Any time.

Who: Amy and Reiz.
Where: Amy's apartment.
When: Afternoon.

It didn't matter where Reiz was at, or what he was doing, because at the moment, he couldn't register much of it at all. He was sore, and his mind was muddled from the many, many cans of alcohol he'd downed. He was confused as to why he was where he was at--which was sitting down at the edge of a sidewalk, but it didn't really matter to him in the end. He felt hot and cold, and he just chalked it up as 'the way the world worked.' Maybe it was just a bad feeling day. He felt throbbing in his face and in his chest, and all he could really do at the moment was sit there, shivering and hugging himself to wait out the numbness in his mind so he could figure out what to do.

Amy was hobbling along whistling that one pirate song to herself to keep her mind off things. She was a little slow, but that was just the way things were, no point in complaining about it. The third verse was giving her a little trouble when she stopped cold, and not just because it was cold out. Reiz was right in there in front on her, weaving around like he had been on a ten day drunk and looking like he had been hit by a truck. A mean truck. He was hugging himself and looking lost. Friends didn't let friends look lost.

"Reiz!" she cried out and hobbled over to him with her arms out. "What happened to you sweetie?"

Reiz slowly looked up, glancing off to the side where he... thought he heard the voice. ...Maybe? Oh... It was Amy. Which in the middle of his soreness and confusion, he could feel a small rise of happiness in his chest. Or maybe he breathed funny and that was the bruise.

What could he tell her? He couldn't tell her he'd gotten into a fight. He couldn't tell her how he let his instincts overcome him...

So he looked away and shook his head.

"Nothing."

"Oh darling," Amy said softly and lifted her hands up to cup his face gently, hesitating at touching his poor bruised cheeks. She put her fingers tenderly on his greenish purple bruised face, feeling the short texture of stubble under her thumbs. "Oh look at you."

Her eyebrows came sharply together, "You've been drinking. Were you in a bar brawl? Who did this to you?" she brandished a girly fist. "I'll punch them in their big mean nose!"

Despite his current situation, Reiz gave a small smile at her... threat. He doubted that she'd be able to take a fight with that hunter and Garnier. It was a little amusing, but the thought warmed him up a little.

"S'okay. No one did anything. Just fell."

Which was a total lie, but a lie was better than the truth at the moment.

"Look at you! You're drunk! Fell my left foot," she looked down a her temporarily gimpy foot. Ah, irony. Amy could do it. "You're coming back to my place so I can take care of you." She was going to limp him home, clean him up and feed him something, he didn't like cookies. Maybe he liked chicken or beef.

Reiz coulda fell while he was drunk... He certainly had before. But he didn't think that Amy was gonna believe any of his lies, probably for good reason too.

"...s'okay..." He didn't want to be a burden to her. Reiz could take care of himself, he had all his life. She probably had other things to worry about, other things to do, better things to do than worry about a beat up drunk on the street.

Amy took one of his hands and held it in both of hers, giving him her best puppy dog eyes. "Come on, let me take care of you. There's so little I can do to be helpful to people. I promise I'll be real fast and then I won't bother you anymore I promise." She knew she could be annoying sometimes, but Reiz was her friend, and if nothing else she tried to be a loyal friend.

...Ergh. Reiz looked up at her with his tired eyes, and he'd already given in. Even if she just nudged him with his pinky toe a bit, he would've given in.

He slowly got onto his feet, and shook his head.

"You're not bothering me."

Looking up at Reiz sad face and gingerly put her arms around him, "I'm glad. I know I act a little ditzy sometimes, but I try to be friendly. I'm I hugging too hard?" She hoped he didn't mind hopping slowly, her ankle was still a little woogly.

Reiz shook his head. "You're not..." He meant that as an answer to both her statements. She wasn't ditzy... not in a bad way, anyway. She was nice to him, and he liked that. It was nice to have someone who cared.

She smiled a big beamy smile at him, "Awesome-ful. Come on then." She kept her hand gently holding onto his, "My apartment's up ahead, its a little burny, the super hasn't finished it yet. But everything still works, and we won't have to walk as far," she looked down at her one wrapped up ankle. "Do you like chicken salad? I could make you chicken salad. Or maybe just chicken."

