"With swings? Hopefully? Ohhhh please tell me there are swings." Almost giddy in her excitement, she spoke around the cigarette being put in her mouth, a roll of her lips pulling it to one side. As she turned to walk with him, every third or fourth step bumped her hip against his, whether intentionally or unintentionally was hard to tell. "Wait, you aren't from here? Where's home then?"

"If you're a good girl, I'll push you on them." His lopsided grin resurfaced and he nudged her, turning them around a corner. The park itself was only a few hundred yards straight ahead, its entrance framed by a wrought iron archway. She bumped and he bumped back until they were making a game of it. "Earth... uh, one of them anyway. And not like the one you see on television and the movies."

"Legs like these I can pump my way to the moon if I wanna." She scoffed at him, pulling the cigarette free with a puff of smoke so she could suck down more peanut butter banana smoothie. Thankfully she wasn't so high that he would offset her balance but each subsequent bump made her sway, a tumble of laughter cutting through the quiet night as they approached the park. "There's lots of earths. And they all seem to like dumping their misfits here. I don't get it, but okay, Nexus. Whatever. Um. Anyways, so how's it different?"

"You spread 'em pretty good when you wanna too," he teased and sipped at his orange mango. Ro didn't answer her right away, stepping through the archway eventually and moving to set the bags on a bench nearest an old metal swingset. Considering the question, he shot a look over his shoulder at her. "The first time I saw a car, I was nine and its rusted out frame was half reclaimed by the growth of a hill. The last car stopped running like forty years before I was born."

"You callin' me a ho?" She peered at him, moon wide eyes still predominantly black framed by a sliver of blue. While he went to the bench, she beelined for the swingset, claiming the middle swing for her own. As she sat, the old chains groaned their acknowledgement of her weight, no matter how slight it may have been. Walking herself backwards, she eventually let her knees bend to send her into a pendulum back and forth accented by the slow extension and contraction of her legs to further the motion. "Really? Do you know how to drive now? My dad taught me when I was, like, thirteen. Or something silly like that. No cars though? How'd you all get around?"

"Nope. Sayin' I enjoy the time I spend between 'em." His hands freed, he reached out and teased a curled finger beneath her chin in a light chuck. She took the swing and he took the spot behind her, reaching out with rough fingers to grab the chains to draw her back farther. "I sorta know how to drive, yeah. And we walked. Or rode horses. Or took horse-drawn rail carts. No guns either. Bullets didn't work."

"Well I'd hope so, otherwise I'd wonder what's wrong with you for spending time there if you don't enjoy it." Masochist much? When he tugged back on the chains, they creaked in protest. She kept her feet up in case he let go, making sure the fresh Jordans wouldn't scuff too badly if they dragged. "Horse... drawn... rail carts... you're breaking my brain, dude. But wait. No guns? How's that work? Man, I'd be so boned. My parents are mercs, ya know, er... were. Were. Practically grew up with guns, like, everywhere."

"Gotta show respect. I plan on visiting again soon." He let her legs swing high, her torso low, so that she could see him grin and wink before he allowed her to continue back and forth. Every time she swung back up, she was given a fresh push of his hands. Around ass level. "Things were different before The Change, they say. Guns and cell phones and tee-vee. Planes and the internet. We had it and then we didn't. A lot of people died. A lot of people adapted. My folk adapted or else I wouldn't be there. Er, here. Whatever.":

"Mm, you might have to renew your traveler's visa or whatever it's called," she teased, leaning way back each time she sailed forward so she could look back at him, slightly upside down. Straightening when she swung backwards, she didn't even call him out for touching her ass. Because that was totally the only reason he was pushing her. Dat ass. "Huh. Shit went pretty sideways. That sounds intense as fuck. Kinda how I ended up here... not like... uh... a change like that, but everything went crazy real quick. Except I dunno if I can fix it. So there's that."

He lit another cigarette while she zipped back and forth, he returning coming with just enough time for him to get two firm handfuls of her ass to squeeze before pushing her again. Dat. Ass. "Until I ended up here, I never knew any different. Shit was my life, so I lived it. Now I'm here and things are fucked up more often than not, but we get by."

"That's my ass!" An errant kick of her foot back at him sent the swing twisting and Addie squealing as she tried to straighten it out. When she calmed down long enough to process what he had said, she tipped way back on the swing until she could look at him upside down fully. "Can you go back? Would you even want to?"

He leaned over when she looked up at him, with every intention of kissing her. The question, however, stopped her just short of her mouth and wiped away his smile. There was a pause before he answered. "X is my family now. The Hollows are home. I don't know a way back there or if there's even anything for me..."

Her lips pursed, they were so close. So, so close. And then he fell short. She swung forward, still watching him upside down on the back swing that brought her back to him. Midway through the pendulum's arc, she sat upright, feeling the blood rush out of her face and back into her body again.

"Oh." She was quiet for a few moments, sorting through disjointed thoughts that didn't quite fit together through the haze of whatever was working through her system. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't wanna. I try not to either. Um. Talk about home, that is. I feel ya."

He stepped forward and let the end of her swing propel her into his body, where she bumped into his solid frame and then swung away. A moment later, he was giving her another push, his eyes following her. "I usually don't. But you asked and I thought you deserved an answer. You're pretty alright, after all."

When she collided with him, she made a sound that ended up a cross between a hiccup and a squeak of surprise, giggling as he pushed her once more. It was hard to be serious when her head felt like it was going to float away at any moment. Maybe if she tried really hard she could touch one of the moons. "Home is... a weird thing. Like, both sentimental but totally awful to think about. So you, like, tuck it all away into a little box and you leave it there. The only thing that keeps it from getting dusty is the periodic thought, however incorrect it might be, that home is merely a place. It isn't. It's not a town or a country or a realm. It's a series of moments stacked one by one to build, like, this safe haven and you'll find that, um, the moments, they aren't about where you are but rather who you're with. It's the people, not the place. You can always take that with you."

"That's pretty profound, Pizza Girl." He chuckled and smiled again, catching the round perfection of her ass on each backswing to grope and then push her again, keeping her in motion. A curious stare remained leveled at her slim back, a mixture of concern over whatever she was on and a growing interest in the depth of her words.

"Maybe I'll get there someday. For now, I do pretty okay." His fingers passed lightly across her waist on the next pass.

"Yeah, I'm pretty alright like that," she shot back, wriggling against the curve of groping hands and the taut swing that kept her aloft. Legs lazily kicked with each forward swing sending her soaring toward the sky, or at least that's what it felt like. Really it was just to the physical limitation of the swing's chain when matched against gravity before she was sent careening back toward him. Whatever depth she exhibited moments ago soon was lost to the backswing. "I don't. But hey, that's life right?"

