late night cravings, tag: Easty/Steph

[MOXIE LARK BANNER]

Moxie tugged the edge of her dress down and sighed loudly; it wasn't as if any of the giggling girls upstairs heard her displeasure, but she still felt a bit better none-the-less. All rolled up and no where to be... when her date had cancelled on her (grading papers probably, why in the world was she dating a T.A.?), she hadn't honestly expected her night to turn out this way. Everyone had a date tonight, including her parents, except her sister and herself- and her sister had enough friends over for the night that it didn't really matter that her boyfriend was busy. Moxie tried to focus her thoughts on the movie in front of her, but she was too hungry and bored to care about Ryan Reynolds and whoever that actress was trying to work out their crazy love life.

She was reaching for the phone and dialing the number to pizza before she thought about it being so close to closing time for them. She hoped they didn't care that much, she was starving. "Yeah, hi! Can I place an order for delivery, please?" The guy taking the order didn't seem to care, but as they started to hang up, a thought occurred to her. "Wait, wait, wait! Who's driving tonight?" When she got the answer she wanted, she was up and starting towards the stairs with a bright new smile on her face. "Pres? Do you have any spray paint?"

[EASTON CORNELIUS CAULFIELD]

Easton yanked his cap down on his head and groaned loudly; it wasn't as if anything he did would be heard anyway amongst the clattering of pans and the bantering of co-workers, but he still felt a bit better none-the-less. It was nearing the end of the double shift he had pulled today to get extra money to pay for bills-and cigarettes and spray paint-and the last thing he wanted to do right now was deliver yet another pizza to someone this late. Couldn't they have just made themselves a damn frozen pizza? Easton was sure it would be done and gone by the time he could even get one of their pizzas out and to their front door. Easton took the warm cardboard box and looked at the address and name. Molly Banner. The name didn't ring any bells in his head, but the location was going to be easy enough to find. Slipping out of the shop and to his car, Easton set the pizza in the passenger seat, lit up a cigarette, and headed toward his destination.

Putting his car into park, Easton looked at the house before him and scoffed at the size and the decency of it. What else could he have expected to find in this neighborhood? The back of his mind told him that he should probably feel a bit lucky at this point. A few blocks in the other direction would have lead him to a rather bad spot in the city and a higher chance of getting mugged. Still, he couldn't help but want to get out of this place as soon as possible. It was houses like this that made him uncomfortable. Taking the pizza and leaving the car, Easton approached the house and pressed on the dimly lit doorbell button. Just this last house.

[MOXIE LARK BANNER]

Moxie heard the car pulling up as she started back down the stairs, the grin that had dulled a little with the wild hunt for paint upstairs returning full force. She hurried down the remaining stairs and paused in front of the door, shaking the can in her hand as quietly as she could manage. It seemed like forever before the pizza man rang the doorbell, but when it finally sounded, Moxie hummed happily to herself as she swung the door open.

She moved quickly, moving her hand and the spray paint in two arches with a point at the end. She didn't care much that she hit the box a few time- the whole point of the box was to protect the pizza inside. When she was done, she tilted her head to the side with a cocky smirk, pretending to judge her "art". "Not too bad, if I do say so myself." She brought her eyes up to meet Easton's again, trying to keep in the laughter that she felt like letting out.

(( blah, I'll do better next time, just wanted to get it moving lol ))

[EASTON CORNELIUS CAULFIELD]

The few seconds between the door opening and the distinct sound filling his ears, there was little time for Easton to react. His feet rooted to the spot at the front door and his eyes fixed right on the other person in a startled state as he tried to process what was going on. For a moment, Easton thought maybe he was being shot. It took a moment for his brain to finally catch up to what was actually going on and, as the paint soaked into his Papa John's shirt and the sound suddenly became more familiar, a smirk pulled at the corner of his lips. He couldn't imagine the person behind this "attack" being any harm to him.

Looking down at his shirt and examining the "work" with her, Easton shrugged and looked at Moxie. "Could be worse," he commented. "You probably should take an art class though." His blue eyes met her dark pair and a smile formed across his lips as he offered the box of pizza out to her. He'd get to the payment part later once he got to the bottom of this paint surprise. "Did you seriously plan this out all evening? Buying paint and everything?" he asked with a laugh.

[MOXIE LARK BANNER]

Moxie bent her elbow, resting the bottom of the pink spray paint can against her chin. She tried to pout, to look upset at his judgement of her "artwork", but she couldn't manage it with the giddy smile on her face. Easton might not have been her best friend, or the person who was the closest to her in the world, but he never failed to put a smile on her face. "I took art in third grade. Got a sticker for every assignment, thank you very much." she said in her defense, taking the pizza with her free hand.

"Wasn't my first plan for the night." She admitted, setting the spray can down on the side table by the door. "My sister painted her headboard pink last month; when I knew it was you coming, I was reminded of the cans we had left over." she took a step back, motioning for him to step inside with her. She didn't think he'd stay (he never stayed for very long) but she hoped to at least pass some of the time she had, stuck here all alone and bored. "Did you find the place okay?" She teased, knowing that he pretty much knew his way around the city.

