Anders could be such an asshole. He could be an asshole fairly often in fact, but this was one of those moments where he stop being an asshole (somewhat) and was able to have an actual conversation with Dawn. They were sitting in front of a small ice cream shop with their own treats that they had just purchased, and they were talking. Just talking. No strings attached, no hassling about work that Anders was cleverly avoiding, just a conversation. It felt like it had been so long since Dawn had had a true conversation with Anders, and she forgot how much she'd enjoyed them. When they had conversations they really had no fear about completely wandering off topic and for once Anders didn't talk about the many women he had rooted. Instead he seemed rather fond of regaling Dawn with tales of strange things that had happened to him while not being at work.
She wasn't exactly sure why Anders had had the spur of the moment idea to have a friends day out with Dawn. He just randomly appeared on her doorstep on her day off telling her that they needed some bonding time before she actively attempted to murder him for not doing any paperwork. Dawn reluctantly agreed, not particularly wanted to give up her day for relaxing and avoiding Anders just so she could spend the day with said man. But it turned out to be a much more enjoyable activity than she previously thought it'd be. Either way, Anders seemed to love hearing himself speak, and was dominating the conversation a bit while Dawn just listened and ate her own ice cream.
"...And that Dawn, is how I accidentally joined a Mexican gang. I have them on speed dial, so if anyone really tries to bother me I can always call them up and have them help. I've done it before too." Anders finished triumphantly, licking part of his ice cream and nearly knocking it off the cone from sheer force.
Dawn raised an eyebrow. "You don't even speak a bit of Spanish and you managed to be friends with them just because you helped one of the younger kids to pick up his stuff?"
"I am an upstanding citizen you know."
"Somehow I doubt that." Dawn couldn't help but smile a bit as she said that, and then giggled at the pout that Anders was currently giving her. "Anders you look like a big five year old! No, you're probably the same size as one."
"Hey! I'm not short, it's not my fault my brothers were apparently blessed by freakishly tall genes! I wouldn't be surprised if Axl is part giraffe! You know how it feels to be second oldest but literally having to look up to see your own baby brother's face?" Another pout.
Dawn couldn't help it. She reached over and pinched one of Anders' cheeks. "Aww, poor widdle Anders has a tall widdle brother!"
"Oh and I'M the five year old here?" Anders shoved Dawn to the side jokingly.
"Yes Anders, you are. If I didn't keep you in check you'd be drunkenly trying to sign all the paperwork in crayon, I'm sure."
"Oh, do you think I could get away with that? It might make work a bit more interesting." Anders put on a mock thinking face as he bit down on empty ice cream cone.
"No, I don't think our clients would find that particularly amusing." Dawn checked her watch. "Oh, I have to go now." Her face fell a bit.
Anders seemed to notice the sudden change. "What's wrong?"
Dawn sighed. "I have to go be fitted for a bridesmaid dress."
She hated that. She was the covergirl for 'always a bridesmaid, never a bride'. She practically had a collection of dresses that she's only worn once, because all her friends seem to think their bridesmaids can't wear just any old dress in the right color. They have to be specially made, and that hurt Dawn's wallet and her self esteem. It didn't help that most of the dresses weren't exactly the most attractive things ever created. Some of them made her want to cringe, to be honest. But she'd never tell her friends that, then she'd actually be stuck with having Anders as her only friend. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but one person can only take so much of Anders in one day.
"Another bridesmaid dress? Hey, when you get married you need to have some revenge. Really uncomfortable dresses. Scratchy." Anders patted her back.
"Implying that I'm ever going to manage to get married." Dawn rolled her eyes at Anders.
"Why not? You're young, attractive. Sure you have a cat-"
"No I don't."
"But there are guys out there who like cats." Anders paused, and then added. "Ty likes cats."
Dawn ignored that last bit. "I guess you're right Anders..." She sighed, and tried to think of something to change the slightly depressing conversation, even if Anders did make her feel better. "So if you don't like cats, what do you like? Those silly little fish?"
"Hey! Don't mock the fish! And yes, I think I like aquatic things better. My dad would always take me to the aquarium when I was really little, before he shot through." Anders shrugged.
"Yeah, Ty told me that apparently you were very adamant about wanting to be a merman when you were little. At least according to Mike, he said."
Anders face turned a deep red. He playfully shoved Dawn again, with a fake frown. "I'm gonna kill them."
"Is it true?"
Anders didn't answer, and that made Dawn laugh even harder.