Who: Kate Freelander and Prince Tom When: Oct 2 Where: Kate’s place What: Start of the tethering plot Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete!
Tom was out cold. He'd had a few beers the night before, nothing big, but after the Vegas trip, he was pretty pooped. Instead of waking feeling rested and relaxed, like he was hoping, Tom was woken by a soft, smooth tongue running up the side of his face over and over. He broke into a grin, incorporating this amazingness into his dream, something about three beautiful women who had pinned him down to pleasure him in all sorts of ways. He opened his eyes, grinning brightly, and realized that it wasn't a beautiful woman, but a dog. And he didn't own a dog.
Tom sat up and looked around. He was wearing his pajamas (thankfully last night was one of the nights he remembered to put them on) but he wasn't in his bed. He was sitting on a sofa in a strange living room, with a dog he'd never seen before. He reached one hand over to rub the dog's ears. "So... this is new."
Fortunately for Tom, Isa was friendly, and she happily accepted the attention. What wasn't to like about new people giving ear scratches? Unfortunately for Tom, Kate might not be as accepting.
At least she'd went to sleep in sweats and a tank top the night before, so she wouldn't be parading around in her underwear when she stumbled out of bed and into the kitchen. She was halfway through her slice of leftover pizza before her not-quite-awake brain processed the fact that her living room was occupied.
Dropping the unfinished pizza back into the box, she padded back into the living room, barefoot and angry.
"Seriously? What the hell?"
“Yeah, my questions exactly.” Tom spoke gently. He turned his eyes from the dog to its owner, and broke into a very charming smile. “I mean… hi, there. I’m new around here. Can you point me to the bathroom?”
Really? Really? Oh that charm was not going to work so well on her just now. She did, however, gesture in roughly the direction of the bathroom. Shouldn’t be that hard to find. There weren’t a whole lot of rooms to choose from. And she’d wait very impatiently for him to finish, so he could explain what the hell he was doing in her apartment.
Tom moved to the bathroom to use the toilet. He made sure to close the door, put the seat back down when he was done, and wash his hands. Because… well, he was charming. He came back out a moment later, and leaned against the wall facing her. “...Now… can you explain how I ended up in your living room? You’ve got a great dog, by the way.”
She’d appreciate that when she was in more of mood to appreciate it and past the initial what the fuckery that this morning had become. “Funny. I was just about to ask you the same thing.”
And she knew her dog was great, but right now, she was giving her a look that clearly said she was doing something traitorous wanting to be friends with the strange guy in her living room.
“Sounds like we’ve both got similar questions. Honestly, though, I have no idea how I ended up on your sofa. If it was my choice, I’d have jumped in bed.” He cleared his throat, grinning. “I mean. My name’s Tom. Do you have a phone I can use?”
He had no idea what’d happened to him, but he was going to be late for work. He’d have to call in and give someone notice before they freaked out.
Kate’s eyes narrowed in his direction, then rolled as she crossed her arms. He really wanted to do this now? At the mention of a phone, though, she let out an irritated sigh and went in search of her phone. It was here somewhere.
She found it in the floor under a discarded shirt and handed it over, a little less angrily than she intended. It probably wasn’t his fault, anyway. Just more crazy. It must have finally caught up to her.
“Fountain Valley.” In case he needed to know how far from home he’d landed.
Tom’s eyes went a little wide. “Fountain Valley?” He couldn’t have been in Fountain Valley, could he? That was bizarre. “I wasn’t anywhere near there when I went to sleep last night.” He said, and then, “thanks for the phone,” he added. He still had manners even if he was shocked about waking up where he did.
He dialed, had a quick conversation with his second in command at the company, and then hung up the phone and handed it back to her. “So. Any ideas how I could have ended up on your sofa?”
Oh, he was definitely in Fountain Valley. And she definitely hadn’t had a guy on her sofa when she went to sleep last night either. That, she’d’ve remembered. Which meant, “Freaky Orange County thing?”
“Damn. I was trying to avoid those.” Tom said, softly. He reached down to scratch the ears of the dog. “You got a laptop?” They should check Valarnet. Or if there was some other, freaky internet website with information about freaky Orange County shit, they could check that, too.
