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After a few hours of unsuccessfully trying to sleep, Kellen abandons the couch to which he was relocated (in deference to Ruckus' continuing convalescence) and takes instead to roaming the night-empty corridors of the school. He had stepped into the bedroom to let Leech know he was going, but seeing the pair of them peacefully drowsing peaked his irritation, and instead Kellen merely snagged a pack of cigarettes and his boots before leaving.

The first of the nightly dorm checks has passed, and the second is yet to come; therefore, the dorm halls are not entirely silent when he reaches them. Most of the students might be asleep, but pausing near Ness' door to listen assures Kellen that not all of them are. Smirking faintly at the completely unashamed noises carrying through the door, he keeps moving, lighting a cigarette along the way. Eventually he stops again outside another closed door, and though the room beyond is silent, there is a strip of dim light showing under the frame.

Without much consideration, Kellen pushes the door open, sticking his fuzzy head around it before entering fully. The smirk returns as he spots his 'lab partner' on his bed, looking half-asleep over a thick book, of which Kellen could probably only understand one word in ten. "Must be an exciting read." He enters the room uninvited, closing the door behind himself and crossing to the desk near Kyle's bed, hopping up to sit on the edge of it and looking expectantly at the other boy.

Comments

[ruckusruckus]

Kyle is one of those strange little owls that stays up all night to have a good time, but does so through work. Okay, so the book wasn't assigned, and he checked it out along with six others from the library (and two from around the school, he can't abide books looking orphaned and homeless).

He's managed to turn the noise of Ness' activities into a sort of white noise by now, and wonders, sometimes, if he wouldn't be able to carry on his routines of reading and sleeping without the constant soundtrack, but he's quickly losing interest in this one anyway when Kellen seems to appear out of this air.

There is just a hint of a jump at his unexpected company, but Kyle is getting used to the strange fuzzy boy showing up now. Blinking some of the sleep haze away and turning the book to stare at the cover like he'd only just realized he was reading it, he shrugs and places a marker in his place, "Thought it would be. They like, vacuum seal people right before they die, keep measurements the whole time, and then when they die, there is unexplained mass displacement." Finally making eye contact, he licks over his lip once nervously and scratches at the back of his head, working out the translation quickly, "They think they've worked out how to measure the human soul."

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Since he received a response, Kellen seems to assume that his presence is welcomed and makes himself comfortable, scooting back on the desk (with little consideration for the stacks of books he has to nudge out of the way with his hip) and hooking the heels of his unlaced boots on the edge of it. He's quite glad that Kyle's trained to translate already, because none of that would have made sense. As it is, Kellen still looks a little bewildered.

"They vacuum seal them before they die? Like, shrink-wrap?" He squints an eye in confusion, or maybe to avoid the smoke from the cigarette that hasn't been moved from his mouth. "Where the hell do they do this?"

[ruckusruckus]

Kyle scoots over enough to accommodate Kellen and save the book pile from launching onto the floor. He looks thoughtfully at the cover of the one he just closed for a second, wrapping an arm around himself for the newfound sleepycold feeling he's just now feeling from lack of blanket nest. "Haverhill, Massachusetts. Real long time ago, like... start of the 1900's. Not shrink wrap, just... like those tents for bubble people with no immune systems."

Kellen seems more confused than genuinely interested, so he carefully places the book back on the pile, chewing on a thumbnail. "Also said dogs don't have souls."

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"Oh." This is a little disappointing; he was interested in people being shrink-wrapped, like Easter eggs. Kellen shrugs and throws a dismissive glance at the book as Kyle sets it down, but the following statement garners a loudly derisive snort. "Well, that's total bullshit. If people have souls, dogs definitely do. What do they base that judgement on?"

[ruckusruckus]

"Shrink wrap, or a version of it, wasn't invented til' six years later." He adds, despite the fact that it really doesn't matter, but he knows it, and all that information has to leak out sometime or the poor kid will explode. Or start making bombs. "Cause he did the same thing with dogs he poisoned, mass didn't change." He looks sort of upset, but also confused, like he's watching a plant that isn't growing fast enough, "Dogs can't donate their bodies to science."

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The snort this time is pure amusement; Kellen's reminded of just why he enjoys spending time with this kid (or one of the reasons, anyway). "You would know that."

