attempting to alleviate mental scarring

who: eury and ash
where: washington street
when: early morning

Eury had gotten up early to open up the shop for a little while, in hopes that she was going to get some work done, but something plastered to the door of her shop caught her attention first. After she saw the photograph, she gasped, and rushed outside, to see if she could see who had put it there. Unfortunately, they were gone, but she noted immediately that they were everywhere. Oh no... she thought with a sinking feeling, and she started up the street to start tearing them down, after a quick phonecall to the cop shop to tell them what she was seeing. And of course, someone had already reported it, but she knew human instinct was to leave shit to someone else. And so. She made the call, and started heading up Washington Street to tear pictures down, wondering just how far spread they were.

As she tore another one down, she sighed, trying to block the image from her mind though she was sure it was burned in permanently by now. "...what is wrong with people?" she murmured.

Someone else had had the same idea. Ash was sauntering up Washington in the other direction, pulling down the fliers or whatever they were as he spotted them. Only he was actually looking at them, one eye narrowed against the smoke that wafted up from the cigarette perched on his lips. Huh. It looked like he might have some work coming up for himself, if he just so happened upon whoever'd done this. He tore another one down, but it was a repeat of what he'd already seen.

He hadn't been to bed yet, he'd been out and around, but when he'd come back to the shop, he'd found it plastered with this bullshit. Which made him distinctly Not Happy. So he'd gone walking, tearing down the ones he saw. Just because he'd seen them didn't mean that the rest of the world had to. Maybe he could get a lot down before the town really woke up ...

Ash's head lifted as he started to move on, and he spotted a woman headed in his direction, doing much the same as he was. Only in sunglasses, before the sun was really up. Blind? Hungover? Maybe both. He kept on walking, toward her. "Glad somebody else decided against sitting on their asses," he said easily enough once she was in earshot, and gave her a lopsided grin.

Eury looked over, and was relieved to see someone else helping. "Oh thank god, you're helping too?" she asked unnecessarily, and limped her way over. It wasn't a really horrible limp or anything, but her toe was still messed up, and so walking normally and she were not friends. She also returned the smile that he gave her, since his looked like an easy sort of one. She also immediately noted he had ink seemingly in as abundance as she did. "Hi, I'm Eury." she introduced herself, trying to not let her being creeped out over the photos show. Or maybe she should, she didn't know. Damnit. There needed to be a hand book on this shit.

Ash noted the limp along with the way her head moved toward him, which probably meant she wasn't blind. He took the cigarette out of his mouth with two fingers of the hand that was holding his stack of photos -- somebody at Kinko's must've gotten a hella-big tip for this shit -- and exhaled up and away from her. He wiped his right hand on his oil stained jeans and offered it in greeting. "Ash," he introduced himself with a nod. He didn't seem creeped out, but the smile didn't exactly stay. "Didn't figure it was stuff that needed to stay put," he said, then glanced around. "And now I'm wonderin' where the cops are."

"Nice to meet you, Ash." Eury said, shaking his hand. "Not sure, I called them. They said they'd already had it reported around...and looking around, it's kind of looking like they're...everywhere." she said with a sigh. "Clearly, I wasn't meant to open the store up early today." she said. "What are you doing wandering around at this ungodly hour?"

"Haven't been to bed yet. I was on my way there, actually, and saw how somebody'd redecorated my shop," he said with a wry little grin. He shook the papers in his hand. "And here we are. What kind of store you run?" He was curious. With the tattoos and the dreadlocks and the fact that she was pretty clear in his eyes.

Eury had to grin at him for that, sort of wondering how he'd take to it when she said it. It was always interesting getting people's reactions. "An antique shop." she said. "Up there...Stone Eye Antiquities." she pointed for him, so just in case he ever wanted something old, he knew where to find it. "What kind of shop do you run?" she asked. And why was it she continually met shop keepers? Was it a trend? She thought it might be.

