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"Do you ever miss it?" Alexis asks him.
"The pro-circuit?" He shakes his head.
"You need a haircut..."

Zane's eyes narrow as he watches her. It isn't hostility. He seems confused, puzzled, as if he's discovering her anew. He looks cute like that, she can't help but think. It's a notion which doesn't cause her to blush quite as much as she would have thought it would. He does though, his hair is drifting out of the windswept and interesting, and moving towards the downright scruffy. He looks away a moment later.

"I'll do something about it." He promises.
"That's nice of you." She pauses, before suggesting. "If you don't want to go to a hairdresser, I could-"
"There's no way I'm letting you near my hair."
"Huh?"
"Remember what you did to Atticus?"

It takes her a few moments to think back that far. Her brain is a little more sluggish right now than it should be. It's as if there's a very fine fog that's settled in. She manages to pass through it though, and focuses her mind backwards.

She sees herself as a child. Her mother is angry. Her brother has one side of his hair far shorter than the other. He's still laughing though. It had been a Sunday evening, and rather than skip class the following morning, for once in his life, Atticus had been keen to go to it. Just so that he could show them what his little sister had done to him. He'd milked it for all that it was worth of course. By the next day of course, it had lost its charm. She's a little bit surprised that it's the sort of thing that Zane would have bothered to remember.

"That was a long time ago." Is all that Alexis can think to answer.
"Believe me, he still rants about it."
"I can imagine." She pauses momentarily, before continuing. "Do you actually enjoy this?"
"Enjoy what?"
"Being with us like this." She feels herself grow a little bolder. "It's not always easy to tell."

He frowns. Yet again, with Zane that can mean anything. She wishes that he were just a little bit easier to read from time to time. All she's comfortable guessing is that he isn't angry. He stares at her like that for a moment. He lets out a sigh. He leans on the balustrade, and casts his gaze back out over the city.

"It's nice to be out again. I'd gotten a bit too used to just sitting around, and waiting."
"Waiting for what?"

He gives her, an odd look, and she understands. He doesn't need to say anything else. She lets out a sigh, and joins him in his contemplation of the city. It seems like there's a thousand lights out there, probably more. All of which are a person, family or group of friends enjoying their evening. It's relaxing in an odd way, and Aster's penthouse certainly provides a stunning view.

"I don't think I thanked you." Zane speaks eventually, shattering the silence.
"Thanked me?" She looks to him, confused. "For what?"
"For taking care of me."
"It's nothing. We're friends."
"Friends..."

He says the word as if it were foreign, and he didn't quite understand their meaning. Although she knows that isn't the case. Zane has friends, and has been a good one in the past. She wishes she knew how to put it to him, in a way that he won't think is excessively sentimental. Something that she knows will inevitably irritate him.

Alexis mindlessly traces shapes on the metal of the balustrade. It's very, very shiny. She tries to see if she can see the stars in it. It's cold, and smooth too. She wonders what sort of metal it is. Steel? Aluminum? How can you even tell? Although the woman does try to figure it out. She realizes suddenly that she might have had one too many. Not enough to make her really drunk, but certainly there's some part of her which knows that she shouldn't find a smooth metal bar quite this interesting.

"What are you doing?" Zane asks her, after a few moments.
"Just thinking." It isn't a lie. "I wish I'd made more of an effort not to lose touch."
"It's not your fault." His voice sounds oddly soft. "I didn't make it easy for you."
"Not just you..." She tells him with a sad smile. "Jaden, and Syrus, and Chazz, and everybody… We just drifted apart."

Zane hums thoughtfully. He doesn't answer. The man thinks about things for a moment. She doesn't bother to disturb him. After a few moments, he speaks again:

"That's just life for you." He answers with a decidedly nonchalant shrug. "They could have tried to contact you. You've all got your lives to live."
"I suppose." She smiles to herself as she gets lost in her own thoughts. "I suppose it's never too late. Six months ago, I was sure that I was never going to see you, or Aster again, and here we are."
"Here we are..." Zane agrees.

If she's honest with them, she hadn't even given them much thought, not as much as she feels she likely should have. In her mind, Zane had disappeared, but was likely still out there somewhere. It had never even crossed her mind that he might be… Shame takes hold at the mere thought. He'd been suffering, and she had been none-the-wiser. The thought makes her feel a little bit uneasy. If nobody had been there, what would have become of her old friend? Would he still be standing here with her.

Before she knows what she's doing, she's reaching out. She places her own hand over his own. It's easy enough to do, Zane isn't expecting it. He's leaning sedately enough on the balustrade, unsuspecting, and unaware. The contact is enough to cause him to jolt, startled. He stares at her with wide eyes, but doesn't immediately pull away as she imagined that he might well do. She wonders when the last time was that somebody took his hand.

"I don't want to lose you again. So promise, no matter what, you'll keep in touch."
"I'll try." He answers, looking her dead in the eyes.
"Don't try, Mr. Do."
"Okay, Lexi. I will. I promise."

She decides to assume that he's telling the truth. It's not like she can badger him any more than she already has. Zane is usually the honest type, at least that's what she tells herself. He's got many flaws, but being a pathological liar isn't quite one of them.

"You've had one too many." Zane notes suddenly.

Her eyes widen. She'd be lying if she claimed that she wasn't a little bit offended by the bluntness of the remark. She's about to deny the accusation, and tries to remember exactly how many glasses she'd had. It hadn't been that many. Just a little bit as they had been watching the match. Four, maybe? She can't recall. Okay… Maybe, he's not entirely wrong. Although she doesn't want to admit that much. Her stubborn silence earns an amused half smile across his face.

