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"Check please."

The girl who'd been waiting on him rushed over, handing him a slip of paper and smiling in a way that he assumed was meant to be cute. He awkwardly returned the smile, looking more frightening than cheerful. She scurried off, looking more than a little bothered by the whole affair. Sighing, he dropped several bills on the table, a great deal more than the meal cost; his exorbitant tips were the main reason why he was still welcome there, considering his eccentricities. And he didn't want to stop coming here; the food was good, and he almost felt like a regular person when he ate out. Almost, until something like this happened. But, in the end, it would just help him stay focused on the task at hand today; normal people don't kill corporate executives on a whim.

It wasn't just a whim, though, he thought to himself as he stepped out of the door and crossed the street. It was certainly not the most well thought-out plan, but it should work. There's no reason why any corporation would go ahead with this move knowing that there were lives at risk if they were to continue on their path. He slipped into the alleyway across the street, and headed off towards the industrial district, to finalize this particular business transaction.

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"There's the office...now I just play the waiting game," he said under his breath. When the CEO returned from his normally scheduled coffee break, the one he took every day at the same time, he'd be met with a bullet between the eyes. Now it was just a question of being patient.

The fact that she couldn’t think of something to do was distressing because it normally was a no brainer. Instead, Fyre was stuck drinking with a man she didn’t even know in a boring place. Sighing heavily, she downed more of the whiskey and found herself pondering on what to drink next. Did she want more whiskey or perhaps some good ole fashion moonshine? Tapping her fingers against the wooden table, Crimson finished the bottle of Jack and wound up ordering some moonshine.

“Well, we could either start a bar brawl and sit back and watch the chaos, or maybe we should go outside and steal a car, drive to the local airship base and steal one and just fly away from this dreadful place…”

Her voice was low, meant for his ears only. She didn’t know the others and didn’t want them to overhear her ideas of causing mischief. Spending the night in jail wasn’t exactly on her top ten things to do and she wasn’t even sure if they would throw her there. Wrinkling up her nose, she leaned forward a little closer to him while taking swings of her moonshine. He really wasn’t that bad looking and seemed to have a mysterious aura around him, which was intoxicating, much like the booze she was drinking. However, his next line was enough to cause her to sit back, her ebony orbs narrowing slightly.

"Yeah, been in Magiscolia all my life, from kid to trooper, to merc now ... Name's Eleric, yours ? I mean, after all, a good talk is always better when we know the person we're actually talking to !"

Tightening her fingers around the glass she had been currently drinking out of, Obsidian swore silently. If he was a merc… and lived in Magiscolia, did that mean he was going to turn her in? If he tried, Fyre would take him down without another thought. She might be heavily drinking, but her reflexes were still as quick as they needed to be in a situation that might present itself soon. Chewing on her bottom lip, the 21 year old thought heavily on whether or not she should give him her real name or just make something up.

“The name you can call me by is Crimson.”

Leaning back causally, she quickly took note of where the exits were at and the exact location of every body that happened to be in the bar at the moment. Granted not everything could be calculated, but enough could to keep her ass from getting maimed. Sliding her leg down so that both soles were touching the ground, Obsidian grabbed a bottle of whiskey as a waitress made her way to another table. Swinging it around, she spilled the liquid all over the place, doing the same with another three bottles. Finishing her moonshine, Fyre grinned as she sat down the glass and slid to her feet.

“I say we blow this joint… literally.”

Snapping her fingers, she created a small spark of fire, her grin growing larger. Without another word, she tossed the spark into the spilled liquor and walked causally out the door. Once she was outside and down the street a little ways, Obsidian paused in her step, glancing behind her to see if Eleric was actually following her or not. If so, hopefully it wouldn’t be to arrest her or kill her. If not, then she would find something else to blow up, like the place where all the airships are located. Leaning against the wall, she began to realize just how drunk she was and perhaps for now it might be best to find a place to lay low.

The wind whipped through her hair making the long strands of red dance across her face softly beating on her warm skin. The breeze grew with intensity as it whipped down her frame blowing the skirt of the paper thin, long white slip that hung on Eden's frame. The fabric was seductively slipping up and around her legs as if the air was a lustful lover. Her blue eyes were set directly ahead staring at the edge of the cliff in quiet wonder while remaining still.

