Why me? -- Aurent

[trent]

"Awesome..." Trent muttered as he tailed along behind the blonde in front of him. "Six years in the Army, four of which I spent with the Rangers and I'm reduced to this." He grumbled as he shifted the weight of a crapload of shopping bags from one hand to the other. He couldn't carry them in both hands like any normal human being because he was still charged with protecting the little princess ahead of him. And that meant keeping a hand free so that he could access the gun he was packing if need be.

Trent felt like a bipolar teenager where this entire little 'job' was concerned. On one hand, he hated the fact that he was stuck following a girl around who had no concept of what he held at stake at the moment. She had no idea the history he came from or the level of expertise he had. She had no idea that his own family's well being hung on the line. She blew him off at every chance that she had and it scared the shit out of him. It scared the shit out of him because if anything happened to her, his little sister was as good as dead. The threats that had been made on her life were serious and he damned well knew it.

But on the other hand some days it was almost worth all of the bullshit he had to go through. Hanging around a university campus definitely had its perks, he supposed. And he had to admit that there was a certain level of appeal in even the girl that he was following around, even if he was pissed off at himself for finding her attractive in even the slightest way. As far as he was concerned, she was the daughter of public enemy number one and that damned well should have made her an enemy to him too. The only reason he should have cared about her well being was because his sister's well being was tied to hers. But unfortunately, he couldn't shake the appeal and he sure as hell couldn't shake the attraction, no matter how indifferent he tried to come across.

Maybe he'd just have to try harder.

The direction of his thoughts irritated the hell out of him and he wound up lashing out at her in turn. "Jesus Christ, woman. I think we've been through every store in this mall all ready. Are you done yet or do you intend on torturing me even more than you already have?" He asked. He was about two seconds away from finding the nearest trash bin and dumping all of this crap in before hoisting her over his shoulder and carrying her out of the mall kicking and screaming.

[auralee]

i want to take my love and hate you till the end

mel with trent / crap words / dis/ lawlll

"oh, stop being such a sourpuss, pookie," auralee called over her shoulder after listening to one of trent's last tangents. it was obvious that he didn't like shopping - that much was so painfully and obviously clear by the way he mentioned it four or five times every single time auralee wanted to go into a new store. "shopping is a spiritually cleansing activity. i just came up with the most perfect analogy, actually," she said while turning herself around and stopping, her hands planted firmly on her hips. "you're like a cat taking a bath. cat doesn't like water, but it has to have a bath, right?" a grin curled her lips and she paused for a moment, taking a few steps back before turning around altogether, maintaining the same, bouncy pace she had earlier.

"besides, i still have empty hands. a sign of a good shopping day is no free hands to open the car door with." of course, that didn't include the hand she had noticed trent was keeping completely shopping bag free. auralee had figured a while ago that that was just for his peace of mind. she highly doubted that anyone was really going to stake them out in a place as crowded as this, but what did aura know, truthfully? her father made sure that most of the threats were concealed. at least, the serious ones were, anyways. she knew about the more serious ones, like the plentiful death threats she probably got on a monthly basis, but she never actually saw them; probably the only excuse anyone could make as to why aura blew trent off half the time. she never even really meant to, honestly. it just kind of sucked feeling like an extremely jealous girlfriend when you weren't even someone's girlfriend in the first place, you know?

it was just kind of hard not to feel attracted to someone you saw on a daily basis. especially when said someone managed to wind up shirtless one way or another, or had really good looking parents that produced an offspring to match. totally wasn't auralee's fault, wasn't it? no, of course not. blowing trent off was the only way she knew how to make it seem that she absolutely hated his guts, even though the absolute opposite was true.

when he commented about being in every store in the mall, she spotted a nearby bench and slumped herself down, leaving plenty of room for her little pack mule to sit if he chose to. she patted the spot next to her, looking up at him and grinning. "i'm far from done, pookie," she chided. "so rest up!"

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[trent]

If it wouldn't have been one of the most juvenille things he had ever done in his life, Trent very well might have rolled his eyes at her right then and there. For a girl who was so damned hot, she could really be a pain in the ass. It was another reason as to why he never dated. Women confused the hell out of him most of the time and it seemed, more often than not, that they were day to his night - completely opposite of him. He arched a brow at her analogy. "I don't have to go shopping though. At least not in a mall. If I needed something, I'd order it online and have it delivered to me if I really needed to. This... this whole walking around the mall thing, buying crap that you'll likely never actually wear or use... that's pointless and a complete and utter waste of time and money." He commented.

She was completely unflappable, he was sure. She just kept on going as if she didn't have a 6'2" pissed off ex spec ops soldier following her around. But then, it was a reminder and a cold dose of reality to the fact that she knew next to nothing about him. He wasn't even sure that she knew or understood how the hell he had gotten this gig in the first place. He sure as hell hadn't wanted to wind up doing this. If he'd had his own way, he'd be looking towards buying his own house somewhere in Colorado... Or maybe Texas. He'd be looking towards a ranch of his own. Somewhere he could get away from the rest of the world. Maybe own a few horses and dogs. Who the hell knew? "You're insane, you know that?" And it must have been damned nice to have that kind of money to blow. Trent had never known that kind of money. Ever.

