[attr="class","sinbody2"]For being such an attention whore, Jaron sure had been spending an awful lot of time wandering out the forest that comprised Nemus, working out here and there and just enjoying the view everywhere else. Since Zee had suggested it, he'd become pretty good at scaling the trees here, and he'd made a game out of how fast he could get up and down. It was a good way to pass the time when you didn't really have any friends.

Well... There was Zee. But just thinking about that relationship made his brow furrow. It was frustrating and confusing.

For once, he'd meandered out past the colony and actually started heading toward Exurbia, for reasons beyond him. There hadn't been a ship recently enough for him to think that something of his had touched down, and it would be stupid of him to go in search of one Ms. Zephira (Yahveh that was an attractive name) because A - if she wanted to see him she'd find him and B - Exurbia was a rapidly-expanding settlement. It would take him far too long to find her, and he'd probably look like an idiot while searching. Nevertheless, that was the direction his feet were taking him.

He was passing some of the outer trees when he noticed a woman leaning against one of them. She was far enough away that he could pass and she probably wouldn't notice, but she was so engrossed in whatever she was doing that he was intrigued. Not to mention she looked a little windswept and very in need of a man (in his professional opinion). Smirking a little, he pushed his hands into his pockets and strode over, keeping his steps light and slow. She was clearly very concentrated, and he didn't want to stomp over and distrupt her too soon.

The last few strides were exaggerated and extra long, until he was close enough to lean a shoulder against the tree she was propped upon. For a few seconds all he did was peer over her shoulder, but the breeze kept pushing her hair in the way and blocking his view. Well, guess it was time to stop creeping and get to work. "Whatcha got there?" he asked lightly, voice a little deeper than it was in normal conversation.

[attr="class","sinbody2"]Jaron let a casual smirk cross his lips as the woman looked up to him, which he'd been told more than once held a lot of appeal. But hey, it was easy for him to look good.

His brows raised at her reply, and with her turned he could now see that that was, in fact, what she was drawing. "How very.. productive of you," he drew out, smiling down at her. "It'll probably help that we don't have the tools needed to destroy as much as we did on Earth... yet." His smile turned into a sideways frown, thinking this over. He was mostly doing it for show, but the thought was actually pretty depressing. Petra Exterior was cool because it was wild - but what would happen once all the people touching down here started to work together toward a common goal? How much destruction would come at the hands of innovation?

That was way too deep a thought process to have right now. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he focused on the woman again. "Mind if I sit?" he asked, indicating the ground with a casual wave of his hand. "I don't have much else to do until my stuff gets here." He shrugged, letting his gaze focus out on the scene before them for a few moments before settling himself to the ground. He sat closer than was probably standard, but at least he chose the side that didn't have her dominant hand; that would've just been awkward.

"Those are pretty good," he observed, looking at her sketchpad more closely. His voice was impressed, but truthfully Jaron didn't know enough to discern whether or not she actually had any skill. Compliment the girl was just one of his many tactics. "Think you could draw me?" he asked with a playful wink, propping a hand under his chin to look innocent - and more model-esque.

[attr="class","sinbody2"]"Oh, uh..," Jaron stumbled a moment, not expecting the question. The only person he'd shared his "list" with was Zee, and for some reason he felt it should be kept confidential, what with the last batch being carried off into the night by a bunch of nomads. He supposed it wasn't all that strange, considering the Drop Point was a very well-known location, but still...

He settled for shrugging and appearing sheepish. "Just some instruments so I don't have to sing a Capella," he divulged mildly, intentionally leaving out the car and his cat. He missed Sir terribly and would be beyond devastated if someone stole him away. "I guess I can do my job without them, but I don't think I sound so great without accompaniment." Blatant lie; he had a "gorgeous voice", according to the tabloids - he just didn't like it.

"More than a few, I'd say," he continued to compliment, eyes stroking her notepad. He thought she might be catching on to his flirtatious nature, but she wasn't shying away, which was a good sign. Smile expanding across his lips, Jaron took perhaps a moment longer than appropriate studying the planes of her face from this new angle. She had a softness to her that Zee lacked..... And he had no business comparing the two women. He would have rolled his eyes if she wouldn't have seen him do it.

"Oh thank you," he cooed theatrically, touching a finger to the corner of his eye as if checking makeup. Chuckling, he leaned back against the tree. "I luckily have a house... kind of." He shrugged, flopping his head to the side to look at her. "It doesn't have a door, but y'know... it'll do. It's more than a lot of people have, so..." It had been very convenient making that friend on the way from the drop point here - they'd helped each other cut down the trees and haul the logs to where their little cabins now stood. The dirt floor could probably be improved on though...

"Eh, maybe I'll have you stop by and give me pointers of how to improve. The place is far from perfect," he admitted. It would be nice to have her input... And it was a good excuse to get her back to his place. Score 2 for Jaron.

[attr="class","sinbody2"]"Mhmm," he confirmed, smirking mildly. It used to be such a point of pride for him, but here on PE it really seemed rather worthless.. As more than one person had ever so kindly confirmed for him. No one cared about being entertained when they were worried about eating, or just surviving in general. Soon, though, he'd be something people sought... Right? At her reassurance, he ducked his head with a little grin. "So I've been told, but... I dunno, I don't like it," he admitted, wrinkling his nose as he looked back up to her.

His grin widened as she took to his theatrics, and Jaron emitted a couple chuckles too. He actually liked this girl, which was a huge bonus; he didn't have to pretend to be amused by her. A few moments later, the tone shifted to playfully serious, and Jaron's lips slanted. "I've already woken up to a couple armadillo-looking things rooting around, but thankfully nothing dangerous has come in yet. I've heard some pretty heavy-sounding footsteps out there at night, and it makes you wonder, doesn't it?" It always made him jump when a branch snapped loudly under what sounded like a behemoth weight. He wasn't a small guy, but that didn't make him invincible.

