Complications

who: eury & ash/eury & aiden
when: evening
where: all over, including the phone

It was a night to go out. Maybe Ash had a lot of those. Well okay, he did, but this was a night to Go Out. It was windy -- which he loved -- but not storming anymore, so that was cool. He thought he'd waited an appropriate time before darkening Eury's doorstep again, and he'd shut down the shop in enough time to get a shower and shave and everything. He looked at himself in the mirror as he trimed the sideburns into a sharp point and was reminded that usually he like ... waited a week before even calling a woman. He liked to be the guy who could pop in and out of their lives with minimal strings, if they tolerated that. So there was some hesitation, but he found himself putting on clothes anyway. She was a sweet girl, and fun, so it only made sense to go have fun in the same vicinity as her, right? It wasn't like he'd scared up many other date-able women here anyway. So ... yeah. Because that made sense. He didn't exactly look nice as he locked up behind himself, but not like his usual crap, either. Ash lit a cigarette and started the brisk walk toward Eury's shop-slash-home.

Eury happened to have closed up the shop early herself today, and was upstairs, relaxing. Her mind was on a lot of different things, though she wasn't in a bad mood. More just in a musing on everything sort that had her mind all over the place and unfocused on any one thing. She was fine with that, it was much better than her trend of late to be sitting and borderline brooding. Brooding wasn't really her style, so she wasn't fond of the forming habit. She arched a brow when she heard the door open at the bottom of the steps, and she stood up to peer out her window, to see if she saw any familiar cars. Alas, no. And yet, she heard footsteps. Smiling, she looked over her shoulder at her door, then grabbed her shades up off of the coffee table to slide on. Ghosting across the floor, she waited til she heard the footsteps near the top, and then threw the door open. "Boo!"

His hand was up to knock already, and he actually jumped a little.. Goddammit woman, don't do that to a demon hunter. But he couldn't help but grin, because sometimes she just really had those five year old things that she did and they were perfectly timed to be retardedly adorable. "Hey beautiful," he said, leaning the already-upraised arm against the doorframe and effecting a casual slouch. "Three questions. You busy? You hungry? And do you dance?" He arched an eyebrow as he ticked them off on thick fingers.

Eury beamed at him, pleased to see it was Ash. "Hi!" she said brightly, then she put on a show of listening, when he immediately popped questions. "No, yes, and yes!" she answered in order. "Why? Are you planning to feed me, and take me dancing?" she asked, grinning at him, and it was clear she liked this plan. It was so random. But it sounded like a great time! She wondered how long it had been since she'd...sort of had anything like this. A long time, by her count.

"If you feel like goin'," he said amiably, though he was really glad to see her response. She looked keen, and that rocked. "There'll probably be liberal amounts of beer too, just a fair warning." His eyes ticked into her place over her shoulder, though what he might've been glancing for, he couldn't really say. At least she didn't seem to mind random drop-ins, as he'd done it twice now. That was good.

"Sweet! I'm there. Lemme change." she said, reaching out to snag his arm. She leaned back, making him momentarily support her weight as she made the show of bodily hauling him inside. "What shall I wear?" she asked, eyeing him as if attempting to decide off of what he was clothed in. She noticed he smelled nice, and that he'd shaved, and his clothes were in better condition than last time. Which was cute.

Ash could most definitely get used to being hauled places by her, and he grinned as he came on in. He glanced down at himself as she inspected and laughed a bit. He was just in jeans that didn't have -too- many stains and fit fairly snugly, boots that were well-worn but not sopping with grease, and a black bowling-shirt-style button-down. It was about as dressed up as he ever got. "Whatever you want?" he suggested, giving her a grin. "I was thinkin' the Wooden Nickel, so ... whatever you'd wear to that kind of place."

Eury laughed. "Oh, that place? I'll have to dig up my switchblade, just to be safe." she said, grinning as she hopped backwards towards the hall that led to her bedroom. "I'll be back in a sec! Make yourself at home!" she invited, before she turned to bounce on down to her room, suddenly in a fantastically good mood. Yes, Ash was good for her in that capacity, definitely. She also opened her closet wide and stared at her clothing. God, what did she wear? Something cute? She kinda wanted to be cute for him. Hmmmm. Definitely not something overtly elegant or sexy or the like. But she thought cute she could work with pretty well. So, she fussed around with that for a few minutes, putting far too much thought into it, of course.

He watched her bounce off -- which she did very nicely, in his humble opinion -- and glanced around her small cozy place. After a minute of just standing, he went and sat on the edge of the couch, crossing his arms over his chest. Or maybe that was too ... something. Ash got up again and went to sit actually on the couch, settling back comfortably. His foot moved to prop up on the coffee table like he would at home, but he stopped it in time. See this was the benefit to calling first ... women needed a full calendar year to get ready. Even if it had only been like five minutes.

Eury didn't take nearly as much time as some women would have. And in the end, she picked out a cute little sundress type thing, which was really a cotton thing that had little pink and white skulls on it like pokadots. The main dress was black. Cutsie, but nothing that would really be considered dressy. She also did her best to tie her hair back in some fashion--though that was always precarious at best and the most she could settle for was getting it mostly out of her way. then she was back out, and she twirled around for him. "Think they'll kick me out because of the pink?" she asked.

He looked up from picking at a fingernail and grinned. "Think I'll have to watch you every second, is what I think," he said and stood up. Maybe it was old-fashioned of him, but he liked skirts. Really really liked them. And Eury had the legs to pull it off well. "Can't have any greasy rednecks getting too fresh, y'know." Not like he wasn't one, but hey. This was his date, not theirs. Even if it hadn't been called as such yet.

Giggling, she smiled at him cutely. "Gonna get all protective on me? Glare all mean-like at the biker rednecks? Because that place is full of them, you know. You can't throw a rock without hitting a Jethro. I swear. You might have your work cut out for you." she warned playfully as she headed towards the door, stopping to slip her sandals on. She didn't really care that her foot was still bruised up, she was walking better, and if she got enough alcohol in her, she'd forget about it entirely. Or that was her plan, anyhow.

"Baby, hate to break it to you, but I am a biker redneck," he said with a grin back at her. He ambled toward the door and offered her his arm to head on down the stairs with. Not that she needed it, 'cause she seemed to be moving around just fine. So maybe he liked being her crutch, so what? "I know just how to glare at them." And he was armed. Because he never went anywhere without at least one knife. But she didn't need to know that.

