Accidental Protector Status Who: Evan and Lia When: Midmorning Where: Camelot Place
So perhaps it was against his better judgment - not that any of Evan's judgments were good - that he'd gotten into his car that morning and drove to Camelot Place. He had a friend there and he wasn't answering his phone and it was the only person that Evan had tried to contact that hadn't given him an 'I'm safe' or an 'Already at the shelters'. That worried him so he decided, after the twentieth text to Rich, that it was time to head over and make sure the guy was alright. The last thing he wanted was to have to embalm a friend. Pulling up in the parking lot, he glanced around, looking for any signs of rampage or demons. It was pissing rain and there was barely any way of seeing anything. But then there was a car pulling up, it's beams flicking across the wall of the building and causing Evan to furrow his brow. Especially when a woman climbed out with a bag of something or other and made her way towards the building. What was she doing outside? It was raining and there were demons for Christ's sake.
Getting out of his car, he called out to her. "Hey, lady!" he said, not wanting to startle her by just hopping up in front of the girl. "Dude, haven't you been watching the news?"
She hated the day before and she had the bruises and the cuts to prove it. Having to face a demon was one thing but having to get saved by her fucking ex was just icing on an already shitty week. And now there were bruises on her arms and legs. A nice sized cut on her forearm covered by a bandage. It was enough of a reminder. Her body was exhausted. So when she woke up and discovered the milk was bad, obviously she was pissed. And she was not holing herself up in her apartment without milk all weekend. So Lia went to the store.
Coming back from the store, she was looking forward to kicking off her Converses and relaxing on the couch. It been a long day and it had barely begun. So when a guy got out of his car and was asking her about the news, she turned and looked at him. "I'm not an idiot. I already got attacked by one." She sounded a little tired. "But I needed milk."
Evan shook his head, not caring if they were still standing in the rain and he was getting drenched. "So you know what to expect and you still went out? Just for milk?" This girl seriously had some issues if she wanted to brave a storm and demons just in order to get some milk. "I woulda gone without the milk, but whatever. You need to get inside, seriously."
She moved her umbrella to cover him too. "Yeah. I'm going to spend a weekend in my apartment because of them, so yeah, I went out for milk. Need it to cook and stuff." Lia looked up at him and was curious why he cared so much. Then again, there were those kinds of people who just cared. "I was headed inside but someone's shouts stopped me. Besides, mac and cheese is no good without milk. And I've had a lousy week."
He was more concerned about her being inside than about the milk. "Well, let's get you inside then." he told her. "Even if you'd be better off at a shelter or at the church." he went on, furrowing his brow a little. "They'd feed you." he said, motioning for her to move towards the building.
"Can't. My cat and my familiar are up there waiting for me to come back." Yeah, that was drama she wanted to walk back into. The kitty version of Days of Our Lives or General Hospital. Shaking her head, she opened the door and went inside, closing her umbrella and shaking it off on the mat. "Are you new? I don't remember seeing you before."
Evan sighed, pushing his hand through his wet hair. He didn't particularly care about her cat or her familiar. But knowing that she was a witch or an elemental was at least slightly comforting. Maybe she could take care of herself. "No." he said as he followed her into the building. "I don't live here though. I'm not new to town I mean. I'm the embalmer. Evan. Forsythe. Evan Forsythe. I just came to check on a friend." he explained. "Why can't you just take the cat and the familiar with you? An apartment doesn't seem to be the safest place..." God why couldn't she just be like 'yes, take me to the shelter'?
"Lia Atherton. I'm originally from New York." She shrugged and she turned to the mailbox before remembering that the mailman hadn't come with the demons out. Lia looked back at Evan. "Honestly?" Her intention hadn't been to dish but maybe he'd understand why she'd rather be in her own apartment. "Well, we can start by the guy I was kind of seeing deciding he didn't want to anymore. Which, honestly, I'm kind of over at this point. But then there is the fact that my familiar decided to knock up my cat. And then the demon yesterday. The best part? My ex, the one who is the primary reason for my moving here? He saved me from the demon yesterday. So forgive me if I'd much rather be in my apartment." Yeah, she wasn't a mess at all.
Evan blinked a little at that downpour of information. He couldn't help but think that he'd rather be out in the middle of the storm dealing with a demon than be in this girl's shoes. "Well, that blows." he said lamely. "Look, if you don't want to be in the shelter, you can bring the cat and the familiar to my place. I'm not going to like kill you or anything and at least I've got a basement." Maybe being at home wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't alone and didn't have to be in his bedroom that still faintly smelled of Dorcas's perfume. "You'd be safer. I still need to check on my friend though. See why the fuck he's not answering his phone."
Go with a stranger? A strange guy? Funny enough, it really wasn't a terrible idea. After everything, what was the worst that could happen? "Look, I don't know you but I'm surprisingly not opposed to this. Though if you try anything, I'll summon a wind to knock you flat on your ass." Cause yeah, it had been that kind of a week. "You okay with two cats?" Lia pushed the button for the elevator. "Where does your friend live? Maybe I know him?"
"He lives upstairs." he said. "Rich. Kinda keeps to himself. A little weird. He might already be at the shelter but I figured I'd find out because he didn't answer his cell or anything." he sighed. "I haven't had time to really talk to him lately so I feel kinda shitty not knowing if the guy is okay." He was glad she didn't seem opposed to coming back with him. "I don't mind the cats if I know you don't die because I was a douche and wouldn't let you bring them both." he said.