Reiz followed after her, stumbling a bit in his steps. Her hand in his felt nice, and it felt... fragile. He didn't want to hurt her, so he tried to hold on as lightly as possible.

"I like chicken..."

"I'll make you chicken then!" she squeezed his hand gently. "I got a whole chicken from the market for the next couple of days. Its all cooked and in the fridge and everything!" she hobbled along slowly beside him. "And while you have lunch I can clean your poor face up," she gasped. "My goodness! Is your tail okay?"

Reiz nodded. His tail had seen worse days. There was that one time he almost lost his tail, yeah, that was a fun time to be had.

"...thanks."

"Good," Amy hobbled along pleasantly next to Reiz, her ankle didn't really hurt all that much today, as pleasantly as she could manage and tried to think of something to say. "Did you see the sunrise this morning? It was pretty."

Brrr... Reiz didn't remember if he saw the sunrise or not. He kinda remembered... but maybe that was just another sunrise he'd seen before? "Um... don't 'member."

He stopped for a second, "Um. ...are you okay?"

"Oh," she weaved a little as he stopped. "My ankle," she pointed at it. "From when I fell in the woods." He probably didn't want to think too much about yesterday, he kind of freaked out. "I just wrapped it with an Ace Bandage," she said with relish. She liked the word ace bandage, it was fun to say, or she guessed the two words. Ace bandage...

"...Oh..." Reiz looked down at her ankle, contemplating for a moment... before scooping her up as he did yesterday. He was okay with his injuries, but she probably didn't get hurt as often as he did. He wanted to make the walk a bit easier for her.

Amy squeaked as she was lifted up. She hadn't been carried around this much since she was six. "My goodness," she gently put an arm around Reiz's shoulders. "Thank you Reiz! Um, my apartments that way." She was having major deja vu. It was kinda nice and snuggly to put her head on his shoulder. Being carried around made her feel all warm and pleasant. Like she was cared for.

Reiz merely nodded, as he started walking off in the direction he was instructed towards. Carrying her made his bruised spots feel a bit more sore, but that was okay. He could deal with it. He was mostly just worried about how sober he was. But even if he was completely smashed, he would do his best to take care of her.

When Amy tilted her head up under Reiz's chin she felt her hair hanging on his stubble and giggled. "I'm not too heavy for you am I? I'm not holding you where it hurts am I?" He was a little weavy and wobbly, but the time to talk to him about poor drinking habits was not when he was slooshed, or was that sloshed? She trusted him though, he wouldn't drop her. She kinda wished Jamie the Adorable Baker wanted her to carry her around (she blushed) but he didn't like her like that. As he pointed out.

Reiz was a good friend though, and he needed her attention now.

"No, I'm okay." Reiz continued forward, "I can walk okay. Your foot is hurt."

"Thank you Reiz," she squeezed his neck extra tight before remembering she probably shouldn't do that. He took good care of her, at least during the three days they knew each other at least. "Sorry." She pulled her hair off his stubble. "How much have you had to drink?" She knew Reiz would never drop her on purpose, but if he was super drunk...

Reiz was quiet whilst he thought on it... He actually wasn't sure. The whole drinking thing was a... blur in his mind. That probably said enough on its own.

"Don't 'member."

"Hmm," Amy said. "I'm not sure that's a good sign." But she was pretty sure Reiz wouldn't drop her anyway, at least not without giving her a little warning first. She leaned her head back against his shoulder, he seemed to be walking in a straight enough line anyway. Well, mostly straight. "My apartment's right up those steps," she pointed.

Her little apartment was still a little bit of a mess, it probably would be for a few more days, but at least her window was replaced and her electricity worked again.

Reiz kept going, managing his way up the steps, and set her down gently on her feet in front of the door. He didn't want to shove his way in and bonk her on the doorframe or something. He did that once with boxes, but boxes didn't feel and boxes aren't nice like Amy.

"Thank you," Amy said and straightened her sweater. She took out her keys and steadied Reiz's weaving by hooking an arm through his. The view from the door showed the blackened wall of her kitchenet, all least her kitchen floor was clean. "Right through here."

"Can I take your coat?" that was what polite hostesses did.