"Yeah, but you're a cute biker redneck." Eury said. "And you've been nothing but a sweetheart and a gentleman with me, thank you, so you're automatically Different." Or so she had decided, right now, by the rules she'd just made up. "Where are you taking me to eat?" she asked.

She would probably be interested to know exactly how many women had said stuff like that to him, only to change their tunes like a week later. "I dunno," he said, flashing her a grin. "That part was still vague in my head, any preferences?" It wasn't like he knew a lot of the spots to eat that weren't fast or diner food, after all.

Eury thought about it. "What are you feeling like? We could hit Vangos downtown. Greek, I think. Or y'know. Pretend greek. They have gyros n stuff. And pizza. And waffle fries." She put heavy emphasis on the last bit, as if it were the biggest selling point. "Also, it's not far and on the way to the Nickel, so hey. It all sort of works out in this nice flow."

"I think I can handle waffle fries," he said with a nod. "Handle them with extreme prejudice." He held the door for her to go out first, and hit the sidewalk with her. Upon which he waited for her to determine the direction, and then it was back to walking with her. "So what's been up?" he asked amiably, glancing over at her.

She picked the direction, and really, other than the big ass hill, which was harder on her toe than flat stretches, it wasn't that bad a walk. "Not a lot. Sort of...dealing with some complications, or not dealing with them. Chilling out, hangin at the shop, talking antique musical instruments with people. Nothing all that exciting. Have you gotten any new strongly worded letters since we last spoke, or have you been a good boy?"

"I can't necessarily say I've been a good boy, but no one's written to the editor about me, so far as I know," he said with an easy grin. As much as he loved riding his bike, Ash was a fan of walking around everywhere. You just ... absorbed more that way. It made you slow down and just enjoy the feel of your own body. He thought so, anyway. Though other people's bodies were fun to enjoy too. Which didn't have anything to do with anything, but Eury had some nice legs. "Any complications you want to hash over, or are we complication free tonight?"

"I think I would like to be complication free tonight." Eury said thoughtfully. "And just...friend trouble. Sort of. It's complicated. Which was quite well put in the whole 'complications' part of my description, wasn't it?" she asked, laughing at herself. "People are weird, human beings in general baffle me occasionally, and the world at large is a crazy place. But I'd rather just have a fun time with you instead of starting to dredge all that up." She gave him a little smile. "But it's sweet of you to offer to listen. If you're not careful, one day I might take you up on it."

He smiled back at her. "Nothin' doin' sweetheart, I hope you do," he said, and it was completely honest. She was a sweet girl, and if he could give her a hand out with problems, he would be glad to do it. Not that he was some fount of knowledge, but he knew a few things. He'd been around several blocks many times. "But I can dig it, no complications tonight. Just beer and music. And gyros. Not necessarily in that order."

"Remember, I have to drink wussy beer." Eury informed him. "Flavored, crazy flavored vodka stuff, like smirnoff or something. Beer just tastes too yicky to me. And yes, that's a technical term. It encompasses all sorts of things, all over the place." She smiled at him as they walked. "What have you been up to? Besides tinkering. And I picture you with a stereo in the garage, loud music blaring as you weld things, sparks flying everywhere."

"That ... pretty much covers it," he said with a little laugh. "Tinkering and destroying my eardrums. Though I really don't get to weld as much as I'd like to. It's more on my back under a car with grease all over me." Which he honestly didn't mind. There were far worse lots in life than his. As far as the job was concerned at least. "You'll have to come by sometime, wreck your ears too and lounge around on the hoods of cars. I might get more business." He grinned at her.

She cracked up at that. "Should I wear a string bikini and like, wash cars out front too?" she asked. "I think in this town that might just make people whisper and stay away. But the college crowd would love it. You could probably haul in a lot from them alone. Really though, if you wanted to do something like that, I'd need another girl with me, so we could randomly get into water and soap fights." Because Eury knew how a lot of minds worked.

"Oh dude, I totally need you as like ... my PR manager or something," he said, laughing along with her. It was fun to make her do that. "Bikini soap fights are the best kind. You're hired." And because he felt all sort of good and flirty, he reached over to lightly pinch at her side through the adorable skull-dress.

She giggled at that, and hopped on one foot away from him before she was back to hugging his arm to use as her crutch. "Watch it, mister!" she said playfully, utterly not minding him doing that sort of thing. She poked him in the ribs in return. "Payback's a bitch." she informed him. Because pokes in the ribs were such a horrible punishment, after all. Oh yeah, she was badass.

He glanced down to where she'd poked him and arched an eyebrow, grinning broadly. "I sincerely hope that's not all you got, lady," he said. "Otherwise you're more than a little in trouble, I hate to break it to you." Because if she was so baitable? Best believe he would be doing it all the time. He looked up as they reached the place with the food, and did his whole door-holding routine again.

She thought it was sweet, and she beamed at him for it. "You're such a gentleman." she said. Then she was inside, where it was darker than she liked, because it made things harder to see. But, she dealt with that a lot. Bars were the worst, but really half the time there were so many people you went by feel anynow. Vangos was half a bar too. She waited til they were seated, then she started peering at her menu, squinting her eyes to try and read the black lettering on the grey menu.

"Eh, my dad was just a flirt, I got taught early," he said as she passed by him into the restaurant. Ash followed her in and settled himself, plucking up a menu to look over. He didn't want to eat too much, because he planned on drinking pretty liberally tonight, but something would be good. It didn't take him long to decide, and he sat back after a minute, looking up at her.

She eventually decided trying to read where she couldn't really was too much effort, and put the menu down, just ordering waffle fries and a drink. Then she looked back at him, propping her chin on her hand. "So what made you decide to come see me tonight?" she asked curiously.

Because you've taken up residence in my brain was not a good answer, so that wasn't the one he gave. "Sherman told me to," he said, face utterly serious. He gave a slow nod and leaned forward himself, crossing his tattooed forearms on the table. "What made you decide to open the door for me?"

She smiled at him in a genuine manner at that, laughing a touch. "Well, give Sherman a cookie for me when you see him again, in thanks." she said. "And why wouldn't it be? You've given me no reason for it not to be. And until you do, the door'll stay open." She said it in a matter o fact sort of way, just something she was passing along, just in case he should require knowing. Or have future plans of invading in on her.

He felt a very vague flash of guilt at the immediate want that pass over his mind to take full advantage of her open-door policy. It was probably one she shouldn't have, but he wasn't her big brother or anything. He couldn't imagine the girl having any enemies. They weren't really the problem, anyway, it was those that would take advantage of her. In worse ways than he wanted to. There was an important distinction. "If you're not careful, I might take you up on that," he echoed her with a small grin.

