darts of the matinée

Kendall was feeling a little out of sorts, which resulted in the impulses to do a little more damage than usual. He was supposed to be spending the bulk of his time getting homework done so that he could work on whatever his father assigned for him to learn from the writings packed in his trunk. He had carried it out reasonably well, and he could say so even after the first two weeks at Hogwarts. He was, however, beginning to lose his touch. Or rather, he was beginning to let whatever that was bothering him overwhelm his concentration. Kendall had not thought it possible. Athena, however, proved a much tougher force to reckon with.

It was just his luck, really, that the girl he wanted most to grovel after him, was the last girl that would. He had amused himself with the ones that went after him ever since the school term began, but with the beginning of the fourth week at Hogwarts, it was becoming more difficult to ignore the fact that he was searching for Athena in every girl who sought to amuse him. It was even affecting his time with them, since it was getting exceedingly tougher to treat them deceivingly well, when he was getting so impatient from not finding Athena anywhere, not even a glimpse of her in any of the girls that came. Kendall had tried adding more girls to his activities, as if he could make up for her lack, but it was evident how quantity never made up for quality.

What was he doing in an abandoned bathroom, Kendall was almost willing to deceive himself into thinking that he was ignorant, and had no part in it. But of course, it was classic Kendall. He had been in this place too many times. It was almost private, and for the parts that necessitated the almost in that qualification, the thrill of the lack of complete privacy was something even the girls enjoyed. Mandy had slipped him a note, suggesting a need in the evening after dinner. Kendall had read the walls of the bathroom stalls, which provided ceaseless amusement to him, especially when he had seen his name on there too often, and chuckled at the delusions of these girls. He was nobody's man. Not unless ... but it was not a thought he wanted to pursue.

Kendall knew he was not going to find Athena, not in the various girls, and definitely not in Mandy. Still, she had asked, and how could one say no when a girl asked for such a thing as this? The Bathroom was very quiet when he entered. Believing himself to be early, Kendall had loosened his tie, preparing to walk to one of the mirrors to check his reflection. A few steps in, and the first contact of his fingers to his hair, and then he was knocked away from his path. Apparently, Mandy had taught that an aggressive greeting of lust was something he would fancy tonight. Kendall had dropped his hands and allowed the girl to force her fingers into his hair instead, feeling the weight of her pushing too hard against him, directing them both to a stall. He had kissed back, offering it as a hollow response to her desperate one. This girl had came back for seconds, and he expected her to know by now what he wanted. There was no need to try too hard.

Kendall chuckled in response to Mandy's forcefulness. His hands travelling all over her in the only way he could encourage her. He closed his eyes against her forceful breathing against his face, trying to block out the sounds that she was making, and then seeing the vague face of Athena above her. Mandy's breathing, however, was blowing the fragile image of the other girl in his mind. Kendall frowned, but opened his eyes to see Mandy staring intently at him, but never stopping in her actions. She had taken her robe off, that he had not notice. Soon enough, she was almost ripping the buttons off his shirt. Kendall felt a certain disdain at the way she wanted him so much. He wrapped his hands around her bum, and grabbed it a little tighter than he would usually, as if he wanted to squeeze the life out of her, to ease his frustrations. She made a sound, as if she liked what he was doing, and began to unbuckle his belt.

Rise was crying.

She hated people, she hated herself, she hated everything about anyone who was around her. Rise had her face covered in her hands and she had no idea where she was going. She had been going along fine down the hallway, a normal day, when suddenly a Slytherin had run up and grabbed her scarf off from around her neck and gone running down the corridor. She had froze, and then people in the corridor had started to whisper. Someone pointed outright at her scar, and then the laughing had started. The laughter and someone had yelled out Werewolf. And Rise had taken off, forgetting about class, forgetting about everything else, her eyes started to water, and she had run as fast as she could down the hallway, and didn't know where to go.

She couldn't go to her common room. She couldn't go to the lawns, she couldn't go where people were, her scarf was missing, and she was holding her cloak closed and held up to hide it from view. She stared at a door on the right that had the words out of order posted on it. It was the old bathroom that never was in order, and it was the perfect place to hide. The absolute perfect place to hide. She bolted towards the door and pushed it open, only to realize immediately that she wasn't the only one who thought it was a place to hide. She saw a girl and a boy, and the girl seemed to be half strangling the boy just inside a stall door, the door was just swinging shut as Rise walked in, but not before Rise saw the face of the boy.

