Luke Quinn (belfastian) wrote in mnhttnprjct, @ 2010-08-08 20:46:00 |
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Entry tags: | luke quinn, max yorke |
WHO: Luke Quinn and Max Yorke.
WHAT: A surprise date with a side of awkwardness next to the sandwiches.
WHERE: Java Joe's
WHEN: Backdated to July 31st, 2029.
RATING: PG, nothing horrible happened.
MAX: A little after one in the afternoon, Max found himself sitting in a tiny corner table at Java Joe’s with Luke, who about an hour earlier had walked into Tome Raids as a surprise. Little did he know that book sales seemed to pick up during the lunch hour thanks to patrons getting some quick shopping done on their lunch hour, so he was forced to wait about an hour before Max could pry himself away from the register for his lunch break. The it was off to Java Joe’s for some drinks and those small (vegetarian) sandwiches coffee places tended to sell, mainly because the place perhaps had a small employee discount for anything Max bought. Plus, he was currently addicted to the falafel hummus wraps they carried every other day and he had been thinking about having one ever since he arrived at work in the morning.
“Were you that bored sitting at home you wanted to come see my interesting life at the book store?” he joked as picked up a pickle spear and took a bite.
LUKE: His relationship with Max was progressing in nice ways that Luke couldn't have imagined was possible. Then again, he wasn't really an expert on what went and what didn't. A string of failed girlfriends and one dead boyfriend could attest to that. As such, he felt himself prone to doing things more...spontaneously, such as randomly showing up at his place of work. Besides, he really did need a few more books to read, a hobby he never really cared about before but was quickly finding relaxing while Max was practicing his music.
And now they were enjoying sandwiches and tea. He inwardly lamented how that food might have to last him longer as it was the end of the month and he wasn't due to be paid for another day or so. He ignored that thought as Max asked him a question. "I needed books. Seeing you was the perk. Maybe tomorrow I will go to a pet shop and pick out a nice dog." Luke grinned and took a bite of his sandwich.
MAX: If you were anything like Max, Luke, you would just spend your rent money on food and worrying about how you were going to pay for that later. Great logic, huh? Or you could just Invite yourself over and somehow make it seem like it was Max’s idea to get you food. Now that would be the smart thing to do rather than trying to make your food last nearly two days. Just sayin’.
At the dog comment, Max made a face that indicated there was no mistake that he was a cat person. “If you get a dog, your flat with smell like dog and I am afraid I can’t come over if that is the case.” Pausing, he took a bit of his wrap and chewed it quickly so he could continue his thoughts on canines. “Plus, it would just jump all over me and drool and I just can’t do that,” he finished with a shake of his head indicating he was kidding. Somewhat.
LUKE: That was one of their many differences. Luke was used to foregoing a meal or three for the pure sake of ensuring he still had a roof over his head. Not the most nutritional of ideas, but it was the one where he could ensure himself he still had a cabinet to put canned goods in. And though he hated it, flirting with his customers was the only way to ensure he didn’t run into that trouble often. Max would have to accept that Luke isn’t fond of asking for other’s help, not when it could risk their own security.
He laughed. “Luckily for you I cannot afford one, so you’ll have to remain drool-free for just that much longer.” He continued eating his sandwich. “Cats are evil you know, just waiting for you to go to sleep and then next morning you don’t wake up,” he also joked. Sort of.
MAX: Hey now. There was absolutely nothing wrong with flirting with bar patrons for some extra tips, or at least their wasn’t according to Max. After all, that’s basically what he did on the few days of the week he worked nights at the piano bar. A few songs, some laughs, and carefully placed customer-based naughty comments could really bring in the tips once the patrons became drunk enough. Perhaps it didn’t reflect well on him, but he really didn’t have a problem taking those tips.
“They are not evil. They are independent and loving creatures that don’t feel the need to be all up in your business all of the time. Cats enjoy their alone time and as an only child, I can respect that. Or something.” Max then put down his wrap and picked up the pickle spear that had come with it, holding like one would hold a pen while they were trying to make a point. “I had a cat back home.” In London.
LUKE: He wasn’t sure if he was so keen on Max flirting for tips, but as long as it was for tips and nothing more, then he’d only get annoyed at the patrons who thought they actually had a chance with him. Or didn’t know when to let up, and of course trying not to let Max see the hypocrisy of Luke allowing himself to flirt while not liking his boyfriend doing the same.
