A spring of hope welled inside her at the offer, but Noel shut it down hard as soon as she recognized the signs. She needed to not rely on any one person or thing. She needed to be independent.

"I'd appreciate getting out more, but it'd be best to address the root issue." Which was a little more than she had time for today, even with nothing on her schedule.

Noel stopped to curtsey at the security man whose jaw was flapping and his eyes were avoiding the scene. Her bootless friend wobbled on her shoulders, but it was worth the extra effort to see the other security guy's face.

"He got the boot." That was all that really mattered here, right?

She was pretty pleased with herself, all the way up the elevators and to the residences.

"Wait. You live here? And you work here?" She let him mess with the door, still too stubborn to put him down. "Apparently, I'm not the only one who needs to get out more."

Noel dumped Mr. Boot onto his couch and went for the kitchen area. The apartments were all nice, but ultimately variations on the same floor plan. She rummaged around in his freezer for ice without asking. It was sort of implied at this point, right?

"I'd appreciate getting out more, but it'd be best to address the root issue.

"Well, anythin' I can do t' help."

And... Noel curtsied to the guard. With him still slung over her back. Internal sigh.

"He got the boot."

The Ranger waggled the boot weakly as if to see 'See.' Nothing else he could do about it. Might as well make the story he'd tell more interesting.

Up the elevator to the residences. Noel asking about him living and working at Haven and commenting on how she wasn't the only one who needed to get out more. The Ranger fumbled with getting keys out of his pocket. Not so easy while in a fireman's carry. "I also have an office. Not here. This was more convenient than finding somewhere else. Just got back after three years overseas."

Entering the space it was clear that he hadn't finished moving in yet. Some stuff was put away but there were still boxes about. It was clear that is wasn't some Yankee who lived there though. First clue, a black cowboy hat hanging by the door. Second clue, shotgun behind the door. Third clue, a Texas flag made from painted pine hung on one of the walls. Assorted other things lay about that added to the picture that he was a Texas island in a see of the North.

He was deposited onto the couch and Noel went to the kitchen. It was good to not be slung across someone's back anymore. He slid across the couch so he could get his injured ankle up and lay back against the couch. He looked at his ankle. Nice and swollen. Lovely.

She found a baggie in one of the drawers and after a bit of rummaging she snagged a tea towel that was decorated with bluebonnets. She knew they were bluebonnets because the towel was labeled "Texas Bluebonnets."

Mr. Boot had a problem. That or he derived his identity from a place rather than the constantly moving target of social etiquette and expectations. The latter idea was tempting. Places could only change so much. It was just that Noel didn't have strong feelings about any place at all.

By the time she'd gotten an ice pack all ready, Boot had made himself at home.

"You're gonna have to take off your clothes." She tossed the pack to Boot and picked her way over and around boxes in order to get to his bedroom. "You're getting your couch wet," she clarified, "I'm grabbing you a towel and pants and maybe a blanket." Because, despite moving around, Noel was freaking freezing indoors with the AC running. She figured that'd only be worse with ice on.

She grabbed whatever seemed best from his drawers and the blanket off his bed. Oh. Towel! She dashed back through the bathroom noticing how much neater his space was than hers before she made it back through the gauntlet of boxes out to the middle.

Everything got dumped on him all at once. Boot was a big boy. He could sort out his own stuff.

"I'm going to go grab a shower. Thanks for the run, though!" She ruffled his sopping wet hair and checked her wrist before taking two steps and stopping.

She'd written her room code down before she left, but it'd been raining. She checked the back of her hand and pat her pockets and turned in a circle, but there wasn't any back up of the keycode to get into her room.

Noel took a giant step back and rolled her lips together as she glanced down at Boot. Mr. Boot worked security. Mr. Boot had offered to help.

"Do you have access to change the door codes?"

"You're gonna have to take off your clothes."

Not what the Ranger was expecting when Noel came out of the kitchen and tossed him an ice pack. He almost missed the pack in surprise. She had meant that he was getting the couch wet. That made sense. And was a completely normal thing that anyone could have said given the situation. But still when an attractive woman tells you that you need to take your clothes off, it being because your clothes are wet and you'll ruin your couch is not where the brain goes.

He thought he covered well. Didn't flub the catch. His jaw wasn't lolling open. He even avoided making that dumb turtle face some people make when surprised.

Holding the ice in one hand the Ranger watched Noel disappear into his bedroom. He set the ice on his ankle and pulled off his shirt. It took a moment, wet shirts liked hang on like someone glued them on. At the angle he was reclining he could just see the scar on his side from the last time he'd seen Noel. He had to move the ice to set to work on his pants. While also sticking, he had to be careful not to move his leg around too much too quickly. That done he reached the executive decision to just wear wet underpants. Some level of propriety should be observed.

