Ting takes a deep breath, hesitating uncharacteristically at the fence. Well. Here goes nothing. She puts her cute little game face on, slips through the gate to head up the walkway, and raps almost timidly on the door.

There's no answer from inside the house. All the lights are out, machines turned off, and locks turned, too.

All of which, of course, is a huge letdown, after working so hard to build her courage just to knock on the door. Ting's ears are back a bit. Considers leaving a note of some kind. That she chickens out of.

It's a thoroughly disheartened half-dumen that turns to hop back down the steps and head back towards the street, feeling silly.

"... Ting?" The voice that calls to her comes from a little ways down the sidewalk. "Hey, Ting!"

Ale picks up his pace, almost upsetting his bag of groceries in his hurry to get to her before she gets wherever she's going.

Ting stops quickly, just the barest part of a second before her ears snap back to his voice. Her expression is a mix of relieved, thrilled, and terrified when she turns his way, but it's quickly bitchslapped back to its usual silliness. She looks at her non-existant watch after she gathers herself a moment. "You're late," she informs the angel.

"Nah, you're just early." He smiles a relieved smile as he approaches her, stopping just inside his gate. "I didn't think I was going to see you again."

"Funny coincidence. I didn't think I was going to see you again either." Ting grins a little. Okay, so she's tapdancing, and it's pretty obvious. This kind of thing is a lot easier when you're in a club. The goal is simple: flirt, get a free drink, get lucky if he's worthy. This...is not so linear. "I...ah...wanted to let you know that Yue's fine. My mom fixed him up and dispelled all the blessing marks no problem." She nods.

His eyes clear to sparkling, the blue in them seeming almost to deepen, grow stronger.

"Thank heaven! I was out of my mind worrying, but I realized I had no way to find out for myself." Ale looks to his door, thoughtfully. "Do you want to come in for some coffee? I'm being an awful host."

"Sure!" Ting looks almost...relieved, although still her cute, oblivious little self. "And that's usually what happens when I ambush people completely on surprise." She grins.

Ale steps past her, unlocking his door while holding the groceries in a bizarrely human-like way. He's wearing the same jacket from the club, but different clothes, that certainly cover his angels... somehow.

"Just have a seat wherever you like," he tells her, setting down the bag on a low wooden table. The house is comfortably furnished, with a couple of big, comfy looking brown chairs and a fat, fluffy couch... none of which match the carpet. It looks lived in, though clean, and very home-ish. "How do you like your coffee?"

"I don't know...I've only had it a couple of times, and awhile ago. You pick." Ting smiles. Ooo...comfy looking things! She looks over it a bit, then bounces over the table and settles down on the couch.

Something fancy then. Cappuccino? No. Caramel mocha? Right! Ale sets about brewing the coffee, unable to believe his good luck. He hadn't exactly been thinking about Ting nonstop, but he'd regretted not finding out where she was from. She'd been so interesting, genuinely so, not like so many of the local ladies who knew his father. They were generally nice, and fun, but... in the end, out for a stake in the fortune.

"I'm dumbstruck, Ting. I really, really don't know what to do, so I apologize if I lose focus sometimes."

"That's okay. That makes two of us! This is easier in clubs. Simple gameplan, there. Find someone cute, get a free drink or two, and decide if he's cool enough to let him get lucky. Actually thinking that someone is kind of cool is trickier. So, between the two of us, we can submit a bloopers reel to somewhere!" She beams, amused, and starting to recover a little of that awkward poise that somehow works for her.

Ale snags a cup for each of them and trots over to the couch, sitting on the opposite end of Ting. "Here you are. Hot, though! Things do get more complex outside of a club, but it's nice in a way. People are all about facades at a place like that." He turns that warm smile on her. "What's your facade, Ting?"

She smiles. That's an easy one. "Oblivious." She accepts the cup gratefully, and blows a little steam from it. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome." He looks at his own cup, smiling a little into it. "It's a good facade," Ale laughs, "in a sense. You lost it when you teleport-sticksmacked my father's head and healed two bullet wounds and stab hole."

