Casper was insisting he could handle his wound on his own, and Ash had zero doubts that the man's assessment of his own skills was accurate. However, Ash was a stubborn thing, and even if Casper was capable of cleaning and wrapping his own wound, Ash was sure he could do it better. Thankfully, Casper's convictions didn't seem to be as strong as Ash's, and the older man gave up arguing with the teenager once he seemed to confirm Ash's desire to help. "You say Miles' clumsiness isn't genetic," Ash said, smirking, "and yet here you stand in the middle of your kitchen with a bloody palm and glass and wine all over the floor. Forgive me if I don't immediately believe you."<br/><br/>The young man shrugged his shoulders at Casper's compliment, though he felt an odd warmth bloom in his chest at the older male's positive recognition. "If I were a doctor, I think I would have remembered going to med school," he began, trying very,<i>very </i>hard not to stare at Casper's bare chest. "Assuming I wasn't sloshed the entire time. I read somewhere that drugs and alcohol run rampant through medical school populations, though one has to take everything they read on the internet with a grain of salt. No, unfortunately, I am not a medical professional. I'm merely an adolescent who enjoys reading on a variety of interesting topics."<br/><br/>Casper's cold smirk was almost obnoxiously attractive, and Ash couldn't help but think again about how Miles had come from<i>this</i>. There was something about Casper that intrigued Ash, left him wanting to explore, analyze, dissect. As if each piece of Casper was a puzzle Ash needed to solve in order to bring himself to some kind of new, foreign satisfaction he had yet to achieve. There was a quirkiness to Casper that his son didn't share, perhaps because they were just different people, maybe because Miles was too embarrassed about his father's odd behavior and sense of humor. Ash could mildly understand this, as it did seem much of Casper's enjoyment came from poking fun at his son, not unlike Ash's own source of entertainment. But having a father who liked to crack jokes was certainly preferable to the gruff, emotionless, stoic man Ash was forced to share a home with. His own father had little to no personality, as far as Ash was concerned. He was humorless and stiff, a man who lacked imagination in all definitions of the word. Ash often found himself internally screaming whenever he was forced to interact with his father, if only because Mr. Vicario never seemed to have anything new or intriguing to say. Would Miles have preferred that? A father who cared so little he couldn't be bothered to strike up a new conversation with his son every once in a while? Perhaps. Miles preferred a lot of silly things.<br/><br/>"Gerald?" Ash replied, curious. He smiled when Casper explained himself, nodding at the Minotaur statue. "Right, I vaguely recall seeing it from earlier. I'll grab it when I'm finished cleaning up your mess. And I don't think it's strange that you've named an inanimate object," Ash added casually, wrapping up the pieces of glass he had picked up and tossing them into the trash. "I named my guitar Ruby. And the guitar doesn't even have a face. You'll probably want to double bag this trash when you take it out, just in case." The last of the glass was picked up and discarded, followed by damp towels that had been stained red by the spilled wine.<br/><br/>Ash smiled and chuckled at Casper's explanation for why he had been attempting to drink wine out of a coffee mug. "I think you're right," he replied, leaning up against the kitchen counter now that he was finished remedying Casper's mess. "I actually prefer to eat ice cream out of a coffee mug instead of a bowl. I'd say it is because of portion control, but maybe I'm just fooling myself into thinking that anything put into a mug can't be so bad as something on any other piece of dishware."<br/><br/>At Casper's reasoning for his mostly undressed state, Ash waved a dismissive hand in the man's direction. "You certainly don't have to apologize to me for being naked in your own home. You could be walking around with a sock on your dick and I wouldn't really have any room to complain."<i>For a number of reasons</i>, Ash thought, his eyes drifting again. He could notice Casper casually shifting his eyes to the side, looking out to the garden. From Ash's position, he couldn't see out there, but he did find it curious that the man would be focused on something outside instead of him. "You don't have to thank me," Ash shrugged. "Not every kid my age is completely useless, although I suppose how you might think that with the company Miles seems to enjoy lately." The last sentence was pushed out from between Ash's teeth, tinged with bitterness. He was still bothered with Miles' decision to go to Macey's without him and get mixed up into a damn brawl.<br/><br/>He was momentarily snapped out of his thoughts by Casper's question, and Ash laughed. He had completely forgotten about his shirtless state. "Oh, well, isn't it obvious? I wanted us to match. I suppose I failed by forgetting about my pants." He gave Casper a quick wink, then shrugged his shoulders and bit his lip teasingly. "Miles' room was pretty stuffy; I absolutely hate the feeling. It's why I came down here to get the fan. Seems like you turned up the AC though, which will definitely help. I was sweating so much my shirt was sticking to me, so I opted to rid myself of it for a little bit. Besides, not like it's anything Miles hasn't seen. Actually, I'm sure he's seen a hell of a lot more, due to gym class and all that.<br/><br/>"I hope I didn't overstep my boundaries. I figured we're all guys here, not like I'm going to offend anyone, right? Unless you're offended by what you see, Mr. Hawkins, then I can certainly go and cover myself up." Ash was speaking politely, but there was a playful glint in his eye. He couldn't seem to stop himself from stepping over the line, if only because Casper seemed rather receptive to it.<br/><br/>"Maybe I should get back to Miles," Ash mused, moving over to the mantelpiece and grabbing the fan. "He's going to think I abandoned him."