*Many thanks to Krystal for her great suggestion of using a question game. It led to a result I didn't see coming. Darn OC'S and their springing things on me. Olivia and Jake are on deck. Some of this was pretty random. I don't own The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, or Keebler elves. Did I mention this is really random? ;)

Olivia could only revel in the the silence that followed a freshly fallen snow for a few seconds. She winced as Jayden's whoop rang through the bridge under which she and Jake were traveling, and immediately stepped aside to avoid the purple-masked turtle barreling toward them. The young man wasn't quick enough to follow her lead, so the red-masked turtle yanked Jacob out of the path of destruction.

She gave Jayden a dirty look as the fifteen-year-old ran by, dragging Alexis behind him. The girl didn't seem to mind being hauled along by a locomotive. She laughed loudly when her hat was lost to the wind, and dark hair flailed out around her.

"Jay, wait! My hat!"

Olivia rolled her eyes when Nate strolled up beside them. "Who invited those two? Or Jayden, I ought to say."

Her orange-masked cousin shrugged. "It's the biggest snow of the season. It's sort of hard to blame him."

Liv huffed in annoyance. "He'll wake half the neighborhood at this rate. Shouldn't have opened my big mouth about coming out tonight..."

Nate gave her a sympathetic glance. "Why don't you and Jake take off for a bit? I can wrangle those two." He nodded toward the turtle and teenage girl careening down an embankment after Alexis' hat.

Olivia watched the pair dubiously. "You might need back up, Chokkan."

"Olivia, I've got this. I have my phone too. Just go."

The red-masked turtle eyed her cousin, still unsure of the offer, but the opportunity to run off with Jake in a snow-covered, abandoned Central Park was too tempting. "Okay. Call me if you see any signs of the military."

He waved her on. "You'll probably notice the helicopters before I can call you. I better go catch up with them." The seventeen-year-old bounded down the adjacent hill after Jayden and Alexis without another word, and Olivia sighed.

Jake's gloved hand fingered her shoulder. "You okay?"

She fidgeted with agitation. "Yeah, but I don't know if he is. Nate can be so hard to read, even now."

"He'll pretty much tell you when something's bugging him, won't he?"

"For the most part, but not where she's concerned." Olivia didn't have to specify who "she" was. Though the red-masked turtle had never broken her promise not to reveal her cousin's feelings for Reina, her boyfriend had picked up some of Nate's cues on his own.

"I think you have to wait him out," Jacob said quietly. "There's a time to push someone, and a time to let 'em figure out what they want to do without interfering."

The eighteen-year-old stared at the ground. "I don't think he'll act on anything, Jake. This is affecting him, whether he admits it or not. I know Nate hasn't been himself with her gone."

The young man tugged her hand lightly to get her walking. "If his feelings are this strong with them separated, he'll have a hard time denying it doesn't exist, Olivia. Maybe the time apart is the push he needs to get closer to her."

She shook her head. "I want to do something, but I can't. I can't act without betraying his trust."

Jake nodded soberly. "Keep your ears open, Liv. You never know when he might be ready for the help he needs."

Olivia frowned, willfully shaking off the worry encroaching on her mind. "Sorry, Jake. The night isn't turning out how I planned at all. First the rowdy bunch tags along, and now I'm bringing us down."

"You're not bringing me down," he insisted. "What'd you have planned anyway? Got the park all to ourselves, so there's all kinds of potential." He eyed her with a playful smile. "I could see a snow war in our future."

"Uh...we could do that, but I'd kick your tail."

"True," he assented. "What else were you thinking?"

She snapped her fingers shut around his hand. "There are more options since we're finally alone." Though Olivia didn't look at Jake, she could feel his smile.

"Do tell."

"I think it's time I put you to the true test."

"That sounds a little frightening."

"Oh, it could be. If you fail."

The young man cast his shoulders backwards in a mock body-builder's stance. "I've never backed down from a challenge. Name the terms."

"Two words, punk. Boyfriend. Tag."

He cocked his head. "That's not anything like Ninja Tag, is it? Because I can't compete with you on that level either."

She giggled. "Nope. It's a quiz to find out how well you really know me."

"Well, then, bring it on."

"Think you're that ready?"

"Absolutely, but then I want a turn."

"Deal." Olivia dug a folded piece of paper from her jacket pocket. "All right. Question #1. I'm sitting in front of the TV. What's on the screen in front of me?"

"If you're in control? Some installment of the Hunger Games, for sure."

"Have I made you watch the series too many times?"

Jake gave her a lopsided grin. "Does one ever get tired of Katniss Everdeen?"

"I remember when you thought otherwise."

"That was before I knew her, and I know you too. Next question."

"What kind of dressing would I eat on my salad?"

He made a face at her. "What salad? You don't eat lettuce. Trick question."
"It was on the list."

"Next please."

"One food I won't eat, besides lettuce."

"What, like it's hard? You won't touch olives, pimentos, or anything involving raw fish."

Olivia shuddered. "It wasn't meant to be eaten that way."

"There are some in your family who disagree."

"Good for them. Question #4. What size shoe do I wear?"

"Oh, come on. Do I look like a Keebler elf?"

Her brow furrowed in confusion. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"You know, the elves make the shoes in that story. You get yours customized. How am I supposed to know your size?"

"Keebler elves make cookies," she argued.

