You Again? -Evanna-

[DASTAN GERARD RILEY]

Dastan watched from a distance as his daughter tries to walk. He couldn't believe how much she had grown in the past few months. Her blond hair was long enough now to actually put into pony tails, though admittedly he left that kind of stuff to the Nanny's. Being a guy, and an only child, and a guy that worked with all guys everyday, things like pony tails and dresses were sort of beyond his expertise.

He did was he could though and today that just meant leaving her hair alone and putting her in whatever he could find that was clean. "Come on Mess... you can do it" she could stand like no body's business but the minute she tried to move her feet her balance completely faltered and she went tumbling down to the ground. "Daddy's right here kiddo I'm not gonna let you fall" well, maybe he would but his arms were out so he was going to do his best to make sure that he caught her when and if she did.

He instead gave her the tip of his finger to hold herself steady and watched as she tried and fell to the ground with a whimper that turned into a steady stream of tears. He smiled a little. "Alright princess come on" he said picking her up. "You're okay you're just being a brat, what did I tell you about being a Brat? I'm not gonna let you be" he kissed the side of her head gently and picked up her bag. "Better luck next time... and soon you'll be skating like no body's business" It was the only real skill he had to teach her.

He was dreading any sort of girliness that was going to come in the future because he really wasn't going to know how to handle it. "and if you mother wasn't such a bitch we wouldn't have that problem" He muttered, he shouldn't be saying that. Sure she was a baby but still, it was bad to talk about her mother that way even if it was the truth.

As they walked down the street back to the hotel he realised quickly that she didn't have Gracie. "Shit" he muttered. That would not do... a night without Gracie was a night from hell, he remembered so clearly the times they'd forgotten it at home, he didn't want to relive that again. Who would have thought that a tiny stuffed elephant could mean the world to a baby. "Guess we're going back" He muttered. She must have dropped it somewhere, now the task was tracing back his steps.

[EVANNA NATALIE ARRYN]

"I don't need a babysitter," she snarled into the phone, her mother talking away on the other line. God, the woman was infuriating, she never let her finish her statements, "It was one time. One time, it won't happen again." Still she was talking, on and on. Evanna felt herself rolling her eyes, she hated her mother. She wasn't even sure as to why she had picked up the phone. Then again, it had been the house phone meaning that it could have been her dad or one of her siblings. Damn her mom, she knew her tricks too well now, "Well, if you send anybody, I'll shoot them myself. Bye." And with that, she hung up her phone, not even giving her mom a chance to finish. She was not in the mood to deal with this right now, her cases were off the wall. For some reason, they always seemed to bring her to the coldest states ever.

The wind blew, giving way to a little chill and she wrapped her bomber jacket a little tighter around her. Albany, New York was the last place she really cared to be at the moment. Next time, she was hitting California back up again if it was the last thing she did, or Florida, she bet Florida was lovely this time of year. But no, it had just been cold state after cold state, and there was nothing memorable about any of them other than they sucked. Evanna was lost in angry thought as she briskly made her way down the street, already strategically thinking about her case when something caught her eye. Abruptly, she stopped and glanced down at the bench on her right side.

It was an elephant. A little worn out, but it was diffidently an elephant. Evanna just stared at the thing, and it just stared back. Somebody must be missing it. After a moment, she just picked it up now, staring at the thing a little more before checking out the tag. No name. Somebody caught her examination, "Oh, a little girl dropped it, I don't think the dad even noticed," because guys are unobservant, Evanna finished off her in mind, "What way were they heading?" she asked now, glancing back at the woman pointed off towards the hotel district, "They headed that way. Poor guy's probably in for a rough night." She stared down the street, guess she might as well try and be a good samaritan for once in her life. Thanking the woman now, Evanna headed on her way.

She felt a little weird holding a stuffed elephant though. Even though it wasn't a blaringly obvious elephant, it was still an elephant. Something so, well, innocent as a child's toy, Evanna felt criminal holding it. Afraid some of her life would rub off on the thing. She stopped and turned around, ready to head back in the direction to which she came from. This was probably a bad mistake. Not to mention, a father and a child...it brought her back to Minnesota with that hockey player and his daughter. God, he had been infuriating, but his daughter had been cute, and in that moment it had showed weakness. They never ran into each other again, she made sure of it. Although she had also been sure of what the dad had been, she had just left.

