Love and Angels

Who: Eury and Ash
When: mid-day
Where: out and about, then the antique store

It wasn't until Ash was positive that the vampires had moved on that he went to see Eury. He'd called her a couple of times, just to check in, but hadn't gone over there for various reasons. She was potentially distracting, for one. No punches needed to be pulled with those bastards, and he needed his full mind in the right place. Plus, if they got him? Possibly less pain for her. But once he was sure the threat had passed, he wanted to see her. So it was late morning when he dragged his carcass out of bed, checked his bandages, and took the walk down to her shop. He flicked a cigarette away as he arrived and exhaled, trying the door. They'd broken out her windows, motherfuckers.

Eury was up early as well, mostly trying to get an estimate for her windows, and making sure nothing had been taken from her shop. Though really, it seemed to have been overlooked somewhat due to the fact that vampires really couldn't use old tea sets and or brass spoons. When she saw a shadow on the other side of the glass doors, through the small entryway, she at first felt a flash of anxiety--which was quickly replaced when she saw that it was Ash. Dropping her clip board down onto the nearest shelf, she ran over and opened up the door directly to her shop, then flipped the lock on the door to the street. She yanked it open, then grabbed one of his arms to pull him into a tight hug.

Since it didn't look like she was heading for his ribs in the half-second he had before he was hugged, Ash didn't head her off at all, chuckling faintly. "Hey there," he murmured, wrapping his own arms around her to squeeze gently. He'd caught a glimpse of the bandaids on her neck and though he wanted to pick her up, he didn't, just in case there were other injuries elsewhere. That, and his ribs probably wouldn't like it anyway. Regardless, it was damn good to see her, and all in one piece.

"Hey," she said, pulling back to smile at him. "It's good to see you, are you okay?" she asked, looking him over. She started pulling him back into the shop, opening up the other door by leaning back against it. "Did you lose a fight with the sidewalk?" she asked, reaching up to brush her thumb along his skin next to the road rash, but not directly touching the scabs.

"Right as rain," he assured her with a crooked little grin. He went where he was pulled, giving a quick glance around. At least it looked like they hadn't destroyed everything, that was good. "More like we became intimate bosom buddies. You? What's the damage report?" He arched an eyebrow and looked pointedly at her colorfully-bandaged neck.

She made a face. "I got a little tiny smidgen bit, but it's fine, and I got a little clawed. I'm fine." she assured him. "What about you?" she leaned closer to inspect the bandages she could see peeking out from beneath his shirt. "Have you been properly looked at? This isn't some half assed bandage job that hasn't even been disinfected, is it?" she asked.

Damn, now he wished he'd changed them before he came over. "If by properly looked at you mean that I have the routine down pat by now, then yeah," he said, sounding faintly amused. "Bit of a bite on the shoulder, sides are kinda scratched up. I disinfected them, don't worry." He reached up to light a hand on her jaw and smooched her forehead, since she was close and all.

She smiled softly at that. "Well, that isn't proper, you should have someone else do it for you, just so you can be sure it's done right." she said. But she sounded pretty placated. Aiden had tended her wounds. "Which I'm happy to do, if you need me to." she added. Just so that was officially on the table. "You're sure you're alright? Did you at least get the ones who roughed you up?"

"As appealing as it sounds to strip down for you, I think I'll be fine," he told her, flashing a little grin again. As for being alright? Well that answer changed from day to day, but he felt pretty good at the moment. "Yeah. Got those and quite a few others," he said with a nod. He trusted her enough to let her know that. Fuck, he was almost to the point of telling her everything. "How 'bout your's?" he asked, looking at her sunglasses. Because she wasn't dead. And that said something.

"I...took care of a few." Eury said. Then she gave a little half smirk. "I'm not totally helpless. And a girl can only own a morning star for so long before she just has to try it when maurading, insane vampires invade her town." Or something.

That got him to laugh, which hurt a little, but there it was. He moved to lean against her counter. "Never for a second, since I first saw you ripping down fliers, did I think that you were any level of helpless," he assured her lightly. "But marauding insane vampires seem to bring out the fight in everybody. You shoulda seen the brawl the other night."

