Aftermath

Who: Brett and Eris
Where: Their apartment
When: After midnight

After getting Eva settled into one of the apartments downstairs, Eris had gone upstairs, brought the girl the anklet she'd been talking about (something that she wanted to give Ava to calm her down some) and then she headed back upstairs. She was aware that she was probably in for quite a talk with Brett, and she was figuring he'd already told the people downstairs that there would be no guests, and any gifts, phonecalls, anything else possible was to be deflected. After all she'd basically just called bullshit on a serial killer. That might not have been the smartest of moves, but even after they were gone, and she was back home, she hadn't had any true fear kick in where she flailed over having made such a grave error. She imagined Brett would be taking care of that for her, as she headed into the apartment, leaning back against the elevator to kick her heels off.

Brett had pulled a chair out of the office and faced it towards the elevator, about six foot away from it. He'd discarded his jacket and tie, and rolled his sleeves up. And then he'd sat down, his position looking fairly sprawled and casual, save for the fact that he held a gun in his right hand, resting between the arm of the chair and his fingers, his eyes never leaving the main entrance to the floor. He'd taken care of everything else. The emergency exit was locked and barricaded, the staff downstairs had their instructions, the boy in the lift had been liberally 'tipped' to ensure that if anyone got passed the entrance, they couldn't get up that way. He'd done all he could. Now, he was just waiting.

Looking at Brett, she just took a moment to appreciate the view. He looked good there, in her estimation, gun and all. Padding silently up to him, stopping directly in front of him as she gazed down, she said nothing for a moment, still appreciating him. Slowly, she leaned, til her hands rested on the armrests of the chair. "Am I in trouble?" she asked, after she decided she should probably say something. And not that she thought this particular posture of his suited well.

Brett raised his eyes to hers. "Don't have an answer for you to that yet, Princess," he told her. She'd be in trouble if Andrei decided to show, that was for sure. If he didn't - well, then everything else was a walk in the park.

She nodded, keeping her eyes on his. "Is there anything I can do to convince you not to be pissed at me?" she asked, thinking maybe that was the more prominent route to take. And she was really aware that she should be feeling more...well. Frightened. But she wasn't. In fact, she'd not felt this confident in a long time. Not since before she'd been strangled in the first place. Maybe it was standing up to the man who'd done this to her. And getting one over on him while she was at it. But either way, something had very much altered in the mind of Eris, and she wasn't upset about that one bit.

He didn't drop his eyes for a moment. "What makes you think I'm pissed with you?" he asked her, his voice free of emotion. He had yet to decide whether he was or not, something which surprised him a little - or would do if he'd thought about it enough. He was concerned, that was certain. And worried - you didn't go goading the bull without consequences, after all. He doubted that she'd made the situation better. But was he pissed at her? She'd probably handled it better than he would have. At least she hadn't made a scene. If he'd handled it his way, there would have been blood on the walls, and he probably would have been spending tonight in the cells, or worse.

"I asked if I was in trouble, and you said you didn't know." Eris said. "I was asking about with you." she explained, tone patient, keeping up that heavy eye contact. She leaned a little closer. "I don't give a damn if I'm in trouble with anyone else." Which was true. Like she knew she'd pissed off Andrei royally tonight, and she couldn't bring herself to care. She really, really couldn't.

"You didn't specify that you were talking about me," Brett pointed out. "And maybe you don't give a damn about whether you're in trouble with anyone else, but I do." It occurred to him that possibly that was the reason she didn't give a damn - because she knew that if trouble came, he'd make damn sure that it found him first. if that was the case, he wasn't certain if that was progress or not. What it was, was fact. Which was the reason he'd set himself up like this in the first place.

"I know you do." she said. She finished leaning in, drifting towards his ear. "Thank you for backing me up." she said softly, breath light against his skin. "I appreciate it." And there was a note of total honesty in her voice, something she wanted him to hear. She was grateful, and he should certainly know that for future reference.

He closed his eyes for a moment as she breathed against his skin. This close and he could still smell her perfume, tinged lightly now with the smell of cigarette smoke from the restaurant. Not an unpleasant mix at all. He took a moment before he opened his eyes again. "Now's not the time to go for distracting, Princess," he told her, knowing that just because she wanted to be appreciative, that didn't actually change the fact that Volkov could just appear any moment.

