maxine_bastet (maxine_bastet) wrote in paxletalelogs, @ 2017-04-03 10:17:00 |
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Entry tags: | bastet, maui |
Getting My Drink On
Who: Kal and Max
What: Kal drops in on Max.
Where: Max’s apartment
When: The afternoon after this:
Kal slept late on Friday morning. He had taken a handful of days off so he could fully move into his apartment and his next assignment wasn’t for another week anyway. Dinner with kuku and Chris had lasted deep into the night, which was a good thing, and Kal had returned home late but with a refreshed soul. The boys kept in touch to be sure but they rarely saw one another while Kal wasn’t living in southern California. But now that was changing, they were across the hall from one another and it was almost like high school again.
Almost.
In high school they shared everything and were open books to one another. Kal still was with Chris, generally speaking, but Chris had clammed up ever since he met his father, ever since the rumors started swirling. In turn, Kal clammed up as well. He used to be able to say anything to his friend but now he danced around the edge of different topics as he waited for Chris to be honest with him.
Plus there was the fact that Chris was always so serious now. He wasn’t the jovial teen who came up with various tricks for the both of them to do. He was more subdued, a blander version of himself, but while at dinner with kuku he saw a glimmer of the teen he used to know.
So on Friday afternoon with the enjoyment of the dinner the night before still pumping through his veins, Kal thought he could keep the good momentum going and find that woman who commented on his introductory post. He had no idea if she’d be home, as it wasn’t quite quitting time yet for anyone who had a normal 9 to 5, but he figured it’d be worth the effort.
Throwing on clean jeans and a tshirt, Kal tied his thick hair into a topknot on his head and grabbed two beers from the fridge before setting out to find the woman Max’s apartment, which didn’t take long--she was just a floor beneath.
Knocking on her door, he took a step back and stood a little straighter than usual.
Max had slept in late this morning, lounging in bed with Cali frolicking on the bed next to her as she stretched and snoozed long into the morning. But soon enough her stomach started growling, and she dragged herself out of bed, poured herself a bowl of lucky charms and parked herself in front of the tv in her pajamas to watch cartoons.
After her second bowl there was a knock at her door and she jumped off the couch, now wide awake and full of sugar. She smoothed down her soft kitty pajamas, adjusting her shirt so the two cat faces once again fell perfectly over her unharnessed breasts.
She yanked open the door and then smiled widely at her visitor. “I don't remember ordering delivery,” she said appreciatively.
A Cheshire cat’s smile appeared on Kal’s face and he held up the two beers he gripped by the next. “I hope I’m not disturbing you but I figured I’d keep up that promise for beers.
“Sorry for Saturday. My friend Chris stopped by and we ended up going to my grandmother’s for dinner.” Her gave an innocent smile and a tiny shrug. “But, if you’d like, we can have these belated beers--if you aren’t busy.”
Max bit her lip and grinned. “No biggie; I’m always up for a beer,” she said, stepping aside to invite him in. “But only two? I know it’s early afternoon, but come on” she teased. She led him into the livingroom where Cali was playing with a box on the couch and My Little Pony was frozen on the tv. “Do you want a mug, or are you a drink-from-the-bottle guy?” she asked, casually clicking the TV off and picking up the box of Lucky Charms and the milk to bring back into the kitchen.
“You're sure,” Kal said, more as a statement than anything. He glanced around the room and noted the morning activities. Cartoons, pajamas, the cereal. “I'm an obnoxious early riser so I've been up for some time, but we can always have the beer later…”
She smirked, coming back out of the kitchen with a bottle-opener. “You kidding? I have the weirdest hours in the world, this is nothing,” she assured him, offering the bottle opener to him and settling herself cross-legged on the couch on the spot Cali had just rolled off of onto the floor. She gestured to the seat next to her, turning so she could face him. “So you look like a surfer,” she guessed wildly, “are you a surfer? Or wrestler...definitely something that requires those guns of yours,” she said, eyeing his biceps appreciatively and taking the opened beer from him. She took a swig, glancing down at her kitten who was now starting to attack one of Kal’s feet with her tiny blunt claws.
He lifted a boot and the kitten went with it, sitting on his toe and viciously attacking the laces. “Cute,” Kal murmured. He wasn't necessarily a cat person, but he certainly wasn't against cats either. Just...a little indifferent upon meeting them. Hell, he was indifferent upon meeting anyone's pet upon meeting them.