"Really? Do tell. What happened?" she asked. All she'd seen were vamps, and Aiden. She'd heard other throw downs, in the form of gun fire, and other shit, but yeah. She hadn't seen any brawls. That was actually probably a good thing. She very likely would have gotten herself entirely in the way.

"Just a bunch of chaos that was hard to follow," he said with a chuckle and a shoulder-lift. "There were a couple of big bird-lycanthropes, some kid throwing magic around, some gunfire. It was a time." There was also the woman who'd gotten killed that none of them had been able to save, but he left that part out.

Her eyes went wide, the only indication of that her eyebrows appearing over the tops of her mirrorshades. "Big bird lychanthropes? Don't see them every day." she said. "Kids with magic and...damn. You really did find yourself an interesting little crowd to hang with, didn't you, sweetheart?" she asked, reaching up to affectionately muss his hair. "I knew Marquette attracted the wacky, but damn."

"I dunno if 'wacky' even begins to cover it," he said, reaching out to lightly pinch her side at the hair-ruffle. He also didn't know if he'd see any of them again -- or recognize them if he did -- but that was alright. It was good knowing that Marquette had it's fair share of protectors. It needed them.

She laughed, batting playfully at his hand. "Hey there, mister, be careful." she said. Then she tugged her shirt up to show him where the bandages were for her other wound. Those were a little less cute-bandaid like and more gauze taped to her skin type. "See? I'm wounded." she teased. Because he looked like he was a hell of a lot worse off than she was, but she couldn't resist teasing.

"Aw, poor baby," he teased back, though there was a bit of suck seeing that she was hurt. Even though he'd known that a moment ago. Actual bandages were different. Ash kissed his fingers and brushed them over the skin right next to the tape. Now he wanted to look at them, make sure she'd done a good job cleaning it up.

She smiled at him for that. "Aww. You're sweet." she said. "They're not actually that bad. They could have been much worse, really. You have a lot worse just looking at your scrapes and bruises. My neck's mostly just puncture damage which y'know, is deep and sucks but isn't some wide gaping wound or anything. And these ones are mostly just kind of long." she admitted. They spanned from her side towards her stomach, but they wouldn't be too bad. "Anything that leaves my intestines on the inside is favorable to anything else."

"Yeah, well, my skin's already fucked. Your's shouldn't be," he reasoned. Because that made sense. "However, I will agree that internal organs should stay that way, so ... glad you didn't get anything worse," Ash added, sounding serious about that bit at least. Just because he didn't mind getting hurt or dead didn't mean he wanted anybody else to.

"Hey, your skin isn't fucked." Eury insisted. "You're just...rugged in some places, that's not a bad thing. Adds to your character and charm." she insisted. "And I'm glad too. I really wasn't planning on being taken out by vampires. Wasn't really part of the five year plan, y'know? So yeah, glad I survived, glad I didn't get worse." And she still was wondering how long people were going to not mention some of the statues around town, but maybe Aiden had sort of kind of taken care of them. They'd tried, but she didn't even really remember how many exactly she'd turned.

"I just got some touch-up work done too," he said with a chuckle. Once everything closed up and the scabs came off, he'd have to assess the ink damage. Maybe go back to Liadan and see what she could do for him. If she'd survived too. Which he kind of had no doubt about, she seemed like the survivor type. Ash glanced around briefly before his eyes came back to her. "You hungry? I passed a sandwich place on the way here, it was open."

"Sure, I could eat." Eury said. "I was just assessing how many grand replacing my windows was going to be. So food is a much better distraction." she said. She walked back towards the cash register where her keys were laying, then came back over. "Ready when you are, Brave Sir Ash." she said, grinning at him.

"Oh hell, if only I had a badass huge sword," he said, grinning back. He offered her his arm in the usual style, and started to head for the door. And if only he could make it flame, then he'd really feel like an ass-kicking angel. Which would just be sweet, in the purely-testosterone-driven sort of way.

