If the essence of awkwardness were to be distilled and made into a perfume, it would be the scent that permeated the air of Scott's modest home. Shara sat on one side of him, still in her over-sexed harem get up, seemingly oblivious to his plight. On the other side sat Ashton, her arms crossed over her chest and an odd look in her eyes. It was an expression akin to what one might have when they were lost in thoughtful consideration of their recent life choices.

Ryan Reynolds said something charismatic and mildly witty onscreen. Scott could not recall the name of the movie that they were watching at the moment, other than it was not Dead Pool. Life would not be that kind to him at the moment.

The comedic stylings of Ryan Reynolds actually caused Ashton to crack a smile briefly. That smile drifted away the moment that Shara shoved her chest against Scott's arm and said, "Master, tell me more about your latest conquest. Does she need training?"

"Oh god," said Scott. He closed his eyes and shook his head. "So this is how it all ends."

"Answer the question, Scott," said Ashton while never looking in his direction. She crossed one leg over the other then began to rapidly wiggle her foot in place.

He slowly looked toward Ashton then slid his gaze back toward Shara. Neither of them seemed to actually be angry, but there was a certain awkward tension in the room that he did not know how to break. Scott desperately needed it to break!

The sudden ringing of his doorbell caused his head to perk up. "Salvation!" he cried before he practically hurled himself over the back of the couch and onto the floor.

He missed the sudden shift in Ashton's expression. A slight smile had come to her lips and she seemed to be trying her best not to laugh about something.

"What the... Dave?" asked Scott as he opened the door. On the other side was the cashier, Dave, two large pizzas in hand.

"Two large pepp—" began Dave only for him to stop mid-sentence. "Hey, Scott! You live here?"

"Yeah," said Scott in a quiet curious tone. "You work pizza delivery?"

"Not usually, but my friend's family owns the place and he was sick. Took over for him as a one-time favor since it's a busy night," said Dave pleasantly, "Money's surprisingly good, when the cheap bastards who buy the pizzas bother to tip me."

Throughout the entire exchange, Scott's thoughts went into overdrive. 'Just give him the money and send him away. Just give him the money and send him away.'

He pulled out a few dollars and said, "It's already paid for, right?" asked Scott.

"Yeah, you paid with a debit card," said Dave. He eyed the cash in Scott's hand briefly then looked back up at Scott.

Dave received the five dollar tip graciously, and handed Scott his pizza and accompanying two-liter of soda. However, he did not leave as hoped. Instead he looked at the curtains, and then back at the truck in the driveway.

"So..." began Dave.

Scott stared at him and stepped back to close the door in his co-worker's face, but Shara arrived in that exact moment. She offered Dave a bright smile and said, "Greetings lowly peasant. Thank you for bearing my master his sustenance this night."

Dave's eyes widened considerably then nearly bulged out of their sockets as he got an eye full of what Shara was wearing. He made an odd strangled noise in the back of his throat and rapidly shook his head for a moment.

Shara shoved her chest against Scott's arm then pressed her cheek to his, "He'll need his strength, after all."

Scott sighed loudly then closed his eyes. This was hell. He'd died a few weeks ago and he was now in hell. Shara was a succubus sent to wreck his life with her bodacious curves and ridiculous antics. That's all there was to it.

"S-so, you and the new girl, huh?" asked Dave as his brain started to work once more.

A sly grin appeared. "I knew you two were chummy but—" began Dave, only for a new voice to catch his ear.

"Scott, I'm hungry what's the hold up?" asked Ashton as she walked over to the door.

Dave stared at Ashton briefly then blinked in a slow deliberate manner before he looked at Scott like he'd seen the second coming of Jesus Christ. A rapturous expression of joy etched on his face, he loudly proclaimed, "Dude!"

Shara chose that moment to chide her master. "Oh glorious one, if you would entertain the words of this humble pleasure slave, perhaps you should see to the needs of your latest conquest. She will not be able to pleasure you appropriately if hunger gnaws at her stomach."

Dave's eyes widened once again, with no words escaping his lips. Instead of words he emitted slight choking sounds and lightly wiggled his hands around in the air. He did not know where to start, this entire thing was too much and he wanted to know about it all.

"Hey, you seem familiar," said Ashton in a suspicious tone.

Dave made a weird choking noise as a response. Scott sighed and answered for him. "He's one of the cashiers at work. He was there today when your ex-fiancé started trouble."

"Oh," said Ashton. "I see..."

The awkward tension intensified. Scott saw Dave's curious expression and knew he wanted answers. He felt Shara's lush warm breasts pressed to his arm, and knew that she wanted to destroy his life in the sexiest way possible. He could feel the anxiety building inside of Ashton, and knew that she probably wanted to sniff him or something.

Scott chose to do what he wanted to do, instead of what anyone else expected. "Good night, Dave," he said casually. He closed the door on his ecstatically confused co-worker and took the pizza over to the table. He didn't really care much about his job, so it really didn't matter to him if rumors spread around at work. There was nothing he could do about Ashton's reputation, or the possibility that she might lose her job for fraternizing with him, for that matter. Shara, on the other hand, seemed to have no sense of shame whatsoever. She probably wouldn't even care if rumors started to spread. Worse, she might encourage them.

In the end he could do nothing. Let the peons and happy fools think him to be some sort of weird guy with an Arabian harem fetish. If the worst case scenario happened, he could earn similar amounts of money working at a gas station, after all. Ashton might be screwed, but it's not like she'd never be able to recover. After the outburst at work, that might happen anyway.

"What..." asked Ashton nervously. She fidgeted with her hands. "What do we do?"

"I think we start with the pepperoni, and then try the supreme," said Scott. "These extra wings we got might go better with just the pepperoni, and they'll be better hot."