"Who says I would want to be careful?" Eury countered to that. She had to grin at him then, though was distracted by their drinks arriving. She'd gotten herself a smirnoff, because who said she couldn't get a start now? If she was going to be drinking and having a good ole time, she thought she could. Besides, no one was driving. "I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. And I wouldn't mind you dropping in. It's proved nice both times so far."

Ash, following the same logic and encouraged when she'd ordered a Smirnoff, lifted his beer to his lips to take a swallow. The first one was always the best. "I'll bear that in mind," he said after, grinning back at her. God, she was cute. And funny. And just ... yeah, she was dangerous. "The same goes for you, by the way. Mi casa es su casa, all that. Mi casa is just kind of shitty, is all."

"Because mine's super awesome? We do remember the patio of crap, don't we?" Eury asked, smirking at him. "Where is your place? Did you say it was with your shop?" she asked. She tried to remember, anyhow. Maybe he hadn't said at all, which was entirely possible. "Just in case I have wild desires to go wash cars. Or bring cookies or something. I've been known to randomly bake."

"It's above the shop, yeah," he said with a chuckle. "How about bringing me cookies at the same time as having wild desires to wash cars? In a bikini, I'm assuming, or the deal's off." He looked amused and sipped on his beer. The food arrived not long after, and he sat back to survey. 'Not much food' to Ash was apparently different than not much food to everyone else in the world.

Eury immediately dug into her fries. "Well, of course I'd have to do it in a bikini. Otherwise how would I show off all of my ink?" She tsked. "Sadly, however, I lack a playful, open minded girly friend who would join me for it, so you'd have to provide one if we were going to do that 'get Ash the entire male population of NMU to stop by' plot enacted. Seems I've only attracted male company in this town."

"Aw that's shit," he said, sounding disappointed. Because what could be more awesome than Eury rubbing soap suds all over some other hot chick in a bikini? Nothing he could think of, that was for damn sure. Not that he should be thinking about any of it at all; he'd worn tight jeans tonight. "Unfortunately, I've got the same problem. You're really the only chick I've met worth talking to for more than five minutes." Now the girls at Babylon ... they were something else entirely.

"Aww, no girlies running around trying to catch your attention?" she asked. She sighed, eyeing him critically. "They're probably blind then." she said, in a definitely complimentary way. "But I can't say I've even really seen anyone around that looked really interesting. Female-wise, I mean. Though, now that I'm thinking about it? There haven't been that many men around who've really turned my head either." Present company excluded. Since she was there with him, after all.

"Nah, not many of 'em around here that'll put up with tats and cigarettes and dirty fingernails twenty-four-seven," he said, feeling weirdly flattered. He generally didn't get that way, but it was nice of her to say. "And the few that have flirted with me during their brake jobs are NMU students who'd probably just wanna piss off mommy and daddy." Which he'd only indulged in once, and told himself never again. " ... no? Got discerning tastes, huh? I bet there's a lot who're tryin', though," he said with another swallow of beer and a big bite of gyro.

Eury gave him a strange little smile at that last comment. "Maybe." she said. Her problem was that it was a huge mess. And several shades of complicated with a side of occasionally heartbreaking and stupid. Occasionally at the same time, even. "I'm curious about how you worded that though...putting up with tats? You know a great lot of people find them hot." she pointed out. She happened to be among their number.

Ash caught the odd smile and the tone of 'maybe'. He immediately went ahead and jumped to the conclusion that her complications were male-related. Which wasn't too surprising, matters of the heart tended to be the messiest, in his experience. He didn't push her about it, however, since they'd established a lack of stickiness tonight. Of that sort, anyway. He swallowed and glanced down at one arm. "Yeah, I've heard that here and there. I've also been told they're gross before, so ... depends on who's talking. What do you think?" he asked with a half-grin.

Making a show of looking up and down her own exposed tattoos, she smirked. Then she leaned across the table to get a better look at his. "I think they're sexy." she said in a decided sort of tone, before she sat back again. "I've heard that too--the gross thing. But then I've also been told that I'm violating the temple of god, and I make it a point in life not to give in to zealots of any description. Besides, ritual marking of the flesh was spiritual in nature in the first place."

"Agreed," he said, looking at her with a little smile. She'd said sexy, that was awesome. There wasn't one of his tattoos that didn't mean something, even if it was buried in personal symbolism. That had always been a policy, no matter how drunk he was. No stupid tattoos out of the book or that didn't have any significance. "Wouldn't mind getting a tour of your's sometime," he said before he could think about it enough to stop himself. He took another couple of swallows of beer. "They always fascinate me, y'know."

She blushed faintly. "Well, you can see a lot of them here..." she said, eyeing her arms again, and she knew a lot of the ones on her legs were visible as well. After all, she did have a metric shit ton. "And they do with me too. I love them, and knowing what went into a lot of them. So many people have ones that don't mean anything, and then others...there's a story behind all of them. Some purpose, a reminder, a brand...I like those ones."

Ash gave a little grunt and shook his head a bit. "I couldn't ever put anything on my skin that doesn't mean anything," he said. The very idea of looking through a book for something 'pretty' was ... almost offensive to the entire art. He ate some more of his food, in the big wolfing bites of a man who was used to eating quickly.

Eury ate, though not like he did, her own in a thoughtful sort of manner as her mind was ticking along on things. "So all of yours have a story then?" she asked. "What about this one?" It was the one which had drawn her attention in the first place, and she reached out to lightly tap a fingertip on the star by his eye, on his cheek. Tiny, but prominent. "If it's too personal, it's okay if you don't say." she added, so he didn't feel he had to tell her anything.

It didn't really surprise him that that was the first one she wanted to know about. It was the first one most everybody noticed, after all. He'd had lots of wrinkled noses and 'on your face?!' type comments in the past. Ash nodded a bit and washed down the gyro with some beer. "Don't mind a bit," he told her, leaning forward some. "My mom died when I was pretty young, and my dad ... kind of had the wanderlust. So we trucked all around the country, and into others. He always used to tell me if I got lost ever, to use the stars. Taught me where the north star was, and said that one was the key. If I could find north, I could find anywhere. And he'd always put it like ... 'Saiah,' he'd say ... 'Keep it on your eye.' Not 'keep your eye on it', but backwards. I never really knew why, but ... that's why I put it where I did." He smiled faintly at the memory and took another swallow.

Eury smiled at that, finding it enchanting. "That's beautiful." she said, genuinely. "'Saiah'?" She might have expressed sympathy for the loss of a parent that young, but she definitely had the same. Her father? Um yeah. Her mom killed him. So that was out. But he didn't look particularly saddened either, more like it was a good thing for him, something warm.

