Ash followed Casper obediently, his eyes glancing around the back yard as they trudged forward, eager to catch the intruder who had disturbed their mild flirtations and trampled across Casper's ugly ferns. Though the mystery of who was currently wandering around the Hawkins' yard<i>was </i>intriguing to Ash, he couldn't help but focus his gaze on the hard back of the man in front of him. He also couldn't seem to ignore that stupid fucking towel (<i>How the hell is that thing still around his waist?!</i>), or forget the way Casper seemed to enjoy the brief moment Ash had spent flustered and hot.<i>Did he like that? He seemed to, certainly, judging by the cocky grin he was sporting. Does he just like to tease, then? Am I thinking about this too intensely? He's just Miles' father, after all. I shouldn't be putting this much energy thinking about him when poor, dumb Miles is all confined to his bedroom, alone. The idiot.</i><br/><br/>A figure shifted behind the awkward sundial displayed in the middle of Casper's garden. “Not a very good hiding place, isn't it?” Ash mumbled, getting ready to snatch up the hooligan, though Casper seemed more than willing to do that himself, even with a freshly injured palm. He began yelling at the hidden body, threatening it, though the threats rang embarrassingly hollow when Casper couldn't seem to bluff his way into thinking up a weapon. Ash smirked. Apparently Casper was more like his son than he was willing to admit; neither seemed particularly adept at thinking before opening their big mouths, but Ash found he didn't mind it so much.<br/><br/>“Thick, steel rod,” Ash whispered, nodding enthusiastically. “That's my weapon. Keep it shoved down my pants leg, though it does make walking a bit of a chore.”<br/><br/>Ash's mild attempt at humor was interrupted by the figure exiting from behind his poor hiding spot, looking rather pathetic and terrified as he presented himself to two fit males in varying states of undress. Ash vaguely recognized the young man<i>(Did I lend you a pen once?),</i>which made a bit of sense as he looked to be around his and Miles' age. Why would an exhausted-looking kid be wandering around the Hawkins' property in the middle of the afternoon? It didn't make much sense, and the trespasser didn't seem too keen on explaining himself, only on getting away from Casper.<br/><br/>“What are you doing?” Ash murmured when Casper began to flex, though there was no hint of disgust in his voice like there seemed to be with the other teenager. Ash was merely curious, confused by Casper's unusual response to having a stranger stomp around his yard. His eyes were glued to the contracting muscles in Casper's arm for a brief moment before the older man dropped his arms again, seemingly<i>disappointed</i>that the intruder wasn't too fond of the idea of Casper putting his attractive physique on display.<br/><br/><i>Fuck, you're hot</i>, Ash thought, absentmindedly licking his lips until the word “fag” shot through the air like a particularly angry bullet, hitting Ash right in the temple and causing his focus to shift.<br/><br/>“And what the fucking hell do you want, Joe Gibbs?” he snapped, simultaneously voicing his irritation and curiously along with Casper.<br/><br/>The boy seemed shaken, incredibly so, and reluctant to be speaking to Casper at all. He rambled as he spoke, words spilling forth from him like water from a tipped glass, splashing all over their feet and making the ground muddy with vague explanations and shitty excuses.<br/><br/>“Climb through the window? Miles isn't fucking Rapunzel,” Ash said, not convinced by Joe's poor excuse of a story. It was lacking detail and motivation, there were huge, glaring holes that needed to be filled. But Joe seemed less interested in filling in those holes and far more willing to drag Ash along with him into this fucked up, nonsensical narrative he had begun to spin.<br/><br/>The young man blinked when Joe spoke his name; apparently he wasn't the only one who had noticed the mildly familiar face, though Joe seemed to be far more aware of Ash than Ash was of him. Joe's next attempt confused Ash, not because Joe's intentions were unclear—they were painfully, terribly, soul-crushingly obvious as the kid was a horrendous actor—but because he couldn't fathom why in the fucking would Joe would think Ash would be willing to help him. They were strangers, never saying more than a sentence or two to one another, and yet Joe was beseeching him for assistance as if they were old pals. Ash considered covering for the weirdo if only because he was eager to see what his endgame was, but Casper was tugging him away by the arm now, vying for his attention. Casper sure seemed interested in touching him today.<br/><br/>“I'm way ahead of you,” Ash confirmed, not surprised that Casper was able to see through the young man as easily as he could. “I've seen him at school before, but he sure as shit isn't Miles' best friend. I'm pretty sure I'm Miles'<i>only</i>friend. I don't know what he wants, but I'm willing to find out. All for you, of course, Mr. Hawkins.” Casper was eager to find out the details, sending Ash on his way with a hand to his back. Ash's skin erupted into a sea of goosebumps at Casper's touch, but he did his best to ignore them as he approached Joe.<br/><br/>“Yes, yes, of course I'll talk to you,<i>buddy</i>. C'mere.” Ash grasped Joe's arm and dragged him across the back yard toward the pool where there were a couple of deck chairs the two could comfortably lounge against while this Joe kid spilled his guts. Whether Ash was actually going to<i>tell</i>Casper everything depended greatly on what Joe said, as although Ash was quickly coming to enjoy Casper, he didn't maintain any kind of loyalty to him that extended past his loyalty for Miles. If what Joe said could potentially get Miles into greater trouble than what he was already in, Ash would have to consider modifying the information given to him when he relayed it to Miles' father.<br/><br/>“All right, you twit, what the hell is going on?” Ash asked, lightly tossing Joe to one of the chairs while taking his own seat, reclining back casually though his voice was tense. “You come over here, falling over ferns and being the absolute worst trespasser probably in the history of all trespassers and then expect me to get you out of it, hm? I think you owe me some explanation. No, you owe me<i>all</i>of the explanations. Get to it. I don't have all day. You interrupted something rather fun.”<br/><br/>Ash smirked, knowing his words could be taken to mean something perhaps not-so-innocent when paired with image of he and Casper exiting the house with only parts of their bodies covered, but he found he didn't quite mild the implications.<i>Stop thinking about him, you idiot</i>, Ash thought, chastising himself as he waited for Joe to open his mouth again.<i>He's not interested in all that. Unless he is... though probably not. But what if? Perhaps dipping my toes into the water wouldn't be too taboo, would it? Just being curious, after all.</i><br/><br/>Joe had been saying something, Ash realized, and he twitched his head and refocused his eyes to stare intently at Joe's fatigued visage, noting the shadows of bruises still left on the young man's face. “Sorry, lost myself for a second. Repeat that, would you?”