"You've got the pretty down. Gorgeous even." When he wanted to be, Ro was just a little bit of a charmer, putting it on display with the compliment and the sudden catch of her hips. It halted her progress. One arm caught her around the waist, forcing his face against the crook of her neck when he inhaled deeply. "You've got your band. Your girls," he offered quietly. "You've got them. They've got you."

A smile, something soft and genuine, touched at her lips and lingered there even as he stopped her swing dead in its tracks. Her body lurched and her hands tightened on the chains but he caught her and kept her from having an untimely meeting with the gravel covered ground. For a few moments she was quiet and briefly it seemed like she wasn't going to answer. But eventually she issued a quiet sigh limned with a hint of a laugh. "It's all very pretty, isn't it? What more could a girl want."

"I dunno," Ro answered against her neck, rocking her forward and then backwards without letting go. "You tell me." Reaching around her, he placed his cigarette lightly against her lips in an offer.

The shuffle and scrub of his mouth and stubble against her neck had her canting her head to one side, letting a tumble of night blackened waves spill to one side. Her head felt prickly and his words made her teeth hurt like she was clenching her jaw just a little too hard. One hand left a chain long enough to push a few wayward strands out of her face. It pulled away just long enough for the offered cigarette to be taken, middle and ring fingers pinning it as she stole a deep drag. "You want the sunshine and daisies answer, the real talk raw answer, or the shameless flirt answer?"

There's a mask for every situation.

"Real, Adelaide." Snarky, smart ass Romeo softened further in the moment, slipping a hand beneath her and letting it rise to pin the hair away from her face. The other arm slipped for fully around her waist. "Like me, hate me, whichever it is... you be real with me, I'll be real with you."

"Ew. Please don't call me that. I only get called that when I'm in trouble." Her nose scrunched. At the very least she asked nicely. Letting her feet dangle, the toes of her sneakers scuffed against the ground and left dirty little marks across what had been pristine white. So much for fresh kicks. "Okay... real talk? I just want to sleep. Uninterrupted and without... stuff... to accomplish it. I just want things to be how they were before it all got so fucked up, like where the worst thing I had to worry about was school. You know? I'd kill to be normal again. Just Addie."

"Then you don't get to call me Romeo." The return admonishment came with a digging poke of his fingers against her ribs, more tickling than it was painful. "Makes me feel like somethin' I'm not. A lotta things I'm not. Deal?"

The confession from her was sobering, but he didn't pull her in closer. He didn't hug her. Something like that require a cue, an invitation. Ironic? More than a little. He'd take her in a carnal fashion with very little prodding but something more tender? It didn't seem to be what the beauty wanted and... well, Romeo rarely knew what he wanted from the world. It was part of the reason he had never risen above where he was. But he listened. He listened with rapt attention and didn't take his hands off of her, in case something changed.

"I... I guess I get that. After a fashion." The offer was tentative after her explanation, a little bridge between them built in a vulnerable moment. For a moment, he thought to offer her advice or, more succinctly, help. His people knew things. He'd paid attention. Maybe he could... no. It wasn't like that. This was just a passing fancy for them both.

Wasn't it?

"I see her sometimes," is what he said instead. "Her. You. That you that isn't as lost as you think. I liked her. I still do. She's got the prettiest smile."

"Fine. No more Romeo." Addie's mouth shaped itself into a frown but she didn't argue. Instead she squirmed and wriggled, her butt at risk of slipping from the safety of the swing. Her legs straightened just in case she needed to catch herself. She was getting used to having to do that these days. "I'd hope you're nothing like your most commonly associated namesake. Romeo Montague was an idiot who died over the rebound girl that he had known for, like, a day. He was also a bit of a pushy creep. There's nothing cool about that. And you, I guess you're cool-ish, you know?"

Her head hung for a few moments, the deep pools of royal blue closing long enough to give her time to breathe. As it was before, her heart was still racing in her chest, hammering out a frantic SOS to any that would listen. She could feel it in her head and in her toes and in the very tip of her nose. Her eyes stayed closed when she answered, something of a forlorn smile gracing the curve of her mouth. "She's there... just weighed down under the consequences of everything I've done. Those don't go away even once the smiles have."

On the twenty-sixth of May...

The day had been been a warm one, not too hot, but hazy and muggy from the humidity in the air in the wake of the previous night's rain. It stuck to the skin unpleasantly, unwanted until the cool breezes coming in off of the coast promised something a little more palatable with the setting of the sun. The afternoon had been something of a change of pace for the time Romeo spent with Addie; after a polite and stoic refusal to discuss out he had gotten the ugly bruise along the left side of his jaw, he had been sweetly engaging and plenty personable. She had been treated to games and snack, witty commentary and mindless games, pleasant conversation interspersed between them, and an obscene collection of tickets that were soon draping her slim shoulders.

It had become apparent immediately that the arcade was a near obscene fascination for her companion, who for the second time professed for the second time that his homeworld had nothing like this. Or it did, once upon a time. So he attacked the games with zeal, though often snuck little looks at her as they played through them, drinking her in when he thought she wasn't paying him any mind. It was one of those very looks he gave her when the last rays of the setting sun flitted through the nearby window, bathing her in an amber-red glow during a very competitive game of miniature golf.

It was enough to set the gold in her hair aflame, the subtle undertones brought to life in most ironic fashion with the death of the day until the otherwise midnight shades of the unruly mane were less moonlight and more sunshine in ways she seldom was. While Addie found she was good at many things, arcade games were not on the list. Her frustration with said fact was easily muted by the boyish joy he seemed to display when utterly dominating game after game. She wore the strands of tickets like the finest of pearls, wrapped in loops around her neck and shoulders that had a habit of slipping at the worst times. In particular when she was lining up her shot. Her hips wriggled with the slight shuffle of her feet, the putter drawn back then swung for a precise and gentle tap against the purple golf ball. It bounced against an obstacle, ricocheted off the course's wall, then rolled to a stop a few feet from the hole.

"Gods damnit. That was the perfect shot!" As if the green had been out to get her, she scowled at it then swung the look toward her playing partner. Before he could step up to the start of the hole, she ran down the course to her ball, lined up another shot, and tapped it into the hole. A short lived celebration dance came once she straightened from retrieving the ball from the hole. "Okay. Two. What's it, a par three?"

"Gotta have patience," Ro told her with a chuckle, his gaze following after her and the way her hips swayed when she jogged to finish it out. The celebration dance was worth a grin, which disappeared with the dip of his head as he set his gray ball on the ground to line up his own shot. "Even if you're running outta time, you've gotta be patience. Search for the angle and the moment, seize the opportunity. Deep breath in..."

He drew in the breath and held it for a moment. "Then back out..."

With the exhale of the words, he tapped the ball with his putter and propelled it forward. It arced subtly around the obstacle and towards the hole, sunk in a single stroke. "Like that."

At the end of the course, she lingered to watch him line up his shot. There was an exasperated but good natured roll of her eyes to answer his advice and an even more exasperated huff when he sank it in one go. Since he didn't need to putt again, she stepped over the course's wall and back onto the green to retrieve his ball from the hole as well.

