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Cristobal Rodriguez ♦ Coyote (coyoti) wrote in paxletalelogs, @ 2017-08-27 18:23:00

so if i come to your door
Who: Chris, Daniel, & Kuku [NPC].
What: Kal's grandmother makes an unannounced visit to Pax.
Where: Outside Pax Letale.
When: Aug. 18, midday.

Chris exited his apartment, Daniel in tow, as they were about to head out for lunch.

"All I'm saying is that it's a little much," he replied to something Daniel had said behind his closed door a few moments prior. He held the door wide, waiting for his boyfriend to follow and join him in the hallway. "No one needs that many pieces of clothing, much less a single man living on his own." He turned back, eyeing Daniel from foot to head in one long, slow glance. Anyone who wasn't already aware of their burgeoning romance would have received giant, waving red flags from that one look. Daniel's response would not have helped matters.

"I've never heard you complain before," he said. He brushed nonexistent dust off his left shoulder, an ink-black onyx set in silver winking in the light. "It takes work to look this good. And a sizable collection of unrepeated outfits."

He fell into step alongside Chris. As they reached the elevator he leaned into him, bumping lightly into him. He smiled, and stole a kiss while they waited for the doors to open. "You love it," he teased. "Just admit it."

Chris couldn't help it; he was immediately glancing down the hall, ensuring that there was no one else who might have seen such a gesture. His hand came up to his mouth, a mix of keeping that lingering touch to his lips a moment longer and hiding what had happened. Mostly assured that there was no one else present, he turned a glare back to Daniel just as the elevator dinged open on the third floor.

"I think what I like more is taking them off of you," he remarked, his voice low and covered by his hand as they moved into the elevator, the silver doors closing them in. Once they were completely sealed, Chris took a step forward into Daniel's space and tugged on one belt loop, pulling him close for a few precious moments.

They were too fleeting. The moment the elevator came to a stop, Chris pulled himself away, turning his back slightly at Daniel as the hand that had fingers recently too close to Daniel's pants smoothed down his own shirt.

"So where do you want to go to lunch?" He asked as they started out into the lobby, his unsure gait having them move quite slowly through the space. Stephan nodded and smiled at them from the concierge's desk, to which Chris raised a passing hand.

Daniel hummed, lips pursed, as he thought on this. He waved to Stephan as they passed, then stepped neatly in front of Chris to hold the door open for him to pass through. "Fig and Olive," he said. "I've heard good things about the crudo. And I think they have truffle fries…" He smacked his lips with an exaggerated little motion. "Sounds delicious to me. Unless you've got something else in mind."

But a smooth exit wasn’t possible as a small, befuddled woman stood before the doorway, seeming to glare up at it with squinting eyes. She was all of four foot ten and had dark hair, patterned with stripes of gray and white, tied into the bun on the back of her head. Leaning onto a cane with both hands and sandaled feet spread to brace herself in this stance, her dark eyes flicked down at the couple approaching the doorway and her look of grumpiness quickly melted away only to be replaced by a look of surprise and joy. “Cristobal!” she exclaimed, a hand released from the cane’s head and waved at him.

"Kuku?!" Chris stopped dead in the doorway, completely confused to see Kal's grandmother standing outside of the Pax Letale apartment complex. Quickly collecting himself, he glanced back at Daniel before moving forward again, concern etched over his face. Despite the surprise, he still did his best to keep his steps careful, hiding his lopsided gait.

"What are you doing here? You know Kal's out of town, right?" His voice sank in volume as he approached the elderly woman, wondering how she'd even gotten here. Was she still capable of handling the L.A. bus system?

Daniel's furrowed brow softened somewhat as their mutual friend's name was mentioned. He kept close to Chris' side, parting only when they reached the elderly woman; then he moved neatly between her and the sidewalk's edge, standing between her and the road. His gaze flicked from friend to stranger and back again, wondering at this turn of events; while he did not know much about Kuku, he knew enough about Chris to read his worried tone.

"Is there something we can do for you, ma'am? Since Kal's not here..."

The elderly woman was opening her mouth, ready to reply to Chris with a hand outstretched to take his, when she paused and looked at the newcomer and very obviously moved her gaze up and down his form before a look of understanding appeared on her face. She looked between the two young men, and began to smile, a smile filled with mischief and the desire for trouble that was familiar to both men and easily passed down to her grandson. “Chris, is this him?” She looked back at the new man and looked him over again before leaning into Chris and elbowing his side as she murmured, but not at all quietly. “He’s quite the looker, isn’t he? It’s a shame you both can’t make babies. They’d be great looking.”

"Jesu Christo," Chris muttered under his breath, just barely keeping one hand from slapping his face in exasperation. Daniel's face, far from hidden, had broken into a brilliantly high-wattage smile. He nodded in response and was about to answer her, but his boyfriend-by-any-other-name would not allow it. "Kuku, this is Daniel, he's a...a friend, OK? And he's here to help, like I am. Now, please, how did you get all the way over here by yourself? Did you get a ride? Seriously, if Kal finds out you've taken up hitchhiking, you're gonna put him in an early grave..."

Daniel nodded. There would be time later to enjoy Kuku's wonderfully warm welcome, and perhaps to coax a better word than "friend" from his partner. For now, they had more pressing matters to attend. "We were just getting some lunch," he said, "if you'd like to join us. We can drive you home after, if you want?"

