<span style="color: #BF00BF">Lily followed suit, happy to just fall into a sort of lull behind him, eyes unable to decide between looking over him, or taking in the city around her. New sights that she'd not been able to see in her wildest dreams coming to life before her eyes...and she was stuck, more or less, watching Tobias as he moved. <br/><br/>Something about him was highly addicting.<br/><br/>Perhaps it was that he wasn't trying to wrangle her for testing, or that he was actually nice to her. But, being that this was her first interaction with anyone outside the facility, and he was going out of his way to spend his day with her...Sent shivers up her spine, and butterflies a flutter in her stomach. Even if he'd not been the "perfect knight in shining armor to take her away from it all," a label she'd die from if he ever found out, she would have been content. That bit of kindness made the rest her life seem okay.<br/><br/>That it was worth the wait.<br/><br/>Walking by the church, she pondered over all the scenes she'd read where a heroin had sought comfort in a church during some onslaught of terror. How they'd cried to God to save them, prayed that everything would be okay...Some had even sacrificed their lives for the ones they loved on church alters or on the cathedral steps. Though she'd often found it rather melodramatic, she could see the appeal now. The reaching steeples, ominous bell towers, plethora of stained glass depicting beautiful pictures and casting a light upon areas of which a scene could take place.<br/><br/>Filing it away for later recall, she instead focused on the mural he was pointing out to her, slanting a glance in his direction as he'd talked about it. Seeing his sad smile, the way he revered about the mural had her smiling, though not quite for the same reason he was. In some odd sense, she could picture him fighting for her as a child, even if he'd not known she'd existed. Fighting against some unseen adversary, and keeping her, for all intents and purposes, safe.<br/><br/>...So she's a bit one-track minded...</span><br/><br/>â€œIce cream is just around the corner.â€<br/><br/><span style="color: #BF00BF">Nodding to his direction, a bead of sweat rolling down the bridge of her nose, she followed once more, only mildly intrigued by the paint chips he caused to fall as they walked; instead more interested in the final destination of their trip.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">An ice cream parlor...</span> she thought to herself, eyes widening slightly as she came to the realization it wasn't quite what she'd pictured. Smiling to him as he held the door open, a treatment she could grow used to, Lily walked inside, not worried about him getting too close as he'd been more than gentlemanly toward her. As he pointed out the menu, she felt a bit daunted, not sure how anything would taste, or what she would and wouldn't like. Settling for strawberry, a flavor that sounded straight-forward enough, she got one scoop of it. <br/><br/>She'd started to head to a table, happy to sit and relax and cool off once more, only to be stopped.</span>â€œWe are going to eat this out at the park. Don't worry its not too far from here so we don't have to worry about it melting on usâ€<span style="color: #BF00BF"><span style="font-style: italic">It's not the ice cream I'm worried about melting...</span> she thought to herself as she nodded, taking the bag he handed her and following him out.<br/><br/>Though it doesn't take long to reach the park, her body was far beyond hot. Sweat had begun to drip into her eyes, a sensation that was far from pleasant. Her body was growing extremely hot in the rising temperatures, but she couldn't take off layers. It was too risky. She could only hope that the park was cool enough for her to relax, and breathe easy for a few moments. Noting how secluded the area was, she was happy that no one would be questioning her reason to be so covered on a day like today, the sweltering heat and her odd wardrobe enough to assuredly cause stares. Stares she didn't want focused on her. <br/><br/>Not even realizing she'd been watching him so completely, it took a moment for his hand lifted toward her to register.</span>â€œCome on, sit with me."<span style="color: #BF00BF">His smile was enough to make her go weak at the knees, as she contemplated taking hold of his hand. <span style="font-style: italic">Just to get down to the ground easier,</span> she told herself. <span style="font-style: italic">Only for that.</span> Gingerly taking hold of it, noting how strong his hand felt in hers, she lowered to the ground, setting down beside him, though not too close.<br/><br/>In that moment, she held his hand, not having released it as she wondered at it. How nice it would be to have a hand to hold whenever she wanted, to be able to have that contact. After a moment she was sure was probably too prolonged, she let it go, raising her hands up to remove her scarf, though she kept the hood up. Tossling her bangs to get them off her forehead, she wiped the sweat from her brow, body collapsing against the tree with little finesse. Digging in the bag, she took out his ice cream, handing it to him with a spoon, and then dug out hers. <br/><br/>Rather than eat it right away, she brought the cup up to her forehead, moving it around on it in an attempt to cool off, an attempt in vain. She couldn't feel really anything through the cup and mentally shrugged, thinking it was a good idea at the time, before removing her lid and taking her first taste of strawberry ice cream. Her eyes fluttered before closing at the realization of just how good it was, a tired smile pulling at her lips. Peeling her eyes open once more, reaching up to wipe a bit more sweat from her brow, she glanced at his ice cream and then up at him.<br/><br/>"Good?" she asked almost breathlessly. She'd have tried for more, but everything seemed to be taking longer to process, like her mind was growing foggy. Pulse racing and eyes growing heavy, she fought to keep her vision from blurring, stubbornly focusing on his face, hoping that he'd not notice her growing lack of coherence and composure.</span>