Quinn's t-shirt, and padded barefoot down the hall toward the bathroom. Without thinking, she opened the door and let out a loud squeak of shock. "Oh god! I'm sorry!" Slam went the door, and Genny ran back to the room she was sleeping in, heart pounding.

Eli placed his hand against the cool tile wall and leaned on it as he urinated. "One good piss," he smacked his lips sleepily and lay his head against the arm that was supporting him. His world was hazy and comfortable, still wrapped in cotton wool of half consciousness. Andthen the door opened. "Hey, I'll.." Her panicked yell had him wincing before he realized just who it was that was doing the yelling. He couldn't figure out if he should cover his ears or his penis. He opted to try for both, laying his head to one side quickly and wrapping his left arm around to cover his right ear. His other hand had already been down there, aiming as it were, and all he had to do was quickly cover it with the boxers. "Oh crap. Great." And the door slam had him wincing in pain. He took a look at himself in the mirror. "Now she's seen it. There goes mystery and that crap." He washed his hands, thoroughly; a habit he'd learned in Mrs. Sullivan's health class. Then he opened the bathroom and walked down the hall. He wasn't sure which room she was in, so he put his hands on his head and said, "Bathroom's open." Then turned and walked away quickly before he could die from mortification.

A very quiet 'okay, thank you!" was called from one of the further rooms, and Genny waited until Eli's footsteps had died away before moving to the bathroom once more. She'd dressed during the little interval, looking appropriate for the hot weather, though a close look would reveal the nude tights she wore under her denim bermudas. Her morning ablutions only took a few minutes, and it was while she was brushing her teeth that she made the decision to be brave and go to the kitchen, rather than hide in her room for the rest of the morning. Clean and smelling of cinnamon, she left the bathroom and made her way to the kitchen, moving to busily make coffee while being as quiet as possible.

And at the kitchen table, sat Eli. He was chewing on some dry toast and sipping a glass of warm water. He was dishevelled and still only in his socks and boxers. He was about to get up and go find something more suitable to wear when she walked into the kitchen. "Hey," he said to her, though he was thinking, "You've seen my penis. Please don't laugh."

Despite appearances, Genny offered Eli a quick smile. "Good morning," was her quiet greeting, though it was a monumental effort not to gaze at all the skin on display. She wasn't attracted to Dirk and Quinn, so their nakedness just embarrassed her. But Eli ... well, she was beginning to realise she was attracted to him, and found herself fascinated as well as embarrassed. "Would you like some p- coffee?" Please don't let me say penis.

"Some what?" He looked up and his dark blue eyes were blood shot and there were circles under them from dehydration. "Ayeah, but penis please. None of that there..." His eyes went wide and he hurriedly stood up. "I need to get dressed."

"Oka- what?" She turned to stare at him; had he just said what she thought he had? His hasty stand told her he must have done, and she blushed a little through her smile. "Black," she deduced from the context, trying to make it seem as though she'd understood. "Sugar?"

Eli squinted again and craned his neck to get a closer look at her face. "Y'aint a compooter, is ya?" He canted his way this way and that, studying her carefully.

"No, I-I'm just me," Genny said quickly, her own head tilting as she watched him studying her. "I'm human, just ... I'm something else, at the same time. I am learning to control it, but I'm not very good just yet."

"Oooh." He leaned back then, with a slow nod on his face. One arm looped over the back of the chair and he shifted so that he was looking at her sideways. "Like that there Blair Witch?"

"I'm not evil." It was an instant argument, one that she had used plenty of times before. And spoken with quiet vehemence, even as she seemed to curl inward on herself. Well, there went any chance of gaining another friend, she mused to herself. She was a witch, apparently, and in an area where they couldn't even accept two men in love.

"Nah." Eli shook his head slowly, still studying her. "Y'don't look evil. Besides, witches aint all evil." There was a slow grin curling his lips. "I'd let ya look at my life, but you'd be snoring in two seconds."

A faintly disbelieving smile appeared on her face as her eyes turned to his. "You don't think I'm evil? Really?" She wasn't used to people who didn't understand magic not immediately condemning her for what she could do. His grin, however, made her smile deepen. "No life is boring," she told him confidently. "But I would be seeing it from your perspective."

"Nah," he scoffed with a wave of his hand in front of his face. "Haven't you seen Star Wars? There's good and bad in everyone." He flushed slightly at the idea that his life was anything but boring. "Let's put it this way, Sugah. I fell through some ice a year ago. Life flashed before my eyes. And I was nearly blinded by the snowy white blank screen." He laughed then, and turned his gaze to the lukewarm coffee. "Really, you can try, but there's nothing there but pee wee football, picket fences, mom, dad, my brother and my dawg." He looked up, just his eyes, his chin still lowered as if he were looking over a pair of glasses; and reached his hand out. "Try me."

It wasn't fair, Genny found herself thinking, to take his memories and give nothing back. But then she remembered what she had done the day before, with Dirk and Quinn and Abi's teddy bear. Could she do it again? Slowly, her knees slid down from in front of her, feet landing flat on the floor as she leaned forward, her expression serious. "I'll only do it," she said softly, "if you're prepared to know me in the same way."