His pants had just thudded to the ground, as pants with pockets full of things like knives, pocket lights, and wallets tend to do, when Noel came back. She dumped everything she'd fished out onto him. He unburied himself from cloth mountain as noel informed him she was going to grab a shower. Then she ruffled his hair and did that little dance people do when they loose something.

"Do you have access to change the door codes?"

Carefully pulling on the pants he replied, "I can do that." He plopped the ice down on his ankle. "Not so mobile at the moment. Y're welcome t' mine though." If he could just get the swelling down he could hobble around and get her door open.

She had other places to look while he shimmied into some pants. Really, she did. Almost anywhere, in fact, was most preferable. And he certainly took his time getting around to the point of telling her 'not now.' Maybe because he knew she wouldn't like it.

Noel peeked at him to be sure he was done dressing rather than inspecting the ceiling tiles she'd suddenly found interesting. There was something vulnerable about putting on or taking off clothing, more so than just being naked.

"It's more than a shower, it's clothes and lunch and—" She bent down to grab up the wet things from the floor which put her eye to eye with Mr. Boot's scar. Her hands kept moving to collect some heavy pocketed pants, but her eyes were transfixed.

Ninja, he'd said. And stitches.

"Is there a reason you're avoiding the hospital? Nobody would blame you, ya know?" She was talking to distract him from her clumsy stitching. It was good that it was shallow. He didn't really have to go.
"No sense in goin' to a hospital for somethin' superficial like this."

There'd been ninja at a wedding, she never did see how many because he'd taken care of them. She'd been on bride duty; he'd been the groom's man.

"The way you got hurt last time was far less lame." Noel poked an ice cold finger at his scar and sat on the coffee table across from the couch so that she could empty his pockets for him and continue to process what she was remembering. It wasn't easy. It was a long time ago as far as her memory cycles had gone and she'd been ingesting a lot of new information lately.

She paused to open his wallet and read his ID.

"Michael Hunter." She returned the card to the wallet and the wallet to the coffee table beside all his other pocket junk. "The Ranger." That part hadn't been on the ID. That was just what they'd called him most.

Did he look the same? Different? Noel couldn't decide and was suddenly self-conscious.

"I'll hang this stuff up." And she might take him up on that shower, if she was going to be stuck here for a bit.

Noel protested while picking up his wet clothes. Correction, Noel trailed off in her protest. The Ranger noticed she was staring at his scar. Finally she spoke. And poked an icicle she disguised as a finger at the scar.

“The way you got hurt last time was far less lame.”

It certainly was much less lame. Coming away from a fight with three ninja with only a single cut was quite the feat. He had let one of the ninja make the cut so he could exploit the opening on the ninja it would leave. One slice or dead, not a hard call.

The Ranger sat up a little. Was Noel remembering? She could have just been remembering what he had said to her earlier, but her demeanor had seemed to change. Like she was working through it in her head.

”Yup.” He agreed. Keeping it short to not disturb her as she seemed absorbed in her thoughts while dumping his pockets. He did pull the blanket over him some. Sitting there shirtless and wet was a bit chilly.

She read his name from his ID. Which made him realize, he only knew her first name. Now wasn’t the time to interrupt for that, he could ask later. She then said his call-sign, which nothing in his wallet said. Nor had he told her that today since catching up to her in the park. She was remembering some. He shifted the ice pack.

“I’ll hang this stuff up”

”Jus’ throw ‘em on the washer.” Easier than finding a hanger and that way they wouldn’t be dripping on the floor. "Less of a hassle."

He shifted the ice pack again. His ankle was nice and numb. While still oversized it at least didn’t hurt anymore. He’d need to wrap it soon. Where did he stick that box of medical supplies?

Washer. Why didn't she think of that? The pants had grass stains at the bottom anyway just like his bare feet. It wasn't hard to find the laundry either. He had the same set up that she did. In fact— "If it weren't for all the shamelessly Texas paraphernalia, I might be confused about whose apartment this was." The hidey holes for guns were just something she'd do, if she still had any.

She stuffed the clothes in, but didn't start the load, instead she turned and pointed at Hunter. "Don't go anywhere." She scooted into his bedroom and closed the door. No sooner than it hit the frame, the door swung back open so that she could point at him again. "Don't you self-medicate with booze either." She seemed a bit confused for a moment but reaffirmed her point with that pointing finger one last time. "Or do. I'm not your mom."

The door slammed shut with more force than it had the first time. Was that weird? That was weird. This was better before she remembered walking down the side aisle of a chapel and being glad to see him at the end of it.

She remembered being married, despite never having done so. She remembered a lot of intimate things she'd never actually participated in. But this slippery sliver of a good memory was hers. She knew it because her power to review memory at speed and with clarity didn't apply. And she didn't have the entire picture of the evening. And now she was re-examining their interactions from today.