"Oh, yeah...heh..." Ting scritches her hair nervously. "Sorry about the blunt force head trauma thing...."

"Ting, no, stop." He looks at her, directly into her eyes, his own such a swirling bright blue that they stand out in the semi-darkness of Ale's home. "What you did was the right thing. I wanted to tell you that. My father was just..." he shakes his head. "Faldon was in love with Yue a long time ago, Ting. Yue the angel, you know. He still had feelings for her, though, even when she was exiled. He fought a long time to get her wings back, but no one would acquiesce in the ranks. After a while, he lost rank because of it, for fighting a decision from above like that. He was bitter about it, but Yue showing up with dragon wings just... I'm not making excuses for him, Ting. I just want you to understand." He blinks. "And I am so sorry to dump all of that on you like this."

Ting blinks. "Huh...I told Yue basically exactly the same thing. Well not all of it I didn't know it was love that way. I just told her that I thought your dad loved angel Yue and completely flipped out and panicked. And he was still an ass but didn't really hate her just needs a vacation?" She sips her drink, and scrunches her nose. "Ow! Hot! Tasty. But hot!"

Ale grins at Ting's unstoppable cute-dozer. "Father was punished pretty harshly when the higher-ups found out. He was exiled to the maze." Shakes his head. "Just like Yue was. The good news is that he'll be fine, and come out with a better attitude probably. Hopefully. In the meantime, the club passed to me... but Loland runs it." He chuckles. "I'm not good with business stuff."

"Eep...well...Ansendul seems pretty nice," Ting affirms. "And he gave my mom the pretty hairbrush I always steal, so he's okay by me. And I like his fairy! Elemental. Thing. Right. Your club is fun."

"Wait. Gave your mom?" Ale sets his cup down, floored. "Oh my God! You're Ting Deyono?"

Ting blinks. "Um...hi!" And she holds out her arms in a Ta-da! kind of way, not knowing else to do. "Besides, isn't swearing like that kinda sacrilage for an angel?" She grins. She knows it depends on the deity.

His shock turns into a smile, and he laughs a sincere laugh. "Oh, no, I'm actually atheistic." He grins. "I'm in denial."

Ting giggles prettily at that. Yep. He's fun. She grins at him, and shrugs a little. "I never really give out my last name in clubs. Nothing good comes of it." She ticks off responses on her fingers. "Either it doesn't mean anything to them anyway and is just a funny word...or they do know and completely freak out because they're afraid of my mom...or they try to get into bed with me just because I guess they think it's cool to say you slept in a big important casting family? Or they say it's cool but think I'm a total freak...or actual bad sorts hear about it and then sometimes there's trouble." She looks at her hand, and holds it up. "That's five fingers. So yup! I don't do that."

"Well, I promise you nothing bad is going to come of this." He smiles a sad sort of smile, and goes over to the wall, pulling down a picture. He hands it to Ting, a photo-portrait of a stunning angel woman who could well be Ale's twin.

"My sister, Tele'rea." He smiles. "She lost her life fighting a lich named Shigoriath. I've wanted to meet you ever since I heard that you defeated him.  I've wanted to... well. Thank you, Ting."

Ting's eyes widen a little, before ttravelling down. "I'm...really sorry. That's...awful." Stinky stupid centipede spewing lich bastard.

"It was a long time ago. I'm so horrible at this, dropping the heavy stuff on you, but I..." Ale sits next to her, looking again into her eyes. "I knew you would be wonderful. I never thought I would meet you, though, so..." his eyes are shining. This is so incredibly... convenient. Did Yue know that, too...?

Ting blushes, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. "Well...it wasn't just me. My brother was there, too. And a goddess even though she wasn't there with the actual fights. And a sentient zombie of Shigoriath's, Makyon. He helped us out...a lot. A lot a lot. He told us how to get through the layers of the phylactery." She nods.

