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]

He considers. He has the day off, and he's not on call. It's his business if he wants to disappear.

"Alright. That sounds good."

[norea]

She reaches for the phone on the little hall table nearby, not quite willing to stand up to get it- it inches closer to her hand without much thought on her part. She dials the number from memory.

"Hi, Hils?"

The conversation that transpires is short and tired; in Hasi's social set, there's a lot of this house-sharing and the like. Most people aren't as private as Hasibe, and she has a knack for making friends quickly, convincing them to let her stay a while here, to loan her a key there. Hilary tells her where the spare key is, and Hasi hangs the phone up.

"You'll like her place," she says, starting to pick herself up, "or I hope you will, anyway."

[toooldforlosing]

He stood, helping her up. "At this point, as long as it has a bed and maybe some food, I'll take it."

[norea]

"Several beds- and a swimming pool, actually." Which she intends to make good use of, after she's slept.

"I'm going to go pack up and get the animals all ready- you go get dressed and meet me by the door in fifteen, okay?"

[toooldforlosing]

"Right. Anything you need me to grab?" As putting a shirt on would not take fifteen minutes.

[norea]

"Leashes, and--oh, I have a packed bag in the back of my closet-room." You know, the terrifying one. "It's white and has a big Chanel C on it, you'll know it when you see it. I'm pretty sure Hil's place is stocked, but I'm going to bring a bottle of something just in case."

They drink a lot, these two. She's a bad influence.

[toooldforlosing]

In more ways than one, probably, but he just nods and follows instructions.

He is sure he has both guns before they go - he doesn't want to be leaving either of them lying about her flat.

[norea]

It's a short walk to the other house, but it's cold and late and she is, quite understandably, a bit spooked, so she's watching their surroundings carefully.

"They've got to be long gone by now, yes?"

[toooldforlosing]

"Yeah," he says, quietly. "Too soon for them to have gone and come back, and they won't be hanging around, not when they don't know if their buddy said anything before he bought the farm."

[norea]

They reach her friend's place (she finds the key underneath a statuette on the front stoop), and the inside is twice as lavish and sizable as Hasi's place. She gives their gilded surroundings a once over, leading Huan and carrying Zabibe inside.

"Does this kind of thing happen to you a lot, Raylan?"

[toooldforlosing]

"Define 'this kind of thing,'" he says.

[norea]

"Strange men busting in during the middle of the night," she shrugs, taking care to ... securely lock that door behind Raylan.

[toooldforlosing]

"Not often." He looks back at her. "Most of the shit I get, I get in the line of duty. Directly or otherwise."

He'd be targeted in his home, but if he'd let things be, that wouldn't happen.

[norea]

"Aren't we lucky to have received a house call." Well- Hasi knows that was about her and her interesting collection of books, but Raylan got to deal with it with her, so he's included in that.

"They'll come back eventually, probably. I'll have to figure out what to do with that."

[toooldforlosing]

"Better locks," he offers. "A second dog?"

[norea]

"I was thinking more like tracking them down first and binding them to do no harm," she says, a little sheepishly. This is a dangerous plan, but she likes to be proactive about these things.

"Let's check out the upstairs."

[toooldforlosing]

"...let's talk about that when we've slept and I can argue with you properly."

[norea]

"Fair enough." It's said after a pause and a lipquirk, but they're exhausted, and there's a bedroom just up there, which is massive and has a ridiculous-looking centerpiece bed. It's even more ostentatious than Hasi's place, as noted, and slightly nouveau riche.

She gets Huan situated in the hallway, and Zabibe in the room next door.

"You need anything before you finally get some sleep?" Hasi calls.

[toooldforlosing]

"Way we're going, it'll be tomorrow night before we finally lie down." He took her hand. "Let's get some sleep, if possible."

[norea]

"...you may have a point," she allows, sheepishly; she can be sort of difficult without meaning to, sometimes, but Raylan's practicality wins out.

But she's leaving the bedroom door open. Just in case.