And of course, got met with high criticism from her mother. Evanna didn't care what her mother thought, she was the one who forced her into this in the first place, or at least, she gave her a really hard shove. Whatever, didn't matter anyways, it had been a few months. She glanced down at the elephant and then sighed, no, she shouldn't give up, not just yet. With that, Evanna turned and of course, slammed into something, or some one. There was a scowl on her face as she glanced up, but it quickly turned into a momentary shock, "What the fuck," she said, starting at him, "You again?"

Freaking Dastan Riley. So much for never seeing him again.

[DASTAN GERARD RILEY]

He he hurried back he wasn't paying as close attention to the streets as he should have been so he wasn't all that surprised when someone came around the corner an he wasn't able to dodge them before they slammed directly into him. Luckily he'd had enough time to shift his body to protect Messier from the hit, probably his hockey training, he was always bracing himself for checking, quick reflexes. One it had happened her turned his body square again his blue eyes landing on the culprit.

"sorry" he said first before he even really took in the sight but his blue eyes widened when they landed on the girl. His mouth dropped slightly in surprise and he was at a complete loss of words. Of all the people in all the world, he had not been expecting to this this one agian. He was still speechless as he stood there, he was actually dumbfounded as he stared at her.

It wasn't until her swearing snapped him out of his shock did he begin to realise he had just been standing there. "Mind your language" he said there was a child in the vicinity honestly the last thing he needed was for her first words to be swears. "she's picking up quick" he said she was going to be running around spewing vulgarities soon enough he wanted her to stay cute for a while at least.

"What are-" he had started to ask what she was doing there when he spotted the tell tale elephant in her hand. He blinked in surprise. "You found Gracie" he said surprise coming through the tone in his voice " well I guess I owe you cause you saved us from a sleepless night" he said. "Thank you"

[EVANNA NATALIE ARRYN]

He said sorry like it had been nothing, but Evanna wasn't even sure if he fully realized who she was off the bat. She had a grave feeling that this may turn awkward, and she knew that she should just leave, and not even give him a chance. Yet her feet were rooted to the spot as her eyes fell on the little girl in his arm. Evanna supposed she should be thankful that she hadn't slammed into the arm with Messier in it, or else she truly would feel like a villain. As the awkward silence began to fill the air though, she glanced quickly back to Dastan now with his blue eyes widening every second and his mouth was agape in just the smallest manner. Clearly, their feelings about never running into each other again had been pretty mutual.

While she managed to hide the shock in her expression, her words certainly gave her away. But that was all she managed to comment on. Evanna was watching the other closely now, a familiar scowl starting to tug at her lips as her eyes narrowed, everything from their first encounter all flooding back at once. Finally though, it was Dastan who broke the silence now, seemingly finally catching onto the fact that she had cussed and chastised her for using foul language, something about his daughter picking up words quickly. The statement only caused her to roll her eyes, "If she's picking up quickly, that's not my fault," she replied simply, "After all, it's not like I live with you. Messier's picking up her words from you, not me." And that was a sure enough statement, besides, he's the werewolf, he probably has a temper of his own.

Great, there she was again, jumping to conclusions about him. Evanna did that a lot though with any person though, he wasn't that special. Either way, she was getting defensive about it, especially since she probably shouldn't have sworn period since it gave too much away on her current stance with the celebrity, one that his fans would probably be murdering her over. Dastan started to speak again, and as soon as she heard the 'what', Evanna knew that she had to try and find up an excuse, a concrete one that she didn't have to explain. There was always work, because that was the truth, but that left too many open questions and she didn't want to deal with prying curiosity. It's not as if their last encounter had been a 'get to know you' sort of conversation.

Before she could go further into any questions though, he cut his question off and was glancing down at something in surprise. Evanna already felt her eyebrow arching a little, "What's wrong?" she asked, but quickly got her answers, "I found...who?" feeling a little lost and confused before her mind wandered to the elephant in her hand. She glanced down at it, thinking back to the woman 'a father and daughter left it behind' were the words echoing in her head. He could not be serious, but he looked so surprised that Evanna knew this wasn't a joke, not on purpose at least. Somebody else could have been playing it though. She probably shouldn't be standing there stupidly though.