"Like shooting a gun. Okay Mister Takes-Putt-Putt-Too-Seriously, how far am I behind now?" Addie rolled the two balls in her palm, fingers nimbly twisting purple and grey around and around as she waited for him to catch up so they could progress to the next.

There was some small reverence to the way he had lined up the shot and completed, the advice more mantra than boast but it was hard to deny the competitive spirit in his smile. He was unhurried when finally closing the distance to her. "Yeah, like shooting a gun. Hurrying jostles everything, throws you out of sync. Had this drilled into my head a hundred times before I was allowed to test for the First Levy. Except, yanno, with a longbow and not a gun or a putter. My kinsman on both sides were big on contests and games. It was a good way of attracting the girls too..."

Ro snickered and bumped her shoulder gently. "I'm not keeping score. This is just... it's fun. It's different. X and I do this sometimes, though he's not as pretty."

There was snark, always on the tip of her tongue, but something he said kept it stilled in favor of a tip of her head to one side. Her teeth held her lip as he neared and her gaze roamed freely from head to toe and back again. "I didn't learn how to shoot a gun until I came here, and um, my first lesson came from Michi. So, uh, there's that. My little cousin's an archer, total badass. That shit takes hella upper body strength."

There was a pointed look at his arms. Mm, arms. She got him up close and personal, more so than she even expected when his shoulder caught hers. Taking a step back, she held her hand up, offering him his ball back. "He seems pretty chill. Had the patience to straighten Mich out last night. Major brownie points in my book, pretty or not." The drop of her chin did little to dim the smile or the pink in her cheeks. Quick, Addie, change the subject. "But, um, what's the First Levy?"

"I'd trust him with my life and more besides that. We're just a pair of lost souls, me and him, back to back against the word. You know?" He reached out and plucked his ball lightly from her palm, lingering a little closer than he might have otherwise while they talked.

"The Levy? They're the top tier fightin' body of the MacKenzie Clan. The first ones called to war when the shit gets bad. Archers and pikeman mostly, with a few hard nosed skirmishers mixed it. But everyone learns the bow. Everyone. Being First Levy is every MacKenzie boy's dream."

"We're all lost souls here, dude. It's a city of orphans in both a literal and figurative fashion." She remarked bitterly, the closing of her hand around the remaining ball causing a short drag of her fingertips against his retreating hand. He lingered and though she entertained it for a moment, maybe two, she was soon moving on. Always go, go, go. Always. As she settled at the next hole's beginning, she set her ball down on the green and tipped a look over her shoulder at him.

"And did you pass? The test, that is." Patience was not one of her virtues as evidenced by the tick-tock swing and sway of the putter above the set ball, lining up after only a brief study of the course's layout.

"We all float down heeeere." Ro tried for his best Tim Curry/Pennywise. It wasn't very good. Mustering up a fresh smile, he moved along behind her. "Not the first time, no. I'm nothing, if not mediocrity's trophy winner. But there are worse things, I suppose."

She lost patience and then he was there, easing in behind her and putting his thick arms around her slender frame. His hands found hers, setting them just so. "Relax. Ease up just a little with the left hand. Firm up your grip with the right."

"Ugh. Clowns." Addie shuddered just the same. If she let herself sleep any time soon, she was certain to have fresh nightmare fodder. "So you said not the first time. What about the second or third or... whatever? I know it's not the same, but I challenged for an opal, like, forever ago and didn't win. Tried again... well, I still didn't get it then, but I might try again... eventually."

For all of their friendly banter and their more private intimacy, his sudden presence behind her still made her stiffen, tucking her elbows tight against her sides to keep from throwing one back at him out of sheer reflex. But his hands were moving right over hers, sliding her grip along the putter and easing the tightness with which her left hand tensed around the club. She turned her head just slightly, enough so to look back at him from a sidelong angle. "Never heard you complain about needing to firm up my grip..."

"Never got the second chance," Ro murmured softly. "The world went sideways. I ended up here. Been here since. Maybe I'll get over my own mediocrity some day and try for an Opal or something, since there's no Duel of Arrows here." There was a small smile for her, one that grew when her mouth was suddenly near his.

"Breathe in, Addie. Don't forget to breathe." He fought off a laugh for her quip, nuzzling his nose against hers. "Then out as you putt."

"Oh..." She quieted for a few moments in the face of his soft explanation. "If it makes you feel any better, I'd never done anything... I dunno, noteworthy I guess? Until I came here. If there's somewhere someone can make something of themselves, it's here..."

So close, she was so incredibly close and then she wasn't, turning her head back to look along the course then down at the purple ball sitting expectantly in front of her putter. Addie inhaled just as he reminded her, holding it for a tick of two seconds before exhaling with the swing. The graze of his nose against hers though, the lingering sensation on her skin left in his wake, all the breathing in the world couldn't straighten the errant putt. It ping-ponged between the bricks lining the edges of the course and came to stop only halfway down the green. "S***. You win, 'kay?"

On the thirteenth of June...

Everything was ready to go. The bus was packed full of more crap than Addie thought possible to fit in the converted school bus. Though they weren't leaving until Wednesday, Monday found her restless and alone. Even Fred wasn't at the apartment, instead he was checked into the Seaside Center for Exotic Pets and there he would stay for the next month until the band got back into town. She hoped by then her apartment would be leased out and she could go through with getting a place with Michi. It was better than the almost empty one bedroom and the memories that lingered even though Kane was long gone. The couch had stayed while the coffee table had gone. In its place she had bought a basic replacement from RhyKEA and after determining the directions to be completely impossible to read, she had put it all back into the box and left it there in front of the couch. It was used as a prop for her feet and for the Silvermark, opened and half drank as it was. Whatever was playing on the modest television failed to hold her interest as much as her phone did so it served as background noise while she scrolled. After tapping out a message to the Squad, she scrolled a bit further and selected one of the more active threads.

Text to Ro: What're you doing?

Man, how does a guy taking a beating like that and still run three miles right into the horror-movie version of a firefight?

Had he been entirely lucid, Romeo MacKenzie would have laughed when he heard those words. Instead he grunted at the statement he wasn't meant to hear and trudged off (shambling would have been more apropos for how he was feeling but, the situation having been what it was, might have been... yeah...) through the other would-be defenders, deeper into the north wing of the Hollows. Thanks to X's magic, the slumping thump of his forehead on the door opened it and he was possessed with enough forethought to douse himself in running water naked before collapsing into his bed for long overdue sleep.

Everything hurt, but he didn't care.

He slept the day away like that, rousing once for a piss, a cigarette on the balcony (still naked) and some leftovers before he was down again. The familiar chime of Addie's text message brought him back again hours later, one eye popping open to stare at the phone with equal parts irritation and anticipation before he scooped it up.

Text to Pizza Girl: I was doing you. Then you woke me up. What's up?

