From: thatryderboy	Date: February 3rd, 2011 11:54 pm (UTC)		(Link)

“Man, that must be nice to live near the beach”, Mal sighed. “When I was a little boy, back in Maryland, my dad used to take us to Ocean City every summer”, he shrugged, “It was a big deal to me. I know the Atlantic isn’t quite the same as the Pacific.”

Malachi thought her shyness and modesty was adorable. He was used to girls that practically ripped his clothes off. Having a girl that blushed when he spoke was a nice change. “I hope I’m not making you uncomfortable”, he soothed, “You do know you’re a pretty girl, right?”

Speeding along, Mal could feel Colby’s heartbeat through his back and it made his own heart race to know how excited she was. He wondered what her brothers would say if they could see her now. He wondered if they would forbid her to be around him.

Colby’s answer made him grin, “Here you go, angel…”, he offered her his hand, “…I got ya!”

	From: wantsthesky	Date: February 4th, 2011 05:00 am (UTC)		(Link)

"It is. Great exercise, too. My brothers and I used to bike to the beach practically every day during summers." Colby shrugged, smiling. "It's still an ocean. I mean, yeah, our ocean's better but you gotta take what you can get sometimes."

Her blush just grew brighter at that, and she shook her head. "You're not making me uncomfortable. I just... never really thought of myself like that before."

When he offered her his hand, she accepted it, gripping tightly as she tried to find her feet underneath her. "Thanks. Guess I'm just not used to that kind of transportation."

	From: thatryderboy	Date: February 4th, 2011 04:04 pm (UTC)		(Link)

“Damn, girl, I’ll bet you would be poppin’ wheelies in a week if you practiced. You definitely have the heart to ride a bike…you’re a skatergurl, a gymnast, fuc—get about it!”, he exclaimed, catching himself at the last, trying not to swear around the younger girl.

Taking Colby’s hand, just as natural as if they’d been holding hands for years, Mal headed into the Taco Bell and walked up to the counter, “I’ll have a Mexican Pizza, two Grilled Stuft Steak Burritos and a large Sierra mist…”, he smiled at Colby and prompted, “…what do you want, angel? Get as much as you want, okay?”

	From: wantsthesky	Date: February 4th, 2011 09:20 pm (UTC)		(Link)

She shook her head with a smile, and tucked her hair behind her ear after taking off the helmet. "I dunno, I might just leave the auto-stuff to Shane."

She followed along with him, glancing around as they walked through the Taco Bell, holding hands. She'd really never held hands with a boy before... When it was her turn to order, she looked up at the menu and thought. "Um... A Chipotle Steak Taco Salad, a Chalupa Baja, and... a large Mountain Dew Baja Blast?"

	From: thatryderboy	Date: February 6th, 2011 04:28 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Mal shrugged, “Well, if it’s too much for you, little girl, I understand”, he teased. He knew that a girl who went from doing ollies on a skateboard to riding on the back of a bike, belonging to a boy she’d just met, had the brass ones to handle a bike herself.

A sideways smile split Mal’s face; he was tickled that this little bit of a girl had such an appetite…he loved it! He gave her a soft punch on the arm, “If you can’t finish all of that, don’t worry, I’ll clean up the rest”, he chuckled.

Collecting their food, Malachi led them to a booth in one of the corners, “So, tell me, Colby…”, he chatted, opening his Mexican Pizza, “…what lucky boy at CCI has your heart?” His reddish-brown eyes locked in on her soft blue ones.

	From: wantsthesky	Date: February 6th, 2011 10:30 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Colby made a face at him and gave him a little punch on the arm. "I could so handle it!" The teasing helped her overcome her nerves, it was how she was used to dealing with guys. With four older brothers, you learned how.

She stuck her tongue out at him and raised her chin up. "I can finish it all, just watch."

Sliding into the booth opposite him, her eyes widened at the question and she immediately busied herself with getting her food out of the bag. Her face reddening for what felt like the umpteenth time that day, she shook her hair down a little to get some kind of veil against it. "Um, no one."

	From: thatryderboy	Date: February 7th, 2011 03:17 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Malachi laughed and held his hands up, “Okay, if you say so. Maybe I’ll let you prove it. One weekend, when you don’t have anything else to do, we can get together and I’ll give you a few tips and we’ll see how you ride it around campus.”

This time, when Colby stuck her tongue out, Mal stuck his tongue out too; he wasn’t sure why he did it…it just seemed like fun, “I don’t know how your tiny tummy holds all of that!”, he chuckled.

