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Liam raised an eyebrow, glancing from the cigarette in his hands to the young blonde again. He had to admit, he was getting rather used to her glare, as shameful as that sounded. "What's your problem?" He muttered simply, stuffing his hand into his pocket and leaning back up against the tree. "I know what it is."

The Summer put the cigarette to his lips, taking in a long, deep drag. In a flash, the burned down to the filter, leaving behind only soot and embers. The smoke left him slowly as he exhaled, flicking the hot butt onto the forest floor. "I still don't see how you care. Some old rich guy threw enough money together to start a freak-show like the world had never seen and here we are." He allowed himself a small smirk, "Are you that set on the family business?"

"No." The reply was simply and fading, under her breath as if she wished she hadn't settled on that one, pathetic word. She did make too much of a deal about it. Perhaps after joining a group set on destroying it, she wanted to hype it up as being something worth destroying. She took a drag from her cigarette, and as soon as Liam got used to it, she cast a glare elsewhere, to the leaves before her, the long dark stretch of green green green leaves, green that succumbed to an ink colored blackness until it collapsed into the plethora of itself. She had to get out of that school. She felt like she was going to collapse.

Now, that had to have been a conflict of interest if he had ever heard one. Liam glanced down at the grass where the embers of his cigarette was causing the green the smoke and sizzle. "You hate this place," Liam said. That much was obvious. "I still don't get it, but hell. I don't get much about you at all." Why did he bother? He chewed at his cheek, standing and taking a few steps forward, finding a quick better look of the campus. This place was a shit show at times, but if the alternate was being stuck at his old home, he would choose Beata any day.

Maisie looked him in the eyes, and thought about herself. She hated this place. She hated it a lot. She'd gotten stabbed, and after rehab was still kept under the eye of her uncle. She looked him in the eyes, the person who saved her that day. The vindictive glare she always seemed to sport was not there. She looked like an innocent, sad sad girl. "I don't get you much either," she said lowly, knowing she wasn't adding to the conversation but too withdrawn in her own chasm of a mind to do anything more. What a minefield their relationship was, if it could even be called that. Who was Liam? Who was she? What was she doing with herself, and would it benefit her in the longrun?

She didn't know. She hadn't known in a long time.

Liam stifled a small laugh, thinking along the same lines as her own mind. What a backwards-ass couple the two of them were. Thinking back onto that day in the forest, he wasn't sure what had gotten into him. It wasn't in his nature to be any sort of hero. It was true, admittedly, he had a liking towards her - but the fact that he'd stuck his neck out for her left even him a bit confused.

For some time, Liam said nothing, returning her stare. He never dwelt on the past nor worried about his future, but the blonde on the other hand seemed completely lost. He broke his gaze away. "It's not in my nature to say things like this, so feel free to laugh or call me an idiot. In fact, ot would be better if you did..." It would be less embarrassing that way somehow. Talking so personally just wasn't that comfortable. "You've got me to back you in whatever bullshit comes up. I'll get you later on. Eventually." So long as it didn't involve a punchbowl. He was shit at making friends, and even worse with words, but maybe that was a decent kick off for the two of them.

"You're pretty fucking lame, Ginger," Maisie said quietly, but there was some semblance of a smile on her face as she said it, and her tone was soft...enough. The 'fucking' came down hard, but the 'Ginger.' The 'Ginger' was nice. "Don't say things like that. It'll make me puke." She flicked her cigarette butt to the ground and put her hand to her stomach, as if to scratch it. In reality, she just wanted to glide a quick finger over where her scar was. He was the reason she was still alive. Maybe it was all right keeping him around.

The summer gave one last hint of a smirk before taking another step back, hovering over the smoking grass and gazing down at the small butt hidden between the blades. "Never," he agreed, watching the small embers dance. It was a rare occasion where he could let out his inner pyro. It was childish in a way, but with only Maisie around, he didn't give much of a shit.

For a moment, he wondered what Comcast was up to those days, lazily reaching a hand in front of him. The small patched burst into flames, blazing upwards and gently licking against his skin, singing the end of his sleeves in the process. It lasted a mere few moments before the column was extinguished. "Always destroy the evidence," Liam mused blandly. It was a rather half-ass joke.

