KD gave Arias her address after deciding he needed to lighten up and gave him a date and time to pick her up. Her father had wanted to be there and see who this boy was that was spending an evening with her little girl and that was met with a roll of her eyes and assurance that this was just a friend, nothing more. All the same she'd dressed carefully not quite sure what the evening would bring. She hadn't quite decided yet but she knew, no matter what, they needed to have enough fun that he would forget to be uptight even if just for a little while. She sat on the stairs next to the front foyer and waited for him to come.

Arias had not dressed up for the occasion; in reality he had no idea what to expect from the girl. Something about doing something to lighten up, but that was the extent of his knowledge on the matter. He was on time, and took an extra moment to make sure his ride in the car had not left him looking unkempt. Again, there was the worrying about hanging out with a girl who had to be a few years younger than him, but he reminded himself that this was a friendly outing; essentially they were just coworkers.

Just...in a weird line of work.

After tying back his hair, he made his way to the front door and knocked, already curious to know what KD had in mind for the night.

KD jumped up when he knocked, a broad smile across her lips. Before her father could make his way to the door she grabbed his hand and tugged him away, calling back over her shoulder. "You won't need that." She said with a grin and motioned to the car. Now that he was there she had an idea of what she wanted to do and it was close by. "I hope you know how to climb." She did, and often had. "There's this house in the neighborhood. It was abandoned, so sad. I guess the bank just took it. Anyway, they had a pool and I thought we could go swimming." The warm night was all around them. She loved nights like this and flourished beneath the full moon overhead. "You know how to swim, don't you?" Her skirt swished as she walked and before long she darted down a small lane and then up into the front yard of a dark house. It was just up to him to follow on her spur of the moment (and slightly illegal) plan.

Arias blinked, taking a few extra seconds to process KD's words. "Wait, what?" he blinked, following after her even after she'd stopped tugging him. "Yeah of course I know how to climb and swim, that's not an issue. You want to go swimming now? It's too cold," he said, though still followed after her. Maybe it was out of loyalty, or maybe it was because he wanted to make sure that she wasn't going to get caught. "—You know, when you said some simple fun, I was thinking maybe hitting up a gallery or a game of Monopoly or something. I didn't exactly bring a change of clothes for swimming," he added, picking up speed to try and cross the distance between them—and get out of sight before any of the neighbors spotted them.

"It is not too cold!" KD looked back at him like he was insane before moving to climb the tree and drop down on the other side of the wooden gate. "No one lives here. We're not trespassing or hurting anyone. Besides, who do you think upkeeps the pool?" Her father was a realtor selling the house, that was how she found out about it. He kept the pool up for his client. They passed his sign on the way up, though it was easy to miss. She didn't give herself a moment to rethink things or listen to his protests. Once she got to the pools edge she kicked off her sandals and stripped off her shirt, tossing it aside of the patio furniture. "Do you really want to be stuck inside on a night like this, Arias, or do you actually want to live a little?" She slid her skirt down figuring what she was wearing was close enough to a bikini that it wasn't untoward and then dove in. With the cold water streaking past her face she laughed and it came up as a line of bubbles welling up in her wake.

Arias was not so bold; when KD started stripping her clothes, he immediately looked away. It wasn't until he heard the splash of water that he looked back, initially concerned that she had fallen in or something. It took only a second for him to realize that she must have jumped in of her own accord.

For a moment, he lingered by the side of the pool and then sighed, running his fingers through his hair as he watched her. "You've got a lot more energy than I do. But it is a nice night. How long were you planning tonight, or is this all just a spur of the moment thing?"