"Huh? Um..." Reiz wasn't really sure how to respond. Would it be impolite to say no? But... he didn't want to give her his dirty hoodie. He shook his head. "S'okay. Thanks though."

"You sure? I could wash it for you," she said, trying to sound helpful. "I've only got one type of laundry soap," she sniffed her sweater. Lavender. Hmm. "It kinda smells flowerly. But if you don't mind I could do a load for you. That is if you don't mind." She fiddled with her the weave of her sweater. She didn't mean to pry and overreach her bounds so to speak.

She didn't make a lot of friends working the night shift, and most of the friends she had from school that were still around town were starting families. Or starting to start families, and had no time to stay up until three thirty just to go eat cookies with her.

...Reiz liked flowers.

"Um... sure..." He fumbled with pulling the hoodie over himself, his hair all static-y as the cloth went by. "I don't mind..." He held it at his waist, feeling the static brush against the skin on his arms.

"Okey dokey," she grinned, folding the hoodie over one arm. His t shirt rode up on his middle showing a patch of dark bruises on his side. "Oh no," she said, his arms had bruises and scratches too. "We need to get you cleaned up! Here, let me throw this in the wash, just sit down at the kitchen table." She hurried off the the little wash room, more of a wash closet really, she had been lucky that her Daddy hadn't minded letting her have his old washer/ dryer when he moved away and she moved back.

She carefully measured out out the deturgent and started the water going, she had to give it a practiced kick with one foot, but it got going with no trouble. Pausing before dropping in the hoodie she narrowed her eyes and dumped in another cup of soap. It was a little stained. Okay, a lot stained, but a good wash would fix that.

"Huh-- Oh. Um..." Reiz scratched his cheek idly, as his eyes followed her, but his legs walked him over to the table, sitting him down. His fingers traced over the table cover's checkerboard pattern (though it wasn't very straight at all... he was trying to follow the lines as best as he could), his mind blank.

Amy bustled over to the bathroom and pulled out her first aide kit, it had everything except a needle and thread. It even had stickers, because stickers always made her feel better. She wondered if stickers would make Reiz feel better. Now Amy was cheerful, and preferred to think only the best of people, but she was aware that Reiz had demon urges sometimes. That just because he was pretty much her best friend by default (although the carrying was definately adding merit to the idea independently) right now she may not be his.

She openned the first aide kit on the kitchen table and got out the peroxide and a couple cotton balls before lifting Reiz's arm gently and holding it so she could get at the long scrape along his arm. "This might be kind of stingy, will you be okay with stingy? With your demon-ness I mean."

Reiz watched her curiously as she opened the kit on the table. He'd remembered Smith kind of had something like it way back when. But Smith and Amy were definitely not the same kind of people. Sort of. They were both very nice people that Reiz liked a whole bunch lots.

But even though Smith was nice, he wasn't all sweet and stuff like Amy. He remembered his choice of words was something along the lines of, 'This'll hurt, but don't cry.'

...Smith meant it in a good way though!

He nodded.

"Okay," Amy bit her lip and gently patted the peroxide along the cut, making sure she got any debris out. Reiz's arm tensed under her hand but he didn't jump too bad and went pretty still right after. Once she had finished with that she pulled out guaze and taped it down gently over the cut. "There," she said and moved her hand to tilt his chin toward her, it looked like someone had kicked him in the face. She dabbed gently at a rough cut high on his forehead. "That doesn't hurt too much does it?"

Sure, it hurt, but it wasn't something that Reiz couldn't handle. He winced a bit at the contact, but he was sure all the alcohol running through his system probably dulled it at least a little bit. But it didn't last long, and the feel of the gauze... made it feel clean and sanitary. Nice. Safe.

Amy felt nice and safe. Reiz liked that a lot.

"It doesn't hurt."

"Good," Amy released her breath, after rifling a moment through her first aide kit she found a normal, non butterfly or flower band aid and put it gently on the cut on his forehead. "There all better," she lifted both his arms gently to check for any other scrapes. Once she was convinced he wasn't hiding any more open wounds on his person she put her arms around his shoulders for a quick tight hug.

"I'll get lunch together," she nodded. And got out the sticker sheet, giving it a critical look before picking a bluebird sticker and putting it on his shirt, she wasn't going to be so insensitive as to say he had been a good boy or something equally childish and patronizing. But she wanted him to have a sticker.