Kendall..

Rise gasped loudly, and stared at the now closed stall door, and she stood in shock for a long moment, her hands clutching her robe to her chest, her eyes popping out of her skull, her shock so evident she wasn't sure she had seen what she thought she had seen, if it weren't for the noises the girl was making, but she knew one thing for sure, Kendall had seen her, their eyes had met, and they had locked for a few seconds, and not surprisingly, she felt a pang in her heart, a pang of anger, fear, sadness, every emotion she could feel at one moment, she felt right then. An odd feeling of happiness of seeing Kendall again, but the anger and sadness of knowing that he was with someone else.. not that he was hers at all... she had no claim over him, but she couldn't help but feel upset at seeing him with another girl like that. And she could feel her tears building up in her eyes, and immediately she turned around and pushed open the door, knowing she wasn't wanted here, unable to keep the tears at seeing him with her, hidden away.

Just a week ago, Kendall had made a surprising acquaintance at the Library. As soon as he got back to his dormitory, he wrote a rather long letter to be owled to Augustus on the following day. When the owl came back on Monday, it was a letter that contained a tone of pleasure on the older Rookwood part. Simply put, Augustus had praised his son on the discovery, and even ensured support for whatever possible schemes his son was up to. As much as he made it sound like it would be a kind of toy for his son, he was actually watching how Kendall would treat the issue of Rise, without actually expressing it in his letter. Furthermore, there was also talk on how there will be a dinner of sorts at the Rookwood Manor, during Christmas Break, and how Kendall was to invite whoever he wanted to invite. Plans were early, but already in motion. But of course, the letter had ended with Augustus enquiring after the progress of readings that he had assigned to his son. Being Kendall Rookwood was undoubtedly never without the high expectations. Unlike most of the time, he had put off immediate reply to his father. After all, he had little progress to report. Here he was, even in the time that he was supposed to be onto something less idle, letting a random girl try to fix him, or rather, getting his fix from a random girl.

Mandy giggled as she unbuckled Kendall's belt and proceeded to run her hands all over his chest. She tugged at his shirt, wanting it off him, and Kendall let her do whatever she wanted to, forcing the top of her shirt off her shoulders, so that he could sink his teeth lightly into the flesh of it. As soon as he did so, however, Kendall saw a flicker of someone he recognised. The door was still swinging from the impact of the two bursting into the stall, and he made out the face of the Hufflepuff girl at the Library, with the door obscuring and revealing, obscuring and revealing her face to him. In the first second, Kendall thought he was oddly imagining her face. After all, he was imagining the face of Athena, almost imploring for it to be real. Then, he realised he would never want Rise in that way, and so if his eyes had spied an image of her, it could not be his conjuration.

Quickly, upon that realisation, Kendall withdrew from Mandy, and gently pushed her off him. The girl, surprised at the sudden rejection, tried to come on him again, looking at him with eyes of confusion. "Kennieeeee," she began to whine, only to be shoved a little harder to the side, against the wall off the stall. The boy stood up and opened the door, only to see Rise turning to leave. Her reaction was a little perturbing. Did he just see her looking ... hurt? For a boy who had a reputation with girls, Kendall was hardly embarrassed to be found in a situation like this. Neither being caught in the act, nor being caught half-naked or naked, could elicit any abashment from him. Why, then, did she want to leave? He did not know, but he was intending to let her do so. After all, she was a better way to escape his thoughts, better than Mandy. At least RIse had something, a secret, that he wanted. Mandy was just a naive Seventh Year Hufflepuff who thought that she could own him.

Kendall rushed towards Rise and grabbed one of her wrist, enough to ensure that she could not leave, not completely. The door that she had just pushed against a second ago swung back to a close. "What a pleasant surprise ... Rise," he looked at her and smiled. And then, he dropped his hold on her wrist and continued smoothly, "what's the rush of leaving?" Mandy finally came out of the stall to look at the person who had interrupted her time of pleasure, after ensuring that her school shirt was all buttoned up again. She eyed a girl who was obviously younger than her, then Kendall, and then back to the girl. "After all, Mandy here was just about to leave," he pronounced. "I am?!" The other girl asked in a voice a little higher, and a little louder, than he expected. Kendall turned to her lazily and nodded.