She laughed. "Look, Evan, I just met you but I'm pretty sure you're like an anti-douche." Lia didn't know any Rich so there was no possible way for to know. Now she wondered if he had a bad week too. And she felt bad for not asking. "Let's go check on your friend friend first and then we can grab the cats and a change of clothes for me." She gave him a smile, actually finding him kind of sweet.
Evan didn't even want to think about what an anit-douche might have been if it were a real thing, but he nodded a little bit. "Alright." he nodded, leading her up the stairs to Rich's apartment. Which was empty. Or at least had no one answering. "Well..." he said. "Not like I can break in. Guess I'll just have to hope that he made it to the shelter. Which is probably what he did. He may have just forgotten his phone. Where's your apartment?" he questioned. And now he couldn't help but think that neither the cat nor the familiar would be happy about being in the rain.
"I'm down one floor." They made their way down there and she opened the door. Alwyn was instantly at her side and she smiled as she bent down to pick him up. "This is trouble, otherwise known as Alwyn. Always trying to give me a heart attack." She let Evan inside and closed the door. The groceries went into the kitchen and she turned to look at him. "You have milk at your place, cause I can bring this along."
"Yeah." he told her. "Though you might wanna bring that along anyways because it's probably past it's drink by date." More than likely most of the things in his house were past their expiration date. He didn't want her eating anything out of his house that would kill her any more than he wanted her to die by demon attack. "So is this the familiar or the cat?" he questioned as he looked at the animal.
She set the bag down and put away a few other things, non-perishable and what not but the salad fixings stayed in the bag. The least she could do was make him dinner. Alwyn looked at him over her shoulder. 'Familiar.' Lia opened the fridge and took out the chicken. Lia looked back at him. "You like chicken? Was going to make it for dinner."
"Yeah, sure." Evan said, nodding a little as the cat talked to him. Damn if that wasn't weird. He didn't think he'd ever get used to familiars talking, no matter who they belonged to. It still felt like an animal was speaking in his brain and it was just confusing. "Chicken's fine." he said. It was weird to be in some woman's house that he didn't know, even if he was planning on helping the girl stay alive. Thankfully she wasn't putting up that big of a fight.
Lia put the cat back down. "Get Cat ready to go. We're going to Evan's. Don't ask questions, just get what she needs, okay?" The black cat ran off to gather the cat who was carrying his kittens. The elemental added the chicken and a box of rice to the bag and she headed towards her bedroom. "Do you want something to drink or something?" She felt like a bad hostess, which, considering the circumstances wasn't really a bad thing.
"No." Evan told her, shaking his head a little. "I'm alright, thanks." He just wanted to get her back to his place so he could lock the doors and be safe from the demons outside. Maybe they'd get lucky and wouldn't have to deal with them. He'd been lucky thus far and was hoping to keep things that way. Erin was out doing her vigilante thing which was fine for her, but Evan couldn't shoot a gun for the life of him. Being out there trying to help people that way wasn't going to do anything but probably get him shot. "Anything I can help you with? Or help you carry?" he questioned.
In her room, she found Alwyn coaxing Cat from beneath the bed where he'd had her hiding. "Come on, guys. I'm gonna toss some clothes in a bag and we're going head out." She pulled out an over night bag, tossing in some tee shirts and a pair of sweats into the bag. Demons were so annoying. "Climb in. It makes things easier for travel time and then we can let you out on the other end. I know it's weird cause I don't know him but seriously, who else do I have to trust?" Alwyn wasn't about to suggest Torque, knowing that the were hadn't been there in the past week or so. Lia moved back into the living room, two cat heads poking out of her bag. "Ready. And you can grab the food if you want. At least I can make dinner. Pretty decent cook, if I do say so myself."
Evan did as the woman asked and grabbed the food. It would be interesting to have someone who actually knew their way around the kitchen for more than making ramen, that was for sure, but he wasn't going to complain. "We can take my car. I'll bring you back once all the crazy shit goes away." he told the girl as he followed her to the door. "Ready?"
'Are you sure about this?' Alwyn asked so only Lia could hear. 'I know I was a little reckless and you've been through a lot but I just want to make sure.'
Lia looked at Evan. "I am." It was a response to both questions she'd been asked, but then again, Evan didn't know that. She locked up her apartment. They made their way back to the rain and she looked up at him. "Did you say you were an embalmer before? Like at a funeral home?" Yeah, that's who's house she was going to, which was definitely safe. But Lia, for all her internal jokes, wasn't actually scared of him. He seemed nice. Then again, she was sure Ted Bundy seemed nice too. She needed to stop watching SVU. Stupid Netflix.
"Yes." he nodded. "My family owns the funeral home." he explained as they headed out of the apartment, pausing for the locking of the door and then down to the lobby again. "I'm the embalmer, my sister is a medical examiner." he went on. "I don't live there though. Not anymore, so there won't be any dead bodies in the basement." he promised her.
Unable to help it, she laughed a little. "Good. Cause really, dead bodies would be the icing on the cake. Not really looking for that at the moment, you know?" Lia thought it was nice though, that he was in the family business. Not many people she knew liked that, but then again, she'd grown up in the middle of New York society. The family business was making and spending money for most of the people she'd grown up with.