"Here Messier," she managed now, holding out the elephant, or maybe she should say 'Gracie' to the little girl now. Evanna still knew there was a surprise tone playing out through Dastan's voice, and she was a little taken aback by the whole 'i owe yous and thank yous'. It was not something she was entirely accustomed to, "Uhh, you don't owe me anything. It was just sitting on a bench and a woman told me that a dad left it behind...I just figured I'd try and find the owner," she commented now before adding on a little sourly, "Believe me, I had no idea it was yours."

[DASTAN GERARD RILEY]

He didn't exactly need a reminder that she didn't live with him, that was quite clear, no one lived with him, they couldn't really. He couldn't trust anyone enough to help him, to show them the side of himself that he had to keep in control. "Right" he said not really surprised at her attitude, really on their first meeting things had started out similar but he'd thought they were getting better until she seemed to think he thought too highly of himself when he'd been somewhat annoyed at being recognized. How could she blame him? Every time he turned the corner someone wanted something from him.

"Gracie... that's what she calls her Elephant, or well her-" he didn't really need to get into the explanation of how her Nanny had named is that and it had just sort of stuck. He watched as his daughter happily took the little elephant into her hands and snuggled it like it was her only possession in the world. It was funny watching kids attachment to toys. Stuffed animals, blankets...the one little thing that was nothing more than a few bits of material could maintain the entire well being of a child's psyche.

"What do you say Messier?" he asked but she couldn't reeaaally talk not enough to say thank you he instead watched as she blew a kiss. "close enough I guess" he stated with a bit of a crooked and amused half smile settling on his face. He didn't understand at all why his daughter seemed to take to Evanna every time hey met, he had yet to see any redeemable qualities, aside from maybe her appearence, and well...obviously she wasn't as heartless a person as she may have had him believe if she was so willing to go looking for the child that had lost the toy.

"and if you'd known you wouldn't have bothered returning it?" he asked. Did she really hate him that badly? One wrong step and suddenly he was the anti-christ? "well I guess I'm glad you didn't know it was me then because you made my daughter the happiest kid in the state...possible country, all over an elephant"

[EVANNA NATALIE ARRYN]

Funny how nothing ever really changes, their conversation seemed to be going very much in the same direction as it had before when they first meet. Not that Evanna minded at all, after all, she was the one who was steering this whole conversation with her flat and stand offish attitude. Letting her guard down wasn't going to happen, she didn't need to develop any sort of friendship with Dastan, she didn't want anything about him to seem remotely human to her, but it was hard to do when Evanna could tell how much he cared deeply for his daughter. That was how bonds worked usually, and it bothered her to no end. She had killed many werewolves, why should a man and his daughter be any different?

But that wasn't her job, she wasn't here to kill them. In fact, it was still a bit of a shock running into them again. There were never any odds of that unless you gave the man your number, and Evanna liked to believe that she was rather far from any of those ideas, "The Nanny named the Elephant," she finished now, staring at him for a moment before back to the young girl who happily took her toy. The elephant, or Gracie, was clearly rather loved, even more loved than she could have imagined and for a moment, she wondered how a toy even endured such things. Watching her actions though, it had been clear that Dastan hadn't been joking, "You weren't really going to sleep the night at all, were you?"

Screaming children, that had been the only thing about her high school and college babysitting gigs that she didn't miss, but she understand. That attachment thing, she knew it very well. Evanna kept her eyes on Messier when her father engaged her in a question, her response was quite adorable with the kiss. Genuine laughter escaped her now, smiling at the little girl, "You are very welcome, Messier." Honestly, she had forgotten that Dastan had even been there for a moment until he spoke, his question rattling her brain for a moment and finally, her gaze returned to him.

"I didn't say that," she snapped slightly, but it might have been heavily implied. The phone call that she had had but a mere half an hour ago had her slightly spooked, her mother hadn't dropped the idea that she let a werewolf go. Thankfully, Evanna had good sense to not say any names, "I just didn't want you think I was stalking you or whatever it is that your fan club does." Oddly enough though, she could see the appeal. For a hockey player, he still looked in incredibly good shape without anything looking broken forever and well, he was, without a doubt, highly attractive. But she would rather dig her own grave and kill herself before admitting that. After all, this wasn't Twilight.

