Don't even know -open-

[owen]

If he thought time had moved slowly before, it had been nothing compared to his time now. Ever since fighting the demon out of his body he'd tried to go back to normal but what was there? Everyone thought he had relapsed again, and even if he told them the truth, who would believe it? Demons, after all were just fairy tales. He could barely even be around people, every person he came across he stared, wondered if they were human, or were they trapped in a prison of their own body like he had been.

No, things suited him better inside, or out on the road where it felt like nothing could catch him. The life he had worked so hard to make himself, the reputation he had fought, and once succeeded, to over come was gone. He had stayed pretty much in the city, with the exceptions of the outskirts or other towns nearby.

Truth was, he couldn't go anywhere without a camera in his face or someone whispering behind his back. As if those were the worst things in his life. He just wanted to get away, somewhere, anywhere really where they didn't know his face, his story, his name. The furthest place away from New York he could imagine. He didn't know what he'd do when he'd got there, or where he wanted to go when and if he did decided to leave.

It was hard, to imagine, but he was pretty sure it was exactly what he needed. With a sigh he left the apartment and headed down to the street. Pulling a hood up he exited out the front door of the building behind some other residents sneaking down the road until he was far enough away that no one would have realised he'd left. All he wanted was a cup of coffee in peace, was that too much to ask for.

Heading down the street he slipped into the first starbucks he found and after getting his coffee settled into a seat in the back burying his attention into a news paper hoping to find news that didn't have his name mentioned in it.

[reynard]

Caffeine was the god of late night runners. Or mid morning runners. Really any time was good to take in the energy providing glory that was coffee. Not that Dani needed help staying awake these days. If she was lucky she might drift off for a few hours, but usually she just ended up staring at the ceiling of whatever fleabag motel she was crashing at, or the night sky if she didn't have a room. Tonight was looking like a room free night unfortunately, unless she could get some cash to pay off another night at the motel. There was still a good amount of time for that.

For now though, she was going to use the last couple dollars she had to obtain some sustenance as that felt more important. She stepped into a Starbucks, deciding to splurge a little on the overpriced sweetened swill they called coffee. Really she didn't get what the hype was about the place, she'd had much better coffee in a greasy diner on the side of the highway. But some of their stuff was good, and she was in the mood for that.

She ordered what she wanted then stood near the counter picking off tiny pieces of her muffin while she waited for her latte. She glanced around the place as she did, just for something to do. Her attention moved back to study some guy sitting in the back, a sense of familiarity filling her. For a moment she was not sure why, but then he moved slightly and she was able to see his face better.

She blinked, oh yeah he was definitely familiar. The guy she had met at the bar back when her mind was blank. He had been nice enough, but it was the memory of what had happened after leaving the bar that caused the faintest hint of color to cross her face. It hadn't been a bad experience or anything-rather, very enjoyable actually. There was just something about running into a random guy you slept with that was a bit, well awkward.

The sound of the barista calling her name snapped her from her thoughts. "Huh? Oh, thanks." She took the cup, silently wishing she had gotten it to go. Then it would be in a disposable cup and she could just take it and leave. But as it was she had one of the nicer porcelain ones that were used for customers who chose to enjoy their drinks inside. Perhaps the guy wouldn't notice her. Part of her was a bit disappointed at that idea-talking to him again might be nice, but she wasn't exactly sure what to say. She wasn't the same person really-not completely different but who Stark had been and who Dani was...there was a bit of a dividing line there.

[owen]

The news search was unfruitful it seemed as though the people of New York held more interest in his drug relapse than in actual news. He wondered if things had always been this way, if towns people had been more concerned with what the king was drinking or wearing rather than if their country was in war or not. Not that he thought himself a king or anything, he wasn't that conceited. Narrowing his eyes for a moment he sighed taking a drink from his coffee lifting his eyes for a moment and within seconds of doing so, had suddenly wished he hadn't bothered to look up at all.

His blue eyes immediately settled on a girl that seemed, familiar to him and a nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach that assured him how. He looked back down quickly and cursed slightly under his breath. To be honest this wasn't the first time he'd run into someone his demon had interacted with but somehow, this was different. He remembered, bits and pieces of that night. He'd been there, in the back of his mind fighting. The girl had seemed, nice, interesting and more importantly probably too young for him to be interested in despite the fact that Abaddon hadn't been the only one interested.

