Who: Katou and Baby What: Playing frisbee on the beach When: Late August Where: Baby's place, then the beach Rating/Warnings: Low/none Status: Complete
House hunting was exhausting. Baby was hopeful that the process would be over soon so she and Wade could start the tiring process of moving. She was just excited to finally be able to say that she was a homeowner. Well, once they found the right place. Baby was off work that day, and in the mood to do something to take her mind off adult things.
It was a big fucking step to buy a house, especially with someone else. Baby, however, was confident that she and Wade would be able to make it through. Of course, she wasn't trying to count her chickens before they were hatched, but she just had this feeling that it would turn out alright for them in the end. Still, she just wanted to distract herself from everything, mostly her own negative thoughts.
Grabbing her phone, she sent Katou a text message.
Hey, you busy? Want to go relax at the beach or something? She hit sent without a second thought, hopeful that he might not be too busy. With her phone tucked into the pocket of her shorts, Baby began washing hers and Wade's breakfast dishes while she waited on him to text her back.
Katou really wasn’t that busy. Since getting his car as a graduation gift from Wendy and learning how to drive from Kanan, he’d spent a lot of time just cruising around. He was going to be taking his driver’s exam fairly soon, and wanted to get as much practice in as possible.
He was at a red light when he recieved Baby’s text, and instead of bothering to respond to it, he turned the car around and headed to her place, surf punk blaring loudly through his speakers. He really was in something of a beach mood, especially since he’d gotten a glamour for his arm. The beach was a helluva a lot more enjoyable when he could wander around without a shirt without people staring at him the whole time. Once he pulled up out front, he blared obnoxiously the horn.
The horn blaring jerked Baby out of her thoughts, and she wiped her hands off on the dishtowel hanging off the handle of her stove. Peeking out the window, she couldn't help but smile, and she gave him a small wave before she turned to go grab a few things. With a bag packed, she hurried down the stairs and out the door, her sunglasses coming down the moment she stepped out into the sun.
Pulling open the door to his car, Baby slipped into the passenger seat. "That's one way to make an entrance." She spoke loudly enough for him to hear her over the music and laughed. Her bag was settled in between her feet, and the passenger side door shut before she put her seatbelt on. "Sweet ride, by the way."
“It is, ain’t it?” Katou said, turning down the music so they could actually talk without yelling over it. “Apparently 18’s the new 16. Everyone’s just giving me fast hunks of metal as if it’s was a good idea.” Something something responsibility, probably, but there was still a part of Katou that was sure putting him behind the wheel of 4 tonnes of steel was a bad idea. “You wanted to hit the beach again?”
With a laugh, Baby gave a nod. "Apparently it is. Wish I'd had this stroke of luck when I'd been a teen." Hell, Baby could afford a nice car now, but she chose to hoard away the money that she made instead of spending it. "Well, you don't scare me, so that's something." Course, very little scared Baby in this or her dream life. "Yup, I'm definitely ready to hit the beach. I need some R&R today. House hunting is a fucking drag."
Katou grinned toothily at her as he pulled into the street. “I guess that’s what you get when you start meeting kickass people. And like, apologizing to the people you really fucked over.” Would he have gotten his motorcycle if he hadn’t made amends with his sister? Not bloody likely.
“I don’t doubt it. I never had to do anything like looking for a house to pay for, but squat hunting was a pain in the ass, and I didn’t even have to do none of that ‘ohh, is the foundation stable’ bullshit,” he said.
"Very well could be the case." Baby replied with a giggle, and then nodded. "At least you've made amends." It didn't hurt that he'd gotten some good shit out of it, but at the same time, Baby didn't think it was always about material things.
She made a sound of disgust, "Well, most of the places we've been looking at aren't that old, and we'll have someone come out to inspect it before we buy. I mean, that's just the smart fucking thing to do." She lifted a shoulder, "But I just want a nice place for myself and Wade ya know?" She glanced over at him with a smile, and then let out a sigh. "But I'm just ready to move and be fuckin done with it."
“Make sure it’s got a hot tub,” Katou said. He nearly changed lanes, and stopped himself last minute as he realized there was someone in the lane next to him. Right. Shoulder checking was a thing. “I’ll only come and visit you guys if you’ve got a sweet hot tub. You and Wade gonna throw yourself a sweet housewarming party when you find a spot?”
"It's gonna have one, and a pool. Wade and I have already discussed this." She'd also discussed it with their realtor who was more than happy to help them find a home for themselves. Baby was excited about it all truly. With a laugh, Baby rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses. "Duly noted, I'll be sure to have it up and running for you once we've got a place." She gave a nod, "Oh abso-fucking-lutely! I wouldn't dream of not having a housewarming party." With lots of booze, music, dancing and as long as no one fucked in her bed? She'd be cool with them doing whatever they pleased in her house.
“Good. Clearly, the hot tub is the most important bit.” While he knew most backyard pools were shallow enough that people could stand in them, he’d never actually learned how to swim and he had the sneaking suspicion that with the hunk of metal hanging from his left shoulder, it would be completely impossible to learn nowadays. “You know I ain’t gonna pass up a party.”
"Oh absolutely." Baby agreed with a nod. She wasn't about to have a place that didn't have either one of them, only because she'd worked hard and well, it would be nice to have a few perks now that she was ready to find a place to actually settle in. "I never have any doubts that you won't come to a party." She tossed a grin his way, "I'm sure there will be plenty more after that one too. I mean, hell, why not?" It wasn't as if she could throw a party now in her tiny apartment. She could, but it would also be a tiny party and her neighbors were sorta assholes when it came to it.