Incoherent musings floated on the back of the breeze as it danced around the girl before starting to push her closer and closer to the uneven, rocky edge of the cliff. Even though she dragged her feet the girl soon could see over the side. Looking below she saw the river of red, hot flowing liquid running along the bottom of the tall cliff. The acid like waves beat against the rocks below as they called to Eden,

“Jump...”

The command echoed through the woman's brain as the wind pushed her even closer to the edge and the lava churned even more. It started to spiral, and Eden's skin began to move. She looked down at her now rippling arms. Her flesh felt as though it was burning from the inside out. The girl could feel her blood start to boil as bubbles bounced up in her flesh causing the ripples to intensify. Then hot, steam laced with the scent of burning flesh rose from Eden's skin filling the air around her. The girl shook not able to comprehend what was happening as the river of heated death called to her yet again,

“Jump!”

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Eden's blue eyes flew open as her dream was suddenly broken, or perhaps it only changed? Her eyes rolled about the room not recognizing the place at first, and so shifting her weight the girl rolled over on her back getting a different view of the place. Tilting her head to the side Eden noticed her bra wrapped around the bed post. Arching a slender brow she studied the article of clothing as well as its position while images slowly can back to her about the night before. A slight smirk appeared on her lips. Nope, your definitely awake.

Looking back to her left Eden noticed the man from the night before wasn't in fact there, and for a moment she wondered why. Perhaps he would want her out of his little piece of shit apartment before the morning was over, or maybe he had even video taped the night before. Eden wasn't so much a celebrity, but her parents were well to do. If he had for some reason realized who she was he could use the night before to his benefit. Well if they were just going to use each other she should definitely get a head of the little game.

Sitting up Eden tossed the covers off her body looking around the room again. There had to be a shower somewhere right? Standing up the girl decided to give little thought to the dream she had that morning. The former military personal never gave that dream much thought or meaning. It was just a silly dream that keep repeating in her head after all, like a recording. Starting to wander around the man's bedroom the girl idly started to play with his things while musing to herself. Some call dreams visions...which is a message isn't it?

Reaching the tiny closet of the room Eden opened it peeking her head inside and seeing on of his nicely pressed white shirts. Smirking to herself the girl pulled it off the hangar and went to slip on over her body. She would think about her dream tomorrow. Turning on her heels the girl head the man's voice in the other room,

“Hello? Can I speak to Piers.”

Piers... She hadn't heard the name before. Shutting the closet door Eden left his shirt unbuttoned as she moved towards the entryway of his bedroom just watching the man. Too bad she couldn't remember his name. Smiling sweetly the girl moved into the kitchen wanting to see if she could taunt him with the fact she was mostly nude. Eden's piercing blue eyes studied the tall dark haired appraising his form as she walked by him. Not bothering to look over her shoulder Eden's gaze shifted to the cabinets thinking about which one would be the logical place to find a clean-ish drinking glass...

The clouds rolled out that evening, coating the sky in a soft grey quilt that very quickly faded to black. Those same-hued eyes watched with undisguised awe as Aden took his first step onto the airship, the soft hum of its workings soothing his mind, but churning his stomach. He had never flown before. He had no idea what to expect, how it would feel or just how capable he would be at the helm if necessity demanded he help out Telpyre.

He clambered aboard the average-modeled ship, pausing only to give a quick, polite nod to a woman who had stood by the entryway. Apparently this was Telpyre's daughter. It was strange, he had always imagined the old man being completely alone in the world. It didn't seem that one who put such pride and attention into pictures and plans of a hunk of machinery would be surrounded by living, breathing loved ones.

Since his employer had received the mysterious distress call, Aden had not been working, simply sitting around and gathering things together that Telpyre had bade him to gather. Within an hour he had a pile of necessities heaped on a boarding platform and nothing else to occupy his time. The idleness had soon returned him to his thoughtful, flighty state and when he heard the first peal of thunder of a brewing storm, his neck snapped to a workshop window in time to catch a shaft of lightning follow it.

Rain and thunder had always been soothing to him, but he had never heard it before embarking on an air voyage before, and he wondered if they were not better off setting out on land. Telpyre didn't seem to give the matter any second thought, however, and so he resigned himself to the somewhat amusing possibility of death by airship.