Surely there were more productive things she could have filled her time with, right? Check the bus, the equipment, her bunk. Something. There had to be something she could have found to do to pass the hours but she was remarkably not tired and as such, she was restless. A response took a little longer than she expected, but she figured that was may have been indicative of the fact the man she was texting carried multiple jobs and still found time on the side to run some more illicit jobs. While she waited, she had gone to get a new Silvermark without thinking about the fact that a half full bottle still set on the box in the living room. When she sat back down, the notification light on her phone flashed green.

Ding. Ding. Ding. Addie unlocked it, intent on the response.

Blink. Blink. Blink. Okay, it wasn't wholly unexpected, a smartassed comment like that.

Text to Ro: Sounds like a good dream.
Text to Ro: Come over?

He grinned in spite of himself for her response.

Text to Pizza Girl: Be there as soon as I can.

Ro showered again after that, this time with both effort, soap, and shampoo. He didn't own finery. A t-shirt and shorts would do, as well as his old sneakers. Not entirely recovered from the previous nights idiocy, he still managed to jog over to her apartment, the cool night air and his relaxed pace keeping him from ruining all of the shower's hard work. He slowed during the last leg of the trip, shuffling thoughtfully down the hall and pausing at her door before finally lifting a fist to knock.

It sounded like a booty call, considering the hour. She realized that after the fact. But he was already on his way and really, who was she to argue that. That had been the dominating aspect of their friends-with-benefits-ship after all. Setting her phone aside, she looked down at herself and frowned. Not really dressed for the aforementioned booty call, she sprung to her feet and dashed to her room in search of something a little more cute, a little less sweatpants. So she traded it out for denim cutoffs and a black sleeveless tank with artfully torn arm holes that stretched midway down her ribcage to expose a healthy amount of skin. Had it be worn by someone bustier, there would have been plenty of sideboob too, but well, it was Addie we were talking about. Still they were her favorite sort of shirts and she wore them often.

Though she wore no makeup, she still took thirty seconds to pry the hairtie out of her messy bun in order to let purple-black fall carelessly about her shoulders. It was supposed to be devil-may-care je ne sais quoi. Mostly it was a mess. But she had enough time to flop down on the couch and act like she hadn't just been running around like crazy moments before he knocked on the door.

"Come innnnnnn. S'unlocked." It always was.

"Yanno," he said as he nudged the door open. "This is how some of the old pornos start. I walk in and there you are, all spread eagle on... hi." Romeo grinned and bobbed his brows at her, leaving the thought unfinished. There was a six pack dangling the fingers of one hand and a sack of something good smelling in the other. He kept it light, easy to run with. "Hey, Pizza Girl."

Making sure he was overt in giving her the once-over, he closed the distance to the couch and set his offerings aside to invade her personal space. It was just a kiss to her jaw, but it lingered. He was playing the gentleman in the moment, implications be damned. And, she rarely invited him some place so... private. "You okay?"

He had to ask.

"You must watch terrible porn." Not as though she would have had anything to compare it to but it's not like she said that. She could only imagine the ridicule. Still she sat up as he shut the door and crossed the short distance from front door past the narrow kitchen and to the living room. On his left, a door just shy of where she sat on the couch was cracked open. Beyond, a bedside lamp lit the mostly empty room with a washed out glow. It was a small apartment, barely topping the five hundred square foot mark in total, but it was tidy and well kept.

Addie tipped her cheek into the graze of his mouth and rewarded him with the curl of a smile that lingered even once he pulled away. She scooted her butt to the far end of the couch in some sort of unspoken gesture to join her. His question, however, caught her off guard. That, she hadn't expected.

"What? Um, yeah. I mean. Uh. Yeah, fine, just thought that I'd... um, why d'ya ask?" Question for a question. Deflection really was an art.

Ro absorbed every little detail, starting with all feasible exits and places of ambush, then sinking into the simpler details. The silent invitation was followed with him pulling two of the beers from the pack and opening them, before offering one to Addie as he sank down on the opposite end of the couch. The little minutiae in her surprise earned a considering look and where he would have shrugged normally, she was met with a gentle resolve.

"You don't usually invite me over and in. You're about to get crazy busy away from what qualifies as normalcy for you. Call it a good guess."

Two doors to his left were both closed and straight ahead there were french doors that went out to a balcony bearing a single plastic chair with a matching plastic table that had a recently emptied ashtray on it. All in all, it was small, simple, and conservative for a girl who lived a big life. A little less Rockstar, a little more Pizza Girl. His explanation was more thorough and direct than she thought she would get. So often they played the give and take of coy euphemism and sarcasm that raw conversation was always a surprise. "I thought maybe, um, that, like, you'd wanna hang out since we leave Wednesday. Can watch movies or somethin'. I mean, if you want."

"As the universe would have it," he told her casually. "I like hangin' out with you. I don't have to be back to work or anywhere else 'til tomorrow night. We could eat, watch movies, smoke, and drink. You know, hang. Talk and stuff." Leaning towards her he clinked his bottle against hers. "I'd like that. A lot."

He settled back onto his end of the couch again, staring at her from across the distance and tipping his bottle back for a drink. His arms were sufficiently bruised though, save for a small spot of purple along one cheek, his face was relatively unharmed. "What movies you got?"

"Yeah?" She asked rhetorically, her chin dropping toward her sternum. Not as though it would stave off the flare of red in her progressively tanner cheeks. Drawing her bottle away after the clink, she rinsed down the weird giddy butterfly feeling with a healthy swig of beer before answering. "I would too."

Sticking the bottle between her knees, she grabbed for the remote, an ungodly oversized thing with more buttons than one would think possible. Despite the modest setup of things, satellite TV was still too cool for her to pass up and as such, she clicked the guide button, flipped through to the movie channels, then tossed the remove in his lap. "Pretty much whatever's there. Um, don't have much for physical media."

That collection had gone the way of the ex, though considering how small it had been to begin with, it wasn't that big of a loss.

"I'll watch whatever. Even all these years later, movies are still a novelty for me. Like electronics in general. But I like all kindsa stuff, so hit me with your best shot." Romeo was killing his beer then and leaning to set the empty bottle out of the way. He'd dispose of it later. Then, with a smile, he kicked off his shoes and scooted his heavy frame further down into the couch making himself comfortable. "I brought you some teriyaki chicken deli sandwiches and kettle cooked chips."

"Okaaaaaaay," she said as she leaned to take the remote back and settle in next to him. It was a comfortable couch, older than most of the things in her apartment, likely secondhand. It was amazing how frugal she could have been when she was living off of tips. "You thinking like... comedy, action, horror... um, chick flick rom com lameness, uhhh huh. Who knew they made orc love stories. Oo Rhydin Nights, I haven't seen that yet. Getting Over Alyson, that was funny too."