"Yeah, not many people want to deal with that kinda thing." he said, giving her the faintest of smiles as they got to the door. Glancing around, once more, he checked for demons or just about any other figure he might be able to see. "Let's just concentrate on getting to the car." he said, pointing to the one near hers. "Hurry, yeah?" Which is just what he did once she'd nodded. Getting to the car and being sure she was inside, he latched the doors and got his keys out of his pocket. "Ready?" Evan questioned.
She was focused, the cats now having ducked into the bag. Alwyn didn't sense anything amiss and he'd been on full fledged freak out mode since yesterday, which she didn't know until after the attack. They hurried to the car and she slid in, locking her door and buckling up. "Yeah." Lia bit her lip and then looked over at him. "Why are you doing this again? I mean, having a complete stranger over to stay with you. I know there are demons and all but I don't get it." Maybe people were just much nicer out here than in New York.
"Because I don't want you to die?" Evan said as he backed out of the parking lot and headed off in the direction of his house. "I'd much rather have a stranger in my basement than have to see you on the slab when this bullshit is over." he shrugged. The last thing he wanted to do was embalm someone that he could have helped. "It's my good deed for the day." he said, shrugging again.
Totally a nice guy. Weird but she appreciated it. "Thanks." She looked out the window and watched the town pas her by, watching for demons more than anything else. "Sorry. If I sounded ungrateful. But I'm from New York. It's not known for it's friendliness, you know?" The bag at her feet moved a little and she knew the cats were listening.
"You're welcome. It's totally cool. New York isn't exactly friendly capital of the world." he agreed. "What brought you from New York to here? I mean you said that your ex was your reason for moving here right? But why Michigan from New York. Seems like an odd change." He was slightly curious but it was just small talk and probably not the topic that she wanted to talk about in the first place. At least it was something to fill the air between her place and his house.
"School, actually. Got accepted to U of M and decided it was as good a school as any. And it was far away from him. He used me and it just wasn't something I wanted to be overly reminded of. I was a game to him." Now he was in town and that was just freaking great. But she was trying not to think about it. "So far, I like it here. Except for the whole demon thing, but apparently that's going around." Lia was pretty sure her joke fell flat.
"Sucks." he sighed. "Relationships blow if you ask me." He certainly hadn't been the king of a happy relationship, that was for sure. "My last girlfriend decided that being in London was way more important than me. She wanted me to pack up and leave here, which I've lived here for my whole entire life, and my whole family is here, so I could go with her. But I'm the asshole for not doing it. Um, no. She coulda stayed, but I guess in the end, it's better she's gone right? What's the point in me making her miserable?" Which sucked to admit. It still hurt that he'd not been more important to her than London, but he couldn't do much about that now.
She looked over at him. "I'm sorry. That's not fair to you." She might have had him beat with how she found Alex, who was now going by Noah. Cheeky bastard. But she didn't want to bring all that back up to him. "Relationships, when you find a good one are awesome. I have yet to find a good one for myself." Lia shrugged. Maybe one day.
"I'm not exactly the kind of guy that has people just falling into his lap." Evan admitted. "I don't begin to pretend that I'm the most attractive, but it's not even that. I've had dates, sure, but they all end with 'you're an embalmer? that's nice' and then not another phone call or anything." he sighed. "Which sucks because I like my job, I mean I grew up around it, but I can't really blame them either. I mean it is sorta weird..." he sighed, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, you really didn't ask for my life story." And yet he'd dropped it all on her like she had or something.
Lia knew how he felt. Guys didn't just fall at her feet. Funny enough the last guy she had met was in the rain, in front of her building. "Well, embalmer is weird, I guess, but I don't mind. It's strangely normal to me. And if you ask me, you're pretty cute." As for the life story... " Are you kidding? I dumped my week on you before I even knew your name. I can't even begin to explain to you how crazy my life was before I got here. So if you wanna talk, go for it. I'll listen."
It was weird to hear that he was 'pretty cute' as she put it. But puppies and kitties were cute and he wasn't sure if he wanted to be lumped up in the same word as those things were. Either way, he flashed her a little smile. "Thanks." he said, eyes flicking to her and then back to the road. "I appreciate it. The whole listening thing." he went on. "I guess I don't really get to talk to many people. Not about my issues. I mean, I don't really wanna talk to my family about any of them because I don't think that either of my sisters liked Dorcas - my ex - to begin with. And you can tell me whatever you wanna tell me. Might be nice to know that I'm not the only one with a fucked up life."
"Hey, at least you talk to your sisters. My brother and sister wouldn't give me the time of day to save their lives. I moved out right after high school. Didn't fit in with mommy and daddy's image of a perfect daughter in their world." She shrugged again. "And I know what you mean, knowing you're not the only one. It's almost comforting." Still, Lia was pretty sure she took the cake. But she also knew she was the only one who could fix that too.
"They're both older so it's weird." he explained. "I mean, that and the fact that they're girls and that's just different too. We don't agree on hardly anything and half the time my decisions are stupid, but yeah, I mean I talk to them. They're around. We all still live in town. Hell, Erin still lives with my parents." he explained. He nodded a little when she talked about her family and how she didn't fit in. "Fitting in is overrated." he sighed. "I don't fit in either. I'm too goofy and out there. Creepy I guess since death is around me all the time." he murmured. "But you? I don't think that you should have been anything close to whatever they thought was a perfect daughter. I mean you seem pretty nice to me. What could they have expected? You can only be what you are."
