Veritas City.

"I did, thank you very much. People still thought I was a boy though." She said and giggled at his story about his mom making him knit and gloating about it to his brother. She watched him raise his hands and giggled some more. "Oh no, the curse of the knitting hands. Forever alone, Loris. Maybe you'll meet a nice girl one day who doesnt mind your knitting hands. Maybe she'll love them even." She said then took another bite of her food.

He looked at his hands and got wide eyed, "Maybe one day a girl will. Maybe she will fall in love with my amazing blankets, sweaters, and hats... oh my!" He said dramatically before chuckling. "You are doing well, you just need to tighten them a bit more. Can I... uhm show you? I would have to touch your hands, hope you don't mind. I just want you to have your hands remember the motion." He said softly, clearly nervous.

Elise giggled a little bit. "Maybe she'll knit with you" She said, hoping Loris would find a person like that some time soon. When he asked if he could show her she held her hand up, holding the knitting stuff in them. "I dont mind. Theyre just hands after all. Go ahead, I need all the help I can get anyways." She said with a smile.

Loris stood up and went sit in front of her. He held her hands gently and made the motions she needed to know in order to tighten the knits. He continue this until he was sure she could do it in her sleep. "See, once your hands get in the motion it is like... breathing... or blinking." He smiled softly. Her hands were so soft, but he let them go and went back to sitting in his spot. "Next thing you know you will be making hats, scarves, and blankets for everyone in your neighborhood. You will be that lady and be proud, dammit." He said as he slapped his knee.

Elise smiled when she got used the the motion and she just kept knitting. "For the whole neighborhood? Jeeze. Okay mom." She said then stopped knitting and went to put their leftovers away before walking into her bedroom and grabbing a photo album out of the closet and coming back with it. "You better keep up your promise to show me your kid pictures." She said and eyed him over before sitting next to him and opening the album up and then flipping a few pages in to where there were pictures of a tiny, bald headed, big eyed Elise. "See? No hair, i looked like a boy." She said with a giggle.

Loris pretended to be hurt when she called him mom and watched her walk away. "There she goes! There she goes again! She calls my name... something else. I really don't remember the rest of the song and you disappeared into your room. Sweet." He said and clapped his hands together before looking around the room and then back to her when she came in with the photo album. She told him he better keep his promise, "Well of course, I don't break deals." He said and looked down at the pictures. "Oh my word, baby Elise. You were adorable! Look at those big eyes and them cheeks! If you looked like a boy it was a very feminine one. Can I call you Eli now?" He said, smiling at her.

Elise shook her head. "My mom used t dress me in little boys clothes and tell strangers I was a boy, just for fun. I still wonder whats wrong with that woman sometimes. " She said with a giggle before looking over at Loris. "You can if you want to. No ones ever given me a nickname before. " She said and smiled at him then flipped to another page where she was older, about six or seven, where her brother had her pigtails in his hands while sitting on her back. "My mom thought she should get a picture before helping me, apparently." She said with a small giggle.

Loris looked at her, "Really? No one? I was Lor till Lor came and now it is weird when someone comes down and says Lor and we both look. I should dye my hair blonde and grow it out. Then they would never tell us apart. Could even full, Adrian. Ha!" He said before looking back down at the picture. "That seems... cruel. I have an older sister and younger one. The youngest is actually... Lor's age." He said and blinked. He closed his eyes and shook his head when he thought about a guy his age kissing her or even being in love with her and it made him sick, but he understood. "If I did that I would have gotten beaten up side ways... by my older sister. My brother was too worried about sports and girls. And it would be awkward for me to anyway. "At least you had hair in this one, aye?" He said laughing awkwardly.

"Nope. Well Adrian called me El once but that was when we first met and I think it was only because he didnt catch my full name when we met because it was a pretty rushed introduction. I had a meeting to get to and Misha was shoving him along to the lab. I didnt have a nickname when I was little because my mother swore it was an insult to my full name." She said softly and then giggled a little bit. "Yeah, At least I had hair by then, lots of it too. Not as much as I have now, obviously, but a lot for a six year old anyways."