"And yet that doesn't actually deter me." She said, smirking very faintly. "Besides. You could still shoot around me." she added. "I have faith in your marksmanship." She did nuzzle against his skin a little, not even actually sure what her intentions were, but she was going with her mood, and it was one she coudn't quite predict. It was unique to her, almost familiar, but not.

"Do you have faith in my concentration?" Brett asked her, putting his free hand up against her chest, but not quite going as far as to push her away. Neither did he point out that, since he had no intention of moving from this chair tonight, if she wanted to continue on with distracting him, she'd have to be presenting an unacceptably open target to any intruder.

She thought about that, aware he hadn't actually pushed her away, and she shifted, intending to slide down onto his lap. "I have faith that if anyone comes through that door, you'll shoot first and ask questions fifty seconds after whoever was there stops breathing, no matter what you're doing." she told him. Which really, was a hell of a lot of faith, probably but she thought he'd earned that.

He didn't say anything for a moment, before changing track a little. "Tonight's really got you on a high, hasn't it?" he asked her, figuring that's really what this was. It wasn't actually about him, it was about what she'd done. This was just the fall out.

Since he didn't stop her, she did take up residence on his lap, after she tugged her skirt up enough that it was comfortable. Only then did she drift back a little, to look at his eyes. "I feel better." she told him, going for total honesty, even if she was still working it out in her head. "I haven't felt this way since before everything happened. I feel like..." she paused, trying to figure out the right word. "Free." she landed on, not sure it was entirely right, but it was as close as she was going to get.

"Good," Brett said, returning his gaze to the elevator. He knew he didn't sound particularly happy, but he was glad that something good had actually come out of this. This which otherwise he felt very much had been a recklessly antagonistic move and which he was certain was going to come back to haunt them. But in the meantime, at least it was good for her.

"I felt like myself again." she said. Which she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, considering who she used to be. "But I was banking on you backing me up, and you did. I trusted you." she told him. "I didn't really have to think about it." she said. "You know that it'll ding if anyone comes up in it, before the door opens." she added, since he wasn't looking at her.

He glanced back at her. "I've given instructions to the doorman. And the conseirge. I've paid off the lift attendant. If he gets as far as this floor, then, trust me, he'll have doctored the bell. I'm glad you feel like yourself again.. Me too - and my self is paranoid. I won't lose you to that fucker," he said, taking in what she said about trusting him, but right now it was way down on his list of priorities for things to react to.

"You won't." she told him. "And isn't the bell on this floor? Doesn't each floor have it's own bell?" she asked, not certain, but that was how it sounded to her. "Plus I think you're crediting him with too much intelligence." she added. "He's an unsophistocated mind at best." she continued, reaching up to loosen his collar a little more. "He proved that tonight. His games are kindergarten level. Child's games. And I'm not playing."

"Doesn't matter where the bell is, if you take out whatever rings it," Brett answered her. In actual fact, he didn't know detail about the workings of elevators, but that was how he'd look to go about it, if positions were reversed and there was no way he was risking underestimating Volkov. He'd prefer to be paranoid. "And you're not playing games?" he asked, feeling he needed to check that point. He'd backed her to the hilt tonight, but that didn't mean that he entirely understood all that had gone on there. He didn't know if she had an ulterior motive here. And, if she did, he'd back that too - he just wanted to be in on what it was.

"I didn't say that. I'm just not playing children's games. I'm not playing his. He doesn't get to call me to a public place and then proceed to just sit there and grin like an idiot, and I'm supposed to shake in my boots. If he wants to fuck with someone's head he picked the wrong woman to do it with because he's failing. He's doing it wrong, and I think it's because he's too fucking stupid to do it right. There's an art here, and he's bored me now. I'm over it. I'm done. He's got nothing over me from here out. Not knowing that was his grand plan. That that pathetic attempt at emotional blackmail was what he made a true effort with. That was his idea of a good plan."

Brett listened to all of that and a smile started to twitch around the edges of his lips. He kept quiet though, until she was done. "Good," he told her, again. Not that he thought for a moment that it made Volkov any less dangerous, but it pleased him to see and hear that from her. He preferred her like this, rather than the scared little thing that she had been. He didn't like weakness in her, but strength - he liked that. He liked that a lot.