After coughing nervously she went over to her fridge, the employee's half fridge at the motel hadn't been big enough for groceries and she didn't really have the money to eat out every meal, not with all the stuff she had to get done. She was a girl with responsibilities.

Reiz closed his eyes as the band-aid made contact with his forehead, opening once as he felt it placed. He just cocked his head to the side curiously as she raised his arms. He didn't mind it. It was nice how much she cared about him... he wished he could do more for her too, though.

He looked down at the birdy sticker, trying to figure out what kind it was. All birdies looked the same... but they were cute and puffy and it didn't really matter what kind they were, he supposed. Birdies were birdies.

"...thanks."

He sat there for a moment, looking down at the floor... but he didn't like just sitting there. Smith always said no work got done if you just sat there.

He got up, walking up behind Amy, before asking quietly: "...is there anything I can do?"

Amy held the cold plate or chicken and thought thoughtfully. She was sure there was plenty he could do, it wasn't fair to just have him sit there. First though she would have to get rid of the cold plate, it was making her fingers tingly and pink, she placed it on the counter with a clink. Reiz was good at being tall, Amy was not, what tall things could he do for her?

She pointed at the kitchen light socket, current empty because of the ghost explosion, "You can replace my light bulbs. My extra bulbs are under the sink. I could get them for you. There are some in my room you could replace too if you want." Normally she wouldn't ask a strange boy into her room, not even to change her light bulbs, but anything... personal was currently at the motel room. She had seen to that personally since thankfully Pandect was quite as embarrassed at the idea of him fetching her more... intimate items as she was. He would probably pass out if he so much as found a pair of pantyhose. In some ways Pandect was a total maiden aunt for all his macho muttering and use of power tools.

He was like a big French muttering maiden aunt with power tools. If aunts were boys.

Reiz shook his head as he looked around for the bottom of her sink. He was good at stuff like this. Minimum wage labour type work. He could probably fix up whatever else she needed at her apartment too... He crouched down, opening the cupboard at the bottom, and picked up several packaged bulbs.

"Um. ...Is there anything else I can do for you?" He got up, his tail having unwound from his waist, tapped the door shut.

"Well, right now, I'm not really living living in my apartment," she gestured around at the burnt wallpaper and through to the little sitting room where the coffee table appeared to be duct taped together. She was going to have to replace that. "I'll probably need help later though, I'd appreciate it," she reached over absently and gave his tail a friendly little pat. "Leg or breast?"

"Oh." Reiz tried to carry as many lightbulbs as he could, whilst following her to the sitting room. "I um. I'd like to help you..." He was good at this sort of thing. He knew how to replace wallpaper, though he didn't know how to decorate very well... considering, well, he couldn't see the colors, but he was sure Amy was good with colors. She was a very colorful person.

His tail gave a little content waver at the pat.

"Um..." 'course the idea of her talking about anything but chicken completely over his head. "I like legs and breasts."

"Well, you look like you've had a hard day, so how about both?" Amy smiled, this was fun, it was like having a tea party only without the tea. Maybe a chicken party? She put a couple nice pieces of breast on Reiz's plate and both legs and a little bit of side just to be sure. After all, boys ate more than girls, right? He deserved them after getting beat up like that.

Or maybe he started the fight! Then he did not deserve extra meat, he deserved a strong talking to, because you can't just do stupid things like that when people care about you! Also drinking was an inappropriate way to self medicate, or so the grief counselor said, and Amy was liable to agree. Maybe it was a demon thing though. She thought to much.

"Is that enough?" she asked and since Reiz looked pretty drunk she tucked his napkin gently into the collar of his shirt, she wished she had some kind of magic feel better medicine. Bruise-B-Gone. Since ghosts and demons were real, she wondered if other things were real too.

Like the tooth fairy! And did Santa have issues flying post-9/11?

Reiz placed the light bulbs gently on the floor--he had to be careful with her stuff!--and took the plate from her, glancing down at the napkin blankly. Sure, he knew what a napkin was, he wasn't that messy, but he'd never had anyone tuck it into his shirt like that. It seemed like a good enough idea, though!