Having sat still for roughly five minutes, it's far past due time for Kellen to fidget, so he does so, propelling himself onto the floor by shoving his feet against the desk's edge, and paces to the window to peer out. "Well, maybe the poison interfered with the displacement, or something. Maybe dogs keep their souls elsewhere." After a bit of work, he inches the window open enough to toss his cigarette out through the metal bars on the outside. Shutting it again, he turns and heads for the door, tossing an inexplicable "C'mon" in Kyle's direction along the way.

[ruckusruckus]

Of course he knows that! From the first time he saw one of those easter baskets with the cellophane over the whole thing he had to know what the hell that was and how it worked. Kellen seems intent to prowl, and even before the invitation Kyle assumes he's going to be recruited. The fact that he's missing one of his socks makes for a mad scramble around the room to find it and his zipup hoodie. The sock is marking another book, but he removes it anyway and tugs on his untied shoes, hopping on one food after Kellen, hazel eyes wide and alert now, "Where we goin?"

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Kellen pauses at the door when Kyle starts skittering around, half-turning to watch him with a partially amused, fond smirk. Once the kid's finally got his shoes on, he turns and continues into the hallway. "I dunno. Elsewhere. You have any suggestions?"

He has to halt momentarily when the door to Ness' dorm opens, disgorging a half-clothed freshman kid Kellen knows vaguely, but not by name, who blushes ridiculously at the pair of witnesses before scampering off to his own dorm.

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Socks, shoes, and jacket in place, Kyle trots after Kellen like a corgi dog thats been promised a ride to the park, not really minding the blind trust that he probably shouldn't be using. "No, but... I've never been to elsewhere. So... that."

He knows Ness only through brief things. Mostly sounds. Occasionally see's half of him in passing through doorways. Ness is like the Roommate That Almost Was, and so far Kyle hasn't had much reason to further their acquaintance. Looks like that is all up in the air now.

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Better Kyle blindly trust Kellen than others, such as the lurking Ness who hovers in the doorway to watch as they pass, giving a perfunctory lecherous wink and receiving an odd smile in return from Kellen, one that perhaps suggests amusement and exasperation, or maybe just complicity. Whatever it is, he continues on without a word to the monster, not speaking again until they reach the stairwell.

"Really? I thought you spent tons of time elsewhere." Peering up for a moment, he decides on the opposite and starts heading downstairs, away from the living areas and towards classrooms and offices. "Or are you going to explain how everywhere is actually the exact same place, and all time is really one second?" Though Kellen sounds a little mocking, it's mostly harmless, and he does look back up the stairs at Kyle as if awaiting an answer.

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Kyle is following closely, a bit like a Scooby Doo sneaking sequence, but mutters to himself a moment for the jab, "A jiffy is one one-thousandth of a second." He squeezes his eyes shut for just a blink before looking away again, "Sorry..." He just can't hold the science in.

But Kellen is looking at him, (really looking. who does that? no one really looks), and his hopes climb just a little in knowing that maybe he wasn't making fun and really wanted to know, "String theory says that all possible timelines and universes happen simultaneously, instead of parallel. In a matter of speaking." There is a twitch of lightly-freckled cheek in a half smile, "So, the answer is, sorta."

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Kellen turns away again, facing forward to hide the tiny smile that forms, just one corner of his mouth tucking back. Though predictable in some ways, no one can say Kyle's not entertaining. Reaching the bottom of the staircase, Kellen turns away from the lower halls in favor of opening the door to the outer courtyard where a blast of chill air makes him hunch his shoulders up.

"If that were the case, could we maybe relive one good moment over and over again, or skip the shitty ones?" Now that his expression is more under control, Kellen glances to his companion with a mildly curious look, slowing to let the other boy catch him up. Though there is a somewhat paved path that winds between the various school buildings, Kellen avoids it and thereby the lights as well, trekking through the dead grass and around trees, instead.

[ruckusruckus]

No one has likely called him entertaining before. At leas not to his face, but Kellen doesn't seem the type to shy away from up-front judgement to save feelings, and Kyle can't decide whether that is good or not. "Doesn't really work like that." Shaking his head, because really, where does Kellen get these illogical thoughts, he trips over himself a step and hooks his first two fingers into the back pocket of Kellen's jeans so as not to get lost. His night vision isn't what it could be, regretfully, but the unsolicited contact could be shrugged off as survival skills all the same right now. "When we get to 'elsewhere', I'll show you what I mean. About the strings."

