Brendan Carlisle (bcarlisle) wrote in nbc_chicago, @ 2011-07-28 01:44:00 |
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Entry tags: | brendan carlisle, kate stone |
Who? Brendan & Kate
When? Thursday, all day!
Where? Wandering round the city, then Navy Pier.
What? Brendan & Kate have a whole day off, and they spend the time treating the city like a giant playground!
Rating PG-13 (Language, snogging, innuendo... interesting mints...)
Status Complete log.
It was Brendan's day off, and he had nothing to do - he'd got up, been for his run, showered, dressed, had breakfast, cleaned up to the best of his ability while dancing about to loud music, and now he was randomly messing around online. And despite the amount of energy he had already used up, he was getting bored and fidgety... then he noticed that Kate had updated her Facebook - she was home? She was off? He'd had no idea, but now that he knew, he couldn't help but pester her. He left a comment and went to get himself a soda while he waited for a reply. After five minutes of refreshing like a maniac, nothing had happened except he'd given himself finger cramp, so he decided that he didn't care if it made him look weird and desperate trying to contact her in two different ways and picked up his phone. He scrolled through to her name and made the call.
"Call yourself a Facebook addict? Five whole minutes!" he told her, probably incomprehensibly as she answered the phone. "Also, hello!"
Kate had been up early; too early! It was her day off and it seemed cruel to be up with the sun. Kate was far less ambitious then Brendan and was still in bed, propped up on the pillows, laptop in her lap as she sipped her coffee and scrolled through her e-mail. By the time she made it to Facebook, the sun was pouring in through her windows, but she still had no urge to get up. Her status said just that and after updating, she'd crawled out of bed for more coffee and an orange. When she returned, she saw the little notice that she had a reply and as she read it, her phone started singing to her and she didn't have time to react that Brendan had replied.
"Good morning to you, too," she laughed softly, raking her fingers back through her hair. "I'm sorry that my coffee addiction takes precedence over my Facebook addiction," she told him. "Why didn't you tell me that you had off today? We could have met for coffee," Kate said, lounging back against her pillows again. That, or he could have slept over, she sighed to herself.
Kate sounded a lot less awake than him, and that made him feel a little guilty for all of about two seconds. "Well, you never told me either!" he protested - they were going to have to swap work schedules at some point. He'd even go as far as highlighting all over the matching days off they had and planning things from there, but that sounded a bit too organised for him. Not to mention the opposite of taking things slowly and playing it cool. He decided that for now, he wouldn't suggest the schedule-swapping, but maybe he'd casually drop it into the conversation later on, make her think it was her crazy idea!
"What do you mean, could have? We still can!" he told her, overly excited sounding - then he had a change of heart. "Oh, I mean, unless you have plans for today?" he added, really hoping that wouldn't be the case.
Kate snapped her laptop shut and tipped her head back, finishing her second cup of coffee. Kate believed herself to be far more organized then Brendan, and was thinking along the same lines as he was. They would have to swap schedules and at least try to see each other a bit more often then on the weekends and on random lunch breaks. If they were ever going to make something of this relationship, they were going to have to see each other more - wasn't that the point? Then he made the suggestion and she grinned.
"I have no plans... I'm camped out in bed with my laptop and had intended to stay here until naptime... then I would have stayed here for that, too," she laughed. "So, how about I get a shower and... we can get some coffee and... go from there? Do you want to meet me somewhere, or do you have something else in mind?" she asked, pulling herself out of bed as she walked over to her closet, looking around for that new top she'd bought but hadn't worn yet.
Brendan grinned to himself and did a little air-punch of joy when she told him that she had no plans. It was funny how much he enjoyed her company, his day off had just improved by a million percent. "Until naptime?" he asked her, a little dubious. "Are you copying Gone With the Wind's tips for ladies etiquette?" he teased, somehow unable to stop himself despite the absolute glee he was consumed by.
"Uuh, I can come and get you and whisk you away somewhere exciting!" he told her, a little giddy. "Or, well, not that exciting, but somewhere that sells coffee at least!" he amended for a more reality-based suggestion. "How long do you need? And what's your postcode? I mean zipcode?" he asked, preparing for a sat nav adventure.
"Yes, on my day off, I tend to curl up with my pillows and sleep for at least an hour," she told him, grabbing an outfit out of her closet. "Seeing how many hours I work during the week, I tend to treat myself to a few extra hours of sleep whenever I can get them. However... I'm going to admit a secret to you," she smiled, "I would much rather spend time with you, Brendan," Kate confessed to him.
She rattled off her address and apartment number to him. "I'm on the third floor, I'll buzz you up... and bravo for getting the lingo right," she giggled. Yes, Kate giggled and then she all but groaned. "I need about... a half hour? That's not being too obsessive about my hair, right? I'll see you soon," she said, meaning it sincerely that she wanted to see him soon. Kate took the fastest shower ever, gave her hair a quick blowdry and pulled up her tendrils into a clip, dabbed on a touch of make-up and pulled on a pair of jean shorts and her new blue cotton and lace-trimmed tank top and was just slipping her feet into a pair of canvas shoes when she heard the buzzer. She rushed over to the intercom to buzz him up. "The door is unlocked up here, just come right in," she shouted, then ran back to her bathroom to finish up.
"I wasn't judging!" he insisted, laughing a little at her explanation - he wasn't exactly the sleeping sort, as much as he said that he hated mornings, he still had a million gallons of energy to share round most of the time. It was worrying how little sleep he functioned on half of the time. "Aw, I'm touched!" he said, a little mockingly, but in fact he meant it - it pleased him to know that she enjoyed his company so much she'd sacrifice her naptime for him.
"Gotcha," he said, opening a couple of drawers in an attempt to find a pen, and eventually scrawling it on the back of his hand. "Thanks! Why zipcode? I mean, it's so post knows where it's going, right? What's so zippy about it?" he asked, then realised he was still talking. "You don't have to answer that!" he laughed. "See you soon!" he finished, hanging up the phone. He did a quick mirror check, brushed his teeth (again!) and eventually headed out to his car. It didn't take him too long to find her apartment, and he checked the time as he arrived - it had been just over 30 minutes, so hopefully she would be ready for him. He was buzzed in, and made his way up to the third floor, finding her apartment and almost cautiously opening the door. "Hey!" he called out as he walked into the hallway.
