what are you doing?

Who: Ava and Eris
When: Dinnertime
Where: Around town

Ava had gone through quite the bit of trouble to find a driver she liked, specifically one that was named James. Wasn’t that always the name of one’s driver? She didn’t know, but it wouldn’t suit her if his name was anything else. So as soon as James had shown at the garage, she informed him that she had a dinner date tonight and that he would be escorting her home first, then to a friend’s home before bringing them to one of the nicer restaurants near the Drake.

She usually spent hours getting prepared for a date of any kind, but because she’d had limited time between her return home and her actual call to Eris proclaiming the woman’s dinner plans be changed to incorporate only Ava, her time to get prepared was cut short. Ava decided on a sleek, formfitting black dress for the night, black wrist gloves, and a gaudy broach in the shape of a spider, encrusted with jewels along the web her faux spider had spun. She pretended it was a Black Widow, the turn of phrase something that had always amused her but now had a different, stronger meaning. The spider itself was poisonous but, as Ava liked to believe, not more poisonous than she was.

Her drive to Eris’ apartment with Brett was fairly boring compared to her early outing with Dutch, but she reminded herself that she would have more time with Dutch on a later date if he didn’t let his cowardice get the better of him. Right now, there were other things to think about. Important things, like Eris and vengeance. So as James parked the car, she slipped out of it and headed towards the doorman to whom she gave her name. While Ava didn’t exactly like being questioned, there was a sort of power in just dropping her name and a door opening for her from it. She repeated the process to each person she needed clearance from until she was walking down the hallway of offices to the door at the end. Once there, she gave a series of firm knocks to it and waited.

When Ava called, Eris had agreed to go to dinner, but she'd also discussed it with Brett. She'd promised that she'd be more careful, she'd promised she'd keep him informed, so she was doing that. She definitely wanted to see Ava, they had a lot to discuss, but still. She talked it over with him too. And, he was going to be following them. She just wasn't telling Ava about it. She also didn't know how she felt about him not coming in with her, but at the same time understood why. When there was the knock on the door (an expected one as she had been announced with a phonecall) Eris waited for a few moments, setting her glass of water down before she crossed to open the door. She smiled. "Good evening." she greeted. "You look lovely as usual." she observed.

There was a sense of relief Ava felt when she saw Eris. She leaned in and gave the woman two quick air kisses before standing upright again. "As do you. Grab your purse, dear. There is a town waiting for us outside and it is lacking something. We must paint it red." Whether she changed the phrase to suit her own needs or she simply didn't understand the translation of it, Ava wouldn't let on. She just kept her smile in place, letting Eris come to her own decisions but knowing that her subtext of it was that she and Eris needed to talk.

There was the immediate reaction of wanting to make Ava wait for another few moments, to find something to put into her purse, just because of the tone Ava used, but she didn't. If she kept it up, she certainly would, but for the moment, she was more concerned with other things, and therefore she took only a few long moments to get her coat, with the purse that went with it, then she headed back over. "I'm certain there's a certain amount of that we can manage." And they'd be being followed the entire time, so that was something. Just in case. "Where are we going?"

There was only one woman in the world that Ava would even consider waiting for and it was Eris, so she bite her tongue when she was made to wait, thankful it was only a few moments. Once Eris looked ready to leave, Ava took a few steps back towards the hallway. "A lovely little restaurant near the Drake. It's a nice, quiet place to talk. We'll be arriving in style, of course." She'd chosen this restaurant based on two factors. One, it was very far away from the last restaurant they'd been at, and two, it actually was a nice, quiet place to talk which was exactly what Ava wanted to do right now.

Internally, Eris had to roll her eyes. She made no show of it, of course, but there was a part of her that had to just shake her head. The 'arriving in style, of course' part of the statement was what did it. Her priorities had taken a huge, hard shift since Ava had known her, and these days, she got just how fucking ridiculous all of that was. When last they met they'd had a fucking serial killer between them who'd permanently fucked up one of them. And Ava was talking about going somewhere in style, like it was important. Like it mattered. Maybe there was even more of a reason she was with Brett than the obvious. Maybe it was the fact that that sort of thing had never mattered to someone like him.