“That is exactly what they want you to think,” he half joked. “Then they wait for you to be lulled into a false sense of security and then they strike!” he pointed at the sky Luke, paranoid much? Nah. Okay maybe. Personally, he always liked dogs because of their unconditional love and affection, something that was hard to come by in his household. He smiled at him. Of course he would have had one of those little furry beasts when he was a kid. “Cat lover,” Luke teased. “What was his name?” As that was clearly the most important thing here.
MAX: In today’s economy, sometimes you had to do some less than great things in order to make money and that included flirting. As long as it was just that, Max could deal with it. Mostly. He’ll just remind himself that food and rent was a good thing.
Max’s small family had always owned cats, probably because they were low maintenance and didn’t require much care. With two working parents and a child who was often lost in music, that type of pet was much needed. Dogs and their unconditional love were just a strange concept to him. “We had two when I was growing up named Gustav and Alma.” Yes, Max named them after a composer and his wife. “The one I had when I was in school and living in London was named Lila.” No, Max hadn’t named that one.
LUKE: That is pretty much the only thing keeping Luke from dragging people away from Max at every opportunity.
Luke laughed. “Gustav I could see, but Lila? Really?” He leaned forward and squeezed Max’s thigh. “You’re just that special, aren’t ye?” He leaned back, tilting his head at Max. “If I had a dog, I think I would name it...” Luke paused as though he was deep in thought. “Lucky. Or Duke. And I would teach it tricks. and he or she would learn to love you no matter what so you could get slobbered all over,” he joked, though he didn’t see what was so wrong with drool other than the need to clean afterwards.
MAX: That would be bad for business, Luke. Bad for business.
At the comment on Lila the cat, Max just smiled initially since naming that one hadn’t been his idea. It had actually been the idea of his ex-girlfriend, so there really wasn’t any need to bring that up now. “Guess I am,” he answered quietly thanks to the squeeze. It didn’t last long though as he was making a face at the name suggestions Luke had for his future dog. “You can’t name a dog Duke. That’s too... something.” No. No naming the future dog Duke. It rhymed with Luke! “Did you ever have a dog?”
LUKE: But he would be so satisfied in kicking the crap out of them!
“But Duke makes it sound distinguished. Moreso than something silly like, Fluffy. I dare you to tell me what’s wrong with Lucky then.” He sipped his tea as he listened to Max’s little tidbit of his personal history. “I can name a dog Duke, if I so wish! He would be awesome regardless.” Luke paused. “No, I never had a dog. Or a pet in general.” He figured that would be enough.
MAX: Jail time is not fun time.
“Duke sounds gay. And rhymes with Luke.” Seriously. No one in their right mind would name a dog Luke. Well. Except for the people who did, but they weren’t important. “And I guess Lucky would be fine.” Max still thought it was a slightly stupid name for an animal, but this was the man who would definitely name any pet after a composer, so he didn’t have much say on the subject. “Really?” he asked as he picked up the wrap again but didn’t take a bite. “Any reason why you didn’t have a pet?”
LUKE: “All the more reason to name him as such.” His grin hadn’t changed. Luke leaned back in his chair. “Suppose I would have to be okay with the name Lucky then, if I ever could get a dog.” Luke was readily aware he couldn’t ever actually be able to own one, but it was a nice thought nonetheless. He shrugged at Max’s question because that was clearly the only way to respond. “We didn’t have one because it cost too much money.” As though that would somehow explain away everything.
MAX: As Luke grinned, Max took another bite of his wrapped and chewed it slowly. He then nodded at the comment of money, somewhat unsure of what to say since the situation was a bit awkward for him. “I see.” Always a good excuse not to have a dog, though it was a sad one. “What kind of jobs did your parents do?”
LUKE: Luke shrugged. “Me mum was a secretary in an office. Me dad was kind of shady. As far as I knew I was told he was a dock worker.” It wasn’t much, but it was also about as much lying as he was willing to do so while keeping Max from getting suspicious.
MAX: Once again, he remained quiet during the tiny glimpse into Luke’s past. Max had noticed by now that the other man didn’t seem to casually mention his parents or childhood like most people would during an standard ‘Getting To Know You’ phase. Admittedly, it struck him as a bit odd, but he supposed most people wouldn’t want to talk about their crap experiences right off the bat. Despite all this, Max still wanted to know a bit more, or at least as much as Luke felt comfortable telling him. “Is that why he’s in jail?” Pause. “You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want.”
LUKE: His nose twitched. There was only so much he could tell before the ties between himself and Max were at risk of severing in its entirety. It forced him to be careful and guarded, which apparently wasn’t something his boyfriend enjoyed or preferred. The logical thing to do at that point would have been to just leave and exit the relationship, save Max the trouble and pain. Too bad Luke was falling too hard to make that a possibility. “Being a dock worker probably wouldn’t have done it, but whatever he was actually doing would have. All I know is me mum told me he killed and he wasn’t coming back.” He took a long drink of his tea, trying to find his next words. “Tell me more about your mum and dad.”