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Kellen is obviously more used to skulking around shady places, or maybe it has to do with his eye color, as Kyle explained to him the first time they hung out, but his night vision seems better, either way. He pauses momentarily when latched onto, raising his eyebrows in amused surprise at Kyle's self-salvation methods, but certainly not complaining. Whether he recognizes Kyle's offer as an excuse to gloss over the moment or not, he doesn't remark on that, either, merely shrugging again. "Sure, I look forward to it."

Around another large oak, suddenly they're behind the chapel, and Kellen's reaching out to open the vestry door. There'll undoubtedly be someone in the chapel proper right now, but he doesn't intend going in there. With what looks like ease of experience, he manages to pick the lock on a cabinet door by the dim light of moon and candle-shine coming through the glass panel on the inner chapel door.

Kellen doesn't bother to explain his motives, taking a bottle of wine and a couple of candles from the cabinet before closing it and then, after a quick peek through that chapel door, instead moving towards a narrow hallway that runs alongside the pews, hidden by an intricate gilded-iron screenwork.

[ruckusruckus]

He moves behind Kellen like a buoy on a tugboat, trying not to thump along too loudly when he feels his fingers tugged every few steps. Kellen doesn't seem to mind, and Kyle quite likes the feeling of being shadowed around in the dark, like he's being protected, even if there doesn't seem to be anyone around anyway.

The chapel isn't somewhere he really pays much attention, being that it seems to be the one area of existence he has little curiosity in. Religion just seemed so... nothing. Even in the bit of light from in the building interior, he tightens his fingers a little around the fabric they're clawed into, maybe afraid some deity will try wrenching him away before Kellen gets them to Elsewhere.

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The hallway leads them in short order to the small entrance area of the chapel (surely there's an archaic Catholic name for it, but Kellen doesn't know what). Here he leads the way left and through another door, this one a narrow tower full of spiraling steps. Up, up, and up more, until Kellen's head finally emerges through the trapdoor in the top of the bell tower.

One very large bell hangs suspended in the middle of the room, with two rows of smaller ones to either side of it, five bells in all. The room up here is wider than the tower itself, but only the edges have a floor, leaving a wide open space in the center circled around with short banisters and a narrow catwalk against each wall. The walls are mostly open, unglazed windows, but the wind isn't so strong up here and is even less noticeable once Kellen's found a corner and knelt there.

Straightening his legs out, he settles the wine bottle between them and finally removes his cigarette, tossing it out one of the dizzyingly high windows. He snags Kyle's sleeve and tugs on it to coerce him into sitting nearby. Once he has, Kellen digs a swiss army knife out of a pocket and starts to work on the cork of the wine bottle, speaking with a little distraction. "So, these strings?"

[ruckusruckus]

He thinks Kellen might have been a spider monkey in a previous life, as it seems everytime they steal time alone together they end up climbing to the highest points around the grounds, ignoring whether they are meant for climbing or not. He lets go, regretfully, to follow up after the gymnast, though the tug at his sleeve is encouraging and he scoots close enough that his ankle is hooked underneath Kellen's.

"Oh, yeah." He reaches down to yank free one of his shoelaces, figuring he won't need it right away, holding by the end and dangling it between the edge of the platform and Kellen's face, careful of the improvised corkscrew. "So this is time. This is our existence, with a beginning and an end. Start and finish." He reaches out to free one of Kellen's hands from the bottle, carefully turning it palm-up like he's afraid it will shatter. "String theory, doesn't like the beginning middle end thing. It thinks like this." Still holding ever so lightly to Kellen's wrist like he's taking a pulse, he lowers the shoelace into his hand, letting it coil and overlap into a spiraled sort of heap, "All things are happening all the time. The string overlaps, touches other parts of the string, things don't happen in order, they're just... always happening. You don't move forward or back, you just... move. Things happen. There isn't a structure, or a start, or a finish. There is just... time. And stuff."

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Kellen initially makes some noise of agreement, just to let Kyle know he's listening. He's maybe having some difficulty with the cork. When his hand is abducted, though, it sharpens his focus, and he actually looks up to watch Kyle's shoelace trick. It seems he's following the layman's explanation pretty well; however, when Kyle finishes, Kellen gets that crooked one-eye-squinted look of cynical confusion. "But, it is start to finish. I mean...I went to sleep yesterday, and I woke up today. Five years ago I was five years younger. It doesn't just skip around like that."

He narrows his gaze somewhat accusingly at the tangled shoelace in his palm, then offers it back to Kyle and returns his own attention to the wine bottle. "What good's this theory if you can't skip the shit parts?"