"Um. Yes, thank you," he gave a small nod, and sat down on the floor sloppily cross legged and picked up pieces of the chicken and ate. He had to remember to do more for her, Smith said that when people treat you good, you gotta treat 'em back twice as nice--once to match them, and twice as much because they're good people.

But he wondered what you did for super, super nice people? Maybe treat them extra-extra-extra good?

Reiz ate a little... messily, Amy giggled. She could respect a healthy appetite. She was after all, originally a farm girl. But somehow a little bit of messiness fit Reiz, he didn't seem the sort to worry too terribly of what other people think, he was too... childlike for that. Despite his insistence he wasn't a nice person, demon, whatever, there was a sweet sort of innocence about him.

And his tail was pretty awesome too. She toed her shoes off gently, it was hard to do with a sore ankle and set her toes of her good foot on the curve of his tail gently, just to see if he minded or not.

Feeling the touch of her feet against his tail made Reiz look up at Amy with a smile. He didn't know what it was, but just feeling her nearby, or feeling her touch, or anything Amy-related made him feel all warm and it reminded him of the nice smelling scarf. He went back to his food, but his tail waved around slowly, and lightly wrapped itself around her foot. Like a tail-hug. ...or something!

Amy was glad Reiz was her friend, and that he didn't mind cuddling a little. Boys weren't generally good at cuddling without expecting a little extra, but Amy didn't get that vibe from Reiz at all. She wiped her mouth delicately, "You know any time you get scraped up," her face momentarily clouded and she had the urge to go and shake her fist at someone, "I don't mind giving you band aids, or whatever you need."

She made sure her hand wasn't chickeny and patted his head once, combing his striaght hair down a little, he would need a hair cut soon. "Although I'd rather you didn't drink, I don't... I don't really know what your going through," way to move into the heavy stuff, she thought. "But you're my friend, I want to help you. And I'm your friend too."

She knew life was hard, the only way to survive it was to smile the way through it. But having a friend made life so much easier. Maybe it was wrong to want her life to be easier, but even temporary contentment was better than none at all.

Reiz nodded at her offer, "Thank you." He'd try really hard not to get in anymore fights though... he didn't want to worry her anymore, and he didn't want to take anything else from her either. The scarf, and the food, and her kindness, he had already taken too much.

"Sorry..." he said quietly (though the pat on the head made him smile). But drinking was what kept him... okay. It dulled the bad thoughts in his head, so he could think about nicer things in life.

"I wanna help you too."

Amy grinned at that, but jumped when the washer beeped in the other room. "Oh, I should go get that."

Reiz nodded, and went back to eating his chicken. He should hurry up--so that he could help her with her house and her lightbulbs. He was good at eating things fast, and soon enough, he'd cleaned off his plate. Reiz wiped his hands on his pants out of habit, forgetting about the napkin around his neck, and got up, picking up the bulbs.

Amy stepped around her duct tape table and through her black walled kitchen to the laundry closet. She pulled his old hoodie from the washer and tossed it into the dryer. "So what're you're plans for the rest of the day then?" she called from the laundry room.

"Umm..." Reiz looked around the apartment, trying to figure out which doorway led to her room before just... picking and walking. Process of elimination! He peeked around the doorframe, looking up at the ceiling to see if this was the room of busted bulbs. "I don't really have any plans."

"Hmm," Amy said mostly to herself and leaned against the door frame. Where was Reiz? Kitchen, no. Living room, no. Bedroom, check. "Your hoodie should be done in half an hour tops, and if you don't mind I'd like to mend it a little, its got a hole in the pocket. I guess you could hang out here a little while. A hotel room is a little small for me, I'll probably hang out here until the night shift. There's more space, even if the decor is a little singed."

"Um... sure." Reiz had taken a step up on the bed to reach the ceiling, the spare bulbs he'd carried with him had been placed onto the floor, whilst his hands were unwinding the busted light, and his tail had a grip on the replacement.

"Thank you."

Amy hobbled over to lean on the edge of the door and smiled up at Reiz. It was kind of a weird sort of domestic scene. Doing laundry and changing light bulbs. This was nice, friendship instead of romance, but still. This was nice. "You're welcome. Any time."