She laughed and took his arm of course. "You'd look good with a sword." she agreed. "A big claymore, probably. Two handed, looks almost ridiculous because it might be too big but isn't quite. Nice runes on the blade...ivory or bone inlaid into the handle. I can see it now, it's glorious." she informed him.

"Aw, see, now you're giving me delusions of gradeur," he said, escorting her out onto the sidewalk and heading in the direction of food. He flashed her a grin. Yes, it was definitely good to hang out with her again. "Just as long as it wasn't all shiny still. It has to look used. You with your morning star and me with a huge fuckoff claymore, we'd make quite a team."

"We would." Eury said. Then scoffed. "And please. I'm an antiquities dealer, sweetheart. I don't imagine anything without that well worn look on it. Besides, they haven't crafted decent claymores in centuries, I'd never let you carry anything else. It just wouldn't be proper." she said firmly.

Ash chuckled. "Well when it comes to swords, I'd definitely trust your judgement," he assured her. He'd carried them before, briefly, back in the early years. Never a claymore, but a short bastard sword had come in handy once or twice. But his affinity for guns was stronger, just always had been.

"I would be terribly insulted if that weren't the case." Eury said firmly, smirking at him. "But until you really need to be wandering around with a weapon far too huge to conceal in anything but a mobile circus tent while wearing stilts, I suppose you'll have to make do with whatever." Which she sort of belatedly realized she didn't actually know what Ash fought with.

"Let's hope that day never comes," he said, darkly amused. Yeah, that would require a bigger apocalypse than a bunch of vampires. Which he really hoped not to ever have to see. His 'whatever' that he'd been making do with for a long time was tucked into the back of his belt, under his shirt. Just in case. "I've made it this far without a claymore, so I think I'm good for a bit longer," he said, opening the deli door for her. " ... though I would definitely like to see you weild that morning star sometime."

Eury laughed at that. Mostly because Aiden had mentioned that even in the middle of the vampire fight, he'd noticed she was apparently hot with that thing. "You have a thing for women carrying medieval weaponry?" she asked with a grin. "Interesting. It was satisfying, I have to admit." she allowed.

"Fuck, who doesn't?" he asked, grinning at her. "What isn't hot about a complete babe smashing in evil skulls with righteous vengence? I mean Christ, I need a cold shower just picturing it, and my imagination sucks." Which was really only half-exaggerated. Because Eury? Would be totally hot just like, dusting or something. Ash thought so anyway.

She beamed at him, a wicked little smile. "Righteous vengence and everything, hmm?" she asked. "I liked the 'complete babe' part too. You're very sweet. And just for your information, I did in fact get to smash in at least one evil skull." she assured him, half murmuring it near his ear, since they were starting to be in public now and all.

Public or not, the murmuring didn't really help his situation. So okay, he remembered pretty vividly kissing her when they'd gone drinking together, and that didn't help either. Not that he minded. Ash grinned at her, really liking that smile. "I dunno if sweet's the word for it, but I'll take it," he told her, giving her arm a little squeeze against his side.

She laughed again, grinning. "Well, what word would you pick?" she asked. She paused a second as she glanced over the menu on the wall, deciding rather quickly what she wanted before they got up to the counter. Apparently this place was hopping. Probably because there were still a ton of places that weren't open again yet.

"Ahh ... let's go with red-blooded," he said. That worked, and was better than both 'smitten' and 'horny', which also applied. But then there was ordering going on, and he put his in as well, shuffling off to the side with her to wait.

She leaned her back against the wall, and glanced over the other people out. They looked kind of...diminished. She could see some of the defensive sorts of postures going on. There wasn't the buzz of conversation going on that one would expect with as many people there. Sure, there were people and they were talking, but it was a lot more hushed, like they were afraid people would overhear. And really, they probably were. She sighed, and half leaned her head against Ash's shoulder for a second. "Think this town'll ever recover?" she asked in a quiet tone just for his ears.