It had been so long ago, Ash had gotten over being sad about it. He didn't remember much of her in the first place, and preferred to think of it as her having moved on out of this life. Like he consistently left towns behind. He blinked and realized that he had put his real name in there with the story. Or what his dad always called him, at least. "Yeah, the real first name is Isaiah. He used to shorten it like that," he said, lifting one shoulder, then smiled a bit at her. "But shhh, nobody else knows that."

She arched a brow at that. "Oh, really?" she asked. "I like it." she added, after pausing to give it thought. "I like Ash, too. But I like it. It's..." she turned her eye up, even if he couldn't see that, to ponder it. "Dignified. Why do you go by Ash instead? Just like it better, or because it fits your personality incredibly well?" She looked terribly curious, and she was. She knew where her name had come from, though she didn't tell people. And a lot didn't ask, since the pronunciation of Eury was used in several different languages, for entirely different names. So people didn't even know where hers was from.

He chuckled a bit. Dignified wasn't an adjective that got tacked onto anything about him much, it was interesting to hear. "Middle name's Asher. Isaiah Asher Chambers. When my father and I parted company, I wanted ... a change. A removal, if you will, so ... I shortened Asher down and just went by that. It's easier, a lot of the times, and yeah, I guess it's come to suit me pretty well. Or I grew into it, one." He gnawed thoughtfully at a fry. "Your's is unusual," he pointed out.

"Depends what country you're from." Eury said. "There are a lot of variations. Russia, Japan...others. Mine's mythologically based." she added. Though she didn't say from what mythology, or the origin of it. "My mother had a thing for it, I suppose. But then she had a thing for a lot of things so I'm lucky I wound up with something pronounceable. She's what you would call a world traveler, and that isn't exaggerating. I don't think the woman's stopped moving in decades. I move around too, but she's a lot faster about it than I am. I don't think she's 'lived' anywhere in years, everywhere she goes she's just 'visiting'." She ate some more and killed her bottle to half gone. "Your dad sounds cool though."

Ash would tend to disagree. Or well ... he knew better, was more accurate. He wondered briefly if the old bastard was still alive, but pushed that thought to the side. Best not to think about it, it didn't really matter anyway. "Did you grow up going with her?" he asked, aiming the conversation more at his lovely companion. He didn't ask about the mythic origin of her name, but it would be something he'd look into later. He took another mouthful of food, though he wasn't in a rush to leave or anything.

"Yes. So I had a really...broad upbringing, you could say." Eury said with a little laugh. Very cultured, anyhow. I suppose that's where my love of antiques comes in. I've been so many places where you can see history just everywhere. Nestled in with the modern times, echoes of the past are still viewable for those who choose to see it. I believe in history, I believe in knowing where everything started and came from, the meaning behind things. I love objects, that I know someone loved. That were important to someone, and finding them a home with someone else who'll love them as well." She laughed again at herself. "And listen to me, going on."

He was smiling through her talking. "No, don't," he said with genuine warmth. "Go on all you want." She really was just ... good. It was rejuvenating, being around her. "I think it's great." He loved hearing anybody talk about their passions. They were important. With all the stupid evil bullshit that was out there, hearing her say things like that, knowing it still existed somewhere in the world ... it was a good thing.

She gave him a big, genuine smile at that. "I collect some of them. Though really, there are two things that I really actually have what you would call a real collection." she admitted. "And saying them together always gets me funny looks, but I'm serious. I collect ancient weaponry...and dolls." she said, then waited for the 'well those two things really don't add up' look.

Ash chuckled a bit and arched an eyebrow. "An interesting combination," he said, but he didn't look as though he thought it was incredibly off-the-wall. This was Eury, after all, who'd give him a little ugly figurine-guy as a random gift. "Any particular types of each, or just in general?"

"Medieval for weaponry mostly." Eury said. "My favorite currently in my possession is a morning star. And for dolls, no. Any dolls are fine. I have everything from hand made with cornsilk hair, to hand painted fine china ones. Everything in between. Dolls hold a special place in my heart. They're so loved when people are children. They're everything. A protector in the darkness, a warm hug when needed, a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on. So much is put into dolls, at least emotionally. And then people forget about them. I suppose I have a sympathy for their plight. As for the weaponry, for other reasons, of course. They're so simple in purpose--or most older weaponry is. things get complicated when more moving parts came in, and firearms took over common usage." She smirked. "If you get me going I can go on forever, stop me or something!"

"What if I don't want to?" he asked, smiling at her. Letting her talk was just fine by him, he was learning about her. And learning that there was a lot there to like. He polished off the last of his food and beer, sitting back and looking at her out of lazy eyes. The dolls he could do without, though he respected her reasons for being captivated by them. He already wanted to see her weapon collection. He'd have to modify his current definition of Hottest Thing Ever, with the way he was picturing her holding a morning star.

She wrinkled her nose cutely at him. "Then we'll be sitting here all night while I ramble on pointlessly, and we won't get to that drinking more and dancing thing you mentioned. Because there was dancing. I remember." she said. "So see? I should stop. It's detrimental to our plans. Besides, it's all just me going on about the meaning behind things and what their purpose was once as opposed to what it is now, purity of motive, all that stuff." she continued. Then smirked. "Like the morning star. If you want purity of purpose and motive, take that. That thing was built to kill people. End of story. No 'honor' to it, no symbols, nothing. No, you swung that thing at someone, you had exactly one thing in mind."

"Caving their skull in," he agreed with a grin that might've been a teensy bit out of place. He knew guns, he had plenty of them, but there was nothing like feeling the actual violent contact in your arm, all the way up to the shoulder. He'd been born in the wrong time, he honestly had. "So okay, on that overly romantic note and in the name of plans, let's go." Ash chuckled and stood up, dropping enough money down on the table to cover the bill plus tip. There was a hungry jukebox somewhere, and lots of beer to be consumed.

Eury grinned. "Deal." she said, and got up, going to take his arm again, because she liked that. She was a silly girl a lot of the time, but she did. "And thank you for dinner." she added. "It was very sweet of you." She was thinking he was sweet all over the place. Like he had a quota to get rid of, and so he liberally applied it in all the time. She liked it. It had been a while since she'd met someone she considered as sweet as him.