"Of course." she said. "What have you arranged? I'm assuming something, since you've felt the need to mention it." she said, possibly something that could have been taken as abrupt, but in this case, she knew Ava would just jump on the opportunity to gush about whatever it was she was doing.

"You'll see," Ava smiled at Eris as she continued down the hallway. She was proud of that car, but it spoke for itself and even she knew that. "But as for the restaurant, I've arranged for us to have a table where our conversations will stay private." She wasn't so tactless that she'd let on to the waitstaff that their conversation was important, more just asked for a table in a somewhat secluded area. At the very least, not in the middle of the dining room floor. "Because there are things we need to talk about, but I believe having a glass of wine in our hands would help both of us."

Eris rather liked staying more sober these days unless she was behind at least two locked doors with an armed, overly protective man between her and people who might want to kill her. But she didn't say anything, Ava clearly needed it, so she was just going to let her have that. "I would think we have a lot to discuss, yes." she said.

The walk back down to her car seemed exceedingly long this time, but once they'd cleared the elevator boy and the doorman, Ava led Eris straight to the sleek, black Ford sitting parallel to her apartment. James was still seated inside it at the steering wheel but when he saw them, he was out of the car and opening the passenger's side door for them with a tip of his hat. "Eris, James. James, Eris," Ava said, slipping into the back seat and moving over so that Eris would have a spot to sit as well. "Isn't it lovely?" Looking back at Eris, Ava's smile was different than before. Yes, things with Andrei had gone berserk, and yes, it entirely changed everything, but that didn't mean she couldn't do something for herself. And it didn't mean that she still wasn't thinking of him or what to do with him, but this was bigger than her. Not only would she need help, but Eris deserved to get revenge on Andrei if anyone did. Ava wasn't so blind that she couldn't see that.

"Certainly." Eris said, though there was still part of her that was mildly incredulous that she was seriously sitting there trying to impress her with a car. She knew her station in life was different than before, but it wasn't so different that she'd never had nice things herself. She'd had her own kingdom, before. But, she nodded, and gave Ava a light smile, though it was not so much as she would normally indulge. She knew what Ava was like, and that the most important thing to the girl was status, image, and wealth. Stuff, basically. She always wanted more. Right now she just wasn't as able to entertain that as usual.

Ava loved the car and not even Eris' nonchalance towards it would take that from her. But it did, however, shift her attention back to Eris; the reason she was here. Perhaps she should focus more on her friend for now. They could gush over her car later, she supposed, even if she truly wanted to do that now. "Where is your gentleman caller tonight?" She asked, using a phrase instead of Brett's name since James was back in the car. James should and would know absolutely nothing of importance about any of their conversations, Ava would see to that.

He's following us in his car. "He's hardly that, he's my business partner." Eris said, smirking faintly. "But you know that." she added. "He had a few things to contend with today, so he's out doing that. We've got a few other irons in the fire to check on, of course." Which was true, just not the part where he was currently doing anything to expand their business, he was indulging his paranoia, and stalking them both while she was out. "However, they're things he can deal with on his own, I of course wanted to give you my time."

"Speaking of business," Ava started, letting her voice linger for a moment as James started up the car and it hummed around them. Because Eris' business was legitimate and talking about Andrei around James would not happen, this gave Ava a good way to mention something else on her to-do list with Eris tonight. "I'd like to take you up on your offer." She didn't add a pleasantry at the end. There was no use to say 'if it still stands' when Ava knew the offer wasn't going anywhere to begin with.

Eris nodded. “then we’ll fill out the paperwork when we’re finished, or draw it up tomorrow.” she suggested. “I’m assuming you’ll be remaining in your own residence.” she added. “Though I recommend finding a new place.” Which had nothing to do with her coming to work for them.