Both of his eyebrows moved up and he nodded in that 'well, whaddaya know' sort of way, looking half-impressed. He wouldn't think that a place like Marquette would have an antique shop. "Interesting," he said, glancing in the direction she pointed, the one she'd came from. "Mechanic shop," Ash told her, jerking a vague thumb over his shoulder and smiled at her a bit. "Not nearly so glamorous. You get much business around here?" He tried to picture her digging around in musty old chests and found that he kind of could.

"Not a lot. But I've got a loyal following of old ladies built up already, so I'm doing alright." she said, starting to walk, albeit slowly what with the bruised foot and all, to keep ripping more things down. She sort of half lingered to wait for him too though. "Mechanics though...you lot never run out of business. I'll be around here with the winters and all that you get a whole lot, too."

"Haven't been through one here yet, but I'm willing to bet you're right," he said, turning to walk with her automatically. He'd more or less gotten everything down in this direction, from his shop to here, so he slowly veered to cross the street. He hoped there were more folks up doing this, or they had a fuck of a long morning. "Probably get my own loyal following of blue-hairs, salt on the road's hell on older undercarriages, and older folks don't really think to check 'til their muffler's fallen off." He shot her a little grin and re-tucked his cigarette.

She smiled back, following along, and ripping down another one on a low wall starting up Third. "I'm sure you'll do fine. I know any vehicle I've ever owned has gone to hell quickly, it's why I stopped trying. I don't think we're meant for one another, cars and me. We had a good run, but it was time to give up the ghost." she rambled. "So you're new here...how new?" she asked. "New enough that this is a really horrible welcome?" she asked, gesturing to the pictures.

"Some things just aren't in the cards," he said, tearing one or two down himself. "Ever try bikes? Not to try and drum up business for myself, but I do motorcycles too." And he could see her on a big hog. "Not that the season here's very long ... Been here a few months," he answered, glancing to the horrific reminders in his hand. He'd heard about the kids, and this was just ... icing on the shit-cake. Somebody? Deserved some hell for it. "So I wouldn't guess new enough." He'd already seen some of what this town had to offer, after all.

"I have in fact had motorcycles before. I just haven't had one in a while. A friend of mine years back crashed it, so...it's one of those things. I'll get back around to it someday. Though if you see a bike for a good price or something, gimme a ring to let me know. I might be interested." It sounded good right now, anyways. Since she was kind of feeling more and more the back inklning to leave. The pictures...they said trouble, and where there was trouble there was hunters and they liked to chop off her head and sell it for a million five. So yeah. "Were you here for the cats?" she asked. Probably, that was only a few weeks ago now that she was thinking about it. "That was awful."

"Sure was," he agreed to both the question and the sentiment. He had been. And had killed quite a good number of them before they'd laid him out, sick as shit for a week or so. He'd been lucky, Ash knew. They fell to his blessed weapons easily, but a few more bites and scratches and he might've been pushing up daisies. Which wasn't such a terrible idea, but Death By Cat was not the way he wanted to go, demony or no. "And even though it stunk to high heaven, the aftermath was kinda cathartic," he added with a chuckle. "So when'd you breeze in? Might be a stereotyping asshole, but you don't look like a long-term local."

"A few months ago too. Though...I don't know, it's feeling like more than that now. Far before the cats showed up, anyhow." she said. "Maybe going eight months? Nine? Not quite a year yet, but getting there." Eury continued, knowing it was totally irrelevant, but oh well. "What do you think of this sort of thing? I know that...well, a lot of the people around here are really freaked out over it. I feel bad. I'm a traveler by nature, and I've spent a lot of times in big cities, where this sort of thing wouldn't be nearly as traumatic for people, which is sad to say, but..." she shrugged. "It's definitely different here."

He wasn't really surprised to hear her say that, but pleased just the same. He'd met his share of other people who lived their lives in nomadic ways like he did, but they were always nice to find. To cross paths with, even if she'd settled for a little while. He had too, with the shop and all. He kind of hoped this was the last place he'd be. "I've been around enough myself to not have a weak stomach for this sort of shit," he said, wording his way around it. "It's tragic. And this makes it worse. But ... kinda like you, I've been through a lot of spots that don't have time for memorials for all their tragedies, y'know? Arm-flailing doesn't help much, but I'm thinking people here don't know what else to do, for the most part."