She sprayed her hair a bit, put on coat of mascara and smiled when she heard him enter her apartment. "Don't go looking in the dishwasher," she called out, peering around the doorframe of her bathroom, looking for him. "It might scare you to find dishes in it," she teased, swiping a layer of lipgloss over her mouth. She looked herself over, deciding it would do, then flipped off the light and wandered out into her living room where she saw him. "Hey there," she smiled brightly at the mere sight of him.
Her living room was neat, but lived-in. Her favorite color was pink, but she tried to be subtle with it. Her couch was a creamy, off-white color with a matching over-stuffed arm chair, both facing her flat-screen television that her father had bought her as a housewarming gift several years ago. Unlike Brendan, her obsessive DVD collection was on display along the right side of the television and her book collection was off to the left, a lot of her books cock-eyed and not properly stored yet. She had family photos on her bookshelves, little knick-knacks mixed in, as well as scattered on the end tables. Her coffee table was cleared, but underneath lie her stacks of unread fashion magazines. On her sofa and chair were fluffy, deep pink/mauve pillows that matched the rug under the coffee table on the hardwood floor.
Kate crossed over to Brendan and impulsively lifted her arms, wrapping them around his shoulders and neck in a hug. "I'm so glad you have the day off," she told him.
"Dishwasher? Nah, my first stop is the fridge, need to check up on those eggs!" he joked right back at her. He took the few moments to glance around the apartment - it was much more organised than his own, but he had definitely expected that. It suited her - it was feminine, but subtly so - organised, but not sterile. But he knew that he'd feel the need to be careful not to mess anything up.
"Hey!" he replied, accepting her hug and giving her a quick squeeze - he would have given her a kiss, but he didn't want to mess the make-up she had just put on. That, and he wasn't sure her lipgloss was his color. "I know, right? This is far too exciting!" he told her pulling back to look at her. "You look lovely, by the way," he told her - and it was true. Everytime he thought about her, he thought there was no way she could be as beautiful as he was remembering. And then he saw her again, and she was even more beautiful. It was mind-blowing.
"Oh, don't you worry! That refrigerator has plenty of eggs," she laughed as she emerged from her bathroom. She left her jewelry for another day, minus the small stud earrings she never took out. She checked to make sure her lights were out in the back then joined him in the living room.
Kate rested her hands on his shoulders, moving back enough to smile up at him. "Aren't you just the nicest man... I think I'll keep you if you think I look lovely in jeans and a tank top," she grinned. She glanced around, making sure she'd picked up before his arrival. Kate turned back to him, looking him over. "Are you always this tall?" she blurted out, "or am I always wearing heels when we're around each other?" she speculated, trying to recall the night she'd spent at his apartment. She'd been in such a haze of adoration, she hadn't noticed. "Anyway," she laughed, dropping her hands down his arms, squeezing his hand before she headed to her kitchen for her purse.
"Good, I told you I'd be checking!" he joked - it was weird, even something silly that had been said in a haze of sleepiness was kind of cute, like they had their own daft, secret jokes already.
"You do. But I thought you looked lovely soaked and hanging out in my sweats, so you know!" he reminded her. Maybe the outfit would have just been jeans and a tank top on anyone else, but on her... well, he had to stop that thought before it even started, it was only the morning for goodness sakes! "No, I've been taking growth hormones, shot up overnight," he teased, giving her a playful shake before she moved back. "Come on, your magical mystery tour awaits!" he told her, a twinkle of excitement in his eyes.
"OK," she said, locking up her apartment, "I'm completely ready for my magical mystery tour," she smiled. Kate slung her purse over her shoulder, and reached out for his hand, like it was a natural gesture, which was exactly what it felt like. She walked beside him outside into the morning sun, pulling her sunglasses down over her eyes. "Where to?" she asked again, trying to get him to tell her something.
"I don't really have a plan, to be honest!" he admitted, as if that was more exciting that anything. It was sickening for someone to be so energized before noon. "So, we're going to head into town, get you that third coffee, and.. well, we'll see what happens from there," he told her, fumbling for car keys, remotely unlocking his silver ford fusion from inside his pocket since he still only had one hand free. "Sound good?"
Kate held onto his hand, having to move quickly to keep up with his long strides. "You'd better watch it," she laughed, "or there will be no eggs in your future!" she threatened. In a strange way, it was like a twisted innuendo, but between them is just silly and ridiculous - for now anyway.
Out in the parking lot, Kate shrugged. "The best plans come from no plan at all," she smiled. "When I was in grad school in Philadelphia, my roommate and I got to know the area by playing 'Left, Right, or Straight On,' which was something we made up," she started to explain, reluctantly taking her hand back from him as she got into his car. Once they were settled, she explained the little game. "Basically, we would walk down the street, come to an intersection and if it was her turn, she would decide which way we went... and we had to walk that way until we did something. Even if it was just get coffee or go into a record shop. After leaving that place, we'd continue to another intersection and then I would get to choose which way we went... left, right, or straight on," Kate smiled. "It's how we got to know our way around Philadelphia," she shrugged, thinking it probably sounded silly. "I mean... it could be fun... if you want..."
"I absolutely agree," he nodded, feeling strangely empty without her hand in his as he moved round to his side of the car and got in. He listened to her explanation with so much interest that he didn't even put his seatbelt on and start the engine until after she was finished talking. As he did start the car, the radio turned on automatically, and his sat nav started to tell him to do a u-turn - he looked a little alarmed, and after a bit of jiggery-pokery, managed to get the sat nav to power down and stop shouting at him.
