Welcome to Gaia! ::

Allen's face clouded. She hadn't run away from home, her parents had died. "Oh." He murmurred helplessly, not knowing what else to say. Here he was, living the rich-kid life with the perfect job, both of his parents still alive and more or less in good health. His heart went out to her.

Maybe he could help her... He still hadn't taken his turn. In fact, he seemed to have forgotten the game altogether as he stared thoughtfully at Shade's face, his own handsome features clouded and unreadable.

He felt like she'd just smacked him. Hard. Now she was mad at him! This was totally not fair. He opened his mouth to speak, but could think of nothing. So he closed his mouth, folded his arms, and scowled down at the game board. This was such a mess! He didn't know how to act around a teenaged girl, especially not a homeless one with no hope for a future and no place to call her own. For all he knew, she was enjoying being locked in this mall, where she could have whatever she wanted for a while. Enjoying herself except for where he was concerned. First, it was probably his fault ofr distracting her in the first place that she was here, then he'd thrown that tantrum this morning, then the freaked-out near-kiss, and now he was lecturing her on life. What did he know about life? Just the rich kid's view.

"That's alright. I should have known. I mean...I should have guessed taht you might be touchy about something like that." He sighed. "Don't apologize. We seem to be doing too much of that." His dark eyes studied her face, willing her to look up and meet his eye. They'd never get anywhere if they kept offending each other.

He smiled softly, openly, at her as their eyes met. Without breaking the warm contact that was slowly growing between them as he held her gaze, he made a foolish move on the board, practically delivering one of his pieces to her. "Of course I'm right." He said with mock conceit, his handsoem face holding a wry expression.

"What?"

He'd been lost in the sweet moment and hadn't realized his mistake. He looked disbelievingly down at the board before chuckling at himself and shrugging helplessly. "You're welcome. I guess."

He allowed himself to relax enough to stick his tongue out playfully at her. "Don't you preach to me, honey." He said as he took the piece that had just taken his. "Now we're tied."

He caught the playfullness in her voice and played along. "Oh? What're you gonna do to stop me, Sweetheart?" He taunted with a playful wink, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Oh, really?" He said, again adopting the cocky air. "You think that just because I'm a Rich Kid I'm a wimp, too? Bring it, Baby." Again he taunted her with a flirty nickname, playfully pressing her buttons to see how she'd react. "I'll prove you wrong."