The Line Between Living and Dying

First Date

After a while of roaming Central City, Dani found herself alone in a bar. She stared at a shot glass in front of her over her crossed arms. A mental battle took place in her mind over whether she should drink it or not. 

"Wow, we should stop meeting like this." A male voice joked. Dani turned to find an attractive young man, around her age, with short, dirty blonde hair and brown eyes.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Dani furrowed her eyebrows, not being able to place where she had seen the man before.

"I'm Eric. We met the other night, remember?" The man asked. "I gave you my number and you never called or texted."

Realization dawned on Dani's face. "Oh my god, I remember!" She gasped. "I am so sorry. I was actually gonna call you that night but my friend confiscated my phone because let's face it, I was drunk and my life got a little crazy."

Eric chuckled, finding the brunette's mini-rant amusing. "It's fine. Life gets crazy for all of us sometimes, right?"

"You have no idea."

"And, I mean, it all still worked out since I was just gonna ask you on a date. Like I am right now."

"Oh really?" Dani smiled.

"Yeah. How about this weekend?" Eric asked hopefully.

Dani bit her lip, an impulsive thought turning into words before she could think twice. "What about tonight?"

Eric's eyes widened. "Wow. I didn't expect that answer."

"Neither did I." Dani laughed. "But I did have kind of a rough day and maybe spending the night alone isn't a great idea."

Eric stared at Dani thoughtfully. "All right. What do you want to do?"

"How about we just walk around and talk until something fun grabs our attention?" Dani suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." Eric smiled, holding his hand out for Dani to take. Dani slapped some money on the table before grabbing his hand and the two walked out, their intertwined fingers swinging between them.

"So, what do you do for a living?" Eric asked as he and Dani walked down the street.

"I authenticate art pieces at the museum and manage shipments," Dani answered. "What about you?"

"Construction worker."

"Wait, so you, like, hang out at the tops of unfinished buildings and stuff?" 

"There's more to it than that, but yeah."

"I don't know if you're stupid or brave," Dani commented.

"I'm guessing you don't like heights much, then." Eric glanced at the brunette.

"Not unless I'm protected by a railing." Dani agreed. She turned her head towards Eric, wanting to ask more questions about him but caught sight of something else.

"What?" Eric questioned once he noticed that his date had stopped walking.

"I found something fun that has grabbed my attention." Dani answered.

"And that is..." Eric trailed off.

Dani didn't say anything. She only pointed across the street, to the neon lights of a tattoo parlor.

"Really?" Eric raised his eyebrows. "You don't strike me as a tattoo kind of person."

"Oh, I'm not," Dani assured. "But, one thing that you should know about me is that I believe in the universe. If you're in the right place at the right time, it's because the universe wants you there. And right now I think that the universe wants me in that tattoo parlor." Dani explained. "So, what do you say? Are you coming with or are you gonna have a boring night?"