Welcome to Gaia! ::

The ink staining the front of his pants was nearly invisible in the dark, but Ever still huffed and swatted at it as he went hunting for his shirt. It had slipped down between the desk and the bed, and as a result there were droplets of ink along the sleeve; for a long moment he stared at them, pulling a face, and then he opted not to haul it on, dropping it onto Zac's desk chair instead.

"...you want a glass of water?" His voice was low, still, his expression pleased; Ever came up with a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and double checked to make sure he had some left. Two. Thank God. "Or. Um. Do you have a glass of water?"

"On top of the dresser thing if you stand on a chair, maybe." He was grinning in the dark, pleased, easing into place and going on his toes to fumble around for the bottles of water. He started to toss one at Zac and then -- decided that was a terrible idea. Instead he crept back over, sinking down to perch on the edge of the bed and offer it over.

"You, um." he cracked the lid off of his own, hesitated, and then drowned all of it quickly, his eyes on Zac. "...I mean, I'll sit by the window, if you don't mind. I'd go out on the branch, but I might plummet to my death."

...not exactly the name he'd been expecting to hear right about now, and it left Ever blinking for a very long moment before easing up to stand. For the moment, he focused on pulling the smoke detector down -- enough that it hung limp and the little green light went out. Safe enough, not to set everything off. He slid the cigarette into his mouth.

"How'd that go down?" It was dry, mild, probably not exactly pleased but, well, Zac had chosen a good time to bring it up. Ever was in a good mood, and not even that could wreck it. He opened the window to perch on the sill, squinting downward.

"...augh. Are you trying to guilt me into going back?" It was a mumble, around the end of his cigarette, as Ever fought with a cheap [but new, at least] plastic lighter to get the end catch. He was considerate, at least, tipping his head out the window to blow the first long lung full of air out into the night instead of letting it slither through the dorm room....

"I don't know, Zac. I. Uh." Ever'd been an a** in uniform. It made him wince, just a little bit. "I don't know."

"I don't know." He was a broken record, yes, this time the words coming around the end of his cigarette, with dark eyes turned outward. Not looking at Zac. Ever might actually, miraculously, have been embarrassed. Usually he managed unflappable, even if it was only outwardly...

"...I guess I might have threatened him a little, don't exactly remember." He cleared his throat, tapping ash out, a sprinkling to the grass two stories below, and licked his lips. "He butted in while I was, um, working. And tried to play hero, limping along."

"Um, no, I'd really rather not." Here, at least, he could be certain; he finally flicked a look up at Zac, and something about that softened him a little, left Ever polishing off his cigarette so he could shove himself up out of the window and cross back toward the bed.

"Too tempting to drain him just to get him to shut up." He dragged fingers through his hair as he dropped down to sit against Zac, trying to relax again. Legs stretched out.

"If it were just...it'd be so much easier to never deal with him again." The way he said it made it very clear that this was how Ever usually dealt with this sort of problem. Pick up and move on.

Prodding got a sound and definitely killed the last of his apprehension. He shifted, leaning back a little to consider Zac, and then flashed a grin. "Better smog sticks, even. Ones that taste better, I mean."

He knew he'd get wriggling and protesting, but he leaned in for a kiss anyway, the smell of smoke still clinging around him. So long as Zac didn't go for the bruises, Ever could survive the resulting attack.

Another twitch, his elbow coming down thoughtlessly against Zac's hand, the breath huffing out of him and the teasing in his expression faded away. Ever worked to catch fingers before they prodded in a second time and shook his head just a little, clearing his throat.

"You don't think he's on the other side, though, do you? I mean. How would we know?" A derailment; Ever didn't quite seem to realize how far off topic they'd gone, his own mind still working over the Tony issue. "A bit, um, mature to be a senshi, but..."