"You having the time of your life yet, Blondie?"

Maisie anchored her hand to the side, realizing she may have looked like an idiot. Answering that question was not on her prerogative, and she didn't bother to, looking over at the large oak tree was had been leaning against. Blinking at it, she dug into the smaller compartment of her bag, pulling out a small pocket knife that seemed to be of the same reflective metal casing as the lighter. "We should head back, the parole officers don't like people this far out when the sun set. But first..." She began to dig a message into the thick bark of the tree, marking deep cuts as she spelled out FUCK BEATA LOVE MAISIE in dark letters, gritting her teeth as her wrist began to hurt.

Ugh. Another long walk downhill back to the hell-hole of a school. And it'd felt like to him that they'd just gotten there. If only they could've stayed and enjoyed the view for a little while longer. He took a step to the side, watching her attack the tree with an iron grip around her knife, slowly carving words into the side of the tree - which took longer than he was sure she'd expected. He almost stepped up to offer her a hand on a few occasions.

Almost. Instead, once she'd finished, he peered over her shoulder - again, perhaps too close for comfort. "Now, isn't that cute?" Liam said, looking the jagged words over and backing off again before she could do much else. With her mark made, he began the walk home again.

When she had finished, Maisie had no time to admire it. She thought he'd want to carve something too, or singe it with that stupid power of his, but when she stepped back and tried to look over to him, he'd already taken off. Orange light was suddenly bathing them, a sunset that she did not recall descending upon them, and she traced his path to see him walking down the hill. "H-hold up," she called, irritation leaking from her voice as she rushed after him and tried not to fall on her face.

Liam had paused in his walk, but not to wait for her to catch up. Instead, he was gazing up among the trees where a marvelous bluejay was perched. For whatever reason, he'd found himself staring until Maisie had managed to snap him out of the small trance. He turned, watching the small blonde quickly haste to catch up.

The young man had figured they both had had enough sentimentality for the moment, holding an arm out to make sure she didn't go tumbling down the hill. "Watch yourself," he said. Despite how quickly the sun was falling, he felt there was still more to be done, lest they consider the evening wasted. Liam paused, looking at her questioningly. Was that what she would want though? He was shit at this friend this after all.

"Then don't fucking rush me." She placed her feet carefully, and it seemed like she had gotten a knack of scaling the hill. That was, until she was at the bottom, and she practically tripped over a pebble ingrained in the ground. She made an effort to fall into him, using his weight to keep her up, and hoping he was strong enough to not fall over himself. She wasn't that heavy, right? Andyeahthatbluejayisprettysweet.

The Summer let out half a chuckle, watching her scale down uncertainly, taking a step back himself onto what he assumed was even ground. His foot sank down into the soft pothole and he near lost his balance himself. Liam had almost managed to recover before Maisie fell into him. That bird he quickly grew to love shrieked and flew away with haste as his feet brushed through the air. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around the girl and met the ground awkwardly with a loud grunt.
"What in the hell." The red-head struggled for a moment to get his breath back. "Are you always this graceful?" That kinda fucking hurt.

Of course, she was happy to have something to break her fall. She felt his arms wrap around her, but it didn't stop her from putting out her hands in reflex. They met the mud, skidding and scraping against the rocks, and she winced audibly as they landed. "I didn't mean to." She tried to get up, but her hands slipped in the mud again, and she got more filth on them. "Ow, fuck."
Second time's the charm, she was able to get off him, prying herself from his arms and stepping onto the level ground. Despite his efforts to grab her, it wasn't only her hands that were filthy; her uniform top was streaked with mud. If only she was wearing the sweater, it probably would have gotten all the dirt, but she never wore that thing anyway. "Yuck..." she murmured, shaking clumps of the mud from her hands. "I just took a shower this morning."

He would sure as hell hope that she didn't mean too. Liam could feel the mud slick onto the low of his back and reach the back of his neck where the shirt and slacks didn't cover. It was a disgusting feeling, only made better when Maisie quickly tore himself away from him. Perhaps a little too quickly.

She lost herself and slipped again. The Summer couldn't contain his laugh, although he quickly forced it down to a low chuckle. "Most guys like a filthy girl." He said a little too seriously, pulling himself out of the earth and trying to fling off what mud he could.