She let out a brief laugh. "My parents expected me to marry who they wanted me to marry, have kids, go to all these charity functions and just pretend that being normal didn't exist. So when I didn't want to do that? I was out." The Atherton's didn't care about who she was, just who she was supposed to be. Lia looked out the window again. "I mean, I'm sure it's for the best, but still, it's weird not being able to talk to my family some days."
"Marry who they wanted you to marry?" he questioned, arching a brow just slightly as they turned on his street. "Did they have it all set up? Kids names picked out for you and embroidered towels sitting on the hangers?" he asked, partly in teasing but partly because he was actually curious. Pulling up in his driveway, he parked the car and glanced around before flicking his headlights out again and reaching over to get the food. "Here we are." he said. "One more run into the house and we'll be home free. It's a mess, but I live by myself so yeah."
She nodded. "Yeah, my parents, they, um, they're pretty prominent in New York society. They had two friends who had sons around my age. Sons who were insufferable pigs. And yeah, there were family names that would have been strongly encouraged." Even if he was teasing, it was the reality of the world she'd grown up in. Lia looked at him. "I don't mind a mess, really. Not a big deal. Ready?" She had pulled the bag into her lap and unbuckled her seat belt.
"Ready." he nodded and then it was time to get out of the car and get to the door and get it unlocked as quickly as possible. He still ended up being soaked to the skin by the time he got inside and got things locked. "All the windows are already locked and the back door and everything. I've got an airmattress downstairs... only the one, but you can totally have it for the night if you're staying the entire night which you totally should." he said. "At least you'll be safe." Which would make him feel better than if she wanted to leave. He didn't want her to be hurt out there. Hell it felt like night as dark as the rainstorm had made it. "I think we'll be okay up here for a while. At least while there's power. I keep thinking it's going to get knocked out." It had flickered a few times earlier in the day.
They made it inside and she was suddenly glad she'd grabbed more than one tee shirt. She definitely needed to change hers. "I'll stay but we can flip a coin for the mattress when it comes time. Not going to steal it just because I'm a woman." She smiled at him. The house did feel safe and she looked around. "Having no power would really suck right about now. Seriously. Is there a bathroom down there? Gonna want to change out of this cause getting sick? Not on my list of things to do."
"Yeah." he nodded. "Not much of a bathroom, but hey, when you're in a bind, it certainly works." he sighed, setting the food on the kitchen counter before reaching down to catch the hem of his shirt and pulling it up and over his head. "Yeah, getting sick isn't going to be helpful right about now." he agreed. "If you want, you can use the bathroom up here and we'll go down together." he told her. "After I put this stuff in the fridge."
Okay, what was up with her and shirtless guys in the rain? Seriously?! Not that she was even close to complaining in that moment. Instead, she dropped her bag and pulled out a tee and made her way to the bathroom. Her shorts were okay so a few minutes later, she emerged with her wet tee in hand and a simple purple tee now growing damp from the ends of her hair. "Better."
Evan went to his room to change and by the time she got done in the bathroom, he'd already gotten into a pair of shorts and a tank top. "Bet you feel better." he smiled, picking up the food items and tucking them into the fridge. "At least you won't get sick." he went on. "So, how'd the ex end up here?" he questioned. "Didn't you say you ran into him?"
She looked down and realized her bandage was a little wet and should probably be changed. "Um, he was on the street when I came out of the store yesterday. Right before I got attacked by a demon. He saved my life." Stupid bastard. "You don't happen to have a first aid kit, do you?"
"Yeah." he nodded. "Under the sink. So he saved your life? That kinda is awesome and blows at the same time. Too bad we can pick who gets to save us." he sighed. "Wouldn't that be awesome? Or not awesome."
Lia headed back into the bathroom and brought out the first aid kit and opened it up, cleaning off the cut and looking over at him. "It's awesome to be alive but seriously, a hobo could have saved me and it would have been better than that. Now he's going to hold that over me for the rest of my natural existence." That was definitely not something she wanted him to have the power over. "I would have picked like Batman or something."
Evan chuckled a little at that and shook his head. "Just don't be around him." he shrugged. "Don't let him know he has anything over you. Okay, he saved you, big freaking deal. He's still a douche right? He's just not too much of one that he woulda let you die, but that redeeming quality doesn't have to wipe the slate clean for all the bullshit he did to you, whatever it might have been." he said, closing the refrigerator door.
Nodding, she added a couple of band aids and closed the box. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Just have to avoid him like the plague he is and remind myself that one deed, no matter how big, doesn't erase what he did." Cat and Alwyn hopped out of the bag and moved towards Lia. "Oh, Evan, suppose I should introduce you. Alwyn, you met and the other cat, is Cat. From Breakfast at Tiffany's." Figured it was a good idea since they were going to be staying there.
"Hello." Evan said, mostly to the familiar since he doubted that the cat cared if he said hello or not. He didn't mind either the cat or the cat-familiar staying there, at least he'd kept one person, and a pair of animals safe. "So... are you a witch... or an elemental?" he questioned. "If you don't mind telling me, I mean."