He lifted his head and canted it to the right, pleasant surprise on his face. "Y'd really want t'share that wi' me? I mean, it's personal." He straightened then and leaned forward, sliding his hand across the table. "I mean, s'alright wit me, ifn it's s'alright wit y'all."

Genny smiled, just a little. "I've spent a long time violating other people's privacy with just a touch," she explained soberly, " and you're asking me to violate yours. Now that I know how, I won't do it voluntarily unless I can share the experience." She laid her forearms down on the table, both hands open. "It's your choice, Eli."

"I.. I don't mind." He put both of his hands into hers. His eyes closed and he sat bolt upright. His face quickly showing the anguish that Genny had felt upon being forced out of her home and everything that had gone before it. Only when he saw her in the deli and felt the slow build up of her self esteem as she began to make friends, did his expression soften into a smile. "Wow.." he breathed out the word in awe.

Far more used to the transference, Genny merely closed her eyes for a moment to focus herself, trying not to feel jealous of the family life he still had that dominated his lifetime. She would have given anything to have that. But she said nothing, watching his expression change as he sorted through her own memories, wondering idly if the way he saw her was the way she actually looked. His quiet exhale made her smile, though, fingers shifting shyly against his wrists. "Are you alright?"

"Ok, well." He took a deep breath and shuffled forwards, peeking his head around the door to see if her hand was upon her heart. "It was the only thing that had fit." Eli had spent the better part of an hour going through the closet and dressers in Dirk's old room to find something, only to have discarded 99 percent of the garments onto the bed as ones that didn't fit. So he was stuck with the outfit he was currently wearing as he slid the rest of the way into the doorway. He shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the next, tugging on the waist band of the skin tight jeans whose waistband sat on his hips. He was also tugging at the nearly flourescent pink shirt that was also skin tight. It had three quarter length sleeves and a sewn in ascot. "What'm I supposed t'do with this?" He batted the ascot around with one hand.

Genny's eyes widened as he stepped into view, her teeth biting her lips closed in an attempt to do as she had promised. "Oh, Eli," she managed to say without anything more than a faint chuckle. "Where did you find those?"

"I knew it. You're laughing." He couldn't help it, he laughed with her. "Dirk's old room. I'd forgotten about his Barbie Doll phase." He sat down then and folded his hands in front of himself. "Tell me about RhyDin?"

She stared at him, shaking her head as she giggled. "I can't talk to you while you're wearing that," she confessed, pushing herself to her feet. "Come on, let's find you something better." Chuckling, she rose to her feet, taking his hand to give him a tug out into the hallway. She'd seen Quinn and Dirk naked, there was no way she was going to shy away from rifling through their clothes while they were asleep.

"Where are we going?" He got pulled along and the closer they got to the master bedroom, the more he resisted. "Oh c'mon, don't make me go in there. Dirk sleeps nekkid. I've seen his junk before. Don't make me go in there, please."

"Alright, fine," Genny released his hand with a grin. "I'll be out in a minute." She pushed open the door and stepped into the darkened room, not even bothering to try and be quiet. They'd hear her anyway; what was the point?

Genny may have been surprised to find the room empty, the bed made. Dirk and Quinn had not come home yet. But, Eli didn't know this and was very relieved when he didn't have to go into that bedroom. "Thank you. I think I'm gonna puke if I see his junk again. He ain't exactly shy, y'know."

"They're not here," her voice floated out to him on a laugh. "Come on, come and find something to wear." The door opened up wide, and she reached out to give him a tug into the room. "And I know he's not shy. Neither of them are."

"They're not?" He was tugged easily then and went to the closet and opened it. He took a step back and waved his hand before his face. "Y'smell that girly cologne?" He made a most disgusted face and when the cloud of aroma had faded, he stepped forward. "Wut d'they need so many suits fer?" He shook his head in wonder. Finally, he found a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt. He started to remove the shirt he was wearing, then stopped and remembered Genny was in the room. "Uh, Genay, can you wait in th' hall fer me, please?"

"It's not girly, it suits them," she laughed at his comments on the bedroom. "And they wear suits most of the time, they're very smart as a pair. Not that you're not smart, but, you know, in that get up ..." She giggled, covering her mouth with her hand as he looked up. "Oh! Oh, right, yes, of course." Stuttering, she backed out and shut the door.

He took off the pink shirt, ripping it at the seams in his haste, and he threw it at her, but only hit the door as she closed it. "Hardy har har! That's it, laugh at country dumb here!" He then stripped and got into the much more comfortable clothes. He reminded himself to take a shower when he got home. He strolled back out into the hallway. "Tada!"

"Uh ..." Her expression was a little mystified before she caught up with him. "It's a possibility, I suppose. But most people end up in RhyDin because of the Nexus. It seems to be flighty sentient creature that can pluck you out of your place and time and drop you in RhyDin at random."

"The Nexus." He said it with such awe in his voice. "How does it know who to pick? And you said time! So like men from the year twenty nine sixty two could be there with somebody from eighten twenty seven?" He was processing quickly and he leaned forward. "If that's the case, maybe your pawpaw found a way to manipulate the Nexus and pop in and out of there to stay alive all these years just by jumping a century or so! It's genius!"