[ruckusruckus]

He's encouraged enough by Kellen seeming interested in the first part, but slowly the attention seems to scrutinize as he continues. Finally, when he starts to re-string his shoe, he offers a half-apology of, "Don't think I'm explaining it right..." Because that must be the reason. Because Kellen isn't unintelligent, Kyle is just weird, and now he has fucked up science in his eagerness.

He wraps his arm around his knees when he's done, ankle still just barely touching the other boy's, but looking a little defeated now as he watches the cork fight the abuse, "It's... it applies to time travel, really. Not life." He offers weakly, but he should probably just stop and enjoy this, without spewing facts.

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After a few short moments of struggle, Kellen makes a triumphant noise, and his knife emerges with the majority of the cork on it. Lifting the bottle, he peers into it, spotting flecks of cork floating in the dark red liquid. "Well, close enough..." With a shrug, he offers the bottle to his companion, only then noticing his somewhat downcast demeanor. "No, your explanation makes sense, it's just kinda...a useless theory. Maybe time does work that way, but if so, there's not much use knowing about it."

He pries the remains of the cork off his knife and tosses the wood into the large hole in the center of the tower, pocketing his knife again. "It reminds me of Slaughterhouse Five; ever read that? We had to do it last year, at my old school. That was one fucked-up story."

[ruckusruckus]

"Would make more sense, if I had more shoelaces." He decides, and yes, that makes him feel better for some reason. Kellen doesn't seem caught up in these things, like they are trivial matters but not without merit. He's never had that perspective before, but somehow, it makes him feel better.

He sniffs at the bottle before tilting it to make a hesitant gulp, using his tongue to work the bit of cork out of this mouth to spit over the edge. He doesn't make a face, instead just blinks and licks over his lips before handing it back. "Yeah, once. Didn't like it."

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Kellen takes the offered bottle, tilting it up to get a good mouthful and wrinkling his upturned nose in an unarguably adorable way for the dry flavor of it. "Jesus' blood isn't very tasty, is it?" He peers at the bottle cock-eyed for a moment, but takes another swig before passing it off. Of course, he's never taken communion like the majority of the students here, so he wouldn't be used to the cheap wine they use for the purpose.

"I dunno if I liked it or not, but it was wacky. The way he kept jumping all over the place." Kellen slumps against the wall, shimmying his shoulders around in an attempt to get comfortable against the cold stone, and lifts his hips to dig a pack of smokes from a hip-pocket of his tight black pants. After transferring a cigarette to his mouth, he turns those 'ambrosial' eyes back on Kyle, bright with interest. "If you could go whenever, and relive it, when would you go?" His hands go to patting himself down in search of his lighter, but his gaze stays steady on the other boy.

[ruckusruckus]

His mouth is a little cottony after the swig, but otherwise he doesn't think he minds, shrugging at the question, "Sorta used to it, I guess?" For some reason, his mind chooses that moment to remember Kellen is... pretty isn't the word. But neither is galvanic, as much as he wants to tell Kellen that. He forgets the answer to the question for a minute, just watching Kellen's fingers and the way his shirt moves over skin when he shifts, "I'd like to visit other realities first, probably. But..."

He thinks of growing up in Florida, and not seeing snow until he was 12, thinks of his mom pulling him up into her lap, just to hold him, thinks of the first time he figured out magnets, but really, he doesn't want to do them again. "I think, I like new stuff too much. Would rather just have a lot of new firsts sooner, than redo stuff I've already done."

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There's a headtilt for the idea of other realities, since that wasn't mentioned in his overview of string theory and he didn't really consider it. He doesn't go into it now, but maybe makes a note to do so later. Finally locating his lighter, he sets flame to his smoke and drops back into his previous, semi-comfy position, while wishing he'd thought to grab a jacket or hoodie on his way out the door.

"But do you think you'd realize you'd done it before? If everything's already happened, or is happening right now..." Trailing off and obviously uncertain of his grasp on this discussion, Kellen shakes his head like a dog getting water out of its ears. "New stuff's okay, I guess, but unexpected change is kinda...shitty." He probably wanted to say something like 'depressing' but that might be too much of a give-away. His eyes finally slide away, looking up at the bells now like he isn't really seeing them. "Most the time. More than half, at least." If it wasn't already apparent that Kellen's in a less exuberant mood than usual, it certainly is now.

