He'd laughed at the memory. "I ate some just to prove to him I could." he reminisced. He'd find any reason to challenge Cain, back in the day. Cain had channeled that into sports when he no longer had his childhood antagonist. Keida could still feel the charred granulates in his mouth. Haley hadn't been impressed. He was looking forward to her cooking for some reason, running his tongue over his teeth.<br/><br/>She fell apart in the loveliest way when he confronted her about her intentions at the doorstep of her dearest friend. How alive she was when she tried to make a joke of it. It wasn't in her nature to be so forward, which suggested how deeply she must feel about Cain. She also had the appropriate reaction to Keida's touch. A woman after all. Her transparency should be a sign of good friendship, but really, wasn't she just taking him for granted?<br/><br/>He was prepared for her pretty eyes, and answered with the luster of his own, set in their dark lining in his wicked, pale face. He felt hungry when her mouth parted in that tell-tale need for help. It was only through a very deliberate effort that he held back his grin. "Yeah, he does." he said, putting sullen syllables in a polite answer. "But..." he made his large mouth small, eyes glossy with sympathy before looking away. "Ah, what can I say, Haley." he rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. "He-- kinda loves more experienced girls, you know?"<br/><br/>This deepened Keida's betrayal. He'd not really had a hart-to-heart with the glowing athlete of their high-school, but he'd seen plenty of evidence Haley didn't have to do much to catch the boy's attention. Not that Keida was going to let her know. She thought he could be her guide so he would be - he didn't really have the map for romance, but he'd been loved in many ways. He had played at heartstrings to make girls sing before. Who was he to refuse Haley the help he really could give her? His heart blackened but his smile became brighter, comforting.<br/><br/>"I think... you don't know much about boys do you, Haley?" it would have been condescending if they didn't have their history to stand on. His hand touched her cheek and traced her skin over her jaw to her neck, where he petted her pulse. Even she might know that was intimate. "If you would have come to him like this, today, with your heart on your sleeve, Cain would have been polite about it but-- he would have said no. I'm sure of it."<br/><br/>He held out his arms and scooted closer, offering his chest and embrace. She didn't know it would begin her fall from grace. "I don't think he hates you. I just know him to like... another type of girl." His hair fell in one eye, and if she hadn't fled into the comfort of his hold by then, she'd see a bit of evil between the obscuring strands.