Jaynehkins and Polokins again. :)

Amia stiffened slightly when she felt his hand on her cheek but relaxed when she heard his deep comforting words.
Tilting her head to the side slightly when he patted her cheek she shrugged. "True, but how are two people supposed to fix all of this?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. Watching him closely she wondered how he looked without the mask of his on. Probably quite handsome by the sound of his deep loving voice. Then again you never know.

"Hey, I never said I was going to fix anything." Shaun laughed, "I'm no hero. I'm just saying - it's never too late. Maybe humanity will redeem itself."
He glanced toward his watch, watching as the minute hand crept with painstaking slowness toward the 12, where the hour hand already lay in waiting.
"It's nearly midnight." He murmured, his voice settling back into its quiet tone. "This will be over soon."

Amia chuckled, "You're not too confident in yourself are you?" She asked him with a raise of her dark eyebrow. Though they couldn't be seen behind her mascarade mask.
"True," She replied to his saddened tone. Not wanting to go back home but knowing the party only lasted until midnight she nodded. They'd all have to leave sooner or later.

"Confidence is a rare thing in this world, my dear." Shaun replied with a sombre smile. "It's over." He added, holding up his watch, just as the big clock tower beside the old church began its twelve clangs to announce midnight. It was one of the few things that still worked.
"This is goodbye, huh?" He asked - and since she couldn't see his face anyway, he didn't bother forcing a smile. This time, every year, was the most bitter of disappointments.
"Perhaps I'll see you next year, Amia..." He held out a gloved hand for a formal gesture of farewell, though something about it didn't feel right.
How long had it been since he had met somebody like Amia...? Somebody with the courage to stand by humanity, while the rest of the world became feral and wild?

((Must sleep, I've stayed up far too late. D: ))

Amia sighed when the church bells struck 12. Now was time to depart, but why? Why did they have to leave? And never see each other again?
It was really a ridiculous thing. Smiling over at Shaun she held her hand out in order to shake his in reply. Something inside of her sparked when their hands met again (cheesy much? xD). Shaking his hand gently she then withdrew her hand and met her eyes with his one more time before looking down. A part of her told her to be terrified that she would never see him again, another part told her to stop being a pessimist in her mind. Shrugging she lifted the hems of her skirt.

((Cheese is EPIC! ))

Shaun gave one last wave, then turned away to go back to the costume store. It was not a bad place to live, really. It was safe, for one thing, which was certainly rare in this day and age...
Also, it was nearby. In fact, he never had to stray far from home, except to find food. The thought made him feel rather like a stray dog, and Shaun chuckled bitterly to himself as he climbed the stairs up to what had become his home.

((Time skipping. XD ))

The days bled on into weeks, as per usual. A group of savages from a neighbouring town arrived during this time, and squabbles began breaking out in the streets. Shaun, watching from the high window of the costume store, saw a world that had regressed back to the stone age... What was civilisation, when people hunted in packs, wearing torn clothing, and ripping each other to shreds with their bare hands just for food, or land.
It was absurd... And he himself was no better - watching from his safe perch as people he had known, if not liked, were torn apart by their new enemy.
New bombs were set off, new grenades thrown - and the sick, sorry town became more derelict than every before.
It was a saddening sight, and Shaun could not help but wonder how much longer the world could even last in this state...

Amia managed to get through for the next weeks. Though it was a terrifying thing. She couldn't let her pride slip away from her. Doing the best she could not to become a hermit and never come back out of her house. It wasn't a very good house, it was just what was left of a house that is. Cautiously she made her way out of the house and covered herself with her cloak she had made. It was cold today, freezing actually. Walking slowly down what was left of the sidewalk she eyed a group of men before veering away from them. Heart rate rising she heard several pairs of feet behind her.
Growing closer and closer.