Once inside the ship, the thick walls muffled the crash and rolling drum of the storm, but his mind still lingered on the stories he had heard of sea ships buffeted by the savage waves of hurricanes. Would not the gusts of wind do the same thing to them? And why were they setting out in the first place? He had followed his orders and done all he was told, but he didn't have the faintest idea as to where they were going. Only a vague idea of picking up some old friend of Telpyre's was known to him, but the fact that seemingly the person most important to the old man had been gathered there made the matter all the stranger.

Keeping his ears open to whatever talk he might hear, Aden settled against one of the large bulkheads of the main holding bay, his knees to his chest and his arms around them, and waited for his next directions.

((OOC: This is a four way post done by myself, Mia, Blue, and Arrogance in the chat. I edited it for forum posting. The characters are separated by paragraphs.))

Piers leaned back into the chair trying to make himself comfortable. Clumsily the man fiddled with his thumbs as he while sitting across from Demi. It'd been a couple days since their scuffle that happened at the Gym. All that ran through Piers's mind was how they ended up in this situation they are currently in. It had been two days since the Head of the Rebellion had suspended both Piers and Demi along with the mission being postponed due to what the two soldiers had reported. Piers got up impatiently as he walked around the room waiting for the call from HQ about his re-instatement. As he was just about to leave the room, and Demi, when the pone rang. The sudden sound made him jump with excitement as the possibility of Re-instatement was only seconds away. Piers made his way to the phone while avoiding eye contact with the girl. Pushing the green button on the cell to answer the call he quickly moved it to his ear.

Miercoles After a few rings a familiar voice answered on the opposite side of the line one that seemed rather excited when answering. Mier rushed into the conversation, "Listen, Piers, I dunno if you remember me or not, Piers, but I need a couple extra bucks and I could use some work or a loan or somethin'..." He was pretty desperate, and he hadn't even noticed the half-dressed Eden until ...Miercoles -- he saw her reflection in the glass above the sordid sink. He looked back at her, and his voice slowed "Yeah.... anything you got...s'cool."

Demi rested her chin on her knuckles, using her elbow to prop her head up on the armrest. It hadn’t been two weeks since she joined the rebel army and she was already suspended. All because of this man before her. She could tell he was trying to avoid eye contact as she watched him shift around. Her eyes fell on him in almost a glare to his form. Demi did not conceal any feelings of resentment she had for the man from the quarrel they had at the Gym. In fact, she made it evident in her sarcasm and concise replies. Her eyes meandered on over to the ringing telephone as Piers went to go answer it. She could barely make out the voice on the other line, but shrugged as she continued to glare at the man before her.

Eden was leaning against the sink while she filled her glass with cold water. Her eyes were focused on the glass as she listened to the one sided conversation intently. Was he looking for a job? With a quick flick of the wrist she turned the water off turning to face him. How cute? After a night in bed he wanted to support her...so manly... Alright, so she really doubted that was it, but it was funny to think about. Meeting his gaze with her blue eyes Eden winked lightly while sipping her drink.

Piers looked at the phone as he was rushed with a plea for a job from a voice he remembered very faintly. He looked at the mirror as he gave out a sigh, his excitement fell as he replied to the caller. "Well right now we might have a job for you. We are just waiting on a phone call from HQ. But who knows if they still plan on continuing the mission or what". He glanced over at Demi as he noticed she was just sitting there. No signs of being bored or impatient at all. "So you'd let me have to get back with you. In the meantime though it might be a good idea if you came over to where I'm currently staying with the 'other person' involved in the current mission". He fiddled with a pen in his hand as he read the location of the hotel off of it.

He sighed in relief and his shoulders sagged. "Alright, I'll be there in a minute.." he said, just before he hung up, his face lit up as he looked down at Eden, whom just winked to him. "Let's make some dough and break some face." he said with a big grin on his face. Then he rushed towards his closet, ripping a wife-beater out from one of the shelves, and pulled it down. He repeated the address in his head over and over again, and then slipped his boots on, stopping at the door, then turned to look back at Eden, "You comin'?" ...

Pushing herself off of the chair, Demi got to her feet before she heading to the door. “I’m going to find the ladies room..."

