<em>~Mila, cleaning up~</em><br/><br/>Mila blinked at Bo's words to her, her mind suddenly flooded with an image of the two of them in front of a fireplace.<em>Oh, my.</em>A slight flush crept over her, and she admonished herself to not become closed off.  She knew his comment was lighthearted banter, and to act like she couldn't handle a little flirting would be silly.  "Okay," she agreed, nodding even though she knew she was blushing, "It's a deal.  After the first snow.  We have a date."  Forcing herself to make eye contact, she smiled at him and then went back to her task.<br/><br/>She went to get a cup that was near Marcus and David, and she gave each of them a little smile, too.  She trusted these people, she realized, surprising herself.  Opening her heart to others was so difficult for her, but to the five people in this room, she was giving it freely.  She knew that even if she ended up hurt, it wasn't going to be because anyone in the castle did it on purpose.  They all already cared about each other, or at least they were getting there.  Even with David, who had missed the night before, there was an easy camaraderie.  He seemed to fit their group like a glove, and she actually had a good feeling about his role here.  To Marcus, the one man here she would already call friend, she said, "All of this talk of the cold and nobody being able to get to us and first aid scares me.  You're in charge of making sure I don't die."  She was only half-kidding.<br/><br/>Once the men had left and the women were in the kitchen cleaning up and planning meals, Mila listened intently.  She was pretty good with sweets, although she was awful with main courses.  She was about to volunteer to make something sweet for dessert, but when Nicci took over the menu, Mila decided to hold back.  If this was something Nicci needed to feel control over, then she was happy to relinquish it to the other woman.   Feeling a little out of place and lost suddenly with the other two women, she leaned against the counter, not really sure what she was supposed to be doing.  She'd have to just wait until they told her what they needed done.<br/><br/>She smiled at Mari's suggestion that they make tropical drinks.  "You know what, that's a good idea.  Some good rum drinks may be exactly what we need tonight to loosen up a little bit.  You should look up recipes while you're on the computer, Nicci."  She looked from Mari to Nicci.  "Okay, so someone has to ask.  Are we still on for tonight?  Even though Vince left and we now have David?"  The orgy they'd planned, Vince leaving... it all felt like it was so long ago.  So much seemed to have happened since then!  But it had just been last night.  "I'm still in if you girls are.  I still think that the longer we put it off, the more we're all going to be obsessing about the first time."  And, honestly, it seemed less scary knowing that Nicci and Mari would be there.  Mila had never had sex in front of anybody before, but in this circumstance, the presence of her friends was going to help her.