This ain't no place for a hero. [Jane]

Thankfully, Darren hadn't made fun of Jane about wanting to look a little nicer than she did in her t-shirt and jeans. Then again, she was still a woman. Even he could see that. Women had a tendency to want to look attractive. Not that she wanted to look attractive for him. Honestly, it was more for herself. She wanted to look good for herself. It made her feel good when she knew that she didn't look frumpy.

So, giving her best friend a smile, the blonde hurried upstairs to change. Reaching her room, she shut the door just in case he decided to explore or if he wanted to try out the upstairs bathroom, which was significantly larger than the downstairs one, or something. Unfortunately, her closet didn't have a whole lot of dresses or anything suitable for a nightclub. Sure, she had a few. She'd recently acquired some, now that Padraig had been taking her out to dinner and all of that. He had expensive tastes, and she didn't want to look cheap in front of all of the fancy-pants people who frequented his kind of restaurants. That was really one of the only downsides to their relationship. She felt a little out of place, sometimes.

With Darren, she never had to worry about that. They were more alike than she cared to admit. He didn't care how she dressed. I mean, not that she thought that Padraig put a whole lot of emphasis on it either, but... well, it wasn't like she could go to a nice dinner with him in her jeans and a t-shirt and sneakers. She could do that with a lot of the places that she and Darren hung around..

Sighing, Jane shook these thoughts from her head. She had to hurry. He was probably getting impatient. So, she grabbed a dress off of it's hanger and quickly put it on, slipped on a pair of pumps, put on a little bit of makeup, donned some jewelry, put her hair up into a messy bun, grabbed her leather jacket, and raced back down the stairs in her promised twenty minutes. He was already whining.

Slipping the jacket on once she reached the foot of the stairs, the former Gryffindor offered a small smile.

"So, how do I look? You think this is okay?"

When he heard her coming down the stairs he stopped whining and stood up. Finally. Even though she had taken less time than he thought she would, he still thought it was too much time. When she actually had the nerve to ask if she looked okay Darren wanted to shake his head. Not because she looked bad, because she definitely did not, but because she asked his opinion. He could either say she looked amazing and possibly bring back all of the awkwardness he was currently trying to run away from or he could seem unimpressed and maybe hurt her feelings. Although he cared for Jane when it came to his feelings or hers... unfortunately hers got put into the back seat. He shrugged his shoulders and made sure to not stare too long. "Yeah you look fine." He patted his pockets to make sure he had his wand, his cigarettes, his lighter, and some sickles. Once he knew he had everything that he would need he picked up his beer from the table and finished it off. He was doing whatever tasks he could to make sure he didn't stare at her for too long, damn she looked good.

Once the beer was gone he patted Watson one last time on the head, the sleepy dog barely noticed, and set out for the kitchen. A few beers in Darren was feeling more optimistic than he would of sober but he had to keep a lid on those feelings. Even though he bought her dinner, had drinks with her, and was about to take her to a club, he knew he wasn't going to get laid tonight. It was disappointing but it was a fact he just had to live with. "Are you ready then?" He asked with his normal attitude seeping through, impatient and selfish. "We should get going before the place closes down for the night." He turned toward the door and away from her and then held it open and waited. "You know you girls take so freakin' long to get ready, its unbelievable." Actually it was perfectly believable. She looked good and he understood that perfection takes time. Some how Jane managed to be both a good girl and a bad girl all wrapped into one. It was one of the many things Darren liked about her. She was tough but she was decent too. When she had finally left out of the door he started walking and got about half way across the lawn before he turned back.

"We can apparate there if you want? Or do you want to walk?" Being out of school was nice because they were finally old enough to do whatever they wanted. Darren appreciated the fact that he could apparate where ever he needed to be on a moments notice. Sure plenty of places were protected, so he couldn't just poof anywhere, but public places like Nyx were open for anyone to come in. The walk wasn't far however and it was turning out to be a nice night. The weather was warm but the cool breeze of the night was rolling in. It had sprinkled while they were eating because the ground was a little damp. He pulled out his pack of cigarettes and lit one while he waited for her to make a decision.

Jane felt more than a little awkward, standing there all dressed up. Somehow, she cared more about what Darren thought than most other people. In fact, she didn't care at all what most other people thought. I mean, of course she cared about what Padraig thought. Eamon and Jo, to an extent, as well. But, Darren... he knew her best. She had told him things that she couldn't imagine telling other people. If there was one person that she trusted with everything, it was him. Sure, it probably should have been Padraig, but... well, that would come with time.

She frowned, then, when he seemed to shake his head at her question. Fine. Whatever. He had already been whining about her changing to begin with, so he'd just have to deal with what she had picked out. Fine? Just fine? "Alright, whatever. Let's go." Her wand, cigarettes, and anything else that she might need were promptly placed inside her bag. Maybe he'd be easier to deal with once they got to Nyx. His dismissive attitude was really pissing her off.

"Make sure to keep a good eye on the house, Watson, and there'll be a treat in it for you." Not that the dog could probably even understand what she was saying, other than the word treat. Still, she too gave him a pat on the head before giving Darren one of her infamous, so help me Merlin Darren Hadditch I will knock your head off of your shoulders if you don't shut the hell up sort of looks. What was his deal? He was the one who had shown up on her doorstep and interrupted her night, and here he was acting like she was inconveniencing him? What. Ever.

Still, Jane managed to keep her cool. "Yep. Whenever you are." Rolling her eyes, the blonde auror-in-training made her way outside before stopping to wait for him. "Well, sorry to take so long, but I do have to lock the door. Move your ass." If he was going to have an attitude, then she could have one right back. With that, she locked the door and put her protective charms up over the apartment. He could call her paranoid all he wanted, but he wasn't the one who had almost died at the hands of a Death Eater.

"We'll apparate. It'll be faster, since you're in such a damn hurry."

continued in this thread