He was looking around as she was, though with a different sort of mindset. There wasn't the feeling of peace that he'd had at Brian's party, that had dissipated, but he was still vaguely optimistic at seeing so many people alive. Changed forever, maybe, but alive. At Eury's soft question, he tilted his head to rest it against her's. "Never completely," he said just as quietly, looking at all of them. "It's changed. But that's the way of everything, no matter what shape it comes in."

"I know. I'd just sort of liked Marquette like it was." she said. "People said hello on the street, they smiled at you, people werent' secretly afraid for their lives every second of every day...it was nice. If I wanted that other thing I'd move to New York again." she said, attempting a light bit of humor there.

Ash chuckled softly, and didn't tell her that he'd seen that sort of small-town friendliness hide darkness worse than vampires and demons. Or worse in his estimation, at least. He knew it was kind of relative, but he would much rather have an enemy he could fight than some of the underlying decay he'd seen. It was just ... more insidious. But he was also aware that he was rather cynical for various reasons. "It was nice," he agreed instead, quietly.

She smiled and drew in a deep breath before letting it out slowly, and looking at him again. "Maybe it'll come back. If it doesn't, I'm moving." she said. And she might have been teasing. The tone was teasing. Internally, however, Eury wasn't sure. Things were a bit on the fucked up side all over, and she didn't like an environment that was too run down like that. The air was different.

He looked over at her, one eyebrow slightly lifted. Part of him wanted to protest that, even if she was teasing, but he knew better. That was entirely selfishness, because he liked her and wanted her around. As he'd told the younger angel with the tattoo gun, Marquette was his Do Or Die place. He probably wasn't moving on, unless things changed for him. Eury was safer elsewhere, any idiot could see that. And that was what mattered, really. "Let's hope it does, then. I'd miss you," he said with a faint smile.

She smiled at him, and gave him a smooch on the cheek. "Yeah, I know." she said with an affectionate little squeeze about his shoulders. "I'd miss you too. But don't worry. I'm still giving this place a shot. I'm just a traveler at heart sometimes, and if what I truly loved about this place changes, then it might be time for me to move on. I don't usually judge so quickly though." she assured him.

He patted her hand. "I can understand that," he said, and he could. He'd town-hopped for years now because he was continually disgusted with wherever he landed, hadn't he? He had. Just because he couldn't be happy anywhere didn't mean it was impossible for anyone else. They didn't have duties like his, after all. ... and now he really wanted a beer and a cigarette, their food needed to hurry the fuck up.

She glanced over, and hey--their food was up. So she went and grabbed it for them, smiling and she indicated he could choose what they were doing. Taking it to go find a bench somewhere to eat, or find a booth or something.

Ash gestured for Outside. Not that it was so great out there, with the shape the town was in, but he did want to smoke, so. It was better. He didn't much feel like being so closely surrounded by oppressive and destroyed people at the moment, they could find a bench somewhere. He held the door for her and led the way.

She carried the food, sort of glad herself that they were opting for outside. "We could hit Harlow Park. There's picnic tables, and I don't think too much of it got destroyed." she added. She knew a few of the playground equpiment things had seen better days now, and some of the art had been smashed, but she would put up with that.

He lit up as soon as they were clear of the building and nodded, tucking his Zippo away again and walking with her. Ash was silent for a few beats, then looked over at her again. "What have you always wanted out of life?" he asked. Sure, it was an abrupt sort of question, but he wanted to know all of the sudden. "Or has it changed?"

Eury gave him a smile, though it was a touch sad. Not a lot, but it was there. "Honestly?" she asked. "I've always wanted to find true love. And yeah, I'm aware how corny that is, and stupid, and six-year-old-girl of me." she disclaimered before he could say anything about that. "It's always been that. Always."

For some reason, that got him to smile. Like, big. He didn't know people still had that dream beyond puberty. The age of disillusionment was getting lower and lower. "I don't think it's stupid," he told her after he'd had another drag. "People have made it corny, but ... I dunno, I can't see how it's not a good thing to want."

