Ashe felt a chill creep down her spine as she looked into Crystal's stone cold eyes. Was Crystal really suggesting they pay the man a visit in his home? What were they going to do, kill the man and make it look like a robbery gone wrong? Did she not understand just how far police forensics had advanced even in the last decade? To do so was just asking for a life spent in prison.

Then Crystal began to laugh.

Ashe most definitely did not pout.

"Holy shit, the look on your face," Crystal said after a moment. "Fucking priceless."

Just for that, Ashe stole one of the poppers from the plate much to Crystal's mock horror. She just stuck her tongue out and flopped back in her chair. She was actually starting to consider some of the ideas there, and that scared her. Resorting to vigilantism might be the only way to see justice done, and that truly frightened her to consider.

Even if they were said in jest, the ideas weren't going anywhere, they stayed at the forefront of her mind even as their main courses arrived. She knew it was wrong, and yet…

"Are you busy this afternoon?" Crystal asked.

"I'm not supposed to be out and about," Ashe admitted. "My mom is actually watching us from the bistro across the street."

"I was wondering if you would admit that," Crystal said, eyes flicking in that direction. "Tell her to stick to her current job, she lacks the subtlety needed to be a detective."

Ashe didn't correct her that most police detectives didn't do undercover work, they had others specialized in that. Though, now that Crystal was aware that her mom was there, she could invite her over and clear up the name thing. The question was, did she want to put Crystal at risk like that?

Her parents would almost certainly favor her own well being over Crystal's, even if she did save Ashe's life. Why wouldn't they pick their daughter over the stranger across from her? Days ago, that thought would have warmed her heart, but now it left her feeling hollow.

Instead, Ashe pulled out her phone and sent a text asking for permission. A movie sounded suspiciously like a date, especially after having just shared a meal, yet Crystal seemed determined to keep things to a friend level due to the supposed age gap. Actually, she could just ask that question.

"Hopefully this doesn't come across the wrong way, but how old are you?"

Crystal raised an eyebrow, a slight smirk quirking the corner of her lip. "How old do you think I am?"

"Soon to turn twenty at the youngest, an older twenty-three at the oldest, otherwise you wouldn't be willing to wait for me to turn eighteen this spring."

"Good reasoning, and spot on," Crystal said with a widening grin. "I turned twenty a few months back. Though the ID I showed your mom had me at twenty-one so I could buy booze and smokes."

"You smoke?" Ashe blurted. Crystal didn't seem to be a smoker with how athletic she was, but it could be hard to tell with some people.

"Weed on occasion, but no," Crystal said. "I do enjoy a good wine cooler though. No point drinking alcohol if it doesn't taste good."

Ashe pushed aside her knee jerk reaction about hearing of such blatant breaking of the law. It was minor at best, and she owed Crystal besides. She acknowledged all of it with a nod and went back to her meal, contemplating the information. Her phone dinged and she glanced over, seeing the reply from her mom.

"Looks like a movie is on the table," Ashe said. "She just needs to know which theater and showing so she can be nearby."

"I'd make a helicopter mom joke, but that would be crass on several levels," Crystal said with a slight shake of her head. "Not your fault you were attacked after all and any good parent would be overprotective just a day later."

There was a bitterness to the second part of her statement, the way Crystal looked away, her jaw clenched, Ashe could sympathize even if she didn't truly understand. She only ever knew supportive parents. She knew that whoever she ended up dating would be treated like family by her own parents, and a part of her wanted Crystal to experience that.

So, if Crystal wanted a friend, she would be the best damn friend that she could be, and maybe in the future they could be more than that. Ashe wouldn't push her though, she didn't want to run off the first person to express an interest in getting to know her since her adoption.

"Trail Park Cinema has reclining seats and a six dollar popcorn combo."

"That's not bad pricing," Ashe said, pulling out her phone to look the place up. "Anything you're interested in seeing?"

"I'm game for anything that isn't a shitty rom-com," Crystal said. "Oh, it's retro night. They've got some of those old Japanese monster movies playing."

"Yeah, those are usually classics," Ashe agreed. "What's this one?"

"Some Goji movie," Crystal said. "You up for it?"

Ashe had seen far too many of those movies, as Mother was practically obsessed with them. Still, she imagined it would still be an afternoon well spent. Ashe nodded in agreement, working to finish off her meal before it went cold. Crystal did the same, and to Ashe's surprise, covered the bill along with a twenty for the tip, then soon enough, they were ready to leave.

