Ari/Aspel - 2:30 AM
It had not been terribly difficult to pull Aspel back onto the dance floor at the end of the night, and the dance itself, with its slow turns, low conversation, and close contact, was a perfect cap to the evening. Ari felt little concern or worry; certainly people would talk - were already talking - but while she had her secrets, this was hardly one of them, and most of her friends, while they had engaged in good-natured ribbing over the last few hours, would find new things to occupy their interest soon enough... although she had, apparently, lost Drake and Kiernan sizable sums of money, which in the end would serve them right for betting on her personal life. For her part, her state could best be described as content as the evening drew to a close. She was tired, certainly, and her head was beginning to ache again, which she was steadfastly continuing to ignore, but she made a light comment about preferring not to walk home alone - which was true; as she had promised Lea, she was not walking alone after dark when she could help it - and secured an escort. Though admittedly it was primarily prompted by a desire to extend the evening as much as she was able - these things were always particularly intoxicating at the onset, and she didn't want to go home alone, even if she suspected, by the events of earlier, that she would still be spending the night alone.
She had left word with Vivi that she'd send someone to collect the majority of her gifts in the morning - there was no way she was carrying all of that home herself - but she had snatched the instrument case before departing, unwilling to leave this one item behind. The air was cool but not chilly, and especially after all the dancing and excitement of the night, Ari hardly felt cold. Which was probably fortunate, she thought, as she had yet to return the first jacket she had borrowed, and it would be in terrible taste to take a second. She made a mental note to bring Aspel the jacket before she departed for the night; it was still hanging in her closet.
And it was nice, really uncommonly pleasant to be walking through the dark with their arms linked and without at least some of the confusion that had plagued her when it came to the older woman for what seemed like months at the very least. The chosen route was perhaps slightly sentimental, but she found she did not mind in the least; the morning spent on that bench, waiting for the sun to rise and illuminate the painted walls, was a fresh and pleasing memory. "We seem to be making a habit of these late-night walks," she said lightly. Third time was a habit, after all, let alone the fourth or fifth, although she supposed the two times Aspel had had to nearly carry her to her door with a head muddled by wine didn't exactly count.
The other woman's curiosity was met with a smile. "I think you can guess that the answer would have to be yes," she admitted. "I'm uncertain what I will have to do next year to top it." Though she supposed it was rather fitting that this particular birthday had been so eventful - she had been looking forward to it for so long, after all. "You still haven't told me when yours is, you know," she added after a moment. "Though I suspect that if I tried to convince you to throw yourself a party, you would quickly find someplace else to be until the date had come and gone."