"No, I'm sure they don't. I like small towns for that though. More...heart, I suppose." Eury mused, ripping more down, and dumping a load in the nearest trash bin. "I'm wondering about the warning though." she added, and was watching him out of the corner of her eye much more carefully than it appeared. "What do you think it means?"

His stained fingers paused ever so briefly before fisting in another poster to tear it down. He dumped his own armload, and wondered at the fact that she didn't say it very dismissively. Not as though vampire warning automatically meant insanity. Ash looked over at her, an assessing sort of look in his eyes. "I think either someone's delusional and psychotic, or people need to be more careful at night," he said, and though it could've been off-handed and light, it wasn't. "You?"

She took that in, wondering what he knew, if anything. These conversations were so hard. "I think everyone should be careful at night. Two kids got butchered, and somehow, I'm really doubting that it was suicide." Eury sighed. "But there are a lot of fucked up people in the world too." she added, shaking her head. "It kind of seems to be escalating around here though."

Ash hated these kinds of talks. They were dangerous, when you got right down to it. Which really was why he said what he did. "I think it's something to be taken into consideration," he said, clearing his throat and stubbing his smoke out on the bottom of one boot. "I dunno about you, but I believe all kinds of that shit is possible." And there. Either dismissed as crazy or made a hunting target, he was ready for both.

"...it's possible a lot of it is." Eury said, feeling some bit of slightly better that okay maybe she wasn't the only one around that believed in vampires. She'd met a few. She'd been around when a town was attacked by a pack of them, which had been one of the more horrifying experiences of her time. "...are you worried?" she asked, looking over at him and her voice was genuine. She really wanted to know.

The question sort of caught him off guard. He hadn't expected it, that was for sure. Worried? ... he guessed maybe he was, somewhere in the midst of everything else. "For the people in this town, yes," he answered honestly, looking at the sunglasses and kind of wishing they were off so he could read her better. For himself, not so much. He could handle vampires. The few demons he'd found in his time there already, those were a bigger concern for him.

"But not for yourself?" she asked, immediately picking up on that. She kept walking along slowly, trying to be careful of her foot, while she ripped down more pictures. She saw a cop car go past, and they nodded at the both of them, in a basic 'carry on' sort of gesture. The farther they got up the hill the more she thought someone had gone around and put these fucking things everywhere. Yeah. Long, long morning.

Ash matched her pace, aware that she was limping but not really keen on asking why. Maybe it was just something she did all the time. His eyes followed the cop car until it was out of sight, despite the approving nod they'd gotten. He still hadn't adjusted his mind out of the big cities yet. He chuckled, faint and belated. "Not so much for me, naw," he answered, though didn't go into why, really. Not until she asked.

Well, Eury took care of that right away. "Why?" she asked. "Just...really good at taking care of yourself?" she asked, still watching him out of the corner of her eye. She paused at another low wall, where the magic picture bandit had gone to town, and she started tearing a few from there down.

He helped, mind ticking off to what she might know instead of just believe. He was aware that they were feeling each other out, and that was fine. He didn't get any bad vibes from her. Maybe she could turn out useful. "Haven't let me down yet," he answered easily, and though it wasn't strictly true, he was indeed still alive, after battling things much worse than vampires. Ash looked over at her with a half-grin. "Or are you more asking if I got a bigger reason not to be worried?"

Eury blushed, which one thing about wearing mirrorshades constantly, it made it harder to see. But it was still definitely there. "More that second one." she admitted. She looked as embarrassed as she felt, and hoped she hadn't insulted him or anything. So far, despite the weird of the conversation, she was enjoying it.

He'd thought so. And noted absently that the blush was cute. He nodded and straightened up from ripping a low poster off the wall and crumpled it in his left hand. The right one he offered to her again. "Let's start again, then," he said, gaze amused. But aware. Definitely that. "Ash. And yes, I Know," he said, putting emphasis on the words. "Though the secret handshake's been changed on me so many times, I can't prove it right now. Any more detail requires privacy and probably a cup of coffee. My treat."