She scoffed a little at the last leg of his statement, "Come on Dastan, you were a child once too. I'm sure you had something of value. I did, it was a wolf." Evanna paused, mainly because the wind picked up a little bit and once again, she found herself hating her life even more that she wasn't in California, "What are you doing here anyways? Shouldn't you be in like, Canada or Russia, or someplace where they actually play your sport?" Now that she thought about it, she first met him in like Minnesota or some strange insignificant state like that, "Either way, you're a bit of a ways away from when I last had the pleasure of meeting you."

[DASTAN GERARD RILEY]

He shook his head "not if she would have had anything to say about it, and try explaining that to an angry sports team" his team mates would not have been happy to say the least if he'd shown up tired and unrested for the game all because his daughter was screaming over al elephant. They didn't get it though, it wasn't like he had a wife or a girlfriend to help, it was just him. He didn't want to pawn her off on nannies all the time either so when he was free it was just the two of them which meant when she was scared, or sick, or screaming he was the one that stayed up with her, there were no other options.

" I don't think I have a fan club..." he trailed off, not personally at least, his team perhaps but those were mostly men which was weird in itself but they didn't stalk they just sort of...screamed? There were girl fans too sure, but they hardly stalked just liked to be suck ups which was annoying. Her comment about having a wolf as a child caught him a little off guard but he tried not to show it, or react as though his reaction were to something else.

" No my parents didn't really give me anything like that" he admitted. "My hockey stick maybe..." though that hadn't exactly been an emotional attachment or anything like that he had just been practically glued to the thing because he loved the game, he didn't sleep with it or anything, and if he didn't have it, or misplaced it he would just simply borrow one from the neighbour. However, his childhood had not exactly been... what one would call normal, despite having very normal parents, and a very normal family.

"...The New York Rangers" he said was she joking? Hell, he really hated when people acted like Hockey didn't exist anywhere but Canada, sure the majority of the players, or at least the decent ones originated from up North but that was most due to weather conditions more than anything else. Jesus, they even had a team in L.A it wasn't completely a far gone concept that he would be there. "We're training in a facility out here for our game against them in the city tomorrow... I play for Minnesota which is why you say me there the first time" He explained.

"I'm never in one place for two long, New York today, Tampa Bay tomorrow, Pheonix next week" he explained. Then he would have a five game home stretch which would be nice because it meant he could actually be at home, in his own house, in his own bed instead of a hotel room.

[EVANNA NATALIE ARRYN]

"Well, make them babysit her and get a taste of your living," granted, if she had been in the same position, she wasn't sure if she would trust a bunch of hockey players to her child. The idea seemed rather, well, dangerous. But still, people who didn't have kids didn't understand what it was like, especially when it seemed like Dastan didn't particular give her to nannies, of course, that was assumption since well, both times now, he had Messier with him. Wait, was she sympathizing with Dastan now? Evanna nearly made a face at the thought, but managed to keep it under control. This was starting to become utterly annoying.

She merely shrugged at her comment, fan club or not, he didn't react well to people recognizing his face. Evanna supposed that there could be other reasons, but his status was the least of her interest. Her eyes remained locked on him, watching him to see if there would be a stir at the mentioning of her little wolf. There looked like there had been the tiniest of stirs, but to his credit, he was quickly playing it off now, "A hockey stick doesn't count. You can't cuddle that, or at least, I hope you weren't cuddling that." It didn't sound very pleasant, plus, any guy who did that was probably making up for what they were lacking in the bio department.

The way he stated the New York Rangers made it seemed as if he was stating the most obvious thing in the world. Evanna did nothing but frown and stare at him, "Don't look at me like that. I like UFC fighting. Hockey's my brother's thing." Why the hell did she even just give him that personal information? Whatever, it's not like it meant anything important. Besides, she was allowed to speak what ever assumptions she had about the sport, never mind that it seemed to be a big thing for them during the Winter Olympics, "Training facility?" her interest perked up a little, merely for her own interest. Granted, sports teams usually got their own private facility, but private things were always meant to be broken into, or well, paid money to get into.

