" I'm not saying we should,but....i don't go anywhere without a flask." Erich grins to Ada. He wasn't going to take a nip if she didn't. But if she did? He was going to guzzle that stuff. This was going to be hard to do...but he wasn't the one going home with Marlena. He didn't envy Ada in this respect. That had to be difficult. " you're welcome." He replies simply about the Karoliena situation. While he was sure morbid curiosity would dictate Karoliena will eventually ask how today went. Parts could be left out in the retelling. When Ada clarified what she meant by asking about him going,Erich realized that Ada and Marlena will go their separate way. This was very depressing to him. They could very well just float back to the ether. It's possible today wasn't even happening at all. " yeah. We should get this over with. " Erich states before unconsciously mimicking Ada. " telling Marlena, I mean. Not the leaving." I don't know any ice cream places. I barely will give this city money for a hot dog. " he says, looking at the inanimate objects that made up new York that he hated.

Erich smirks and hands ada his flask from inside his jacket pocket. It was plain silver, but very well worn. He had it filled with wild turkey. Nothing but the best for Erich. Liquor was liquor to him. It all had the same effect. " you are soooo uninvited to the pta meeting." Erich whispers back to her. He did have to stifle his amusement. The situation reminded him of far better times between the two of them. " i do hope this place has novelty spoons. This is the day and age of The automobile. There is just no excuse for plain ice cream spoons." Erich says while standing up slowly. A near lifetime of peromfkng had taken its toll on his body. Sitting for too long did make his legs stiff. " i think i have A bit of child support that is in arrears. Ill get it." Erich smiles to Ada and their approaching daughter. Erich himself lived rather simply,so did like spending his money on others. The term of endearment in which Ada referred to Marlena reminded him of the old times even more. It did make him happy that some part of him still heard it. He looked over at some pigeons being fed. Pigeons didn't have to be reminded of lives that weren't to be.

Erich laughs very hard at the action of Ada. He could only assume she wasn't much of a drinker anymore...was she ever? In any case,Erich probably drank enough for both of them. "That is totally the face I make when something is nice,too." Erich teases Ada with a smirk. It was hard not to like Ada. She was a genuine sort of person. Erich took his own drink from the flask. It wasn't the deep drink he wanted,as he didn't want to look too much like a drunkard. So a quick nip it was. "That'll put hair on your chest." He says,smacking his lips and putting the flask away. He had been spoiled by frozen yogurt places with their bright spoons. White plastic is was going to be. " well...maybe it's for the best. Bright spoons may be just too much excitement for Marlena. Could you imagine finding out you have a father AND having to choose between blue and red spoons?" Erich scoffs.

Erich smiles widely at the name Marlena dubbed him. In time,he'd dust off the old chestnut of please,Mr Erich is my father's name.. Young Marlena had a lifetime of stale comedy ahead of her,if erich had his way. " yup. We're all getting ice cream, little one." Erich answers alongside Ada. More nostalgia came over him when Ada said his name.

Erich trotted along with Ada and their daughter. If this was a Disney movie,a song would certainly be sung here. He was rather happy and glanced from mother to daughter as they walked. " it's a good day for ice cream. Its too danged hot for new York."

Ooc: that is so heartbreaking. Erich would have adored her the same even if she was a teatotaler.

Playful Ada was his favorite ada. "Its a shame you don't like I do." Erich says to Ada with a self depreciating laugh. " I don't think I've been this sober since i was a teenager." Erich laughs softly. His chemical usage very much had started from his intense stage fright. So as long as he was a musician was as long as he had been intoxicated for. It also sort of snowballed into being an obligation on his off days too. He wanted to provide the erich Hess myth at all times. As good as this was going with Ada, he assumed he was boring her.

Erich kept an eye on Marlena as well. He'd seen too many episodes of law and order...set in this very city,to not suspect everyone around them of being terrible. " Ada! " he playfully chides her," I'm not doing this alone or slinging you over my shoulder in order to get you home." He jokes to her as he opens his jacket to give the drink to her. "I have some mescaline back in the hotel if you want that." He grins at her. It was well documented that psychedelics were his ride of choice.

erich raised an eyebrow at ada's drinking from the flask. did she know something he didnt about how this might go with marlena? she probably knew a lot he didnt know about many things. with the thoughts of ada being worried,he felt the fear climb up his spine. she had to be the sensible one during this reveal. he gingerly takes the flask back but takes a very small drink out of it. maybe he did need to be firing on all cylinders for this event.

"about the mescaline?" erich asks,equally as hushed and looking around for eavesdroppers. though in reality,they could have walked up to most any cop and loudly discuss it. its not like mescaline was the hip drug among today's youths. erich assumed due to the time demands,most psychedelics were far out of fashion. "cmon,miss ada. things have changed but not that much...why?" he asks carefully,he was only joking with the initial offer. not that he had any issue sharing most anything with anyone. without the usual haze of drugs,his mind was free to start worrying: this is a bad idea. who knows what this woman has been through. not to mention whatever residual issues they personally had together. this could end very very badly. erich wanted to say something,but did remember the first time they had ever...been together. it was after the suicide of her boyfriend and erich did ask if she was ok with things since it was semi recent. he didnt remember her exact words,but she didnt seem to like being second guessed.

the flair in which marlena flung the door open would have been the envy of the most grizzled of sergio leone cowboys. if dietrich had wandered his chunky self here,there no doubt would have been a close up of his fuzzy,ice cream encrusted face. but sadly,life isnt all that interesting. there were just normal sorts of folks here and little to no spaghetti western music. "sure thing. lets get this little child some ice cream." erich cheerfully said. now he had the looming emotions of this little girl on his hands,and possibly doing a powerful hallucinogen with his ex wife. this was not how he pictured this day going at all. but,he was curious to see where this rocket landed.