Zane casts his gaze up towards the sky.

"It's getting chilly." The man notes. "I guess winter must be on its way."
"Yeah." She welcomes the change of subject. "I'll miss summer."
"It's never really bothered me." Zane shrugs. "It'll come around again after all. Come on inside if you're cold."

She does just that. Aster, and Atticus are still arguing, and honestly look to be about two minutes away from a duel. Alexis manages to talk the two down. It's a bit late for such things, and she's tired. For all that, there's a certain feeling of calmness.

"You know..." Aster says as he walks the group to the door. "We should do this again sometime."
"Yeah." Alexis agrees. "It was nice."

He's called them a cab. Atticus doesn't live that far away, but with his leg, there's no way he's hobbling the distance. That, and time is ticking on. The three climb into the vehicle, and wave goodbye to their host of the evening. To Alexis, there's a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach as she sits there. It takes her right back to her youth, with her silly big brother, and his quiet, but cool friend. She wishes that she could travel back to those days sometimes. They seemed to be a good deal simpler, and more innocent. They had had so few worries, and the evils of the world had been a far away, and abstract concept.

They drop Atticus off, and escort him inside. He's wobbly on his feet. Alexis believes that he must have had a couple more drinks than she had initially thought. That, or he's not quite as recovered as he would have them think. She could believe either from her brother. Thankfully, they manage to get him to the door easily enough.

"I'm gonna duel Aster." He declares proudly as they usher him inside. "Been so long since I last dueled. A real duel, you know?"
"We'll see if you're still saying that tomorrow." His sister tells him. "He's a pro. Remember?"
"I could have been a pro." He declares. "If I'd wanted."

Alexis rolls her eyes. Once they have Atticus into his flat, she leaves him be. He promises to call her up in the morning, and she knows that he will. They say goodnight, and part ways.

It seems to have gotten colder in the few minutes that they're in her brother's apartment block. Maybe it's just switching from a warm cab, and building, to being outside again. She shivers a little, and pulls her coat up a bit more around her. They stand there on a street corner for a few moments. Everything seems to be surprisingly quiet. Alexis glances down at her watch, and is surprised by just how late it is. She's not too sure where those hours have gone.

"He could have been a pro." Zane speaks suddenly. "He just lacks the interest. He's better off where he is."
"I know." Alexis acknowledges with a small smile. "He likes writing those commentaries of his."
"You're walking home?" He seems surprised.
"It's only a couple of blocks."
"Yes, and it's after midnight!" Zane is already moving. "I'll walk you home."
"Okay fine… But my flat is this way."

He corrects his course as if this had all been part of his plan, and she hadn't said anything. She manages to conceal a little giggle. A few moments later, they're walking side by side.

Alexis knows the route so well that she could do it blindfolded. She's walked home from her brother's more times than she cares to count. It's nice to have some company though. Even if it is the relatively quiet sort. She doesn't complain though. There's something comforting about having her calm, stoic friend. Zane doesn't need to say anything. His presence can be, under the right circumstances, comforting. It brings her back to those evenings spent by the old lighthouse on the island.

They don't really talk much, although some part of her wishes that they would. They should have had a lot to chat about. Instead, she finds a strange form of solace in the quiet. From time to time, her gaze travels upwards to find Zane. He seems content. As much as he ever is at any rate. She's learned over the years that as hard as he might be to read, there are times when her old friend is quiet happy. Usually, that can be when he says the least.

"Think you'll come out again?" She asks him.
"You know… I might actually."

The prospect makes her smile. For the first time in quite a while, she feels that there might just be some hope. Zane is stronger, healthier than he had been when they'd first met again not all that long ago. He's looking forwards, and that's more than she could say before. Walking next to one another, the way that old friends do, it's so easy to dare to hope. She imagines that things might yet work out for the best.

They arrive outside of the door to her apartment before she really even has enough time to realize just where they are. The walk seems to have flown by so quickly that she scarcely has the time to realize that it's more, or less over. Zane stares up at the large building, perhaps trying to work out just which one of the windows belongs to her home.

"This is you? Isn't it?"
"Yeah." She takes a step up onto the entrance of the stairs. "This is me."

She looks up at her old friend. With her having gained the best part of a foot thanks to the step, she can almost look him in the eye. He stares at her as if he's rediscovering her again. Sometimes, she really does feel like she's made contact with some sort of alien, who still hasn't quite figured out this "social" thing. It's quite cute in a way.

"Goodnight Zane."
"Night Lexi."

He uses her pet name, and she smiles. A mixture of courage, and a strange feeling which she would call peaceful happiness takes hold. It drowns out the reason, and self-control. For a few seconds, she feels like doing something crazy, and she does. She goes up on her tiptoes, and closes the distance between the two of them. Either Zane doesn't quite realize what she's going to do, or he doesn't have the time to move, before she places a quick peck on his cheek.

His eyes widen. He stares at her as if he's never seen her before. Perhaps the heat might rise to her cheeks only a little, but it doesn't quite register. Briefly, Alexis feels just a little bit giddy. She takes a step backwards, retreating back inside.

"I'll see you around." She promises.

The door shuts. She lingers behind the wood for a moment. She can't help but smile a little as she sees the red on his cheeks. He looks cute when he's blushing. She can't help but think to herself.