"I heard that you fought Shigoriath by yourself, though." Ale tilts his head. "That you defeated him, even, though he regenerated later. Is that true?" He blinks. "I'm sorry. You prolly don't want to to talk about it, but I feel like I owe you something nice." He smiles, big and bright. "How about a nice dinner...? My treat."

Ting's face brightens quite a bit...largely at the change of subject. She still has nightmares about that fight occasionally. But also...Ale asked her to dinner. "Sure...food's always a good thing! And it'd be fun." She grins.

"Absolutely! I love to eat, though the figure sort of hides that." He chuckles. "Got to love divinity. Do you know any good places, though? I'm afraid this planet isn't very good for anything but booze, unless you cook for yourself." He looks to the groceries. "Speaking of which, I need to put up those stratin clusters before they spoil." And he goes to do that, listening, though, since his kitchen is right there.

"Hmm..." Ting ponders. "What kind of food, do you think? Also, what the heck is a stratin cluster?"

"mm? Oh. It's this." He holds up what looks like a string of pearls, only black, and fat. "These fruits are inedible, but if you cut through their shell you can fill them with just about anything and bake it together, then use the fruit like bowls. It bakes a kind of... I'm not sure how to describe it. It just tends to bring out the flavor of soups, stews, casseroles, pasta... anything you can stuff into them easily."

Ting grins. "Fancy!" She sips on her coffee. Realizes how good it is. "You can cook?"

Ale blushes a little bit. "Yeah, a little. Father was always too busy to cook, and Tele'rea was a warrior angel so she avoided homebody duties." He puts something that looks like a spiney jellyfish in a baggy into the freezer.

She grins. "That's okay! It's the same way at my house. If you figured out my last name with an obscure reference to my mom, then you know who she is. And she's a baaaad cook too. I mean, seriously. I've seen her ruin eggs." She blinks. "I always have to fend off her dishes before they eat me first. My dad does the non-scary cooking."

"Oh. I know the reference because Ansendul is something like a family friend." Ale puts away some more things, and comes back to Ting. This is sort of a date, and it doesn't feel all that nervous. Huh. "Him giving one of his possessions to a mortal was big news back then. He's one quarter angel, you know." Smiles at her. Heaven, but she's a pretty creature.

"He looks like an angel!" Ting observes. "He has pretty eyes." Tilts her head. Ponders. Where to eat, where to eat?

"I could cook here, if you want. I don't think my cooking is impressive enough to list on a top five of traits I hope to use impressing pretty girls, but it'll fill your belly and you won't hate me after the fact." He grins. "That's what the club's food is for."

"Hee...that sounds nice!" She likes casual environments sometimes...and in a way, she wants to get to know Ale without all the social things she can navigate so well...where she's likely to run into preprogrammed social habits.

Ale smiles a little brighter. "Alright. Let's see... are you hungry right now?"

"Mmm...not really, to be honest. That just occurred to me. My aunt stopped by earlier," her eyes wander she speaks, and... eyes widen at a tiny little thing crawling by her feet. "Eeeek!" And she's up on top of the couch's back with exceptional balance, eyes wide. She cringes, embarassed. "Um...so you have centipedes on this planet, huh?" She coughs. Awk...ward.

"Centipedes? Where?" He looks over the couch. "I just had this place checked for pests, too. This is what I get for having grass, you know." He reaches down, plucks the little monster up and looks at it, watches it sting his fingertip. "Huh. Feisty."

Ting cringes visibly when it does, but is loathe to say a word and embarass herself further. Doesn't move, though.

He looks at her, wondering. He smiles, and cups the monster in his hands. He opens his thumbs and places his lips to the parting between them, and blows, letting loose his hands at the same time. A blue butterfly flaps loose, the centipede having vanished entirely, and heads over to light on Ting's nose.

Ting blinks, and scrunches up her nose a little, delighted in a "recovering" kind of way. "Hee...that's a fancy trick, that!" She smiles at Ale sheepishly. "Um...thanks. I'm kind of...completely terrified of those stupid things."