She smiled at that, maybe a touch shyly. People usually thought she was pretty naive over that revelation. "No?" she asked. "Most of the time I start getting a speech about how that's just a myth anyhow, and the best anyone can hope for is love with tolerance, and how I really should be over this by now, what with being a full grown adult and all." she said. It was nice though, that he hadn't said anything of the kind. She appreciated it.

"Just because they haven't found it doesn't mean it doesn't exist," he said reasonably. "I don't discount anything, more under heaven than you can dream, all that shit. I think it's rare. But don't get over it. Hold on to it." He didn't think it would ever happen for most people, himself included. But Eury was a good person, so maybe she had a shot. It was part of why he was so drawn to her, that shiny karma just felt nice for a change. "Everybody wants unconditional acceptance and understanding. It's natural." Most of 'em just don't deserve it.

She laughed softly and knocked her shoulder agaisnt his for a moment. "You're too sweet." she told him. "I'm far too used to people thinking I'm an idiot for it. So...thank you. But yeah, that's pretty much it. No truly grand dreams, just that. I just want love. Real love. What you said. Unconditional. Something that's there, and there isn't anything that'll mar it. Nothing that will really change it on that base level."

"There you go callin' me sweet again," he said with a grin. He waved a hand. "No thanks necessary, I think it's great. Much better than wanting money or power or some bullshit like that. Real love is grand, I think. ... not that I've got any personal experience, but hey. Sounds damn nice to me." He flicked the cherry out of his cigarette and waited until they passed a trash can to drop the butt in. It just felt weirdly wrong to litter in Eury's presence. Especially with the town in as bad shape as it was already.

She waited for him, then turned into the park proper, where it did look a little trashed...but there was a picnic table that had survived. So she headed for that, liking that it was in the shade and it felt good to sit down and put their food down. "You've never been in love?" she asked. "Really? Not even just loving someone else?" she asked.

Well wasn't that a question? He went and sat down with her, pulling the bag to him to dole out their food. "I dunno if you'd classify it as true love, but ... yeah, once or twice maybe. Never lasted long, but I've had, y'know ... feelings. Just a long time ago." Before everything looked so bleak, really. Women that were either dead or in nursing homes by now.

"I'm just talking regular love, not true love." Eury clarified for him. "Because love is love, you can have that without it reaching that fairytale level." she added. "How long ago? And have you just not met anyone since that kept your attention, or have you been avoiding relationships because you don't want to be hurt or lose anyone?" she asked, propping her chin on her hand as she regarded him.

Ash chuckled faintly, though he didn't seem uncomfortable with the line of questioning. "Years. Lots of years, I was a kid, really," he said. Which could be twenty to her, to him it was a lot longer stretch. The second half gave him pause, and his eyes ticked up to her sunglasses. "Bit of both, maybe? Throw in that I haven't wanted to be the one doing the hurting, and I've just been ... busy." He handed her her sandwich.

She took the sandwich, listening to his answers and milling them over. "Were you usually the one doing the hurting?" she asked curiously. There wasn't any tone of judgment in her voice, she just wanted to know how he assessed it. What he took away from failed relationships, and if he thought himself at fault for the most part, or if other things had happened.

"Well for a couple of my brief relationships stints, it was about fifty-fifty," he said with an odd little twist to his lips. He could think of one or two who had been the very definition of firecrackers. Those had been good -- if sometimes painful, when a temper flared -- days. "But for the most part, I've been the one who's had to move on, so ... in a way, yes, guess I have been. Though it wasn't easy."

"Sounds a little lonely." Eury observed. "I'm never quite sure why people do that to themselves. Push themselves off, seperate themselves. People can teach you a lot if you let them. Or, I suppose, that's how I've looked at it. I've loved and lost...seems like hundreds of times, and I took at least something away from each and every time. Every person touched me in some fashion."