"I love my home, Eris. I worked very hard to get it, you know that." Ava's voice had turned suddenly serious, looking back over at Eris. "Unless there is another home of comparable quality around, I don't see why I should let someone run me out of the home I worked so hard to make for myself. Do you have any idea of where I should go instead of my home?" The thing with Ava was that she loved her home, but actually going to search for a new home wasn't a bad idea. It was simply that all her life, she'd been really just placed somewhere. Between her home, Babylon, and Irving's home, she hadn't ever really made a decision on a home by herself. "Would you go looking for a new place with me. You know I value your opinion."

Eris had to try quite hard to maintain her patience. In the end she decided that while Ava was a grown woman who could very much handle things on her own, she was still treating Eris like a mother. Like it was up to her to make these decisions for her, or help her pick something out, or whatever it was she was doing. And if that was the case, then she was going to step into her role. "Dinner can wait. Have your driver take us someplace private, then take a walk." she said. And her tone indicated that she wasn't kidding around here.

Ava knew that tone. She knew it very well from her days at Babylon and when she heard it, it wasn't something she ignored. Leaning closer to James from the backseat, she relayed the instructions to him then leaned back. James easily pulled the car into as private a place as he could, which ended up being the back lot of one of the nicer shops on the street, before he turned the car off and left without another question asked. Once James was gone, Ava looked back at Eris, half expecting the woman to scold her.

"What are you doing?" Eris asked. "I would like to know, right now, what it is you think you're doing." she said. "Do you have any inkling of what you're playing with here? I can't believe you're that stupid." she continued. "We are talking about a serial killer. Someone who does mob hits all the time and likes it. Someone who got into your life with no problem, apparently, and you didn't have any clue. So explain to me how it is you're sitting there going on about your shiny fucking car, and how you don't really want to move because you love your home. You don't see why someone should run you out of your place? How about you see to facing the fact that he might show up and gut you. And that's after he cuts you up some, rapes you and takes his sweet time doing it so he can enjoy it longer."

She tried to keep her cool even through Eris' scare tactics, and gave her a very serious look when she stopped talking. "I came to you today to find out what plans, if any, that you have in mind to exact revenge on him for what he did to you. I want to be a part of them. Yes, I know he came into my life and I had no idea who he was, but that's not as important as him nearly killing you, Eris. And if you believe that me moving will serve a stronger purpose to keep me safe, then I will start looking for a new home, but I don't see how me living somewhere he does not know about would deter him if he was coming for me. You say he is a serial killer, a psychopath, so why would he stop searching for me simply because I do not live where he assumed I did before? He wouldn't. The steps I can take to protect myself I will take, but no I have not thought any about uprooting my life when I know that if he wants to find me, he will find me. It's a matter of being prepared when he does, not a matter of running from him." She took a moment to let that hang in the air between them before starting again. "And I like this car. I like nice things. You know that about me. I wanted it, I made a deal to get it before I knew about Andrei. I was not going to let him scare me out of not buying myself this car."

"Revenge." Eris said. "Are you fucking kidding me?" she asked. "What exactly would you even do? What kind of part would you play? this isn't a game. This isn't some funny little plot where you and I team up to teach the man a lesson." she said. "And yes, actually, the fact that he came into your life without you any the wiser really should be important to you because it proves something very important--he can play people. Which means he can play people around you, too. As for the moving thing, why make it easy for him? Get a new place under a different name, it'll take him at least some time to find you. Get a place with building security, like I've got. But just sitting on your ass in your luxury sure as hell isn't going to do anything to help your case. Because, no, it's not about not running. It's about not serving yourself up as an easy target because you're too materialistic to consider the bigger picture. Like right now. The car thing? Has shit to do with what I was even saying. You missed the point entirely, and attached one that has nothing to do with anything. You don't get it, Ava. And you never have. I just would really rather not see that lead to your brutal murder. But if you really are too stupid and wrapped up in bullshit to actually see things for how they are, then I wish you luck with your choices."

Ava sighed, leaning back in her car. She respected Eris as much as Ava could respect anyone, but she honestly did not want to be lectured by her, especially not now. "I will start looking for a new place, but are you seriously just going to let him get away with what he did to you? He's screwing with you too. And there possibly could be nothing that I could do to help it, but I'd rather you not sit there and tell me you're just going to go about your new life with Andrei tailing you when you want me to change things about my life." Looking back over at Eris, Ava made sure to lock eyes with her. "I want him gone, out of this town, behind bars...anywhere but where he can find you again."