“No doubt. If you got an entire house, might as well put it to use, yeah?” Of course, Katou’d been living in an actual house now for over a year, and had yet to throw a party. But that was mostly because he knew Wendy wouldn’t approve. She wasn’t around anymore, but who knew when she’d pay him a surprise visit? Besides, knowing that house, someone would manage to break the front picture window even though Katou had replaced the glass with something a little more bulletproof after the last time it had been smashed in.
He could see the beach now, which just meant he needed to find a parking spot. A very easy to get into parking spot, because Katou still hadn’t quite managed the art of parking.
Baby gave a small nod of her head, "Yup, that's how I see it." Baby flashed a grin over his way, and then let out a long sigh. It would be fine, they'd find a place that they could agree on and have some fun. Baby watched the scenery as it passed, humming softly along with the radio even if she wasn't familiar with the music. It was still fun, and she was just grateful to be out and about.
As they neared the beach, Baby shifted in her seat slightly to look out the windshield. "Oh man, it's looking nice out there. Doesn't appear to be too crowded either." That was always a plus in her book too.
“People got day jobs, ya know,” Katou said, grinning. Of course, slow beach days were a plus. No lines for drinks and snacks, plenty of space to spread out and swear without worrying about some old lady giving you dirty looks. He managed to find a spot away from most obstacles and pulled into a parking spot, the car at a fairly obvious angle but at least he was only a few inches over the line. Good enough.
“You do the whole frisbee thing? I think I got one of those bad boys in my trunk.”
"You don't say?" Baby looked over at Katou, feigning a shocked look as if she had no idea that that was a real thing. She couldn't hold the look for very long before she began laughing, and she shook her head. There were still vacationers out there too, and kids off from college so it was possible that they would be out there on the beach. Baby knew that she'd spent a lot more time at the beach this summer than she had in years past.
"Sure, I'm down for playing some frisbee." She hopped out of the car, being careful as she shut the passenger side door. Hiking her bag up on her shoulder, she adjusted her sunglasses and started to make her way toward the sand.
“Yeah, I don’t get it either,” Katou said with an exaggerated shrug. He didn’t laugh, though he looked as though he was close. “Who the hell wants to waste their time working.” Probably would have meant more before Katou’d started doing the whole ‘legitimate working’ thing, but he did think having a job was a drag and a half.
He retrieved his frisbee from the trunk and padded after Baby, stripping off his shirt so he was clad only in his cargo shorts as he went. He took another look at how smoothly his glamour blended with the rest of him. Even he couldn’t tell where his real body ended and where the glamour started, which was almost strange after a year of having a fake arm.
"Right? Ugh such a fucking drag." Baby replied with a smirk. She couldn't complain about her job, she actually enjoyed what she did for a living, and not a lot of people could say that. "But still, money is important or some shit. So yay for working." Baby replied with a roll of her eyes.
She placed her stuff down onto the sand, tugging her own tank top over her head leaving her in a pair of shorts and her bikini top. Baby moved down the beach, "Alright, ready when you are!" She was glad that Katou had gotten the glamour on his arm, she knew that it had to be hell to deal with other people staring. For her? Well, her older brother Tiny was a freak, in and out of the dreams, so she'd never really paid it no nevermind.
“Yay for money,” Katou corrected her, calling loudly as she moved away from him. Really, if there was a way to make money that didn’t involve doing actual work, but he wasn’t the first person who wanted that and he probably wouldn’t be the last. He doubted he’d be much more successful than those who had come before.
He threw the frisbee, aiming as best as he could though that didn’t stop it from going wide.
Rolling her eyes, Baby waved a free hand. "Yeah, yeah." Okay, he was right on that front, and she too would've probably done the same thing in regards to not doing any actual work if she didn't have to.
She watched the frisbee coming toward her, and she dashed through the sand as best she could. Baby missed it, by quite a bit actually, but still she laughed and went to retrieve it. "Good toss." She yelled, a light teasing note to her voice. She tossed it back, the disc wobbling slightly, and Baby knew it was going to land short.
Katou charged forward, using a burst of astral power at the last moment to increase his speed to catch the frisbee. He managed to grab it in his hands just moments before he lost his footing in the loose stand and tumbled, doing a couple of rolls before he was back on his feet. He felt a painful twinge in his ankle, and was sure that he had probably rolled it. Still, it wasn’t like he hadn’t had worse in his life, so he gingerly put his weight on his ankle as he yelled out, “Oh yeah, yours was so much better,” playfully.
Baby laughed softly, "You okay there?" She asked, brows raising slightly as she watched him carefully. "Besides, mine at least went toward you." She stuck her tongue out, and then laughed again while she waited on him to toss it back.
“I’m fine,” Katou said, rotating his ankle a couple of times and keeping most of the grimace of his face. He didn’t think he’d sprained it or anything stupid like that, at least. “Pfft. Maybe I just thought you’d appreciate the extra exercise,” he said. He took more care this time when he tossed it though, and it actually went toward her.
"Good," Baby replied with a bright grin, watching Katou carefully still. "Oh yes, I always appreciate extra exercise. Gotta keep the love handles at bay." Like she actually had them. Her job was enough to keep her trim and toned, plus all the practice she did and Baby did actually go to the gym every now and again. She watched the frisbee as it came toward her, and she managed to catch it. Letting out a whoop, Baby grinned before she tossed it back toward Katou.
“Oh yeah. See, I’m just doing you a favour,” Katou teased. “Keep you trim like me.” Even if, in all actuality, Katou was probably too skinny. And the teasing was exactly the reason why he decided to throw the frisbee back to her wide again. Ah yes, it was going to be a fun afternoon.