[EASTON CORNELIUS CAULFIELD]

Easton faked an impressed at Moxie's tale of how she got stickers on all her art projects in third grade for only a moment before finally breaking it into laughing. "Well, you never progressed from that milestone then," he teased, watching as she took the pizza from him. "Probably should just stick to that day job of yours." He may have not been close with her-hell, he barely knew anything about her-but being around Moxie could usually change his mood, in one way or another. Plus, she usually didn't get seriously offended by his mouth, which made things more exciting.

Following her gesture, Easton followed her inside and took in the house that Moxie lived in, ignoring the story about how she had managed to get the pink paint. He stopped in his tracks and look at her with a smirk. "Oh, it was really hard to find. Such a small place," he snorted as he looked around the room once again. So this was where Moxie lived. He should've known she'd live in a house like this one. "Nice place you got here, Princess. Or, should I say "Molly"." He motioned toward the pizza box in her hand with a smirk, waiting to see if she'd catch on.

[MOXIE LARK BANNER]

Moxie stuck her tongue out at Easton as he stepped inside, not really taking much offense at his words. He was always going off at the mouth about something, it was just how he was, and she knew how to take a joke at her own expense sometimes. Besides, her art really was bad sometimes... as proven the few times Easty had shown off in front of her. Obviously her artistic talents were more inclined toward her day job. “I think I just might. It seems to pay a bit better too...” she teased back, moving to set the pizza on the coffee table.

She lifted her head when he called her Molly, tilting it to the side in confusion; a glance down at the motioned for pizza box told her all she needed to know, though, and with a laugh and a roll of her eyes, she shrugged. “They never can get my name right. I'm not so sure what's so hard about Moxie, but at least they got the Banner part right this time. Last time, when my brother ordered, we got a pizza for Benjamin Tanner...” she smirked and glanced around the room they were standing in, trying to see the “nice” that he seemed to see in it. To her, it was just home. “It does okay, I guess. Just don't look at the baby pictures in the living room, they're awful.” She laughed and glanced up the stairs, listening for any sign of her sister or her sister's friend's hearing the pizza deliver man coming.

They seemed safe... for the moment. She turned her attention back to Easton, clearing her throat as she tucked some hair behind her ear. “Do you want some pizza? I hear this Papa John's place is pretty good.”

[EASTON CORNELIUS CAULFIELD]

Easton couldn't help but laugh at the comeback she had just laid on him. This girl made more money sliding down poles for dirty old business men in one night than he did delivering pizzas to the wives of those said men in a week. A job like that would probably be a dream for all the cash it gave out. If there were actually a job for him like that-well, there were male stripping jobs easily available in this city but he didn't think he was exactly the perfect candidate for that kind of position....unless you talked to the woman that lived on Lafayette. Easton could swear that woman had his schedule written down on her calendar or something.

"It's probably so hard because no one is actually named "Moxie"," Easton teased, pulling at his shirt to keep the shirt from drying to his skin and causing another mess of problems. Out of all the names he heard on a regular basis, Easton had yet to meet another Moxie and knew the chances were slim that he ever would. "I usually get called "Ethan" and my name's plastered all over sporting equipment." Shrugging, Easton followed her, cranking his neck to look for any sign of baby pictures. "Baby pictures, huh? I'll be sure to look at them before I leave, then."

A snort came from him as she offered him pizza. "Really? I hear their pizza is terrible. You really should've chosen Dominos," he informed her before nodding. Even though pizza was a large part of his diet (taking extras home to put in the fridge), he was hungry enough for just about anything. Pausing, Easton took in Moxie for a moment, studying her with confusion. "Do you always dress this nicely to order in or...?"

(Blah! I got wordy too! I'm sorry! I'll try better next time too! :| )

[MOXIE LARK BANNER]

Moxie laughed, stepping to the side and into Easton's view of the living room. She held up her hands, playfully blocking him from her embarrassing baby pictures. "Ethan and Molly, how boring. Those can be our alteregos... you know, when we're not be super villains and all."

When he mentioned her state of dress, she risked a glance down before shrugging it off. "I wear pearls for when Mr.Chang's delivers, but I thought it was a bit much for pizza." she smirked up at him, pausing when she noticed him fooling with his shirt. She started toward the kitchen, talking over her shoulder as she went. "My date canceled on me twenty minutes after I got dressed and I didn't see the point in undressing after all that effort. I'll get you a shirt, if you want."

[EASTON CORNELIUS CAULFIELD]

A laugh escaped as Moxie did her best to block him from seeing the "embarrassing" baby photos on the walls. He doubted they could be any worse than the ones his mom proudly displayed back at home. Easton knew he was lucky to even be put on the walls back in Alaska, unless it was a sign of hate. The photo of him in the kitchen sink as a small child sure felt like torture anytime he had gone to visit. "Good thing were super villains more often than we're not. ...and you know I'm going to look at those baby pictures anyway before I leave, right?"