"Didn't say that I haven't," he pointed out gently. "I remember each and every one of them like it was yesterday. I've just always had kind of complicated priorities. Believe me, I'd love to settle. Be in love. But there's more to it than what I want." So in the meantime, he had affairs. And sometimes it would feel like a concentrated bite-sized relationship, and those were the best. When he found someone capable, which was getting less and less frequently.

"What's complicated about them?" Eury asked curiously, because that defintiely stood out. It said there was a story, and she was terribly curious to hear it. "And if I'm being far too nosey, tell me, but I'm curious. I'm a good listener and everything." she teased lightly, since they both were, and they both knew that by now.

"I don't mind you being nosey," he told her with a genuine smile. For some reason, he really didn't. Usually he would've diverted this kind of conversation by now, but it was Eury and that made a difference. Which possibly also made him a sucker, but he didn't mind that either. "But that would have to be a completely-in-private conversation, if you really want to know."

She looked faintly surprised, but not ina bad sort of way. "Really? Well, if you put it that way...I'm free. So after food, we can go someplace that's private, if you're willing to tell me. I don't want you to if you're not willing, or would prefer not to. Everyone's entitled to their secrets as well, of course. But..." she gave him a little smile. "I really want to know."

"If I wasn't willing, I would've made something else up," he said with a crooked sort of grin. "But it's a date." He tipped his sandwich to her and took a bite. Part of his brain was wondering if that was really such a good idea. It might change things, wreck his potential with her, something like that. But it was the truth, it was part of him, and he really liked her. And maybe she needed to know, if they were going to have anything to do with each other. So she could be more cautious. He wasn't the safest person to know, after all. Ash figured in the end, if anything was going to come of this, she should know. And might as well know sooner rather than later, since it was obvious that her eyes were open.

She smiled brightly at that, and ate a bit. "Excellent." she said simply. Pity she couldn't tell him her own secret. The only reason Aiden knew was because he was apparently better informed than a lot of hunters. So that had been accidental. She still sometimes wished he didn't know. But she didn't tell people for a reason, and it was because she liked being alive, and she didn't know anyone who really reacted well to 'yes, I have snakes for hair and turn people to stone with my eyes'. Yeah that just didn't roll off the tongue very well. Or the psyche for that matter.

But while they ate, they could talk about other things. And she'd given him a good in to be nosy himself. "What about you?" he asked, arching an eyebrow at her a bit. "When the last time you were in love? And how's ah ... your complication, wasn't he?"

"Still complicated." Eury admitted with a sigh. "Actually, we recently got into a huge argument, which was interrupted by the vampiric, and that was probably the only thing that kept us from walking away." She said. "Or, maybe things would hav worked out even without the random violence then immediate concern and relief that we were both mildly injured but not dead. It's difficult to say. He and I...we have communication issues." she admitted. "The last time I was in love...that was before I came here. There's been...near things, however." she said, giving a smile that was actually a touch sad.

It was probably terrible of him to be slightly relieved that things didn't sound so good there. Yes, definitely terrible. Just from what he'd half-heard about the guy, when they were out drinking, Ash wasn't really a fan. That and of course the obvious. But he should be her friend more than a vulture, so ... that was pushed off to one side. He nodded a bit, looking at her. "Sometimes those hurt more," he said quietly.

"The near things? Yeah, sometimes. That sort of bittersweet thought that maybe things could have happened but either it wasn't the right time, or someone just wasn't right for the other. It happens, but it's always a little disappointing, wondering if maybe things couldn't have worked out differently." Eury said.

"Yeah, it's the not-knowing that drives me batshit," he said with a chuckle. "There was this one time ... hell, I guess I was in my mid-twenties, somewhere around there. But I crashed a frat party with some friends. And there was this girl. Total throwback, this straight shiny dark brown hair down to her waist. We talked a lot, but be damned if I even got her name. She was a political science major, I know that for sure. An artist, too. But anyway, few hours, many beers later, she took me home. Waking up that next morning, she was sitting on the bed next to me, looking out the window and doing a sketch of the tree out there. Didn't know I was awake, I just watched her for what felt like forever. Didn't want to move. Just the way the light was on her ... Kept thinkin' that ... y'know, I could happily wake up that way every damn day. When I left, I tried to get her number, but she said she didn't have one. Never saw her again, there was somebody else in that dorm when I went back to check like a month later. But I always wondered, y'know?" He paused, then laughed at himself just a bit and waved a hand. "Now I know I'm gettin' old. But yeah, I know what you mean."