The Nickel was, as expected, dirty and dark and with free-flowing beer. It wasn't incredibly crowded, being a Thursday night, but there were a good number of people there. Ash was three bottles in and feeling pretty good, slouched lazily in the booth across from Eury, and laughing about something until his cheeks hurt. He couldn't even really remember what it was. Soon it would be jukebox time; he was feeling almost drunk enough to dance, and goddamn but he was having a good time. "And how did she explain away that she was looking for antique dildos?" he asked, between sounds that were almost giggles.

"Oh, it was for an art piece." Eury replied, also having trouble not giggling herself to death. "Of course. Something for a history bit in a museum she was looking into visiting, or something. It was absolutely hilarious. But you should have seen her...I almost felt like telling her that y'know, there's shops for this kinda thing and there are millions of choices and everything for all she could possibly desire." she giggled more and killed drink number three. Four, if one counted the one she'd had at Vangos.

He cracked up, one hand on his stomach. "I guess ... she wanted one with some class or history or something," he said, eyes watering he was laughing so hard. "Oh shit," he said, subduing into wheezy chuckles. He wiped at his eyes and upended the beer bottle to suck the rest down. He clunked it back down and grinned at her. "We need another round," he declared, sliding out of the booth and standing to amble over toward the bar.

She giggled and watched him go, thinking to herself that she really needed to do this more often. Why hadn't she been? She'd been in a band once for fucks sake. She'd lived in bars and clubs for a while. It was then that her phone rang, and she got up to answer it, touching Ash on the shoulder lightly as she walked over to let him know that she was going to be a second. Then she wandered closer to the back, and eventually out the back door so she could hear.

He craned his neck to watch her go, then spotted that she had a phone up to her ear and understood. He paid the bartender for four new beers and headed back to the booth to put them down. Snagging one of his brand up to suck on, he sauntered over to the jukebox and started flipping through selections. Jukes were one of the greatest human inventions, he'd always thought so. One couldn't get properly trashed and put the moves on without music.

*~*~*

He was about an hour out from Marquette by the time he decided to call Eury. He'd debated with the decision for most of the day, given he wasn't sure they'd ended their last conversation on the best of terms, but she had said she would talk to him later, and he had said he would call her, so it seemed only right that he did. After a few more moments of hesitation, he picked up his phone and punched in her number, ignoring the tiny twinges of pain that shot through his fingers as he did so. Lifting the phone to his ear, he sighed and relaxed against the seat while he waited for her to pick up. If she decided to, that was. He was half expecting it to go to voicemail, which was fine with him too. Maybe that would even be easier.

When Eury's phone did ring, she almost did let it go to voicemail. Though less because of who was calling, and more because she almost missed it over the noise. She held up a finger to Ash, then bounced on towards the back door, into a small hallway before it as she answered, holding one hand over her opposite ear so she could hear better. "Hello?" She hadn't looked at the caller ID, so she didn't know who to expect on the other end.

"Hey," Aiden greeted, relaxing a bit at the sound of her voice. He was oddly relieved it hadn't gone to voicemail. He didn't bother clarifying who it was, because he figured it was fairly obvious. "I'm on my way back to Marquette. Thought I'd call to say hello." Really, he'd called to say he was sorry for being an asshole, again, but that would have to come later when the words were willing to push past his lips.

"Oh hey!" Eury said, smiling. She was suddenly relieved to hear from him, as she'd been wondering how he was. Apparently 'alive' was how. "Hello then! Sorry...hold on a sec." she said, and she walked out the back door into the cooler night air, and less noise. "Good to hear from you, you're heading back?" she asked. She wondered when he'd be in. Either way even if he was in, she wasn't going to be home for a good long while. What with the evening out with Ash thing still going on. She was enjoying herself as well.

She didn't sound mad. Or upset. Relieved again, Aiden released a breath and smiled. He liked that sound in her voice - happy, or whatever it might be. "Yeah, I'm heading back. I should be back in about an hour," he explained. He had to check on Shannon, and take care of some things, but it was still early yet, by his own definition of time. And she sounded to be in a good mood so... maybe. "You think you'll be around? I've got something for you. Thought I could stop by," he told her, hoping he sounded casual enough.

"Aww, a present for me? That's so sweet! But actually--prolly not." she said, wincing slightly, though she couldn't even have said why. Aiden had always made it perfectly clear that he wanted no part in anything even remotely resembling a relationship, and even now, they didn't get to do anything physical anyways. So, they were Just Friends, by Decree of Aiden. And possibly Dorian. Something like that. But she still felt a stab of something regardless. That, and she remembered how their last phonecall had ended, a little belatedly, and her mood plummeted a bit. Not a ton, but some.

He waited a second - maybe for an explanation of why probably not, but it didn't come. He wondered if she thought it was just too late, but he didn't think so. They'd seen each other much later than this. His smile faded a bit, and he brushed off that feeling his in stomach. The one he really didn't have a name for. "Okay," he said slowly. That was disappointing. The present had been his excuse to see her, though he didn't like admitting that. "Are you going to be out?" he asked, though it was none of his business, really. He sort of would have rather heard she'd be out with Dorian, or some random friend, than the fact that she just didn't want him coming over.

"Yeah, I'm out now, actually. Didn't you hear the music?" she asked. "I'm at the Wooden Nickel, dancing n stuff. It's fun! Ash showed up earlier, and so we're just kinda hangin out and blowing off steam." It was possible she was a tiny bit drunk, and that was starting to come through in her words. And possibly her attitude, because she was once again bouying up.

"Yeah, I heard the music." Ash. Who the hell was Ash? Instinctively his fingers tightened around the steering wheel, but he didn't really notice. Whoever it was, she was dancing with him. And hanging out. Brilliant. Clearing his throat, Aiden kept his tone casual. "Who's Ash?"

"Oh!" Eury laughed. "Very Nice Stranger." she said. "He's been coming by, keepin me company. Or, he did once. So I guess that's not as continuous as 'coming' by. He came by. There we go. But yeah, we're out, so I won't be home by then, I don't think. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked.

Ah. VNS. With the cup of coffee and no doubt wanting to fuck her. Aiden was silent again, wondering he she was doing it on purpose, telling him this. To piss him off, or if she just didn't care anymore herself. Maybe it was a mixture of both. He'd more or less told her he had feelings for her - hell, he'd told her a lot of things - during their last phone call and she was out dancing with some new guy. Laughingly telling him about it, knowing perfectly well it'd piss him off. He wanted to drive to the Wooden Nickel and shove his fist into VNS's face, but what would that accomplish other than temporary satisfaction? Not to mention it'd probably tear open his stitches and that would just be a pain in the ass. "Maybe," he replied flatly. "Have fun, Eury." It was childish - horribly so - but he hung up the phone and tossed it to the passenger seat, next to the small box holding her present.

