After lending it out and not having it for about two months, I finally got my copy of Bloodlines back! I've reread it three times since then. Now that I'm on number four, I think it's time I put my obsession into fandom. The length, genre, timeline, and basically everything else about these one-shots will be entirely inconsistent. That's just how my brain works. Anyway, let's get this party started :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Bloodlines. Not even a little bit.

Prompt One: Lazy Eye by Silversun Pickups

And this "real"

It's impossible if possible

At who's blind word

So unclear but so unheard

"Give it to me hard, Sage." Adrian's eyes were determined, blazing a brilliant green. Sydney was nothing but happy to comply. Or at least she would have been if not for the fact the piece of art she was supposed to be critiquing...was a painting of her.

This, unfortunately, made her somewhat biased. Besides, it was really good. Sydney cocked her head to the side, as if looking at it from another angle might reveal a flaw she had somehow missed while looking at it like a normal person would.

He had captured her well, although Sydney thought he had made her look almost angelic, something she most certainly was not no matter how hard she tried. But the shades of brown and gold were exquisite...not to mention he had gotten every detail of her golden lily tattoo exactly right.

He better have, she thought to herself wryly, since she'd sat perfectly still for ages. Her neck still ached from it and she had denied Adrian's multiple offers to massage the kinks out. Being painted by an evil creature of the night was bad enough. She didn't want the hands of one—no matter how skilled those hands might be—exploring her skin. Not that he would be, Sydney thought forcefully. But that wasn't the point.

The point was that she was still wondering why she had let him paint her in the first place.

It might have been his eyes. The soulful depth and way they seemed to melt as he pleaded with her. His eyes could work wonders with a single glance, no compulsion necessary. Or maybe it had been his words. His sweet, sweet words.

"You're perfect!" Adrian had insisted, making Sydney blush slightly. Eventually, she'd caved and the brilliant smile she'd been rewarded with made her feel like it was worth it—but just for a moment. Then she'd snapped to her senses and reminded herself that no matter how attractive his smile was, if it was just a bit wider, she might have seen his fangs.

Back in the present moment, Sydney studied Adrian's newest project. There had to be something about it for her to say...and then she noticed it.

"I look like I have a lazy eye," Sydney observed.

"Are you kidding me?" Adrian asked incredulously.

"You said you could take a punch," Sydney reminded him. It wasn't exactly what he said, but it was essentially the same thing. Either way, Adrian had no witty comeback for her words and it took Sydney a moment to realize it was because Adrian was staring so intently at his masterpiece that it was very possible he hadn't heard her at all.

"This portrait," Adrian said after some deep thinking, "looks exactly like you."

"Except for the lazy eye," Sydney said. Adrian sent a sly look her way, a look that was playful, wicked, mocking, and strangely intense all at the same time. But Sydney understood his silent implication. She didn't worry about the fact that they were so strangely in sync that they could share words with only one meeting of the eyes. She was too busy trying to find something to toss at him, not half as insulted at the lazy eye joke as she really ought to be. She was, however, insulted enough to not find his lazy grin as appealing as usual.

Once Sydney grabbed hold of something solid—which later turned out to be the hideous pillow Jill had made in her sewing class—she sent it hurling Adrian's way. She missed by about a foot, much her companion's amusement. He actually chuckled. Sydney crossed her arms and let out a low grumble, a reaction that no one else could have possible pulled out of her. Ever. This didn't worry her either, or at least not as much as it once would have. She'd gotten used to it by now. There was no one around to call her out on it and drag her to a re-education center which only furthered to ease her concerns.

His eyes still twinkling, Adrian turned to his portrait of Sydney. He crossed his arms and studied it thoughtfully once again.

"A lazy eye?" he said. "Really? Because I don't see it."

"You have to turn your head about eighty degrees to the left," Sydney told him. He shot her a look of disbelief.

"Well, of course you're going to look like you have a lazy eye if you look at it from the wrong angle!" he exclaimed.

"Don't you have to show this off at a gallery?" Sydney inquired.

"Yeah. So?"

"So what if someone who comes had a stroke and ended up with their neck permanently tilted eighty degrees to the left?"

"Sage?" Adrian asked slowly, cautiously. "Did you just make a joke?"

"Of course not," Sydney said with far too much innocence as far as Adrian was concerned.

"Well now," he said, pleased. "I think I might be rubbing off on you."

"You say that like it's a good thing."

Adrian rubbed his hands together and grinned. "There it is," he said. Sydney eyed him dryly for a moment.

"I need to go," she told him. "Curfew." Besides that, she was getting the uncomfortable feeling that Adrian's smartass nature really was rubbing off on her and she hoped that some space from him might cure that.

"'Bye, Sage," Adrian said just as she opened the door. Before she closed it behind her, he called, "Don't change too much while you're gone! I like you just the way you are!"

Sydney tried not to read too much into his words as she made her way to her beloved Latte. She opened the car door and climbed inside. As the engine rumbled softly to life, she muttered irritably, if not slightly randomly, "I do not have a lazy eye."

Kewl. Review?