Bored with the glass of water in her hand the girl put it down on the counter watching Mier with a raised brow. He was certainly in a hurry to go to this job thing and he wanted her to come with? Except for that silly military place Eden never had to work a day in her life save for studying magic. So getting a job didn't sound all that appealing at the moment. Sighing the girl trotted forward going into bedroom, "I don't remember using a condom..." Idly she stated getting dressed, starting with her pants that were laying on the floor. "I'm wearing this shirt by the way..and what is this so called job?" Buttoning up her pants Eden glanced up at the bed post spying her bra.

He traced her eyes to her bra on the bedpost, then looked back to her and answered, the answer was atrociously vague, but it was still an answer: "Dunno, but we'll find out." He said, opening the door, stepping out and yelled back at her, "Shut the door on your way out!" He didn't have a car or anything, heavens no, that would be too convenient. Instead Mier would have to walk by foot to the hotel, and that is precisely what he was starting to do, now. Wasn't like either he or Eden had much else to do, really. 'Less she was up for round two...

Cid stood at the entrance to the hanger overlooking the market, the rain padding gently on his form, his hand grasping the empty container of medicine.

I had wanted to avoid this damn medicine with all these problems with it flying around, what have I done

Cid returned to his ship, taking to the wheel and bringing the airship to life, "All hands on deck, we're departing" Cid bellowed down the loudspeakers.

The airship exited the hanger as the lightning started peeling across the sky, "Mechanics, activate gyrostabilizer and grounding shield." The airship begins a loud hum and a orange glow begins to form around it.

The ship rocks and gyrates as they rise through the clouds until...the sky, clear blue sky above the clouds, a place very few have seen.

The sky...always a calming sight

Each graceful bolt of lightening sent a chill down Sylvia's spine as she watch them reach through the clouds for the solid grounds of the Earth. Everyone around her was rushing for supplies and plans, but the young Telpyre daughter had attempted to take a moment for herself, standing under one of the wings of the borrowed ship to observe the worsening storm. The rain was coming down in sheets, sending crew all over the hangar lot in a panic as they scurried to bring their tools back inside. One lone workman was not bothered by the weather at all as he worked on the ship farthest away. His clothes were already drenched and clinging to his middle-aged body, his leather tool belt sagging around his waist. It may as well have been a sunny, clear day to the man, as he continued to pound away at a circuit panel on the outside of the ship.

Reality of the current situation finally came back to Sylvia as she shook her head, turning back to the ship. Most of the crew was already on board, and the door to the lift piled with supplies had just closed, signaling that liftoff was soon to follow. With big strides, the young woman headed back to the ship, pulling the main door shut behind her after counting heads. Her green eyes had already seen a few of the men enter the ship, including her father and his new assistant, but she nodded to the rest as she took the seat on the wall closest to the cockpit.

After clicking her seatbelt together, and making sure everyone else had done so as well, Sylvia looked to her father with admiration. He worked on his ships more than he flew them, and she was happy to see him take the wheel again. Looking upon his face, even only being able to see it from the side, she knew it brought a sense of joy to him that was unrivaled by anything else.

When the ship began to lift, Sylvia grabbed the handle mounted beside her seat to stabilize herself. The higher it seemed to get, the more it rattled with the beating rain and unfaltering winds. The ship was old, and she could only pray that it could withstand this kind of harsh weathering, especially when it picked up what Sylvia hoped would be a large load of survivors.

For a moment, Eleric just stood there, listening and watching as the girl in front of him, Crimson (a name that he took to be a pseudonym), told him of her plans for various "shenanigans". To his dismay, she even started one of her own plans, and before he could set his beer bottle down, she'd drenched their table with whiskey, and had lit it with a flick of her fingers. And of course, just to crown the whole thing, had then walked out happily, without as much as a look back.

Forsaking the dorrway, already crowded with the few patrons in the place, running from the rapidly growing fire, Eleric instead burst out of the window, bracing himself from the glass, as his heavy-duty trenchcoat took the best part of the impact. As his shoulder hit the tarmac ground below, he broke into a roll, taking in the brunt of the impact, before rushing off to find the woman that had started it.

As he saw her, the merc dashed off towards her, his legs hitting the ground below in a wild sprint. Finally reaching her, he took a fraction of a second to breathe, before grabbing her arm: "Nice trick babe, you're a criminal now. We gotta go, not only will the booze in the bar most likely blow, but the cops will soon be here looking for answers, so let's go !"

