<span style="font-family: 'Georgia'">Casper laughed and scoffed when appropriate, truly feeling enlightened by this boy's conversational tact. He was seldom engaged in interesting chat, was seldom met with witty jabs to match his own. <i>No, really - when was the last time I liked talking to someone? </i>Casper asked himself. His daily agenda usually entailed interactions with many people, both professionally and otherwise, and, of course, Casper did have friends. His personality attracted many sorts, but he realised he preferred those who possessed a good sense of humor and didn't take offense at his crudeness - but also those who didn't try to assert their superiority over him all the time. It was easy to discern one type of person from another and to distinguish people's core attributes. What didn't come as easily was finding someone who naturally pursued interesting conversational topics.<br/>
<br/>
Casper ran his own computer programming company, had always had a knack for that sort of thing. In his younger years, he'd been involved in many an online scheme to acquire information or data, by not-entirely-legal means. Later though, he'd finally channeled his skills into more responsible (and legal) practices when Miles was born; he got a job at a programming company. But he'd always been more of a leader, and often ran his mouth off to his department manager, so opted to leave the company and start his own. The path to prosperity was long and hard, but Casper got there in the end, and now he made considerably good money. During the course of his time working there, and despite acquiring a reputation of being an overly confident and cold asshole, he gained a few friends and many acquaintances. And so, he often interacted with many of them, and besides their work-related talks, Casper's interest wasn't often caught within the bland walls of his offices. Which is why he wanted Ash to stay downstairs for a while longer - he wanted to prolong this rare interest he had for as long as possible. <br/>
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"You named your <i>guitar?</i> Seriously lame," Casper said, feigning mockery, pretending that he himself didn't indulge in object-naming tendencies. "Geez, who names <i>objects, </i>Ash? Get some real hobbies yeah?" He grinned at the teen, passing him as he headed for the mantelpiece. Hopefully the kid understood that he was jesting, and self-deprecating if anything. Casper's left hand was still stinging as he neared the mantelpiece, and he subconsciously pressed against his wound. The fan came into view, as did Gerald. He hadn't used the fireplace in... well, ever. Supposedly, according to the real estate agent that had shown him this place, the fireplace had been built into this house almost 20 years ago. Casper had been living here for nigh on 7 years -  and he still hadn't learned how to work the damn thing. But Casper maintained a stubbornness that resulted in him never learning how, and he refused to admit that there was something he couldn't do, so claimed the fireplace was broken. It was this same stubbornness that made him refuse to Google the workings of it too.<br/>
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He found himself laughing at Ash's ice cream story, because of how the boy had misunderstood him. <i>Sure am laughing a lot today, </i>he thought.<br/>
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"Aha, ace tactics when it comes to portion control - but that's really not what I meant," he drawled, and then smiled, because he didn't want Ash to feel stupid. It was an easy mistake to make, and Casper hadn't worded what he'd said properly anyway. "I meant that I feel a whole less guilty about drinking wine if it's in a coffee mug. Tastes less detrimental, and people judge less. Almost like it's not alcohol at all. Hm yeah, I should probably just stop drinking at 11am." He pretended to be thoughtful about this, before smirking and shrugging, giving Ash a look that said <i>'Yeah, no chance of that'. </i>Casper was very aware of Ash's cerebral manner, and that he wasn't stupid. That novel he'd seen earlier in the teen's book, and how Ash spoke, more than cemented Casper's presumption that Ash was pretty smart. And so, he didn't hold the misunderstanding against the kid. It was funny, actually, how well Ash was suddenly speaking. His manner greatly differed now than when he'd been conversing with Miles upstairs.<br/>
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During the next minute, Casper's whole stance on what exactly was happening suddenly became off-balanced. First, Ash directly referenced Casper's dick - which would sound weird coming from anyone, let alone his son's friend. And then Ash was... <i>flirting?</i><br/>
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<i>What the fuck.</i><br/>
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A wink was thrown Casper's way, and he did all he could to stop his brows from shooting up. And now Ash was biting his lip, and it was effective in entrancing Casper, if only for a second (or three). <i>Okay, now I'm pissed.</i> He was being a victim of youthful seduction. Poor, poor Casper. He wasn't used to being so thrown off.<br/>
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He decided, then, to make Ash just as off-balanced as he was feeling. <i>Let's see how flustered a little flirting makes </i>him<i>.</i><br/>
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<b><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(255, 128, 0)">"Unless you're offended by what you see, Mr. Hawkins, then I can certainly go and cover myself up." </span></b>Ash said, rather playfully.<br/>
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"Oh no no, that front lawn blocks everything outside so I need my share of a good view," Casper drawled back, crossing his arms over his chest and looking Ash in the eye, almost heatedly. Casper really could muster a seductive look when he wanted to. Should he bite his lip just as Ash had, or was that overkill? Casper opted against it.<br/>
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And then, that fucking creep outside came into full view from the garden window, looking stupidly back at Casper and then ducking away again. It seemed as if he was waiting for the inhabitants of the house to either go upstairs, or to come outside to meet him. Really, Casper didn't know what the fuck he wanted. But he didn't want Ash getting caught up in it. Acting on instinct, Casper raised his right hand to gently push at the teen's chest - Ash had come over to the mantelpiece to get the fan, and was angled away from the window, so hopefully hadn't seen anything. Casper had moved him so that now the kitchen counter on the other side was blocking Ash's view of the garden window, and the risk of Ash seeing anything was diminished. Now Casper was tasked with having to explain why he'd just bodily moved Ash two inches backwards.<br/>
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"Ah, there you are. Much cooler here. You're welcome." He said swiftly, referring to the wall-mounted air conditioning unit that was above their heads. He patted Ash's chest for good measure, moving away because things were escalating far too quickly. He'd formulated a small plan, which consisted of letting Ash go back to Miles' room before dealing with the lurker. In fact, he was just about to agree that Miles probably did indeed think he'd been abandoned, even though his son normally fell asleep at about this time, when a loud crash resounded from outside, causing Casper's head to snap around. <i>Well, fuck me. Just fucking great. </i>He knew for sure that he'd have to tell Ash what exactly was happening now, since it was more than obvious that someone was in his backyard.<br/>
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"Well, fuck me, guess the jig's up," Casper said dryly, rolling his eyes and heaving a sigh at the intruder's lack of tact when it came to... well, intruding. "You may be shocked by the info I'm about to divulge - and I'd be royally weirded out if you aren't, actually - but I haven't been honest with you. Like, at all," He stepped back and pointed to the garden window, smirking at the stupidity and weirdness of this all. "There's a five-foot-something male whom I've never seen in my life trespassing on my property. Most probably destroyed my ferns, and most probably wants to burgle me." He looked to the window again, and the guy was there for Ash to see for himself.<br/>
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"I <i>was</i> about to confront him myself and perhaps land a kick to the groin, as recompense for my ruined ferns. But now I'm slightly hindered," here, he raised his bandaged hand, displaying the hindrance in question. "and could do with some nice-looking brawn to assist me. Well? What do you say? Miles sleeps at about this time, so you don't need to rush to his side just yet." Casper could admire Ash's consideration for his son, but really, he couldn't process why someone like Ash would be friends with someone like Miles.<br/>
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Feeling confident that Ash would indeed comply and assist him, Casper strode over to the garden door, pausing to turn back, his hand hovering over the handle. "Don't bother clothing yourself. Well? You coming?"</span>