"Do you have a car?" Ashe asked as they walked.

"No," Crystal said, gesturing to a green Japanese motorcycle that was covered in white spider webbing. "I do have a bike though, and a spare helmet."

There was a bit of a thrill at the thought of riding behind Crystal, holding onto her tightly as they raced along the city streets. Ashe doubted they would be breaking many traffic laws, but the fantasy still wormed its way into her head.

Crystal opened one of the cargo compartments and pulled out her own helmet, then retrieved a second and passed it to Ashe. Crystal's was a green that matched the bike, but Ashe's was a basic black. There was a distinct lack of knee and elbow protection, which her mom would not be happy with, but it wasn't like they were going across the state.

Ashe put the helmet on, then waited for Crystal to get on the bike and run through her checks. Crystal's green helmet looked back and gestured forward. Ashe took the invitation for what it was and climbed on behind her. The engine started far quieter than Ashe imagined, but then again, it wasn't a hog.

"Be sure to hang on," Crystal yelled over the sounds of the engine. "February is technically still deep in snowbird season, but even in summer there's always a few northerners around that drive like ass."

Ashe nodded and soon they were merging into traffic. She'd never ridden on a motorcycle before and she had to say, it was an enjoyable way to get around. That had nothing to do with hanging onto a beautiful woman as they crossed city blocks. To Ashe's surprise, Crystal pulled into a convenience store about three blocks away from the restaurant. She hopped off and removed her helmet, a questioning eyebrow raised as Crystal did the same.

"This theater doesn't carry my favorite snacks," Crystal said. "So I'm grabbing a few things before we go in."

Ashe frowned. "You do know that concessions are how most theaters actually make their money, right?"

"Sure," Crystal said with a shrug. "I'll be buying popcorn and drinks though, so all good."

Ashe sighed, but followed her in. Looking around, Ashe wasn't sure what she might want, and only had an extra twenty on her which would be needed for her ticket and popcorn combo. Though with Crystal covering their meal, she did have room to tap into her emergency funds a bit without getting into trouble.

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She followed Crystal down the candy aisle, looking things over. The selection wasn't the greatest, but she did grab a box of bite sized chocolate. Crystal regarded the display, then grabbed three candy bars, opening one on the spot and took a bite out of it. Ashe glared at her and the woman swallowed.

"Free sample," Crystal said, waving the bar before taking another bite.

"Nothing in life is free," Ashe said, frowning at the blatant theft.

"Plenty in life is free if you're willing. Case in point," she said, grabbing a pack of jerky before walking over to the counter. "Hey buddy, that looks like some good shit you're on. Where can I get me some?"

"Guy in the corner," he said, pointing into the distance.

Ashe looked back to where he was pointed and noted that he was pointing behind the store as he did. There wasn't a street corner near where he indicated, just a swampy pond they had passed on the way in. Still, his eyes may as well have been pinpricks and bloodshot besides and it reminded her of the time someone overdosed in the hallway between classes. She'd earned a fair bit of goodwill doing CPR on the guy, and likely saved his life.

"Thanks," she said, winking at him then turned to leave, pulling Ashe along as she walked. The man didn't even react, just staring ahead blankly. "See, free."

"You just stole a bunch of stuff," Ashe hissed. "Who even does that?"

Crystal crossed her arms. "Okay, first of all, look at the name of this place."

Ashe looked up and frowned at the name, Stormy Eagle. Well that was about as blatant as it got. The Iron Patriots owned the place, or someone who was more than a fan did, same difference really.

"Your point?"

"Second, the guy wasn't pointing to a street corner, he was pointing to the corner office. His boss paid him in drugs rather than cash or a paycheck."

"That's illegal," Ashe said before she truly considered it.

Crystal nodded, moving back to her motorcycle. "Never feel bad about ripping those fucks off, if anything you're doing your country a service by denying them funds and relieving them of supplies. Or hell, consider it reparations for what they did to you, and you get some chocolate out of it."

