Gabe (unexpectedturn) wrote in worldsapart_ic, @ 2019-06-02 21:13:00 |
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Entry tags: | ainsley carrow, gabriel erikkson, koa etana ka'uhane |
Who: Ainsley Carrow, Koa Etana Ka'uhane & Gabe Erikkson
What: The boys help Ainsley move in and Koa's fur gets ruffled, not literally
When: Sometime after this
Where: Ainsley's apartment
Rating: Low
Warnings: n/a
Koa huffed out a breath and grinned as he rounded the corner and saw Ainsley standing beside some boxes and suitcases, looking sunny and cute and he nudged Gabe in the side before he was moving forward, calling her name and closing the distance between them swiftly. The latte he’d grabbed for her was placed down carefully a split second before Koa was wrapping her in his arms and lifting her off her feet in a hug, spinning her in the air, beaming and bright.
When he put her down, he kissed her cheek and was reassured that she still smelt the same, a little bit like the moving guys who had left the stuff behind, and he took hold of her hand, enthusiastically tugging to draw her attention over to Gabe, who had trailed behind them with blood-laced coffee and sunglasses perched on his nose but otherwise looking like literal perfection and, glancing between them both, Koa wondered how he’d ended up being so lucky.
“Gabe, this is Ainsley, Ains, this is Gabe. He’s my, like, best friend. We grew up together terrorising these streets.” Or, rather, he terrorised and Gabe ended up doing more damage control than he did terrorise. “I met Ains when I left for a bit after, uh-” he wet his lower lip, not wanting to call out the Event that prompted him to travel, partly because he didn’t want to bring down the mood. “When I travelled.”
The arrival of Koa was announced mostly by the call of her name, which at least let Ainsley brace for the hug and spin, a musical laugh as her feet left the ground and the streets around her whizzed past for a moment. Koa was always a burst of energy, something that Ainsley rather appreciated given her own tendency towards the same.
“I was worried you’d have cut your hair.” She managed a quick tug on said hair before she was tugged along, her stuff safely stacked by the road, and introduced to a wall of handsome. “Hi Gabe,” she had to work to not gape at him, considering the stories that Koa had told her, he’d glossed right over the fact that Gabe was stunning.
“I hope I didn’t drag you out too early to help with this?” Although she would be lying if she said she wasn’t looking forward to watching him carry some things.
It was definitely too early and even before he’d been turned into a vampire Gabe had never been overly fond of dragging his ass out of bed for anything less than one good orgasm or a truly amazing breakfast. Koa, however, well, he was like Gabe’s kryptonite and when the chance to meet this Ainsley the wolf kept raving cropped up it was honestly too good to pass up. Of course he hadn’t been prepared for the enthusiasm and noise and he just sipped at his coffee quietly in contrast to his over excited best friend.
Ainsley was definitely cuter than he’d imagined but then Koa was a little sparse on some details when telling stories, the fullness of Ainsley’s mouth being one of those things.
“I think I can forgive you,” he returned smoothly and with a disarming smile that came complete with dimples. “I’ve been dying to meet you since Koa’s told me so much about you.”
“You should take off your shades,” Koa said in a stage-whisper as he picked up Ainsley’s chai latte again and passed it over, rummaging out about ten slightly crumpled packets of sweetener and holding them out flat on his palm for her with a sheepish look. “Also, Ains, I do need a haircut. I’m thinking of shaving it.” He glanced between the two of them, his hair back in a ponytail that brushed against his lower back, secured out of the way with his ever-present beanie. “Thoughts?”
Ainsley would agree that the shades should be removed, at some point, just because she really wanted to see what Gabe’s whole face looked like, but that could be done inside where there wasn’t a glare from the early sun. “Same here, so I’m super glad you were enticed out. I’ll have to check with you that Koa’s not been making up some of these tales he’s spinning.”
Taking the latte with a soft thanks, Ainsley snorted in an very unladylike fashion at the number of sweeteners, “You know, putting in that many defeats the purpose of not using sugar, Koa. Two would’ve been fine.” But she still put the others in her pocket, at the least she could use them any time she forgot to get some sweeteners.
After taking a sip of her latte, her gaze went to Koa and his comment about a haircut. “If you do that I’ll find a witch to curse you.” Which was only moderately overreacting, to be sure.
“I will never talk to you again if you cut your hair,” Gabe deadpanned in all seriousness as he couldn’t think of anything worse than Koa losing his hair. He sipped at what was left of his coffee which wasn’t much as he had been consistently sipping at it since they’d stopped off at The Antique.
Thankfully there was a bin nearby so he could toss the empty cup before he slid his shades down to give a glimpse of his very blue eyes as he looked over at Ainsley.
“What needs moving first?”
Koa just shrugged, nonchalant at the threats about his hair. It did need a trim if not because it kept getting in the fucking way, but he wasn’t about to take that much length off it. He liked the feeling of people playing with it too much for that. His hair, he felt, was an integral part of his identity and also clearly the part of him that his friends loved the best.
