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Morning strolls in the park.

Usually, such leisure activities would escape my hectic schedule. Nowadays, I don\'t really have the time nor the luxury to be jaywalking my days away.

So, even with all things considered, this was nice. Every step, though sore and heavy, was catharsis at its most fundamental.

Just needed a little walk, a patient listener, to walk along with me on the path ahead paved with my worries.

Luckily, Ash was a great listener, an even better sympathizer. Walking with her, I knew there was nothing I couldn\'t say.

So, following the natural course of events, like a therapist and her patient, attentively she lends her pointed ears to my dreams.

Everything that\'s happened, down to the minute details... I don\'t think I\'ve left a single thing amiss.

Told her about meeting the springy hot-tempered Latrissa, a young Phoenix with a family resemblance that was seriously too close for comfort.

The burnt forest, Ria\'s words, meeting her other children too... I went on about just how amazing that conversation went, and how I ended up waking and walking out of there at the crack of dawn without her waking and walking alongside me as well.

Not exactly the most triumphant note to finish with, and by the end of it, Ash was just as befuddled as I was, speechless as well.

Any comments, any inputs, her continued silence spoke none, not until we reached the main park entrance, anyway...

And her only say on the matter?

"Hearing you speak... Master, I surmise you plan on returning once more to try again, aren\'t you?"

I turned, saw a peculiar rigidness to her stare, and spoke, "You\'re frowning..."

The moment I pointed it out, Ash promptly fattened her lips, "It\'s nothing, disregard my words, I just..."

"Just?"

"Well... I... simply wondered is all, if perhaps..." She took a deep breath. "If perhaps you shouldn\'t after all."

I nearly bash my hip bone on the sidewalk railings. "You\'re saying to just leave her as she is?"

"No, I do not speak these words in absolute, it is not my place to decide, it never is," She glanced left, back towards the deep green foliage of trees and bushes hiding a secret never to be unveiled. "I was merely viewing the situation from her perspective, from her eyes..."

"Yeah, I know... Ria thinks she\'s happy there."

"She is happy there," Ash corrected.

I shook my head. "Ain\'t real..."

"From her perspective, Master," Her tone of voice urged. "Does it really matter?"

It was so easy to say \'no\', done it so many times in my head over the course of our stroll - but out loud, saying it to her - why was it that I couldn\'t?

Ash, perhaps noticing my struggle, simply moved on ahead, literally and figuratively, "Regardless of it, no matter what you choose to do...  just know that I will always stand firmly behind your decisions."

Her smile was warm saying it, but the damage had already been done... the seed of doubt had nestled in.

"Even if they ultimately end up being the wrong decisions?" I asked.

That smile didn\'t waver, only widened. "That has yet to be... and I\'ve no doubt it ever will."

Sometimes I wonder if she has a journal stashed somewhere where she jots down all these cool lines just waiting to be used on the right occasion.

Cause how else could she always know just what to say? Maybe that therapist metaphor ain\'t all that far-fetched...

Suddenly, upon seeing the vast emptiness of the main city road, a thought then occurred to me, "Tyler went?"

"Couldn\'t very well ask of him to linger, can I now, Master?" Ash said, sounding surprisingly casually rhetorical. "He is your guest... I couldn\'t possibly impose."

Actually, I really don\'t think he\'d mind at all. Like, not even a bit. He\'d probably even go the extra mile and buy a luxury tent himself just for the chance.

Anyway, since Tyler wasn\'t here, that\'s how we ended up sitting at the bus stop nearby... awaiting the morning transit for home sweet home.

There wasn\'t much to do but watch the morning rush hour of cars honking away in the streets. Within seconds, I was already bored.

Couldn\'t say the same for Ash... boredom was a non-concept when it came to automobiles.

Then, came one point, where she stood up from the bench... her widened stare got me staring again, and there, grinding to a steady stop in front of us...  whirred the sound of an idling engine.

Wasn\'t no bus, but a car... a familiar-looking car, with familiar-looking windows rolling down to reveal a familiar-looking face.