KD had herself to one side of the pool and back again before he spoke to her. She glided through the water like she was born to it and enjoyed feeling weightless. She came up in front of him and grabbed the edge giving him a dubious look. "Do you plan everything?" She splashed toward, but not necessarily at, him. "Get in this water! Either you can get in with your clothes or without them but either way you're getting wet!" She didn't think of herself as being any more energetic than he was, indeed he was probably not that much older than she, but she did know she was far more easy going than he was. "The water's fine." She swam in a small circle to prove her point, keeping her eyes trained on him. "When's the last time you laughed, Arias? Or just had some fun without worrying? Heck, when's the last time you kissed a girl or did something impulsive?" Then she paused and considered and tried to be fair. "Or kissed a boy, I suppose. It's possible. Anyway, the point stands. When's the last time you let your head take a back seat?"

"I laugh plenty," he huffed, though didn't seem particularly upset about the question. "But I tend to keep my head on my shoulders. Doesn't seem like it would do me much good in the backseat."

He looked away from her, rolling his sleeves up instinctively as if to disguise his discomfort. "But I don't know what you're getting at, kissing people. Girl, boy. What type of question is that? Why would you even ask?" he rambled, and though he was moving, he wasn't doing a good job of disguising his embarrassment.

Never mind breaking into someone's backyard to swim, as if that wasn't far enough out of his comfort zone, talking about his love life? He almost always found a way to shirk out of that conversation when it came up; it wasn't like he liked lying, but the truth wasn't exactly any better.

"Kissing people is fun." And KD liked the idea of fun and that was, after all, the point of this whole evening. "Arias, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." But sometimes KD was much too bold and blunt for her own good. She relented and felt badly about herself. This wasn't going at all how she had wanted. She just wanted him to have some fun with her and he didn't seem to be enjoying their outing. "If you want to go we can." She hauled herself up the side to sit on the edge of the pool, dripping onto the concrete. He was one of her few close friends, or so she was coming to feel about him. He knew her secret life and they got along well enough. "Don't be mad at me, ok?" She didn't want that. "I just want you to relax and have some fun. If not this then we can do something else."

"Uncomfortable? Oh, no, no. I'm fine," he insisted, looking up and flashing a quick smile. He wasn't mad, and he suddenly felt guilty for giving her that impression. "I just get the relationship talking a lot. Mom wants grandkids," he explained, and then finally made his way over to the side of the pool. He sat down crosslegged next to it, a foot or so away from KD so he could avoid the water dripping off of her. He seemed to take his time in undressing and removed his socks and shoes first before he began to roll up his pants.

He certainly wasn't one to just jump in right away, but he didn't mind dipping his feet in for the time being. "So I hear a lot about needing to get out and meet the right person and 'live a little'. But I mean—I have fun. I have fun with you, so trust me," he offered another smile. "My life isn't all ulcers and worrying, promise. I guess you just caught me off guard. Or maybe I've always just been guarded when relationships pop up, you know?"

"Grandkids? You can't be that old." Or she was just really off in her guess. Talk about pressure, though. She couldn't imagine being told to have kids this young. If she stopped to think about it her own parents had probably written off kids knowing that, at least for right now, other things were more important. It said one thing, though. At least Arias liked girls if his parents wanted grandkids. The word relationship, though, confused her in the context. This wasn't a relationship, was it? KD glanced at him from behind her wet mane of hair giving him sidelong consideration. Was she misjudging things? He was cute and all but...She sighed. "How about we forget that for tonight, ok? No talk of grandkids, relationships, or worries." She especially did not want to get bogged down. "Whatever happens, happens."

Arias glanced over and then flashed a smile. "What, not a fan of kids? Personally, I don't think I'm old enough. I've got a twelve year old sister and," he shrugged, lips pursing. "I just. Don't see kids in my future. But mom's pushy and—"

And if he kept rambling, they weren't ever going to get off the topic. "—Yeah, if you want to hear me worry, just bring up grandkids. I could go on for hours about how bad that's going to turn out. Probably. But, the water's nice," he said, looking down at the pool. "So that's something to be positive about."

He was quiet for a second, and then laughed softly. "I'm pretty good at this not worrying thing, right?" He seemed amused with himself, and perhaps a bit disappointed, but not upset. "But, I promise I'm happy. What I do for fun probably isn't as exciting as this—and I warrant," he looked up at her, still amused, "This is not the most exciting thing you do for fun. So I appreciate you taking it easy on me."

