Afterparty

[toooldforlosing]

Raylan survived an entire night of being trotted around the party as Hasi's escort without doing anything embarassing, or getting attacked because he was mistaken for someone else. On the whole, he considered this a win.

The truth was, in his work, he'd occasionally been to a fancy party, but always as the outsider. It was work. Boys from Harlan county did not get invited to that sort of party as a guest. It didn't bother him, but it left him feeling a little displaced. (Of course, with some of the people he'd met and seen at the Xanadu affair, he could have been bright green and no one would have batted an eye. It did make a bit of difference.)

Even so, he was glad enough that it was over. He'd had... quite a bit to drink, though his steps were steady enough. Hasi probably knows him well enough by now to tell he's feeling the alcohol a bit, but he's still in control. Maybe glad he's not driving home, but more or less fine. Even though he's quiet, he's relaxed, and with no idea of packing it in just yet.

"I'd ask your place or mine, but frankly, you don't want to see mine. Hell, I don't want to see mine."

Comments

[toooldforlosing]

"I somehow don't remember much violence and sinfulness in mine, growing up." He knows, of course, in an abstract way that those versions exist, but he'd never had much familiarity with them. Then again, he hadn't been that big into fairy tales even at the age where he was given them.

[norea]

"Well, some of it is metaphorical. Like, um...Little Red Riding Hood, that one's the most transparent." She grins, playful. "Little girls must beware of handsome, wolfish men saying sweet things; guard your chastity."

She tips her head back against the sofa.

"I obviously didn't really take that morality tale to heart, though."

[toooldforlosing]

"Well. I'd say depending on the version, it's a bit more cautionary for the wolf. He's the one who gets a stomach full of rocks." Alright, so this one, he's heard.

[norea]

She makes an amused little scoffing sound, sitting up straighter to regard Raylan. "You think so? So what's the moral of the story, then, 'don't hit on pretty girls in red?'"

[toooldforlosing]

"Don't do anything that makes people think little girls need rescuing. I think that's a pretty sound moral," he says, with a smile.

[norea]

She laughs, conceding: "I'll give you that. Sometimes I like being rescued, though. Probably because I always rescue myself otherwise."

She's not a damsel in distress - there's a privilege of innocence associated with that, and Hasi has never been innocent. People tend to assume the tramp knows how to take care of herself, and they're right, but she still has a different interpretation of events. (What else is new.)

"Think you're more of a big bad wolf or a woodsman?"

[toooldforlosing]

He props himself up on his elbows, considering this. "Neither," he said, finally. "I'm the poor sap who gets called to clean up the mess after it's all done."

[norea]

She regards him silently for a second, and then half-smiles, understanding; she doesn't know if that's completely true, but she also knows he wisely avoids ever romanticizing his job.

"Maybe. But I'd never call you a sap; you just have a soft side." Her tone is utterly sage. She kisses Raylan, briefly, and then rises, robe falling over her shoulder. "I'm going to get us those drinks."

And feed her animals, lest they decide to start harassing her guest.

[toooldforlosing]

"You're spoilin' me," he advises her, but it doesn't seem to be a complaint.

Once she goes, he lies back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. He wonders just how many times you have to sleep with the same woman before 'one night stand' is laughably inaccurate.

...probably two.

[norea]

Her response to that accusation is nothing more than a very bright grin; apparently she feels no shame in this spoiling. Hasi returns with bourbon for him and a martini glass for herself, setting the former on the bedside table near Raylan.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

[toooldforlosing]

He sits up to accept the bourbon. "Thanks." Scooting back to lean against the headboard, he said, "Well. Just wondering if you can get frequent flyer miles for travel by nexus, I guess."

[norea]

She settles next to him, glass in hand.

"Wouldn't that be nice? Although- can you imagine how it would be if people back home knew about the place?" She pulls a bit of a face, and yes, indeed- imagine if some people back home where Raylan's from knew.

[toooldforlosing]

"That could get... complicated," he says, ever the master of understatement.

Someone will, eventually, wonder where he disappears to.

[norea]

She glances over at him, slyly. "The thought makes you a little apprehensive, doesn't it?"

[toooldforlosing]

"It makes me think I'll need some sort of plan, for when it does," he clarifies. "That's a lot of mess to be avoiding."

[norea]

"You sound like you think it's an inevitability," she notes.

[toooldforlosing]

"Well. I think it best to be prepared." And if he keeps coming here, it probably is, really. People talk.

[norea]

"Oh, like a Boy Scout." Immediately, back to trolling him. (Affectionately, of course.)

[toooldforlosing]

He laughs. "Yeah. Just like. Though I don't think there's a badge about visiting lady friends in London, somehow."

[norea]

"I'll make you your own special one," she threatens idly, and after downing a good half of her martini, rolls onto her stomach to sprawl next to him. She rests her chin in her hand to prop her head up, though.

"Do you ever wonder what it is we're doing here, exactly?"

[toooldforlosing]

"Been tryin' not to, especially, this evening." And generally. "Why, it been on your mind?"

[norea]

She thinks about it for a second and shrugs one shoulder, half-smiling. "I've thought about it, but I don't feel the need to get definitive."

[toooldforlosing]

He chuckles a bit, lying back and resting his bourbon on his stomach. "Probably best, really. I tend to screw up definitive things, and it seems like you've got enough of complicated anyway."

[norea]

"Yeah." She's not sure they're not complicated anyway, but she can't help grinning at the way he leaves his drink on his stomach. "And you know- what we've got right here, this is a gift. No pressure, no judgment, no demands."

[toooldforlosing]

"Just two crazy people, a fair amount of liquor, and assorted animal friends. Without the middle bit, it's almost a sitcom," he points out.