Gabriel Bautista (xochipilli) wrote in paxletalelogs, @ 2017-04-13 08:55:00 |
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Entry tags: | maui, xochipilli |
i fly like paper, get high like planes
Who: Kal & Gabe.
What: Kal and Gabe meet after a career info session.
Where: UCLA campus, then The Wayfarer.
When: April 13, evening.
The one thing Kal found himself thinking repeatedly after speaking to a bunch of UCLA students, the one thing that he couldn’t quite wrap his mind around, was when the hell did college students start looking like children?
He knew he wasn’t ancient, a mere thirty years old which was sure as hell not old at all, but it still baffled them. Their baby faces, still with the childhood fat on their cheeks, the guys barely having a hang on growing beards, all of them so youthful. It was hard for Kal to comprehend for the simple fact that college did not feel that long ago for him and he certainly felt full grown when he was in college but now, looking at all those eager faces staring up at him while he stood on the stage, he realized that he really didn’t know shit at that age.
Nat Geo had picked Kal as the talking point for the UCLA event and he happily complied. Was there anything better than being paid to talk about yourself and the job you loved? So he did it, he just didn’t realize he’d be coming out of it with such a new perspective of the grand old age of college students. No wonder he didn’t know what the hell he wanted to do when he was in college, he had just been a kid. Still, it worked out rather well.
As he grabbed his bag with all the fun odds and ends he brought to show the kids--and he was going to stick with calling them kids--he paused by a vending machine to get a water. If he had to drive all the way back to his apartment, he wanted the water to go. The other presenters mulled around, talking to one another, but Kal remained oblivious. He arrived late, presented last, and hadn’t the chance to meet everyone else.
Gabe was one of the lingering crowd. He hadn't been a presenter; merely a listener, having caught the tail end of the presentations after completing his own lecture in a History of Science Fiction in Literature course on the upper side of the campus. He had nothing else scheduled for the rest of the evening, and the signs pointing to the halls where the Nat Geo presenters were sounded interesting, so he'd swung by and leaned on a doorway near the back of the room. Now he did the network shuffle through the remaining stragglers, shaking hands, recognizing a few faces. One of those faces was not Kal's, though Gabe didn't hesitate to present himself.
"So, Costa Rica, huh?" He patted Kal's upper arm, clearly not at all disconcerted by the fact that the other man had well over a foot on him. Kal looked like something out of a Nat Geo magazine; Gabe looked like he should've been in a classroom somewhere, teaching students. "I love Guatemala, but I haven't been to the Rain Forest yet. Your job sounds incredibly exciting, so I gotta ask, is this stuff old hat by now? Or does it stay fresh?"
Kal turned to the man, water bottle in hand, and seemed to size him up. He was gruff looking and serious, the happy exterior that was on the stage no longer present as he looked the smaller man over, wondering as to why the man patted his arm in the first place. But then he smiled and it was like a break through stormy clouds. “It’s both old hat and fresh. All the travel shit--getting vaccines, boarding planes, fighting with airlines, not always knowing what your transportation is going to be--all that is old hat. What stays fresh is seeing the new location. Hell, even returning to old ones is still nice. You get that element of returning somewhere and seeing it twice, which is always a new experience than only seeing it once. You get to see if your memory holds up to expectation.”
Kal’s brows knit together for only a space of a moment, a finger raised off the clutched water bottle and pointed at the man. “So, you came to the talk but you’re not a student, I’m guessing.”
"Ha, no," Gabe replied, laughing a touch with his answer. "Was actually giving a lecture of my own -- much smaller than this, believe me -- on the disappearance of the Mexican voice in science fiction between the genre's golden age in the 30s to the 50s. And then I saw this advertised, and I like to travel a bit myself -- I get to, a little, for my work -- so I decided to see what was on tap." He took a step back, as if recognizing that he was a touch too close, a touch too excited. "I gotta say, I haven't done much of that, though. The vaccinations, fighting with airlines, but then again, I'm usually going to more populated places. What's the most remote location you've been to?"
Kal blinked rapidly and leaned back. “Wow you aren’t one to hold back on the deep questions, huh?” He pressed his lips together as he thought, his eyes moving over the scene around them before returning to the man’s face. “Depends on what you mean by remote. If you mean an utter lack of life, of other people, then certainly the Amazon. I had to go on a rafting and hiking trip with a team a few years ago. It was one of those places that I realized, well shit, if I broke a leg out here, I don’t know how the hell I would appropriate medical attention.
“Granted, we had a medic with us, but it’s not quite the same as being able to call in a medical helicopter or even hop into the back of a pickup truck to take us to a hospital.”
Gabe raised his hands, palms out, a peace-offering gesture. "That sounds amazing, but I apologize if I'm being forward. I just... It sounds amazing, and I'd love to pick your brain about it. I'm Gabe, by the way. Gabe Bautista." He offered his hand out for a shake. "Do you maybe wanna get a drink and talk, or were you headed out?"
Kal grinned and gave a shake of his head. “I’m always down for drinks. But now that I’m prepared, hit me with all the questions you’ve got.” He accepted Gabe’s hand and gave it a firm shake. “Kal Weber. Just moved back to the area; I’ve been traveling too much to really get a permanent place but I wanted to be closer to my grandmother.”
"Same!" Gabe replied. "Well, moving back to the area, not being close to my grandmother. She lives in NorCal." He gestured toward the exit, walking with Kal toward the parking lot. "I'm in Newport Beach; it's a bit of a drive up here, but I think it's worth it. I grew up here; more Los Angeles proper, but yeah. What about you, if you don't mind me asking?" He held the door open, allowing the mountainous man to walk through first before joining him in the cool night air.
Kal blinked and leaned back a little, eyeing the man but smiling. “Same. Like, literally. Grew up in LA, live in Newport Beach, and yeah, it’s a drive up here. Why don’t we head to a bar closer to Newport Beach then? Bit of a drive but then we’re a hell of a lot closer to home.”
Gabe nodded. "My thoughts exactly. Here, I know just the place. Can I see your phone? I'll type the address in."