~ David and Mila, meeting in the dining room, just before dinner.  Second day of experiment. ~<br/><br/>(A joint post constructed via IM)<br/><br/>David found that the dining room was empty.  He glanced at his watch.  He was early, which was a little unusual for him, but since he had just finished his diary entry, there wasn't really any thing else to do to kill some time before dinner.  He moved over to a seat and settled into it.<br/><br/><br/>Mila went downstairs, expecting to be first like she had been at breakfast.  As she went through the door, she startled to see that David had beat her to the room.  "Oh," she said, a small shy smile playing on her lips.  "Hello."<br/><br/><br/>David glanced up and stood when he saw that it was one of the women, Mila.  She was the last one of the women to meet today.  He'd met the others already.  He smiled at her and motioned to the seats.  "Hello.  I was...well, I guess I'm a little early."<br/><br/>"I just finished my diary entry and had nothing else to do so..."  he shrugged.  He waited until he saw which chair she was moving to, then moved to pull the seat out for her.<br/><br/><br/>A creature of habit, Mila went back to the same chair she'd used twice already.  "Thank you," she murmured when he pulled her seat out.  Settling in, she said, "I did my diary entry earlier, in the morning.  I liked it.  It was nice to get my thoughts out, even if it was to a computer.  What did you think?"<br/><br/><br/>David took the seat across from her.  He looked her over as he settled in, then shrugged slightly.  "It was...odd?  But yeah, I can see the appeal.  I guess I wasn't sure what exactly to do, but...eh, I just let my mind talk for a few minutes."<br/><br/>He laughed briefly.  "I don't have much of a verbal filter, but I just turned it off for a while.  So, I apologize in advance."<br/><br/><br/><br/>His ease with her helped her to relax, too.  Her eyes twinkling with laughter, she confessed, "I think I actually have too much of one.  I can be a little bit of a wallflower.  But I'm going to have to change that if I'm going to keep up with women as dynamic and wonderful as Mari and Nicci.  Have you had a chance to get to know them?"<br/><br/><br/>David nodded slightly and leaned back, his fingers tapping some on the table.  "I ran into them earlier.  I talked to them some, but I wouldn't say that I know them yet.  But, yeah, we talked."  He chuckled some.  "I actually had to ask Nicci something.  I was sure I recognized her and had to know.  It was bugging the hell out of me."<br/><br/><br/>Mila nodded.  "She's a model.  She's amazingly down to earth, though.  I like her quite a bit."  Her voice was soft as she thought about both women, both already her friends.  "Are you settling in well?  I've only spent a night here, but it's all very nice."<br/><br/><br/>"I think so," he said as he sat back.  "It's still all very...new to me, but I think I am."  He looked around and motioned to the room, and the castle beyond.  "I mean, the scale of this, it's massive and the stipend is beyond generous, but...I mean, that's not the reason we're here, isn't it?"  He chuckled.  "This isn't just an experiment for some of us, is it?"<br/><br/><br/>She smiled and shook her head.  "No, I think some of us are hoping for more than just an experiment out of this."  He didn't know as much about them, she knew, since he hadn't been there for the question thing they'd done the night before.  "I think I've been looking for this for a long time.  I'd like to find my family here."  She looked down at the table, a little embarrassed to be talking about herself.<br/><br/><br/>David smiled and nodded in understanding.  "I've heard similar things from the others.  I wouldn't be surprised if that was one of the things the psychiatrist looked for."  He leaned back slightly and sighed.  "Which, kind of puts me in a weird position.  I'm not familiar too much with the concept of polyamory, but it sounds intriguing.  And while I want more than just a random hookup here and there, this is all...a little more than I had expected."<br/><br/><br/>Mila looked up at David in surprise, suddenly apprehensive.  It changed things, didn't it, if one of the group wasn't invested?  They'd experienced that with Vince already.  What would they do if David abandoned them, too?  Her eyes met his, searching for answers his did not hold.  "Is this not what you were looking for, then?  Do you think you'll leave?"<br/><br/><br/>David frowned slightly and shook his head.  "No, I don't think I'll leave, I want to see this through as far as I can.  I"m not one to quit when I start something.  And besides, something about this whole thing intrigues me."  He met her eyes and held them for several seconds.  "I may be new to this idea, but...I have to admit, it seems to be something that calls to me. "  He frowned slightly.  "Does that make sense?"<br/><br/><br/>Her smile brightened.  "Yes, it very much makes sense.  You know, since I also find it intriguing."  She liked him, she realized.  She didn't know him well, but instead of fleeing him, she was sitting and speaking openly with him.  "I'm a little overwhelmed by the castle and grounds, I can certainly admit that.  Have you been in this part of the world during the winter?"<br/><br/><br/>David nodded and leaned forward.  He smiled at her.  She seemed unsure at times, but she was also very enthusiastic about this setup.  "Yeah, well, not here specifically, but I've lived in the UK for the past couple of years or so.  Rugby, soccer, or football as they call it."<br/><br/>He chuckled and stood, moving around the table towards Mila.  "I mean, I wasn't great, but I wasn't too bad.  Still, as fun as it was, I'm not sure how good I'll be at the whole woodsman thing."  He laughed briefly.  "You should have seen the sheep too.  I swear, they don't look anything like those Serta mattress things."  He sat down next to her and pulled out a small piece of wool from his pocket.  "Feel this.  I got it from the flock when we went up earlier."<br/><br/><br/>Mila giggled as David mentioned the Serta sheep.  The commercial had been one of her favorites.  