Mal’s grin grew devilish when he saw how much the question about boys embarrassed Colby. Then, when she answered that there was No one, his jaw almost dropped, “What?! No one?!! What the fuck? Are all the sophomore boys dickless?!” Right after he blurted all of that out, he wished he could take it back. Mal knew that he had a problem with colorful language, as Headmistress Pendragon called it; he was trying so hard not to swear in front of Colby, her being a sophomore and a girl…a nice girl. “OOPS! Sorry about that, angel!”, he apologized, “What I meant to say was…what’s wrong with those sophomore boys, letting such a cute girl slip through their fingers?”

	From: wantsthesky	Date: February 7th, 2011 04:57 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Colby considered it for a moment and then held out her hand. "Alright, you're on."

She grinned and patted her stomach. "Don't let it fool you: I'm like a bottomless pit! Gotta fuel my energy somehow! And I still do little work outs to and stuff to keep in shape."

When Mal swore and then apologized for it, Colby couldn't help but laugh. Really? He was apologizing? That was both funny and kind of sweet. "I have four older brothers, you know. I've heard way worse stuff than that." She shook her head, still grinning. But she wasn't sure how to address or answer the question. It wasn't quite that they let her slip by, she just had her sights set a little higher...

	From: thatryderboy	Date: February 7th, 2011 05:55 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Mal pumped his fist in the air and exclaimed, “Alright!” Taking a big bite of his burrito, he winked at her, “Tough chick”, he declared, after swallowing.

Brazenly looking the girl over, Mal gradually smiled, “Well, angel, if you have to chow down to keep that hot little shape, I say bring on the next course!”

Now, it was Malachi’s turn to blush, “Yeah, well, I’ll bet your brother’s wouldn’t be so happy if they heard me talking to you like that”, he reasoned. Mal knew, there were some girls you could talk to like that and some you couldn’t…hell, there were some girls that talked so nasty that they made him blush.

Sometimes, it was more interesting what people didn’t say, than what they said; Colby completely glossed over the question about sophomore boys. She really didn’t know Mal, “So, no answer about the boys or it’s none of my business? Hey, angel, I can respect that.” He had only been teasing, mostly. Mal didn’t want to pry, if there was something hurtful that came along with the answer.

“Hey, little girl, eat all of your food and I’ll take us somewhere for dessert!”, he teased.

	From: wantsthesky	Date: February 7th, 2011 07:28 pm (UTC)		(Link)

She smirked a little despite her blush, and tried to hide it by taking a bite of her chalupa. "I'm just lucky I have a fast metabolism," she said after eating half the thing in a few bites.

Colby considered that. "Maybe. I mean, their friends and stuff talk like that around me too, but I was friends with some of their friends." She shrugged. "It might just be because you're a guy they don't know who's talking to me."

Of course, bringing up that subject again derailed her completely. She became flustered again and ate the rest of her chalupa to avoid answering, shrugging a shoulder half-heartedly. Truth be told, there were a few boys in her grade who showed interest and asked her out, but none of them were who she was interested in.

"Dessert?" She spoke around her last mouthful before swallowing it. "We could get ice cream?"

	From: thatryderboy	Date: February 7th, 2011 10:46 pm (UTC)		(Link)

“Yeah, same here…”, Malachi winked, stretching to show off his long slender torso, “…I can eat just about anything I want and no tummy!”

Malachi had no doubt that one of her brothers knew of him and his reputation, so he’d better enjoy this time with Colby, because she’d probably be forbidden to see him soon. That would be a shame, because he liked this little cutie, “If you were my little sister, I’d probably hide you away from guys like me”, he chuckled.

“Ice cream it is, angel!”, he agreed, jumping up to refill his large Sierra Mist. When he sat back down, he scooted around and bumped her.

	From: wantsthesky	Date: February 8th, 2011 02:01 am (UTC)		(Link)

Colby grinned back. "It's an awesome gift, right?" She started digging into her taco salad.

She rolled her eyes, smiling slightly. "That never works. Tell someone they can't do something and that just makes them wanna do it more." She took a sip of her Mountain Dew before she went on. "I mean, anything my brothers tried to tell me not to do I went ahead and did anyway."

She beamed and cheered at the confirmation, and when he came back she blushed and nudged him back with her elbow.

	From: thatryderboy	Date: February 8th, 2011 03:27 pm (UTC)		(Link)

“You bet it’s an awesome gift”, he replied, “Especially, since I love to cook.” He gave her a measuring look, Maybe if you’re good, I’ll even cook for you some day”, he gave her a grin and a wink afterwards.