He looked at her hair and tugged it gently, "You have nice hair. I mean... not as grand and beautiful as mine." He said and slipped what hair he did have and looked at her, "But girl, the way your hair frames your face, ugh...beautiful." He said and looked back down at the pictures. He pointed to the one where she was dressed up for Halloween. "Now this... this one is my fav." He chuckled.

Elise blushed when he said the way her hair framed her face was beautiful and she looked back down at the pictures so he didnt see. Elise wasnt sure what to do with innocent compliments like that. She was used to cat calls. And she really wasnt used to having a man she wasnt sleeping with in her house for this long. Blair never even stayed like this, so she really didnt know what to do with herself. She looked down at the picture and smiled. "Yeah, that was a good year, my dad took us trick or treating and we ended up getting lost in the middle of the city and went to this twenty four hour diner and hat hot chocolate and pancakes. Its one of my favorite childhood memories. Whats yours?" She asked, looking back over at him.

Loris blushed when he saw her blush and looked away towards the window. He had no idea why he was blushing or how they got this close in the first place. Loris smiled at her story and thought about one of his favorite childhood memories. "I would have to say... when I was thirteen my family went on this camping trip. Autumn is the baby and she would have been four..." He kept thinking back to Lor and how she would have been four when he was thirteen. "Anyway, so Autumn is this adventurous, animal loving, tree hugging -literally-, little girl who will run off if you put her down. So my mom had to either hold her or leash her. Well we get to the spot where were going to set up camp when my mom ties my sister to a tree." He laughed. "She hugged it and made friends with it. After a while I am guessing she sees a squirrel or something and my mom didn't tie her up properly and she ended up getting loose. Well we didn't know until we were done and my mom is going hysterical, my father is beginning a search party and we head out. Somehow I end up split from my family, but I know how to track back so I wasn't worried. I ended up finding her three miles... THREE from where the camp site was. She had stumbled upon an old couple's cabin and they were feeding her. I part of me died when they thought she was my daughter. I mean... I was a tall thirteen year old, but still. Anyway so I end up spending time with this old couple with Autumn and they are telling us about their life out in the woods. So forth... it might not mean much, but that couple and I, grew close. When I disappear from town for a couple of weeks or on some weekends I go out there and stay with the old woman. The husband died a few years back and it kills me to have her be alone out there. I tried telling her to move closer but the old woman refuses. Says she will die in the house her and her husband built." He smiled, looking down at her pictures. "I like to think I will have a relationship like that one day..." He said softly and then blushed when he realized what he was saying. "Ha... yeah... so, how about them knitting patterns?"

Elise listened intently to Loris' story. It was pretty funny at most points and when he talked about the old woman her heart felt like it was going to melt into a puddle on the floor. "Three miles huh? Thats one active sister you've got. Tell her to len me some of her energy damnit!" She said and then closed her book. "You're so sweet sometimes Loris. That old lady is lucky to have you. You'll make some woman a very good husband one day. And then I can giggle at how awkward you are with her." She said and stood up and walked to the bedroom again and got out some knitting patterns. "These knitting patterns? I have a whole bunch, maybe I'l get to use them all now that I have you to teach me huh." She said and placed them in front of him, and leaning with her hands on the table. "You think i'll be able to make Misha a hat by the time winter comes? Ive always wanted to see him wear one of those funny hats with the balls on the top, he cant say no if I made it just for him." She said with a determined grin on her face.

Loris nodded, "Three miles. Now she is almost seventeen with that same damn energy. Last Thanksgiving she made me run so many miles and my body hated me for it. Now I work out, but that was just torture." He said and watched her closed the books. "Sometimes... what? You mean all the time, Eli... I am hurt." He jokes and watched her come in front of him, laying out the patterns. He looked down, "Yeah... wait a whole bunch and you just now learning?" He laughed softly. "If you are working with me you can make him a whole outfit. And then we can enjoy it together." He said and looked up into her eyes. "You have really pretty eyes and don't you forget it, missy." Then he froze. "I..I'm sorry." He whispered.