"Are you nu-"

"Not now, pet."

"But you agreed to tonig-"

"Tomorrow ... then."

Kendall had raised his voice a little, but there was a firmness in the tone of it, and in the look in his eyes, that made Mandy bite back another response. Instead, she dragged her feet to the stall that had, just a second ago, been a place of pleasure, and grabbed her robe from off the floor. She donned it back on quickly, and then glared at Rise. One could almost say she was staring daggers at the younger girl. Kendall, while smoothing the hair that Mandy had messed up earlier, noticed the tension, and broke the deceiving silence of it. "Run along now, pet." With that, Mandy glared at Kendall and made a sound of final annoyance, and pushed herself out of the Bathroom. With Mandy now gone, Kendall chuckled at the situation, eyed Rise, and began to buckle the belt that the other girl had undo minutes ago. Rather than go back to the stall to retrieve his shirt, Kendall continued to smooth his hair, looking at his reflection in a mirror, before turning back to look at Rise.

"Like I said, what a pleasant surprise," He continued, crossing both arms at his bare chest, and smirking in delight at a more interesting present companion. In an attempt to dispel what might be a slight feeling of awkwardness for Rise, he continued to ask, "and how have you been?"

Rise felt a hand on her wrist and she suddenly looked around and saw Kendall, he had her wrist, and the girl had just been making out with came out buttoning up her shirt, and Rise saw the shape of her robe on the floor of the stall they had been in, and Rise felt her face heat up with embarrassment. She watched the spat between him and her, and then frowned and stood there, feeling the glare of the girl. Kendall was shirtless and Rise couldn't help but stare at him, her eyes darting from his abs to the room again as the girl left the bathroom. She stared at her feet and frowned. "Did I interrupt something?" She asked softly, her hands still holding her robe up around her neck. "Yeah.. pleasant surprise... I erm.. wasn't expecting anyone in here." She said her eyes darting up to him and then back down again at the floor.

"I erm.. I'm really sorry.. I should go... I really should, I'm sorry that I interrupted you.. I erm.. just need to..." She could feel the tears from earlier still falling down her cheeks, and she was completely and totally mortified. She knew that she must look like a moron, robes pulled up to her ears, "I'm sorry.. I was just humiliated and broken and then I see you... like that.. and.. "Rise felt more tears come up to her eyes. "And you said you liked my smile.. and I wish that I could smile more... if it were to make you happy.. and... and.. you were the first person that has been able to touch me without cringing after you found out what I was.. And... I'm sorry, I should go.." She spun around and tried to pull the door open again to leave the bathroom.

Kendall loved to put people in a spot, seizing opportunities and even making things happen to the right people at the right place and the right time. He had little patience for the game of dominoes, where a multitude of tiles are arranged standing in long lines, and a light tap of the first would result in the falling motion of the rest, right until the very end. The longer the line, the more that was arranged, the more beautiful the game, the more beautiful the fall. Kendall remembered how he would stand and watch impatiently as his grandfather patiently arranged them in snaking roles, in the ballroom of the Rookwood Manor. Too often, Kendall had yawned and shuffled restlessly while he waited to see the beauty of the game. Even then, the older Rookwood had chided the young boy for his impatience, teaching him that great things relied on great arrangements, that time was precious for arrangement, and that time was essential for a creation that was worthy to be appreciated. Kendall, at that time, was more interested in darts. He would stay in bed, lazy to be roused from his position of sleep, but have the energy to pick up the darts at his bedside, to aim and shoot them to the board at the wall at the opposite end of his bedroom. Every dart only took a couple of seconds to fulfil its projectile, to strike at Kendall's target. It was calculated, but it was quick. At a young age, the boy was already prone to impatience, choosing instant gratification of his actions (even with the necessary calculations), rather than to have a prolonged period of deliberation before watching the fall of something (because waiting was just too much, sometimes).