“I made it a solid nine months.” And hey, she was proud of that. Sure, she had the dreams and the mystery gifts, but she’d lucked out of all the really weird shit.
Her attention shifted to finding her laptop, as she tapped a finger against the back of her phone and looked at one end of the living room then the other. “Somewhere,” she finally concluded.
Somewhere turned out to be the kitchen, next to a half-eaten slice of pizza, which reminded her she hadn’t finished her breakfast. Chewing slowly, she powered up the computer, shrugging as she added, “Maybe it’s not just us.”
“Nine months is impressive. So I hear. I haven’t had any weird Dreams yet, but… it’s hard to avoid these things.” Not like there was anything one could do to avoid them. He turned his attention to follow hers through the room. Then he followed her to the kitchen and leaned over to read Valarnet with her. “...huh.”
“Had the dreams. They stop. Eventually.” She was being a bit short about that, but she was still a little upset that she hadn’t gotten her wedding. Grabbing the pizza box, she held it out to her unexpected guest. “Want some?”
Yes, it’s been setting there all night. Don’t judge. She wasn’t expecting company.
Tom raised an eyebrow at the pizza. He opened it and pulled a piece out. Hey, he’d eaten worse. “Thanks.” He said, always the gentleman. He took a bit and chewed, then set the box aside on the counter.
“...so, we’re stuck together for a while, then.” It was a question, but didn’t really sound like one.
"Looks like it." Perching on the counter beside the pizza box, because what are manners and it was her house anyway, she shrugged. Maybe they should get to know each other. "It's Kate, by the way."
“Kate.” Tom repeated between bites, turning to give her a smile. The pizza was pretty good, actually. And the company was pretty. All in all, not too bad of a morning, considering. “I’m Tom.”
She nodded, wiping slightly greasy fingers on her pants when she finished her slice of pizza. She should probably consider getting dressed, but there was still a strange guy in her house who she’d prefer wasn’t poking around in things.
“So…” Well, this was kind of awkward. “Not from around here.” She was pretty sure they’d established that. He’d seemed pretty surprised to be in Fountain Valley. “Where do you call home?”
Tom gave the name of his neighborhood. It was across town. Very ritzy. Tom had a ton of money and wasn’t afraid of showing it off. He reached down when the dog came over to sniff at him and beg for food. Ignoring the begging, Tom scratched behind the dog’s ears. “I should probably be getting back there eventually.”
A rich boy. She hadn’t made friends with many of those. “Sure. Just let me change.” She wouldn’t keep him locked up in her apartment; that would be barrels of fun she was sure. But there was no way in hell she was leaving in her pajamas.
Curiously, though, she wasn’t moving just yet. Definitely on her own time. Finally, though, deciding there wasn’t much left to cover, she hopped off the counter, nodding toward the dog, “It’s Isa. And be nice. She likes her people friendly.”
Tom nodded, letting her go change. He wasn’t going after any of her stuff. He was way more interested in the dog--though he wouldn’t take that, either. He could get his own dog. Or stuff. Or whatever.
“Hey, I’m friendly.” Tom said, grinning. This whole situation was coming off more as amusing than anything else. And he was really thankful that he’d worn pajamas when he fell asleep last night. He turned his attention back to the dog. “Isn’t that right, Isa? Yes it is.” He scratched behind her ears.
Okay, so Tom was a dog person.
Kate headed for the bathroom, grabbing a pair of jeans off the back of a chair on her way. It didn't take her long. Ten minutes later, she'd dressed, brushed her teeth, and combed her fingers through her hair. She was ready to go.
Tom was as ready as he’d ever be. ...wearing the same clothes he’d woken up in. He’d poked around her place a little, but really just spent time with the dog. He didn’t even have shoes. “Uh, thanks for the ride,” he offered awkwardly. “I’m sorry to have inconvenienced you this way. If it was my decision, I wouldn’t have.”
She almost felt sorry for him. Rich Boy probably wasn’t used to wandering around town in his pajamas. But hey, at least she had a car, so they wouldn’t have to worry about public transit. That would have been hilarious. For her.
Saying a quick goodbye to Isa as she dumped some food in her bowl, she shook her head. “Don’t worry about it.” Then she grabbed her keys and led the way to the car.