Eury blinked. What the fuck? He'd hung up on her!! Again, what the fuck?! She immediately dialed back, frowning in a pissy mood now, like the snap of her fingers on that score. She listened to the ringing in her ear, and wondered if he was going to be five years old, and make her leave a message. Probably.

The phone rang - leaving Aiden blinking and staring at it as if it were the first time anyone had ever called him. He considered letting it go to voicemail. But with a sigh and a scowl, he picked it up and lifted it to his ear again. He knew it'd be her. He didn't even have to check the id. "Yeah?"

"What the fuck is the matter with you?" Eury asked. "You just...hang up on me?! For what?!" she might have stamped her foot she was so immediately pissed off. "What, am I still supposed to be at your beck and call, after everything? And how you keep informing me that there's nothing and there can't be and everything, and I'm respecting that?! We're supposed to be friends! I go out one night, and you're throwing a fit like a three year old? Jesus christ, Aiden, what the fuck?"

To say he was surprised at the tirade was an understatement. He was left blinking in surprise, his own temper rising with every word that came out of her mouth. "I'm not asking you to be at my beck and call. I told you there couldn't be anything, but that doesn't mean there's nothing there. I told you that I...I just didn't expect...you know, it doesn't fucking matter. You're right. You can do whatever you want, with whoever you want. Ash. Very Nice Stranger. Whoever. Jesus." Manhattan was right. He should have stopped seeing Eury a long time ago. Now he was only fucking himself over. It didn't help that there was a fireball of fury and jealousy building in his stomach. He hated it - and he hated her for putting it there.

"I know there's not nothing there! You said so! I said so! And then I said I was happy and you said you had to go!" Eury cried. "You didn't expect what? That anyone might wanna come by and like, cheer me up for a few hours? My god I can't believe you're pulling this on me. You know---you always do this. You rip my heart out, then if everything isn't just so how you like me or want me, you put it on me like I'm a bitch for not catering to you! It's not fair, and I just...I can't do this right now. You want me to feel like shit because I wasn't waiting home for you to decide to get around to contacting me? Fine. You've succeeded. Goodnight." she said, and then she hung up.

Aiden heard the phone line go dead, cursed extremely loudly, and then glanced at the phone to punch the button that would redial her number. He knew she would probably let it go to voicemail, and he was fine with that. He could leave her a message and end it on his terms instead of having her hang up him. Again. Because hadn't she Tuesday before he could even say goodbye? Seriously, did she really think Ash wanted to just cheer her up? Platonically? Was she that naive? Aiden scowled and lifted the phone to his ear, trying his hardest not to push his car to it's limits. The last thing he needed was to get pulled over.

She heard the phone ring, and knew she should let it go to voicemail, but maybe she was a masochist. Because she answered. "What? Just calling back to get the last word?" she asked. "You already won! I feel like shit, do you have to add more?"

He was about to indeed do just that - make her feel worse. A multitude of bad feelings was perilously close to falling from his lips but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to say any of them. Because he knew he had made her feel like shit. Because he had felt like shit first, and that was simply how it worked with him. If he felt bad, he had to lash out because he couldn't stand hearing her sound so happy when he wasn't the cause of it. Jesus, he was so fucked. Getting out of town for good was sounding better and better. Aiden released a resigned sigh and then felt the fight leave him. "No. I'm sorry. I'm being an asshole." Maybe he ought to get that tattooed on his forehead. He chuckled, though it held no amusement. "I guess I don't handle jealousy very well, see, it's a brand new emotion to me, Eury. But I'll get over it. If you want to hang out with this guy, it's your business, not mine, and I know that. So I'm sorry I made you feel like shit about it, it wasn't my right to."

That really had Eury blinking. Like, massively blinking. "I--" she started, then stopped. "...I'll see you tomorrow?" she suggested. She didn't think she was in the right frame of mind to discuss everything right now, and wow had he ever just hit her with a curveball. Holy hell. "I still have that present for you." she added, like he might need an incentive to actually go through with seeing her again. Nevermind he'd wanted to see her tonight, and said he had a gift to give as well. She wasn't sure she'd get the gift now, and wasn't going to be pushing for it.

"Sure." Though at the moment he was of the mind to just swing by her place and leave her present outside of her door. That would probably be better for the both of them. "I'll talk to you later." He didn't hang up - he figured it was probably wiser to wait until she said goodbye this time.

"Come by around...like fiveish." Eury said. "I'll be done with the shop by then and everything. Alright?" she asked, wondering why she did this to herself. She was still feeling frustrated, and generally out of sorts, but well...she was just dumb, she supposed. And he was frustrating as hell and yet she still liked the guy.

Well, shit. Having her give him a time meant he had to show up. Aiden hesitated and then sighed inwardly before answering. "Yeah, okay." He'd just say hello, drop the present off, and leave. That way she could go blow off more 'steam' with VNS if that's what she wanted. No, he wasn't feeling bitter at all. "I'll see you later then."

"Drive safely, Aiden." she said. She paused, like she wanted to add more, but that didn't happen. She would just wind up on the phone with him for all the longer, and that would probably just lead to another fight. Therefore--she was avoiding the living shit out of that. Tomorrow she'd deal with it, if things were still fucked, and maybe by some insane miracle they wouldn't be. "...see you then." she added anyhow, before this time she did hang up, still feeling a mixture of bad feelings, all mixed up in her head. Complications. Ohhhh the complications.

Aiden hung up and sighed, setting his phone down this time instead of throwing it. This was becoming far too complicated for his liking. He shouldn't care what she was doing, or with who. That was the whole point of him ending whatever it was that was going on between them. Well, granted, he did it for Dorian - but even if she'd been out with Dorian he had a feeling he would still be just as pissed. It was an eye opener, the way he'd reacted to hearing she was out with someone else. He'd see her tomorrow, give her her present and then finally get his shit together, that was for damn sure.

*~*~*

Eury was gone for a little while, and when she arrived back, she didn't look like she was quite so giggly or in a good mood. In fact, she sat back down with Ash, took one of her drinks, and downed a good half of it in one go. She looked at him. "Sorry." she said, clearly trying to come back out of whatever had dropped her into a foul mood, but it wasn't working out for her so well quite yet.

He'd gone back to lounging, since she took a minute and be fucked if he was dancing by himself, and arched an eyebrow as she sat back down and got real thirsty. "You okay?" he asked, though it was fairly clear that she wasn't. Or at least had been perturbed by whatever had gone on on the phone.