"Everybody has fears, Ting, and I won't be judging you about yours any time soon. I'm afraid of caterpillars, ironically enough." He holds out his hand. "Join me to stand on the floor?"

"Oh. Right!" She grins, still embarassed, but takes his hand, grateful for it, and jumps down. "Actually...it's from fighting that stupid lich. The solo fight really happened." She wrinkles her nose. "He did a lot of stuff. But there were centipedes everywhere. Under my clothes, in my ears, in my mouth, even under my skin in spots, all biting." She shivers. They're always what I dream about. A lot. So I can't stand them." She feels that she owes an explanation for the freak-out.

He wouldn't have asked, though he had been curious.

"That's horrible, Ting. Nothing I can say would aptly describe it, either, so... from now on, whenever you see a centipede, I want you to think of this." He holds out his hand, and the butterfly lights on it, resting its fragile wings. "A blue butterfly. Harmless, just like a centipede, to you." He holds out the bitten finger, which has healed as quickly as it had begun to discolor. "If you can do that, I think, you might rest easier."

Ting's expression brightens at that...actually, a fair measure. She actually...thinks that it might help, just because he'd said it. "Thank you, Ale...I actually think that will help." She smiles.

"Hey. I'm just paying back a debt." He grins. "Besides the whole 'avenged my family' thing, you saved my ass from being bored at the club the other day. I owe you big for that." Looks to the kitchen. Need to entertain her. Nothing to entertain a real woman. Shit. Go? No, nothing but the club on this rock.

"Hey, Ting." He grins. "I have a date-weapon stashed back here. Want to see?"

Ting blinks. "Is that a euphamism? 'Cause you didn't seem like that kinda guy."

Ale cracks up, laughing so genuinely that he has to sit down or risk falling over. "Gourd, Ting, no! It's a guitar, woman, a guitar!" Wave upon wave of laughter, no time to breathe.

Ting just looks kind of proud of herself, grinning, and laughing along when it gets to infectious. But mostly just looking amused. "Well, what are you waiting for? Fetch, fellow!" She grins at him.

He looks up at her, wipes a laughing tear from his eye. "Sure, okay." And he goes, to do just that. It might be cliche, but he actually loves to play the thing. An angel with a guitar. Who would've thought?

"I used to have an accessory for this," he grins when comes back out, a self-amplified electric guitar with a pearl paintjob in his hands. "A wireless microphone, but it looked like a toilet seat around my neck."

"That portrays a very bad self-image," Ting observes, nodding sagely. "It says I'm a piece...yus! Music!"

Ale laughs a little, and sits with his guitar. No point trying to show off for Ting, who he is sure could see right through any machismo he might display. And so he begins to pick on a clear setting, playing a soft, circular sort of melody that could've come from an old spanish dive somewhere on earth.

"What kind of music do you like?" he asks early on, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Pretty much all of it!" she chirps happily. "I like music in general."

A fast, sweep-picked scale fits its way into the melodic theme of his song. "Like that?" He likes the look on her face, and decides to thicken the sound some, letting the chord positions ring instead of just picking out the notes.

"Yus." She smiles, and settles in on the couch to listen, leaning her head on the cushion.

"I used to write songs," Ale confides in her, taking the improvised tune in a more soulful and less flashy direction. "I never could write words though. I felt like I was missing something... I dunno. Something with heart, you know? As tired as the saying is, my lyrics had no heart." Medium pace, careful arpeggios, nothing fanatical.

She smiles a bit, and nods. "Every part of the music's important," she agrees. Any part that's going to be abused she be worked with until it won't hurt the rest of the music, or it'll all die together." Her head sways back and forth with his guitar quite happily, a little smile on her face.

"Hm..." Ale continues, watching her sway. "You sing, you told me. Do you play, though?" Slow, held out tremolo, and back to picking. "You talk like a musician."

Ting smiles, but shakes her head. "I love--love--music. And I know how it works together. But I don't play anything, I sing."

