If he had enough time to get over his pride and admit to himself that he was immensely amused at the situation unfolding before him, Alan would have been ready enough to keep his expression as a neutral, deadpan stare. However, he did not have enough time to think at all past hearing that they would, "be fruity together," a travesty that resulted in Alan turning his head towards the window to try to hide his wide grin. He stared his reflection in the eyes with an awkwardly mixed expression of dismay and childish amusement, and he damned himself for breaking his facade at such a crucial moment. With great effort and practiced willpower, Alan forced himself to compose, and turned back to look his friend dead in the eye with all seriousness and nodded.<br/><br/>"Yeah, that sounds good," Alan said, and even threw in a wink at Cathy. He watched her leave with Darren's ID, watched her until she disappeared from sight before he turned his attention back to Darren. With a sigh, he held up a finger with one hand while he dug around in his pocket with the other. Once he found the object of his search, he placed it on the center of the table between them, giving it a gentle nudge towards his friend's side. "I've got the check this time, but first, this," he said, gesturing towards the Motorola flip phone that he produced from his pocket. Of course, he had remembered to turn it off when he lifted it from a bland house on the low end of some suburb. He thought it would be a good idea to take precautions against the consequences of it ringing in a public area. He wouldn't know what to do with it then.<br/><br/>"This is my paycheck for the rest of the week, after we go and party tonight. I just have to turn it in to the John Doe that hired me for it." He leaned back once more and crossed his arms. "That is, if you don't have plans tonight of course. I know of a big house party going on that an acquaintance of mine invited me to. I knew you might be interested."