Only through the years, and with some level of maturity, did Kendall begin to value the lesson that his grandfather's game of dominoes taught. Too often, though, he still chose his game of darts. This time, however, the game played right into his hands. Rise played right into his hands, and some strange forces were aiding him. Kendall eyed the expression on Rise face as soon as Mandy left the Bathroom, amused at what he found there. As it is, he already liked to throw people into situations they did not expect to find themselves in. By some strange fate, though, Rise had thrown herself into this without any of his schemes or even expectation. He was just as surprise to see her, as she was to see him. Still, he was better with dealing with this. The expression on her face was extremely worth enjoying. Kendall, full of himself, knew (or at least he expected) that he was a sight to be appreciated. He stood where he was, as if on display, not rushing to retrieve what Mandy had torn away from him. He had caught Rise's eyes darting swiftly away from him to the ground, with embarrassment written all over her face. Kendall licked his lips, and grinned. And then she began to apologise profusely, of which Kendall began to stare at her in amusement. That was, until tears began to roll down Rise's cheeks. Quickly, Kendall altered the expression on his face, hoping that despite the moment of entertainment, he could still put on the mask of concern. What, really, was this strange were-girl thinking in her mind? Why the need for the tears? But she soon explained herself, and at the same time, she raised him to such an importance, in her words.

Kendall looked at her, surprise even in himself, at the influence she seemed to be suggesting that he was having on her. She wanted to smile more because he had said, lied, that he liked it. She had said that she wanted to smile to make him happy. Oh, the irony, he thought. Then, of course, she mentioned his touch, which seemed to have left a lasting impression on her. Kendall was mildly surprised. His influence on Rise was effected easily, it seemed. And yet, she did not seem like the kind to be affected by any random person. Somehow, whatever buttons of hers that he had toyed with were clearly the ones he had to continue to explore. Kendall wondered about the girl's character. Was this how werewolves were like? He wasn't sure. After all, he knew very little about them. All he knew was what happened to them, and how they could be made to harm others. Those were the more interesting aspects of them. After all, it was not as if one wanted to befriend a werewolf properly. They were not human. They were tainted. They were almost as bad as mudbloods. Yet, Kendall could be hypocritical. He was disgusted at mudbloods, but it was not as if he did not touch one before, nor did he never bedded one before. He was not sufficiently stringent to stay away. He wanted to play with them, like one does with ants on the floor, taking a lighter to burn parts of them, leaving them in agony, yet not ending their lives, and watching their mates scramble around them, frantic and confused. How powerful he had felt, at the age of five, looking at insects tortured, with him being the torturer. He was merely upgrading to human toys now. How fun. He was going to involve himself in a greater extent, he could see it now. He was going to pain himself in the process, as if by putting himself into the equation, Kendall could hurt the trust he had forged, even more. How fun.

"Riseeeee," he began, loudly. Kendall shook his head, slowly. "I let Mandy go, for your company. And now, you're choosing to leave me here, alone?" He ran a hand through his hair. "I can't say I'm very happy with that." Then he shrugged. "Well, do as you will. If you leave, I'll just stay here and ... get lost in my head. It does get painful sometimes, doesn't it? Life?" She looked distraught. Kendall was merely hoping that Rise could find something in his words or gestures, to relate to, enough to make her stay. He had ideas already, in his mind. If she stayed ... Kendall walked to the stall that he was previously in, and waited just outside of it, leaning a little at the side of the door. Then, he looked at the girl, expectantly.

Rise could feel herself getting redder and redder. He looked so calm, standing there, staring at his reflection, not even caring that is gorgeous abs were on display for her hungry eyes, hungry eyes that only got glimpses of them because she was to shy to look up for longer then a few seconds. When he spoke about her staying, she found herself completely unable to move. He had dismissed Mandy so he could talk to her? There was something very wrong in that statement, something that just didn't flow well with Rise. Fact was, people didn't stop talking to someone else.. or stop.. what he had been doing with her, to talk to her.. it just didn't sound right at all.

Rise found herself stepping back into the room, her eyes darting up to him as he moved towards the stall and stood there, staring at her, his face showing an emotion she didn't quite understand. Did he want her to follow him? What was he saying? Rise pulled her cloak up a little bit higher, trying to hide her blush as well as her scar, as she stared at him, she couldn't help but feel her heart rate increase. Why was he looking at her like that? What was she supposed to do? "Please don't be upset.. I do know how it feels... to be left alone with thoughts that hurt.." She whispered, and took a small step forward, the blush clearly visible on her forehead, that's how hard she was blushing. His shirt was somewhere inside that stall, and she wondered if he was going to get it, or if he wanted her to get it.. she would do it if he asked, pick up his shirt.. if only to take a tiny inhale and try and catch his scent on it. It might even be a little warm still, Rise shook herself mentally and stared at the stall door, eyes wide, her eyes darting back and forth between him and the stall, leaned slightly forward like she wanted to go towards him, but was to afraid that was the wrong thing to do.