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Kyle isn't really sure when this became an actual conversation about time and existence and whatever else, but Kellen doesn't seem pleased about whatever he's really thinking. "Oh. Well, I guess if I didn't know it was happening over again, that wouldn't be so bad. I guess... there was this one week, we were living on the beach, and my dad was away and it was just mom and me. It was... nice. I'd like that again." He finishes quietly, chewing at his thumbnail before glancing back up at Kellen.

"But I think," He starts carefully, curling his fingers around the wine bottle again but not making a move to take it, "I still like firsts. And I think, I like you, too. That can't be so bad." The way Kellen seems coiled like an angry cat is obvious, but he's not sure if its the conversation or something else bothering him, "And you?"

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Luckily, Kyle's eventual answer draws him from his morbid inner thoughts before too long. "Living on the beach? In a tent, or what?" He doesn't know much about Kyle, really, and realizes this now. What beach? There are beaches of a sort around Boston, of course, but most of them wouldn't be pleasant for living on.

Eye caught by the movement of Kyle's hand, Kellen looks down to watch those fingers encircle the bottle. His mouth twists some in response to what the other kid says, an unprecedented self-consciousness making blood course to his cheeks, but maybe the resultant blush could be blamed on the wind. "Ahh...I didn't mean I don't...well. I like hangin' out with you, too. Just, some things..." He makes a dismissive motion with his hand, forgetting that it's still partially attached to that bottle, too, and releasing his hold on it after some of the wine slops over his hand.

The liquid's lukewarm, but the wetness of it chills his skin anyway, so he reflexively lifts the hand to lick it off, then wipes it on the leg of his pants. Kellen doesn't respond, whether the question is one he doesn't want to answer, or Kyle's prior words took precedence.

Since he's still got his lighter out, he reclaims the pair of candlesticks from where he'd set them down and shifts around to keep out of the wind as he lights one. Holding it sideways he lets some of the wax pool on the floor, in the very corner of the space, to keep the candle upright once it's stuck in. He repeats the process with the other candle afterwards, then sits back, facing Kyle more now and leaning on one shoulder against the wall.

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He shakes his head, snorting a little for the question, "No, just in a house. Little yellow one on stilts. Florida is like, 3/4ths beach so you kinda don't have a choice. 's not the same, up here." Boston was cold and abrasive and far away from Florida and parents, good and bad, and he still wasn't quite used to the change.

Kellen seems to shift his demeanor after Kyle gets a little brave, and he thinks maybe he's said something wrong. Maybe this hasn't at all been what he thought and he misread what he thought were signs. Maybe Kellen was just being nice. Maybe Kyle shouldn't just go offering his innocence all over boys that drag him into church towers, like it happens all the time.

"Oh." He doesn't know what else to say to that. He's used to some bad things, disappointment or humility, but heartbreak is one he isn't as accustomed to, and he can tell he doesn't like it. But then, Kellen is moving again and lighting things and facing him and he thinks maybe he should just stop trying to read signals here and let what happens happen. "How long you smoked for?"

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Watching the candles for a moment to make sure they don't topple over or anything, he finally looks away when he's satisfied that they're upright and staying lit, even if the flames waver a little. He might normally notice Kyle's disappointment, but at the moment it goes over his head; he's probably too wrapped up in his own disappointments, if that's the right word for it.

"Ahhh...about a year?" He looks at the cigarette in his hand as if it'll have the answers, but switches his focus back to Kyle pretty quickly. "I didn't used'a do it so much, though, not until I came here." Another dismissive gesture and he takes a quick drag before moving on.

"I didn't know you're from Florida. You don't really seem the type. Your parents still live there?" The cold is becoming more and more noticeable and Kellen shivers a little, reaching again for the wine for a drink, because surely that'll make him warmer.

[ruckusruckus]

Kellen messing with the candles kind of makes him want to reach and and nudge them, just to get a reaction, but he keeps his sneaky little hands to himself for now, resting his head sideways on his knees to watch Kellen smoke and talk.

"Your brother." He nods once, like that explains Kellen's smoking habit, or at least it's increase, but quickly he regrets mentioning Leech, as he isn't sure he ever wants to meet the guy. He's like the ghost in the cellar that only comes out to punish the wicked, and Kyle isn't too keen on that whole idea.

"Yeah, think mom was sick a long time ago, wanted to go there and like, live in the sunshine or something. But she got better and we just stayed. Kind of a weird place sometimes." The question has his biting a nail again and nodding, "Yeah, think they'll stay forever. Mom wants to be a Disney princess, I think."