Eury looked at him, then laughed. It was a genuine sound, and she shook his hand. "Eury, and I Know too." she said. "And don't worry, the secret handshake is really overrated. People change it at every turn, and I stopped paying union dues years ago." But she looked pleased. "Oo, coffee. A man after my own heart, offering that kind of thing this time of the morning." she said. "You're on." She also realized she probably wasn't going to be able to share very much of her own stuff, though maybe they could talk around it. There were people in the know all over, right? She could just be one of them. He didn't need to know she was a gorgon. All that did was scare people.

Ash wasn't exactly going to walk around with 'angel' tattooed on his forehead either -- though he had considered it long and hard, one drunken night, swaying in front of a tat parlor -- but he was very pleased to hear her talk liks she knew what he was saying. He grinned broadly and gave her a little bow. "I do what I can," he demured, moving a few paces to stuff the photos he had into the nearest trashcan. Then offered her his arm, since they were exaggerating and everything. "You'll just have to tell me where, I'm a cheap bastard and usually just make my own." He figured they could take a break from trying to save the town some trauma.

Eury looked charmed, as it was amazingly easy to do for the girl most of the time, and she took his arm. "You can play crutch." she said. Then she tugged up one of the pant legs she had, to hold her sandaled foot out, where there was the dark, ugly bruising from her pinky toe spanning up her foot. "I think I broke the stupid thing." she explained. "So! Sitting down and having coffee would be nice for that. Let's see. There's Mya's diner. And there's a little like...drive thru coffee place we could get something at then find a bench. Harlow Park isn't too far from here." And while she liked the thought of breakfast, they could talk more freely in a place that wasn't full of people.

"Crutch I'm actually good at, so it's your lucky day," he said, looking down at the revealed foot. He made a sympathetic ouchie face, even though it would've been a run of the mill thing for him. But he wasn't a woman. And he pretty much hunted demons for fun. So that was where that was. "Ah, been to Mya's, good hashbrowns. But it's up to you, being the injured one and all." He could eat. But Ash could always eat. "How'd you manage that?' he asked in the meantime, nodding to her foot. "Renegade hope chest? Big family album from the old country?"

She laughed. "Those things might actually make for a good story, but no, I was just dumb and went to run and get my phone, but I'd just gotten out of the shower and my feet were still wet. Linoleum and wet feet aren't friends, so I slipped and jammed it." she explained. "So, that's my harrowing story of my toe. The moral of the tale is 'don't run into the kitchen with wet feet'."

"Words to live by," he said with an easy laugh and a grin flashed at her. At least she was honest, that was refreshing. He started to walk with her, nice and slow-like, not minding being used for support in the least. He wondered vaugely in that nosy way of his about what sort of call was so important, but that totally fell under None of His Damn Business. So he didn't ask, just walked with her.

"I'm certainly learning my lesson." Eury said. "Though, could be worse. And I might have just jammed it really bad, not broke it, not that I've had it looked at. It's not like the hospital can do anything for a broken toe." she shrugged. "But you're a nice crutch, thank you." She also paused whenever they came by another photograph, so she could tear it down along their way. "So...you're a mechanic, you're not a local, and you know about weird things. Any other things I should know about you?"

"Yeah, they'd just tape it to your other toe," he said, shrugging a single shoulder. Yeah, he knew about broken toes. And fingers. And arms. "You could do it yourself, really. ... I drink Johnnie Walker, smoke like a chimney, don't dance, and hate all country except Cash. Who almost doesn't count. So." Ash glanced over at her, looking amused. "You? What's with the shades?" Now that they were really talking, he might as well ask, right?

"I'd have to say Cash doesn't really count." Eury agreed, as she listened. Then she gave a rueful little half smile. "I'm too sensitive to light." she said. "So, it's these all the time, or Eury becomes a blind woman, which I'm not keen on. Much better alternative, sunglasses. Plus, people can make Corey Hart jokes when it's dark out, and who doesn't like those? But yeah, if I don't wear them, I could burn my eyes out, and that's never fun."