Okay. No. Down that path lay foolishness and she wasn't about to fall into that tar pit. The first thing she needed was to stretch so that she didn't hate everything later. Then shower.

She stretched as little as she figured that she could get away with then shucked her clothes and grabbed a towel. She wrapped herself up made a dash for the washer to get everything in and started and then it was back to the bathroom.

With no clothes.

Ugh. Hunter had clothes. She'd just have to steal his after she got a blisteringly hot shower.

”It’s nice t’ have a piece of home. An’ y’ gotta decorate with somethin’. Why not rep y’r home country?” The Ranger said. While not a Texas secessionist it was fun to talk about his home as the Republic of Texas.

Noel stuffed the clothes into the washer then pointed at him and instructed him not to go anywhere. He wasn’t planning on it. She retreated to the bedroom. He assumed she was going to… She opened the door, told him not to medicate with alcohol. This comment made the Ranger laugh a little. Noel wielded her finger a final time and declared that she was not his mother before slamming the door again.

It took the Ranger a moment to recover from that. By then the moment to reply was lost. He turned and put his foot up on the coffee table.

He didn’t remember which box had his medical supplies. Looking around he mentally ran through what was in boxes around the room. He decided on which one to hop over to check when the door opened again.

Wearing nothing but a towel, Noel shot across the room to the washer and deposited her own clothes before starting it and running back to the bathroom.

The Ranger in no way gave her a good look while she was in such a state of dress. Not at all. Definitely didn’t do that at all. At no point did he see enough to think to himself about how good she looked.

Yeah. He may have stared a little.

Noel back in the bedroom the Ranger rallied. He would give the ice a few more minutes then it was up to find something to wrap his ankle.

A few minutes later he got up off the couch, leaving the ice pack on the coffee table. He carefully made his way over to a box and dug around in the contents. Not medical supplies. He made his way to another, not meds. He really should have written the contents on the outside not just the room they go in.

The worst part about a shower was that it eventually had to end.

Noel had taken her time, but there was nothing left, not even hot water. It was time to put her big girl pants on. Or pants. Any pants.

Step 1. Raid the clothes. She'd given him what looked most comfortable. That left her plaid, plaid, and extremely Texan plaid. Nothing fit, but she decided that was okay. She wasn't here to impress anybody. Noel found a belt with a decent sized buckle that helped keep his pants on her hips. Well. When in Texas... She rolled the bottom cuff of his jeans up and moved on.

Step 2. Food. It hadn't been a priority before the shower, but she was quite ready to gnaw her way through anything so long as there was a lot of it.

"Hey. Do you have something easy to make? Box pasta? Freezer to microwave to belly foods?" She was not especially great at following instructions so the simpler the better. She kept her towel for her hair, though it was much shorter now, old habits died hard and Noel didn't want to get sick just because she'd neglected to dry her hair.

He could hobble around all he wanted. She really wasn't his mom. Or his boss.

The sound of the shower stopped as the Ranger opened the box he was searching for. Medical supplies. The usual first aid items as well large bottles of antibiotics, bags of saline, and anything anything a medic might have save morphine. He had to pile stuff out to dig down for a compression wrap.

While he was digging Noel came out and asked if he had anything easy to make to eat. He hadn’t thought about it before when she threw clothes in the washer, but she didn’t have any other clothes with her. He only thought about it now because she was there wearing his clothes. He had offered to let her shower while not having access to her room and thus her own clothes. ”There’s leftovers y’ can heat up or I’ve got some pre-prepared meals in the fridge.”

There was some food left over from an Iranian place in the fridge. Lamb. There was also a few plastic containers that had meals ready to go in them. You don’t stay in the kind of shape the Ranger is in without some attention to what you eat. A couple had pork, a couple had chicken, and one had round steak. Along with the meat there was some green vegetable like spinach, Brussels sprouts, or broccoli and either red potato or rice. The meals were already cooked, just microwave and eat. They were portioned for the Ranger who had a high Calorie requirement each day.

There was also beer in the fridge. You can’t not have beer in the fridge. And a pitcher of tea, like beer you had to have tea.

The compression wrap revealed itself. Of course, it was in a corner at the bottom of the box. Taking hold of it he hobbled back to the couch. He could deal with the stuff he pulled out later. At the couch he set to trying to wrap his own ankle.

A childish part of the Ranger noticed something that he couldn't help but point out, "Didn't take y' long t' get into my pants."

Leftovers sounded meh. Pre-prepared sounded meh... until she saw them.