Talk of food suitably distracted her though so she turned back toward him then shot a look to the bag he had set aside. "Dinner and a movie? It's practically a date."

"There's like... six sandwiches in there. Figured you were busy as shit with all of your tour prep and maybe you needed something on the fly. They're all wrapped in foil and plastic. They're yours whenever." She didn't invite him to, but he reached out anyone to get his bruised hands on her and tug her just a little closer to his side of the couch. It was perhaps a touch solicitous but it was also worth the coy stretch of a smile and a drag of fingertips under her chin. "Smile for me and it can be."

"How long did it take you to figure out that the way to an Addie's heart is through her stomach?" She said teasingly, flipping through the endless movie channels. Rhydinian movies, Terran movies, everything in between. As he tugged her in, she walked her fingers up his reaching arm, stepping her fingertips from bruise to bruise like hopscotch. She didn't poke hard but they were a point of curiosity and a way to keep her hands busy. Or at least one of them.

"So, you holdin' this date hostage for a smile? That's almost incorrigible. Like bribery or extortion or some other big word." The quiver of mirth caught her mouth and tugged it upwards with the first hint of a grin.

"Well, I tried gettin' to her heart through her...other parts, but while that certainly revved her engine, I don't think my reach was far enough. The stomach seemed safer, if less delicious in other ways." She had walking fingers and the fixings for a smile, so Romeo played dirty with a gentle drag of his fingers through her hair and another tug of his other hand to draw her closer. One tug, then another, and she was able to lean on him. Or she was invited to. "But I think I'm gonna keep trying both methods so I can compile more data on the subject. Now lemme see that beautiful smile. It's what I was dreamin' about when you woke me up."

He could be so charming at times.

Charming in the most delightfully dirty way. It was enough to spread an infectious slash of white teeth and pink lips in a lopsided grin as she stifled a laugh. Without looking, she tapped a button on the remote and tossed it aside. While the opening credits of Getting Over Alyson began to roll over a background of upbeat hipster-y music, Addie turned to lean on the big blonde man. Rather than tilt her attention toward the television, she set her chin on his shoulder and smirked up at him. It was equal parts coy and mischievous, something a little more devilish but a smile just the same.

"Yeah and just what did you have to do to get a smile out of me in your dreams, huh?"

Charming. So charming.

Both of Ro's hands rose to toy with her hair, drawing it away from the delicate curve of her neck so that he could very gently touch the flesh beneath. His fingers continued over her shoulders and down her back, light touches that had their effects but weren't overtly meant to be sexual in nature. He stared down into her vivid blue eyes, smiled, and canted his head to one side.

"I rolled you a blunt and ate you out."

He walked a dangerous line, playing with her hair as he was. On one side he ran the risk of knocking her out, relaxing her to the point that she could have dozed right there. On the other, well, she doubted he'd complain but tug too hard and he'd have to contend with likely missing the movie to take care of the problems he'd be causing. She thrummed a purred sound that said it could tip either way if he played his cards right. As she peered up at him, her brows rose just in time for her to sputter a laugh against his chest.

"Oh yeah? Your subconscious might be even more of a casanova than you are." She paused a moment thoughtfully. "I gotta meet him."

"Yeah?" In the end, tugging beat stroking and he was pulling on two handfuls of hair in a manner that brought her up nose to nose with him. Sleeping Addie would have been a good thing, something he could work on later, but the purring and her laughter stoked the fire of another kind. Not entirely sexual, or even sensual, but he sought to lose himself in her eyes and the idea of her plush mouth so close to his. "I think that could be arranged."

"Hnnnn, yeeah," she agreed, closing her eyes for a beat and then a second and a third before reopening them on a whole new level with him. Giggling softly, she bit at her bottom lip to the point it tugged her grin crooked. Though she had stopped poking and prodding at his bruises, her hands still drifted in their aimless roaming while somewhere behind her the movie kicked into high gear. She had seen it a dozen times though so it wasn't Addie missing it.

"Please? Umm... said you don't have to work til tomorrow night?" Caught between hopeful and hesitant, there was likely a follow up question on the tip of her tongue.

"I dunno, my subconscious might be too nice of a guy for your tastes." Both hands, fingers splayed wide open, settled across the tight denim stretched across her ass. "But yeah... I've got nowhere I gotta be for, like, the next twenty-four hours. Why?"

"Having a hard time believing that. Why do you say that?" Curiosity reigned in kittenish fashion even as inevitable magnetism drew her in to the point that she grazed her mouth against the corner of his. Sure it could have prolonged getting an answer, but she liked his mouth. It was a good mouth. "Was thinkin'... I don't have anywhere to be either and admittedly, I might miss you a little while we're gone. So, like... how 'bout you stay tonight?"

Without preamble, Romeo kissed her. It was a crushing, invasive kiss, the forceful lock of lips and battle of tongues that characterized so many of their past liaisons. It was tender but demanding and he used his grip on her ass to pull her up into it with ease, gently devouring her in a thorough enjoyment of the moment. The kiss was barely broken when he murmured his response. "You don't have to pussyfoot around it. Just tell me you want me to stay. You know I would if you ask."

He had a way of quieting her mind and stilling her thoughts with the smothering press of his mouth, snuffing her anxious worry that maybe they felt differently about one another. She had spent long enough pining for a boy who didn't feel the same, she wasn't going to subject herself to that again. But he assuaged her worries and stole her breath all in one go and it wasn't until her head was spinning that she even considered the fact he was talking.

"Hmm?" Oh, he was talking. It took her a moment to process, her eyes shut and her chin lifted with the tentative thought that she might just kiss him again. "I just asked... 'm not pussyfootin', I just know you've got a lot on your plate."

"I like you. Like-like. A lot. If you need me or just want me, I can't think of much that's gonna keep me from finding my way to your side, Pizza Girl." He kissed her again, albeit more briefly, smoothing his hands up along her spine in some small measure of gentle reassurance. His tongue lapped at her bottom lip as he drew back. "I want to spend the night with you."

Making his intent clear and unabashed. That was mostly Romeo's way.

On the twelfth of July...

Thump, thump, BANG! Thump, thump, WHAP!

Shoulders hunched and his protected head hiding behind raised gloves, Romeo absorbed the impact of each punch with stolid grunts. His eyes stared across the short distance to his opponent from between his fists and beneath the heavy furrow of a platinum brow. He was sweaty and tired, bruised and battered, thirsty and hungry (as ****), but despite being paid to take these beatings on the regular, the young tough continued to be just that. Tough.

Ro MacKenzie wasn't going down. At least not that easy and definitely not for this guy.

The man across from him was almost twice his size, balding terribly, and with thickly muscled arms that stood in a stark contrast to the prodigious belly sticking out from beneath a sweat-soaked tank top. He was breathing hard, his chest heaving as he swallowed big gulps of air between each series of bunches, obviously irritated that the opponent he'd paid to pound on wasn't laying limp on the mat.