Alwyn was curious and he moved forward in front of Cat to investigate. 'I'm not sure I trust him yet, Lia. Please just be careful, alright,' he said to his master, returning to stand protectively in front of Cat. Lia rolled her eyes and focused on Evan's question. "Elemental. Air. And I don't mind talking about it. I'm a low level, so I'm still trying to figure the whole thing out. I'm pretty good at summoning air, but it's mostly just a breeze unless I'm royally pissed."
Evan nodded a little. "I'm boring." he admitted. "Well... sort of boring. I can glamour." he explained. "But aside from that I'm just... human. Which is sort of funny since I'm supposed to be protecting you. Or at least that's what I'm hoping to do. But I do make a marvelous human shield which I am to do, throwing myself at any demon that may try to harm you." he chuckled. "That should work just as well as anything else I could do if I weren't human."
"Glamour? So you're fae-blooded too?" Glamours were the one thing Catherine had never gotten around to teaching her. She wished she had. "Well, I'll try not to use you as a human shield. Who knows, maybe I'll end up protecting you." Lia grinned a little, amused by the thought. "I'm a reader too. Mostly tarot cards and scrying. But that's my other gift."
"Yeah." he said, nodding again. "So that means you are as well?" Which was interesting. At least they had that little bit in common. "I can just conjure up shit." he chuckled. Which didn't seem all awesome when he put it that way. Evan shrugged a little though, shaking his head and laughing again. "Tarot cards though? Damn, shoulda had you bring them with you."
She nodded. "I am. Never really got to play with glamours. But it's cool that you can conjure." Lia smiled. "Maybe you can show me sometime." Bending over, she grabbed her back and looked over at him. "Suppose we should get downstairs." She left her tee shirt on a chair in the kitchen to dry and went to close the bag. "I actually have a deck. Maybe when we get bored, I can do a reading."
"Yeah." he said. Hey, he didn't mind showing the girl something randomly conjured up if that was what she wanted. It wasn't everyday that someone actually showed an interest in it. Dorcas certainly never had. But she'd been too busy with her ghosts and being upset with him about London. But he wasn't thinking about Dorcas, nope, not at all. "Yeah." he said again. "Let's go ahead and get down there. I got a couple of board games and shit. Nothing fancy, but hey, when there are demons out, I think our minds are going to be on that and not anything else."
"I'm sure we can keep each other entertained. If anything else, we can watch the soap opera that is my cats. Sure that'll be amusing." Lia let him lead the way and once they were down there, she looked around. She'd never been in a normal basement before. She'd always lived in an apartment when she was on her own and at her parents, it was all crates of art and furniture and what not. His basement was much different. She sat down on the couch and looked up at him. "So what do we do now?"
"I didn't even know familiars could get animals pregnant." Evan admitted. "But then again, I'm not well versed in all things familiars seeing as I don't have one." He was somewhat glad that he didn't have one. The thought of having an animal in his head all of the time was weird and he didn't think he wanted that sort of thing. "Well..." he said, settling himself on the couch beside her - but not too close of course. "We could talk... or play a game... or talk... or look at each other. Hey! We could have a staring contest." he teased.
Alwyn and Cat went off to get themselves a place to hole up. He was insanely protective of her. Lia toed off her sneakers and drew her legs up. "I'm not having a staring contest with you," she said with a laugh. "I always lose those. But I mean, we could talk or play a game. Pick one." She tucked her hair behind her ears, feeling it start to curl again as it dried. Yeah, she was going to look awesome.
Getting up from the couch, Evan padded his barefooted way over to the shelf in the corner and after a long moment, picked up Monopoly. "I suck at this game." he told her. "But it lasts forever so at least we'll have something to do." he said, settling it on the coffee table, and sitting down Indian style on the other side. "If you don't mind Monopoly. I give it an hour before we say 'fuck this game'."
She laughed and shifted so she was sitting in front of the game. "Last time I played this game, there was alcohol involved. Every time someone had to pay rent or went to jail. After a while, we forgot who's turn it was." Marie had a party for Halloween the last time she was in New York and they had gotten more than a little sloshed. "I don't mind the game. But I call the dog."
"Well," he said. "I do got some tequila around the house somewhere. Course when I get drunk, my inhibitions disappear and I barely remember anything the next day. And I drool when I sleep after a binder too. Not that you needed to know that, but I promise you, it's not a pretty sight." And again, he was so unskilled with the ladies. It didn't matter if it was a gas station clerk or some chick he was trying to keep safe, he always managed to put his foot in his mouth and let the verbal tidal wave take over. "You can have the dog." he smiled. "I like the hat better anyways."
Lia laughed again. "Maybe later we can pull that out. When we're really sick of this game, we can always use it to make it more interesting." Yeah, he was pretty cute. Shaking her hair out, she sat Indian style on the couch. She leaned forward, elbows rest on her knees. "As for what happens when you get drunk, well, sometimes I drool when I sleep without being drunk." She winked, finding him rather sweet. It was nice to be rescued by someone other than a terrible prink like she had the day before.
Evan chuckled a little at that. "Well I won't tell anyone that you drool." he told her. "And I snore so you'll probably not get a single wink of sleep tonight." he said, scrunching up his nose as he situated the board and started to put the cards in their respective places. "Wanna be the banker? I suck at it and always forget which money is mine."