"A game? That sounds like an organised version of my life!" he laughed, as if none of the noise had ever happened - he spent a lot of time wandering aimlessly, switching directions and finding himself in places before he even knew how or why. Doing that with Kate sounded like his ideal date. "Yeah, that sounds perfect!" he told her, pulling out of the parking lot and heading downtown. It was only then that he noticed the highly inappropriate song that was still playing from the radio, but he told himself he was just going to have to ignore it, it would be weird to draw attention to it, right? And yet, suddenly he couldn't think of a damn thing to say other than something about the song, and as it started to get even worse with the lyric 'I like the way you push up on me" he gave up, and burst out laughing, simultaneously hitting the radio to switch it to the next station. "I'm sorry, I couldn't fucking take it anymore!" he laughed, wondering if she'd even noticed what on earth he was on about.
At first, she thought that he wasn't interested in her little game, because he hadn't started the car. Then, she realized that he was really listening to her and when he explained she laughed. "Oh, trust me, it can be far from organized," she assured him with a laugh. She hooked her seatbelt, setting her purse at her feet as she settled back in her seat, looking around in his car. Like his apartment, it gave off the air of neat but lived-in. She'd been in the back of a couple of the newsvans, and he certainly didn't live like the cameramen she'd worked with. "OK, well, we'll... we'll..." she spoke over the radio, pausing because... what the hell were they listening to? Kate scratched at her ear for a moment, tucking her hair as she glanced over at him. Did he enjoy inappropriate rap songs? Was this rap? she wondered, glancing out the windshield for a moment, trying to keep from laughing, then he finally changed the station and she burst out laughing. "Oh, my god!" she laughed, covering her mouth. "I'm sorry, I wasn't going to say anything, but that was... interesting," she giggled.
Kate got herself under control, taking a breath as she slowed her giggles. "All right... so we'll start at your coffee place then when we leave, we'll head for an intersection and you can make the first choice," she smiled. It sounded like it could turn into a nice day, if they let it go on that long. "My roommate and I were known for roaming around the city for hours. If a cab was sitting near the intersection, we might take a ride to some place random like a museum to mix things up so... beware of how the game could change," she playfully warned.
Brendan clearly spent a lot of time driving - it showed in the obscene mileage that came with it doubling up for work-related trips, and it showed in the way he drove. He wasn't so much for speed as Kate, and he didn't get angry, but he would make quick moves, change lanes and take off from junctions with the kind of confidence that only came with way too much experience. Interestingly, although he clearly knew the Chicago road network well, he still drove stick, as if something of the UK was still ingrained in him.
"I was having an internal debate about whether it was weirder to change it, or weirder to allow it continue. I think I made the right choice eventually!" he laughed, glad that she was finding it equally amusing, or he would have looked a bit of a nutter just giggling away to himself.
"Adventurous, I like it!" he told her, quite honestly - he'd never met a girl quite like her, willing to do something strange and ultimately fun... a lot of women felt the need to take themselves very seriously indeed, and he just couldn't deal with that. He could be serious when he had to, but for the most part he didn't mind making a bit of a fool of himself. "I know a place not far from here where we can get you some caffeine, and then we'll let fate, or Chicago, be our guide," he told her, slowing as they hit the downtown traffic.
Kate turned a little in her seat, resting her elbow on the open window sill - it was still early enough to have the windows down and not roast in the heat - her head in her hand as she turned toward him, smiling. He was so at ease with... well, it seemed like life in general. Here they were on a random day off, just driving off into the city to do basically nothing but it meant everything. "Really... I mean, I listen to Top 40 and I've heard that song but..." she laughed, shaking her head as she turned her head again, watching the city out her window. Even after all these years, she loved it, and she loved that she was sharing this with him. This was the best part of a new relationship, she thought, just being adventurous, if you were lucky enough to meet someone who enjoyed it. Apparently, Brendan did.
Kate watched where he was going. "All right, well if you're getting me coffee, then I've got parking for the day," she offered. "Don't you dare argue with me," she warned, "because if we're going to be wandering around the city, then there will be plenty of opportunities for you to be a gentleman and pay for something else," she insisted. As he drove towards a parking garage, Kate lifted her sunglasses, giving him a stare. "Don't you make me lean over you to get that ticket," she warned, holding out her hand with a sweet smile.
Brendan grinned, glad that she didn't seem to think he was too strange - he had a lot of terrible and inappropriate music on his ipod for a running soundtrack, but he decided against admitting to that just yet. As for being adventurous, not only did he enjoy it, he was just so happy that she didn't just indulge his strange ideas, she suggested equally strange and wonderful ideas of her own. It was also good that she didn't make him go to places he had to be quiet and sit still for long periods of time, this date sounded like it was going to be the total opposite. He liked it.
He was only kind of half registering what she was babbling on about paying, because he was busy trying to remember where there was a parking lot, so he stayed silent on the matter until he was reaching out of the window the grab the ticket. He pulled it, and paused the look back at her with a confused expression on his face. He looked at her hand, looked back at the ticket, and finally figured out what she was getting at, and handed it over. "Well, all right! Make sure you choose a particularly fancy coffee," he teased, driving in and finding a space pretty easily.
Kate made another gesture for the ticket, giving him a look. "What?" she asked, laughing softly as she took the ticket. He looked confused... probably had something to do with the fact that she was babbling like mad... again. She smiled sweetly at him, then tucked the ticket into her purse as he parked. "I always wondered about people who park on the roof," she said, watching him navigate into a spot. "I mean, what's the point of paying for the garage when you're going to park in the sun all day?" she scoffed.
Once they were parked, Kate climbed out of the car, laughing softly at his coffee comment. Out of the car, she crouched down, glancing at herself in the side-mirror before she rounded the car to where he was. "I will order something with extra caffeine, I can assure you of that much," she told him. "Hey... wait..." she grabbed his arm, stopping him from walking for a moment. Kate grinned, leaning up on her toes to reach him, pulling him close as she pressed a soft, quick kiss on his lips. "Hi," she grinned, "I'm really we both have the day off... in case you didn't already realize that."