Having already finished his food, Malachi watched, as Colby ate her salad, “you are preaching to the choir, little girl…”, he agreed with her, “…that’s what gets me in so much trouble, people telling me what I can and can not do…”, he shrugged and took a long sip of his large drink, “…it just pisses me off!”

“Okay, angel, I’ll let you pick…Baskin Robbins, Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream Parlor, Creole Creamery or The New Orleans Ice Cream Company…what’s your pleasure?” He leaned in close, “I promise to have you home before you turn into a pumpkin.”

	From: wantsthesky	Date: February 9th, 2011 04:33 pm (UTC)		(Link)

"Ooh!" Colby perked up. Cooking was almost a mystery to her, growing up with a single father of five kids and a job... Ian had had no time to cook for the kids, not that he would have been able to even if he did. The only one in her family who could cook without risking burning down the building was Malcolm, and all he cooked were simple things just for himself. "What kind of food?!"

She tried to eat her salad quickly without stuffing her face in it. "That sounds like some guys I know," she smiled, thinking of some certain family members.

She chewed thoughtfully as she tried to pick a place. "Mm... Either Creole Creamery or The New Orleans Ice Cream Company, Baskin Robbins and Hagen-Dazs are everywhere." She rolled her eyes and nudged him a little, blushing just slightly. She was starting to understand it was just his personality, and that helped her with the flirting.

	From: thatryderboy	Date: February 9th, 2011 11:56 pm (UTC)		(Link)

“What kind of food?!”, Malachi asked, incredulously, “I cook all kinds of food, little girl!” He clicked off on his fingers what he was saying, “Down home Country cookin’, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, Italian, Greek, French, Thai, Barbeque…whatever your little heart desires!”

Wiggling his eyebrows, Mal teased, “It does? How many guys do you know, naughty girl?!” Colby was fun to tease; it made him wish he’d had a little sister. Of course, he wasn’t thinking of Colby as his sister…that would be sick.

“Okay, let’s hit the Creole Creamery”, Mal decided, “Then I can drive you back and you can wonder…”, he used a high girlish voice, “…will he kiss me or won’t he?” He was teasing Colby and it was fun, but in reality, he sure wouldn’t mind kissing the cute little sophomore.

	From: wantsthesky	Date: February 10th, 2011 01:13 am (UTC)		(Link)

That caught her interest. "Really? Where'd you learn to cook all that stuff?" She thought maybe she should look into learning how to cook at least a little. She loved pizza and things like that, but sometimes it was nice to sit at home and eat something real.

She flushed a little at his tease, the connotations of her comment just dawned on her. "I just meant my brothers and some friends!"

Her already red cheeks got redder yet again that day. It was a wonder her face hadn't caught on fire yet. "That's not how I sound," she tried to say as snarkily as she could.

	From: thatryderboy	Date: February 10th, 2011 02:24 am (UTC)		(Link)

“My mom and my Uncle Julien taught me from when I was young”, he shrugged with a proud smile. “I love cooking, it takes me to another place.”

“MmmmmHmmmm”, Malachi teasingly gave her a skeptical look. He wouldn’t keep up the messing with her long, but he wasn’t ready to give it up just yet.

Okay, he had better review that decision about the teasing. Poor Colby looked like her head was going to explode; her face was crimson red. He slipped one long arm around her shoulder and gave her a one-armed hug, “I know, baby, I’m just playing…”, he gave her his best puppy dog eyes, “…forgive me?”

	From: wantsthesky	Date: February 12th, 2011 02:16 am (UTC)		(Link)

"That's so cool," she said, only slightly enviously. "My family lives on take out and stuff, we only eat home cooked meals whenever we go over to either of my grandparents' houses."

She blushed more. "It's true! I grew up with my brothers and all their friends, I've always been surrounded by guys."

Colby dropped her eyes to the floor, trying to force down her blush. "Okay..."

	From: thatryderboy	Date: February 12th, 2011 07:16 am (UTC)		(Link)

When Colby forgave him, Mal kissed her on the cheek and cooed, “You’re a sweetheart, Colby.” He gathered up his trash on his tray and asked, “Are you about ready? The Creole Creamery is waiting for us, angel!”

He looked at the clock behind the counter in Taco Bell; he didn’t want to be too late bringing Colby back to CCI. The last thing he needed was Pendragon on his case about him contributing to the delinquency of a minor or some shit like that.