"Sure." She took the money and set it on the side next to her on the couch before distributing the allotted amount to him and herself. Lia pushed the dice towards him. "Gotta roll to see who goes first." They played two games, both of which she won, though the second was much closer. Lia told him about her great-grandmother, how she was going to teach her about glamours. Granted, she didn't tell him exactly how she left her family or that her family was one of the wealthiest in New York City. But he made her laugh more than she had in a while and that was good.
Soon enough, it was close to dinner time and her stomach growled. "Think we can risk going upstairs so I can make dinner?" Lia was completely relaxed, demons only a little on her mind. She was having fun.
Evan hadn't heard a peep from upstairs so he thought maybe chancing it would be alright. "Yeah." he said, nodding a little bit. "I'm thinking keeping the lights off is best, but I got a bunch of candles in one of the drawers if you don't mind candlelight cooking." The less attention they drew to the house, the better. At least that was Evan's thoughts on the matter. Anything that could keep the demons away from his place was something he wanted to be doing.
Lia stood and stretched. "That's fine. You happen to have bread crumbs? Thought breaded chicken would be nice." She could make do with what ever herbs and spices he had and everything. Going into her bag, she fished out a hair tie and braided her hair quickly. It wasn't perfect, tendrils falling about her face. "Ready?"
"Yeah." he said, getting up from the floor and leading her back up the stairs. First he went about getting a few candles lit and once he had enough light in the kitchen, he fished a box of bread crumbs from the cabinet. "I actually have some." he smiled. "Yay for having at least one thing in my kitchen that might not be spoiled."
She laughed. "You should really look into getting food in this place. Can't eat spoiled food, you know." Lia pulled out the chicken and started to clean it. "What do you usually eat anyway?" she asked as she worked, looking over her shoulder at him.
"Take out and tv dinners." Evan admitted sort of sheepishly. "I really need to head to the store eventually." he sighed. "I haven't really been back that long. After Dorcas - my ex - left for London, I left too. Just the town though. I couldn't really deal with all that mess right then. I wanted a break from everything." Which hadn't really helped him much. He'd still thought about her a lot.
"I'm sorry." She gave him a soft smile. It hadn't been her intention to bring up bad memories, especially not after the day they had. She was actually having fun with him. It took a few minutes of prep work but soon the chicken was in the oven and the rice was cooking. On to the salad. Lia loved cooking, especially when she got to cook for someone else. It was nice, something she learned from her great-grandmother. That doing little things for people were the best distraction, the best way to show you cared.
"Don't be." Evan said, shaking his head a little. "It's for the best. I mean I'm glad that she left when she did. It's better than her sticking around and being miserable and resenting me in the end. It all worked out how it was supposed to and it's cool." he promised the girl. Sure, they were bad memories, but it wasn't Lia's fault that he thought about Dorcas. It was just a habit. He hadn't had a serious girlfriend in a long time and he supposed that was what had been the hardest about losing her in the first place. "So, thank you. For cooking and stuff. I kinda feel bad that I brought you here and now you're cooking for me."
She shook her head. "Don't be. I love to cook and seriously, this is the most fun I've had in close to two weeks. So don't feel bad for wanting to keep me safe." Once the salad was done, she moved to sit with him at the table. When someone was in your life for so long, it was hard to let it go. She remembered what she had gone through when she found Alex, now Noah, in bed with that woman. It was hard, but she got over it. Took time. So she felt for him. "It'll be a little while longer and I hope you like it."
"I'm sure it's great." Evan said, flashing her a little smile as he pushed his unruly hair away from his face. "I know it's gonna be better than anything that I could make, so you one upped me there anyways." he chuckled. Hell, she could have handed it to him raw and it would have been better than anything he could have made. He just could not cook worth a damn and he knew better than to really try anything fancy or anything that he had to actually pay attention to in the oven. If it took more than ten minutes to make, he tended to get sidetracked and by the time he realized that the food was still in the oven, it was already blackened and inedible.
"Maybe you just need someone to teach you." Lia stretched her neck and leaned forward on the table, chin resting on her hands. "I didn't cook for myself growing up, but after I moved out, it was the first thing I focused on. I made everything I'd ever wanted in a week. Nearly bought out the antacid aisle at the local drug store." She laughed at the memory. "I was a little foolish then. Learned fast about balancing meals and what not."
"Maybe." he nodded. "Just gotta find someone who'll help me out with that." he smiled. "We can trade off." Evan suggested. "You help me make something that doesn't resemble roadkill jerky by the time I'm through with it and I'll help you learn to do glamour." he smiled. "If you want. You totally don't have to though. I mean if you wanna forget my name and that I exist after this, that's totally up to you."
He was beyond endearing. "I think that sounds perfect, actually." Lia reached across the table and touched his hand. "Evan, despite what's going on in the world around us, I've actually had a really good time today. I'm not going to forget the guy who had me laughing more than I have in a while. Seriously." There was something about this guy, the way he was sweet to her, all knight in somewhat damp armor that day, that was kind of worming it's way into her heart. He was a sweetheart.
That made him feel a lot better about himself, even if it was just a couple of sentences and a promise she could easily break. "Thanks." he said, giving her a little crooked mouthed smile. "Hey, at least I can make you laugh. I do try and be entertaining." Usually he just ended up being the entertainment by means he didn't particularly care for. Like his sister and scaring the shit out of him with that vampire. Bitch. he couldn't help but think. He loved Erin, but damn her! Damn her to hell.
