< Cassie. Hey Cassie returns the smile, though hers is slow and lazy and tired rather than awkward. The 'I've been up since 3 trying to reason with someone too small to understand things like logic and why they're more important than his desires' smile, which thankfully around Alex doesn't have to become the 'make up some excuse to pretend I still have a glamorous and commitment-free life' smile. “Hey”
And then comes a too-long moment where she's standing in the doorway waiting for him to invite her in, or tell her to go away, or break out the exorcism kit he probably keeps in a pocket somewhere (is he wearing clothes for once rather than sporting the Arthur Dent look? Small mercies are awesome). Probably the first, if her intuition is worth a damn, because she's usually pretty good at reading people and this isn't the first time she's felt a small glow at the way he looks at her – in an awkward and amused but still flattered way, rather than the flare being around Jed sends coursing through her, but a glow none the less – but she wouldn't bet on it when she's strung out. And she's about to try and move things along, and gets as far as “Alex, darlin', mind if...”
< Come on in And so she does, and she takes the offered seat, crossing her legs demurely and smoothing out her suit (which feels ridiculous amongst the clutter but is too much of an instinct to let go of) and laughs dutifully at his joke even though it's not really all that funny because she's sat through his explanations of why it doesn't work like that more than once when Aaron's been frustrated at how vague his answers always are. She thinks about refusing the drink – they're almost always flat and stale from being opened so he can 'spike' them and then sitting without anyone to come and drink them unless she's feeling like whining or Aaron's looking for enlightenment, and she's fussy about things like that – but it would be rude not to, she reasons, and at least it'll give her something to do with her hands, and so she nods, her smile brightening slightly.