"I wouldn't think so," Ash agreed, shaking his head a bit and making a face. "That's shit," he also declared, because it was. Not that sunglasses were too impeding or anything, but he tended to think in terms of what he could do without if he absolutely had to. And it would be so easy for someone to just snatch them off her face and incapacitate her -- as eye-burning definitely sounded painful. He hoped the girl knew how to defend herself, especially if she had anything to do with the darker side of life

She smiled. "But hey! So far it hasn't happened. So either I'm just that lucky, or people are nicer than all that. So I'm all good. But that's the mystery. Sorry it's not more mysterious, but if you want to make yourself up a story about them to tell your friends and neighbors, go right ahead. Just make sure you slip a Corey Hart joke in there somewhere, or I'll be disappointed." Eury's tone had a playful edge to it, as did the grin she flashed.

He laughed, and it was an oddly bright sound coming from the type of guy he looked to be. "Well god knows I wouldn't want to do that," he said, grinning at her. "So there'll definitely be some reference to Corey Hart. Maybe even a couple of them. Like maybe he runs some sort of underground railroad for wayward draft dodgers, and you're just one of many 'light-sensitive' --" he held up his free hand to do the quotey fingers, "-- field agents. Who all have to look as cool as he does, hence the sunglasses. Plus you've got laser eyes, like Cyclops. And ride a dragon." There. That was suitably ridiculous.

Eury actually giggled at that, leaning against him more heavily for a few moments as she was struck silly with the entire thing. "Oh I like you." she decided right then and there. "That's perfect! I'm one of Corey Hart's special feild agents. That's the coolest thing ever. I could even use my business as a cover, to ship dangerous materials, and draft dodgers." She had to take a minute to get laughter under control, but she was grinning at him, definitely. "You need to make up random stories about people more often, sir." she informed him.

He was grinning his head off. Yeah, she was definitely a good counter-point to the disgusting horror around him. He was always a fan of making women giggle. "Oh I do," he told her, very amused. "They just usually don't get to hear them. So consider yourself privileged." And it was always nice to hear that you were liked right off the bat, even if it was only founded on silliness. He eyed her sideways a bit. "I think I'm right, though. You do have a very convenient business that involves crates big enough to fit like four men in."

"I'm just cool like that." Eury said, still grinning. She paused only to rip down another photograph. "So, I could in fact, be a supercool spy. Maybe, my glasses are even spy glasses." she stage-whispered to him. "You know, with cool camera lenses, and terminator-style readouts on the inside. Of course, if we're going that route, I could just be a cyborg myself. The glasses cover the computer edged glean of my eyes. Which I use to...hypnotize my dragon into doing my bidding." Or something.

"Oh ho, the plot thickens," Ash said, pursing his lips to one side and giving a thoughtful nod. "You're a supercool cyborg spy with a dragon. Why is this starting to feel much more like a prepubescent fantasy?" he asked, flashing her a grin and chuckling. "You certainly have a convincing limp for a cyborg, though. And your synthetic skin bruises very we-- .... heeey, are you from the future?" He eyed her with one narrowed.

"You've watched Heavy Metal too many times, I see." Eury teased sweetly. "And if I am, I toooootally can't tell you." she said firmly. "Because if I do, then you're just going to be asking me all these important, life changing questions, like lottery numbers, and who's president, and if Metallica will ever stop sucking...it'll be chaos. You'll know too much, and then I'd be forced to kill you, to save the world. It'll be very tragic. Don't put me there, man." she said gravely. "I would cry, and crazy cyborg corey hart spies with dragons cry antifreeze. It would blow my cover in an instant."

Ash was now having a difficult time not busting a gut laughing. He was halfway there already, just picturing green streaks of antifreeze tracking down from under her sunglasses. Tragic, and yet hilarious. "See, you're wrong there," he said, cheeks bunched up with his grinning. "I know Metallica will never stop sucking, so I'd never even bother. But okay, touche, you're right. I'd rather not have to be put down for the sake of saving the world. You're sweet to warn me ahead of time, I won't ask too many probing questions into what your insides are made of."

"That's a good boy." Eury said brightly, grinning again. They were also coming up on the coffee place. "I knew you looked like a smart cookie. And here we are for coffee too, just in time. I need the fuel." She dumped the photographs she'd ripped down into the nearest bin, hopping on one foot for a moment as she did so, then she went back to holding onto Ash's arm.

