More fun? MORE FUN? Jude stood so abruptly that his chair toppled behind him.

"You weren't treating me like an adult anyway!"

Where was something to throw? Why was there nothing to throw!? "You can't tuck your boyfriend in to bed, kiss him goodnight, and then go off and do adult things! What? Did you think I couldn't handle it?" He couldn't have at the time, but that wasn't the point. If she wanted to, he wanted to. Was it so wrong to want to be involved in your loved one's life?

"You think I did this to run away?" He was mad. Not as mad as earlier tonight when he'd first seen her there in that place, but this was a close second. "I WANT A LIFE WITH YOU!" It wasn't really all that romantic when shouted at full volume.

Rather than flipping the table, Jude decided to storm out of the room. Out of the Mansion. Out of this body and this age and this hurt. There was one place he knew he could go. He'd been there before: the cathedral with the rose window.

He took a car. Sam's car, to be exact. Because Sveta kept bringing him into this and because he deserved it. And he probably deserved any tickets Jude got while zooming past the slow cars going 80. He didn't want to take long. He didn't want to leave Svetlana alone too long. She had to stay in order for this to work.

Less than 15 minutes later Jude came back, stalking with determination into the room. He didn't give her an option he just wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in the crook of her neck.

She was so going to be mad at him for this.

"Run away with me."

>>"You weren't treating me like an adult anyway! You can't tuck your boyfriend in to bed, kiss him goodnight, and then go off and do adult things! What? Did you think I couldn't handle it? You think I did this to run away? I WANT A LIFE WITH YOU!"

He said that. Well... yelled it, more like. Sveta blinked, so filled with rage and frustration that she didn't even comprehend at first what he was yelling.
And then he stormed out.

The silence was deafening in the room as Sveta watched him go. There was really nothing to say. Not right now, not this angry. As the adrenaline left her she sighed and sank down onto a chair, rubbing her temples with her fingers.
It had been a long night.

There were so many thoughts. So many emotions. So many things that had gone wrong.
And so many things that still needed to be done, with the human trafficking and all.
Yeah. There was that.

She looked up when she heard footsteps.
How many minutes had passed?
He walked in. She stood to walk out.

He hugged her.

>>"Run away with me."

Physical contact was always too much. Even without the mutual boosting. Sveta allowed herself to lean into him for a moment.

Finally, she sighed, and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"Come on. Let's talk about it tomorrow."

She still held his hand as they started towards the door.

She let him hold her even if it was only for a moment. Was she mad still? It was hard to say. She always seemed mad at him these days. Like nothing he tried was ever right. It was time for her to try things on his side of the equation.

She kissed him. He held her hand.

They took a few steps together and his already furiously beating heart felt like it might take off like a helicopter right out of his chest. He had to be cool. Couldn't ruin the surprise early.

Even if she wasn't mad yet, she was gonna be.

He'd gone to the church and prowled the rectory until he found a power for him to copy. There was no one else he knew of at that church with a power like the priestman: the power to age someone else.

Once upon a time, that priest had held his hand and taken him for a walk.

Once upon a time he had been young, wishing to be old.

Today, he was old. Sveta was old. And every step they took together made them younger.

Jude's tuxedo started bunching at the shoulders.

The red dress was sliding off.

Svetlana let go of the boy's hand to grab for the front of the satin piece of clothing and hold it to her chest. Whatever was the problem? Clothes didn't usually just...

Oh.

Svetlana glanced around. She was in a spacious room, in a very large building. It was probably some kind of a mansion. The guy next to her was wearing a suit, a tad too big. He looked young. About her age.
And her dress was sliding off.

She didn't remember how she ended up in some rich kid's home, but that wasn't exactly a first. He seemed nice, anyway. She could feel a distinct buzz in her head. They probably had some drinks together. Rich kids could usually afford the good stuff. Or take it from their parents' cabinet.

Still, missing part of your evening never played out well. Sveta rubbed her temple with her free hand. She noticed she was wearing a satin glove. Fancy.

"Give me a minute here" she said to the guy "I am having a... weird moment. Uh... where are we again?"

> "Дайте мне минутку. Я имею ... странный момент. Э ... где мы снова?"

Jude jumped like the end of his arm had grown a snake. It hadn't. But he was holding on to a very attractive blonde's hand. Her dress was a few sizes too big like she was dressing in her momma's clothes.

And this place... The Mansion. He recognized it, though, not why he was here in this moment.

"Somesing about a kiss." Yes. That felt right. She'd probably promised him one. Or five. He could feel her power pounding against his and he let his own power off its leash, free to mimic what it found in this girl and echo it back to her. Yes. That felt right too.

"In case I have not introduced myself," Jude settled into a sort of friendly yet hopeful smirk, "I'm Jude. My powér likes yours." The R's that he had worked so long to smooth into a more Americanized accent, were back with a vengeance. But that, too, was just as it should be.

>>"Somesing about a kiss."

Svetlana understood the word 'kiss.' Of course. It was always about a kiss. She held on to the dress - why was she wearing a dress too large in the boobs anyway? - and tilted her head. Did she really promise to kiss this lanky teen guy?