As he sat next to her, she leaned toward him to see his treasure, running her fingers against the raw wool.  It was soft like she thought it would be, but what surprised her was the appearance.  It wasn't a downy white like she thought.  "Sheep are dirty," she blurted out, laughing.  "I wasn't expecting it to look like this."  She grinned at him.  "So many roles.  Woodsman, shepherd."<em>Lover.</em>She thought it, but didn't say it out loud.<br/><br/><br/>David chuckled and nodded slightly.  "Yeah, they aren't the...virginal white creatures that society puts forth.  They also aren't very gentle...well, not when hungry at least."  He held the tuft of wool out.  "You can keep it if you want.  We seem to have a lot of it available."  If she took it, he would brush his fingers along her own.  If not, then...well, there were other ways.  "Of course, you and the other women are very much responsible for making this a home for all of us."  He smiled at her.  "For some reason, I don't think you will have any problem with it."<br/><br/><br/>She took the wool from him, looking into his eyes as his fingers brushed against hers.  She could feel the attraction to him as if it were a palpable thing, and she wondered if he felt the same.  Was it her mind forcing the feeling because she knew what the women had planned for later?  Was she feigning a connection to make herself feel better?  Or was there really something there?  "I should confess," she said.  "This whole... winter thing makes me nervous like you would not believe.  I grew up in Arizona and then moved to Florida.  I'm used to heat."<br/><br/><br/>"Ah, yeah, I can understand your fear.  It does get cold here.  And I'm betting since this is an island, the water is going to make it even colder than in other parts of the country."  He gave her a reassuring smile.  He felt an instinctual need to protect her and make her feel better.  "But, don't worry.  I don't think that we'll be in serious danger.  They wouldn't abandon us to freeze.  I'm sure there's some emergency plan in place."  A sparkle of desire flickered through his eyes as his mouth lifted on one side.  "Besides, I'm pretty sure that we could find a way to keep warm."<br/><br/><br/>Laughing, she said, "So you'll be woodsman, shepherd, and the keep-Mila-warm guy?"  And then, as she realized how sexual that sounded, her cheeks warmed and her gaze dropped.  She looked at the wool in her hands.  "Maybe they'll have to get you a loom so you can make me a blanket."  She was still smiling.  There was something about David that put her at ease.  He was comfortable and easy to talk to.  Maybe, if she was lucky, she'd be friends with him too, like she was with Marcus.<br/><br/><br/>David laughed and shrugged.  "Well, I'm not sure that I'll have time to loom much, but if that's what's needed, I'll do what I can."  He gave her a quick wink.  "Not what I had in mind at first, but if you promise to share it with me, maybe we can work something out."  He noticed that she seemed slightly shy and bashful.  It was alluring.  There was a part of him that wanted to bring out the sensual part of her.  With Nicci, that part was easily seen.  With Mila though, she seemed like she wasn't too comfortable with that.  Being a hedonist himself, David was very much about sensual moments.  He wondered how deep Mila would be able to give herself over to that side.  "So, any previews of dinner?  Or do you wish to keep me in suspense?"<br/><br/><br/>Her lips twitched with amusement.  "Yes," she said, looking up at him, "I imagine that there will be some sharing of blankets going on."  She imagined him in her bed, warming her with his body on a cold winter's night, and as her expression softened, she blinked as if surprised that she was having such thoughts.  It was easy to picture such a scene with him, perhaps too easy.<br/><br/>"Dinner?" she repeated, focusing back on the conversation, "We're having some of the same ingredients as we did at lunch but with a different preparation.  Bacon and chicken again.  Vegetables.  Don't worry, I didn't actually do the cooking.  I just chopped things.  You'll live to see tomorrow."<br/><br/><br/>David let a slight laugh pass his lips and shook his head.  "Now now, I doubt that your cooking skills are dangerous.  I'm sure that you do better than me, at the very least.  And I can barely burn toast."  His eyes narrowed slightly as he considered something.  "You know, I think that you may just need someone to believe in you.  So, let me be that person, okay?  And to prove it..."  David took a slight breath and leaned toward Mila.  He let her make the final decision as to where he would kiss her, either on her cheek or on her lips.  But, there was no mistake: he was going to kiss her.<br/><br/><br/>She laughed as he mentioned burnt toast.  It was actually how she liked to eat it.  His next words made her heart beat a little faster, though.  He was going to kiss her.  She didn't have a lot of time to think about it, just enough to remember that she'd tried the night before to make her kisses platonic and light and how it had been wrong.  And so when he leaned in, she did, too, her eyes drifting closed just as their lips met.  But she didn't just pull away.  Instead, Mila stayed where she was, exploring the feel of David's mouth in a long, lingering kiss that left her breathless.<br/><br/><br/>For several seconds, David lost himself in the kiss with Mila.  She hadn't pulled back, instead meeting him with a deep kiss.  It was very much more than he had expected, but he did not pass up the opportunity.  They kept the kiss going for some time.  Finally, after some time, they broke the kiss slowly, their lips parting just enough to allow a sliver of space between them.  David looked deep into Mila's eyes, a smile across his face.<br/><br/>Just then, a sound in the hallway attracted his attention.  He glanced up, then back at Mila.  "Well, m'lady, I believe that we are about to have company.  I guess we'll have to continue this later, then."  He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it before he straightened.  He gave Mila a brief wink before he moved back to his seat.<br/>