Ernie and Melinda
Ernie simply raised an eyebrow at her in response and stared at Melinda for a moment before responding. "What? I have fun." he replied in an even tone. "Besides, someone has to be the adult in the room." he teased in that same tone. It was kind of true though? He knew that everyone here was fully capable of being serious and being an adult when the time came for it. Hell, he'd seen it in most of these people as teenagers. Ernie didn't blame them for letting off some steam, actually, he kind of encouraged it. If people didn't find ways to have fun and let some things out, he very well knew things would be worse in the long run. People often forgot, or just didn't actually see, that him and Shay often traded blows to let off steam. He wasn't about to jump into the Pit by any means but it worked.
When asked how he was doing other wise he just shrugged. "I am." he said gesturing with the hand that held his current beer trying to take on a lighter tone, though it didn't exactly work. "Alive, breathing, I'm all good." he said in a little bit more serious tone, rather than admit to the slight circles running under his eyes right now. "Been a fairly quiet week so far. You?" he asked much rather be talking about what was going on in her life than his.