He'd barely finished that his grip around her tightened, left hand tightly clasping her right arm, as he broke off into a run down the alley-way, and then into a dark street, where he let go of her. Eleric's arm had barely let go of her that a huge explosion reached their ears, and they could both see black smoke rising from the spot where the bar once stood. "I hope nobody got killed; you got us in quite some ruckus, Crimson ... We're dead if we get caught, any place where we might lay low for a bit, and let you recover from your booze, eh ?"

A slight tinge of annoyance could be perceived through his panting voice, but still, it was better than rotting in some bar for the rest of the day, and she wasn't half bad looking, at least it could be fun. Still, they were now criminals, and they could be recognised. After all, they weren't particularly conspicuous, so things could be pretty rough in Magiscolia for a while, he thought.

He'd been waiting for a while; he hadn't been keeping track of how long. Which was probably a bad thing, considering that he'd planned the assassination of Larsten based around the target's strict timetable. Just as he began to curse himself for his lapse in attention, he saw the door to the office swing open. The figure walked inside, hanging up his jacket and sitting down at his desk, pulling a folder out of his briefcase. Hillel couldn't see what the CEO was looking at, but it didn't matter; he was such a perfect target, hunched over the fine print of some report or another. What a relief, he thought to himself as he caught the CEO's head in the crosshairs and squeezed the trigger, releasing the high-powered bullet. It sped through the air, shattering the window, and passing through Trevor Larsten's head before he could so much as react to the sound of the shattering glass. He smirked, watching through the scope as the body slumped against the desk, the swivel chair sliding backwards and dumping him underneath the metal desk.

That should be the end of that, he thought to himself as he disassembled the rifle and packed it back inside his briefcase. He straightened, and headed for the roof access door of the office building he'd taken the shot from. It was just then that he heard an explosion rip through the night air. He turned and looked, and saw plumes of smoke billowing in the distance. It looked like it was out in the slums. Chances were, it was just an average fire...maybe insurance fraud...in the slums? No, chances were it was arson.

He always liked a good fire. Fire was the weapon of nature. Fire was the weapon of god. It was something he could look up to, something he could aspire to. It was an all-purpose weapon; it could raze an entire city, or just destroy property, or even just destroy one man. It had to be controlled; it had a mind of its own, after all. Just like him, he thought. He'd was the fire that they couldn't keep contained. He was the fire that would someday consume everything that they had planned. All their schemes and dreams, burned to the ground.

He ran to the edge of the building and looked down, then began to quickly shimmy down the fire escape, reaching the ground and hailing a cab. He climbed inside. "Take me to the slums, to where the explosion was." The driver grunted his assent and they sped off.

Just a few minutes later, Hillel stepped out of the cab, having paid the driver. He could be reasonably sure that they wouldn't find the man, as he didn't think he'd been spotted. Worst case scenario, he'd have cops hunting him, and while they might be an annoyance, he had no doubt he could handle them. Besides, he was satisfied with one more notch for tonight. Larsten would be another average scar; there wasn't anything special about him, save maybe that he was the first non-government employee he'd killed as a part of his personal quest. Well, maybe that was enough that he ought to get a slightly longer scar. He'd figure it out in the morning, he decided.

The smoldering heap of rubble that appeared to have once been a bar was a perfect tribute to the power of fire. The swirling smoke in the sky was its warning to the rest of the world: "Someday, I'll get you too." He grinned, watching the remains of the flame burning just as brightly as the firefighters tried to quash the flames, to prevent them from spreading. He half-considered killing them, to let the fire burn more, so he could enjoy it a bit more. He ultimately decided that if the fire couldn't free itself from their control, it didn't deserve to burn anyway. He turned away from it, heading into a dark alleyway, hoping to not draw any attention to himself. Being in a somewhat reflective mood, he hardly noticed the couple hunched over in the alleyway, until he noticed that one of them looked rather singed. He stopped, and addressed them, "How did the fire start?" He spoke tersely, hopefully they wouldn't notice the joy that the events of the night had brought to his voice.