"Well, well," proclaimed the sandy-haired driver, leaning a smirking face out towards the window. "Mmmhmm, you fellas looking to hitch a ride?"

Now I was standing up and staring wide. "Amanda?"

"The one and only."

Just from her voice I already knew it was her, but my brain was having a hard time grasping the disparity from how she sounded to how she looked.

Another complete wardrobe change - yesterday she was the risqué girl-next-door type, now she was rocking the cowgirl demeanor complete with the hat, shades, and cropped fringe leather jacket to match.

This chick\'s gotta be having an identity crisis or something, cause something\'s definitely up.

Even Ash was staring perplexed, lips sealed, too polite to inquire... as was I too...

"So..." She leaned back into her seat, poking her eyes over her shades. "Rather the bus, or...?"

A little while later, Amanda\'s car was wheeling itself away, carrying two new passengers ever-grateful along in tow.

Ash opted for the backseat, which I thought was a serious betrayal of character until I saw her immediately doze off not even two turns into the trip back home.

Guess guard duty takes a toll. Didn\'t even notice she was that exhausted...

"Wow," Amanda said, whistling. "You work her like a mule or something?"

"No."

"Ahh, of course not," She shook her head, smirking with amusement. "She probably worked herself that way, got nothing to do with you."

Nice to see she was finally understanding the inner workings of my day-to-day.

I remember when she was still the timid jumpy girl going hysterics over a vampire in her backseat.

Now there was an Elf snoozing away at the same place, and now all that warranted was a chortle and a smile.

Felt like she adjusted to the bizarre life faster than I did.

"So, what were you guys doing loitering around the park at..." She squinted at the dashboard. "Seven in the morning?"

Didn\'t feel like another round of tall tales to astonish, so I opted to just summarize it all up with, "Long story."

"Yeah, considering you were in there for like eight hours straight... I bet it is quite a long tale."

I turned towards her, but her shades were like blinders shutting me out from getting a read.

"Well, you don\'t usually hear of a stalker outright confessing to the stalkee that they\'re being stalked."

Amanda snorted. "Hmm, you usually assume every girl you meet stalks you on a daily basis?"

"Only the pretty ones."

"That\'s the most backhanded compliment I\'ve ever received in my life," She said nonchalantly. "And to that I say, screw you, and also thank you."

"If you\'re still feeling grateful, you can express that gratitude by telling me how\'d you know I was there all night."

"What do you mean? It\'s as you said," She flashed a smile. "I\'m your pretty little girl stalker."

A corner turn and an unamused expression on my face later, she continued.

"Alternatively, hypothetically, you can also believe I\'m an internet deviant who does her best to keep up with all the latest trending videos out there."

It took a while for me to get what the hell she was trying to say... but slowly, when it did finally click, it was as if a pearl of sudden wisdom rained down on me from the skies.

"Tyler uploaded a video?"

She nodded. "Sometime around three in the morning I think?"

"He uploads fast..."

"He\'s efficient," She promptly replied, tossing onto my lap a brand-new phone wrapped in the burliest of casings. "And he\'s also got your face plastered all over on the thumbnail."

After rubbing a definitely bruised thigh, I picked up her phone, and sure enough - there it was.

Outline in a bold red circle, being pointed at by a big red arrow, was my badly cropped face, wearing that same grumpy expression I had when I first opened the door, and right beside it was Tyler\'s own head shocked out of his wits.

I read the title, and I had to fight to not give in to the impulse of throwing the phone in my hand right to the curb.

<<PLAYBOY BUNGALOW?!?! 24 HOURS IN A STRANGER\'S HOME CHALLENGE PART 1>>

Not even half a day up... and already a million and a half views in counting.

"Congrats," Amanda deadpanned. "Now you\'re a mini internet star."

It was the <<Part 1>> that sealed the deal for me. Right... still got the whole morning and afternoon left playing host.

Shit, does my nose really look that big at that angle?

What did Ash say before about making the wrong choices? I\'ve yet to make one?

Well... I was starting to regret this one.