🩸 violence is ALWAYS the answer 💀

Was she being too hopeful about this whole thing or not giving it enough time? Kyleigh had no clue what she was doing honestly, having never dated anyone before. Hell, she had never even been on a proper date. What if that wasn't something Stephon was interested in? No one liked having to go through that whole first time for everything route with a person. Still a part of her wanted this to work, her developing feelings for the man slowly pushing out the doubts that her mind fed her.

[Text: Willow!] I mean technically he had to find me to sign some merch, so I guess? [Text: Willow!] Damn I didn't even notice that lol [Text: Willow!] Wait he did? That's so cute! [Text: Willow!] He's just been through a lot, and I don't want to rush him or anything.

Glancing up at Joe before she reached over for the one he pointed to Kyleigh gave him a look that said you better not say 'I told you so' like was written all over his face. Yes he was right about what she would like, and that was something she wasn't so willing to admit. So instead she just took a piece from the other plate and dipped it in the sauces like he suggested. The scent of fish caught her nose before she threw it in her mouth, letting her know that it was Tuna. Eating raw things was nothing new to her of course, but fish was always something she avoided. Growing up in a place that was known for its seafood she had hated it from the start, but this was different. The mix of soy and wasabi helped as well, that salty kick hitting her tongue right after she swallowed. "Huh. Usually I avoid seafood at all costs, but that little mix of sauces really helped. Look at you using that brain you got in that big head of yours!" She teased him, using her foot to lightly kick his. Another piece was grabbed before eaten, followed by some of her beer. Now she was thinking about the concert later that night, the excitement of it starting to kick in. "Also the person you see at the concert tonight is way different from the person you're with now. Just pretend you don't know her because when she sees the Boys on stage, she's going to lose her mind."

Something about such a subject only minimally bothered him --- something that felt like it should be concerning. But at the same time, he knew he always had such a twisted sense of humor even before all of this. Still, it felt like something colder lurked beneath the surface- that old familiar nearly-monster. The same that had bursted out once or twice in the past. but here - where were the coping mechanisms ..? Ways to keep it in fuckin' check?

At the very least her response seemed neutral enough towards his comment - but who wasn't just as scathed in this world? It was so easy to get lost within his mind. Far too easy, he mentally noted. In fact, the entirety of her being seemed all but naturally responding - something that could easily tell him from a first glance she had a good enough head on her shoulders. At least from a first glance. But she finally spoke again ; and it snapped him out of his analyzing mode. Eyes snapped back up to her face, as he tilted his head.

He cracked a smirk quick enough, doing a random swing in the air with it. Oh, how he loved it. He was growing on it more and more... Perhaps he should eventually name it? Much like a car, or ship. Why not? Fingers rubbed against the surface, thankful that he had found a pair of gloves. One never knew if they'd accidentally hit themselves with their own weapon - but he knew what form to keep with this sort of specific weapon. "No, not fuckin' particularly!" he exclaimed, letting it calm down by his side now. "But still .. Numbers are quite useful within a world like this."

Was she one of the strong ? A philosophy that had been creeping into his mind more. ".. Hell, you can always try it out." He shrugged.

"Am I not hot enough for you?"

That one swing of his bat was more than enough to allow Kyleigh to pick up on the scent of blood, causing her to force down a gag. It was bad enough the stench of it was all around outside, she didn't need it all up in her face too. But she stood her ground, the animal inside refusing to allow her to back down. This was still her place and she was allowing this other human to be inside of it with her.

At least this man understood that there was zero chance she was ever going to trust him. He might be right in the sense that numbers were good now, but what use would they be if there wasn't some shred of trust between them? And how did she know he wouldn't get her back outside just for her to be ambushed by a bunch of other people? Her head tilted slightly upwards into the air but she detected no other living scent in the area. Hmmm.

That last question he asked her caused a snort to leave the half lycan, her hand finally placing the blade she had been holding back onto her belt. If she even gave a shit about that part of her life any longer she would have laughed right in his face, but she figured it would be better to waste that energy on something else.

"Nice try dude, but that doesn't work on me. You're old enough to be my father and I'm just trying to make it to see another day without getting ripped apart by those things walking around. Look if you want to search this place for yourself then leave, that's fine with me. If not, I'm not your old lady, I can't tell you what to do."

She looked around the store again, making a mental list of the light things she wanted to pick up. After that, well Kyleigh didn't really know what she was going to do. Probably just keep walking north until it became dark, then camp out for the night. Letting out a sigh she turned her attention back to the man, studying him some more before she spoke.

"What's your name?"

Anastasia Saprikina by Hernan Regiardo

Thank god she had swallowed what was in her mouth already because at Stephon's words Kyleigh damn near choked. She was so happy to hear that he wished they could spend more time together, thinking the same thing but way too afraid to say it herself. Instead she just nodded, finishing up her waffles because she always ate faster than anyone else. Feeling like their little fun bubble was burst the moment he mentioned having to go to this podcast thing, the half lycan tried her best not to let it show on her face. She knew at some point they would have to go their separate ways for whatever reasons, she just didn't think it would be this soon. Her head shot up fast when he asked if she wanted to go with him, a smile so big on her face it went all the way up to her eyes. "Yeah I'll go with you! I mean if that's okay. I don't want to intrude on anything." Oh yeah because that was real smooth. Plus who would she say she was in relation to him? A friend? Business partner? Assistant? Well it didn't really matter, she was sure he would find some way to answer that question if it came up.

While he couldn't remember all of the ranks (too many hits to the head he figured), Stephon knew that Derrick's was the more impressive one out of the two of them. A person really had to earn their stripes to be trusted with new recruits. To this day he sometimes had dreams about his time in training, being woken up before the sun rose in the morning, yelled at for hours on end, happy to crawl into bed at night. Man he wouldn't go back to that time for anything, but he was proud of serving his country for the time that he had. "I bet you didn't take any shit." He knew that some of the new guys could be mouthy, but one look at the older man was enough to shut anyone up. What he did not expect was for Derrick to have watched him while in the ring, a slight panic washing over him. Some of his matches could get a bit intense and he hoped that Ashlyn's father didn't think he was like that all of the time. Bringing his attention back to the game as well a slow smile came to his face, always happy to tell the story of how his career began. "It's funny because I played normal sports while I was in high school; football, basketball, track and field. Even entered a few talent shows. But I never thought of wrestling until I was almost out of the service. I kept seeing videos online of people doing these crazy stunts and hearing the crowds cheering for them. So of course I thought, well I can do that. I tried out for this one training school in Pennsylvania and after a few shows I was hooked. Guess performing has just always been in my blood."

"Hey! My feet are perfectly sized for the rest of me." Kyleigh pouted for a second before she laughed. She only learned about Jordans from watching the man himself play against the Celtics at a few games, but didn't get her first pair of them until high school. "I can't take any of yours Ash! Some day these will be collectors items, and you want them to be as clean as possible." Hearing that Ash found another treasure she quickly made her way over towards the other woman, a soft giggle escaping her when she saw Ash's picture. "Stop! I mean you can kind of tell but so what, it still looked cute! You're one of those lucky girls that can wear just about any haircut. Well I wouldn't go bald if I were you…" She joked. It felt so good to have a moment like this, just two best friends cracking jokes with each other while visiting family.

I am going to kiss you… Mr. O'Connell.