KD chuckled and pressed a finger to his lips to get him to stop talking. No grandkids. She was only 16 for Pete's sake and had no interest in children right now. She wasn't even sure she had an interest in sex. What she did have an interest in was conversation and the water calling her name. His last statement made her laugh again, louder. "You're not wrong." She confirmed, trying to imagine him at one of her raves. "But I ought to take you along to one of my paint parties. I think you'd love it. All these artists in one room with white tee shirts and pain and by the time you leave you have this custom tee shirt painted by everyone in the room. The music is loud and everyone's laughing. It's really a fun time!" She wanted to bring up her thoughts and tell him that she liked him but it was too soon to tell if she liked him but didn't. Why overcomplicate? He was worrywort enough. If he felt rejected she wasn't sure how he'd take it. "Come in with me."

Arias groaned, though the smile didn't leave his face. "I'm not gonna get out of it, am I? All right, all right. You go back in, I'll be in in a minute."

He pushed himself up and moved away from the water as he peeled off his shirt, tossing it somewhere he was certain it wouldn't get wet. For being surrounded by sweets so much, he managed to keep a trim figure, but that wasn't really a major concern of his. He stripped off his pants, but as he did so said, "But if anyone finds us, you better run pretty fast. I don't want to get some weird record of swimming half naked with underaged girls."

Not that he was particularly worried about that; who was going to find them out here? And it wasn't like they were up to anything weird. Just trespassing. Probably.

Arias did not know the law as well as he probably should have, but he knew he didn't want to get in trouble. Logic said that the quicker he got in the pool, the quicker they could get out.

So, he sucked in a breath and dived in.

A few seconds later he emerged, hair soaked and flat against his face; he pulled a hair tie off his wrist and dipped his head back so he could tie it up. "I guess the water's not that bad," he finally admitted; he had enjoyed the sensation of diving in.

KD obediently slid over the side and dropped back into the pool with a quiet sound. She swam a little distance away, touching down in the shallow end of the pool. She hadn't missed anything he said and frowned. There were those mixed signals again and was that really all he was thinking about, that she was underaged? Which meant he was overaged, not that it mattered to her. four to six years difference wasn't all that much, was it? "You know, I'm not just an underaged girl and it's not like we're doing anything wrong." Well, at least not in the way he was thinking. They were just swimming together and talking. But she didn't want to be thought of as his underaged friend. "How about we don't mention my age anymore, tonight, either. Or yours." So much for feeling equal... Caydence swam over to the stairs on the shallow side of the pool and sat down to ponder her feelings and the problem, so very good at internalizing. Now that he was in she wasn't sure how she was feeling and largely ignored him while she sorted it out. It was sort of like being known as so and so's little sister and she wasn't sure she liked that idea, not if it was a big issue between them. In the light of day anywhere else it wouldn't be an issue for them to be swimming together, right? So why should it be now?

Arias just laughed and then nodded. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Just breaking one rule makes me worry. I've never been in trouble with the law, but you know those shows they play late at night, the crime scene shows? Impromptu trespassing and swimming? The body's going to pop up any second now."

He smiled, for good measure, and then hastily insisted, "I'm kidding, though. Sorry if, ah. If I made anything awkward. I don't get out as much as I should, and spend most of my time talking with customers or my sister. And I ramble and make the worst of things."

He made his way closer to Caydence, resting against the side of the pool. "How about I make it up to you? What type if cake do you like? I'll make snacks for the next time we go patrolling."

"That's morbid, Arias."

Caydence did things without really ever thinking about the consequences. She usually did as she wanted when she wanted and though she was mostly a good girl she did have a wild streak, like this. While she did the things she did not think about the real dangers she faced, much like in her new nightly duties. She didn't like thinking of the real danger. She'd been here plenty of signs and there was never a body to be discovered. She looked up and studied him for a minute.