Looking at Max he smiled as he opened his bottle of beer. “Surfer, definitely. Wrestler, no. But I also do a lot of other shit that people consider dangerous.” He took a sip of his beer, remaining unmoving so the kitten could continue making circles around his boots. “And you? Are you a surfer or a wrestler?”
She grinned over her beer, liking that he considered those as possible vocations for her. “Bodyguard,” she said, eyeing him carefully for his reaction. She’d gotten the whole spectrum, from ‘that’s amazing, go you’ to ‘but you’re just a girl’, and she was anxious to see where he fell on it. Below them, Cali tumbled off of Kal’s boot, but rather than be discouraged she started jumping up, batting at it from below and treating it like a dragon that needed to be vanquished, meowing softly at her new plaything.
“Nice,” was all Kal observed verbally. Instead, he gave a nod and lifted his beer in salute before taking a swig. “And is this your coworker?” He asked, pointing at the kitten that was still fully attacking his boots. “Pretty ferocious little thing, huh? Are all kittens like this?”
He shifted his feet and the kitten lunged for the moving shoelaces, completely lost to the world of dangerous laces.
Max smiled widely, eyeing her rambunctious kitten with love. “Absolutely. She can take out a 250lb linebacker with one paw,” she boasted, miming the swiping of claws with one hand. She giggled softly and then answered his question. “I’m not sure, I actually just found her wandering by herself in the building a few weeks ago. I put up signs but nobody’s claimed her, so she’s mine now.” Cali had rolled onto her back and was batting at a dangling shoelace and Max leant forward to scoop her up with one hand, depositing the furball on the couch between them so she could toy with her, poking her belly and teasing her with her fingers.
“So what’s the other shit you do?” she asked, taking a swig of beer and continuing to keep her furbaby occupied.
“I report on travel shit for Nat Geo. Places to stay, things to eat, experiences to have,” Kal ticked off each item on a finger. “So basically I travel a lot and eat just as much. I also do a lot of outdoors shit, I’m their go-to guy for that. Are you big on outdoor things?” He perched himself at the edge of the couch, keeping an eye on the attack kitten.
“Dude, you get paid to go on vacation? Sign me up!” Her eyes danced with laughter. Then again, she gets paid to go to parties and eat at fancy restaurants, she just also had to kick ass when necessary.
“Do you mean like hiking and ziplining and whitewater rafting and shit? Hell yeah, I love it. I don’t get to do stuff like that very often anymore, but that was like...in my adrenaline junkie days.” She took another swig of beer, noticing that it was disappearing way too fast, but remembering she had a couple of her own in the fridge. Cali managed to flip herself over onto her paws and started exploring the couch, first trying to climb the back of it, then trying to climb Kal’s side.
“Yes to all the above.” Kal pet the kitten on its head, realizing that the entirety of the small cat could likely fit on his palm. “There are a lot of great hiking trails around here; you should get back into it. I’ll show you the better trails.” He looked down at the kitten as it climbed onto his lap and tried to crawl up the front of his shirt. “So how long have you lived here in Pax?”
Her brows rose and then she grinned. “Are you asking me out?” she teased, enjoying the view of her tiny kitten trying to scale the front of Mount Kal. “I've been here a little over a month...before that I lived in a dumpy little apartment across town for the past year. This is a definite improvement.”
“We’ll see,” Kal responded to her question with a smirk, lifting his chin slightly as the kitten began batting at his beard. Max smirked back at him. “My friend Chris moved in here around the same time. It’s how I heard of this place. Not a lot of people here yet though. I guess it’s too new?”
Max shrugged, honestly not knowing the answer to that. “I’m not sure,” she said, getting more comfortable, shifting her crossed legs so that she was sitting fully sideways on the couch, facing him. “I heard a rumour that it was open before, but it closed for a while because something horrible happened. I don’t know what exactly, but it was probably like, a serial killer or something nasty like that.” She grinned, as if the idea of a serial killer in the building was exciting instead of terrifying. “Anyway, it just reopened again back in January I think. People keep moving in, so either there’s no truth to the rumour, or everyone really does love a good urban legend around here.” She tipped back the last of her beer and then uncrossed her legs, getting up off the couch and heading into the kitchen. She put the bottle on the counter and then rummaged around in her fridge, drawing out two cold Heinekens and bringing them back out, setting one in front of Kal and opening the other for herself.