And then she unceremoniously plopped herself down on a bench, claiming that she was far from done for the day. Was she freaking for real? He raked a hand through his hair with his free hand. "Well then you can just start carrying some of your own crap right now because I'm done playing packmule to you. That's it." He said, waving the idea off. "And I'd rather not rest up. I'd much rather keep going to get this little trip through hell done all the faster." He commented.

He watched as one of those women who handed out samples in the mall came up to the pair of them. "Excuse me, Sir. Can I borrow your girlfriend for a moment right over here? We're offering a free make over right here with our product." Trent was left gaping for a moment, unsure what to say. Had she really just called him her boyfriend? He supposed he looked the part well enough. He sighed. "You're so lucky to have a man willing to carry those around for you. Good men are hard to find." Trent had to bite his tongue. He guessed he wasn't much of a good man if he was despising the shit out of this at the moment.

[auralee]

i want to take my love and hate you till the end

mel with trent / crap words / dis/ lawlll

auralee could feel her skin prickle slightly when, yet again, trent back lashed. she shrugged her shoulders and crossed one leg over the other the best she could considering the dress she decided to wear that morning, despite the tights she was wearing underneath. she thought for a long moment before clearing her throat and looking over at him as she made herself comfortable on the bench."i've only been on two big shopping sprees since i was set free," she commented, speaking softly. "besides, we can go shopping for you, too!" and suddenly, her voice was louder again, gaining the same volume that she used when she had called him a sourpuss earlier. she looked him up and down for a moment - honestly, she just need a reason to do that - before smirking and biting the inside of her cheek. "let's be honest here.. how many times have you worn that shirt?" she asked him inquisitively before shooting a wide grin over his way.

"we haven't even gotten to my favorite stores.." she pouted, staring up at him with big blue eyes shortly after he had told her he wanted to be done and over with this whole shopping escapade. of course, auralee was far from being done with this. there was still one more stop she had to make doubly sure that she made, otherwise she'd be highly disappointed with herself and her very own ability to push trent further and further each day. and what better way than stopping by a store that sold lingerie? well, okay, so maybe that wasn't exactly auralee's taste - but trent didn't have to know that. hell, he didn't have to know a damn thing about aura's sex life as far as she was concerned. it's not like they'd ever have sex with each other, anyways. there was the age difference thing, the whole fact that she was forbidden fruit, and she was pretty sure that she got on his nerves at least 95% of the time. of course usually all three of those things lead up to sex one way or another, aura was pretty sure that wasn't the case in this instance, for the two of them. at least she'd like to believe that wasn't the case, anyways. okay, well, that was a lie. she thought about him naked a lot and him being shirtless around the house half the time definitely left a lot up to the imagination, but that was just it; it was all in her head. she really was as crazy as he had just said she was.

when one of the ladies from the makeup kiosk came over to auralee and asked her if she wanted a free makeover, aura paused a moment and looked over to trent, who seemed to be just as stunned as he was when the lady had told her that she was lucky to have a guy like him. in some ways, she was. he was protecting her ass, even if she didn't know to what extent or expertise. "oh, i know. he's a doll. right, pookie?" she looked over her shoulder and winked as she was led to the makeup booth. yeah, she could definitely play along if she needed to.

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[trent]

Trent sighed. There really and truly was no way to dissuade her from this. It seemed that she had her heart set on shopping today and driving him absolutely mental in the process. But really, all he needed to do was picture his little sister and keep the knowledge in his mind that he was doing this to ensure that she would be safe and he knew that he'd endure this a thousand times over to see to it that she was indeed safe. He knew that he'd do whatever it took to make sure that she was safe at the heart of it all. He wasn't even sure how the hell this had all come to this in the end. He wished that he'd never gone after the bastard that had threatened his father. He wished he'd let his father crash and burn. But he knew, at the heart of it all, that the man in question still would have used his mother and sister as leverage in the end. He was just that kind of man...

So really, the only selfish son of a bitch he could blame or point the finger at in the moment was his father...

"Woah woah... Shopping for me? Are you serious? I think I'm just fine the way I am." He pointed out. Besides, he could never afford this over priced crap at the moment. There was just no way. "There's nothing wrong with my shirt." He said, sounding properly offended. "Just because I don't wear one thing and toss it out the next day doesn't mean that I don't have any kind of wardrobe. I have a functional one. I don't give a shit if it's not exactly fashionable." He said with a sigh. But he had a feeling that he wasn't going to have a say in this matter either. God help him. Why the hell did he have to wind up with a girl who had been socially barred for most of her life?

And naturally, the lady at the make up kiosk made the perfect distraction for Auralee to completely brush off all of his complaints. He facepalmed as he followed the pair of them over to the make up kiosk, even as Auralee played up to the part of supposedly being his girlfriend. "Oh yeah... I'm just a swell guy." He muttered as he followed along, feeling every part the lost little puppy as he chased along after her. He wasn't sure if this day would ever end and, if it did, he wasn't sure what kind of events he'd have to live through by the time it was over with. Unfortunately, the woman leading Auralee off at the moment seemed immune and oblivious to the fact that Trent had been completely sarcastic at the moment.