The tune turns in a more classical direction, and Ale still holds his eyes on Ting's. "Would you sing for me, sometime?"

Ting smiles. "I'd love to. But...if I'm singing with your playing, you have to promise to keep playing." Of course, she doubts he knows why this is even an issue.

"If that's what you want, Ting, that," he runs a long, rapid scale up and down its length, "is what we'll do." He goes back into the tune, changing it up a little bit with chord inversions and alternate picking, still, lost in her little smile.

Ting smiles, and just listens happily for some time. She's only partially aware of it herself when she finally can't help herself and joins right into his tune, softly at first.

"Suddenly before my eyes
Hues of indigo arise
With them how my spirit sighs
Paint the sky with stars

Only night will ever know
Why the heavens never show
All the dreams there are to know
Paint the sky with stars "

The words themselves mean little to Ale. But that voice...! He has never heard anything like it, not even in angelic choirs. Ale is so into playing that he doesn't even notice his fingers moving anymore, just the synergy between their instruments.

Ting definitely feels it, too. It's the same kind of thing that had happened between them on the dance floor, but...much stronger. Much deeper. Her voice strengthens and gains its own harmony...neither overpowering the guitar. Simply working with it. Her face is pure joy as she gets lost in the music.

"Who has paced the midnight sky?
So a spirit has to fly
As the heavens seem so far
Now who will paint the midnight star?
Night has brought to those who sleep
Only dreams they cannot keep
I have legends in the deep
Paint the sky with stars

Who has paced the midnight sky?
So a spirit has to fly
As the heavens seem so far
Now who will paint the midnight star?
Place a name upon the night
One to set your heart alight
And to make the darkness bright
Paint the sky with stars."

Ale's speed picks up, creating a sharp rhythm with Ting's voice so closely matched it is almost as if they have practiced this for years. His breath quickens, his senses overwhelmened.

And then, with a sharp pik-pTHANG his A string snaps.

And, it's a disruption in the very essence of the music. Quite big enough to startle Ting out of her little nirvana and look at the guitar. After a few moments..."oops!"

Ale is still breathing a little hard from it. "Wow," he laughs, looking the guitar over. "Now that was a sour note. Ting, I... wow. You are fantastic." Smiles. "And you sing like an angel."

"Aww..." Ting smiles a bit. "I guess you'd know. I had a really good partner, though." They synthesize so well! It goes well beyond "following" each other.

"Aww..." he turns slightly pink, as he sets the guitar aside. "I'll restring it soon, and we can do this again." He's just in heaven. Pretty, can dance, can sing, a heroine, cuteness, funny... she must be horrible in bed, to make up for all that.

Ting grins quietly. "Sounds fun. Mm. Sorry, give me a minute. I'm still coming back from the singing. Will be a little different for a minute."

He smiles, shakes his head. "I like you this way, too, Ting."

She smiles at him. Closes her eyes, still wagging her head to the music echoing through her brain. "I get it from my dad's side," she observes after a few moments. "The singing." Smiles, and opens her eyes. "He's Dumen."

Ale tilts his head. "He's what, now?"

"Mm. There aren't very many of them left. And it's a very reclusive little society nowadays." Ting nods slowly. "They're like...evolved is a bad word. Improved vampires?" She lays her head back down on the cushion. "Girls are much rarer than boys. But they're in charge. The men are very susceptible to suggestion by the girls' singing voices, which have similar qualities to siren ones, but not as effective against as many people..." her smile broadens a little, her voice slowly regaining energy. "Back in the day, the women commanded whole armies with songs."

"I've heard of that, I think, but never from a source I'd call reputable. Usually from a girl yelling at me." Ale chuckles, softly. "And Ting." He looks at her, eyes very serious. "It was effective on me."

Ting smiles a bit, though. "Because it had a siren quality, or because you can feel the heartbeat of the music?"

"My macho side says I ought to say the first one and try to flatter you." Ale shrugs a little. "But I think the second one, and I've never done that with anyone else."

