The night had been stop and go. Go to party. Dance. Stop. Go to rooftop. Dance. Stop. Go rescue little sister. Stop. Doesn't need much rescuing. And then, they'd taken her and her girlfriend home.

Now it was just Riley and him in the van. On Halloween. With low sultry jazz in the cd player, to set the mood. They needed jazz. Needed relaxing.

Zombies, really. Halloween and zombies had interrupted their fun.

And now all that was left for the night was to take her home...

The van turned a corner and rode down Riley's road.

What. A. Ficken. Roller coaster of a night.

They’d started with the party. And the dancing. And the kissing. (Oh man, the kissing…) Then there had been the zombies, and the sisters, and the crazy-ass thing that her invisible aura was able to do. Then there’d been the moment when Riley had realized she knew Ami’s girlfriend. From an apartment. Where she’d spent a one-night-stand.

Despite the fact that something in the back of her mind told her she should be worrying about that, Riley simply couldn’t find the concentration to do it. Her dress was torn, her hair had fallen out of the elegant chignon she’d so fastidiously pinned it in, and she had lost her shoes.

Riley Sommers felt more alive than she had in years, and a stupid little smile simply wouldn’t stay off her face. She turned her head to the driver of the van and it grew a little.

”That was one hell of a date, Aurum.”

A smirk was flung Riley's way.

"Yup." Indeed.

He scanned the area for a parking spot. Found one. Oh, thank heavens. Used it, then put the van into park. Pulled out the key.

"Well. This is you. Walk you to your door?" He offered, looking over her way. Such a feat was gentlemanly, indeed. And par for the course. So, why not?

Now that the jazz was off, the only sultry thing in the vehicle was her.

Parking spots. One of the many reasons Riley had never even considered having a car or learning to drive. Aurum didn’t seem to have too much trouble though, and soon enough the car was off and he was offering to walk her upstairs.

”After all that, you’d better.” Riley said, reaching out to open her door. “Besides. I don’t know about you…but I could use a night cap…of hot chocolate or something.”

"Yeah," Aurum agreed. "I could definitely go for making some of that."

He slipped out his door, and around the vehicle to her side. Then, he offered her his arm.

He did not know what it was about ripped skirts and messed hair, but... somehow, it didn't look bad on her. She didn't have shoes, either... must have been cold.

If they'd known each other better, he might have swept her off her feet.

It was kind of chilly out, and while the parking spot had been good, it still felt like it took too long to get to the lobby of her apartment building. Aurum had offered his arm though, and proximity had done a fair amount to keep her warm.

Once they’d gone inside, (Riley hadn’t even rolled her eyes when Aurum held the door for her) she skipped the ritual mailbox checking and simply led the way to the elevator. It had been working perfectly earlier, and despite the fact that they both felt the need to comment on the fact that they might get stuck, they made it to the proper floor with no incident.

Down the hall and into the apartment they went, Riley leading the way and unlocking the door.

Not much had changed since the last time Aurum had arrived. There were still even a few bullet holes from the thugs who had followed them.

”Make yourself at home.” Riley said. ”I’ll hit up the Swiss Miss packets and microwave.”

She still had bullet holes.

... Why did having bulletholes in your wall somehow make you seem a bit more badass? Aurum didn't know. Maybe it was because he'd seen her bumrush the shambling undead earlier. Maybe it was the outfit, lack of shoes, and torn skirts. Whatever it was... Riley had his respect. Not that he'd revoked respect privileges at any time, prior. But anyways...

Hey, wait a second!

Aurum eyed her suspiciously.

"Don't you have stuff to make cocoa the old fashioned way...?"

Old…fashioned…way.

This was Aurum. Riley sighed just a little bit and pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

”I’ve got milk…and chocolate syrup, if that’s what you mean. Otherwise I think we’re out of luck…”

She paused for a moment. When had her hands made their way to her hips?

”You’re gonna have to show me how…even if it is as simple as pouring it all together and stirring.”

Milk and chocolate syrup was fine for chocolate milk, but. This was no chocolate milk.

Riley wanted to learn how, though. Aurum agreed.

"Sure. And are you sure you don't have the stuff? Sugar, salt, water, milk, half-and-half... the only things I don't think you have are cocoa powder and vanilla extract. And that's only really needed if we do this one recipe I know. If we do another..." Aurum trailed off, tapping his chin in thought.

And they were off into cooking land again. Riley had to smile and shake her head a little. Aurum was so earnest about the whole thing. Earnest and knowledgeable…and destined for disappointment.

She had half-and-half, and some of the other things Aurum had said. The cocoa powder was a problem, just like he said, but…

”I do have the vanilla. Just missing the cocoa powder.”

She shrugged.

”Couldn’t we use the packets for that part? They’re mostly cocoa powder, aren’t they?”

And chemicals. And fakeness. With sugar.

Aurum shrugged. "I can always make you real cocoa some other time. I don't want to put you out."

Besides, there were other things they could drink.

"Or we could have coffee." But, wait. Maybe she had Instant.

He was being too picky!

I hate being a food snob...

I hate it when he’s a food snob.

Riley thought as Aurum gently put down her notions of hot chocolate. Geez, she’d just been trying to do something nice. Or get him inside the apartment. Or something. The hot chocolate had been important though, and she’d wanted to make it.

Aurum suggested coffee, and Riley was about to nod her head and move that direction when she remembered that all she had was the same stuff she’d had the last time. No matter how much she liked the stuff Aurum had shown her, Riley still didn’t know how to make the stuff herself.

”Instant.” she said simply, knowing what his opinion was on that particular brew.

”So. I guess drinks are out unless you want some water.”

Yup. Instant. Gah.

But seriously. She was gorgeous and they'd had an awesome night. There was absolutely no reason to ruin it because of subpar beverages. Besides...

"It really doesn't matter what we drink," Aurum smiled, as he drew close to her. He put one hand around her waist, and used the other to cup her cheek. "Because."

Aurum kissed her.

When he broke it, he finished. "That's what matters."

Damn, he was good.

If it didn’t matter what they were going to drink, then why had they just spent the last few minutes debating about it? Riley had plenty to say to Aurum on the matter, and she was just getting ready to when he stepped closer.

Proximity silenced any immediate protests Riley might have been planning to make, and the way Aurum touched her face made her forget that there’d been protests in the first place.

Then they were kissing, and talking was the furthest thing from Riley’s mind as her arms wrapped around his neck and her heart started trying to beat its way out of her chest.

When the kiss broke, Aurum finished a thought he’d started earlier and Riley nodded her head and smiled up at him.

Yeah…this was definitely more important, she decided, and far more likely to warm them up than the instant hot chocolate.

It was a good thing she had a couch.

Another kiss led to another as he led her around the coffee table, to the couch. And then cushions cushioned Riley's back. His hands framed her face. Her lips, his.

Yeah. Sure was a good thing neither party was concerned about hot things any longer. Mm.