"The food fairy came to your house." She was in awe. They were packaged up and ready to go and she needed one in her belly ten minutes ago. She started to flip through the containers, but they looked to all be made of real food and she was too hungry to care. Brussels sprouts. Totally good. She cracked it open, popping a veggie into her mouth before the box even made it to the microwave. "But really. Is this like a take out service or something?" Because she wanted it for her own fridge.

> "Didn't take y' long t' get into my pants."

Did he just really-? Noel audibly scoffed. "Well that's easy to fix." She undid the belt, button, and zipper and threw them at his head. Of course, she'd stolen a pair of underwear as well. They were practically shorts. "Crack a joke about these and you won't be getting the same response," she warned.

The drinks? Eh. Whatever. She went for water and hiked herself up onto the counter to wait next to the microwave.

It was when the food had finished heating and she already had a second forkful part of the way to her mouth when she realized the polite thing would be to ask if he wanted one too... and maybe to sit at a table.

"You hungry?"

"But really. Is this like a take out service or something?

"I cooked it. All easy enough t' make. Spend an hour an' y're good f'r the week." Then he realized he should give her a little warning, "Fair warnin'. The chicken is wrapped around jalapeños."

His childish comment was met by a proportional response. Noel dropped the pants and tossed them at him. With a completely manly meep, the Ranger dodged the pants by laying on the couch. The pants slid down the couch onto him.

It was rather easy to get her out of her pants.

The Ranger sat up pushing the pants off onto the floor. "I deserved that." he said. Then it was back to wrapping his ankle. He could hear the microwave running. She must have found something that would work. It didn't get much easier than throw in microwave and go though.

"You hungry?"

He hadn't been thinking about it, what with a sprained ankle and all, but he was. He'd been thinking of going to get food before his boot had been jacked by Noel. "Starvin'." It was only barely an exaggeration.

He cooked it. Noel watched the little plastic tray spin around and it was like rocket science. In an hour? He cooked it. And it went into containers. But, like, he did it. And she couldn't even call BS.

"I like spicy." He couldn't see that she'd already downed a few bites. "No seeds. No big deal."

She poured him tea and brought him lunch. Service, sans pants.

"How's the foot? We have to amputate?" She grabbed her lunch and plopped down next to Hunter, making sure to pull some of the covers over so she didn't lose all her shower heat. This was actually quite cozy to be snuggled up under the blankets on a rainy day.

"Oh, hey. We're practically twins now." She'd seen his scar so Noel shimmied her shirt up to show off the angry pink pucker of a freshly scarred through and through near the bottom of her rib cage, front and back. She had a third, little bit larger scar on the side. "I mean, it's no sword slice sewn up on the field."

She liked spicy food. He knew he liked her.

The Ranger finished wrapping his ankle and leaned back. It didn't hurt like it did before even though the numbness from the ice had worn off. He kept his foot up on the table, but off on the edge. Noel brought him a glass of tea and some lunch.

Then she was back with her own lunch asking how his foot was. And on the couch stealing some of his covers. He was just fine with that. She was still putting out a little bit of heat from her shower in spire of a couple minutes pantsless.

"It was touch an' go, but It'll make it. Y're off the hook f'r stitches this time." He announced before taking a bite of his lunch.

"Oh, hey. We're practically twins now."

Looking over from his food, the Ranger saw Noel working up his... her? The shirt she was wearing. And there was a doosey of a scar. He set his food down and moved his head a little closer to look.

"I mean, it's no sword slice sewn up on the field."

Defiantly wasn't a sword, "That's quite the scar. You were shot?" Small on the back, larger on the front. Front was the exit wound, based the entrance he'd guess .35 caliber. Something like 9mm, .380, .357m or .38. The exit wound narrowed it down. much larger, likely made by something just shy of an inch. Only one thing did that consistently. He looked up at her face, "NYPD?" Standard issue CCI Speer Gold Dot 124gr 9mm+p. .355" diameter that expands to .900" and can travel up to seventeen inches through tissue.

Not a lot of thugs carried Gold Dot and concealed carry licenses were extremely rare in this city.

A small touch to lean forward and another to let him see the front again. The front was the impressive side, anyway. The side scar was from medical interventions. If anything looked like a sword slice, that'd be the closest thing and it wasn't actually close. That had thrown her off her fitness groove. She was much softer now. Weaker. She didn't like it.

"Yep. Got it in one. I'm really not having the best luck with officers of the law lately." Not lately. Before Haven. Now that she was here, she was quite behaved. Or. Moderately reformed? A little boot thieving was good for shaking things up.

And since he had his feet up, it only seemed natural to be able to put hers up too. Noel shimmied the shirt back into place to help contain that delicious heat. She tried to dismiss the whole thing rather than explain. "But those were desperate times." And totally disproportionate measures. Noel was really, really glad to have gotten out of the hospital.

"It's one of the things that got me here so I suppose I can't complain too much." Noel speared another bite.