She really was a bit mad, but he really liked it. It helped that it wasn't just him talking and talking and her looking at him like he was a total freak. "Yeah, I think it must be an act of desperation. I don't like parking in the street downtown. One of the few times I did, someone randomly stole the fucking glass out my mirrors," he told her, laughing about it now. At the time, he'd walked up and down the street looking for it and cursed quite a bit. "Another time, I turned into a reluctant witness of gang activity. Yeah, I'm not the luckiest - and now I'm babbling! Don't worry, I'll avoid the caffeine so you can avoid bleeding ears,"
Fortunately for them both, she tugged on his arm and stopped his endless babbling in the nicest way possible. "Hi there," he grinned back at her - how could such a small kiss make him feel practically dizzy? "Yeah, me too!" he told her, with a proper cheeser of a smile on his face. He stayed close for a moment, then threw caution to the wind and kissed her again, properly... and then pulled back and grabbed her hand. "This way! There's a nice place just round the corner that shouldn't be too busy."
Kate's eyes were wide as he told his horror stories from the city. "Oh, my god... Brendan," she gasped, shaking her head a little. "You're lucky you just played witness and not anything else," she said, thinking about how awful it must have been for him. "I grew up outside of the city, once my dad settled us down," she explained, "so I wasn't in the city much until college. I had a few run-ins with rowdy crowds at sporting events... but nothing like that," she said when he explained his incidents. He shook it off and she smiled softly, but she didn't think of the city like that. "It didn't change you opinion of the city, did it?" she asked him.
Kissing him seemed to quiet him for a moment, but then again it just got him all riled up again. His bright smile melted her heart, made her just as happy as his smile made him look. When he stayed close, she tipped her head back as he kissed her again, sighing softly when he lingered. His kiss seemed to keep going even after he pulled back and started to drag her away. Kate grinned, taking those quick steps again to keep up with his longer stride, gripping his hand as they headed out onto the streets of the city. "I'm game for your first pick. I have about four ideas in mind already, just based on where we are... and at least one if not two of them involve shopping and trying on clothes," Kate teased.
Brendan gave her a little shrug - it wasn't something that really bothered him, he'd just been babbling because.. well, that's what he did best. "Yeah, it was a news story the next day! I'll tell you, I really tested the naught to sixty speed that night!" he joked - at the time, he hadn't been able to shake the uneasy feeling for hours, but it had been a long time ago, and now he just found it kind of typical of himself, and therefor quite amusing. "Nah, considering the other two places I've lived, it would take a lot to give me a bad impression of a city," he reminded her.
"Clothes? Do I get to try on clothes, too? Movie montage?" he teased, giving her an over-excited grin and a squeeze of her hand. After a short walk, they came to a small, independent coffee shop, much quieter and more comfortably decorated than it's franchise counterparts. He held the door open for her and ushered her inside, the smell of coffee filling the air as they entered the shop, mixed with freshly baked muffins and pastries - even just the scent made him feel more awake.
"Well, yeah... you lived in New York... and considering when you lived in New York..." she sighed a little, walking into the shop a little ahead of him. She breathed in the inviting sent, all but moaning as she sighed, walking towards the counter where she could read the menu. "This is a nice place," she smiled over at him then stared back at the menu. Kate ordered a large coffee, shot of espresso and a splash of cinnamon flavor, trying to be as fancy as she could come up with. She was boring, really. Oh, and she avoided the pastries like the plague. They smelled amazing, she could almost smell the calories. "Are you getting something?" she asked him.
Coffee in hand, she walked with him towards the exit. "You want to try on clothes?" she grinned, nodding. No guy ever wanted to shop with her! This could get exciting, really. Once outside again, she gestured towards the intersection that was closest. "OK, that's where we start," she said, sipping her strong coffee. She'd added a splash of cream before leaving, just to take off the edge from the espresso. "You can try on clothes, of course... we could go into some really posh shops, try on Armani," she grinned, thinking he would put an Armani suit to shame, and she actually sighed a little, looking him over. Then her cheeks flushed and she sipped her coffee again as she walked.
Brendan ordered a tea, "just about as much caffeine as is safe," he explained. He actually drank far too much tea, and the dizzying array on offer always managed to confuse him. It seemed a major effort to get a normal cup of tea, and the looks he got when he wanted to put milk in it... sometimes it just wasn't worth the effort!
Brendan had been thinking more along the lines of costumes, but he was also liking the way her brain worked. "It would be like that scene from Pretty Woman. They'd take one fucking look at me and think... well, maybe not hooker, I'm not sure what sort of client base I'd attract, eh..." he stopped, a confused expression crossing his face. "Sorry, what were we talking about?" he asked, genuinely confused how he had managed to get onto his prostitute client list. Fortunately, they had reached the intersection, so he had a welcome distraction. "Ok, that-a-way!" he told her, pulling her round to the left with a little skip in his step. He knew the area, but he was going to try and put that aside and act on impulses rather than prior knowledge. "So, now we have to do something before the next intersection?" he asked, going over the rules of the game.
Kate laughed at his antics. It was a bit obvious that he either had a ridiculous abundance of energy or had a touch of ADHD. Sometimes she could hardly keep his attention and his eyes would dart away... oh, like that, she thought, taking his arm as they walked down the street. "Oh, stop that," she insisted. "You would walk into Armani and they would beg to dress you," Kate countered. "You've got that tall, mysterious thing going on... if you didn't shave for a day or two, you'd get the dark and dangerous part, too," she laughed. She wanted to ask if he'd looked at himself in the mirror lately... Kate thought he was downright handsome and had that sexy thing going on, it just melted her.
Kate followed him down the street, glancing up at the sign to see where they were headed. "Yes, you have to pick something. It doesn't matter what it it, even if we go across the street into the McDonald's," she gestured, "so you can get a spoon... doesn't matter. You have to pick something," she laughed. "Oh, and... avoid any place that might mistake you for a hooker... it's too early for me to deal with that," she smirked.
As she started to describe him, he scrunched up his nose and looked at her as if she was completely bonkers. "Yeah, I think we should see if there's an optician's before the next junction!" he told her. He just didn't see it. It wasn't low-self esteem, he actually felt just fine about himself, but it stopped at just fine.