“Yep, we’re here to lift shit. So. Lifting and moving. Let’s get you settled in before we go out for breakfast. Lunch. Whatever, food.”
“You’re a bottomless pit, but I did promise to feed you for helping so…” There wasn’t a lot in the way of furniture, thankfully because her apartment came mostly furnished, and Ainsley could do the shopping for stuff like a proper bed and furniture later.
“Um, I feel like my books are probably going to be the heaviest, and my desk is in that box there,” because she did have some furniture, but nothing like a sofa or whatever. “The suitcases are just clothes, and I have a box of like kitchenware, but it’s not really a lot.” And thankfully she wasn’t way up in the apartment building, since the elevator was tiny, kind of old and she wasn’t sure it wouldn’t plummet to the ground with half her stuff in it.
Well food for Koa and Ainsley was vastly different from the food Gabe could now feel full from but he’d taken care of his appetite by snacking on a blood laced coffee so he wasn’t ravenous and a danger.
He eyed the boxes with the books and desk and decided to grab one of the boxes that held the books knowing full well his new state granted him a definite advantage as far as strength went.
The sunglasses did come off however and were offered to Ainsley with a smile. “You mind holding onto these for me?”
Taking the glasses that were passed off, Ainsley just gave a nod as those bright eyes were finally shown off. It was a bit of a struggle to not instantly throw a smirk at Koa, because surely the wolf was aware of just how stunning his best friend was.
It wouldn’t do for Ainsley to be a thirst nut right off the bat. “Pleasure,” and just because it was near automatic, she hooked the leg of Gabe’s glasses in the front of her shirt. “I’ll grab the bags and the door, we’re heading to the third floor.”
Gabe smiled in response to Ainsley’s readiness to caretake his sunglasses as he turned his attention to grabbing the box. It was heavy sure but not so heavy that vampiric strength struggled with it.
“Third floor, gotcha. Does this place have a lift or are we taking the stairs?”
“I don’t think the pair of you would fit in the elevator.” Because Gabe might be taller, but they were both broad in the shoulders, nice built chests, and it wasn’t like either Gabe or Koa were hiding their physique with the box lifting and the t-shirts. “Gotta take the stairs anyway, the elevator is a death trap that’s currently out of commission.”
Ainsley twisted back to throw a bright smiling as she led the way up the stairs, somewhat dejected that she couldn’t watch two supernatural butts make their way up those stairs first, but there was still time on the next trip maybe. It would probably only take those two trips to get her stuff upstairs, since she hadn’t brought everything and would need to get some other stuff later.
The important things were there.
Jiggling the lock a little, Ainsley got the door to her apartment open, the nicely painted walls hopefully masking any other scent that Gabe or Koa might pick up on, placing her bags near her kitchen wall and making sure Gabe and Koa could get in with their armfuls. “You guys are the best, I’d be bumping this stuff up here one at a time if it weren’t for you.”
Koa walked in and put the boxes he was carrying down, doing his best not to grumble about being ignored in favour of Gabe and his stupid blue eyes. He’d wanted them to meet, after all. After his dad and Gabe (and his pack, of course), Ainsley was the next most important person in his life and they all needed to get along and get to know each other. As long as the getting along kept them fully clothed. Or something. He didn’t know, he was feeling irrational. When was the full moon due? He had no idea. He was going to blame it on that anyway.
He pushed his hair back over his shoulder and glanced back at Gabe, offering him a bright grin and then winking at Ainsley. “One more trip oughta do it, but this place is nice.” He whistled, turning on the spot. “Sweeeeeet.”
Given how long Gabe had known Koa he knew all the signs of him being disgruntled and as soon as he put his boxes down he reached out to squeeze the back of Koa's neck but only briefly before he gave the apartment a good look over.
"I'm with Koa on this one."
He shot an admiring look over in Ainsley's direction. "You gotta give me some tips on how to negotiate as this is a really nice place for your first home in LA."
“The trick is still living through your parents bank account.” That wasn’t exactly true, not fully. But she’d shown her dad some less than decent places that she could afford on her own and just let him do the rest. “If it was just me, I’d be in a dive, but I’m daddy’s little girl, so.” She was the baby (now) which meant she got a few perks.
“How about we get the rest and then I treat you guys to proper food,” because her latte was great and all, and she was sure the boys scoffed something before coming over, but she needed to give something in return for the heavy lifting. “Is there anywhere you guys like best?”
It was a guess that there was probably some kind of dietary restrictions for either of them, but she couldn’t really just ask bluntly.
Koa glanced over at Gabe at the mention of parents and offered him the smallest of reassuring smiles, shoulder-bumping him as he passed to head back towards the door, tugging playfully on a loose strand of Ainsley’s hair. “I still live at home so I can’t judge living off a parent.” And he would continue to do so until a better offer came along. His dad didn’t charge him rent, he didn’t have to worry about feeding himself (and his voracious appetite) because his father had a similar one.