The gym's front double doors were both pushed open at the same time with a thrust of hands that permitted an entrance that was a little less Pizza Girl and a little more Rockstar. Though she was lacking a posse, the purposeful stride of laced up boots said she would have been well at home flanked by a crew of similarly dressed aesthetic badasses. As it stood, she was all glam goth and murder stare. In black denim that had to have been painted onto the endless legs that just wouldn't quit, the black and red cutoff tank top added a certain level of rock-jock to go with the mirrored aviators that reflected back the stares that turned her way. Women weren't unheard of there, no, but ones that looked like that? Well, they were a rarity even in the hippest of gyms.

And she was making her way right on over to the battle of Young versus Old, shouldering past one bruiser who thought to get between her and the blonde man in the ring. She brushed him off with a stiff palm to his sweaty face and a diverting push to turn him the opposite way she was going. With her path clear, she closed her hands around the bottom rope and pulled back on it, catching her weight with a swaying swing of her hips.

"You about done in there?"

Thump, thump, BANG!

Ro winced for the hard right to his ribs and fired off a quick series of rabbit punches that barely touched the other man. He wasn't paid to win. He was paid to be someone else's punching bag. But the money wasn't so good that he'd let himself get murdered; it didn't always work out that way. It opened him up to a hard blow below his guard, a gut shot that sent him reeling backwards against the rope and gasping for air.

And then she spoke to him.

He didn't see her. Not right away. But that voice of hers was like sweet music and the call was met with a fierce grin between his gloves. "...said you in other venues never..."

He eyed the clock. 30 seconds. Pushing off from the ropes, he stalked towards the puffing blowhard and threw himself into the next series of punches.

For all she may have joked, she didn't enjoy watching him get beat up. He was a better fighter than that and they both knew it. Sure, half the guys in the room wouldn't have believed it but she knew and that's what mattered. Ro fell back and Addie lifted up onto her toes for a better look, her own grin growing in response. "He's weak on his left, just below the pocket."

There was still time left, he could redeem himself. There was also still time for a broad hand to smack hard against her right ass cheek. She didn't even hear what her assailant said as she twisted from the handful of butt he had grasped and caught a thick, meaty wrist within the hold of her much narrower fingers. To a soundtrack of Ro and his sparring partner's fleshy hits and grunts, Addie bent the man's wrist in an unnatural way until he had no choice but to bend with it.

"So, I know you're probably not used to someone calling you out on your misogynistic bullshit because you're probably half troll or something, but I'm not too keen on guys I don't know grab assing me without my permission. And there's exactly one person in this hole in the wall that has that permission. Think you're him?" Before he could answer, she twisted until tendons ran the risk of separating from one another and the man nearly sank to his knees with an unflattering groan. "No? Yeah, that's what I thought."

Addie let him go and sidestepped the kneeling man to reclaim her view of the ring and the blonde within. "Okay. How 'bout now?"

The match ended in a series of slow, heavy strikes aimed at Ro's body and head, only a few of which landed. The human punching bag was forced to dodge one last time when trying to bump gloves in respect for his opponent and the frustrated man tried to throw a late haymaker. "Whoa," Ro growled. "Watch it, man. Your dime is up and I've got a new opponent waitin' on me."

"Now is good!" He had missed most of the goings on outside of the ring but caught just enough to be wary. Grunting as he ducked, he was under the rings and sidling up to the pretty rockstar with a growing smile. "All yours, Pizza Girl."

Fortunately for the man in the ring with Ro, Addie had been too busy dealing with Handsy McFeelyouup to notice the man try to cheap shot him. Still, Ro was at her side before long and she relaxed into a pretty smile for him. Fingertips pushed at the bridge of her aviators to slide them up on top of her head. Well rested and decidedly sober, she had eyes only for him as evidenced by the quick lean and peck of glossed lips to his sweaty cheek before tilting back.

"Should put that guy," she jerked a thumb toward the one with the aching wrist, just getting to his feet, "In there with that guy." A nod for the one still glowering at Ro from beyond the ropes. "Anyways. Hi. Let's blow this joint."

"I'm off the clock," he crooned. "Both of them can go screw in the shower for all I care. Last I checked, I've got the prettiest girl in Rhy'din wantin' my time. Dance card full."

She got some cheek. He stole some lip. Just a little. "Do I got time for a shower or should I just grab my bag?"

"Sure hope they sanitize the place afterwards." Addie said loud enough to be heard by both of the men. Cheek then lip soon turned into a little bit of tongue, just a little, salacious and unabashed in how she took it. "Can shower at my place if you want or if you wanna leave me alone with your... friends, I'll try to play nice and not break any wrists."

"Does the shower at your place include a complimentary backwash?" They kissed and then he kissed her again, shorter but hotter. "Hold that thought and let me grab my bag."

He was gone and back in short order, a raggedy old Nike duffle slung over one shoulder. Sweaty and stinky, he still sidled close, ducking his head in for the proximity as they moved towards the exit. "You mine all night or does the squad get a taste?"

"Uh, does a shower here include that?" Her brows rose at him though she already knew the answer. Brushing off any lingering stares as Ro stole away for his bag, she kept close to him on the way out, stinky or not. He was kinda hot when he was all sweaty. She wrapped an arm around him, her hand taking a possessive hold of his ass, staking her claim for all to see as the double doors permitted their exit. Once they were outside, she bumped her sunglasses back down and cut him a grin. "S'up to you. I've got time just for you or if you're feeling social, we can do somethin' else."

"Tell you what," he said and leaned into the possessive touch. "Let me get cleaned up, we'll get some grub, and then play it by ear from there? You see them on tour, so maybe I'll just make you mine for the night. If you're up for a grocery trip, I could be bribed into cookin' for you."

"How 'bout, you get cleaned up, put on your least holey jeans and we'll go out for dinner. Theeeeen," she leaned to nuzzle her nose along his jaw. "Then we can hit up the store so you can make me breakfast after we **** on every surface in my apartment. I got it sub-leased so it's only mine til the end of the month."

With that she leaned back and grinned, letting him soak all that in as they made their way up toward the north side of town.

"How about...I get cleaned up, wear whatever's handy in my bag, italian, theeeeeeeen..." She nuzzled and he tipped his chin to kiss her softly on the mouth before mumbling in her ear before leaning back to finish what he was saying. "Theeeeeeeen... in the mornin', you can wake me up with your mouth and I'll make you an omelette and pancakes."

His eyes were shining as he grinned.

The laugh she let out lit up the dying day with its vibrancy.

"Deal."