His mentioning of Minnesota, well, that was just a good note that she was going to keep to herself? Why? Just because, it would be easier to avoid. Granted, she had thought she was never going to see him again after well, Minnesota, yet here they were chatting it up in New York, "Why are telling me your schedule? Hoping I'll follow you?" That was a rough joke, and also in poor taste, or at least according to her. Already, Evanna found herself quickly scrambling out of it now, "Sorry. That was...whatever, shouldn't she be walking now?" she inquired, nodding at Messier in his arms.

[DASTAN GERARD RILEY]

"Hah...yeah I don't think so they can barely take care of themselves, they'd great to be fun Uncles but no way I'd trust them with her... I don't really trust anyone with her" he admitted, cept the Nanny and even then that was just because he had no other choice. He didn't even trust his parents with her, he feared whenever he left her alone with them they were going to do something to test if she was like him, he feared what would happen to her if she was. "Guess I didn't have anything then..." he said with a shrug. He didn't literally sleep with his hockey stick no but it was his only possession as a child he gave a damn about, admittedly the psychological damage of being chained up once enough might have pushed him to hold onto something but instead he'd chosen to hold onto himself, his humanity he was pretty sure that was part of what made his changes a lot easier to control now.

"You like fighting huh?" he asked with a bit of a grin. "There's a lot of that in Hockey too you know, and only about a quarter of it is staged" he was joking, less than that but there were some fights where he just shook his head and knew the players were just doing it to get the crowd going, the rest of it was pretty damn real, not that he even got much of the grunt, one hit and he could take down almost any opponent thought admittedly he tried to avoid it considering his supernatural side gave him a bit of a strength advantage, and his height didn't hurt either. Most hockey injuries that were addcidents alone were pretty gruesome, he'd lost a team mate who'd had his neck snapped against the edge of the boards, another permanently scarred from a skate to the face. Luckily, he'd managed to avoid anything serious, he still had all his own teeth, very few scars, most of which were from his changes anyway.

"No... I " he started he didn't know why he'd been telling her actually and when she put it like that his brow furrowed as he wondered if that had been his underlying hope... no, he wasn't no...not at all it just came out or something. He turned his attention then to his daughter and he nodded. "She should..." He placed her down still holding her hands as she stood up straight. "She can walk if I hold onto her...and she's even managed a step or two on her own but then she gives up, not enough motivation I guess" He slipped his fingers from her hands and watched her stand there a little unsteady her blue eyes staring at the woman in front of her. He noticed as he had let go of her hands one of them gripped onto his jeans and he sighed slightly. " I guess she's just not ready to fly"

[EVANNA NATALIE ARRYN]

He was turning out to be quite the overprotective father and the girl wasn't even talking yet. She wondered if there was something behind it, like he thought that she might have inherited something. Or he thought someone would use her against him. The possibilities were starting to unfold in Evanna's mind but it was hard to figure out if this mentality was a celebrity or a suspicion of being a werewolf thing. Then again, she wouldn't trust a bunch of hockey players either, "Don't you have a nanny?" She already knew the answer, but maybe it'd turn into something more. Some people just like to talk, and gave away things inadvertently without even thinking.

"What a sad childhood you had then. I totally went on countless adventures with my toys," back when she was normal and innocent. Those were the days before her mother ruined her with the real world. That bubbling annoyance at her mother rose up in her now, Evanna's thoughts flickering back to the call, 'If you need help tracking that werewolf all what you have to do is say the word'. There was no werewolf though, or at least, it hadn't been fully decided yet and Evanna was at a stand still for some reason with this. She couldn't exactly figure out why yet. No, she shouldn't even allow her thoughts to wander, regardless though, any killing would be done by her. She didn't need help nor wanted it.

