For a man who spent most of his time around corpses and slept in dumpsters, Graverobber actually stayed fairly clean. He accomplished this by putting on the suit he inherited from his father, the one with the priest's collar, and checking into a seedy motel once a week. Then he stood in the shower until his skin turned red and every last bit of grime was gone. Afterwards he usually dyed his hair, ate an actual meal, and passed out for ten or twelve hours.

When he found Shilo sleeping in a freshly dug grave, he left her there for several hours. She wasn't his problem. But he wandered back around midnight and found her still laying there, curled into the fetal position, and some stupid bit of conscience nagged at him until he hopped into the grave and prodded her awake. "What're you doing here, kid?"

Shilo blinked up at him. "Wha-? Oh." She sat up.

Graverobber sighed. "Go home, kid."

"I can't." She bit her lip. "There's nothing there."

He rationalized it to himself that leaving her there would be tantamount to murder, and Graverobber's hobbies didn't include murdering naive teenage girls. He climbed out of the grave and offered her a hand. Shilo looked up at him fearfully.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked.

"Does it matter?" Graverobber cocked an eyebrow. She put her hand in his, and he hauled her up out of the grave.

The motel clerk gave him a funny look when he showed up with Shilo in tow. Graverobber forced himself not to grin. In her ruffled shirt, with her big sad eyes, Shilo probably looked like his child bride.

Once inside the room, he sent Shilo to shower ("Ladies first") and then sat down and tried to think. What the hell was he going to do with her? Where would he keep her? Scratch that, no way was he keeping her. Shilo could take care of herself, he had at that age. But then he hadn't spent 17 years locked in his bedroom, either. He sighed deeply, letting some of his tension out. Tonight. He'd let her stay with him tonight. Tomorrow she had to leave.

"Umm." He looked up to see Shilo peeking at him from the bathroom door. "Do you have a clean shirt I can wear?"

Clothes. Of course she'd want clean clothes. "Hold on," he told her as he rifled through his small bag. Graverobber didn't exactly carry a wardrobe around with him, but he had an old shirt that didn't smell too bad. He tossed it to her and she disappeared back into the bathroom. A minute later she reappeared, the shirt long enough to make a short skirt on her.

Graverobber stood up, working at his belt absentmindedly. Damn, he needed a shower. After a moment he noticed Shilo was staring at his belt, watching his fingers undo the buckle. With a soft snort, he grinned and said, "Don't worry, kid. I'm not going to ravish you or anything."

Shilo jumped, and then blushed. "Umm, that's not what I was thi-"

"Go to bed," he called over his shoulder as he pushed past her into the bathroom.

Graverobber emerged almost an hour later to find Shilo curled up in the chair besides the broken air conditioner. He shook her gently, but she only moaned. Sighing, he picked her up and laid her on the bed. It was hot in the room, so he didn't bother pulling the dingy sheets over her. He crossed to the other side and laid down himself. No way in hell was he sleeping on the floor. He'd paid for this room after all.

He fell asleep almost immediately, which was unusual. Suddenly, he jerked awake and looked for the clock frantically. 3:00 a.m. Graverobber groaned. Shilo was draped over him, her head resting on his chest, her leg slung over him, her thigh pressed against his erection. Damn. This was definitely not the best idea he'd ever had.

Perhaps his pounding heartbeat woke her, or the deepening of his breathing. Shilo's eyes cracked open and looked up at him, and then her brows creased. She glanced down, and then back up. "Surprise?" he offered, trying to be light-hearted.

"Graverobber," she whispered.

"Huh?"

"What's that?" Her eyes were wide.

He couldn't help chuckling. "Nothing to be concerned about. You're fine. I'm fine. Go back to sleep."

To his horror, something touched him through his pants that felt suspiciously like fingers. "Does it hurt?" Shilo asked.

Graverobber swallowed hard. "Kid, uh, that's enough, okay."

Shilo frowned. "Is it normal for guys?"

What the fuck, is it normal? Graverobber tried to get control of himself. Of course Shilo didn't know anything about men and cocks. At least he hoped not, considering the only man she'd ever known had been her own father. He sat up, trying to slowly ease away from her. "Yeah. This happens to guys when they sleep with girls. In the same bed, I mean."

"Wow." Shilo gently pinched the head. "It's hard."