Elise giggled. "Imagining Misha in an entirely knitted outfit is hilarious...He'd probably die of heatstroke though so..." She said and looked down at him in time to catch him looking into her eyes. She blushed a little when he said they were pretty and watched him freeze and couldnt help but laugh a little at his awkwardness. "Thank you, I wont forget...Do you always apologize to a woman after you compliment them? We're gonna have to work on your awkwardness mister. Here's a hint, most girls like being complimented." She said and winked at him a little before sitting back down in her chair. "Theyre pretty huh? I wish they were more boring. You see, I have "eyes that get men in trouble". Whatever that means. I still havent figured it out. Do you know?" She said, looking at one of the patterns she had brought out.

Loris felt like he could die. He didn't usually compliment her, why would he now? He looked confused at the saying, "eyes that get men in trouble? What the hell does that even mean? Don't ever wish for something less than what you are. Don't let men like that tell you your worth. You grew those eyes by yourself dammit, be proud. Let me hear someone say that to you..." He said, annoyed by these cat calling assholes. He never did it, felt no need to. It was just disrespectful and he was raised better. "You want to try starting on that in a couple days?" He asked looked down at the pattern she was looking at. "I think you could do it, you are a fast learner AND by golly you have knitter hands." He said proudly.

" I dont know. My mom said I probably look at people with 'bedroom eyes' and for whateer reason it makes men forget their morality and they do all sorts of stupid things. Im pretty sure i'm not making bedroom eyes at anyone, most of the time anyways. Definitely not on purpose. Still gets me in trouble." She said and looked down at the pattern again. "I think we should start on this one in a few days. I'll practice a lot to get these knitters hands whipped into shape. You wont even know what to do Loris, I'm going to surpass you one day and then you'll feel silly for teaching me. Muahahahha." She said with an evil smile on her face.

"Your mom... wow. I think your eyes are just beautiful, but I don't want to do anything stupid. I just want to talk to you. Unless that is stupid." He said with a smile. "The poor woman I marry is going to be like...less talk. And I will just be so awkward. Like... all I do is talk and burn dead people." He chuckled. "Oh no.. I can't let my student surpass me... or wait...aren'tthey suppose to? Either way, you can surpass me and then we can tell everyone you are showing me how to knit... tgat way I don't scare off all the women." He smiled and looked up at her, "How are you doing, Eli? Like... I haven't even asked and I am sorry."

"Yeah...My mom is...Something else..." Elise said with a sigh. "Good, we'll trick people into thinking im some nice little lady who knits all day and bakes cookies or something. And the ladies will think you're so sweet for letting me teach you." She said and winked at him before thinking about his next question. "I'm okay. Ive been better. But i'll be fine since I decided to stop lying to myself about how things can be. I'll be tip top in no time though, I always am." She said and smiled softly at him. "So, how are you then Loris?"

Loris looked down at his hands, something about Elise now wanted him to be honest with her. "I... could be better too. I kissed Lorelei a week and a half before Adrian got stabbed... I had woken her up in the crematory like normal and we were pretty close. She leaned in a bit and I backed out of it. So when you were fine to be alone after your attack I walked her home and kissed her. She kissed me back, Eli... though she said it was reflex. I love her and I want her to be happy. So I will be the best friend she needs. Her and Adrian are perfect for each other." He stood up and smiled softly at her. "In short I am doing shitty, but I am getting better. I will see you at work, I want to see progress on those tight knits. You should be done with the double square by tomorrow." He said and walked out.

