A Small Matter

It was really a spur-of-the-moment decision I made there. 

Visiting Ria. The Phoenix in a coma. I mean, no date's complete without the occasional reminder of the inevitable mortality of all life itself even to those thought immortal themselves. Always gets the mood going.

I expected Irene to object almost immediately, aghast that I would even suggest such a thing in the first place, on such an important outing no less! I deserve a slap in the face, and if she were to swing at me right now… you best bet I ain't flinching away.

Yet alas, she stayed her arms tucked beneath my coat, and kept to an unsettling quiet for a stoplight or two. 

"Turn right over here, then," She suddenly uttered out at the next junction, her lips barely moving as she did. "We'll reach there faster if you do…"