A hint of colour appeared in his face as he thought about it and knew she would likely recognize him, or maybe not... maybe she was just that kind of person, though somehow he seriously doubted that. It was times like now, the anxiety and nerves raising in himself that he felt the real need to turn back to his substance abuse habits, instead he drown himself in caffeine. Taking another big drink of his coffee he knew he couldn't just sit there.

He felt bad, not necessary that what happened had been...bad per say but it hadn't really been right. Even on his darkest days he'd never been a one night stand kind of guy. Taking a slow breath he stood up from his place and carefully move across the shop. He stopped halfway wondering how exactly he was going to approach this. He wasn't Owen... that demon was long gone. He was Will Vanderbilt and this girl didn't know him as Will, how could he possibly explain to a stranger that he'd been possessed by a demon, when the likely explanation was that he'd used a fake name to avoid being recognized.

He couldn't turn back now, that much was sure so he kept going. "Hey... mind if I join you?" He asked. Lame opening at best but it certainly was an improvement over 'sorry I took advantage of you, I was possessed by a greater demon at the time'

[reynard]

Dani's attention was focused downward for the moment, watching the design that had been done in her latte slowly twirl away as she moved her spoon through the liquid. She was trying to keep her mind relatively blank and not think on anything much for a bit but that wasn't quite working. The sight of him had caused her mind to start focusing on the last time she had met him, a time that she, to be honest, had tried to avoid focusing on too much, especially in regards to any of the little moral details that came up with it.

She wondered at times if it would had been different in another situation, if she'd been more...experienced. But there had been none before him and none after (a detail she was glad for personally, as that would have just compounded the issue really). It wasn't that she regretted what had happened, not really. It was just, saying your first time was a random hook up in a bar, especially for a girl wasn't exactly considered a good thing.

A voice, one perfectly familiar pulled her from her thoughts and she found herself staring up into the eyes of the very person such thoughts had been focused on. Well now wasn't this interesting. On the one hand it was a bit, potentially very awkward. What should she say to him? Sorry about hooking up with you randomly like that, I don't normally do such things but I was experiencing a bit of extreme amnesia brought on by a supernatural abomination and wasn't thinking so clearly? That wouldn't work at all. For one thing he'd never believe it, and for another she wasn't completely sorry. She would have just preferred better circumstances.

On the other hand though she was actually quite happy to see him again. That of course as always was not wise, but such was the case. He was still attractive, that hadn't changed at all. But something else had. His demeanor, the way he moved, that was different than the last time. He didn't have that same arrogant self assured swagger of before. He looked more...well more like a normal guy rather than one who was king of the world and well aware of it-and wanted to be sure everyone else was too.

"Hey Owen," she said. It occurred to her that he did not know her name-he knew her as Stark and that had just been a moniker to take the place of a lack of one. She should probably fix that at some point. It did not occur to her at that moment that she did not know his either, just what he'd gone by then. It was a bit funny really in a somewhat unpleasant sense considering the circumstances.

She nodded to his request. "Feel free. Bit of company might be nice for a little while."

[owen]

Will almost stopped in place when she called him Owen. He didn't know why he felt so surprised by the gesture since he had pretty much already been preparing himself for it. He couldn't blame her for it, she had known him by that name because the demon had given her that name. It made him uncomfortable and yet somehow, on the other hand it was sort of refreshing that she had no idea who he was other than just 'owen from the bar'. He couldn't however keep any association with the name anymore, he needed to try to cut that whole section out of his life.

It wasn't the first time he'd run into someone he'd encountered as Owen before, the first time he'd been addressed as such. Most of them figured out who he was and decided in their own minds that he'd been trying to use a fake name to hide his addition and his behavioral issues. Actually, he might have thought that was a half decent idea if it had been anywhere even close to the truth. "It's Will actually" He explained with a casual shrug moving forward to take a seat after she gave him permission to do so.