There was a certain amount of impatient urgency in her pace from there, driven by the promise of what would come later. Or more succinctly, who would come later. The apartment in Dragon's Gate was quickly becoming a comfortable place to share with the platinum mopped man even though she was getting rid of it and the memories before long. Her fingers even laced with his as she climbed the stairs ahead of him, dragging him all the way to the fourth floor, though she paused between the second and third to make out with him against the wall. As always, her front door was unlocked and she wasted no time in getting him in the shower to clean up. For once she didn't join him, instead changing into something befitting Dinner with the Dude instead of curbstomping gym rats. When all was said and done, the skin tight jeans and boots remained but the plunging neckline of the shimmery backless top gave plenty of glam to balance the grunge out. After all, dinner was on the agenda and she had to look top notch even if Ro was going to just wear whatever.

With a proper date night on the horizon, she couldn't help but reminisce on just how far they had come...

Just a few weeks later, only ten days into April...

Saturday night. Surely she had something better to do than stare at her phone as she coasted the darkening streets of Old Temple. But she had just left Yuri's and she was in a less than pleasant mood. Relaxed, sure. High, a little. But between Yuri and the shoot earlier in the day, she was mostly just hungry for some food truck burritos and wanting to go home and chill in sweats instead of the tight fitting, uncomfortable designer duds she had been stuffed into all morning. Why couldn't they have, like, donuts at those sort of things. Oh, that's right, they weren't allowed. Grumbling under her breath, she flipped through her messages.

Michi had been the most recent, asking about some of what was carried deep in the center pocket of the cross body messenger bag that Addie was carrying.

Misery further down, wondering how they'd get the witch out of her parents house now that she was grounded for a million months.

Yuri's earlier messages about stopping by his Old Temple apartment.

Just below that, she hovered. Romeo MacKenzie was equal parts intriguing and infuriating. They had met in passing months earlier when she still worked for Pizza Express, back before life became a series of rather unfortunate events and even worse consequences. He had been nice, or as nice as the guys at that gym could be. Addie had never really been into the meathead sort, though several had tried to flirt or get her number. None succeeded. Ro didn't count since he got it after she had stopped delivering there, and hopefully none of the guys there knew. She tapped the message thread and plunked out a short and sweet message.

Where 4 art thou?

If asked, Romeo wouldn't have given himself very much credit as far as intrigue went. While not an open book by any means, his history kept mostly personal sans a few generalities, he was a young man who wore who he was on his sleeve and made no apologies for it. His activities and pasttimes were as illegitimate as the were legitimate. Who else worked two part time jobs between minor criminal enterprises? Tonight, he had traded half a shift at Delia's Diner with Barry when a text from Marcel had come in to ask him to close up the gym for the night. It was a shit job, cleaning up after those meatheads and sadists, and unless he was playing personal punching bag to one of the rollers, the money wasn't any better, but that Marcel trusted him enough to ask meant something.

He was half way to the gym when the text came in and it took him a moment to fish for the phone in his pocket through the tangled up apron he'd balled up in there. 'Pizza Girl' popped up along with her question, prompting a disgruntled smile before he sent a message back.

these violent delights have violent ends
cut flippin flapjacks short cuz marcel needed me 2 close gym
u?

and in their triumph die, like fire and powder

"Why the **** am I quoting Shakespeare?" She asked herself incredulously. Her free hand patted through her pockets to try and find her cigarettes, only to remember that she had left them at BFF HQ. Better yet, she found herself vaguely surprised that the man on the other end of the phone had had the sense to offer another line. With a wave of her hand, Addie put it out of her mind and went back to tapping, her feet taking her on an almost memorized path toward Dockside.

was thinking bout dinner
been starving all fking day
but if ur busy nbd

Dinner, was it? Ro glanced down at the heavy plastic bag in his other hand and frowned. Then he laughed. Funny how things tended to work out sometimes. Glancing back down at the screen, he jabbed at a series of letters with the tip of his thumb.

got 3 takeout containers full of food meant 4 my fridge
meet me at the gym and maybe ill share

Food truck or takeout. Really the two weighed about equally in her mind and so she rapidly tapped out one last message before stuffing her phone into her pocket.

maybe. but if any of ur little gym buddies decides to play grabass, im laying them the fk out

Addie swallowed the bitter taste in her mouth, remnants of the thoughts of roided jerks thinking that just because they're paying for food means they can get touchy touchy with the delivery girl without consequence. She didn't have to worry about that anymore, Pizza Express was well in the past. Now the days were laden with flashing lights and loud music and press events and smiling pretty for people who didn't deserve the least bit of it. As she crossed from Old Temple to Dockside, her awareness heightened and she kept more attention on her surroundings than the thoughts in her head. It was a familiar path though so it didn't take her more than fifteen minutes to reach the gym's front entrance.

He better share, no maybes about it. She might have to stab someone otherwise.

its saturday night so probably no one still there
calm your tits

By the time she arrived, Ro was already present, having left the front door open and unlocked to make it easiest for her. The gym's interior was like something from a bad movie, a little dirtier than it was clean, a little seedier than it was respectable, but with enough character to make a better person's eyes roll. Old photos behind cracked glass and posters both depicted events lost since past, glory days that had faded into legend (or bad stories retold on a daily basis). Everyone else had gone for the evening, leaving the blonde man there alone to push a broom across the mats and the old worn wooden floor, stripped down to a wifebeater and jeans as he cleaned the place up a little. Nearby was a large plastic bag, likely full of the promised food.

His texts went unanswered, her phone left to the depths of her pockets as she made the last leg of the walk to the gym. Her hair and makeup were still done up a little too nicely to put her in leagues with the ladies of the night that frequented many Dockside haunts but the relaxed jeans-t-shirt-sneaker combo really sealed the deal. Addie stepped through the familiar doorway and into the almost empty gym. Just as he had predicted, there was no one else still there. She followed her nose, taking her through the long stretching shadows of dimming lights and toward the bag of food.

"Bingo." Upon spotting it, she hoisted her bag up and off her shoulder and set it down before taking a seat too. It gave her a view of the broom pushing blonde boy which she soaked up with a tip of her head and an angled smirk. "You better hurry or I'm gonna eat it all before you get any."

"Yo, lay off the bottom container," he warned her. "It's not for us. Otherwise, have at it. I'll take what I want after." The last was delivered with a look over one shoulder and the wink of an eye.

Ro didn't seem to be in any great hurry otherwise and attacked the gym's care with a reverent precision that seemed out of character for what some saw from him, from the steady, deliberate broom strokes to the way random boxing/fighting sundries were hung in their proper places. Her interest may have been laid on the food but from time to time he could be seen glancing her way, a steady exchange of expressions between leers and curious, penetrating looks.

"What's in the bottom container?" Of course she had to ask, curious kitten that she was. The top three were taken out, poked through for their contents and weighed against her appetite. "Somethin' for your girlfriend or somethin'?"

It seemed an innocent enough question, asked casually as she plucked free diner style french fries, all salt and all fryer oil as they were. So delicious. Here and there she watched him since he was the only source of movement in her vicinity. More often than not she caught the leers rather than the inquisition from the blonde, sapphires set with reptilian slits rolling in their sockets on the return to the containers laid out around her. Finally though, she caught one of his looks, one of the more probing ones and she arched a thinly sculpted brow. "What do you keep looking at?"