"Not only good and smart and a superior crutch, I have many skills, madam," he said, dumping his own and taking up his role as her support. He opened the door for them and ushered her inside, heading for the counter with her to order. How did you order in this sort of place anyway? He eyed the wall-menu warily.

Eury looked over the menu as well, the place was small enough to be heated by space heaters in the winter, she thought as she tried to decide what she wanted. Something with a lot of caffeine. And a mocha sounded good. Who didn't love something chocolatey? "Everyone wants a man with skills around." she said, flashing another grin. Then she gave her order to the busy, harassed looking girl who was waiting on them, tapping her pen on the counter impatiently.

"Mad skills," he corrected with a crooked grin. "Or so the kids say these days." His attention went to the girl behind the counter and he turned the wattage up on the grin. He wasn't the best-looking dude, and he knew it, but he also knew how to grease wheels. "How's it going?" he asked her before actually putting in his order. Which was just plan black coffee, nothing in it.

The girl looked like she appreciated the smile, and she went to get their order with a slightly less sour expression on her face. Eury noted that with a smirk, and she looked at him. "Aren't you a charmer?" she asked in a low voice, so that it didn't embarrass the girl. She just wanted to potentially embarrass him! No innocent bystanders need be hit.

Ash gave her a very amused sideways look. There wasn't a hint of embarrassment anywhere in it. "I'm treating you to coffee, aren't I?" he posed, equally quietly. Because yes, yes he was. When he wasn't totally trashed. When he wanted to be. Sometimes. "I've found from being on both sides of the counter that it's in everyone's best interest to be nice to any kind of service workers. Myself included. People put their brakes in my hands, they'd better not be dickwads." It was light enough to be a joke, because it was.

She laughed at that, smiling at him. "Oh I know." she said. "I think you can always spot the people who have had to work with the public before. They're a lot less horrible to people, because just because you're behind a counter does not make you the world's punching bag. I have had people come in and scream at me that I don't have what they're looking for. Which is ridiculous. It isn't as if there's antique factories around pumping out old random shit people get rid of one day. But you'd think there was, with the way some people behave."

He chortled a little. "Funny, I thought there had to be, with all those antique-y restaurants will all that bullshit on the walls?" he said, flashing the girl another bright smile as she brought their drinks to the counter. He paid and even stuffed a couple of dollars into the tip jar, giving the chick a wink before he picked up both cups and started for one of the little tables, still keeping his arm out for Eury. Coffee Girl actually smiled back, and so his good deed was done. She looked like a good kid anyway.

Eury watched the exchange, and decided again that she liked Ash. He was sweet. He'd probably made that girl's day a lot better, just by a couple little gestures. That meant somewhere inside, he was sweet. She found she definitely found that a good thing. And rare in her life, lately. She kind of spent her time with people who were a little more focused on themselves as opposed to others. "That was really sweet of you." she told him, because she wasn't usually one who held back on compliments, so she wasn't going to start now.

Ash looked over at her, his expression mildly surprised. "What? Flirting with a girl who's probably young enough to be my kid a couple times over?" he asked, shooting another quick glance over at the counter and smirking a touch. Sure, that was only half of what he was doing. It was just interesting to be called on it. He set their coffees down on a table and sat.

She sat down too, and smirked. "You're not that old." she said. Or he didn't look it, anyhow. "And no, not that. Just...she looked like she was having a really bad morning, and you went and made her smile. I bet she's having a much better one now. That was sweet." Eury said firmly.

He scoffed good-naturedly, taking the little plastic lid off of the coffee cup. He hated those things, with their tiny sippy holes for pussies. Fuck that, he'd scald himself like a man. "Maybe I just like it when women smile at me," he said, giving her a grin. "And how do you know how old I am?"

"You don't look that old." she said, eyeing him. "So, unless you're harboring a nice big secret, which you probably are, I have to go with what's presented to me. At least until you correct me." she said. She kept her little lid on, and propped her chin on her hand as she regarded him. "It's not usually polite to ask people how old they are." she added. "So I won't."