"Yeah." she said, sounding anything but. "Just...people are frustrating." she said. "Massively. And complicated. Have I mentioned complicated? And like, are there any men out there in the world who don't resort to behaving like three year olds when they don't get their way? Because it seems to be a trend!" Then she paused. "...sorry. Present company excluded."

Ash had to laugh a little. It wasn't really at her, just more at the question. He tipped up his beer and took some down, shaking his head. "I really don't think so," he answered, looking at her again with a grin. "When it comes to women? We're all complete idiots. Universally." He gestured around with his bottle. "Got a jealous one on your hands?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.

Eury sighed. "Yes. Kind of. I don't know. It's hard to say. Things are...incredibly messy. And there's this friend, and there was another friend, and there were issues, and he's been out of town and wanted to come back and see me, says he's got a present for me, and mind you, this is the guy who told me from the very start that there couldn't be anything between us and everything, and he fucking hung up on me when I said I was out with you." She realized as far as stories went, that had been completely incoherent and unfollowable. "So I called him back, and just..." she sighed, and finished the second half of her drink. "People suck, sometimes. In amazingly creative ways."

He chuckled, seeming entirely unruffled by all that sticky rambling. He wasn't surprised, honestly. She was a very attractive and engaging woman, of course she had some other guys on the line. "It's an age-old story," he said, pushing a fresh bottle toward her with the bottom of his own. "Drink up, have a good time. Fuck around with it tomorrow, you deserve a break." At least she did if she was dealing with pricks on a daily basis. He finished off his current bottle and hooked the other one into his hand.

She took the bottle, and gave him a little half smile. "Yes, I do, don't I." she said. "A break! From the complications, like I said I was going to take in the first place, damnit!" Eury said, trying to help herself believe it. It was gnawing at her though, and she wondered how much she would have to drink to get the feeling to numb out. "Sorry though. This has been going on for a while. It's all...sticky. And half the time I don't know whether he's coming or going, and I don't think he knows either. Which y'know, doesn't help. Because I'm also expected to be psychic, as well as believe everything he says even if it's rife with complications and Ohhhh shut me up already." She took another drink, then set it down.

Despite that last bit, it seemed like she kind of wanted to talk about it. Or needed to, or something. Ash took another quick swallows of his beer. "He worth it?" he asked, because that was the all-important question. Whether or not the good of the guy outweighed the bad. Because everyone was a combination of both, through and through. As he was sitting sideways in the booth, he brought up the knee against the back of the seat, resting his forearm on it and watching her.

She looked confused for a moment at the question, and she regarded him with that confusion intact. "I---" she started. Then she stopped, and frowned, having to think about it. "He's a friend." she said. That was very important to her, and that was why she'd put up with as much shit as she had so far. "And he needs help, and I try to help him. Sometimes he just..." she sighed. "Cuts to the bone."

He grunted, and watched as oil-and-nicotine fingers spun his bottle around and around while he considered that. Sure, it was kind of a downer to talk about some other shmuck when he'd taken the girl out to show her a good time, but if it was on her mind, it was on her mind. He didn't like the idea of some dickwad hanging around taking advantage of her good nature and being a cock to her, but he knew he was the New Guy here. And he liked Eury, which kind of put a padlock on his tongue. "You're allowed to set limits, y'know," he said, eyes ticking back up to her sunglasses. "On how much bullshit you wanna take. If he's a friend back to you, he'll put some effort into respecting them."

Aiden doesn't respect anyone but Aiden. And Dorian--and that's only sometimes. She looked at Ash for a long moment, then gave a light little smile. "I'll have to see." she said. She didn't even know where to start, on that. Because yeaaaah. Then she stood up, and held out her hands to him. "C'mon. Dance with me." Her limit for right this second had been reached, as far as she was concerned, and that meant she was going to do something fun. Something she wanted to be doing. Dancing with Ash was it.

That was a clear enough big red None Of Your Business sign, and he quirked her a little smile back. Fair enough. Ash slid out of the booth, downing most of the rest of his beer as he went, and took one of her hands in his. He lifted their hands up to spin her around once before leading her out onto the square of non-occupied space that counted as a dance floor. He started fishing quarters out of his pocket with his other hand.

She spun, happily so, and firmly put Aiden, and everything else out of her mind. It wasn't as difficult as usual with Ash there, and music, and soon to be dancing. Usually she had a lot of trouble wresting her mind from things completely, but tonight, it was looking to be much easier. That had her giving Ash an affectionate smile when he was looking down at the jukebox song list. A soft, appreciative expression. On impulse, she leaned over, and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Thank you for taking me out." she said.

He looked over at her, eyebrows raised in something of a surprised expression. "Anytime, doll," he said, giving her a crooked grin. He selected a string of stuff that was bluesy and dance-able, and hooked an arm around her waist to lead her out. "Hit me if I step on you," he murmured and smiled at her. He was feeling his buzz even more now, after ... six or seven beers, he couldn't really remember anymore. It was good.

She laughed, arms going up around his neck. "You'll know. I'll squeak, and there'll be hopping on one foot. Then you'll be forced to carry me home." she informed him, moving with him to the music. She wasn't bad, someone who could clearly go with the flow of a song and a partner. She'd danced a lot in her time, after all. She had practice. It was something she enjoyed though, listening to the songs he chose and how he moved as a person. Small details, but they filled in little details for her about who he was. She also liked the feel of his arm around her.

Despite what he'd said and how much alcohol was in him, Ash knew his own body damn well, and he'd also had liberal amounts of time in bars to learn how to dance. And since he'd picked some stuff that had a slow sort of sex beat, he kept her in close, the other arm joining the first. He liked how she moved. Actually liked a good growing list of stuff about her. He somehow ended up eventually with his forehead against her's as they moved, and the only thing that kept him from kissing the hell out of her was the fuzzy thought that he was meant to be relieving complications, not adding to them.

Eury let her mind drift, let it settle onto the music and lyrics, which she enjoyed. She knew the song, and found herself singing along to it under her breath. She was surprisingly comfortable, swaying there with Ash. It was warm, close, and didn't feel like it came with a bunch of strings attached--even the kind where it was 'no strings EVAR EVAR EVAR! RAWR!' or anything like it. It lacked confusion. It was wonderful in it's simplicity, and that was something Eury greatly appreciated right then. More than she could properly express.

His hands had kind of settled in the general area of her hips -- which were also on the aforementioned list -- and it took effort to keep them from roaming. He was drunk, but he was trying to be good. Because she was actually a nice girl and he didn't want to add to her mess. Unless she wanted him to, which was something else entirely. So he just danced with her, and enjoyed what closeness he was going to get out of the night.