"Hah. No girlfriend, precious. Just makin' sure a friend and their kin gets fed while down on their luck."

The first of the containers was stuffed with four bacon cheeseburgers and mix of onion rings and potato wedges, the latter seasoned heavily enough that the delicious scent was enough to make the mouth water. The second was a pair of fat burritos, one pork and the other beef, pushed up against one side of the container by a sinful amount of enchiladas. The third? Fluffy brown pancakes on a field of sausage links and bacon. Could one man even eat all of that food?

Caught staring, Ro finally gave up the ghost on pushing a broom around and set it aside, his own gaze steady upon hers as he closed the distance between them with casual steps. "You, Pizza Girl. Can you blame me?"

"Not surprised by that, most girls I know wouldn't put up with you being such a smartass all the time." She cut him a teasing smirk before it softened into a gentler smile. "Yeah? I suppose that's kinda nice of you."

It was probably the closest thing to a compliment that she had offered him as of late. It wasn't as though she were stingy with her praise but for the most part, despite her outwardly offered persona, she knew next to nothing about how to legitimately talk to a guy. Not in a group setting and definitely not one on one. Dividing the potato wedges down the middle, she scooped half out to set them in the open lid of the container. How she so neatly cut the pork burrito at the midway mark was anyone's guess, but a precisely sectioned half was left with its brethren while the rest was lifted for a less than dainty devouring. She managed to get the last bite down as he closed the gap between them, her gaze tipping upward with the increased angle created by his proximity.

"Uhhhhhhh..." It took her a moment but quickly Addie the Pizza Girl was surpassed by Addie the Rockstar. "Well if that's the case, I don't know why you kept looking away."

"Some people aren't worth the effort," he said and then shrugged. "Then there are folks that are, so when they need you, you make sure you're there. This is one of those people."

He was looming over her then, tall and broad, but not nearly as impressive as a great many of the man who frequented the gym. Well-built as he was, most of Ro's muscle lingered beneath a softer layer of flesh that would have made him a little less intimidating if not for the overwhelming about of scarred tissue covering his body. He wasn't trim but he wasn't fat, like a well fed lion on a prey rich Savannah. There was a moment there, passing between then, and then it was gone as Addie resumed a less sincere look and toss of words. It was enough to make him snort.

"Welp, folks. There she went. Likeable Pizza Girl takes a hike and leaves the Teen Dream to linger in wake. Hope your brought your autograph books and your wallets." He reached past her and grabbed two fries.

"Those people are few and far between, I've found." She remarked thoughtfully through a mouthful of half-masticated potato wedge. Swallowing, she went digging through her messenger bag and came up with a plastic bottle three quarters of the way full. It looked like water at first glance. But she unscrewed the cap and gave it a sniff to confirm for certain. Okay, good, she wouldn't be swigging vodka. Made that mistake a few too many times it seemed. Swishing water around her mouth, that too was swallowed and the bottle set aside. Her gaze strayed from him to some interesting point on the floor near his feet as she decided what to say. Finally she looked back up and shrugged.

"Like it or not, I'm not your Pizza Girl anymore and I'm not going to apologize for making something good out of a shitty situation. Deal with it or don't, up to you." Despite the declaration's level tone, she still ended it by throwing a potato wedge at him. Mature.

His own fries were chewed down and swallowed with very little thought before he was reaching out to snag her bottle to wet his own whistle. It put him even closer during her remorseless mini lecture, the wedge bouncing harmlessly off of his shoulder and disappearing behind the counter. The slow narrowing on his eyes came along with a dip of his chin, putting them almost nose to nose.

"You are, when you think no one's payin' attention," Ro told her, reaching up to poke a finger against her ribs, just beneath the swell of her chest and enough to graze the underside of a breast. "And here I am, dealin' with it. Feedin' your sweet ass, aren't I?"

Scowling as he stole her water, for a few moments she almost wished it had been straight vodka instead. The rest of her wedges were left to the wayside as he neared. Addie set her jaw and tugged her brows into a narrow furrow before smacking a hand at the poking finger. "I am not, so shut up about it. And you're not dealing with it, at least not without seeing how often you can try and remind me of what you seem to think is wrong with me. I have enough of those reminders, thank you. Guess I was stupid to think that I could hang out with someone without that shit. But whatever."

Firm hands, free of food, rose to clamp down suddenly on her waist so that he could lift her up onto the counter. It left her sitting higher, staring down at him as a stubbly chin gave a defiant lift, his hands falling away to plant themselves atop the counter to either side. Pale blue-gray eyes bored into hers. "Don't see a ****in' thing wrong with you. I just happen to be very much interested in the you that you don't like showin'. Very interested, even. Now shut up and smile before I really give you a reason to whine."

His hands caught her, her hands shot over his, fingers tentatively pressing against the backsides of his hands in the event she decided to try and peel them away. But her feet were leaving the ground and her butt was landing on the old counter. There wasn't so much as a groan of the wood under her weight, her frame naturally thin and all coltishly long arms and legs as it was. When his hands left her sides and instead touched down on the counter, she followed, her hands settling over his near his wrists, thumbs and forefingers curling slightly around the breadth of the joint. He gave her a stare that was the morning sea before a storm and in return she gave him shadow limned sapphire though the hard look may as well have been cut from diamond. Addie studied him, tried to puzzle him out for a few moments, her gaze narrowing. "You're interested in something that's not here anymore. Let me down."

"I still see it." Ro wedged his broader middle between her parted knees, leaving the slim beauty with very little leverage and even less room to flee. Closer and closer still, he leaned up until the tip of his nose touched hers, the invasion of her personal space quite the distraction but not entirely preventing her from noticing the movement of one hand. "Don't think I'll ever wanna let you down."

"Clearly need to get your eyes checked." She said through gritted teeth, her annoyance bleeding through each word that came, her head turning away slightly from the closeness. It took some maneuvering, his repositioning up against her, but after some pushback and squirming, he got his way. She felt the motion before she ever saw it, the angle of her head just barely affording her a glance of the direction he was headed. It was enough to set her wiggling again, a shoulder checked forward under the guise of nudging him backwards. "Nuh, you don't get to sit here and tease me again. Wanna talk about a let down, no way."

It was like pushing herself up a wall, with all the lack of give he offered. Instead the low rush of a laugh tickled her neck with a warm breath. His lips parted further, the light rake of his teeth teasing unapologetically at the skin along her throat.

"No teasin'," he promised her, though there was something deliciously ominous in the guarantee. "No let downs."

He promised, he swore it even. And he delivered. Amidst idle banter and scattered clothing, they left a bigger mess than Ro had began with. Ro didn't mind all that much and while Addie might not have admitted it at the time, she didn't either. No strings, no emotions, just sex and food and shallow conversation. Her heart could handle that.