"They could do both. How would you know? Have you ever met one?"

Liv face-palmed. "You're losing points for that. Question 5. What's something you do that I wish you wouldn't?"

Jake snorted. "Probably has to do with singing in the shower. You can appreciate it anywhere but there."

Olivia snickered under her breath. "For the record, it's not the singing. It's the amount of time you spend doing it. You try putting on full blown concerts in the bathroom."

"What a man does in his private time is his own business. Next."

"You bake me a cake for me birthday (which happens to be coming up shortly). What flavor is it?"

"Chocolate, of course."

"Is there any other kind allowed?" she wondered. "Okay...uh. Question #6. What's my heritage? That's definitely too easy for you."

"But still an interesting story," he pointed out. "How many people on Earth can claim to have a Venezuelan-born mother and a father with your unique chemistry, who was raised Japanese?"

"That would be...one."

"No doubt. I'm breezing right through these. Isn't there anything hard on there?"

Olivia skimmed over questions rapidly. "I suppose we've known each other long enough that all the mystery is gone."

"C'mon! Challenge me."

She laughed suddenly over the next question. "This one would be up for serious debate. When was our first date?"

"You wouldn't call it that until the night we got hauled off to Ravensrock, but it happened way before then."

"Oh, really?"

"That first night we met and played basketball. You were totally into me. It wasn't an official date, but it was awful close."

"Do you accuse all your dates of 'stalking' you?"

"Only when they sneak up on me and won't let me see them."

"I did that one time!"

"Wasn't the first time you watched me though, huh?" His sly grin was too much.

The red-masked turtle slugged him in the shoulder, hard.

"Why do you always resort to violence?"

"You were pretty into me that night too, if I recall," she retorted. "This is stupid. I'm not asking any more of these questions."

"Don't quit yet."

"You ask if you want, but I'm finished."

"You have to play a little longer. It's not fair if I don't get a turn."

"Fine, then you're up, punk. You wanna pick something off the list?"

Jake didn't take the offered paper. "I only have one question, but it's the ultimate test of our relationship."

She smirked. "Sounds serious. Better get it right."

His feet came to a halt and Jake turned to face her. "If I asked you to marry me, what would you say?"

The words rang in her ears, but she couldn't be sure she'd heard them correctly. "What?"

"If I stopped right here and asked you to marry me, what would you say?"

Olivia gazed at Jake warily. "A-are you being for real right now? Because it's not funny to joke about."

"I wouldn't joke about it."

"But you're just gonna blurt it out when we're messing around? How does that make sense?"

"No one ever called me the king of romance. Doesn't mean I don't love you." His hand strayed to his pocket, from which he retrieved a small pouch. "I was going to wait until your birthday, but I don't want to. Don't get too excited, because the stones aren't real. Someday, I'll do better."

When he extended the object toward her, Olivia had the urge to whip out the flashlight on her phone, but settled for looking closer at the silver-plated ring. She brushed a finger over the floral design on the band, set with a dark red stone in the center and white gems surrounding like a wreath. Her fingers weren't as large as the other males in her family, but the turtle was still surprised it looked like it would actually fit.

"How did you know what to do for the size?"

"Your mom helped me figure that out, and I had it made for you."

Her eye ridges rose at the news.

"What? You think I didn't talk to your parents about this?"

"My dad was okay with it?"

"Olivia, it's been two and a half years. I think he knows I'm a keeper." Jake winked, and she caught her breath.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive, Liv."

"It's a big commitment," she said hoarsely. "It will mean giving up a lot of things, and opportunities. I don't want you to rush into something you'll end up regretting, and then I'll end up..." She didn't finish, staring hard at their feet.

Jake grabbed her hands and she looked back at him. "I know this is what I want, and you're going to have totrust that I won't change my mind. Can you do that?"

"You've never given me a reason not to," she answered softly.

"Then I need an answer. What would you say to marrying me?"

Olivia unsuccessfully withheld another shudder. Asking her to trust him without abandon was the equivalent of requesting her to jump off a cliff without a parachute, but she wasn't one to back down from a challenge either. "Yes. I will."

She swore his smile lit up the night. "Guess you pass my test then."

"How did you manage to commandeer this session?" Liv demanded, but couldn't force real anger.

Jake leaned down and kissed her so deeply that warmth returned to wind-chapped lips.

"You make a compelling argument," she admitted.

"I just know how to shut you up," he goaded.

The turtle smiled sweetly to his face, but then kicked his right leg out from underneath him so the young man sprawled on his back in the snow. "Who plays who, punk?"

"Hey, do you want this or not?" he taunted, closing his fist around the ring. "You'd better play nice."

"I thought you knew me, Jake."

"I'm only trying to make an honest stalker out of you."

"You don't want me to have to take that ring from you, right?"

He shook his head. "I surrender."

She dropped to the ground beside him. "Those are magic words, Jake." Olivia couldn't resist tugging one of the curls that peeked out from under his hat. "You think you can handle me for 60-70 years?"

"We won't be bored," he remarked, catching her by the wrist.

Ignoring the cold wetness of the snow was an easy feat once she was wrapped in his arms. A stronger breeze renewed the goosebumps across exposed skin, but Olivia didn't shiver this time. Instead she threw caution away with it.

Wanna see the ring? Check out my page on Facebook, Legacy of Loyalty.