She saw that little hint of a smile there, not fully present, but almost. There was a look there on his features. She shifted a little closer, expression a little like his own, with almost amusement there, arms around his neck. "He may be stronger than me, but he is not smarter than me. And the last time he got to me it was because the path was cleared for him. I don't know how it was done, but it was. He won't get the chance again. Though I almost wish he'd try." she said. "But if he really wants to fuck with me, he's in for a huge surprise."

"I don't wish he'd try," Brett admitted to her, though he was aware that his feelings in that regard may well change. If the waiting became too much for him to handle. "But, if he does, I'll be right there - and I won't just have your back," he promised her. That wasn't even something he had to think about now. Like he hadn't thought about it earlier on. The risks hadn't been in his mind at the restaurant, though he knew better than most just how dangerous Volkov was. When it came down to it, he would have taken a bullet for her and without a thought. That knowledge should probably scare him more than it did, he considered.

She watched his eyes, fingertips drifting back and forth against the back of his neck. "No?" she asked. "You won't just have my back?" she continued. "Meaning...?" she trailed off. It was open enough that she didn't want to guess. Not with something with him, and not in regards to what they were discussing.

"Meaning, if Volkov - or anybody else - comes for you, they have to go through me first," he told her, to lay it out there, though he considered that, looking back on things, that much should be quite obvious to her by now. Then again, there was lots that wasn't obvious to either of them.

Eris had a mixed reaction to that. On one hand, it was nice to hear. That he'd protect her, that he would get between whatever came for her and her. On the other, she didn't want him in Volkov's path. She knew what happened there, and even if she'd regained her strength in regards to him that didn't mean she'd forgotten what he'd done. She watched his eyes, unidentified emotions flickering behind her eyes. "What if I asked you not to be?" she asked.

He met her gaze, and there was no uncertainty at all his his eyes. "You don't get a choice in this one, Princess," he told her, seriously. If she asked him not to be, he'd ignore her. That was just how it was. And she was hardly one to talk, after the admission she'd made to him.

She was sliding more towards the end of the spectrum that was worrisome. "I don't want you in his path." she told him. "I didn't--that wasn't my intention when I spoke my mind tonight." she told him. Though she didn't imagine she was going to win this. Not with that look on his face. And the other part was she did believe him. She really did. Apparently there was trust there that might not even have existed just days ago.

"Princess. You wanted me. You wanted this. You wanted more. This is what you get," he told her. That hero thing she'd always said that had never died, that was in there somewhere. She couldn't complain about being right, though he wasn't going to put it in those words. It'd sound too fucking arrogant.

"I know." she said, because she did, she was aware. She drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "Maybe I just don't like the practicality when I know what's on the other end of it." she admitted. Because a faceless assailant? Sure. She might even appreciate him doing something heroic in that vein a little too much. But Volkov was another story.

"That's life, Princess - you're not expected to like it. You're just expected to live it," he told her, watching her, but not moving. Presenting an immovable wall of stubborn on this one. "You have a problem with that, then I suggest you start factoring it in with your games," he told her, though he himself didn't have a problem with it. He really, really didn't, he was realising.

Her eyes narrowed for a moment, at his phrasing. She stood then, and looked down at him. "Is this payback?" she asked. "For pulling something that could wind up being ill advised?" She wasn't sure, and her tone inflected more that than accusation. He hadn't actually answered her earlier, about whether or not he was angry with her. He just hadn't been behaving like he was. Now, though, she had to wonder again.

He followed her up with his eyes, though he didn't otherwise move as she stood. "No," he confirmed. "It's not. It's just the way things are." He finally moved, leaning forward a little, his expression changing to something a fraction more intense. "I'm not doing this as some damn form of punishment for you, sweetheart. I'm not that petty. I'm doing this because I have your back, and because you waved that red rag in front of that bull. Not saying you shouldn't have done it. And I'm glad that it's helped you figure some shit out. Really I am. And if that's good for you, then it was the right thing to do. But I do have your back, and more. And this is what that involves. This has nothing to do with how I feel about what you pulled back there. This is not me being pissy. This is me facing the reality of the situation now. And if you don't like that reality, then don't make it in the first place, that's all."