The enthusiasm would have been startling enough, but the firm grasp of quantum mechanics was enough to dumbfound Genny. She nodded slowly, eyes wide as she stared at him. "Maybe. I wouldn't know, I've never really thought that deeply about it."

Eli turned his head with a crooked grin. "We call it country dumb, Genay. Y'look dumb and people trust ya a lot more." He shrugged then and sat back. "If ya ask me? Country folk aint as dumb as city folk. City folk are full of complications. Country folk go slower, enjoy life more."

Her smile turned just ever so slightly bitter. "Well, it's a little hard to think for yourself when some days you don't even know if it's you you're remembering," she shrugged, glancing away awkwardly. Her grasp over her own personality had been very shaky for the first few years of puberty, and it wasn't a time she liked to recall. When most teens were finding themselves, Genny had lost herself, and turned to anything to help her get over it.

"Hey, Genay." He lifted her foot and leaned towards her. "I didn't mean it like tha-at. Don't be mad at me, Genay."

She looked back at him, the bitterness gone from her expression. "Oh, I'm not mad at you, Eli," she assured him, reaching out to touch his chest gently as he leaned toward her. "I suppose some things are still a little bit raw, that's all." She shrugged, forcing aside the memories to offer him her shy smile once again. "I've never lived in the past."

The moment she touched his chest, he stopped hearing what she was saying. He was transfixed on her mouth, the fullness of her lower lip and how there was just the tiniest of openings in the center of her lips when they were closed together. By the time she was done speaking, Eli did something he'd never done before. With a tiny push from his toes, his lips touched hers for the briefest of moments. Instead of pulling back like the scared and awkward little kid, he remained stoic, looking into her eyes.

Genny froze as he leaned close, completely unaware of what was happening. How did you go from a conversation to - Her train of thought was derailed the moment his lips touched hers. Blue eyes went wide, staring into his in surprise, despite the warmth that flared in her gaze. Eventually, though, she had to speak, and the only thing that came out was, "What just happened?"

It was a while before Genny's eyes opened, her lips parted in the slightest of smiles as blue eyes blinked away the hazy feel-good factor to gaze at Eli. Her fingers slipped a little against his jaw, one thumb stroking over the slight stubble on his cheek. "Is wow a good word?" she murmured.

When she spoke, he peeked one eye open and grinned. "Naaw, it's an understatement. Y'wanna know a good word?" With that, he suddenly sprung from the couch and leaped over the coffee table with a whooted "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaa!"

His sudden display of athleticism made her jump, falling back against the couch with a loud giggle at his enthusiastic shout. Thank god the boys weren't home, or they might have come running, expecting trouble. The thought of trying to explain a kiss to Dirk and Quinn made her giggles increase as she watched Eli from where she half-lay on the couch.

And the athleticism continued. He laughed with her, but took off like a shot. The house was huge and he sprinted around it. He just felt so full of sudden white hot energy that he couldn't contain himself.

"Oh, goodness me!" Laughing as Eli dashed off, Genny dragged herself to her feet. "Well, I suppose he either really liked it, or my breath must be dreadful," she mused, grinning to herself as her feet took her toward the doorway.

And suddenly he was running up the steps, flushed and his hair jutting about at all different angles. "What'd you do to me? I feel like I could run the Boston and San Francisco marathons and swim the English Channel!" He laughed and moved closer to her. "I've never felt like this before."

A wide smile on her face for the, frankly, adorable dishevelled look of him, Genny backed up a step at his approach, holding her ground probably only because of the doorframe against her back. "I didn't do anything," she protested laughingly. "I feel ... I feel! I've never felt for anyone before; anyone not family, that is."

For some reason a song popped into his head. Things like that happened to Eli all of the time. When he suddenly come up with a good idea, a song would pop into his head and the Nobel Prize winning thought always seemed to go to somebody else. "Not now." He grimaced and took a step back. "I mean, maybe we should go slow. Candles that light fast and burn fast also go out fast." He glanced away and then back. he knew he'd just screwed the pooch.

"Oh." What a wonderful sound that is, to convey so many different meanings. Right now, it was conveying mortified embarrassment and disappointed hurt. Genny looked down, not entirely sure what she'd done to change what had been a laughing atmosphere into what felt like a rejection. The colour rose in her cheeks again as she manuvered herself out from between him and the wall. "Okay." She nodded slowly, as though she understand. "I'll, uh ... just ... excuse me." Mortified, she slipped into the hallway.

"Ah crap!" Eli smacked his forehead against the doorframe when she ran off. "No, Genay! Come back!" He ran after her into the house. "I just get this thing and it's annoying. Please listen to me!" He smacked his head from the side and grumbled. "Macarena, ai!"

"No, no, it's fine, I understand," she replied, pausing but not turning around. She didn't understand, not really, but a lifetime of rejection from differing people who had had differing meanings to her made her hardened to the feelings that came with it. "Don't worry, Eli. It's fine."