"Will Vanderbilt" He left off the third to avoid any sort of ... ideas that may have followed. "It was never Owen...It's- " he trailed off slightly. As he looked at her something inside him felt comfortable like he could just open up and tell her the truth, the logical part of his brain on the other hand was screaming at him that it wasn't the case, he couldn't tell her the truth, he couldn't tell anyone the truth.

"a Long story" he admitted which it was, and hard to explain without sounding crazy."Stark as in Tony right?" he asked. Amusing if she were acutally related...to the fictional character. Who didn't want to know Tony Stark...hell at one point he'd dreamt of being Tony Stark and in some ways, for brief moments he was, minus the genius aspects.

[reynard]

She blinked at his reaction to her saying his name. That was odd, he almost seemed...startled by it. Surely he should have expected his name-unless he didn't remember. Maybe he was the sort who just hooked up with so many girls or so easily that it wasn't worth his time to remember all of them and she'd just managed somehow to run into him a second time. That could make this even more awkward, especially if she had to explain how she knew his name. The thought made a brief surge of unhappiness move through her along with a trace of jealousy. She took a sip of her latte just for something to do while she clamped down on such ideas. Even if he had slept with a thousand other women she had no right to complain. He wasn't hers after all. Still the idea ruffled her the wrong way a bit.

Then he gave a different name. For a moment she wondered if perhaps he had a twin but that didn't appear to be the case. He wasn't reacting or saying anything that would indicate such a thing. Maybe she'd mistaken him? But even as she thought that, she was sure it wasn't the case. She'd had plenty of time to remember what his face looked like, among other things. No, bad mind, do not think on such things. Now was most certainly not the time to to dwell on such matters no matter how nice they might be.

"Will," she murmured echoing what was apparently his actual name, tying that into the memory of him so she'd know if she ran into him again in the future. She smiled faintly as he spoke once more, offering a lack of explanation as way of explanation. "Some stories are worth hearing," she commented. If he didn't want to tell though, she wasn't about to push. Not now. She of all people could understand not telling something. Sure she was curious about why he'd used a different name, but in the end it was his issue to speak of or not.

She chuckled softly at his mention of Stark. Well it seemed neither of them had learned the true name that night. Internally though, she gave a silent little cheer-her idea that he hadn't remembered her was not true. She wasn't sure why this was such a big deal-well aside from the obvious. But she was pleased that he still recalled who she was or who he thought she was at least. Like him though, it was a mistake she'd have to correct. "Danika actually-or Dani," she said. "Um, Iayataio, not Stark. Stark is...was-" she tilted her head and grinned wryly. "Another long story I'm afraid."

Well, it wasn't like she could tell him the truth. Even the most basic part of it, that she'd had amnesia would risk leading to too many questions. Since he'd already provided a perfect excuse with his response, she saw no reason not to borrow it as well. "Hadn't really expected to run into you again, especially here. Been up to anything good since-well since last I saw you?"

[owen]

As she assured him that some stories were worth hearing he glanced down at his drink and thought about it for a moment. She was right, but in this case he wasn't so sure about that. “Yeah...some really aren't meant to be shared” he admitted. “Otherwise people seem to jump to the wrong conclusions, and quickly” he admitted.

Logically there were two explanations to the situation. He had lied about his name, about who he was just to get action which made him a complete prick, which he wasn't. The second logical option was the fact that he was insane. No doubt she would think one or the other if he were to try to explain the situation to her, though he figured that if he didn't tell her she would assume he lied, and if he did she'd think he was crazy.

He really wasn't sure what was worse, if she thought he was a liar, or crazy. He actually chuckled slightly at the fact that he hadn't known her real name either. It wasn’t funny and yet on some level there was part of it that was that they had both not been themselves. Another long story she said which made him nod in understanding. “well then I guess we've never really met” he admitted lifting his eyes to look at her with a smile offering his hand.

“Nice to meet you Danika. I'm Will” he said introducing himself. “No...a bit the opposite in fact” he admitted. He'd come full aware of himself to find his life in shambles. He'd gotten himself back on track before the demon had taken over.

He'd been completely clean, sober, engaged... he was what his company wanted him to be. Then the demon had sent him into a tailspin and thrown his hard work out the window. Even still, it was hard to say no to his temptations. “Been in a bit of a tailspin actually...part of the long story” he added.