Evanna caught a bit of a grin starting to form on his face when he asked her about fighting, "Well, yeah, why wouldn't I?" she asked, almost a little defensive. She probably shouldn't though, being a girl, she should be dainty. In fact, she should probably steer herself away from this conversation away from it turning into being about her. Thankfully though, Dastan managed to do that himself, "Staged? In Hockey? I don't believe you," all of those brawls looked real enough to her. Granted, it's not as if she really took time out of her day to really study an ice hockey match. She didn't even understand the rules, well, if there were any rules to that sport, "You seem pretty unmaimed. Heal up nicely or something?" He was tall though, that was probably all what he needed in the sport.

Talk about things being awkward though. Evanna just stared at him as Dastan stumbled a little in his words, clearly uncertain himself as his brow furrowed. She didn't know what to make of it, "It was just a poor joke. No need to get weird about it," Evanna replied, but even she sounded a little uncertain herself. Thank god for Messier or things could have gotten really awkward. She watched as he set his daughter down, and she seemed to be standing quite fine, if not a little close to the column known as her father's leg. Messier's eyes were locked on her though, and Evanna didn't quite know why, it's not as if she was nice to the girl's father.

Still, Evanna could not help but to smile, if just a little. She bent over a little, her hand brushing up against the little elephant, "I'm going to borrow Gracie for just a few seconds, Messier," and gently tugged the elephant away now. Her gaze moved to Dastan for a moment before she backed up a few feet, and put some distance between them, "You know, walkings’ usually an A to B sort of thing with grown ups. She doesn't know me, so I'm not really sure if this will work. But for future reference, you should get help." And not to mention, having an elephant hostage would probably help as well. Evanna crouched down again, on eye level, "Messier. Come get Gracie."

[DASTAN GERARD RILEY]

“Yeah I do but ...that's more out of necessity than want” he explained. He traveled so much and with his...condition he didn't have a choice, there were times he simply could not be around and he needed someone to be, if that meant he had to pay someone who had experience well, that was what he was willing to do, at least some of the time but he usually made sure it was a last resort.

“Sometimes...” he said pointedly. “A lot of it is still real” he assured her. “bout 80 percent” He laughed when she commented on the fact that he didn't seem to look like he'd been too beaten and he shrugged. “Hockey players are tall...I'm still taller” he added. “not many people wanna take me on, and if they do I can usually end it pretty quickly, if I have to” the final confession. He didn't particularly like to fight, he was there to play the game and really play it. Yes, fans loved a good fight but they also loved a good goal a lot better.

He almost protested when she went to take the elephant away, after all he didn't want a screaming fest that he was going to have to deal with but surprisingly thought there was a little fight to let go his daughter didn't even fuss she just watched the woman before her intently. “I don't have any help..” he started but didn't even want to go there. He didn't have his parents around, he didn't have a wife, or a girlfriend for that matter, he didn't even have her mother around for help. The nanny he only employed when he couldn't be around and sure he had friends but, they weren't exactly interested in helping him teach his baby to walk.

He blinked in surprise that his daughter stayed quiet but watched as she just stared at the elephant. “Go on Mess, go get her” he said, encouraging his daughter to walk to the stranger was weird but it was mostly strange because he got a vibe that his daughter didn't consider this strange woman, a stranger at all.

The first inkling of anything was her little fingers loosening their grip on his jeans an he held his breath as he watched her standing on her own balance a little off but still relatively steady. His eyes widened slightly as she took her first unsteady step and then a few more until she'd gotten herself into a little waddle, closer and closer to the woman until her little hands closed around the elephant again. "Holy shit.." he muttered. "How did you do that?" he asked. "What are you the baby whisperer?" there was a slightly accusing tone in his voice but he didn't mean anything by it he was genuinely shocked. She had just walked... by herself more like a step... more than even two steps, she's taken a whole few strides and to a complete stranger... just some woman they'd met a grand total of two encounters, a woman who didn't even like him...at all she'd made that certainly clear.

[EVANNA NATALIE ARRYN]

Evanna didn't know on what to make of the nanny statement. He had to know that he couldn't do all of that by himself, or at least at his daughter's age. People could be strange about their kids though, as well as their independence and so on. She only heaved a sigh and kept her comments to herself, after all, it was his kid and she very well knew why he needed the nanny. After all, he was busy half of the time, and other other half, well, she was certain Dastan grew canines and tried to eat people's hearts. He seemed oddly calm though, usually she thought werewolves were a little bit more on the aggressive side in human form. Maybe she was wrong, but there was also hockey.