Ashe looked down at the bag of chocolate that she had just inadvertently shoplifted and frowned. It was piss-poor reasoning as far as Ashe was concerned, the police wouldn't hesitate to arrest them if they were caught shoplifting like that, especially in Halsey. Looking back at the eagle in the logo, Ashe found she was lacking a surprising amount of fucks after everything she had been through. Reparations for the attack though…

It still didn't sit well, but the memory of the raw terror she felt when that man was molesting her in front of his buddies served to soothe away any lingering doubts. She sighed and moved to collect the helmet. Crystal accepted that as the matter being closed and got back on her bike. Soon they were out of Halsey and crossing the Suwannee River into Keen.

Crossing the river meant a very different set of demographics, as well as a change in school districts. Jericho may have started as a small town, but it grew exponentially over the early fifties due to the 'down home Christian values' the city claimed to be founded on. The surrounding towns benefited from that expansion and grew with them.

That didn't stop segregation from being enacted, pushing different ethnicities into less desirable districts. Jericho ranked second only to St. Louis on racial segregation in its population. The only upside to that, if you were craving a specific kind of food, it wasn't hard to figure out where the best restaurants would be. Nobody would go to a Japanese place in Antioch unless they couldn't make it to Sumner after all.

Great, now she wanted to go down to Cedar Key for some fried gator.

Ashe saw more than a few gang signs sprayed on the buildings as they rode along. She recognized at least three different cartels having claimed the area and a couple of painted over iron crosses. Iron Patriots weren't welcome north of the river, but that didn't stop them from trying. It was part of why the area was considered the worst place in the city to live.

Not a night went by without some shooting or murder.

They continued on, and soon even the gang signs stopped being prominent and the area cleaned up. The region was often called Uptown for that very reason, it wasn't subject to constant territory disputes or random acts of gang violence. Ashe noted that the Viuda were present despite it being early afternoon. Then again, rumor was that they operated out of Uptown so that might explain it.

Ashe put those thoughts out of her mind, focusing more on the conflicted feelings roiling within her heart. She was starting to suspect that Crystal wasn't as good of a person as she hoped with how easily she stole or how little remorse she felt after taking a life. She just couldn't fault her given how Crystal saved her life from the very people she was harming by her actions.

Those thoughts consumed Ashe all the way to the plaza where the theater was located.

Trail Park Cinema was crowded on Saturdays and that meant parking would normally be tricky. Motorcycles, however, could cheat. Crystal pulled up to a side area and parked by a curb. They stowed their stuff, stashed the hidden snacks and went inside.

Crystal looked over the seating available and found the options wide open for their chosen movie. She picked two seats and paid for the tickets with a card. Ashe silently wondered if she would be allowed to pay for anything over the course of their not-date.

"One combo with cola and extra movie butter," Ashe said, pulling out a twenty before Crystal could brandish her plastic.

The woman snorted. "Ditto."

Ashe handed over the cash and accepted her change, dropping it in the tip jar as she did. Then Crystal surprised her by dropping a ten in the jar as well, her left arm lingering for a moment. The woman behind the counter regarded her, eyes flicking down to the jar, then she nodded.

Rather than grabbing the small sizes meant for the combo, she grabbed two larger tubs and a jumbo soda for each of them. Ashe glared at Crystal but she just shrugged with a smug smile on her face. Ashe shoved her, earning a laugh, then Crystal countered by reaching over and poking her between the ribs.

Next thing she knew, they were almost wrestling, though Crystal was being rather gentle all things considered. Never once was she forceful, and even pulled away when Ashe tried to block with her injured arm. The concession stand worker cleared her throat, stopping their antics with a smirk on her lips.

Two tubs of popcorn were placed on the counter, Ashe noting the spider web tattoo wrapping around the woman's left wrist as she moved to collect the sodas. Ashe thanked her despite being slightly out of breath only for Crystal to quickly scoop up the sodas and one of the tubs.

"You're injured, no heavy lifting," Crystal said sternly.

Ashe rolled her eyes but didn't argue.

"Enjoy your date," the concession woman said with a slight wave.

Ashe expected Crystal to correct her, but instead received a slight nudge from the older woman's hip as they walked. Ashe returned the gesture, getting another short giggle from her friend. As they took their seats, Crystal set their drinks in the coasters of the leather recliners, then snaked an arm around Ashe's shoulder.

Thinking over the last few minutes, she could only come to one conclusion. If that hadn't been flirting, Ashe wasn't sure what to call it. The movie began, and they were soon immersed in classic kaiju action. Regardless of whatever was going on, she was content to just enjoy the ride.