It was all going to be a sacrifice. Nothing came without a sacrifice. Kendall had learnt, from listening to the men, that taking one step back to leap a few forward, was always a strategy that was useful but usually not properly employed. It was as if too many of them could not bear to sacrifice, and so they never developed, or never gained. But his father had learnt it all the hard way. Azkaban was the toughest that one could be sunk to, and then Augustus had come out of it laying low, making sure he was more the puppeteer rather than a puppet. Being a puppet had cost him. Kendall had been told to learn from his father's mistakes, and he would like to think that in some ways, that made him better than Augustus.

Kendall now looked at Rise, perturbed within himself of the opportunity displayed to him, one of which he thought he had to seize, despite the aversion it brought to his mind, even at the thought of it. He wondered at what the girl was wondering about. It was obvious that she was doing a lot of thinking in her mind. Of course, there were always two types of thinking --- calculation and response. He liked to believe he calculated and manipulated, and that the other was just responding or falling for his schemes. After knowing Rise from the time at the Library, Kendall expected her to be an easy prey. The problem was that he knew of the loopholes of complacency. He was going to try to be as convincing as before, even if this time, it was going to take a lot more effort. Well, after all, what is life without its challenges? Kendall smirked at that thought in his head.

"Well I'm not upset," he grinned at the girl. "You're still here, aren't you? I won't be upset unless you leave." It was unlikely, however, that Rise was going to come towards him. Or rather, Kendall thought so. She looked doubtful and worried, and he knew he needed to do something to encourage her. He ran his fingers through his hair, and then took the steps that would bring him closer to her. Once closer, he smiled. And then, he reached his left hand out and began to trace the shape of Rise's face with the tip of his index finger.

"You're beautiful. I wish you would realise that, Rise." He moved on to trace the outlines of the girl's face. Her eyebrows first, then her nose, then her cheekbones, using the tips of his fingers to tickle lightly at wherever they were touching. "It's not fair that you put yourself down just because you don't think you're like everyone else," and then he paused. "Or just because everyone doesn't see you, or doesn't want to see you." He smiled. "People are often not the kindest creatures on earth. So it's unfair that you let them tell you about yourself." Kendall traced Rise's facial outlines all the way down to the tip of her chin, and then he lightly ran his fingers down her neck, to her collarbone, and only stopping just before they arrived at her scar. He knew he had to avoid that, for now. But a tease was called for.

Rise smiled slightly at Kendall when he said he was happy she was there. Happy? She was there? Most people just wanted her to leave, and the look on his face, she didn't understand! She was confused, and then he took a step forward towards her. And her breath caught in her throat, and her hands tugged her robe up farther on her neck, trying to hide her scar from his gaze. The robe had been dipping dangerously low to falling to a normal height, so the scar would be visible, and she hadn't even been paying attention.

But now that he was closer, she could feel the regular fear seeping back into her system, a fear that was always there, of someone finding out, even though he already knew. When he stepped in front of her, and his hand reached out, she immediately drew in a sharp breath, and closed her eyes, half expecting his hand to collide with her cheek. Get angry at her for thinking the thoughts she had been, get angry for a misinterpretation, or causing his girlfriend to leave the room. But what happened instead, rocked her to her core. His fingers gently traced her face, staring at her eyebrows, which immediately flew up into her hairline as her eyes shot open, and he became to talk.

He spoke kind words, the first word she understood was beautiful, but after that it all kinda faded into the background, not that she wasn't trying to pay attention, quite the contrary, she was working hard at concentrating, his fingers.. they moved along her face, tracing the outlines of her lips, her nose, her chin, down her neck to her collarbone, and then just over her scar. Her whole body tensed and she closed her eyes, standing on her tiptoes, slightly leaned forward, her eyes shut tight. He had nearly touched her scar, and no one had touched it before, no one but another werewolf, and it felt odd, feeling human fingers near her very non human area.