It was kind of odd to talk -- and flirt, admittedly -- with a woman who constantly had sunglasses on, but to Ash's adaptable perceptions, they were starting to look right on her. Like just her eyes. He didn't avoid them, at least. "No need to rush right into big secrets," he siad, keeping up the smile. He took a sip. good and strong. "'Cause I'm sure we've both got them."

"It's possible." Eury agreed, sipping her own drink. "We both are knowledgeable sorts. That usually denotes some sort of experience. And we're both not in padded rooms, so that proves we're also intelligent enough to keep a secret when we have to." she added thoughtfully as she eyed him, light smile on her lips.

He gave a nod, fully in agreement there. A padded room? Would kill him, no doubt about it. "Here here," he said, reaching out to tap his paper cup against her's. His eyes were dancing as he looked back at her, but sharp. Now he was even more curious. But he wasn't going to launch into the Twenty Questions dance. Not yet. She didn't read like a threat or even a bad person, and that was enough for him at the moment.

She smiled sweetly at him and would have winked had he been able to see her eyes. She held her cup up as well, then drank. "So when is a guy like you free?" she asked. "In case I had designs on seeing you around again, to possibly do something like get some food, or take a walk? And by take a walk, I mean visiting a park or something, because I won't be doing a whole lot of walking unless you volunteer to be my crutch the whole time again."

Well color him surprised again! Ash smiled brightly. "Well for a girl like you, with designs and everything, anytime you want, I can be free," he said, looking pleased with those half-plans-that-didn't-involve-real-walking. "I haven't been banned from any restaurants or parks here yet, so you take your pick, name your time, and I'll be there with bells on." He took another swallow of coffee, looking at her over the edge.

Eury laughed a little, sounding delighted. "I'll hold you to that." she warned playfully. "I'll expect bells. You'd better jingle, mister." she informed him. "But...I say Harlow park, maybe Monday? When does your shop close?" she asked. She kind of closed hers 'whenever', she didn't necessarily have strict business hours.

"Whenever I want it to," he said with a grin, echoing her thought. "Some nights as soon as the bars open, other nights I'm in there til midnight. Your's?" Because hell yes, he wasn't going to turn down an invitation like that from a Knowing Sunglassesed Mystery Woman. He wondered already if she drank.

"I have a rather loose definition of 'business hours' myself, really. So sort of whenever I feel like opening, to whenever I feel like closing is the way it goes. Some nights I'm in there for ages as well, if I get new stuff in and I'm busy geeking over my new inventory. "So, since we both seem to be remarkably flexible in that sort of thing, seems like we can plan for whenever." She grinned. "Want to just wander by when you feel like it?"

"Monday at whenever for whatever we feel like, sounds like a plan," he said with an easy grin. Yeah, this girl -- woman, because she wasn't exactly a kid -- was his kind of people. He leaned back comfortably in the little chair and pondered if he should ask if she wanted him to bring drinks. But that might be presumptuous.

"It is! The vaguest plan ever, but a very definite plan." Eury said with a firm nod, and she drank more of her caffiene, because it was cooling enough to be more seriously gulped. "If I'm not at the shop, there's a narrow resident-evil looking stairwell right next to the door to the shop, like, inside the first door? That leads up to my apartment, so I'll be up there." she added.

Ash's eyebrow quirked just the tiniest bit, but he managed not to choke on his coffee. Not that she meant anything by it, he just generally didn't get invitations up to the apartment for any reason within like ... the first hour. She was cute and personable, so that was neat. "You'll hear me jingling all the way up," he promised.

"Oh good, I'll know it's you then, and won't sic the nanobot droid army I have hidden in the loft." she said, deadpanning it, though a smile snuck up on her lips that she hid with drinking more coffee. "A girl can't be too careful these days." she added. And that kind of reminded her of the whole pictures thing, and Aiden, who she still wondered if he was given the right price if he'd come for her head. It was worth a whole shit load, so it was possible.