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Again, a corner of Kellen's mouth tucks back, but this time it isn't an amused expression at all. Coupled with the narrowing of his eyes and the way his shoulders curl up, it looks incredibly bitter and somewhat sinister. "Yeh, my fuckin' brother..." It's possible he doesn't even realize why Kyle said those two words; didn't equate them to his smoking at all because they coincided with his own thoughts too well.

After a couple drags he relaxes his posture some, though still obviously tense, rubbing at his eye with the heel of his palm and managing to smear eyeliner across both his hand and his cheekbone. It appears to require some effort to focus on the conversation again. "Yeah...yeah, my grandda had to move to Arizona a few years ago, his wife has something wrong with her lungs so she needed to be somewhere warm, and like, less elevated. She's definitely not a princess."

Seemingly thoughtless, he takes another long drink of the wine, not bothered by the taste any longer. Shaking his head some, he snorts. "Shit. I'm shitty company tonight. I should'a let you stay in bed with your dog-killer book." This is probably as close to apology as Kellen comes, normally, but he offers a somewhat strained, but nonetheless sweet half-smile to soften his tone.

[ruckusruckus]

The way Kellen says 'fuckin brother' denotes that all is probably not well and he should shy away from those topics in the future if he can help it. He wants to ask what it's like to have a sibling, or something like that, but now doesn't seem to be the best time for such questions.

"Well, Disneyworld and all that. We have one of those. All the Disneyphiles move down there and go like everyday. Kinda crazy. Mom could be the new Cinderella." He knows that one is blond, and thats about as far as he knows his Disney princesses.

He shakes his head adamantly at the suggestion, like someone is trying to take his favorite toy away. "No! I mean. No, I think it's good. Getting out. Even if you're bummed out. Dog-killer book can wait." He gulps but smiles at the sweet expression from Kellen, fingers dancing over the bottle neck again.

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Kellen cants his head slightly sideways, rolling his eyes as his smile morphs into a self-mocking kind of grin. "Good for me, mebbe, but not the best entertainment you could find." But he shrugs it away, doing his best to dispel his bitter preoccupation also. Restless as ever, he tosses his cigarette through the window and shifts onto his knees to move closer to Kyle, closer to the protection offered by the half-walls, too.

"I haven't ever been to Disneyworld. There's a Six Flags in Jersey that we went to during a sorta family reunion thing summer before last. But it was kinda lame anyway, and then my cousin, Jason, got scared after we went on one of the roller coasters, so my aunt - his mom - decided we couldn't go on any of the better rides." There's a snort of disapproval, but he does seem to be making a better effort at not being so morose.

His contemplation of overbearing family members is abruptly interrupted by a vicious gust of wind. It snuffs the candles immediately, but Kellen scarcely notices, cowering into himself until it passes. "Fuck that." Though the logical thing to do would be to go back inside, he dismisses that thought quickly; even being in the same building as Ruckus and Leech seems too much right now. Instead, he straightens up partially and looks enquiringly at Kyle.

"Hey, can I...?" Trailing off in typical Kellen style, he makes his meaning clear by reaching to take Kyle by the shoulders to maneuver him to sit between his legs, with a certain amount of assumed casualness. His knees bend up a bit and his hands drop, circling the other boy's waist instead, with his chin coming to rest on the shoulder in front of him. "Arrite?"

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"Never been to Six Flags. Disneyworld is cool, I guess. Disneyland is the one full of feral cats." Maybe feral cats isn't the most romantic topic with which to get closer to Kellen, but the bad mood seems to be drifting away a little, and he feels just encouraged enough to go along with the shifting.

Despite never having been held like this, he gets the idea rather quickly, leaning back slightly into lanky arms and resting a hand on a bent knee for balance. It feels nice, and somehow unassuming enough to just lean his head back a little, just enough that his nose is touching the side of Kellen's face, "Yeah."

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Relaxing once it becomes clear that Kyle's not going to move away, Kellen's hands sneak around and under the hem of his hoodie in an attempt to warm up. "Hmm...are they magical, wish-granting feral cats? Or mebbe they sing and dance?"

The new positioning is much appreciated and much warmer, with Kyle against his front and the solid, if chilly, wall behind him blocking the wind, leaving only his bare shoulders and upper arms exposed to the elements. It seems to further the cause of dispersing Kellen's tension. Tilting his jaw a bit towards the nuzzling, a quiet laugh resonates in his chest, just short of sound. "Yer nose is cold, like a dog." His fingers are defrosted enough now to crawl aimlessly over Kyle's stomach and move the soft material of his shirt along with them.