Her breathing was quick, her eyes shut tight, and she was trying to pull herself away from the sensations his fingers were causing her, finally she opened her eyes and looked up at him, small tears in her eyes from trying to keep herself from feeling to liked, but it wasn't working, his fingers were drawing her in and she could do nothing to fight the current. She looked up at him and locked eyes, before she let out a very soft whimper. "What do you want me to do?" She asked, her question simple, but so much more behind it. What did he think of her? Did he like her like that? What kind of person did he think she was? Did he know just what happened during the full moon? Was he going to kiss her? Was he lying? The questions spun through her head, but the most prominent one was the only one that could make it out, and she had asked it. What else was there for her to do? She was lost, and she needed him to tell her what to do next.

How far could he go before the disgust would overwhelm him? Kendall had thought, initially, that even touching a were-wolf, no matter how much of it that a person was, would at least make him retch. But he had done well so far, no? The touching of her face, sure it had made the insides of him want to cry a little, imploring him to stop torturing his fingers. But no, Kendall would have the last say, even over himself. That was what he was brought up for, was he not? Augustus had made his son sit through the tortures inflicted to those who had fallen victim to his schemes. He had made a young boy sit through and watch those people. Even watching itself, Kendall had to admit, was painful at times. He simply did not refuse his father's orders, and gradually, he was less in touch with feeling for the victims, and took joy in the extremities on their faces and the pain on their bodies instead. As much as they had to endure the pain, Kendall too learnt endurance. It was a useful skill to have.

Kendall had options in his mind, options on how to deal with Rise. He made up his mind, and locked his eyes on hers. At the back of his mind, he was just hoping that after this ordeal, he would have someone more comfortable to neutralize this one. Perhaps he could go to Athena, let her make him feel a lot better, as if he was the one who was going to be traumatised at this very instant. But no, Kendall still did not feel like he could go to Athena for now, yet. He wished he could. Keeping parts of him calm with thoughts of Athena, Kendall decided to proceed with his decision about Rise. He really did not want to have to resort to a woman, or a girl at that, to give him any sort of strength. No, that was not what he was ever taught to do. He was supposed to be a self-sufficient man, or boy. Everything was supposed to rely on him, and him only. That was the idea of strength perpetrated throughout the Rookwood family. Now, though, he had something more pressing than to bother himself with that thought that did not even need to be admitted. He alone would know it, and leave it at that.

Kendall smiled again at Rise, buying time for himself before he leaned towards the girl. The hand that had traced her features and slightly above her scar brought her body closer towards him, as it pressed against her back. Once a sort of distance was rid off, Kendall went for the girl's lips. One slight touch and he drew his head slightly away, as if to check on her reaction. And then, he decided that it was not needed anyway. He was just going to do it, confident that his charm alone would secure his hold on this girl. Kendall leaned in again and kissed Rise, using both hands to lightly pull her to him, making sure she did not hesitate or draw back even if she wanted to. At the same time, he wanted to calculate the resistance she might have towards him. That would, at least, tell him how to measure everything in this plan he had for her. Kendall only stopped kissing Rise after awhile. He did not give her an answer, because of course, his true answer was not favourable for her. Kendall merely took on the role of a speechless lover, looking at Rise after he had affected their first kiss. Inside him, the parts that had protested against his will, felt dead.

Rise was frozen in place as he moved towards her, his eyes locked on hers, and her mind momentarily shut down. What was he doing? Why was he doing it? What was going on? Everything went in super motion in her brain, and then just stopped until she was staring blankly at him, rooted to the spot she was stuck in. Until his hand moved around her back and brought her closer to him. It was like she was snapped out of a trance, and she whispered. "Kendall.." She froze though when suddenly his other hand moved around back, and trapped her there, as his lips found hers. Her entire body tensed, and she felt him pull away slightly, before he kissed her full on the lips.

Her first real kiss.

After a moment of the kiss going on, unable to move from him, she slowly melted and then found herself kissing him back. He had kissed her first, obvious this is what he wanted right? For her to.. kiss him back. She found herself moving in closer to him and the kiss deepened for a tiny fraction of a moment before he pulled away and stared at her. Her face was beat red, she knew that from his position he could see her scar plainly, and she had no will to hide it, she wanted him to see, because obviously he didn't care. A human had kissed her.. better yet.. a PUREBLOOD had kissed her. Her mind went into overdrive as she stood there, shocked into silence, and then she looked up at him and carefully closed her mouth, swallowing, she looked at him and tried to make herself smile. "What.. what was that for?" She whispered, her eyes glued on his.