"Amen to that," he said blithely, looking downright unintimidated by her threat of nanobot droids. Even if there was an army of them. Ash took another swallow of coffee and wished he could smoke in there. "But if that's what it takes not to get my flesh eaten by tiny machines, I'll be wearing bells everywhere I go with you." Because it sounded like they were going to hang out. Which was cool and more than fine by him.

"I'm positive you can find ones that go with your outfits." she said, teasing and barely managing to keep a straight face. "Silver, with little spikes or something. Because really, there's no reason jingly bells need to be anything but bad ass." And now she was just talking complete shit, but that was okay with her.

"Oh I have outfits," he repeated with a laugh. "I wasn't aware that 'from the smells-clean pile' really was in vogue or whatever. ... You do have a point, though. Maybe I can find some steel ones that are like ... painted red and black or something," he said, rolling with it and looking terribly amused. He bounced one booted foot under the table. "Maybe I should've said I'd be there with an air horn or something. Stupid turn of phrase."

"But it's so fun to picture you jingling wherever you go." Eury said, and this would be the part where she fluttered her eyelashes, if he could see her eyes. Sadly, that wasn't an option. "I promise I'll stop teasing you about it now though." she added. "And I'll have you know that there are entire cultures that base their wardrobes off of the 'smells-clean pile' philosophy. The entire grunge movement was all about that."

He honestly didn't mind her teasing him. It was adorable. In a pretty hot way, because she definitely was attractive. His kind of woman, with the dreds and all. "Oh I'm aware," he said, smiling at her. "I've been one of those pick-it-up-and-sniff-it people pretty much my entire life." Sometimes there hadn't even been time for sniffing, the way he and his father lived. "I'll jingle for you, if you really want me to," he added, and tipped her a wink as he took another sip.

That actually called up a blush in her, a faint one, but there. Because that seemed quite clearly to be flirting. "Just for little old me?" she asked, effecting a Scarlett O Hara type of accent. "Why sir, you do know how to treat a lady." Yeah, like she was a lady. That would be the day.

Ash chortled again, grinning at her. "Well I do what I can. One must sometimes sacrifice dignity, after all," he sighed with a false sense of regret. "For the sake of the ladies." And yes, there was a smooth sort of emphasis on 'the ladies'. Just to see if she'd laugh.

She did. But, Eury wasn't usually a sullen sort of girl, and her mood was lightened considerably due to Ash. That didn't mean it would hold later, not with everything else going on, but for right now, it most certainly was. "Good to know. You're a sacrificial type. I'll defnitely file that away in my field report for Mr. Hart." she teased.

"I'm sure he could have use for people like me!" he said, seeming to be pretty damn light-hearted himself. But he generally seemed that way most of the time, so it wasn't anything terribly unusual. It put people at ease and made them easier to read. Or he just liked them, which was the case here. "Put in a good word for me, I want awesome sunglasses too."

"I will." Eury assured him, finishing off her coffee. "And my word carries a lot of weight, too. So I'm sure you'll be contacted for covert ops in no time." Ahh, silly conversations. She missed having them from time to time, this was like a breath of fresh air.

"Excellent, I'm glad I had the good fortune of running into Mr. Hart's right hand, then," Ash told her, still definitely amused. There was a lot more to this woman than met the eye, he was willing to bet, but this was fun. He noted she was done. "Ready to hobble back toward your shop?" he asked, nodding toward the door.

"I am." She said with a nod. She glanced outside, and noticed a lot more police cars had been going by, and a few other people with pictures, tearing them down now that the town was waking up. "I think we've done our good deeds for the day." she added. "At least in some fasion. Are you ready, Mr. Crutch?" she asked, standing, and tossing her cup in the trash before she smiled sweetly and held her arm out for him expectantly.

"I live to serve, madam," he said easily, rising in his own smooth way. He kept his coffee cup, as it was only about half-gone, and he could sip and walk at the same time. Ash offered her his free arm and escorted her out of the coffee shop and back toward home, pleased that solid vague plans had been made.

"And you do so well." Eury said, pleased as well as she took his arm. Okay so the morning had started out fucked up, but it had led to something good. At least, so far. She headed out with him, and looked forward to Monday, wondering what else she might find out about the good natured man beside her.