Vincent approaches the porch where Mouse, Eep and Poppy are sitting, "Awww. Were you all worried about little ole me?" His sister jumps up and gives him a hug.
Eep glares at his friend, "You scared the shit out of your sister, you little shithead. You went on that date with Asher, didn't you?"
"I did. I'm so sorry."
Eep shakes his head, "I'm not the one you should say sorry to. Look. If you're smart, you will stay the fuck away from that dick."
Vincent looks at his friend, "I know. And for what it's worth. I'm sorry." He turns to Poppy, "Poppy dearest, usually, I'd try to be coy and sexy to get you to forgive me. But, I'm too tired. Does it help that I'm very, VERY sorry? You're mad. Mouse is mad. Eep is mad. It's been a hell of an evening and I'm sorry I worried all of you. Let me make it up to you."
Poppy looks at the ground, "I don't like being stood up, honey. I'm glad you're okay." She turns and walks away.
Vincent turns to his sister, " I should go and try to fix things with Poppy." He goes to see if he can catch up to the young woman.
Mouse scoots closer to Eep on the porch swing, "I’m sorry I wasn’t better company last night."
"Don't worry about it. You were worried. Besides, it wasn't like I was a ray of fucking sunshine."
Mouse puts her head on Eep's shoulder, "I think I'd be more worried, if you were a ray of sunshine." She smiles briefly and then remembers herself, " I have a confession to make...Vincent told me he was going to meet Asher, I tried to talk him out of it, but you know how he is. I just didn't expect him to disappear all night. I felt terrible about the whole thing. I'm sorry."
"It's alright. I didn't honestly expect him not to go. I mean, it's fucking Vincent. One he gets an idea in that head of his... And since we're being honest, Asher is manipulative as fuck and a sack of shit, but not really dangerous, per say. He wouldn't have roofied your brother or anything. He's too good a liar to have to do that.Sounds like he hasn't fucking changed much. Um, honestly, I was mostly concerned with what Asher would tell Vincent about me. Which is a really shitty thing to worry about. I'm sorry I scared you so badly."
"Well, it's not often that I have to worry about someone who upsets my boyfriend and my brother disappears after meeting with him... That may have been one of the weirdest things I have ever said, and that's saying something coming from me."
Eep smiles slightly, "Heh. How you managed to make me just crack a smile in the middle of this conversation, I'll never know."
"That's good, I like it when you smile, even if I am the only one." She grins, "I would just like him to go away. I don't like you being upset."
Eep contemplates for a minute before speaking, "Well, we could always chuck him off a bridge. Murder aside, I don't have anyone to blame but myself for the whole situation. And, I've fantasized about confronting The Creep. A couple of times. Now that I have the chance to do it though..."
Mouse notices that Eep is getting morose, and quickly decides to change the subject, "On a completely different subject. What are your feelings about Chicken Molé?"
Eep smiles, relieved by the question, "My feelings on chicken mole are generally along the lines of trying to figure out how much of it I can stuff in my face at once."
"Good to know... I've been working on some for dinner this evening, if you're interested. Cooking has always been a great stress reliever for me... and after the last couple of days, I apparently needed to de-stress."
"God. Tell me about it. I would really like that. I don't get off from the horrible hat job til 9 tonight. Is that too late? Speaking of which, I need to get to work." He kisses her on the forehead.
Mouse smiles, "After 9pm will work, I won't start making dinner until later, so it'll be ready when you get here or soon after. I'll see you later."
Vincent flops down on the couch and looks over at his sister, "Sorry for the radio silence, but all use of cell phones was banned. Remember when we used to have quiet weekends?"
Mouse hands her brother a cup of tea,"Yes, I also remember how much you would complain about them & kept asking for an adventure."
Vincent smirks, "Too true, too true. Sometimes I think you know me too well. I expect I'm just tired. Last night was an interesting experience. And I was very busy being properly apologetic today. I think I may have a limp."
Mous shakes her head trying to get that mental image out of her head, "You are a bit infuriating... Lovable but infuriating. Do I, even, want to know what happened last night?"