>>"In case I have not introduced myself. I'm Jude. My powér likes yours."

A guy that was speaking English to her. Not like she could not get along with exotic foreigners, but he should nave realized by now she was not up to speed on the language.

Jude, that much she got. Also, 'like.' He liked her? That was likely.

"You don't speak Russian?..."

She shook her head and sighed. She pointed at the dress.

"Not good."

He could take that as he liked.

She spoke Russian again. Blast. He'd been hoping that... what? She'd snap out of it? Hm. How had they gotten this far if she only spoke Russian?

> "Not good." The girl indicated her dress.

"Non. Oh. Nyet. Not good." He confirmed. Maybe he was helping her get a new dress? Or maybe just slip out of this old one. Jude was feeling like he could run a marathon right about now. He bounced on the balls of his feet.

"Ok." He was loathe to let go of her hand (after all, how often did he get to first base?) but it was neccessary since he was about to do the chivalrous thing.

"Wait." He put out his hands in a sort of "stop" motion. "Here." He pointed down. Like. Right. Here.

And then he took off running. There were bound to be some clothes he could find for a girl about yea big.

Wait.

Jude dashed back and looked the blonde up and down. Up and down again. Yeah. Yea big. He kept that mental image in mind as he went to raid the girl's hall.

>>"Non. Oh. Nyet. Not good."

The kid was adorable. Not her type - too young and too... uh, nerdy?... - but cute in his slightly confused way as he agreed to the dress situation. Sveta was not even sure how she got into the dress in the first place. The day was kind of a blur in her mind.

>>"Ok. Wait. Here."

She waited as he darted off, came back, gave her a once over, and darted off again. Svetlana chuckled and walked over to what seemed like a kitchen. A large kitchen. How many people lived in this place?... She rummaged around the cupboards, but couldn't find anything that was even remotely liquor-like. Oh well. Plopping down into a kitchen chair, she waited for the knight in shining armor to return.

Did he find her somewhere? Was she drugged by someone else? The boy didn't look like he would drug her and then behave like he was. But then how did she end up in this mansion?...

Not like she minded it. Usually the only way for her to get into one was breaking in or squatting. She'd take it at face value, as long as the guy tried no funny business.

He was glad that his pants only worked themselves down his legs after he made it to the top of the stairs. He was out of eyeshot of the hot chick. Jude hitched the tuxedo pants up and dove into the donation closet.

Ugh. Cast offs. She deserved better. And while he was at it, he did too.

Jude looked left, then right. Nobody was around. It had to be, what? The middle of the night o'clock? Were they sneaking out? He filed that theory under maybe and then went to try the first door on the left.

He didn't see any lights on. Just in case the bed was occupied, Jude snuck extra carefully. He pulled a few fistfulls of clothes from the drawers and then sneaked back out to the hall.

Three shirts and two pair of jeans. Also a pair of tube socks? Who organized their drawers like that?

Jude didn't dare push his luck in taking the time to find more clothes for himself. Could he squeeze into these jeans? He also filed that theory under maybe and then went back to find blondie.

"You're not-!" He realized that being loud was not wise if they were sneaking out so Jude fixed his volume problem. "Where'd you go?"

>>"You're not-! Where'd you go?"

Sveta could hear the boy's voice and she poked her head out of the kitchen. She couldn't tell what he was saying, but she assumed he was looking for her.

"Here" she said once she saw him, a little louder than a whisper, and waved at him. He was carrying a bundle of clothes. So, the sagging dress was not entirely intentional. He didn't look like that suit was designed for him either. What the hell were they thinking?...

She decided the kitchen was as good a place as any. She might as well eat something good while here.

"My name is Svetlana" she tried, pointing at herself "What's yours?"

And why the hell are we here?

She said something sultry and so Russian from the kitchen. She was totally hitting on him. He could tell. Because she kept trying to tell him something.

"Zahvoot? Is that your name?" She was gesturing to herself, Me-Tarzan you-Jane style. She'd put a lot of emphasis on the word zovut so that was probably her name. Jude put the clothing stack down on one of the stools and dug around for the clothes he thought weren't too unmanly for him.

If they were in the kitchen, they should probably grab some food. What's what people did on dates, right?

"Do you know any othzer language?" Like French? That would be so, so convenient right now. "Only Russian?"

Jude held up a pair of dark blue jeans. They'd be a bit short, but it was better than feeling his tux pants bungee around on his suspenders. He tried to change real fast so she wouldn't get embarrassed. He was really just looking out for her delicate sensibilities.

>>"Zahvoot? Is that your name?"

He was cute, but very bright, was he. Sveta placed a hand on her chest.

"Svet-la-na."

>>"Do you know any othzer language? Only Russian?"

"Some English" she said, with a heavy accent. She had only paid half attention at school, and only went to school half the time anyway, so her English vocabulary was pitiful. But still better than his Russian, apparently. Snob.

He started to change into more fitting clothes, turning away from her; Sveta rolled her eyes and did the same, putting on jeans and a shirt that more or less fit. She folded the dress and picked up the shoes, looking at the guy.

"This... your place?"