Graverobber grabbed her wrist, pulling her under him. Shilo squeaked and then laid still, looking up at him as he propped himself up above her. "Kid. Shilo. Listen, that's not the only thing that's hard. I'm letting you sleep here tonight, I'm doing you a favor. So hand's off when I say hand's off, got it?"

Shilo looked down, ashamed. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to make you mad. I've just never seen anything like that."

Graverobber rubbed his face with his hand. "Well, technically you still haven't seen anything like that. And you shouldn't. Until you're in love or married or something. And make him wear a rubber," he added quickly. Shock crossed Shilo's face. He really wasn't any good at this responsible, brotherly kind of thing. He backed up off of her and sat at the edge of the bed.

"Those girls, Amber, all of them, they, ah, slept with you, didn't they?" He looked around to see Shilo sitting up on the bed, shirt ridding up so he caught a tempting glimpse of legs. "To get stuff from you. Zydrate."

"First hit's free," he said automatically. Then he caught himself and said, "You don't have to pay me for anything. Okay? Stop worrying. Go back to sleep."

Shilo inched up so that she was sitting beside him. "I'm not - worried," she said finally. She played with the hem of the shirt and then blurted out, "Does it feel good? I mean, when someone touches you? What does it feel like?"

He released a breath of air in a huff. "There's no way for me to tell you. Go back to sleep."

Shilo obeyed him for once, and laid down. After a few minutes, he did, too. There just didn't seem to be any point in running off. He turned his back to her and tried to fall asleep. He must've dozed off, because the next thing he knew, Graverobber was muttering vaguely filthy stuff into Shilo's ear as his hand crept up her thigh. His eyes snapped open just as Shilo's hand guided his to the dampness between her legs.

"Damn, kid," he gasped. Shilo's eyes were staring at him, silently pleading. She was so wet and silky. His thumb teased at her entrance, and she lifted her hips up instinctively.

He pulled his hand back and shook himself. He had to clear his mind. What was he doing? Molesting Shilo in his sleep? He should've gotten two rooms. Before he could stand up, Shilo wiggled under him and wrapped her legs around him. She must've learned that from TV or something, no way sweet little Shilo figured out that move on her own.

For a split second, Graverobber's voice betrayed his panic. "Gotta let me go."

"It's okay," she told him. She caught his hand and pressed to her chest so he could feel her heartbeat, like a fluttering moth. "It's okay."

Shilo was reassuring him? He took a ragged breath. "Not okay. I'm not going to fuck you-" he looked around at the dingy, overheated motel room.

Shilo smiled. "So if we were somewhere else...?"

"No!" No way was he fucking this kid. The loss of his own virginity hadn't exactly been pleasant, and he didn't want to screw up Shilo's life any more than he already had. He tried being frank. "I'm older and wiser than you. This isn't what you need."

Shilo bit her lip. "Everyone thinks they know what I need." She paused. "Is it me? I could get dressed up, like Amber..."

He placed a hand over her mouth. "That's not it, you're great. You're beautiful. You're seventeen-"

Shilo's hips rocked against his, and Graverobber saw white. A predatory bit of his brain gnawed at him. Why not do the girl? He wasn't planning on seeing her again after tomorrow, anyway. She was a cute girl. He could make this really good for her. That part of his brain began overriding the rest as his hand crept up to caress Shilo's breast. She threw her head back and gasped.

Yeah. He could just go down on her. No chance of getting her pregnant. Hardly even taking advantage, not when she was begging him. Graverobber hitched up her shirt and kissed her body, starting in the hollow of her throat, working down to her breasts, spending a little quality time with each nipple. Shilo writhed, loudly yelling her approval with each motion. He slid down, letting his hands drag over her belly, feeling her jump, then her knees. He spread her legs.

Shilo sat up and gave him a curious look. "What-" she started but didn't finish as he kissed her between her legs, making her temporarily loss control of her vocal cords. Her body went limp, except for her spine, which arched and twisted. Graverobber was having a grand time watching and listening to her. So responsive. He was curious to see how she'd react to a cock, how wet she'd be. He tried to put those thoughts aside but couldn't help sliding in a finger.

Shilo screamed and almost came off the bed. He chuckled at the flushed look on her face, the almost lazily sensual smile she gave him. "You back on Earth?" he asked her. She nodded.

"First hit's free, right?" she asked him when she could finally speak.

"Yeah."