"A spoon? Why do I need a fucking spoon? Oh, we should get ice cream later," he told her randomly, eyes darting around the street to see if he could find somewhere interesting for them to go. "Hmm, clothes clothes clothes..." he rambled, but didn't really see anything suitable for armani suits. "Oh!" he exclaimed suddenly, and tugged on her arm to pull her into a petshop. "But I don't think I should buy you anything in here. Unless you already have a pet that you'd like a present for. Do you?" he asked her rapdily - maybe even tea caffeine had been a bad move.
"Stop it!" she laughed, taking another sip of her coffee. "Look... OK, this is going to be such a girl moment but... I like you, and... I've liked you for a long time," she half-laughed. "You know, so... I mean, I've been attracted to you for longer then that. You may not see it but..." Kate shrugged, smiling up at him. "So, you tell me that I look lovely in your sweats... I feel the same way about you," she confessed. "I mean... you know what I mean!"
She sighed a little, giving him a look, shaking her head a little. Before he dragged her into the pet shop - oh, there was such a cute puppy in the window! - she let out a scoff. "Seriously, Brendan, what's with all the fucking?" she blurted out, following him in. He cursed all the time, and it made her laugh, but he just used it so often, and before they'd started dating, she'd never heard him curse so much. She wondered if it was just part of his culture, like how she used certain words... hmm, now she really wanted to know and waited for an answer as she wandered back towards the window where the puppy had come around to the door of his cage to be admired. "No... no pets," she called over her shoulder. "I killed too many fish and hermit crabs as a child and teenager," Kate shrugged.
He was going to blush! She was gushing about him, and he really didn't know how to respond - she'd even removed his ability to make a daft joke about it, so that was definitely saying something. "Aww... shush!" he laughed, clearly a bit embarrassed with her saying such nice things about him - yet again, she just made him feel like a coy teenager.
And then she said something that really took him by surprise, and he almost felt his heart sink. "What?" he asked, completely horrified - there were only two explanations - either one of the usual suspects had been winding her up and she'd taken it seriously, or worse, perhaps someone who knew how short-lived his previous dating endeavours had lasted was trying to warn her off him. "I... jesus, what have people been saying about me? I'm not..." he looked around, realizing he was in a family friendly pet shop and lowered his voice to near a whisper for the next part. "I'm not some kind of serial womanizer or anything!"
She smiled over at him at his protests, shaking her head a little. He just didn't see it... well, that just meant she would have to see it for him. When his face fell and he started to stutter, Kate turned towards him, looking at him curiously. "What?" she asked, facing him with a curious and, frankly, concerned expression on her face. "Womanizer? Brendan... what are you talking about?" she gasped, staring with wide eyes. Kate backtracked what she'd said in her head and let out an almost squeak of a sound, her hand flying to her mouth, feeling her cheeks turn crimson. "Brendan..." she whispered, "I was... the cursing... you... you say fuck all the time..." she said softly. "I mean... I don't think you're a womanizer... God, I hope you're not," she whispered frantically. Oh, what he must think of her now!
"Oh!" he exclaimed, breathing a sigh of relief as she explained what she had meant - he was about as red as she was now, but just about managed to laugh it off. "Oh my god, I was wondering who I was going to have to kill on Monday," he told her, running his fingers through his hair and trying to compose himself again. "Of course I'm not!" he told her, finding the idea of it pretty ridiculous.
"As for the other thing, I don't really notice I'm doing it," he explained, crouching down as the puppy begged for attention, and ruffling it's fur. That was a pretty dangerous move, because no doubt he was going to end up wanting one! "I can try and stop it," he added, looking up at her, wondering if it was something that bothered her. He knew a few people that really hated it, and if that was the case... well, he'd just have to try and think before speaking, which wasn't exactly easy for him. But he'd try.
She sighed, shaking her head, hoping she hadn't offended him, but had clearly scared him. "Oh, my god... that was..." she laughed a little, but it was a nervous laugh. "I would... no, I mean... I know you're not," Kate nodded, "I've sort of been paying attention to you for awhile," she winked, watching him crouch down in front of the puppy. Of course, she knew that he'd dated women, she'd heard people talk, but she'd never heard anything really negative.
Kate walked over beside him, leaning down to rest a hand on his shoulder as she crouched down beside him. She draped her arm across his back as she crouched beside him, watching the puppy yap and put it's paw out to the cage. "No... no," she shook her head, smiling over at him. "I... it just took me by surprise and... it was bizarrely cute to hear it rattled off the way you do," she laughed softly, rubbing his back lightly. It felt like a natural gesture, she hoped he didn't mind the little touches or that he didn't think she was clingy.
"Really?" he asked, glancing up at her, "And there was me, completely oblivious, eh?" he said with a soft laugh. He honestly never would have thought she would be interested - ever since they'd started dating, he'd been going over it and over it in his mind, trying to figure out how he had ever got so lucky. In the end, he'd decided that not questioning it too much was the saner option. She clearly did like him, and he wasn't about to change that by turning into an overly needy date, constantly asking her why and how and so on. Self-depreciation was not sexy.
"Awww," he gushed, giving the puppies paw a shake - it looked confused, and then proceeded to lick his hand. He looked over at her with a grin - there was something just adorable about the whole scene they were creating - they must have looked like a perfect couple out to buy a pet. In fact, they were just in there for no reason at all, but the image was still cute. "We should get out of here before I buy a dog," he told her, "before I buy a fucking dog," he edited quietly, laughing about it. "Cute? Really?" he asked with a wink, before standing up, taking her hand to pull her up with him.
Kate had to laugh. "Well, it's not like I was stalking you or something! I mean, it's obvious that I work a much earlier shift then you but when you would walk in all grumpy hunting around for coffee... then you would perk up and say hello to everyone," she smiled. "It's not like I was standing in your path saying 'look at me, please!'" she grinned. Kate did like him, and she liked that he felt the same way. It had been a long time since she'd genuinely liked a guy and enjoyed being around him whenever she could. Sure, she'd gone out on dates, but she hadn't dated someone since she'd lived in Washington, DC.