He shrugged, “I’m pretty easy when it comes to food. Just nothing, uh, vegan. Please.” Because that was just wrong. On every level. “Or vegetarian, actually. Somewhere that serves proper food that a growing werewolf needs.”
Gabe shot Koa a grateful look as the subject of parents was a sore one for him given that both his mothers had all but banished him from the family until they’d come to terms with what he was now. And it hurt. No two ways about that, definitely like being suckerpunched right in the gut.
“Ugh, Vegan,” Gabe grumbled with a roll of those blue eyes. “No thank you.”
The vampire gave Ainsley a departing smile as he headed out after Koa as he was right it would just take one more trip and they’d have everything in the apartment for Ainsley.
“Okay, that means we’re hitting somewhere with meat.” And she probably could’ve worded it better, but still. It was early and attractive men were carrying things for her, she was entitled to this. “You’ll both need to help me figure out places to go and places to avoid. I’ll need to get all this worked out before I go to college in the fall.”
Sure, she could likely look these things up on Yelp or whatever, but Koa had extended the offer when they’d met, to show her around LA when she got there, and frankly if she could spend time with Gabe, bonus on her end.
She didn’t want to take up all of their time, just a nice portion of it so that she got to know Gabe and could keep her closeness with Koa.
“Definitely,” Koa laughed as he hopped down the stairs, running through the places they could go that weren’t too expensive but did portions that would serve a werewolf’s appetite. Honestly, Jack’s was probably a good place. Ainsley needed to be introduced to it sooner rather than later considering how much of a staple it was to the supernatural community as much as anything else.
Hitting the street again, Koa rolled his shoulders and nudged a pile of boxes towards Gabe with his foot. “You wanna grab those and I’ll get these? That just leaves that one for Ains to carry?”
Gabe nodded. “Yeah, sure.” He reached down to grab the boxes that were nudged in his direction by Koa’s foot, shifting them ever so slightly so that he had a better grip on them. “Gotta love an efficient team.” He flashed his pearly whites at Koa before he headed back inside, taking the steps two at a time and easily with his long legs.
“Koa’s on his way back up,” he shared as he came back with a couple more boxes. “But that just leaves one more downstairs and that’s you moved in for now.”
He waited for direction before putting the boxes down.
“Brilliant,” having the pair of them help definitely sped things up, “Just pop those there for now,” Ainsley pointed near where the door to the bedroom was, “and I’ll sort through it later.” And while she left Gabe to do that -totally not staring at his butt- she almost danced downstairs to help Koa up with whatever was left.
Passing Koa, quick enough to get out, get what was remaining and pull back in, Ainsley just laughed a little at the werewolf, “Half the time I thought it’d take, really. Thanks so much.” She knew that it was just Koa being a good friend, but she really did feel that much more grateful that he helped get her in so quick and had asked a friend to help too.
Koa glanced at Ainsley over his shoulder and shrugged, offering her a little grin. He focused then on getting the last items up and putting them down beside Gabe, wrapping an arm over his shoulders and tugging him in for a side-hug. “Told you you’d love her,” he muttered, kissing Gabe’s temple and then beaming when Ainsley reappeared.
“Food now, right? I mean, in thanks for speedy shit moving. And also ‘cause I’m dying. Of hunger.”
Gabe went with the tug easily enough and chuckled when Koa planted a kiss to his temple and proceeded to light up the entire room with his smile. “Yeah, you were right and try and soak up that moment because who knows when you’ll hear that again.”
He smirked at the mention of food because honestly Koa was always hungry just like his dad it would seem.
“I could go for food.”
Placing the remains of her things down, giving a sharp nod at how promptly it was done and how well, Ainsley matched Koa’s grin with her own. “Well, I need to make sure you’re properly filled up after that hard work.” She figured it might be the least she could do right then.
When things were set up, she’d have them over and actually make something for Koa and Gabe as a thanks. “Let me grab my bag,” because she actually had a proper bag with her purse and shit in it, “and these are yours,” handing back Gabe’s glasses from the front of her shirt, “and we’re ready?”
Gabe took his glasses back with a smile before he unfurled them and slipped them back on as goddamn it was bright and apparently becoming a vampire meant becoming a lot more sensitive to light. Go figure.
“Ready as we’ll ever be.”
He was jonesing for a cigarette though so excused himself a little earlier than the other two so he could head on out and light up as he wasn’t about to pollute Ainsley’s apartment with smoke.
Koa watched Gabe go with a little grin and then his attention returned to LA’s newest inhabitant. He looped his arm around hers and pressed a kiss to her hairline. “Welcome to your new home, Ains.”
Looping her own arm around Koa’s waist, leaning into that little kiss, she just beamed, although making sure she didn’t leak any energy herself. “This is going to be the best ever.” Especially since she had Koa nearby, and the prospect of a friendship with Gabe.