"Not the pizza!" exclaimed Ashton. "Dave!"

"Oh? That guy?" asked Scott. He looked Ashton in the eye then shrugged. "Nothing."

"Nothing! They'll think we're dating!" exclaimed Ashton.

"If anyone bothers to ask I'll just lie and tell them that Shara and I are dating," said Scott as he pulled out a slice of pepperoni and put it on a paper plate that he'd prepared in advance. He looked to Ashton again then nodded. "After what happened in the store you didn't want to go home."

"That..." said Ashton, her words trailing off.

"You'll probably get an ear-full from corporate, but as long as we aren't seen making out at work or something, it should blow over," said Scott. "I suppose I'll have to act chummier with this one over here," he said, before he jerked a thumb toward Shara. "Otherwise it'll be fine."

Shara grinned at him then bounced forward on one foot in a cutesy manner. "So, we're a couple now?"

Scott rubbed the bridge of his nose with the side of his thumb. "A couple of what? That's the question."

She laughed happily then latched onto his arm. "Super best friends?"

"Sure. Why not," said Scott in a light tone.

Ashton remained quiet for a time. Her nervousness over the situation was still apparent, but the calm way in which Scott handled the situation did help. What he'd said made sense too. It wasn't like they were caught in the break room at work with their underwear around their ankles.

Her cheeks reddened as a sudden mental image made itself known. Ashton shook her head rapidly to dispel the idea. Scott was a nice, dependable, guy. Admittedly, there was more to him than she had realized, but that was not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes it was hard to control her animalistic urges at the moment due to reasons... but he wasn't the sort of guy she'd date. Not really. Probably not, anyway.

In order to get the idea of break room shenanigans out of her head, Ashton asked a question that had been begging to be asked. "You two, how did you get so close?"

"We've always been close," said Shara.

Scott snorted then patted the perky girl on top of the head. "We found her sitting in a tree one day, and she followed us home."

Shara stuck her tongue out at him the stole a slice of pizza. "You had pizza then, too."

He laughed a little then nodded. "Yeah, dad was going to order a pizza..."

Ashton smiled as she realized what she must be hearing. "You're childhood friends?"

"Childhood super best friends," corrected Shara. "The three of us were inseparable."

"Yeah..." said Scott, his eyes tightening.

Not catching the tension in Scott's eyes, Ashton asked, "Three? Who was the third?"

"Scott's little sister, Liz," said Shara with a smile. Though, for once in her life she was able to catch a hint. She noted the tenseness in Scott's face and her smile died away.

"Oh, you have a sister! I'd love to meet her," said Ashton happily. "She could give me some good dirt!"

Scott blanched and turned away. His lip quirked upwardly angrily. "I'm sure she could give you plenty of dirt," he snapped.

Ashton threw her hand to her mouth as Scott stared at her with the most hateful expression that she'd ever seen in her life. Gone was the sweet and goody man whom she'd gotten to know slightly in recent days. In his place was an alien thing that wore his face like a mask.

He closed his eyes and fought down the desire to snap at her again. The tension slowly drained from his face and he took in a calming breath. "I'm sorry for my outburst. Liz died a long time ago. You can't meet her, but I think she would have liked you. She was always excited by pretty things."

Ashton bit her lower lip and looked away from him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken like that."

"You did nothing wrong. It's not you I blame for what happened," said Scott. His fingers pressed down against the counter-top until his knuckles went completely white.

"W-what... What..." asked Ashton slowly, though it was obvious she did not think she should be asking.

"What happened?" asked Scott softly. The tension in his face and fingers bled away and he took a cleansing breath.

Ashton looked down and nodded her head. She did not trust her own voice in that moment.

"I don't want to talk about it," said Scott. He put another slice of pizza onto a paper plate then grew quiet for a moment. When he spoke again it was to say, "What happened has led me to have zero tolerance for people who abuse others, especially children. That's all you need to know for now."

Ashton nodded again then slowly swallowed a bit of saliva that had begun to flood her mouth. "I should go."

"You should get a slice of pizza," said Scott in a calm and sincere voice.

He continued speaking after a moment. "People irritate me. I frequently find that I don't give a damn what happens to them."

Scott lifted his head and looked at her with calm eyes that bespoke his sincerity of purpose. "You've done nothing wrong. You were made a victim, betrayed by someone you trusted. Somehow, despite my dislike for people, I came to care about your situation."

He took a breath then spoke in that same calm tone, "I refuse to abandon someone whom I've chosen to help regardless of what happens to me in the process."

"Is that so..." said Ashton. Something about his tone caused a strange burning sensation in her stomach. Her entire body began to heat up as the seconds passed.

"You should not be alone tonight. Shara is here to make sure you don't take advantage of me in my sleep. So it's all good," said Scott without a hint of humor or sarcasm in his voice. He spoke with the same calm sincerity that he'd spoken with throughout the entire exchange.

Shara grinned at him then nodded to her with a goofy expression on her face. "We'll take advantage of him when he's awake. The poor guy needs all of the beauty sleep he can get."

Scott eyed her thoughtfully then grunted. "At times like this I need uglier friends. It's hard to properly retort when you can't say 'You're one to talk'."

"Oh, you think I'm pretty?" asked Shara lightly.

"Pretty annoying. Yes," said Scott with a nod and a slight smile.

Shara puffed out her cheeks and placed her hands to her hips. She relented in her attempt to pout not long after it stated and she laughed, "That's almost a compliment, so I'll take it."

"I shouldn't be laughing," said Ashton as she tried to fight down a laugh of her own.

Scott chuckled softly. He acquired a nostalgic expression. "Smile. It's a happy day."