She smiled at the story, seeming to be taken with it. "That sounds lovely." she said. Hell. She could wake up to the sight he was describing every morning and be a perfectly happy girl. Maybe that was her problem. She'd been entirely too wrapped up in men lately. Emotionally unstable men at that. Well. Ash wasn't. So far. "It's a shame though, I bet it would have been something good to have followed up on. She sounds like a great person. "

"Could've been," he agreed with a nod. Her karma had been fairly clean, but that didn't always mean everything. Plenty of people were ticking time bombs who just hadn't done anything yet. "I wanted to find out. But." He shrugged a shoulder and took another contemplative bite of the sandwich. "She's prolly got grown kids by now." Even though it was probably more like grandkids, seeing as how that had been in the early sixties.

Eury arched an eyebrow, then glanced at him. "How old are you, anyhow, dear?" she asked curiously. "Also, you never know. Some people are built for that, others aren't. Life happens a lot too. But still, might be worth it, just to see her again. But that's me, I'm a hopeless romantic, so my opinion might be ignoreable."

He had to grin a bit at that suggestion. Yeah, he could totally see himself scouring the country to track down a one-night stand from forty years ago. "Be kinda hard to do when I have no clue what her name was," he pointed out. "Besides, sometimes ... you can't rekindle things. You end up in a completely different place mentally, whether that takes years or a month, and it's just ... over. Worth remembering, but over."

"I didn't say rekindle, I said see her again." Eury pointed out with a smirk. "No one said you had to hop into the nearest bed with her! Just saying!" she laughed a little. "Still...it was in fact, a nice story. I'm glad that you had someone even if it was brief, touch your life like that. She sounds worth it."

He was glad to see that he'd sort of dodged the age question. He'd end up telling her later anyway, so he didn't want to throw his standard answer out there just now. Ash laughed a bit. Yeah, jumping into bed with her ... might get him arrested. Or maybe she was a cougar, who knew. He'd seen some weird shit in his life. "Well glad you enjoyed it, and it inspired hopelessly romantic thoughts," he said.

She laughed again. "Oh, that doesn't take much, with me." she admitted. "I'm a romantic, so I can find that all over the place. Really, just about anywhere. I'm terrible, I swear. I've had friends actively roll their eyes at me if I started getting a certain look on my face." she admitted.

Ash waved a hand. "Nothing wrong with it," he said, like it was up to him. "Hell, you got a lot of people beat out for shit that's even worth thinking about." He wondered in a vague way if she'd gotten any romantic thoughts about him. He'd kissed her pretty damn good when they'd went out, after all. Or maybe her complication was more at the forefront. It was hard to tell.

"Well, I have less horror on my mind than most people. And I would say probably less stress a lot of the time." she said thoughtfully, munchign on the rest of her sandwich. "People forget to stop and enjoy themselves far too often." she added. Of course, they also have a hell of a lot less time to wander the world than I do, but that's not the point! she added mentally.

"Amen to that," he said with a wry chuckle. Granted, most of his enjoyment was either risking life and limb or slowly killing off his liver, but hey. To each their own, right? He finished off his food and crumpled up the paper to stick back in the bag. "I'd like to take you out again sometime," he told her, looking at her with a little smile. "Once ... y'know, everything's a bit recovered."

Eury didn't quite know what to say to that. There was the whole Aiden issue thing, and they were...sort of technically together, weren't they? Some days she wasn't actually positive. But she could also go out with friends from time to time, she was entitled. He didn't have a total monopoly on her time. So she smiled at him. "I'd like that." she said. She thought it would kind of ruin the moment though to add in that it would have to be as friends. So...yeah. "We want to head back to the shop now, and you can tell me what you're not saying out here?"