MAX: “Oh,” was his answer to that and the look on his reflect there were much more thoughts to Luke’s statement than a simple ‘oh’. Quite frankly, Max found that revaluation to be horrible and though he didn’t realize it wasn’t all to the story, it was just enough to make him assume why Luke didn’t talk about his life back in Belfast much. If he were in the other man’s shoes, Max supposed he wouldn’t want to talk about it either and with that, Luke successfully prevented him from asking more invasive questions, at least for a awhile.
So it was quite understandable when the offer to talk more about his parents was offered, Max jumped on the chance to relieve some of the awkwardness he felt had settled into the conversation. “Umm. I don’t know how much more there is beyond what I already told you. I mean, we were kind of just your average boring family,” he started as he gave a shrug, somewhat unsure on where to do with this. “They just... the whole house just revolved around me and my music. They did all they could to make sure I could do it, which is funny because, really, it’s not a highly marketable skill that was going to make me lots of money. But they still encouraged me to do that.” How was that for more, Luke?
LUKE: The less Max knew of his life before immigrating to the United States, the better.
Smirking, Luke pointed the other end of his sandwich at Max. "Average, maybe. Boring? Impossible. Remember I've met your mum so I know that's a lie. She's clearly where you get your cheeky nature from." Of course, that was an unintentional meeting and he was still highly embarrassed even as he joked about it. "They put you in music and encouraged you because you loved it. I think it's nice. How many kids get to say that?" He did his best not to return the conversation to earlier topics and hoped Max would possibly change the subject altogether.
MAX: Perhaps just throw in some random memories of growing up back in Belfast? Childhood stories are gold to most people. Take note, Luke.
“You should be so lucky to actually see her in person,” he answered as he reached forward and plucked a pickle that was hanging on the edge of Luke’s sandwich. Max’s mother was a woman who needed to be there in person in order to have the full effect... or something. “Not everyone, I suppose.” For example, apparently not Luke. “Though nothing says love like encouraging your son to be a wuss and not a tough footballer.” For example, apparently Luke’s parents encouraged the latter.
LUKE: He laughed, though there was a tinge of pink on his cheeks. As much as he was beginning to enjoy Max’s parents for being who they were, at the same time he would like to never relive that first time. “Cmon now, that wasn’t a bad thing. Besides, no offense love, you make a better musician than footie player.” Luke took a bite of his sandwich before continuing. “I just played football and rugby because all me mates were doing it.” That was all he added before going back to his sandwich, allowing the conversation to volley back to Max.
MAX: Funny world they lived in where meeting parents involved sitting in front of a laptop screen with one of Max’s parents on the other side. Thus was America. “Makes sense for playing sports” Lots of people got into things because their friends and family did it. “My friends...” he said as his voice trailed off upon realizing the embarrassing truth he was about to tell Luke. “I... didn’t really have many friends in school. Growing up, most of my friends where other kids in the Conservatoire programs, but I only saw them on weekends.” Max gave a smile to off set the lameness of his childhood. “Guess football or rugby would have helped.”
LUKE: Well that was only because the two of them were hampered by the whole borders closed issue, though there was no way in hell Luke was going to bring that up with Max. He sure as hell wasn’t that stupid. His smile turned small as he listened to Max’s story. It bothered him that someone as interesting as his boyfriend might not have been liked when he was younger. Of course, he himself was biased but he didn’t care. Besides, just because he had a lot of friends, it wasn’t necessarily a good thing as they were all just all sons of the same twisted cause. Not exactly healthy, mind you.
“I dunno, if you did anything different, you might not be who you are today. I like this ‘you’ best.” That wasn’t a compliment, it was nothing but the simple truth he didn’t mind sharing. That in itself was few and far between.
MAX: Bringing up the borders was definitely was of those topics one didn’t mention around Max. Well. One didn’t mention it unless watching him go from call to outraged in a short amount of time was intended outcome, which was really a sight to behold considering the man rarely got beyond mildly annoyed on most things. It was really better to talk about something that made him happy. Like music.
“You’re probably right,” he answered before he popped the last bit of his wrap into his mouth. “And it wasn’t so bad. Once I got to music school, I was actually kind of popular, so I guess it all worked out for me.” Max liked himself for the most part, so it was all good. “You were popular, weren’t you?” The smile on his indicated he was finding this situation a bit humorous for some reason.