Twenty percent of fakeness was still a little disappointing. Not that she watched though, and even now, she knew that she wasn't going to bother with it. There were bigger things in the world that she had to worry about, and they did not include hockey. She eyed him for a moment at his little explanation, fighting didn't seem like his thing at all. Her gaze traveled his body before finally going back to his face, "I bet I could take you on." He was right about one thing though, he is tall. Really tall, but take out a leg and everybody went down. But now, this whole situation wasn't about them, it was about his daughter. She did admit, it was a little surprising that Dastan allowed her to take the elephant away.

The way he had gone on about it, Evanna thought that the end of the world would have happened, but nothing did, and she found herself wondering if he had been exaggerating. That or Messier trusted her to some level of degree that a child could, "Well, you might want to figure that out...at least for walking. Then you can go back to your regular functioning." Although, if this worked out, he might not even needed help. Usually, once kids figured out they could walk, that was all that they wanted to do. Of course, Messier might just be a different case. Either way, Evanna guessed that they were about to see what kind of kid she was, although, she was still certain that the girl would come. The power of bribery was quite nice, plus well, with Dastan there as the support in the beginning, she'd be willing to bet anything that it would.

And clearly, she should have bet money. Evanna watched closely as the fingers started to loosen from her father's leg and then took that first step, "That's is," she said reassuringly, a slight smile tugging at her lips. And that first step became a second, and then it became a fluid motion. Well, as much as one it could be for a toddler waddling the barren wasteland known as the sidewalk. Little hands grasp the elephant now and Evanna let go. She laughed a little as Dastan seemed to be blown by what just happened, "No, I've just dealt with this a few times. Like I said, two people are usually needed. I'm assuming though now, she'll just want to talk. Hopefully for your sake, you have that whole thing down now for your...help."

She stood back up now, but her gaze was still on the little girl for a moment, "Messier, go back to your dad." That was probably too many words for her to even understand, but hey, she assumed that Dastan wanted his daughter back. Not to mention, she wasn't sticking around for much longer. No need to have the young girl develop any attachments. Evanna glanced to him now, "So, any other questions or are you ready to start getting back to being dad of the year?" After all, he had come back for the elephant which he had now, so she assumed he had places to be now.

[DASTAN GERARD RILEY]

"I don't doubt it" He said when she claimed that she could take him on. The thing was, if he was being attacked by her...he would probably deserve it and wouldn't really put up much of a fight back he wasn't going to lie, it wasn't really in his nature to fight... which was strange enough, it was more in his nature to protect. She seemed like a badass though he had to admit, or maybe it was just a bit persona she put out he couldn't really tell but either way he wasn't really that sure he wanted to find out "lets hope you never have to" He said.

As he watched Messier holding her elephant he waited for her to come. He bent down and held his arms out hoping she was gonna come back to him and they could be on their way. Course, it wasn't like they had any plans, he had a game tomorrow so it was going to be dinner and then eventually, if she cooperated with him sleep, if she didn't then just another sleepless night. "Come on Princess come here" it was still weird being a Dad, but he wouldn't trade it for anything, still the short amount of time it had taken him to go from guys guys, to Dad to a little girl hadn't been very long at all especially since he'd had no time to prepare he'd needed to be a quick study. "Mess, come back to Daddy" he told her but he could see she was hesitant.

He watched as The little girl watched the woman stand up now but she instead hugged her tiny arms around her leg suddenly feeling unsteady and not wanting to make the trip all the way back. Dastan watched his daughter do this and was a little unnerved by it, after all this was... basically a stranger that they'd only met twice. He knew his daughter could sometimes... be nice but for the most part she shyed away from other people, especially those she wasn't familiar with.

He stopped for a moment, he didn't really have anywhere else to be actually, just the hotel and it looked like Messier wasn't ready to say goodbye to her helper just yet. "Do you wanna join us for Dinner?" what the hell...where had that come from. Well it was too late to stop himself now, he'd already committed to it. "My treat, for helping her out, and for bringing back Gracie" she had helped them twice already in the short time they'd run into each other. " I do owe you for two things" He admitted.

