name&#39;s ash. housewares.

Emily is just a couple of steps away from the top of the staircase, and Elle's just behind her as they descend. She's holding a familiar (at least to Ash) dog in her arms, and is running pelle melle for Sheila...

...Who's struggling to hold Mary, the groceries and Emily all at once. She manages to put the sack down and examine her daughter.

"How did ye find a dog, love?"

She sounds only vaugely less confused than her tipsy husband.

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"He's mine," Elle says, coming down the stairs behind Emily. "Sort of a convenient moment with the closet."

She flips her hair away and tries not to look as awkward as she feels in the dress. She then holds her hand out to Shelia. "Hi, I'm Elle Woods."

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"Rat-dog!" Ash exclaims, grinning. "No way! How'd you get here, buddy?" He's happy to see Bruiser, really. He just doesn't like showing it - too much.

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Elle just gives him a look, but she isn't even going to try to reprimand him for it. She knows it just goes in one ear and out the other.

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Sheila blinks at the abruptness of the younger Ash, but offers the young woman a smile, offering her hand to Elle. "Lady Sheila Williams." She's incredibly thankful for her dealings in the modern world, without them she wouldn't have any clue how to respond to an offered hand.

She takes a look at Elle's dress and instantly knows something's wrong. "Thy dress is...most familiar." It looks like one Sheila wore, once, long ago.

That's when she notices the metal hand and puts two and two together.

"He found thee within my world."

It's a statement.

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Whoa whoa - he most certainly did not. Ash stops playing with the puppy for a second and lets Jake have his fun. "Sheila - actually - you got it wrong. They brought her with me."

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Elle nods furiously. "What he said. I'm from Boston in 2009. I had to put this on after I got sucked back with him!"

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"Ahh," says Sheila. "Ye're from further in the future than Ashley," she adds, with some wry amusement. "It resembles a dress of my lady-in-waiting's. Ye have been to the castle, then."

She feels foolish, and begins to take off her jaket, hanging it up. "Can ye leave the doggie with this young one and take this to the kitchen?" It's a tiny bag of groceries.

Emily nods dutifully and takes them into the kitchen.

"The tome is odd in this respect," says Sheila. "Ashley was once transported to ancient sumeria for all of a day when he spake the words incorrectly." she shakes her head. "Then ye know him from some other place?"

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"Yeah...uh...we met after he left the cabin."

Elle feels even more awkward now. Was there something she was missing? Did she mess something up?

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"The whole dimension-hopping and time-traveling thing really made a mess of things." Don't look now, but Ash is sitting on the floor with Jake and Bruiser, the dog sitting on his legs. He looks up at Sheila, absent-mindedly skritching behind Bruiser's ears.

"Instead of doing what had to be done, I kinda... cheated the system? For a bit? Met up with Elle. Then wound up here. Then went back - wound up being dragged back to the stone age with her - then managed to get out and come here again."

Pause.

"Don't ask me how I did it. It just happened that way."

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"Ahh," remarks Sheila softly, though there is a soft 'sniff' at her home time being refered to as the stone age. "Cheated it? Then ye've not lead the army to defeat the dark ones? Not delievered my people from the terror of the Deadites?"

Whoops?

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Big fuckin' whoops.

"I'm supposed to do what?"

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Elle looks back and forth between Shelia and Ash, looking rather confused at this turning of events. "...What?"

No one tells her anything anymore.

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"She said he's got to go back there, reunite Henry's army with Arthur's, lead the poor saps into battle, and put down his evil twin," that's Ash, over by the back door. "I told you that part, kid."

"...poor saps?"

"Figure of speech, baby."

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"I was hoping you were kidding."

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"Wait, wait, wait..."

Elle looks over at her Ash, holding her finger up and going into lawyer mode. "So, along with not telling me that you had to go back in time, you also neglected to tell me that you had to lead an army against the undead, correct?"

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"It... slipped... my mind?" he slowly replies, carefully choosing his words.

And he throws in the Patented Pout. Just for good measure. She can't possibly be angry at him now! (Can she?)

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She wants to smack him, she really does.

Instead, she just pinches his ear really hard and doesn't let up. "Slipped your mind?!"

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He starts whining. The more he struggles, the worse it'll hurt. "Yes! Babe - - please stop. Please? I didn't - I didn't want you to worry about me, so I didn't tell you!"

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She lets go of his ear, but is still glaring. "Well, what did you expect me to do? Say 'Awww...that's sweet of you not telling me that you disappeared to 1300 for several days'?"

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"...Yes?" More or less.

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"Four days, actually," Ash throws in unhelpfully, while Sheila pokes him. "OW." He looks a little more sober than he did an hour or so ago, but his walk still has a little waver to it. "Why the hell did you break that mirror after I warned you about it?"

Jake is fussing on younger!Ash's lap, saying "no yell!"

Sheila just sits back, holding chubby keys for Mary to chew, feeling guilty as all hell for letting that slip.

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"You're right, Jakeman. No yell." He glances around at the rest of the adults. "Right, guys? No yell."

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There's an ascenting grumble from Ash, and Sheila - who is always wise enough to keep her voice at a conversational level even when she's pissed - says nothing.

"You didn't answer my question," Ash says.

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