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Together in Rhys' bed, Alicia, deep in thought, runs a claw-tipped finger lightly along his bare chest as they lie nestled against each other, resting in the afterglow.

"Ree-is?" she murmurs softly, "Can I ask you something?"

Rhys is relaxed and comfortable, one arm draped around Alicia's shoulders, the other flung off to one side. With heavy-lidded eyes, he looks at her when she speaks.

"Hmm? Sure, anything."

Alicia continues to trace imaginary tracks on his skin as she bites her lip before speaking again.

"Did I... was it all right for me not to wear my sunglasses tonight? I didn't notice anyone freaking out but I wasn't sure."

"No one freaked out. Why would they? Your eyes are beautiful. Mysterious."

He reaches up with the arm around her shoulders and brings her head closer to his. He kisses her lightly on the brow.

"I love your eyes."

Alicia snorts a mild chuckle. Her head snakes up to nip at Rhys's chin.

"Flatterer. You don't need to butter me up, I'm already yours," she says, in mock-reproval.

She nestles her head in the hollow of his neck. "I guess I'd like to stop wearing them, but I'm not sure if I can."

"That wasn't flattery... Well, okay, yes it is, but not empty flattery - it's true.

"And stopping wearing them sounds like a wonderful idea to me. But old habits - old ways of thinking - die hard. You use them as a shield, don't you? Taking them off makes you more vulnerable than you're comfortable with, doesn't it?"

Alicia's hand flattens against Rhys's chest. "Y-yes," she admits hesitantly.

She sighs, "I know it's stupid. They're a crutch that I shouldn't need. But I'm not sure if I can handle not wearing them. And once I take them off, I can't go back.

"Tonight was different; I can always claim my eyes were part of the costume. But once I show up on Monday without them, well... the cat'll be out of the bag." Rhys can feel the grimace in Alicia's face at using the phrase.

Rhys lifts her head so that he can look directly into her eyes.

"I remember when I was little I used to have a sheep doll that I couldn't go anywhere without. One day at a park a dog stole it. I was beside myself. But as much as I loved that stupid little thing, I outgrew it. And I think that you're outgrowing your dependency on the sunglasses. You're asking yourself if you really need them, and I think that's like a first step or something. You're finally willing to stand up to the world and say 'Look at me, this is who I am.' That's hard."

Rhys squirms a little and now avoids her gaze.

"I should know. I hide behind my powers all the time..."

Alicia's golden eyes now regard Rhys fixedly, the pupils dilated to see in the dim light.

"What do you mean?" she asks, in honest curiosity.

Rhys holds up his arm. It is conspicuously absent of any of the tattoos he usually has there.

"I don't really have tattoos, but I thought they were cool. So when I got my powers, one of the first things I did was learn how to make them. I'm always making myself bigger or better-looking; you know, hiding behind a mask - something I'm not. When I showed you my true self for the first time, it was the first time anyone had seen the 'real' me in a long time..."

His arm drops back down.

"So I know exactly where you're coming from when you talk about how hard it will be to give up your shades."

Alicia rests her head on Rhys, her chin dimpling his skin, as she ponders this.

"But you're doing those things to make youself look better, to stand out. It's no different than a guy changing the way he combs his hair, or a girl putting on make-up. I wear my shades..."

She pauses, as she realizes the flaw in the words she's about to speak. "I was going to say I wear them for the opposite reason, to not be noticed, to not stand out. But that's not true, is it?"

"I don't know. Really, I don't."

He's silent for a moment as he thinks.

"Maybe it's just another kind of mask? Maybe you wear them so you don't have to be yourself... You can be the you you want to be, rather than the you you really are - " Rhys' eyebrows knot in confusion - "if that makes any sense. You know what I mean? So you don't have to open up to anybody. They're a physical version of an emotional barrier."

He idly rubs her back.

"Do you think you're ready to drop that barrier and let anyone else in?"

Alicia idly rubs her cheek against Rhys' chest.

"I want to, at least with our friends. But it's an all-or-nothing deal, isn't it? Then again, do I need to lose the shades to do that? Maybe I just need to let the shield down on my own.

"It's easy with people like Sammy or Colin. Or you." She gives him a loving smile that fades into a sour face. "But I don't know if I can ever be comfortable around Donnie, or John, for that matter."

"Donnie I can understand, but John? What's wrong with John? Other than that he's just too hot for words..."

Rhys gets a whimsical, mischievous look as he says this.

Rhys's comment gets him a sharp poke on the side from Alicia.

"John's so wrapped up in doing the right thing that he's wound up tighter than a guitar string. One day the pressure'll be too much and he'll snap, and I hope to be nowhere near him when it happens."

She gives a small shudder.

Rhys is quiet for a moment as he ponders this.

"I don't know... he doesn't seem all that wound-up to me. I like to think he'll be okay in the long run. But yeah, if he were to snap - I'd not want to be anywhere near ground zero, either."

He rubs her back some more.

"But no one said anything about needing to feel comfortable with him or Donnie. You don't even need to interact with them much. When you finally make that decision and set aside the sunglasses for good, I have the feeling they won't bother you so much anymore."

Alicia goes back to rubbing her cheek against Rhys, deriving comfort from the physical contact.

"I suppose. What bothers me is the thought that I wear them to hide my eyes because in some way or another I'm... ashamed of them."

She moves her head to look at Rhys, her expression unredabale. "Mom told me about my dad. He was some sort of paranormal criminal, or something like that. He basically picked up my mom when she was a teenager. They lived together, and he kicked her out when he got tired of her before she realized she was pregnant with me."

She lay her head back down. "I didn't wear shades before I came here, back in the 'hood where I was pretty much following in his footsteps without realizing it. So why did I start? And if I do stop wearing them, will I go back to being the way I was before? I'm not sure, and that's what's bugging me."

"Why did you start? I think that one's the easier question. You wanted to leave that old life behind. You wanted to start over and re-create yourself; to be someone different. So you needed something to differentiate yourself from that time - something physical. The sunglasses were an easy way to do that."

He grins at her.

"Anyway, that's my theory. As for what will happen when you stop wearing them - well, there's really only one way to find out, isn't there?"

Alicia sighs. "Guess so."

She gives his chest one more cheek-rub then raises her head to regard him, the look in her face now quite easy to identify as her fingers traced their way down his torso.

"So, loverboy," she purrs. "Are my eyes the only thing you love about me?"

"Not at all. I love every part equally."

He brings his other arm back up and embraces her then pulls her in for another kiss...

OOC: And the camera swerves like a drunken taxi driver in search of a fare in its haste to fade to the fireplace. ;D