Re: O'Brien, Leah
Pursing her lips did nothing to quell her smile. "A unicorn? You could've suggested something that's actually real. I'd say I'm more of a rattlesnake than anything. Possibly a tiger. Dangerous and predatory beats awesome and beautiful any day." Awesome could be used to describe anyone... for anything. And beautiful? What real purpose did beauty serve in this world? Nothing that kept one alive, that was for sure. "Besides that, don't unicorns fart rainbows? That sure as hell isn't me." She lifted her eyebrows, as if she'd made a legitimate point.
Some of the guards at the firehouses could take lessons from O'Brien. They had no qualms about hitting women, which was why she avoided small safehouses like those as much as possible. "Figured that'd be your answer," she said of his aversion to not hitting her. Truth be told, she wouldn't have even suggested the offer if she'd had the slightest doubt that he might take her up on it.
Because I'm a mess. The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she bit them back. Pity parties were best celebrated alone. She didn't know what it was about O'Brien that got her to say so many revealing things about herself. No one ever got this close, and when they did dare ask her such personal questions? Sullen answers were usually enough to dissuade them from trying to pry any deeper. Maybe it was because O'Brien was a cop. Yeah, that had to be it. It was his job — or it used to be — to delve deeper.
"Because I've lost too many people close to me to want to risk losing any more. It's easier if people don't like me. And that's as far as this conversation is going," she said with finality.
"Strangers can beg strangers for things." When they were desperate and had no one else to turn to. "You could've begged, but you didn't. You were all ready to fend for yourself. I respect that."
Leah didn't bother to comment about him liking her, but she did give him and exasperated look. "Maybe. But what about grumpy tigers and snakes? They're harder to be nice to, I'll bet." She was not a unicorn.
O'Brien was enjoying this, she could tell. No doubt it would only encourage his efforts to get close to her, but she'd deal with that when the time came. Tonight? Tonight was a time for celebration, however depressing it was. O'Brien was alive, and many other people were, too. They'd managed to live to see another year pass. And that was something. Wasn't it?
It hadn't been quite as horrible a December as the previous ones.
She gave a huff of laughter at his assessment of the camera. "I had a digital camera once, but it wasn't nearly as high-tech as this one," she explained, experimenting with a few of the buttons. Smirking, Leah lifted the camera to bring O'Brien into view, clicking what she hoped was the button that would snap a photograph. The flash went off and her smirk grew. "See? Not that complicated."