[IC] City Comes to the Country (Tyler Night and Whitelily)

[Tyler Night]

"Well then. Maybe I will get some food together and come sell."

He watches her enjoy the honey and smiles.

"You should stick around here for may and june, we start getting wild mushrooms popping up around the end of april."

He tastes the honey and says.

"This makes awesome honey mustard."

[DELETED08735]

"Two weeks."

Ele reminded him, handing the honey back to Tyler, her walls going down again. Even Ele had to keep reminding herself that this was only temporary, and maybe that was why she was finding it so easy to open up to Tyler, there was no longer term, no future... At least, not if Ele stayed focused. Sure, this place was beautiful, and Tyler was amazing, but Ele was damaged goods. There was no place for her in this picture perfect town, and Tyler... He deserved the best. Clearing her throat and leaning back, Ele shook her head.

"I'm staying for two weeks and then I'm back to work."

[Tyler Night]

"I know, but you can always come back."

He smiles at her.

"Plus if you start up your own business and get mobile like you want there are many worse places that you can go besides here."

He smirks at her.

[DELETED08735]

"If I get my own business and go mobile. That's the big one."

She shrugged and looked away from Tyler, her gaze going out to take in the view. It was really beautiful here, and the space made Ele feel like a child again, wishing she was a bird who could spread its wings and fly. The space also was intimidating, not knowing what was out there or what could be coming, it made Ele shrink away and wish for the confines of her apartment again. At the same time though, she would desperately miss Tyler.

[Tyler Night]

"Ele, there is no if about it. You are so driven and ready for the big time it is a matter of when."

He stands up.

"Would you like to see some of my pets?"

He looks down at her.

"I have some not so typical pets."

[DELETED08735]

A look of surprise passed Ele's face when Tyler stood up suddenly. Giving him a wary look, So raised an eyebrow and stood as well,

"If it has more than four legs and can be found in desert climates I am running away and never coming back."

Ele warned Tyler, looking cautious.

[Tyler Night]

"What if they have less than 4? Or none?"

He chuckles.

"No arachnids or bugs, they are considered creepy crawly to some."

He heads into the house, carrying the plates and utensils to the kitchen, setting them in the sink then goes towards the opposite end of the house into the bedroom on the right at the other end of the house. Inside are a few snakes and some bearded dragons, plus 2 iguana.

"Here are my pets."

Stepping inside the male iguana he has starts bobbing his head at him.

"Oh I know, it has been a while."

[DELETED08735]

Following behind Tyler, Ele kept him between her and whatever was in the next room until she saw what was inside. When she caught a glimpse of the animals, Ele breathed a huge sigh of relief,

"Oh thank God! They're reptiles!"

She bent double, breathing deep.

"I can handle reptiles!"

[Tyler Night]

"Figured you could."

He opens the tank for his iguanas and pulls the male out who immediately starts licking his arm. He puts him up across his shoulder where he proceeds to lay down.

"This big guy here has such character."

[DELETED08735]

"He seems like he would,"

Ele said, going over and gently stroking the iguana's spikes down his back. She really did like reptiles, they were interesting animals. Going over to the snake cage, Ele smiled when she saw a little ball python,

"Can I hold this one? I like snakes."

[Tyler Night]

"Of course hun."

He smiles.

"He hasn't eaten in 2 weeks, would you like to feed him?"

He asks pulling out a frozen rat from under the cage.

[DELETED08735]

"That would probably be good to do before I hold him,"

Ele said, taking the rat from Tyler and opening the top to the snake's cage. Reaching in, Ele enticed the python into striking at the rat and coiling around it. She gave it time to have its meal,

"Snakes are really cool."

Ele said, bending over to look through the glass at the snake,

"I can't have pets in my apartment, but if I could, I would have a snake."

[Tyler Night]

"Yeah they are, I have 4 types of python's in here, ball, burmese, albino burmese and carpet python. The carpet is typically called the kids python cuz they are so well mannered."

He turns the heat up for the snake to be able to digest the rat.

"I will let you hold my carpet python, she hasn't been out in a few days."

He kneels down and lets the iguana slide off onto the top of its cage. He walks over to the tank with the carpet python and starts pulling out a 9 foot snake who immediately stretches out off his arm.

[DELETED08735]

Unflinchingly, Ele took the python from Tyler and let the large snake find its way over her shoulders. Smiling, Ele posed with the snake, careful to support it and move smoothly to avoid startling it,

"What do you think? Think I could pull this off in public? Or do the scales clash with my hair?"

[Tyler Night]

"Scales will never clash with hair hun."

He says smiling at her.

"I often take her out during the summer with me. The most common event is "oh my god, can I touch it?" funny enough it is mostly from women. Generally it is the guys that can't get far enough away from it."

[DELETED08735]

Stroking the smooth scales on the snake's back, Ele smiled to herself as she let the snake slide over her, supporting her body where she needed it,

"Men are like that, mean, tough and big-talking right up until they come up against something they think is scarier than them. Women are always made out to be the smaller, weaker ones, so we know how to handle big, scary monsters."

She spoke softly, directing the words to the snake, almost forgetting that Tyler was in the room.

[Tyler Night]

He smiles watching her with the snake.

"My brain went kind of dirty there for a minute but I am lucky to have caught myself."

He chuckles looks at the snake slithering around her again.

"A woman like you is a gift, that is for sure."

[DELETED08735]

Blinking out of her thoughts Ele looked at Tyler with a confused expression. That was something no one had ever said to her, in fact it was very much opposite of what she had heard right up until she had cut off contact with her mother,

"What do you mean?"

She asked, her eyes going back to the snake.

[Tyler Night]

"You mean cutting myself off from saying something dirty or you being a gift?"

He asks not knowing which she was talking about.

[DELETED08735]

"Men's minds are always dirty, that didn't surprise me,"

Ele said, going to put the snake back in her enclosure.

"The gift part. What did you mean? What does that mean?"