"Girls love a guy who can make them laugh, so don't ever change that, Evan. Seriously." Maybe that was her problem. Going for the guys who were brooding, like her ex or strong like Torque. Hell, last two guys she was involved with she never called them by their real names. What was up with that? But she wasn't thinking about the past. Nope. Not a bit. Lia smiled warmly at him as the timer went off. "Looks like dinner's ready. Want to eat up here or downstairs?"
"We can take it downstairs." he said. "I'll go push Monopoly back into the box and we can use the coffee table. It's safer." Which was most important right now, after all. "I won't be gone long." he promised. He really didn't want to leave her at all, but he did, getting up and heading down to the basement long enough to move the game back into the box and shift things so they could be able to eat. "If you wanna grab some sodas outta the fridge then I can get the hot stuff." he suggested.
While he was gone, she found some plates and utensils and stacked them up. To make it easier to bring it all downstairs, she moved the chicken over in the pan and settled the rice pot inside, grateful when it fit. Lia turned when he came back up and smiled at him. "Okay," she said, turning over the potholders. "Um, do you want me to bring anything else down?" she asked, as she went into the fridge to get the sodas.
"There's some napkins." he told her, pointing to the stack on the counter. Picking up the potholders he had hanging behind the stove, he situated the hot pans and nodded in the direction of the basement. "Ready when you are." he told her. "Go ahead and go down. You can blow out those candles too." he said. "There's enough light from the basement that we can see."
With everything situated on the plates, she leaned in a blew out the candles. "I think I should cook by candlelight more often," she said as she headed downstairs. Alwyn seemed to feel more comfortable when they came down. "Chicken's for dinner, you guys. Come on out." After Evan put everything down, she took one piece of chicken and cut it in half before putting it on a plate on the ground. Of course, the cats were hungry and started to eat. Lia moved on to fixing her and Evan plates of dinner.
Evan settled himself on the couch beside Lia and waited until she'd finished situating the food for the cats and then for the two of them. "Thank you." he said, taking his plate from the woman. It smelled amazing and he could feel his stomach rumbling in preparation for home cooked food. Perhaps it wouldn't live up to his mother's special recipe, but when he took the first bite it certainly gained a little 'mmm' from the man. Chewing up his food, he gave the woman a smile once he'd swallowed. "Yeah, definitely a better cook than me."
She laughed. "Thanks." Not bad. Lia happily dug into her food, glancing over at him. "It's not overly complicated. Oh, I forgot the salad." She looked up at the staircase and then shook her head. "Not important." Her attention was back on her plate in front of her and the man sitting next to her. "You know, I've been curious. How tall are you anyway?" He always seemed to just loom over her, but not in a creepy way.
Setting his plate down on the coffee table, he gave her another smile. "I can grab it real quick." he suggested as he got up, lanky as he was the movement was awkward. He smirked at the question. "6'4"." he told the woman. "Taller than just about everyone." he chuckled.
She looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah. And I border on midget compared to you," she said with a laugh. "You, you don't have to go up there if you don't want." His height, it was bordering on intimidating when she was sitting like that. So she opted to stand up too. Yeah, slightly less super tall. "I mean, it's just a salad." Last thing she wanted was for him to get hurt because of dinner. They'd been pretty lucky for the most part today.
"You sure?" he asked her, already moving back to the couch. "I don't mind, really. I mean it'll only take a second." Not that he was making an effort to head up there just yet. "As for the midget thing, I think everyone does compared to me. It's just... a normal occurrence."
Nodding, she smiled as he came back over. "Look, you've done your best to keep me safe all day. Last thing I want is for you to go upstairs and a demon happen by, you know? Cause that would be my fault and plus, I'm not sure I'm up for facing another one." Meaning that if a demon did attack, she wouldn't just hide down here and let him face it on his own. That's not what friends did.
"Okay." he said, settling back down on the couch again. "Well, lets just eat what we've got then." he told her. "It's plenty anyways. And besides, maybe if a demon is up there, it'll be a vegetarian and eat the salad and leave." If only that were true. Evan certainly didn't count on it, but hey, a little joking might help the situation out a little. "I'll get the air mattress blown up after we eat." he promised. "And there are blankets and pillows and stuff already down here in that cabinet so I don't think we'll have to make any trips back upstairs for anything at least not til morning."
She laughed. "Seriously, if they're a vegetarian, I will leave a salad outside more often. Maybe that'll keep them from attacking." God, if it were that simple, it'd be on the news as a tactic. Too bad it wasn't. Sighing softly, she went back to eating and glanced up when he was talking about the mattress. "Sounds good to me. We can stay in the Batcave and I'm not going to argue with that."
He chuckled a little at her description of his basement. "Awesome then." he said as he reached for his plate again. Dinner went by uneventfully, a little more small talk and afterward one more game of monopoly, yet again ending with Lia winning. Eventually the clock ticked on and it got late and Evan let Lia get ready for bed first. Once she'd had her time in the bathroom, he went in and deciding to be at least a little civil, came out in his shorts. Normally he would have been down to his boxers, but he doubted the woman needed to see him that scantily clad. Air mattress blown up and sheets and blankets situated, he went to the cabinet to get his own blankets for a makeshift bed on the couch. "It's pretty comfortable." he told the woman. "The air mattress. You might actually get some sleep." he smiled. "And no arguing."