"No one said he was going to be getting away with it." Eris said. "What I'm going to do I haven't quite figured out yet. So far, he hasn't made any counter moves, but I have no doubt he will. I know if he comes anywhere near me he's getting shot in the groin first, then eating five more bullets after that. I also know that so far, his attempts to unnerve me have been primative at best, at least when dealing with someone like me." She sighed. "I appreciate your concern for me. I'm just as concerned for you. It's why I want you to take this seriously. I can take care of myself, and he'll get taken care of. I've got someone watching my back. I'd feel better if you were closer to me--maybe you can buy out another floor in our building, the security is actually fairly decent. They're already on high alert in the first place, so just adding more floors to the same stringent policies wouldn't be a problem. You'd be closer to the girls, I'm sure they'd love to see you again."

"Will you keep me posted of any attempts?" Perhaps Eris was right and there was nothing she could do to play a part in the bigger plan of taking Andrei down, but she wanted to see him burn. She wanted to see him destroyed for what he did to Eris and for what he'd done to her. It was trivial compared to how she felt about Eris' situation, but it still annoyed her knowing that he'd used her and gotten away with it.

She thought for another moment on buying out a floor in Brett and Eris' building, but it didn't take her long to make her decision. It never took her long to make a decision. "Done. I'll buy out a floor in your building. Which floors are available to be bought out?”

"You're welcome to stay the girls until something can be arranged of course, but I had imagined you'd want your own." Eris said. And Ava had the means to do it as well, so she didn't think she'd have much problem procuring that. "As for which floors are available, I don't know. You'd have to talk to the building management. I don't really make much of a habit of knowing those details." Which was true, Brett had taken care of all of that. "But I'm sure even if there isn't one available you could make an offer they couldn't refuse." She paused. "I'll keep you up to speed on the details of the situation with Andrei." she agreed.

"When we bring you home, I'll speak with a manager then," Ava promised, looking back over at Eris. "And of course I'll make them an offer they can't refuse." Which may or may not necessarily be a price increase. Ava was nothing if not an accomplished flirt. She smiled at Eris before reaching out and touching the womans' arm. "Thank you. I'd planned on talking about Andrei at dinner with you but since we've done so here, can we please at least have a nice meal? Or are you still going to be looking at me like that?" She asked, lifting an eyebrow as she smiled a little at Eris. She knew that the woman was annoyed with her, she wasn't so single-minded to not see that. "I know he's important, too important to not think of, but if you spend all your time worrying over him, you'll run yourself into the ground. At least give me a dinner."

"That I would very much appreciate." Eris told her, giving the girl a smile. Plus, she'd much rather be able to talk about nothing important in a diner, as opposed to getting into things there, which was why she'd had the car pulled over to start with. It was just more prudent. "And trust me, he isn't the only thing on my mind." she said. Which was wholly true. She was still planning on going forward with everything else she had going, and Andrei could kiss her ass if he thought she was going to hide. It just also meant that Brett was going to have a heart attack occasionally, since he tended to be the one concentrated on that.

Ava nodded, her smile turning into a grin. "Actually, this living just a floor from you idea is not so bad as I thought originally. It is time for a change, a new place to live, and if I am only a floor away from you that means I can come and demand your attention anytime I want." She squeezed Eris' arm gently before letting go and looking out the window for James. He'd 'taken a walk' but really he was only at the end of the parking lot, since leaving Ava and Eris alone in a car in the back of an empty lot seemed shady enough. Ava leaned across the seat and pressed on the horn twice to signify that it was safe for James to return, before sitting back in her seat. "So loyal, that James, darling man that he is."

"Always a good thing to have around." Eris said sitting back again. Her mind drifted to Brett, and beyond him, Clayton. She'd thought she'd had someone loyal before, and it turned out she didn't. But she had one now. Even if half the time things went a little sideways with them, and currently she didn't know what the fuck she was playing at in regards to him. It was something she needed to figure out, but for now? Dinner.