erich did approve of the interior decoration of this place. he was all for places with crap all over the walls. he greatly disliked the sleek and modern look places went for. it just came off as soulless. sleek was fine,if googie was the aim. minimalist buildings ground his gears. hearing their daughter just burst out with her order,not caring if anyone else was ready,or even if a colossal sundae was even something she could get,she was ordering it. "make sure there are no nuts on that sundae" erich pipes up. sundaes seemed to always have nuts. he hated them in there. he liked peanuts,he liked ice cream. he didnt like them together."i dont think we ever ate ice cream together before." erich muses to ada in as platonic a way as possible. he didnt want to spill the beans on their previous relationship to marlena accidentally. " vanilla with strawberry topping,my good man." erich ordered with gusto. maybe there was some of him in marlena after all.

with frozen treat and plain spoons in hand,erich followed the pair to the booth. erich was unaware of the thought ada put into seating the trio. he just assumed the child always sat next to ada. besides,maybe it was for the best. if marlena was horrified that the strange man before her was her father,she could just dive into ada's arms. how were they to do this? should he just be like darth vader and announce it? "i guess the bird really liked you. they poop on people they dont." erich made a pbbt sound and a whistle like a bomb falling. he was both into the bird story and hoping marlena liked poop jokes. most kids did. he looked to ada and nudged her foot with a questioning look. "what do we do?" he mouthed to her.

"it is. trust me." erich chuckles to marlena. play enough shows out doors and you're certain to get pooped on by a bird. it'd happened at least 4 times to erich. gooey bird poop and gooey pomade can be difficult to distinguish from when you put your hand in it.

erich gave a slight nod to how ada handled this. there was no handbook that said how to tell a child who their parents were. ada certainly did it the best way possible in erich's opinion. he'd have done something like a knock knock joke. who's there? its dad. this was now happening and there wasnt any putting the genie back in the bottle. erich looked from marlena to ada and then back to marlena. "well..." he says,taking a bite of strawberry covered ice cream and swallowing before continuing. "its..um,me. " he decided to just go for it. she seemed like a bright child,so maybe straight to the point was the best.

"in trouble? never." erich scoffs at the very idea. he didnt know marlena all that well,but he could tell she was an utter charmkin. he breathed a sigh of relief as the young girl seemed no more concerned with his presence than before she knew who he was. erich mirrored their daughter and took a bite of his own ice cream. it tasted all that much sweeter with the big secret out of the bag.

"for real. we should tell other,random kids we're their parents. just to see if it's always this easy." erich laughs. he breathes easy and gives ada a we did it. we deserve more flask expression. this was a bigger hurdle than the initial words between the two of them. erich at least knew somewhat how ada could react to things.

erich expected the question of why he and ada werent together anymore. so marlena's question took him slightly off guard. "well...." he starts,looking around the shop and to the two people who were now part of his life once more. "i work all over the world,marlena. like your mom was," erich says,gesturing to ada and trying to explain this to a child. "i am a singer. so i am a bouncy little fellow. but..i will be around more than i was. that,i can say to you." atomic war bride was a band that was almost always on the road. they had to be. they had no merchandise sales and wanted people to freely pirate their music. they sold vinyl,but the record collectors were a niche at best. soon,erich would be off and on the road with savannah haim.

marlena seemed a free little spirit,so maybe she did get in a trouble...a little. but erich was sure it was minor and could probably be blamed on other kids. even though she was privately tutored. " i think someone is trying to say you get in trouble,sometimes." erich says to marlena with a wink to ada. this parent thing wasnt too bad. now that it was truly official,he did look at marlena in a new way. she probably was a very strong willed child,both of her parents were...so yeah,ada probably had experienced some butting of the heads with her.

"yes. i sing and i play guitar. but it's all just silly songs. your mother...her music actually meant something. " erich says warmly. he always was one of ada's biggest fans and wanted their daughter to know her mother was very talented. for all his longevity in the music business,erich barely saw himself as writing anything more significant that jingles. plus,there were very few of his songs that their daughter SHOULD listen to. though who knew if actual children liked rockabilly anymore. by this time it would be marlena's great grandparents music. at mention of him being the cool parent,erich jusht laughs into his ice cream at ada. "please,parent is a rather liberal use of the term. let's wait until i get that first pediatrician visit under my belt." erich knew ada or ada's family had done the hardest part of child rearing. once the baby stage is over,its kinda just hanging out and teaching the kids not to stick their tongues in light sockets or something. though he was at least convinced now that marlena might want him in her life.

marlena was a little ball of energy and erich had respect for ada being able to do this all on her own for quite some time. she must have done a great job as marlena didnt seem to be one of those kids you're going to see creepy youtube videos on. she seemed normal and happy. hopefully the games she was looking at didnt require change. erich rarely carried cash. while he was sure ada was not looking at a leave it to beaver sort of life. erich believed good fathers should always have quarters in their pockets. at the mention of the drug out of marlena's hearing,erich leaned in close to ada.
" ada...yeah,i have some back at the hotel. but..." erich pauses,really debating if he should follow through with what he wants to say. after some mental deliberation,he goes for it. he cares enough for ada that he doesnt want her to have a bad time. " we're looking at like at least 6 hours on this stuff and maybe...maybe experiencing things we dont want to experience. memories looked at in a new way" he says carefully. he doesnt want to say she may relive the cult years,but it is possible.