Elise couldnt believe what she was hearing. She already knew Loris was into Lorelei but she didnt think he had the nere to do something like that, especially with how young Lorelei was, and then Lorelei had Adrian. "Oh my got Adrians going to kill him..." She whispered to herself after Loris had walked out. She wasnt angry at him, she couldnt be. She knew it sucked being in love with someone you couldnt have. How much it hurt. She got up and ran to the door and then caught up with Loris and tugged on his shirt. "If you..Ever need to talk about it. You know where I am. I know what its like to be in love with someone you can never have too." She said softly and let go of his sleeve. "You know where to find me if you need to." She said and smiled softly at him before turning and walking back into her house.

Loris was about to step on the last step when she tugged on his sleeve. He looked back at her and smiled. "Will do.." He said softly before watching her go back in the house and walked off to his own house.

Loris came in and saw Elise at her desk. He had leaned over her desk and told her his eyes were up here. They talked about knitting when Dol walked in. "I am looking for a Loris, by the description Lor gave me it looks like I found him. I need to talk to you in private." She said.

Loris turned around to see the small girl and blinked, "You know Lor?" He asked.

"Well yeah, she is my cousin. Now come on." She said and walked out. Loris looked back at Elise and shrugged before walking out with her. "Lor wanted me to tell you that she is sick again and that she won't be able to visit the lab for a bit. She is fine, she wasn't eating and she got sick. Though..." She looked around and leaned in a bit. "A lot went down at the college, besides Adrian being stabbed. His roommate ex girlfriend poked holes in some of the condoms. No one knew, Lor and Adrian used one." She said. Loris looked worried. Dol raised a hand. "She took a pill, but it is killing her. She feels like she ended its life even though she didn't conceive it, probably. Anyway, I think you are her best friend... at least that is what she says in her letters. I have to leave during the day around two or three times a week to feed." She said. Loris gave her a confusing look and she sighed, "Yeah, I do that. I feed off of people's energy and if I am not careful I can kill them, but back to Lor. I am worried about her, it really is taken a toll on her mentally and physically. So.. when I am out I need you to come and watch her. My stash will last me for a couple more days. She is working on a couple cures right now so she is going to be needed my energy and... yeah anyway you can come visit her when you get off. She might like that. Oh and you will only have to watch her till Adrian gets back."

Loris tried to get his mind around it, "So she had to force a period because she didn't want to have the kid?" He asked.

Dol sighed, "She didn't to chance having one without a cure for her own disease. She doesn't want to have her kids suffer."

"Yeah... I can come. What time would you like me to come?" He asked.

"Around three or three-thirty. So in two days... I will need you. You can come visit anytime you want though. She might not be very talkative though." She frowned. "Well let me go, thanks Loris..." She smiled and ran off.

Loris walked back in and looked up at Elise. "Lor is sick... something about a disease that she has had since she was a baby. Her cousin needs me to watch over her for a few days each week till Adrian comes back." He said and looked out of the door. "I will be leaving in a couple days early. We are still on for the knitting so don't worry. You aren't getting away from it that fast." He smiled.

Elise looked up when the green haired girl walked in and said she was looking for Loris and then raised an eyebrow when they ran off together to talk. She stayed where she was filling out paperwork, ordering supplies, and scheduling bodies for cremations. Loris came back up after the girl left and said that Lorelei was sick again. "Oh, poor thing...I hope she feels better soon, its probably killing Adrian that he cant be here for her." She said with a sigh. "I'll reschedule the cremations so you can leave early, just let me know what days. I can work things out to where you'll just have to work faster some days to keep up....I didnt expect to get out of knitting, i'm going to get better than you one day, remember?" She said and smiled up at him.

He laughed and patted her head gently, "Thank you, Eli. And I was hoping you would forget and just let me be the greatest ever." He sat in the lobby since he wasn't going to expect Lor and watched Elise for a bit. "You know this has been bugging me for the longest time... how do you manage not to get paper cuts all the time? Like I get paper cuts just from lifting paper on a clipboard." He pouted. "What sorcery is this?"