Sweet, another date secured. Well ... at least until they had this talk, so he'd enjoy it for however long it lasted. "Definitely," he said, and stood up, gathering their trash. Part of him piped up again that this might not be a good idea. It wasn't like he'd never told anyone before, because he had. Some of them had ended up being close friends that he still popped in on every now and then. But it hadn't ever been a woman he was interested in. Those he never planned to keep around long, for various reasons. So it might change things. He'd have to see.

Eury stood with him and helped toss her trash away as well, then headed them in the direction of her shop. That was the nice thing about downtown Marquette--everything was stupidly close. So it really wasn't that long a trek back to her place, which she spent in companionable silence with him. Then she unlocked the door and let them both inside, re-locking it behind them and heading up the steps towards her apartment, beckoning him to follow.

Ash got another cigarette in before they arrived at her place, and followed her up the stairs. He was mulling over how to start, if it should be padded at all. He was kind of thinking not. She killed vampires with a morning star, 'I'm an angel' probably wouldn't be that huge of a shock. He hoped not, anyway. He felt safe telling her, he didn't get any sort of impression she was a hunter or anything. She was clean, and that made a world of difference.

She unlocked the door at the top of the stairs--something she'd only started locking due to Aiden's insistence, and let them in, heading to the fridge to get them iced tea, in case they wanted any. "Kitchen, living room, or crap ass patio again?" she asked, looking back over.

"Kitchen's fine," he said, trailing after her. He kind of wanted to be standing, anyway, just in case of ... something. Ash leaned against the counter and watched her. A little bit of nerves were kicking in, but that was easy enough to deal with. He might as well just out with it, that was generally the best way to do things. "So. Complicated priorities. Thing is, I'm an angel. Of karma. Kinda puts a different spin on things," he said with a faint smile.

Eury had been pouring iced tea into a glass, and kept pouring as he spoke, and suddenly she had a lot of iced tea running down the counter, getting her feet and legs all wet and she blinked, setting it back down again, not even doing the 'oh shit!' reaction. "You're an angel." she repeated, staring at him. How exactly do you do this, Eury? Did you win the paranormal goddamn lottery? Is everyone you meet involved somehow?! she thought to herself. "Of...Karma?" She didn't know that much about angels. All she initially knew is that she didn't know how they stood on turning people to stone, and was guessing it was on the 'against' it side of things.

He wasn't sure if that reaction was a good or bad thing. She hadn't outright disbelieved him, or thought he meant something else, so that was on one hand. On the other, she was going to have a really sticky floor. And legs. He reached off to one side and pulled a good handful of paper towels off of the roll and crouched to at least start to soak it up. "Yes, angel of Karma. Balance the scales, make sure people get some of what's coming to them, all that," he said, then paused to look up at her. "You're clean enough, don't worry. I can see it."

Can you see it if I'm not a real person? If I'm not human? Eury wondered, slightly panicky there. Okay. She was 'clean'. Apparently. "I...don't quite know what to say." she said in total, one hundred percent honesty. "I've not dealt with angels a whole lot, or...if I have I sure didn't know. But...wow, Ash. I...yeah."

"You probably didn't know," he told her with a slightly crooked grin. Then straightened up again, tossing the paper towels. "We tend to ... blend. But c'mon, lets go get more comfortable and I'll enlighten you ..."

~~~~~

It hadn't taken too long to explain everything that he was able to explain. They'd sat on the couch and gone over it, and he was surprised by some of the depth of some of her questions. It had sparked a good conversation, at least, and he'd enjoyed himself. But then he always enjoyed himself with her. But eventually Ash had to go. He did have a shop to mostly-run, after all. He gave her a smooch on the forehead and a hug, feeling closer to her for handing over his secret. It wasn't a bad feeling, she'd been okay with it. Ash tipped her a wave and a grin and lit a cigarette as soon as his boots hit the sidewalk again. Maybe things were looking a bit up.