Glancing out of his window yet again, Shaun saw a cloaked figure walking down the street. There was something about the way the figure moved that was strangely familiar... A feminine elegance - not the sort of thing often seen in recent times. Simply watching her move was like a breath of fresh air to him.
And it seemed, he was not the only one - for at that moment, a group of the newcomers began following her. Slowly at first, then faster and faster.
Shaun cursed under his breath, and grabbed a scythe from the prop basket beside the counter.
How fitting. he thought to himself as he dashed toward the window. That I, of all people, should bear the weapon of Death himself.
Without a moment's hesitance, he leaped through the window - balancing himself to slide down the sloped roof. When he reached the end, he jumped - flailing madly as he fell from what, a few years ago, would have been considered 'quite a height'. Nowadays, people seemed to jump of anything.
He hit the ground just as the group of men reached the woman - breaking his fall with his shoulder, and landing in a roll.
As the nearest man laid a hand on the woman's shoulder, Shaun leaped to his feet with a vicious hiss - which sounded alien behind his gas mask.
That, combined with the ominous image of the scythe in his hand, made the men frightened. They began stumbling backwards as Shaun advanced aggressively toward them - a low growl rumbling from his lips.
If you can't beat them, join them... If we fight, it will be as one monster against another.
But there was no fight - because vicious as they were, the men were cowardly - and this strange aberration that was Shaun frightened them.
Like dogs with tails tucked between their legs, they ran - leaving Shaun leaning on his scythe and staring after them - a patch of red blooming on his shoulder from where it had struck the cracked concrete of the sidewalk.

Amia began to walk faster. She then gasped and stopped when she felt a grimy hand on her shoulder.
No, no, no please. She begged silently.
Hearing a grunt she turned around and tilted her head. Shaun?
Stepping back when he lunged towards the man closest to her she scrambled away quickly. Shaun didn't even have to do anything in order to frighten away the rugged men. Gulping slightly she stepped over to Shaun and looked up at him. Pulling her hood back she revealed her fair skin, red wavy hair and emerald green eyes. "Thank you." Her delicate voice squeaked out softly.

Shaun turned as he heard a familiar voice behind him - his face creasing into a confused frown behind his mask.
He knew that voice.
"Amia...?" He asked doubtfully, tilting his head slightly to one side.
Yes, it was her... He knew those eyes.
Gosh, she was beautiful. Even more so than he had expected. It made him feel even more ashamed for meeting her here. He began shifting uncomfortably - painfully aware that his mask was not exactly 'normal' attire outside of the party.
"What're you doing here...?" He asked, rolling his injured shoulder to make sure it was still functioning properly. It was.
"And walking on your own!" He added, a somewhat concerned, scolding tone to his voice.

Amia shook her head and rolled her eyes at his scolding. "I was going to see if I could find something halfway decent to eat." She told him with a small sigh.
It wasn't a good idea to go out on her own, but she had to. There was no one to go with her that was for sure. She eyed him curiously, he still had his mask on. Sure she was wearing a dress but all she had left were dresses, ones she had found in an old trunk when she discovered the house. Shifting awkwardly she tilted her head, "Why are you still wearing that mask?" She asked, softly.

Shaun sighed, shaking his head somewhat regretfully. "That's everybody's story, I guess." He murmured with a humourless chuckle.
"Not to worry, I was lucky enough to happen upon an old supermarket not long ago. I still have some food left. You'd best come up and have some - it's not safe out here, and I sure can't protect you. I'm a lousy fighter, and besides-" He bent the blade of the Scythe toward him, then let it go again, causing it to spring back into position. "This things's made of plastic." He finished mildly.
With that, he nodded toward the stairs leading up to the costume store, ignoring Amia's question about the mask. He would just pretend he hadn't heard... How was he supposed to answer, anyway? He didn't have any lies on the tip of his tongue.

Amia felt a small coming onto her lips, she had grown painfully skinny in the last few weeks when she had no food. Stepping closer to him her eyes glinted and she nodded, "That would be nice." She said softly as she watched him closely.
His next comment made her chuckle, he certainly wasn't like the others either. Smiling she bit her lip, not waiting for him before she headed up the stairs. She was starving!

Shaun hurried after Amia up the stairs. After he'd taken a few steps, he felt a hand close around his ankle, and wheeled around to see one of the men from before clutching his leg.
Shaun kicked out, hissing wildly - making him seem momentarily more beast than human.
But it worked, for the man let go, and dashed away once again. With one last growl, Shaun dashed up the stairs again, meeting Amia at the top.
"Go in, hurry." He murmured, unlocking the multitude of locks on the door, and pushing her gently inside. Once they were both safe, he turned around and locked the door again - then trotted off to retrieve some food from his hidden stash in what was once the costume store's changing room.
He grabbed two cans of soup and some stale bread. Keeping one can for himself, he offered the other to Amia, along with what was left of the loaf of bread he had picked up a few days ago.