LUKE: “I’m always right!” he jokingly defended. “Been so this whole time. Look at you now, I’d say it worked out for you. Cat lover.” Luke smiled and leaned back in the cafe’s chair. He shrugged at Max’s next question. “Suppose I was. But that was probably for my looks and being in sports, nothing really special there.” Having finished his sandwich, he sipped his tea before pulling out his wallet. One quick look inside and he knew they were going dutch. Luke pulled out cash to cover his half plus tip while he waited for Max to either continue talking or get ready to leave.
MAX: “One of these days I am just going to get a kitten. Just to spite you.” Also because they are tiny, cute, and full of love/life. Standing up, Max fished his wallet out of one of his pocket, produced his NIC, and quickly picked up the receipt on the table while simultaneously ignoring the money Luke had left on the table. “You forgot amazingly nice personality and good kisser.” And then he started to move toward the register before anything could be said about the money on the table.
LUKE: “You do that and I was save every last penny to get a puppy. And they can be friends.” Or bitter enemies, whichever. “Flattery. A little cheesy but I guarantee you it will get into my pants any day.” He frowned once he noticed Max walked away with the bill, money left alone. “Wait,” Luke called out, picking up his cash and catching up to him. “You forgot this.”
MAX: “Have fun getting up at 3AM to let it out.” Yet another reason to own a cat. And don’t be silly, Luke. Everyone knows that dogs and cats are Mortal Enemies, except when they are cold and need to cuddle together for warmth. By the time he caught up to him, Max was standing at the counter with one person between him and the register. “No. I didn’t,” he answered as he turned his head to look a Luke.
LUKE: “I will.” It was said with a hint of teasing. Luke wasn’t a dense guy, he figured out pretty quickly that the leaving behind of his money wasn’t an accident. He was still frowning a little bit. Not that he didn’t appreciate people doing nice things for him, but in this case he wasn’t thrilled at Max spending his money on him. “Max,” he sighed, lowering his voice to keep their conversation down, “I can pay for my half, you don’t have to do this.”
MAX: When he made the decision to just go ahead and pay for the meal, he expected something like this from Luke, perhaps from experience. “I can take care of it. It’s all right.” Max’s voice was equally as low as Luke’s since the person in front of him was almost done with their transaction. “It’s my treat.”
LUKE: He grumbled, but as it wasn’t their first dance around the money issue. Luke understood the whole “being in a relationship” thing to some degree, but he felt being poor trumped trying to be nice, and Max saving his money was the better option. Of course, he also believed this while having hypocritically paid for Max’s meal more than once. It was one of those ‘Do as I say not as I do’ moments. He sighed. “Alright, but just this time, okay?” Luke stated that as though he could keep Max from pulling this stunt again.
MAX: Even though the money issue had only happened a time or two before, Max already guessed it was going to be a point of contention between the two of them. Money was extremely tight for the two of them, just as it was for almost everyone else in New York City, but when he had a little extra, Max liked to pay for the occasional meal just like Luke did. So when the comment about ‘just this time’ came up, it didn’t sit very well with the Englishman and the corner of his mouth twitched as he did his best not to let his lips fall into a frown.
Thankfully, it was his turn to pay and without a word, he handed over his NIC, eventually signing the receipt so the transaction could go through. He then shuffled toward the door and opened it, holding so Luke could exit before he did. “I have about a minute until I have to get back to work.” Leaning down the two inches or so that separated the two in height, Max kissed him quickly on the forehead before offering a small smile as he obvious avoiding of Luke’s prior comment. “I’ll see you later.” He only paused with enough time for Luke to offer his own goodbye before turning and heading back in the direction of Tome Raids.
LUKE: The two of them might never completely come into some sort of conclusion regarding money. The both of them being poor, they had a nasty tendency of thinking for others rather than themselves. Great for appearing to be generous, less so when both parties in the relationship were trying to give without letting the other lose so much of their own money.
Luke’s face flushed a bit as Max kissed his forehead, and he tried not the reflect on the fact how something so simple as a kiss not even on the lips could push him toward a realm of feeling completely safe without worrying of any consequences. “You can count on it.” Luke knew things weren’t going to be as easy as allowing one or the other to accept the money issue. Instead he took the moment to squeeze Max’s shoulder and smile as he watched him walk away back to work, leaving Luke to his own thoughts. He simply waited, knowing there was nothing he could change about the current situation, but completely unwilling to walk away from everything that was the essence of Max all the same. It would be eventually a bridge they would have to cross. They would have to see if that journey was worth it or not. For Luke, it already was.