She smiled over at him, her arm still draped across his back as she watched him with the dog. "Don't call him a fucking dog," she sighed, shaking her head. "Poor puppy..." she teased, reaching out to ruffle his fur. Kate took Brendan's hand and walked with him back out of the store. "Cute... yes," she nodded, looking around for the next intersection. "OK... my turn," she said, glancing up and down the street. "We're going straight... heading towards the lake," she insisted. "Do you have any pets?" she asked him, finishing off her coffee as she looked up at him.
"What can I say? I might not be at my best in the morning... or what is early afternoon for most people, but it doesn't take much to perk me up," he told her - his bodyclock was a little off with working evenings, but that was only to be expected - even his postman gave him a guilty look if he had to get him up and to the door to sign for something. But once he got going, he really didn't need a great deal of sleep. "It would've sped things along if you had," he told her, with a laugh - he really was rubbish at taking a hint, and then some. Even her outright snogging him at the charity ball had left him questioning the day after. He knew now, of course, but it really had taken quite a bit more than hinting.
"I don't mean it as an insult! I don't even mean it as most people mean it!" he insisted, "I just say it like you might say... 'totally'. That's totally awesome becomes... that's fucking awesome, you guessed it!" he laughed, then looked a little thoughtful. "Although sometimes it's just like an adjective with no real meaning except for emphasis. Like I say, I don't know I'm doing it, but now you mention it, I did talk to a Scottish friend on the phone the other day, and I was blown away by how often he said it," he told her with a smile. It was weird that even after over a decade, some things just couldn't be untaught.
"Oh, are we? Sounds almost like you have a plan!" he teased, finishing his tea and tossing the cup into a bin as they passed. "No pets, although... I do have a visiting cat that I'm not sure if it is mine now or not," he told her, a bit strangely. "Does anyone ever buy a cat, or do they just acquire them?"
Kate squeezed his hand a little, smiling over at him. "I think we're moving at a pretty good pace, don't you?" she grinned. She'd admired him from afar and then they'd befriended each other. Their casual friendship hadn't turned into just a friendship, which pleased her and now that they were dating, she was glad that it wasn't like dating a friend - weird. "See, if you were my friend, I would just laugh and punch you for cursing all the time... but because I have this crazy crush on you," she teased, "I just grin and admire you... see how that works," she laughed. "I'm sorry, I'm only teasing and babbling and working on a bit too much caffeine."
Kate paused right after they crossed the intersection. "There... in there!" she insisted. She tugged on his hand and pulled him into a tattoo parlor. "I want something pierced," she said, with a completely serious expression on her face. "Look! And tattoos! Do you have any tattoos?" she asked him, looking him over. It was relatively dark and quiet inside, the buzzing sound of the tattoo needle could be heard in the back. A young woman with short blonde hair and a few piercings, her arms tattooed could be see giving someone a nose piercing.
"Oh, yeah, definitely!" he told her, squeezing her hand back as if to reassure her. Brendan had a habit of getting himself firmly into the friend zone before he even knew that there was any possibility of it being anything more, and he was glad that he had avoided that fate with Kate. He couldn't help but grin as she said that she had a crazy crush on him, and it made him feel almost giddy. "Really, you're going to give me an ego," he teased, their arms swinging casually between them as if they always just walked down the street like that. "No, don't apologise, you're adorable," he gushed.
He quirked an eyebrow as she pulled him into the tattoo parlor. "You're serious, aren't you?" he asked her, not sure whether to laugh or just stare at her like she was mental. Brendan was impulsive at the best of times, but normally it was him suggesting these crazy things, not his date. "Whatcha gonna get pierced? Do you have anything pierced? I did, but not anymore," he told her in one breath. "I mean, I did have a piercing. I do have a tattoo, and they're not so easy to remove, not that I'd want to, anyway, but.." he stopped, and took a breath - he was babbling, and his voice was becoming practically the only noise in the room - even the staff seemed to be giving him a bit of a look. "Eh. Let's start again. Yes, I do. But you'll have to wait and see, because I'm not stripping in public," he told her, with a waggle of his eyebrows. "Do you?" he asked, moving to flick casually through the designs on display as they waited for the blonde to finish her task.
She loved when he called her adorable or something along those lines. In the past weeks, she'd grown accustomed to it, and no longer blushed or looked away, simply smiled and went on with the moment. It made her feel warm inside, knowing that he thought that way about her. At least he didn't come out and say he thought she was insane, right?
Especially considering her first pick of the day was a tattoo parlor. "Well, I've always wanted to have a nose piercing," Kate admitted, peering up at the colorful art on the walls. "However, since they started putting me on air, that sort of became a back-burner thought. I don't think the producers would appreciate me having a nose piercing," she laughed. So, they were the only ones in there, let them stare. Kate was enjoying herself. She peered over at him, her eyes wide and dancing at his suggestive comment. "Hmmm, that's kind of hot," she said softly, looking him over. "I'm very intrigued right now, and have this itch to show you mine," she grinned playfully.
The blonde approached, looking the pair over with a small smirk. "Which one of you is my customer today," she asked, hand on hip as she waited. Kate was quiet for a moment, then impulsively raised her hand. "That would be me!" she declared with a grin, stepping closer to her. "How much to get my cartilage pierced?" she asked, gesturing towards her left ear, tucking a stray strand of hair.
"Yeah, being on-air does kind of limit your options," he agreed, catching her gaze as she continued with the slightly flirtatious remarks. He smiled at her, "Oh, so you do have one," he said, equally intrigued by this new piece of information. It was funny that they both seemed pretty reserved, but ever so slowly they were coming out of their shells, it seemed.
The blonde appeared, and Brendan stared at her, a little wide-eyed as if scared she was going to randomly pierce him without his permission, although he looked even more alarmed as Kate started genuinely negotiating prices. "You aren't kidding!" he exclaimed, with a grin on his face. "Are you always this spontaneous?" he asked, once the woman had stated her price. "I like it. Do you need me to hold your hand?" he asked, as if she was a toddler - slightly teasing, but partially concerned!