[reynard]

Wordlessly she tilted her head slightly and regarded him for a few moments after he spoke. "True,' she said after a moment. "Or they never believe you anyway." She smiled faintly; she knew about those sorts of stories. Unless someone had experience or knowledge certain things especially those that defied the norm were not widely accepted. She was curious now though what had happened to him that made him so leery of speaking. Then again she was a stranger really so it was understandable that he didn't want to share.

As for why he didn't want to share his name, well there were plenty of possibilities for that. He could have just been the sort who didn't like leaving random hook ups with any proper knowledge of him-which would make him a bit of a jerk really but she doubted that. If that was the case he wouldn't have come over and said hi, or given his proper name. And he didn't seem crazy. So it was possible there was some other reason. Besides, she had done the same thing in giving a false name. Granted her reason had been because she didn't know hers at the time but still. She couldn't judge too harshly on that point.

"No, seems we didn't," she responded. At least not in a proper sense. Physically they certainly had met-though that made things sound so much worse. She groaned internally, best to just move away from that line of thought. She was a bit glad now to be getting to meet him better and talk a little. Less of a stranger this way. Of course eventually she'd have to remember to remind him to get lost and stay away. Not because she didn't like him-he seemed nice and intrigued her, not to mention he was still appealing, but because she'd rather not see him end up dead or worse. But she'd put that off. She was enjoying herself for now.

She smiled, taking his hand as he offered it. "I'm happy to know you Will." She blinked at his words as she released his hand for the moment. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear it. Any chance I might be able to help?" She had no idea how she could and a voice in the back of her mind told her she was crazy for offering, she had enough trouble on her own to help anyone in any possible way. She ignored that. If she could help him a little somehow then it could be a much better-not to mention vastly healthier method of briefly distracting herself from the troubles of life. Plus it could let her have a reason to spend a little more time with him and she could not honestly say she would object to that.

"That doesn't sound pleasant. I hope things aren't still spiraling down for you..." She nodded slightly. "Such things usually are," she commented. Most of the time if someone said it was a long story either meant exceedingly boring for outside parties or more often involving something bad. She was pretty sure his long story was of the bad line.

[owen]

He laughed slightly though it wasn't really that genuine it was a feeble attempt at covering up his pain. Laughing had become a reflexive response to peoples comments. If you just gave a bit of a laugh they didn't think anything was really wrong that he found his own misfortunate amusing and so they didn't really have to give any concern about it. That was life, and human nature it seemed. Everyone wanted to seem sympathetic but no one truly was. They said 'oh what's wrong' but they never really wanted to know, because once you lay out your problems for everyone to see their ignorance was shattered and suddenly their lack of interest made them a horrible person for not wanting to help instead of an uninformed one.

“My whole life has been a downward spiral so it's not really any different from any other day” he admitted. It seemed selfish, bratty even to say that when he came from such money, but the saying could not be more true, money didn't buy happiness. It didn't bring his parents or his sister back from the dead and it certainly hadn't protected him from demon possession. In fact it had been part of the reason he'd been lead into addiction in the first place, with cash to burn drugs were not hard to find and everyone wanted to keep them flowing so you kept paying.

“But I'm dealing a bit better now I think” he said with a genuine smile at this point. Somehow, this stranger was easy to talk to, a feeling her couldn't explain but he felt at ease, at home even sitting there with her like it was the most natural thing in the world. He thought to himself for a moment before he thought about what had happened, he'd been...there mentally somewhat and well it just wasn't like him to do the one night stand thing.

“Hey umm so I know it's sort of... a moot point now but, for what it's worth I'm sorry” he offered. “I mean, I just... that's not me, even at my worst I was never a one night stand kind of guy I seems like a jerk thing to do” he'd always tried to avoid it, and there he'd done it with this girl, this really young girl, he felt like a truly horrible person. It wasn't that he hadn't...enjoyed himself but it was beyond that. “I'd like to make it up to you if you'd let me” he offered. “Not...like that I mean-” he started realizing it might have sounded like he was offering to sleep with her again, not at all he just wanted to do something nice for her.