Ting's smile brightens. "That's a better answer, anyway. And!" She wrinkles her nose. "Now I am hungry." She grins.

"Singing takes it out of you, eh?" Ale chuckles, leaving the guitar set on the couch for the moment. "Want to try the cluster special, Ting? I'm positive I have some un-weird food around here somewhere."

"Sure!" Whatever he makes sounds great to her. Meantime, she amuses herself with startling the butterfly into alighting on her hand, covering it gently, and then releasing it elsewhere. The poor thing's not hurt, of course, but confused as hell.

"Alright. Let's see..." he takes on of the softball sized fruits and, using something that looks like a compass with a scythe edge, cuts all around the top and plucks it open. Into a clear container he pours the light blue juice from inside, sniffing lightly to take in its meaty fragrance. "Do you like potato soup, by any chance, Ting?"

"Hmm...we'll go with 'yes'!" The halfdumen smiles, ears tilted at different angles.

The cuteness is distracting as all hell, but somehow Ale summons the courage and dedication to go on. "Alright, then. Potato soup is good for you anyway." And is one of three dishes he makes really well. He sets about peeling a potato, humming the song they'd just been playing to himself. "You know, you can juggle these clusters easy," and he does, with some of the unopened ones, "they don't break. You have to use a laser to cut them." The tool he had used, of course, has an extremely short beam hidden in that scythe edge.

"Fancy! I bet they're awesome to chuck at annoying people. Have you ever taken them to the club? Good for brawls I betcha!" Ting trots into the kitchen to watch him. She likes restraunts, but she has trouble sitting still. Thus, this is better in a way.


"Actually, yeah. Iggy wanted some to try out a new brew he'd concocted, and I had Ethan using them as non-lethal security measures." The angel pours little bit of red wine into the creamy soup mixture, and a little more. "He successfully smacked six people in one throw."

Ting laughs. "That's awesome! I'm glad Warren's the one who didn't want to let me in, and not him."

"Warren's usually okay." Ale grins at her, sidelong. "He's just going through some litigation right now. He sort of beat up a law enforcement officer he caught selling illicits on the River Rose's property, and though he'll be found in the right he still has to go to trial. Do you like a little wine or a lot?"

"In the soup or a cup?"

Ale laughs softly. "Either or both."

Ting grins. "Medium in a cup, and I don't know 'cause I don't cook complicated stuff so you figure it out in the soup."

A few flips of the bottle later, said cut is slid across the counter towards Ting. Yup. Someone was a bartender at his daddy's club. Two clusters are filled with the fragrant soup, capped, and stuffed in an oven a moment later. "There we go. Ten minutes, and we have soup."

"Spiffy...and thank you!" Ting grins, and sips it, playing with her claws on the glass. "So you tended bar, too, Ale?"

"Yeah! That's why I'm 'Ale' instead 'Delaleinei'. That and because Ale is easier to pronounce." He watches her claws, just enamored by her cuteness. "I was good, too. I invented that Punisher drink."

"Ooo...that's some good stuff, too! I love berry things." Ting smiles. It's true! "And I can pronounce 'Delaleinei' just fine. Just so long as I didn't have to spell it." She snickers. "My mom has a few unicorn friends. Gah! Their names are scary complicated."

"Oh, tell me about it. I used to know a unicorn girl, way way way back, named Letararenthian. Her brother was Sheanthiterenthia. I took on a temporary unicorn name 'tungtaidalatime'." Ale snickers, and pours himself some of the wine. Red, sure. Grapes? Hell no.

Ting giggles. "Yup! That. Mom's bestest unicorn buddy's name is Deitarialthalon. He's kinda creepy, though. He's self-important and pervy at the same time! It's impressive."

Ale's eyebrow goes up. "That impresses you? Cause you know..."

Ting laughs, and leans over to shove him just a little. "Pff. Men. I said in a creepy kinda way, creepy."