The blonde nodded, glancing at Kate's ear. "The rings are over there," she gestured towards a display case. "Give me a few minutes to clean up and I'll come get you." The girl disappeared into the back and Kate wandered over with Brendan to the display case. "I've had my tattoo for six years," she said without skipping a beat. Kate could have told him the date and the time she got her tattoo, along with the weather and what she'd been wearing - the event had been that significant. She was quiet for a moment, torn between wanting to show him and not wanting to go into details. "So... you'll have to wait to see mine, too," she smiled, softly if not a bit sadly.
The moment passed and Kate breathed again, turning to the display case. "Help me pick one," she insisted. "I'm completely serious. I want to get my ear pierced... help me pick one. Not a hoop, something sparkly. I was born in December, so I'm partial to the blue topaz, however, pink is my favorite color," she told him, "but anything that sparkles like a diamond catches my attention," she laughed. "Ummm.... I think it depends on the situation that determines how spontaneous I am... I've been wanting to get this done, I just haven't had the time." Kate looked down at their joined hands. "Well... I won't cry when she does it... but that doesn't mean I don't want to keep holding your hand..."
He was looking at Kate, not at the earrings display, and he frowned slightly as she talked about her tattoo. There was clearly some story there, but he wasn't about to push for it just yet, even if it did make him rather curious. His gaze stayed on her, as if he was still torn between asking her a question and just dropping it, a look of slight concern on his face. But then she started talking about earrings, and it sort of snapped him out of it and he turned his eyes to the display case in front of them, veering off the subject with ease.
"Ah, you're like a magpie," he teased, casting his eyes over the various gems on offer. "Well, there's a sparkly pink one there, or... there... oh, look, this one's a little heart. And this one's a tiny shoe!" he told her in a bit of a high-pitched voice. "Right, no, no tiny accessories, sparkly pink, I think," he told her, settling on the saner option. "Aw, are you sure?" he asked, referring to the crying. "I'll keep holding just in case," he told her with a wink.
Kate turned towards him, her hand still tucked inside of his as he peered over at her. Great, now she'd gone and turned things around, gotten all maudlin and she had to get out of it. She squeezed his hand, shaking her head a little. "It's... OK... someday soon, I promise..." Kate said softly, her smile turning up just a touch more.
At his comment about accessories, Kate quirked an eyebrow. "They are cute... but not for me," she laughed. Her eyes found the pink jewel and she nodded. "That's perfect. It's sparkly and pink but it's subtle enough that the producers won't have a fit," she laughed, gesturing towards the jewel when the girl came back.
Money exchanged hands and Kate was led back to a chair off to the side of the main entrance area. "Get over here and hold my hand," she laughed, wriggling her fingers as she sat down. The young blonde rolled her eyes as she pulled on gloves and sterilized Kate's ear. Brendan was barely at her side again when the girl announced her intention to pierce Kate's ear and then it was over. Kate opened her mouth in shock, but didn't scream or cry out, just stared. "OK... that hurt a lot more then getting my lobes pierced," she frowned.
It was over in seconds - Brendan had just grabbed onto her hand, and gave it a quick squeeze when her expression changed to one of pain. "Yeah, would do! Do you feel hardcore, now?" he teased, grinning widely at her. "Let's see, then!" he said, pulling her to her feet and examining the new piercing. It was red, of course, but he could see that she suited it. "Lovely!" he told her, as the blonde rattled off aftercare instructions and handed over a pamphlet and some cleaning solution. "Yeah, no ear licking, I know," he told her, and she just looked at him like he was a maniac, but it was a look he was quite used to.
"Right, brave one! Onward!" he told her, still clinging onto her hand as he lead her back out of the shop. "Something less adventurous this time? Or are you on a roll?" he asked, leading them down toward the next intersection, and impulsively turning a corner onto a new street.
Kate tucked everything into her purse, turning her head so Brendan could see her new piercing. "Once the swelling goes down, it'll look better," she smiled. Then he went for the shock factor and Kate glanced over at the blonde. "Yeah... I'll just take him now," she winked, walking with him out of the shop. "You're bad," she chided, giving him a light, playful swat. "And that girl thought she could shock you with her piercings and tattoos, but no, you had to up the ante," she laughed.
She laughed again at his 'brave one' comment, then shrugged. "It's your turn, so the ball is in your court," Kate reminded him, following his lead around the corner. "As long as no one is going to touch... or try to lick my ear," she winked again, "then I'm game for our next adventure. What do you have in mind?" she asked, turning her head to glance at some of the shops they were passing. Kate pondered where she wanted to go when it was her turn next, simply following him while he contemplated his own choice. The air was getting much warmer as they headed towards the noon hour. Kate hoped he picked something indoors with air conditioning.
"I didn't mean to!" he insisted, "I just... sometimes forget to play things through in my head before I say them out loud!" he told her, with a bit of a guilty laugh. Sometimes he didn't even realise he'd said something until it was already too late, and that certainly wasn't the strangest comment he'd ever come out with. "As a general rule, if I say something weird, just assume the last thirty seconds were meant to be internalized," he told her, grinning at her - he'd had to create the thirty-second rule some time ago to avoid getting himself in too much trouble. If he couldn't 'take it back', it was best people at least assumed they were free to ignore him.
It seemed that the turn he had taken wasn't the most fruitful - the few shops seemed to either be closed down or just completely inappropriate. "Hmm, this is not a good turn, I think this is our next junction here," he told her, pointing a few yards ahead. After a thought, he nodded for her to cross to the other side of the street - after trying the door of a perfectly innocent looking shop and failing, he found that the next shop along was an extremely inappropriate porn shop. He couldn't - could he? He looked at it for a few seconds, his mind questioning it at a million miles a minute, and then looked back to her, as if hoping for some clarification. "I didn't plan this," he insisted, a little overly defensive.
She just laughed and shook her head. "All right, I will remember this little thirty-second rule the next time you say something strange," she teased. They walked for awhile, hands linked together as they approached the next intersection. "You remember the rules of the game, right?" Kate smirked, following him across the street. Their options became limited with the rules of the game, seeing as there were two storefronts left before the next intersection.