"O.M.G. Let me tell you, that was an Oscar worthy performance. I hope he had a friend recording it. I've never met a bigger fraud. He was POURING on the charm. When I asked if he recognized the door guy at first, he claimed not to know Eep at all. When I didn't buy that, he switched tactics. Said our boy was an ex-lover, tried to titillate me with sordid details. When he noticed how THAT just made me angry, he switched again. Then it was a tearful confession of unrequited love and taking advantage of a friend's trust. All guilt, trembling lips, and woe. I'll tell you the truth, sister dearest, it was FASCINATING to watch him work. He hit one emotion to the next seamlessly."
"Great! Please don't emulate this kind of behavior. Your charm & charisma is natural, not phony like that."
Vincent waves his sister's concerns aside, "Oh no worries about that! He may have been a talented creep, but he was a creep all the same. He made my skin crawl. Besides, I don't have to LIE to get people to want to go to bed with me. My bod does all the work for me." He grins slyly, "And... I'm not sure he was lying about the facts. Not all of them at any rate. The CONTEXT was totes bull, but I think at least some of the events were true. And if that's the case, I feel very bad for your boyfriend."
"It concerns me when you feel bad for Eep, considering how you like to torment him. I don't think I want to hear any details but, I do have a strong desire to find that guy and slap him. I hope he's only in town visiting, cuz if we're going to run into him all of the time... we may all need to move."
"Well I wouldn't tease Eep didn't make it so much fun! He
gets so flustered so fast and you have to admit, he's ADORABLE when he's
all fired up about something. I'm totes capable of compassion. I have a heart you know. I have nothing but love to give. Everyone. I don't know if he's a permanent fixture or not. I couldn't get him to give me any current info AT ALL." Vincent looks at his sister and sighs, "Sweetie, I hate to bring the conversation down and I've been trying to avoid saying this, but I'm afraid I have to. I know you said no details, but Asher said something last night that I think I should pass along to you for safety reasons. This could be total BS, but Asher said Eep lived with him for awhile. According to The Creep, Eep traded sex for room and board. And that Asher wasn't the only one who benefited from this arrangement. Now, this SURE doesn't sound like our Eep. But Asher totally seems like a slut. Double check Eep's been tested, ok?"
Mouse slightly shocked, "As if I hadn't already asked... but thank you for your concern."
"I figured you would, but I wanted to check. You've been uncharacteristically whirlwind about this whole thing. I think it's crap, but.... Well, I want you both to be safe. Inexperienced straight boys tend to think they're immune to the world."
"Well, I've never met anyone like him before... If this is even remotely true, I'm going to go and punch that asshole so hard... Eep told me that he was drinking a lot and that this was right after his really bad breakup... I told him that he didn't need to tell me and that we all do stupid things when we're hurting... Where is the creep now? Do you know? I'm sorry... I'm just angry. I don't like creeps who taken advantage of other people's vulnerabilities."
Vincent pats Mouse's hand, "Clearly. I know you don't. It's one of your most endearing qualities." He gives his sister a smile, "I don't know where Asher is and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. I can't afford to pay your bail."
Mouse busily making dinner, jumps slightly when the phone rings. She smiles, despite herself, when she hears Eep's voice on the line, "Hey pretty lady! I'm running a bit behind. GOD FUCKING FORBID people can't get froyo at 9 on a Sun night. The world may end."
"No worries... do you think you'll be long?"
"God I hope not. I'll keep you posted. There's yogurt on the goddamn walls. How the fuck does that even happen?"
"Umm, because people are slobs."
"Ha! Yeah they are. God, it looks like I'm gonna be stuck here until 10. Is that too late?"
"I don't mind, I want to see you and I've got something to talk to you about that's best face to face."
"Oh. Uh, OK. That sounds... worrisome."
"It's just something that Vincent told me... I know I said I didn't want to know about the creep, but I think I need to…"
"Oh. Oh fuck. I was afraid you were gonna say that. Shit. Well, I told you I would tell you anything you wanted to know."