He wobbles animatedly with an equally animated chuckle. "Oh, I was going to say, before someone pretty interrupted me, that it was reprehensible behavior. Yeah."

"Of course you were! How silly of me." Ting blows some misplaced hair out of her eye. It's supposed to hang in front of one of them, but not the other. "Gah. I need to sharpen my claws. They look icky." She pokes them. They're getting a touch opaque.

"Nonsense. You just need a manicure." He looks across the room. "We have a few minutes. If you can keep a secret?"

"Sure! Unless my aunt tickles it out of me in which case no promises." She grins.

Ale scritches his hair thoughtfully. "Well. I was, ah, a little gay for about three years. I still have all my cosmetic stuff from that particular period of my life, so, if you weren't opposed to me holding your hand," cheap, cheap, cheap, " I could do it for you?"

"Awww..." she has to coo at that. She grins at the idea. "Well...sure! That would be awesome." She smiles at him. God he's hot. And sweet. And talented. And cool.

"Great! I'll turn the clusters on low..." he does, "and get my things. You just have a seat wherever you like, get comfortable. My house is your house, until you leave, when it's my house again."

Ting grins at him for that, nose scrunching a little. She does like his sense of humor. "I'll remind you of that!" And she trots off that way, humming to herself.

Ale practically swoons at the nose scrunch. He snags a bowl, fills it with warm water, and snags some clippers, a file, cuticle nippers, some nail polish why not, and even a set of toenail trmmers. He also grabs a set of large trimmers, in case Ting's claws are too big for the regular ones, sets all in an the clusters' box, and brings them over to her. "Sitting?"

"Sure!" And she plops down somewhere. "But I warn you ahead of time that I don't have a reaaally long attention span." She grins.

"I have some jacks if you need to play while I do this," he grins. "Here." He sets the bowl to her right. "Soak your fingers in this. Do your feet need attention?"

"They always need attention, but let's ignore their pleas for such today." Ting grins. "They really need to be sharpened, so I'll just tear off anything you do." She puts her fingers in the bowl.

Ale nods. "I want to try something else with your left hand." He pulls a bottle moisturizer from the box, warms a little in his hands. "May I have your left hand? This should feel a little oily at first, and then warm. Okay?"

Ting smiles, and holds out her hand. "Okee!" This is actually...well, almost weird, but she's not complaining. He's a different sort of guy, it's why she likes him!

The angel takes her hand, runs his fingertips across it to figure out how a Serinian-Dumen hand is configured. "Calluses, Ting? Hmm..." He turns her hand, traces the lines of her palm thoughtfully. "Polearm calluses. So I wasn't dreaming when you pulled a naginata the other day." Slowly his fingertips work the lilac goo into Ting's skin and cuticles, watching her reaction.

"Ooo...that feels good!" She literally purrs. "And...nope, not dreaming! I can fight with fans, but I love my naginata most." She grins.

"Great! That means the medicine in the lotion is working. It's derived from the dust that rains over the dance floor at the River Rose." He smiles. "I can't fight a lick," Ale assures her, and gives her hand a gentle squeeze. Done. He takes up the cuticle nippers. "This shouldn't hurt, or even pull, but if it does, you can hit me. So why don't you tell me a little about yourself while I work? So you don't get bored, of course."

"Oh, I'm not interesting enough to keep me from getting bored," Ting laughs. She grins at him. "Hmm...I've said a lot of things about me. Why don't we hear about you a bit? That's interesting!"

"Sure!" He goes to work, carefully trimming any battle damage to Ting's cuticles. "Um... what would you like to know? I really, really have no talent at telling my story."

"Nope!" Ting grins at him, she's just teasing. "Well, I know that you work at your father's slash your club...what else do you do? Or have you done?"

"I'm a jackass of all trades. Or so I'm told." Ale rubs her fingertips after each cuticle cut, to work the lotion into the skin and keep the ends even and soft. "I travel around, meeting people, and sometimes people pay me to do odd jobs. Money's not much of an issue with the club, but you have to do what you like."