She listened, watching his eyes as he spoke. She kept silent for a long moment after he'd stopped speaking. Again, there were different reactions warring for dominance in her mind, and she wasn't sure any of them were winning. That didn't help things. About the only thing that was quite stunningly clear was he was serious. And she knew him. She knew when he was immoveable on a subject, and this qualified. "How do you feel about it?" she asked, even if it wasn't quite what she wanted to say. Unfortunately she didn't know what she wanted to say, so she was at a loss there.

"I think I'm glad I agreed to your coming," Brett told her, almost immediately, just a pause to choose his words. And he was just as serious with them. He'd take this potential shit storm, just for what she'd said earlier. Just to see that maybe she'd exorcised some of her demons. That was enough for him.

That ghost of a smile was back for a moment. "Good." she said. That was positive, at least. And he'd been pretty unhappy with the idea of her going, so if this sold him on her ability to handle things, maybe that was a good thing in the long run, regardless. She apparently had just needed the wrong buttons pushed, and Andrei had found them. No one fucked with Eris Stockard if they didn't know how to play the game. That just didn't work for her. He certainly didn't deserve the fear he'd caused. Or, that was how she viewed it. "How long are you going to be playing bodyguard?" she asked.

An answer sprang to mind immediately, but wasn't given voice to. Seemingly, he was perfectly accepting of somethings, but other things were still able to make him uncomfortable. "How long are you going to be shaking that red rag?" he asked her, instead. Bother answers, he knew - the spoken and the unspoken - didn't actually address the question she'd actually asked. The question in regards to this particular circumstance. He was taking rather more of a long term view.

She didn't answer right away, giving it thought. "Until he fucks up enough to nail him on something, til he's dead, or disappears." she said. "Though for tonight, I'm done. And you can't stay out here forever." she added. She realized that she'd be able to deal with it better knowing he was out here than the last time something similar happened. There was a different connotation to it all in her head now. That just didn't alter the fact that she wanted him inside with her. They just weren't psychological terror related.

"Maybe not," Brett agreed, but he didn't make any indication that he planned moving any time soon. He didn't - he might not be able to stay there forever, but he could stay there for now. And that was what he intended to do.

"But you have every intention of staying here." Eris noted, eyes on him as she sighed. She crossed her arms across her chest, thinking this was an impasse, and that was it. Because there wasn't a whole lot she could say to that, and he was speaking to her, but didn't seem to be giving her a lot at the same time. It wasn't clipped as in he was being short, just he wasn't saying much.

"For now, yes," he confirmed, aware that that wasn't what she wanted him to do. But he was going to do it anyway. She might be on a high from this, and he could understand why. His attention, though, was on making sure nothing happened to bring her crashing down to earth too soon.

There were a few things that came to Eris' mind but she didn't say any of them. The most prominent was that she didn't really want to go inside to sit there and be alone. That more specifically, she wanted to be there with him. But he wasn't going to do that, and he didn't want to be distracted. Which left her little room to do much of anything. She felt like she was being dismissed, even if he hadn't said anything of the kind. She wasn't sure how to read him at the moment. And in the end she walked past him towards the apartment.

He felt the loss of her presence, even though he'd called her a distraction earlier on, and he knew that she was. And he didn't need distractions right now - he needed to be focused. But still, he was very aware of her leaving. He turned his head slightly, casting a glance over his shoulder for a moment. "Sleep well, Princess," he called out to her.

Eris glanced back over her shoulder as well, just looking at him for a moment. "What makes you think I plan on sleeping?" she asked, though she didn't stop heading for the apartment. She had a strange thing about not sleeping in their bed if he wasn't in it. Like she didn't want to stay there if he wasn't there. "Goodnight." she said in return, however.

Brett snorted a quiet laugh at that, giving her that one. He could, in actual fact, imagine that she wouldn't, though he'd prefer it if she did. There was no need for them both to be up all night. Still, he knew her better than to try and talk her round on that point. And sleeping when you weren't minded to wasn't easy. So, he just turned back to the elevator and resumed his former relaxed position. Hopefully, it was going to be a long and boring night.