“Jesus Christ, a serial killer?” Kal reached for the Heineken, trading it for his now empty bottle. “No wonder my friend didn’t want me to stay here.” Not that it explained why Chris wanted to stay, but Kal kept that to himself. “That’s some weird shit. But I mean, the place is going to have to fill up quick. The location is perfect. The beach being outside our door and the rent isn’t all that bad, all that.”
Max pointed at Kal with her beer. “Hey, don't quote me in that, its hearsay like, three times over so it could be complete bullshit for all i know.” She watched Cali curl up in Kal’s lap, starting to purr softly. “and besides, even if it did happen, they wouldn't still be here, right? They would've gotten caught or whatever.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Kal laughed, swigging his beer and petting the kitten. “You know, maybe I should get one of these. It’s pretty damn cute. All tiny and fluffy; I never had a pet before though. They’re more hands off than dogs, right?”
She grinned, watching his giant hands playing with her tiny kitten. “She’s adorable, but she can be a little bit of a handful sometimes. I had to litter train her, so I think maybe she was a stray.” She took another swig of beer and then explained. “I found her just...wandering around the main floor of the building by herself. I put up signs and everything but nobody claimed her. She was probably a kitten of some feral cat that found its way into the building somehow...anyway, I got her checked out and she’s healthy, so...now she’s mine.” Max smiled fondly, reaching forward to give Cali a few scratches behind her ears.
“That’s good though,” Kal murmured, a finger brushing between the kitten’s two tiny ears. “Too many animals without a home and all that. And it’s better she isn’t in a shelter. Maybe if my travel slows up a little, I’ll look into adopting some fat old cat that wants nothing to do with me. It can live its final years in relative comfort and I can spoil it when I’m around; but that’s what makes me unsure. I don’t want the animal to feel abandoned when I’m not here so often.” Like he was with his father. It was a long stretch to think of a tiny feline in comparison to his childhood, but there it was. He assumed Chris could always take care of the animal, but wasn’t that the same as shoving off responsibility of being a parent to your mother in law?
“Or maybe not, I suppose I could always visit Cali to get my animal needs fulfilled,” He flashed a smile at Max, his hand still on the kitten.
Max grinned widely. “You and your beer are always welcome,” she said, raising her bottle and toasting his with it. “So,” she said, curling her legs under her again and turning fully towards him. “Dinner?” she asked, not one to beat around the bush. “I’ll even get dressed if you want to go out,” she teased, looking down at her pajamas. “It doesn’t have to be today, but...sometime. I’d like to have dinner with you. Sometime.” He’d piqued her interest, even with this relatively short exchange. And she found she wanted more of it. And just like a cat who wants something just out of reach, she never stopped until she got the object of her curiosity.
A half smile curled onto Kal’s cheek and he gave the woman a nod. “Sometime,” he offered. “Let me get settled and get back to work and we’ll see how my schedule is. I have to warm you, I’m gone just as much as I’m here.” And with that, he scooped the kitten up with one hand, its tiny head lifting up wearily to look around--wondering why its bed was suddenly discarding it, and Kal placed the kitten gently on the couch. “I should actually go, get more shit unpacked, try and get some semblance of order. You know where I am though, and the second beer was a fine choice, I approve.”
“Sometime works for me,” she said with a happy smile, getting up to clear the beer bottles from the coffee table. “And in the meantime, I'll be sure to keep my fridge stocked with beer, in case of drop-ins,” she said with an impish grin, padding into the kitchen to deposit the bottles in the recycling.
On the couch, Cali was busy trying to attack her own tail, flailing around and flopping onto her back. She looked up at Kal and meowed, as if to demand more pets, but then the flicking of her tail distracted her again and she rolled onto the floor trying to chase it.
Kal still obeyed the small animal’s command, giving the kitten a scratch behind the ear before getting to his feet. “Sounds like a plan. And hey, enjoy the rest of your tv show,” Kal said, a smirk on his lips. He moved to the door, seeing himself out. “I’ll see you around, Max.”
“Later,” she grinned back, all in all very pleased with the visit. He seemed like a genuinely cool guy, and having a drinking buddy in the building was a definite plus. After closing the door behind her she wandered back into the livingroom and turned the tv back on, the picture still paused on Pinkie Pie’s excited face. She grinned down at Cali on the floor who seemed to look up at her as if expecting a conversation. “Good girl,” she praised with fond smile, pressing play on the remote and settling in to watch more cartoons. Cali sat up and meowed at her intelligently, as if to say ‘anytime’, and then she leapt up onto the couch and curled up on her mommy’s lap and went to sleep.