Following Moxie into the kitchen, he smirked at what she had to say about her attire. "Pearls would've definitely made you overdressed for pizza," he agreed, his smirk beginning to falter as she told him of how she got stood up. There wasn't much that Easton could say in a reply to that. "His lo-" he tried to come up with something to say but was stopped by Moxie offering him a shirt. "I'm good. It's more natural for me to be in paint covered clothes. You should try it sometime," he teased as they entered the kitchen. Leaning against the counter, Easton took his surroundings in.

"You know, you shouldn't have to sit here all night because the prick bailed."

[MOXIE LARK BANNER]

Moxie scoffed, eying his pink-stained shirt and shaking her head. “Oh, I think I'll pass on that offer.” She did a lot of weird things for theme nights at Bottoms Up, but painting had never really come up... she was hoping no one got wind of the idea either because it just sounded like a sticky mess. If she noticed his faltering, she didn't make a note of it or say anything toward it. She'd already gotten the 'his lost' speeches from both her older brothers as they had left for their own dates, it wasn't really like she was missing much by missing the speech from him.

She took some plates down from the cabinet and turned back to him, smiling to him softly as she held one out to him. When he reached for it, she pulled it back teasingly and tilted her head to one side. “I suppose if I had something to do, I would do it. You got anything in mind?”

[EASTON CORNELIUS CAULFIELD]

"You mean they don't make you wear paint on Fridays down at "the job"?" Easton inquired with a snort as he reached for his plate. He didn't really know much about the stripping business. For all he knew, paint could have been considered an bad unspoken policy because it ruined the poles. He had only been inside a strip club twice in his life, and the second time had lead to this.

Smirking as she pulled the plate away from him and tilted her head. "I might have something in mind, but I don't know if you'd be up to it, Princess," he sneered, reaching out and taking the plate from her with a victorious smile. He didn't exactly have an idea, but he knew it couldn't be hard to come up with something. With his free hand, Easton flipped open the pizza box. "If you could be doing anything right now, what would it be?"

[MOXIE LARK BANNER]

Moxie pointedly turned her attention to the doorway, watching for her sister or any of her sister's friends. When no one came around the corner, she looked back at Easton, lowering her voice. “Friday nights is costume night, if you must know.” she whispered teasingly under her breath, slightly uncomfortable with talking about her job in this house. Obviously no one could hear, but she hadn't told her parents or anyone else in her family what she did for a living now, and she hadn't really planned on telling anyone. She cleared her throat, forcing her smile back on- Easton hadn't meant any harm, she knew, he just didn't see the point in being upset about it. Their first meeting came to mind, with him yelling out her stage name in a crowded coffee shop... that put her smile right back into place.

Her nickname and his victorious smile at snatching the plate away instantly distracted her from the awkward turn of conversation. She bit her bottom lip and pretended to really think about what he was asking her, then finally spouted out the first thing that came to mind. “Watching the stars.”

[EASTON CORNELIUS CAULFIELD]

"...costume night?" Easton rhetorically asked, taking her lead on a hushed voice. He could take a hint. His eyes went to the doorway with confusion, then made their way back to Moxie. He might deliver pizzas and think that, some day, he could make a living on doing street art, but he wasn't stupid. Clearly, they weren't alone and someone was here that wasn't meant to know what she got up to on her evenings. Easton could understand, but he honestly didn't see a point in worrying about it.

Looking at the pizza-which was about as appetizing to him as roadkill after having spent all day around it-Easton listened to what she wanted to do and thought it over. Watching the stars. "Well, it's a good thing you live in the middle of the city, huh? Should work out great with that idea." he told her, setting the plate down and adjusting his headband. With all the city lights and pollution, there was no way the stars could ever reach this far. But....Easton pulled out his phone and checked the time, thinking.

[MOXIE LARK BANNER]

Keeping her voice lowered, she continued her explanation. “I was a nurse last week. If you have any brilliant ideas for next week...?” She smirked coyly, looking at him through her eyelashes before sliding a piece of pizza onto her plate. She didn't look up from the pizza as she spoke, picking at the pepperoni on the slice in front of her. “My sister's having a slumber party. I don't normally eat three pizzas on my own.” She smirked and looked up at him, glad that he had taken the hint from her and was nice enough not to go yelling on about it.

She sighed, though, when he mentioned sarcastically that her plans wasn't going to work out as easily as she wished it would. “I know.” She shrugged a shoulder, bringing a pepperoni up to her mouth and popping it in as she spoke. “I've only ever gotten to see pictures from other places, it's way too bright around here. You could almost see them... sometimes, really really late at night. Oh well.” She sighed again through her nose and made a face, looking around the kitchen. “You want a drink? I think we have beer somewhere for Dad.”