Kuku seemed to beam under Daniel’s attention and reached to pat the side of his arm. “You’re kind, I like you,” she commented, clearly satisfied with Chris’s choice in partners and her attention swung back to the man who was like another grandchild to her as she focused her gaze on him with one hand on her hip. “Now Chris, even if I am hitchhiking, you aren’t going to tell Kahale. That’s how we keep him from an early grave. And where is that boy anyway? I’ve been calling him and he’s not answering. He just leaves his grandmother without a word and I have food for him--” She patted the heavy bag hanging on her shoulder before returning her hand to her waist. “--I haven’t enough life in me to wait for him to call me back so I came here to find him. I assume this is where he lives since I’ve found you and your boyfriend.”

She leaned forward, narrowing her eyes and lowering her voice. “And don’t call him a friend, that’s offensive. We all know what the two of you are so stop hiding it. And he’s cute! I wish men were this cute when I was young but they probably were, just all gay, it’s a shame.” She looked over her shoulder again and checked Daniel out once again with a small hmmph of appreciation.

Daniel, no longer able to control his laughter, answered for them as soon as he could. "I bet you'd have made a few of them slide down the Kinsey scale, Kuku," he teased, patting her frail little back. "And I'll coax him out of the closet one of these days. I'm glad I have your approval. I try to do alright by him, when he lets me." He puffed out his chest, his shoulders squaring in a clear and totally subconscious display of pride.

Chris' eyes rolled once more, but he could have gratefully kissed Daniel for his downplayed reply. Shaking his head, he continued Daniel's steering of the conversation back toward just what they were going to do with the elderly, wandering woman.

"I have a key for Kal's apartment, or we can take the food back to my place? Is it going to spoil? Kuku, you have my phone number too, don't you? You should have called me, instead of coming over here by yourself." One hand rose, hovering over her shoulder, ready to direct her wherever she agreed to go.

“I hadn’t thought to call you,” Kuku replied as she turned her attention from Chris to Daniel, giving him a smirk, then back to Chris again. “I was looking for Kahale anyway. Do you know where he is? Why isn’t he answering his phone? He’s normally so good at answering his phone or calling me back.” She frowned at this and her expression lost its mooring as she began to look about the entryway of the apartment complex and to the parking lot in search of her grandson.

"Alaska, I think," Daniel answered. "I doubt they've got great reception wherever he is. On some tundra or ice-covered river or whatever..." He grew a bit uncomfortable at the sight of her changed expression, but he called no attention to it. Instead he focused on repeating Chris' questions, trying to cajole an answer out of her when she was so easily distracted. He cleared his throat. "Um… so should we drop that off at Kal's or Chris' before we go to lunch? We'll drive you. You can have the passenger's seat and I'll sprawl out in the back."

Chris reached into his pocket, pulling out his keys. "We're both on the same floor, so it'd be easy to drop it off. Though I will say, if you leave it with me, I can't guarantee Kal will get it all. Your cooking is too delicious." He arched a brow, a soft smile curving his lips.

Kuku’s attention returned to Chris and she smiled. “I should leave the food with you. You need to get meat on your bones. You’re too thin.” She poked at Chris’s side before gently smoothing out his shirt, as if her teasing had caused it creases. “He normally tells me when he’s leaving,” she admitted as she looked from the shirt and back to Chris. “I don’t remember him telling me he was leaving.”

Frowning, Chris' free hand settled on Kuku's shoulder. "I'm sure he mentioned it, but it's all right if you forgot, Kuku. Now, let's get the food settled, and you can pick where we go for lunch, OK?" He gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders, attempting to start steering her toward the apartment complex. He shot a glance toward Daniel in apology for overriding that the selected restaurant be his choice, and possibly for the unexpected interruption.

Daniel gave a subtle shake of his head. If that failed to make his intention clear enough, he moved to Kuku's opposite side, gently guiding her toward the building along with Chris. His hand hovered just above her elbow, ready to help if it became necessary. "Absolutely," he said. "I've been lookin' for a new place to try, and I bet you know all the good spots. C'mon, Kuku. Help us out here, hm?"

She looked to each sides of her and a content smile settled on her lips. “If I had known I’d have two handsome men escorting me everywhere, I would have come over sooner. What food are you looking to get? I’m not able to go out very often and when I do Kahale takes me to that awful chicken place you boys always went to.” She shot a look at Chris but otherwise was completely content to be led along by them. “We should have Hawaiian food or we could have this food. It’d serve Kahale right for leaving me to miss out on this. Where has he gone? He’s always running to places.”

Chris chuckled, feeling a little more at ease following the strange surprise the afternoon held. "He's in Alaska, kuku. Probably surfing over humpbacks. Let's... Let's take the food to Kal's apartment, and then let us handsome gentlemen take you out for lunch. Our treat, especially since Kal's not around. How does that sound?"

Nodding enthusiastically, Daniel moved alongside her, trying to herd her indoors along with Chris. "Hawaiian food sounds awesome," he said. "I've been craving good poke for a while now and just haven't gone after it. It's time to fix that, I think, and I bet you know all the best places…"

“Oh, I could teach you a lot,” Kuku teased, winking at Daniel as she moved willingly between the two men. “Kahale should go away more often if it means I get to take you two out. Lead me on, boys. Let’s drop this food off.” And she grinned, her earlier confusion forgotten and the sight of future food with both boys glimmering in her eye.