His shoulders rose and fell in response to her "brainstorming". "Yeah, figured you could draw me something," he said, waving a hand over her notepad for emphasis. "It'd be a hell of a lot more than what I have right now."

Jaron watched idly as Eloise stood, not immediately following. "Oh, you wanna go right now?" he asked, a little surprised. "Heh, okay.." Pushing off the tree, he rose to his feet beside her. He took that time to decide which name he wanted to give her; one wouldn't think it was such a tough call, but it would determine their relationship from here on out. Introducing himself as Jaron immediately placed her into the "friends to keep around" category, while giving her Leo was a much more open playing field. He was genuinely enjoying her presence, but....

"Leo," he offered with a smile, extending his hand for a shake. "And you are?"

Pleasantries taken care of, he motioned for her to follow. "C'mon, it's this way. If we want to cross the river without getting completely drenched, we should aim a little more south."

[attr="class","sinbody2"]"It's true," he returned, chuckling. It was such a relief that he found it this easy to speak with this woman - he was beginning to worry that he'd only find that sort of comfort with Zee, which was becoming a problem in a very real way. He didn't do monogamy; hell, he didn't do relationships. Zee screamed both.

Except for the part where they were just friends. Yeah. Because they both totally believed that.

Dinosaurs? Caught off guard, Jaron openly laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure that's it," he agreed, smiling. Soon enough, though, they were back on the topic of her heading to his place. He had mixed feelings about it, entirely due to his juxtaposition of her to Zee moments earlier. All he needed to do was shake it off and he'd be good as new... He hoped. "Oh, no.. I was just wandering," he admitted, giving a boyish smirk. "Seems that's all anyone's doing, other than the hunters of course."

"Nice to make your acquaintance," he said, bowing dramatically. Standing straight again, he started in the direction he'd mentioned, a little extra pep in his step. Once they reached the river, Jaron eased down to the area he knew to be most shallow. "Alright, we can cross here. It shouldn't get much higher than your knees," he assured, extending a hand for her to grab if she felt she needed the security.

Once on the other side, Jaron's blood pressure spiked up a notch. Was he really going to get lucky this easily? Back on Earth it took a night out, dinner, maybe a drink or two (if she so desired, but he could work either way), and then back to his place. Out here it was... "Hey how are you? Good? Let's bang." He had to admit, it was.. weird for him. As they neared his place, he put his hands in his pockets. "Try not to judge my lack of a floor," he teased, smiling lazily, "That's what I have you for, I think."

[attr="class","sinbody2"]Getting along with this woman was easy - too easy. At her "..whole lot else to do" comment, Jaron's eyes slid sideways to her. He could think of at least one better way to pass the time than sketching house concepts. Rolling over in his mind, he actually found two. He smirked to himself, dipping his chin.

"Unfortunately not," he fake-grimaced, responding to her floor comment. "It's a bummer, I know." His eyes lit up a little bit at the way they jested back and forth, the memory of someone else threatening to breach the surface, but he kept it down. Living in the present was the best way to live; what came before this encounter and what would come after didn't matter - only now. Now, and how he proceeded. There was definitely more than one way to muck this up, but he liked to think he was skilled enough to be subtle until the occasion no longer called for it.

As Eloise looked about the small cabin, clearly sizing everything up to determine how she could improve upon it, Jaron's eyes took a slow trek down her body. She was different thank you-know-who, in every aspect except her short stature. He could deal with the one similarity. "Fireplaces are great," he replied absently, gaze lazily making its way back to her face. Seeing her looking at him, he shifted to stand a little straighter. Caught.

"Unrelated, but would there be a way to level that bit there out?" he asked, pointing to a place in the ground that dipped down so slightly it was barely visible. "Eh, it's kinda hard to see...," he began, stepping closer.... and closer, until they were nearly chest to chest and he had to pull his chin to his clavicle to look at her. "Right... here," he finished quietly, tapping the spot with the toes of one foot, though his heated gaze refused to leave Eloise. "It's not super important, though. There are better uses of your time." The words came out throaty, hands itching to reach out for her but mind knowing this was as far as he should push the envelope for now. Quieting, the barest hint of a smirk touched Jaron's lips, waiting for her to respond.

[attr="class","sinbody2"]He didn't like the way her expression changed once she caught him staring, but that didn't stop Jaron's progress. Once he had his sights set on something, very little could stop him. Unless, of course, the woman in his crosshairs turned him down. Or at least, he assumed that would have him turning away... He couldn't really be sure - it'd never happened before.

"Yes," he immediately confirmed, unabashed. His smirk only faltered when she made mention of her brothers, at which point Jaron's brow drew together. Uhm, what? She knew what it felt like to have the moves put on her because she had older brothers? That was... concerning. He nearly opened his mouth to say as much, but he shook it off instead. It wasn't his place to judge what sort of family relations someone had, and even though the mental image it gave him was more than just a little repulsive, he wasn't going to give up that easily.

Her gesture had him raising an eyebrow, eyes still hot. He knew he was attractive, but the reminder never got old. The roadblock she tried to erect wasn't going to work with him; not after the brothers thing. "Let's just agree to not talk about how old we are, and then it won't be a problem," Jaron suggested smoothly, smirk returning to his lips. Since she'd backed away, he took another couple steps forward. The space wasn't large, and if they continued this little game of cat and mouse it wouldn't be long before she was backed against a wall. He didn't want to scare her, but she gave the impression of being able to handle herself - he wasn't concerned. "Recall that you were the one to suggest we come back here right now," he pointed out, voice dipping again.