His suggestion was one she would have probably never made but she just glanced up at him with a curious expression. "Look, if you're waiting for me to encourage this, you're not going to get any satisfaction," she laughed. "However... I will abide by the rules of the game and play along and go inside..." she said, glancing in the door. Oh, it was bad, so so bad, she thought, frowning a little. Once inside, there was no backing out. They had to at least check it out. "I don't think there is planning for this..." she said, glancing around as they stood in the entrance, her hand firmly tucked inside of his. It was as dark and quiet at the tattoo parlor, she thought. "What the hell is that?" she blurted out, gesturing to one of the adult toys. "Oh, my god, that looks painful... why would someone want it?" she whispered frantically.
Brendan couldn't believe she was actually agreeing to it. "You're dedicated to this game!" he told her as they entered the shop. It was a bad move - Brendan would have felt uncomfortable enough in a shop like that without having a date in one - that was just far too stressful to even begin to think about.
He looked over at what she was referring to, and quirked an eyebrow in confusion, squinting slightly as if trying to figure it out. "I'm not sure we want to know," he decided after a second. He looked around himself, almost feeling the need to shudder - the closest he'd got to this before was perhaps being dragged around Victoria's Secret, with it's perky staff members and frilly knickers. This... well, he was pretty sure he could catch an STD just by breathing the air for too long.
"Hmm, busty foster mums, that's really.... specific..." he pointed out, as some of the bizarre magazine titles caught his eye. "Social workers gone wild..." he added, a look of pure confusion on his face. "Why is there job relevant? How do they know? Do they send in a C.V? Because I don't think she's really a social worker," he babbled, probably out of feeling uncomfortable more than anything else. Now, there was a sleazy looking shop assistant looking at him from behind the counter like he was crazy. Did he recognize him? What if someone knew who they were? He needed to chill out. He moved away from the disturbing magazine covers into a more humorous territory. "Sex gag? What's that meant to mean?" he asked, examining something in a small package. "Oh! A gag as in a joke, I thought... well, you know."
"We're about two turns in," she pointed out, firmly planting herself against his side as he moved further into the store, "we can't abandon it yet. Stop reading them out loud," she hissed, peering at the magazines with a look of horror. Kate couldn't believe he was actually wondering - out loud! - how these women get these jobs! Kate followed his line of sight, all but shuddering when she caught the leering eye of the shop keeper.
It was around the next corner that she started to loosen up, just a little. His gag comment made her laugh. "That's bad," she giggled, gesturing towards another toy. "Look... the dice tell you... what to do. Haha, look licking!" she burst out laughing. Other people in the store were not amused. "Wait... I've always wondered... OK, since college I've wondered," she amended, "do men actually find it sexy when women wear sticky panties? I mean... they're made of sugar so they must stick to your ass, right?" she giggled, gesturing to more of the joke items. OK, so if they could joke about it, it meant they were comfortable around one another, right? They continued to hold hands and laugh their asses off in a porn shop - Kate was pretty secure in how comfortable she was with him at this point!
"I'm sorry, nervous habit, I suppose!" he admitted - the silence felt creepy and heavy, and he just felt the need to fill it with nonsensical noise to stop himself freaking out, even if just drew unwanted attention to him.
"You better hope you don't get 'ear' as the body part," he teased about the dice, really not caring if other people in the shop found him strange. They were the ones taking the shop seriously, and in his book that made them the weird ones, not him! "You've wondered that since college?" he asked, with more than a little disbelief. "I can't speak for everyone, but I can't think of anything less appealing," he told her. "Well, except that..." he amended, pointing at what could only be described as nipple clamps. Brendan didn't have any strange fetishes, and he was quite relieved to hear Kate find equal hilarity in the strange devices to be found inside. He had great difficulty taking anything of such a 'kinky' nature seriously. Impulsively, he picked up what looked like a normal packet of mints, turning them over as he wondered the relevance of having them in the shop - he supposed people wanted fresh breath before they got down to... whatever the hell turned them on. Then his expression changed as he realised what he was meant to be seeing. "What the hell?!"
Kate, while still holding his hand, turned a little and peered at another game. It involved a blindfold, hot wax and... "Yeah, no one is getting near me with that..." she mumbled, turning back towards him. "No, seriously though, I mean they're sticky... down there," she whispered, shaking her head. Her cheeks were flushed, but she was smiling, so she could at least say she was having fun... in a bizarre, twisted sort of way. Oh, but what was he looking at now? she wondered, peering at the box in his hands. "What? They're mints," she pointed to the heading on the box. Then, it registered and Kate couldn't help but dissolve into a fit of giggles. "Oh, my god! They're shaped like... ahh, and you're meant to eat them!" she almost doubled over with laughter. "Could you imagine offering those to someone? I mean like... here, do you need a mint? Oh, right, these are my penis mints!" she laughed, drawing attention to them once again.
Brendan was laughing - how had their date suddenly taken a turn into a world where he was holding penis-shaped mints and she was asking him questions about edible panties?! It didn't make sense, and yet right this moment, he was finding it hilarious. "I know! I don't think anyone can actually use them... can they?! It doesn't bear thinking about," he laughed, very strange images flooding his mind.
"I can imagine that! In fact, I think I should offer one to Doctor Ripley, see if I can't get a chuckle out of old misery guts," he told her, waggling his eyebrows at her, knowing just how cheeky he was. And with that, he did a quick turn and headed to the cash-register, the sleazy man there practically sighing as he saw who was approaching. "Hello!" Brendan said, way too chirpily, as he paid the man for the mints, barely containing his laughter at the expression of pure disgust on his greasy face.
"Oh, leave poor Alan alone," Kate sighed, watching him walk towards the register. She turned again, eyeing up a pair of pink fuzzy handcuffs and while he was paying she quick flipped them over to check the price. "Hmm..." she lifted her eyes, watching another guy give her a look then he glanced at Brendan then back at her with a knowing smirk. Kate dropped the handcuffs and scurried off to the counter. She wrapped her arms around Brendan's waist, raising up on her toes to look over his shoulder. "Are you seriously going to eat those... that's really kind of dirty..." she pointed out, giving him a look.