[EVANNA NATALIE ARRYN]

Evanna glanced at Dastan for a moment when he spoke. They were a curious choice of words for their conversation. He didn't know anything about her, in fact, Evanna was certain that she knew more about him than he really thought she did. Still, she found his statement, ironic in a way, and for a moment, she felt the same way. Why she hoped though that it wouldn't happen, she could not say. It's not as if they were friends or anything, he's a werewolf, or well, she was 95% certain that he is a werewolf. Everything that she has ever been told meant that he is the enemy, yet Evanna realized that she made the horrid mistake of talking to him and now, in her mind, Dastan Riley looked more like a person at each stupid run in than an animal that needed to be put down, "Me too," she replied. Either way, this is going to have to stop.

The goal for the day was done though, as far as she was concerned with his daughter. Taught her how to walk, and now she could get on her way. Considering it was getting late and she had some research to do reguarding a completely different case. Distractions were not needed for the night. Evanna managed to hold in a snort of laughter at Dastan, the words 'princess' leaving his mouth was just hilarious for some reason to her. It was also hilarious, and charming in the same manner that this big guy was the father to a small girl. As he held his arms out now, Evanna just nodded her head towards him now, visually telling Messier to go now.

The idea of leaving though, or even walking proved to be very short lived. Messier's little arms slung around her leg now and Evanna felt herself freeze. This was, well, it was unexpected and a little awkward at the same time. Never in life, including those many years of babysitting had she won out over the attention of a parent, walking or any other sort of adventure. Her eyes flickered to Dastan for a moment, who looked less than thrilled as well, and just as shocked as her before her gaze moved back to Messier. She just didn't understand, she was the threat to her father. Children were innocent though, and it is clearly a blessing and a curse.

This time though, it was Dastan who caught her off guard: "Do you wanna join us for dinner?" Evanna's eyes snapped back up, and she looked at him as if he had grown three heads. What the hell? He was asking her out? Before she could even dare to ask the meaning behind it, Dastan explained. The whole thing was still quite puzzling to her, considering that she was not exactly the poster child for being friendly to him. The dinner was an owe though, not a date. Her eyes traveled to Messier for a moment, still holding onto her leg before a sigh escaped her, "Sure....I'm staying at the Hilton. Do you need me to head back and change?" She still didn't even entirely believe that this is happening to her right now, "Or are we just heading out now?"

[DASTAN GERARD RILEY]

He watched Evanna for her reaction and she seemed a little, shocked that Messier was clinging to her leg. “I guess she likes you..” he offered trying not to sound a little defeated by the fact that this virtual strangers attention won out over him. “She must be sick of me” he added and maybe that was it, maybe she just wanted the attention of someone new or something, h was going to go with that at least to keep his ego in tact.

“That's where the teams staying too” He admitted so either way they could both head back there and meet again if she really felt like she needed to change “but Uhh well I guess that's up to you” he admitted. “if you feel like you wanna change. I mean with her, dining is kind of a challenge” he admitted, finding a place at least. I mean she wasn't exactly a screamer but people were weird about babies in restaurants so he couldn't exactly take her out anywhere...too fancy, and besides he was just kind of a low key guys, even despite his high profile career. He was more of a stay at home, get takeout and watch a movie kind of guy, the only time he really went out to anything was when he had to for a team event, or charity or something.

He was pretty sure the last time he'd gone out and dressed up had been the NHL awards in Las Vegas and that had been in the summer. Course they had to wear suits every time they traveled or gave any sort of interview that wasn't pre or post game, but it wasn't like going out. “Sorry but baby kinda shakes things up, especially when you're not expecting it” he said and wished suddenly he hadn't even said that but well, it wasn't like he'd known about Messier and had 9 whole months to prepare for her, and then even months after that to get his life in gear to work with her, she'd just … appeared and his life had been hit with a bomb.

He struggled to not only learn how to be a Dad but how to work his life around that fact without feeling like he was putting her on the back burner. He'd always been on the fence about being a Dad anyway...with his ...condition he'd never really thought it was a good idea, the risk of passing that on to another generation, it had seemed almost cruel but now, it wasn't like he really had a choice.