"That's kind of why I invited you out tonight. I wanted to hang out. No pressure, or anything."

Caydence was mostly confused about what she was feeling at the moment and that usually meant she'd retreat into her own corner of the world until she could sort it out. Since she was currently out with the boy she couldn't really do that. It was quite troubling. She was torn between what she wanted to do and what was at hand. At his offer of snacks she sighed.

"I think you're cute, Arias, but...I mean...I kind of think my age bothers you and that bugs me. I'm not asking for anything. I'm not even looking for anything from you but your friendship. You're nice but I barely know you."

Arias was quiet for a moment, and then sighed. "I know," he said.

He couldn't even pay attention to the cute comment, but he knew that her age was something he'd thought about. "I know you're just looking for friendship. But the age does worry me. But I don't know if it's for the same reason as you think," he finally sighed. "It's not…not this that worries me. Not the hanging out late, or the trespassing. It's that, by most standards, I'm an adult. And you aren't. And yet, some force in this cosmos decided that we were supposed to be fighting in this war. I can't get over it. Even stupid things keep my mind busy. You're not a kid, but you're not an adult, yet. And I guess…it's easy to forget how old you are—how old everyone is when we're out there, powered up. But here, seeing you like this, and knowing that you're still in high school…and someone wants you to go out and fight?"

He sighed and seemed to deflate a bit. "…Maybe it's just because I'm overprotective, you know, because I've got a little sister, myself. But it makes me mad to think about it. I'm sorry if the things I was saying or how I was acting was weird. I just wish I could have a good talk with whoever decided who was going to be fighting in this war. I'd like to try and make some sense of it. But, I know that…this isn't good conversation when we're trying not to think about all of that. I just…I think maybe this is the first time it really hit me. I'm sorry," he said—and genuinely seemed to mean it.

Caydence was tempted to kiss Arias just to break him out of this tangent he seemed to be on wherein she was having her life robbed by this war. Funny, she didn't feel dead and was certainly not letting that life interfere with this one. In fact, all she'd wanted to do all night was just have some fun and her companion did not seem to be cooperating. "Arias..." She sighed in frustration before getting a wicked idea. She grabbed his wrist and gave it a quick jerk, dunking him underwater if she could just to catch him off guard. She seemed to still have her priorities in order. Why couldn't he just get with the program? Of course, a little worry in her life because she was in the war would probably do her some good though she wasn't willing to admit that yet. That's why she had him for a partner.

Arias was wide eyed and confused when Caydence dunked him under the water; he had been absolutely unprepared and offered no resistance, though lingered underwater for only a few seconds before he burst back up. His wet hair matted to his face and the moment he could open his eyes again, he was looking for Caydence. He wasn't upset, but his lips pursed into a pout. "Oh, you're just asking for it."

He had a little sister; he knew how these games were supposed to work. He pulled one arm back and then swiped it across the surface of the pool, splashing up water back at the girl in retaliation.

There was no mistaking the smile that had blossomed on his face, and even if only for a moment, he wasn't worrying.

Caydence giggled the whole time he was sputtering, coming up from under the water. He looked like a monster out of an old B horror movie - the creature from the black lagoon. That thought made her laugh harder. His threat barely registered as she spent her time laughing and let out a squeak as a wall of water came rushing her way. She splashed him back and dove under water to get away before he could retaliate that time, a stream of bubbled laughter let out on her wake. Finally! This was the Arias she wanted to see. Carefree was a good look on him. As she surfaced the brunette was quick to turn and splash him, whichever direction he was coming from.

"Ah, you laugh now," Arias said, splashing a more water at her. "I'll get you back for that, Caydence, you'd better watch your back. This is only the beginning!"

Not worrying was something Arias was going to have to worry about; he forgot what a relief it was not to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. Even if they were just playing in a pool, it was enough to break him away from his thoughts. Thoughts that he'd been clinging to for a while.

Thoughts that had been eating away at him for far too long.

Why worry about things? About life, death, fighting. War.

He was happy for now, and that was enough.