Lia was queen of Monopoly. Either he really did suck at the game or he was letting her win. Either way, she was actually having fun, more than she figured she would stranded in some stranger's basement. But by now, she didn't really consider him much of a stranger anymore. She changed into a tee shirt and the pair of sweats she'd grabbed earlier, glad that she'd grabbed the pair that were more like capris. When Evan came out of the bathroom, she smiled. "I see you're a tattoo fan. I've got one too. Only got it like a month ago." The bed was situated and she nodded. "Yes, sir," she said with a mock salute.
"Yeah?" he questioned as he made his way to the cabinet, pulling it open only to let out a shriek. Spiders - the enemy of Evan Forsythe - apparently lived in his basement. At least one did because there the creepy little thing was sitting on the empty shelf just above the blanket he needed to get. "S-spider." he breathed, backing away from the cabinet like it was infested with the things or something. No, spiders and Evan did not get along.
The sound of his shriek had her worried. Had a tiny demon found it's way into the house? She found it odd that the first image that came to mind was like the little Transformers in the movie. Until she saw it was a spider and realized that her protector was terrified. It wasn't even that big. Hiding her smirk, she reached for a shoe and a left over napkin. Moments later, it was over, and Lia: Spider Slayer was trying really hard not to laugh. "It's gone now. Sent to spidey heaven. Or hell, depending on if it was a bad spider or not."
Evan watched her as she squished the thing and got rid of the monstrous creature. He could tell that she was trying not to laugh and he could feel the flush that snuck down his cheeks and over the top of his chest. Brushing his hair from his face, he let out a little breath. "I'm not always like that..." he tried to justify. "Spiders... ugh... spiders just give me the heebiejeebies."
She was good until he said heebiejeebies and then she was lost in her giggles. "I'm sorry. I just, you're insanely tall. You must look like a huge giant to them and you're afraid of them." Lia cleared her throat and managed to hold back more laughter, still grinning though. "Evan, I will make you a deal. If there are ever any more spiders, I'll take care of them, but you are responsible for all other bugs, okay? I'm not a bug fan. At all." He was blushing and she just found it cute again. Evan was ridiculously cute and for a moment, she wondered why someone would pick London over him. She'd been there; it was nice, but seriously, he was really sweet. Shaking her head, she patted his chest. "Deal?"
"Deal." he said, nodding a little. The flushing certainly didn't subside, in fact, it seemed to deepen as she talked about how insanely tall he was compared to them. "They're creepy. All legs and eyes and oogly yuckiness." he said, scrunching up his nose in disgust as he retrieved the blanket from the cabinet and shook it out to make sure there weren't any spiders inside it. Thankfully there weren't. "Ew." he said. "Spiders are just... yuck."
Another giggle escaped and she smiled up at him. "Remind me never to watch the second Harry Potter movie with you." Actually, that would probably be entertaining, but then again, she didn't want to traumatize the poor guy. He was genuinely afraid. It was priceless. Then again, she really didn't like insects and she might have squealed if she'd seen one so she really shouldnt' tease. But it was hard not to, given the situation. And she hadn't stopped smiling.
"I don't even want to know what happens." he told her as he made his bed on the couch and shook his head, scrunching up his nose again. "Spiders, in any shape or form, even magical, are so not my friend. They're disgusting and gross and they just make my skin crawl." Which was an understatement. Evan hadn't for as long as he could remember ever liked a spider. Ever. "Thanks for killing it." he told her. "And for not rubbing it in my face, though you probably will eventually." he said, managing the slightest fleck of a smile. That too he was used to. People finding out spiders freaked him out tended to get him a laugh or two at least.
She bit her lip to keep another giggle from escaping. "No problem and yes, I will likely tease you about it. Probably for forever, so get used to it. To be fair, the teasing will come after I kill it, though. Don't need you shrieking like that when I'm teasing you." Lia looked around the basement and saw the cats curled in a corner, sleeping already, the commotion over the spider not really having phased them much. "Besides, it's the least I could do. Thanks for taking me in and keeping me safe."
"I didn't shriek." Evan said, flushing deeper yet again. "Okay, fine, so I shrieked. Whatever." he muttered, slightly embarrassed. "It's cool." he told the girl. "Don't even worry about it. At least you're safe. That's what matters." He'd definitely done his good deed for the day and kept at least one elemental and a couple of cats safe. That had to count for something. And hell, if the worst thing they had to deal with the whole day was a spider, he'd take it.
There was a definite snort from the elemental. "You did and it was kinda cute. And totally priceless." If he wasn't so tall, she might have leaned up to kiss his cheek, but instead choose to be a little impulsive and hug the man. "I know, but still. I would have likely just been in my apartment, more vulnerable than I should be because I was being stubborn." Lia moved to the air mattress and pulled back the blankets.
Cute? Had she called him cute? Maybe he'd just misheard her. But no, then she went and hugged him, which really kind of surprised the guy. He'd have hugged her back, but she'd by then pulled away and was moving to the air mattress. Blinking a little to himself, he shook his head and settled in on the couch. She'd hugged him. Well damn. As unexpected as it was, it was still a little nice. She was sweet and apparently she thought he was cute, or at least that his shrieking was cute. "Night, Lia." he said as he reached over to flick the light off. "See you in the morning."