Amia heard Shaun make a disgruntled noise and her eyes widened when she looked down below them. Shivering she held up the hems on her skirt higher and darted up the stairs, much faster. Once inside she took a deep breath and then let it out. This world was more inhumane then it had ever been, and it was getting worse. She had heard of cannibals being in the past, well now they were in the present also. It was completely appalling to her what people did for food now. Eating garbage, other people, anything they could find.
When Shaun came back with food she took the can of soup from him greedily and used the little can opener to pop it open. Thankful it was a soup that didn't taste bad cold she began to sip it out of the can.

"Feel better now?" Shaun asked after Amia had taken a few sips - his voice showing his smile. He pulled the thick leather gloves off his hands, then took the can opener and opened his own can of soup. The skin on his right hand was partially mangled by a burn he had suffered in that explosion many years ago, but it was nowhere near as frightening as his face. It was the sort of injury that just about everybody had nowadays.
Disregarding it, Shaun tipped the soup to his lips, and took a long swig.

Amia watched Shaun curiously before swallowing down the last bit of her soup. Tilting her head to the side her red bang fell in the way of her eyes. She reached up and shoved it behind her ear. Her sharp green eyes didn't loose their gaze on him before she asked, "Why are you still wearing that mask?"
This was the second time she had asked. And she knew he heard her this time, they were sitting straight across from each other, and she wanted to know the reason.

Shaun shrugged, glancing awkwardly away. Staying silent was easier that formulating a lie, and he really didn't want to tell the truth. If he did, she would just say 'I'm sure it's not that bad' - then she would make him take off the mask and show her his face, and it would end in her either screaming and running, or throwing things at him while he ran for his life.
He'd been through this a hundred time before, and it was never different.
Everybody was the same.
"Same reason you're still wearing that dress, I guess." Shaun replied with a shrug. "Nobody's managed to rip it off me yet."

Amia's dark brows furrowed and she tilted her head in thought. "That's not a very good excuse." She told him with a puzzled look on her face.
"I have plenty of dresses," She said, voice soft and song-like, "and you don't need to wear that mask all the time. I'd like to see what's behind that mask..." This time her voice was somewhat like a whisper. She reached over and touched the mask before dropping her hand back down to her side. "It's just not the same when you can't see the man behind the mask."

"It doesn't have to be a good excuse." Shaun shrugged, jerking his head away as she reached for his mask. "Watch it." He warned, somewhat defensively. "You don't see me trying to pull your dress of now, do you?" Some sarcasm entered his tone now - hinting that he was just teasing.
He got to his feet, and walked over to the window, staring out into the street down below. "Besides, I don't see why it's not the same..." He went on absentmindedly, "I'm the same guy with or without the mask..."

Amia shook her head, eyes narrowing slightly. She let out a small sigh and wrapped her cloak tighter around herself. "I wasn't trying to rip your mask off of you I'll have you know." She told him with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "And if you ripped my dress off of me you'd see a lot more then my face so you make no sense whatsoever." Now her sassy side was coming out, the side that most people didn't care much for.

Shaun laughed, enjoying the challenge of Amia's spunky attitude. "Maybe to you." He said pleasantly, turning back to her, "But it's the same to me. As humans, we're frightened and ashamed of being naked, right? Well, I'm frightened and ashamed to show my face. For me, it would be just the same as stripping down to my birthday suit." He shrugged, and let another chuckle escape his lips. He really did come up with the most bizarre comparisons.

Amia narrowed her eyes at him again before letting out a sigh. "Whatever..." She muttered. Staring out the window at all the chaos she dreaded having to walk him.
But she did it most every other day, she could do it again today. Nothing could stop her... well something could... a lot of things could...

"Ah, come on. A little intelligent argument once in a while is good for us, right?" Shaun laughed, walking over to Amia and cuffing her playfully on the back of the head. "It helps us keep our minds. I know I for one have been close to losing mine at times..." He shrugged. "Thanks, I guess, for bringing me some reason to keep hold of my sanity."

When Amia heard Shaun walking over to her she almost turned around but decided against it.
Then she was glad because he was kinda enough to cuff her on the back of the head. Rolling her eyes she turned to look at him after a moment.
"How long will we still be sane?" She asked with a slight song-like tone to her voice.
"The next moment it could be you ripping my clothes off of my body." This was obviously true, some people went insane so quickly it was like you couldn't stop them.