It was a few minutes later that Obsidian realized what had just happened. Once again, the young woman let her drunken nature get the best of her. Sadly, this wasn’t the first bar burning she caused thanks to being intoxicated. Incidentally it probably wouldn’t be the last because drinking was something Fyre enjoyed doing. Dwelling on it wasn’t going to change what happened and at the moment deciding where to hide was more important. Arching a brow as Eleric appeared in front of her, something told her that he wasn’t exactly happy with what had just happened. Perhaps it would have been helpful to tell him that she was a pyromaniac, but it was a bit late for that. Her inkling that he wasn’t thrilled was confirmed when he grabbed her arm, panting for air.

"Nice trick babe, you're a criminal now. We gotta go, not only will the booze in the bar most likely blow, but the cops will soon be here looking for answers, so let's go !"

Before she had a chance to respond, his grasp tightened and the two were sprinting down the alley to a dark street. For a brief moment, Crimson was worried that he was going to attempt to kill her or worse, but then the fighter remembered that she was well armed and he would die trying. Still, it was a little unnerving though her attention was quickly shifted from the man to the loud explosion echoing from the bar. Blinking in shock, she slid a few fingers through her hair the moment he released her arm. Deep down she knew the bar was going to explode, but it still came to a shock to her.

"I hope nobody got killed; you got us in quite some ruckus, Crimson ... We're dead if we get caught, any place where we might lay low for a bit, and let you recover from your booze, eh ?"

“I don’t think you are in trouble, it’s not like you did anything. I’m the one that dumped the booze everywhere and lit it on fire. The bar wasn’t that full so I’m sure everyone got out fine. I’m not from around here, so I don’t know where to lay low. Actually…”

About to say more, Fyre peered at the newcomer, her ebony eyes wide. It wasn’t fear exactly, but surprise at the fact that he snuck up on the two without her noticing. Frowning heavily, she peered at Eleric before returning her attention back to the man. Yes, she picked up on the joy in his voice, but that didn’t mean she was going to tell him who started the fire.

“No idea, it was chaotic in there. We barely managed to get out before it exploded. Come dear, we have a dinner date.”

Walking calmly down the street, she turned left and continued away from the bar area while ensuring that they remained in the shadows. As they walked, she made sure the two weren’t being followed, especially by the strange inquirer. Turning a few more corners until they were a good mile or two away from the bar, she slid into an apartment complex and headed upstairs. Pulling a key out of her pocket, she stopped at room 349 and opened up the door. Motioning for him to follow her, she closed and locked the door behind her, letting out a slight sigh.

“This room can’t be traced back to me or anyone else, don’t worry. I’ve had the key for several years now and have often used it as a place to crash when I visit the city.”

There were two four-post queen size beds that had star and moon sheets with matching pillow cases and a comforter. The walls were painted in the same theme and even the lamp had moons and stars upon it. There was a television set sitting upon the deep oak dresser that had four drawers on each side. The bathroom had a large walk-in shower/bath combination and there was a sink on the opposite side with a wall size mirror. It wasn’t the best, but it worked as a perfect getaway. Sighing, she slid off all of her weapons, placing them in a safe, closing the door after everything was situated. Slipping off her black boots, she kicked them into a corner before dropping back against the bed.

“You don’t have to stay if you don’t want… though I like your company…”

Stretching out, Fyre shoved her crimson-streaked black hair away from her eyes before rolling onto her side. Before she knew it, her eyes found themselves peering at Eleric. Turning a little red once she realized what she was looking at, Crimson flopped over to her back in order to stare at the ceiling. Getting supplies was going to be difficult now, but definitely not impossible. With a yawn, the lithe female draped one leg over the other, suddenly wishing she had something to eat. It amazed her sometimes how her mind worked. First she was bored and wanted to cause some shenanigans. Now, she was more worried about getting something to eat without getting caught by the city police.

“There is male clothing in the drawers on the left. Feel free to search through them and shower if you want. I think I’m going to curl up with my pillow and try and sleep off the alcohol. Sleep wherever you want, it doesn’t matter to me.”

Rolling over again, she pulled a pillow against her chest, curling up against it. It was nights like this that she missed having someone to cuddle against, but she could always rely on her soft pillows. Pulling the blankets up around her, she curled up even more, letting out another sigh. When did things get so complicated? Punching the bed a couple of times, she swore inwardly at her stupidity and her lack of self-control and the feelings that were surfacing for the man she just met.