"Hee...yes! Do you ever perform there?" She tilts her head, thinking of his music. The hand thing feels so good she could just purr. And does!


"Sometimes," he nods, "but always in disguise. I don't want to hear people talking about 'the club owner's son playing cause they're too cheap to hire a band' again." He gives her palm a gentle squeeze and sets her hand on the arm of the chair. "There. Next?" He looks at her other hand.

Ting smiles and blushes a little at the squeeze, and looks at her claws as she changes hands. "Ooo...so pretty! You're so awesome."

"Don't judge me too soon, Ting," Ale warns, "I could be a bad man, too." He smiles at her, but it's pure innocence and interest in her. He dabs her hand dry, and sets to work with the nippers. "Pretty hands, though."

"Well, they are now!" Ting grins. "Oh, don't mind that spot on my two little claws. The skin underneath has a black spots there on this hand." All of her skin has scattered black markings, of course, but these are hard to identify under layers of claw.

"I was wondering," Ale admits with a laugh. He works this hand a little more quickly than the other, finishing a great deal sooner than the first. For good measure he applies the lotion to this hand as well, for an excuse to hold it. "There," he smiles. "Manicured."

"hee..." Ting admires her hands, which look so pretty now. And leans over and hugs Ale briefly. "Thank you! You're so sweet." If he were anyone but him, actually, she'd heve kissed his cheek. As it is, she just smiles, and stands up quckly to catch the butterfly gently. "Ha! Think I'd forgotten about you, huh?"

Ale's hot in the face anyway. Blast it all, she even smells nice. He smiles dreamily for a moment. Like cat, but... like potato? Gah!

"The food!" Ale dashes to the oven and pulls open the door, thankfully not to an issuing of smoke. He tugs out the pan with a potholder and turns off the machine, breathing out. "Phew. These things are hard to burn, but if you cook them too long they get soft. And you don't want to chew the shell of one of these things with potato soup." He smiles at Ting. "Tastes like licorice."

"It would be creative potato soup, anyway," Ting observes as she trots in after him, the butterfly perched on her shock-white hair.

"Yeah, but creative is a term that encompasses a lot of terrible ideas." Ale hands her one of the fruits - which is cool to the touch - and takes one for himself. "Utensils, are... here." He pulls a drawer out and hands a fork towards. her as well. "Pop the top and dig in! Cute accessory, by the way."

"Isn't he, though?" Ting purrs as she examines the fruit. "I changed his personality for a dog's. Yay soup! Thank you!"

"Creepy!" Ale nods, and takes a bite of his own soup. Smiles. Eyes bug. "Hohd!" He grabs the wine bottle and turns it up, gasping and swallowing as quickly as he can. "Hot! Gah!"

Ting had been just about to dig in. "Hm...right! Waiting, then!" She giggles at him chugging the wine bottle. "Is that what you do when all your stems are dirty?"

The butterfly-puppy, sensing the excitement in the air, flits off of Ting's head and zips around Ale in excited circles, bumping him now and again.

Ale, amused by the butterly, is still breathing out. "Bund my thung." He looks at the empty bottle. "Whoopth."

"And now you're drunkth!" Ting giggles. She sets the tips of her manicured fingers to his cheek to fix the tongue, even knowing it will fix itself.

It would have, but... this is nice. Ale smiles at Ting in a subdued sort of way. Reaches up, on a whim, to cover her hand with his own, but far too frightened to say anything.

Ting blushes, and smiles. Starts to say something. Stops, eyes widening a little. "There's...um...a demon attacking my house."

Ale blinks. "Wha...? Seriously?" His eyes lose their romantic far-ness. He doesn't doubt that she could tell. "What are we waiting here for then? Let's go."

"Uh-uh. You said you don't fight." She holds out her hand, and her naginata suddenly appears there. She takes a step back from him. "Bye bye, see you later!" And she vanishes for Helantri deru.

The angel reaches out for her, protesting. His fingertip grazes her hand, and before he knows it, Ale has vanished as well.