After a lot of dancing, a few more drinks, and then a little more dancing, the bar was closing. Eury was one of those people who once you got her started on the dance floor, she wanted to continue. And Ash had been nice enough to oblige her in it. Therefore, she had totally taken advantage. The walk home had been pleasant enough, her toe really a distant, ignorable pain that was going to kill her tomorrow, but for now she was just having a nice night. She was walking with he arms around one of Ash's, and looking pleasantly drunk, sleepy and happy.

Ash for his part wasn't entirely steady on his feet, but he at least knew where they were going. More or less. He was tired in that completely content way. That way that the perfect end to the night would be to tumble into bed with a beautiful woman (i.e. the one on his arm) and have some awesome lazy drunk-sex. But since that was unlikely, he was just walking her home. "We're goin' the right way, right?" he asked after a second, grinning stupidly.

She giggled, something that happened more often in direct proportion to how much she'd drank. "Yeppers!" she said. "This way. With the...streets." There were lights, too, she knew! Washington had cute lights. Little streetlamps that were low and had round globes. Cute cute cute. "You're not far from me either, right? Cuz...there's...stuff. And you should be careful." she said.

"Don' you worry 'bout me, lil missy," he said, patting one of her hands with his. He missed at first, but then he got it. She was so adorable when she giggled. Or like ... all the time, because that was true too. He half-stumbled half-walked with her until he saw the sign for Stone Eye Antiques. "Yup, right way," he said, as though it had just been decided.

"Woohoo!" she said, seeing her sign as well. "By our powers combined, we can find...someplace we already have been to!" And that was a feat, apparently. She thought it might be anyhow. She wasn't entirely sure she would have found it on her own, after all. "We are awesome!" She was allowed to overenthusiastically celebrate pointless events. It was all good.

That cracked him up, and he had to stop walking to laugh, because apparently he couldn't do both at the same time anymore. Not without falling on his ass, anyway. Once that seemed mostly over, Ash kind of herded her toward her door. Only he kind of didn't so much lead her to it as he did turn her and push her back against it, and kind of held her there with the rest of him. "I wanna kiss you," he murmured. "Goodnight, jus' goodnight. That okay?"

Eury blinked, not entirely having expected that. Sure, there was some inkling in the back of her mind that he might want a kiss goodnight. In that little thread of a thrill sort of way when you anticipated something but weren't going to think about it just in case it didn't happen. She liked being pushed back against the door though, and she smiled. After she thought about it for a moment...she nodded. "That's okay." she said, arms going up around his neck.

"Okay," he repeated, nodding a bit. "Jus' goodnight, jus' a little ..." He closed his eyes and then opened them again because he might not aim right that way, and moved in to kiss her. He made sure it wasn't really pushy or anything, but it wasn't light either. Because she really was damn hot and she didn't mind being kissed. Ash let his eyes close then and wished his lips weren't quite so numb.

Eury felt her stomach give a little thrill, and she kissed him back, in just as drunken a manner as his was. It was nice. Probably could have been nicer, if they were sober, and like, heading upstairs immediately afterwards, but one thing she wanted to hold onto was Ash hadn't been complicating her life. Well. Not on his own. He complicated things with Aiden, but that situation was always complicated. Aiden made them more complicated than they ever had to be, and that wasn't going to stop any time soon. So she wasn't going to go with the impulse of grabbing the front of his shirt and dragging him upstairs, even if it appeared in the back of her mind. She drew back when she had to breathe, and she smiled at him. "Goodnight." she said, looking as if she had quite enjoyed the kiss--and she had.

He was having his own thoughts of what could happen upstairs as opposed to the street, most of them involving finding an accommodating wall and hiking up that cute skirt of her's. It took a little effort to breathe even when she pulled back. Ash looked slightly dazed as his eyes rolled back open and he took in her face. Which made him grin, in a drunk and crooked way. "G'night," he agreed. Then realized he should probably back up off her so she could actually turn and go inside. Which he did, taking a few unsteady steps back.

She giggled again. "I like your smile." she told him. Then she saw him being unsteady. "You sure you're gonna be okay?" she asked. Not that she was any steadier than he was. Cuz she wasn't. She as a light weight, and while he'd drank more than she had, she'd had her limit, definitely. Which meant that while she'd meant to push off of the door, she felt really heavy against it and hadn't managed it quite yet.

"It likes you too," he told her, without a shred of sense. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Been worse. But couldn't be better. ... you? Gonna make it upstairs okay?" Because she didn't look terribly upright either. And that totally didn't have him thinking about carrying her upstairs and making personally sure at all. Oh wait, it did.

She giggled once again. "I think so. I'll crawl. I've done it before. Y'know, like when you're a little kid, and you bend forward, and use your hands on the steps to on the way up? Totally like that. I mean, I could be dressed like a six year old anyways, right?" She did manage to get upright then, and pulled out the edges of her dress like she would have courtesied--even if she didn't, due to coordination issues.

"Auch, I just kissed you and I want to some more, don't ... don't mention six year olds," he said with an exaggerated grimace and a laugh. He backed away another step or two, because he would go in the other direction if he didn't, and he was being good, just like ten minutes ago. "Be careful goin' up, I'll ... talk to you later."

She laughed again, and gave a messy salute. "Kay." she said. "You be careful on the way home, or I'll kick your ass!" she informed him. Which was slightly detrimental, and not at all sensical, but hey. That was alright. "Call me or stop by or somethin soon, sweetie. I had a wonderful time tonight." she said genuinely. It showed through in her smile as well.

"Me too," he said, grinning back at her in a way that said he was highly pleased that she had a good time. God, he really didn't want to leave, but ... yeah. "An' I will. Lemme know if you need anybody's ass kicked or anything." He kissed one hand and flung it out in her general direction, which threw him off balance a little, but he caught himself. "'Night, Eury. Sweet dreams."

She squeaked, but then he caught his balance again. She blushed, and grinned. "You too, Ash." she said. She almost called him by his real name, but figured she couldn't quite yet. So she stuck with Ash. Plus, it was easier to say without tripping over. Less syllables. Then she turned and let herself in, waving at him one more time before she started disappearing up the steps.

He watched her go until the door shut behind her, then turned and grinned out at the night. Yes. Yes. He did a little end-zone dance that ended with him having to catch himself on a lamppost and laughed. Home-time. Home and bed. Ash started to walk, whistling to himself and feeling damn fine.