"I would say that was an invasion of privacy, but I've heard rumors about growing up with brothers and already having a serious lack of privacy, anyway," she mused. Usually, Rae was pretty grateful for her only-child syndrome. But there were some things, some hijinks that you could only have with a sibling that she always felt like she missed out on.
Somehow, she got a feeling that with David, privacy invasions were something that Elliot dealt with on a regular basis. Every time Rae talked to the kid (who was older than her, and the irony of her calling him a kid was not lost on her), she got the biggest sense of hero-worship coming from David to Elliot. So it was only natural that he'd push the privacy boundaries as much as he could. Or at least, that he'd try to. Boys may have pretended that privacy was less important to them than it was to girls but Rae had always known better.
She ducked her head when he mentioned enjoying her company, her smile small and shy. It was a silly reason to be bashful, especially since he was merely reciprocating a compliment that she'd given him, but she couldn't help it. "Well, by that standard, we should obviously make more time for each other," she said, her tone light but her words a little bit serious. She knew, though, that they both had things they had to do. So she'd have to settle for moments like this and the other little moments that she got with him.
"Preferably not at three in the morning, though," she added with a wry grin, "because like, while I love your company and all? Sleep is also a good thing."
Rae chuckled softly, allowing her thoughts to be taken away from the adventure with Patterson immediately. "Oh, you mean I've never told you about the Rae Stalking Package?" she quipped softly, a hand finding her hip for playful emphasis. "For the mere promise of returned friendship, you get Rae Algrhen's super awesome brand of friendship, and if she really likes you? It's complete with clever stories about random brother-dreams and protective stalking. Congrats, Blue Steel. You're totally in the exclusive club."
Elliot told her to lead the way and she did. Her right hand found the right pocket of her jacket and her left still held tightly to her camp light. "Did you want to walk outside or sit in the front hall?" she asked. Her mother's handgun was in her left pocket, so it wasn't like they'd be defenseless if he did want to walk outside.
Either way, she was eternally grateful for her winter jacket and the warmth that it provided, because the moment they left the main area, where all the body heat provided warmth, the temperature dropped another ten degrees easy. "Brr…" was all she said. She hated being cold now more than she ever used to.