Time for part two. Yay! (Part 1 found here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/18.72805.3312106].)
Part 3 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/18.72805.3361403] now out.
Man, I'm bad at romance. Ah well, hopefully it's at least remotely enjoyable.
By the time I woke up, my apartment was empty. Aer hadn't left a note, or left some love. She just left. Even my cat had wandered off. I got up, changed out of my old suit and got in the shower. I got about halfway done with getting the shampoo out of my hair when there was a knock on my door. I rinsed off quickly, put on a robe, and answered the door still dripping. I think I was hoping for Aeryn, I saw my father instead. "Hey there, Dave called. Said they were doing dinner tonight with you, and expressed his joy that I could join in since I was in town."
Which was pretty surprising. I'll admit, I was absolutely smitten with Puppet back in the day, even to the point of inviting him over to meet my folks. Well, my folk. My dad and Puppet were easily friendly enough to meet independent of me, and ended up comparing notes at car shows and occasionally seeing a movie together. I was the best man at Puppet's wedding, but my dad would've been the next in line. It bothered me a bit, since I tended to keep my child and adult lives separate. Just seems weird to mix my childish days with my arguably more mature ones.
"Well, uh, hey dad. When did you get in town?"
"This morning. I tried calling you, but it went to the answering machine."
I hazarded a glance at the tape machine on the kitchenette counter, it was blinking red. "Well, look at that. So, any requests for dinner tonight?"
"Well, Dave said we were doing roast, and that was fine to me."
Crap, roast. I couldn't afford that. Thanks for telling me, Puppet. "Yeah, that's the plan. Anything else I can make?"
"Whatever you'd like. But if you want to make dessert, I won't be offended."
"Alright, I'll make sure to bake something after work tonight." Screw you Puppet, there goes my evening. "Oh, dad. By the way, where are you staying?"
"Here." He said, looking at my couch appraisingly, "if that's alright?"
"Oh yeah, absolutely." I looked around for Veru, "So long as you don't mind the cat."
"You still like cats, huh?"
"Yeah, I'm a sucker. Anyway, I need to finish getting ready for work. Make yourself at home."
He rolled his luggage in as I got back in the shower, and proceeded to finish showering. He called to me from the door, "I'm going to go walk around, give me a call when you get off work."
"Got'cha." I replied, stepping from the shower and going to my room to get dressed.
The fire escape climb felt longer today. Probably because sleeping sitting upright with the neck at a near-90 degree angle wasn't the most clever plan. Even still, I made it to the bottom and seriously considered lowering the ladder instead of vaulting the rail. I vaulted the rail, and felt the shock vibrate me to my neck, which ached. It didn't help that I landed wrong. Maybe I shouldn't act like I'm younger than I am. I'm not twelve anymore, after all.
"Bad landing for you, Nuke. Normally you're more graceful than that."
"Yeah, my stunning good looks and grace are going to go away soon. What'll be left?"
Caime frowned, "One of those moods, Nuke? You've got to stop that. You're stressed enough as is. Just put it away man, you're awesome, like it or not. And get to work, you're late."
I saluted, "You got it, boss."
He grunted out a chuckle, and I turned to head off to work, trying not to limp. I must've taken the landing a lot worse than I thought, and vowed to have worked the limp off before I got to work. By the time I had got there, it was gone. The soreness was still there, though. I bumped into Aeryn on the way in, who giggled, kissed my cheek, and waved a lazy goodbye as she hurried down the street. I couldn't help but stare as she left, and wonder what just happened.
"Probably thanking you for letting her stay over last night," my dad told me as I walked into the cafe. I eyed him, sketching a picture-perfect pencil sketch of a woman in the corner booth. It was Geek@Heart, but he probably didn't know that. I could see the empty container for the same drink Aer had yesterday sitting on the table.
"Which one of my ex's don't you talk to regularly?" Whoops, I don't think he knew Puppet was an ex...
"All of them? She's the only one I've even spoken to."
And him. "Ah, my mistake. People like to harass me about my sex life around here. Anyway, I've got to get behind the counter."
"Alright, I'll be here, drawing."
"Got'cha. Next coffee's on me." I hurried behind the counter and busied myself setting to work. It was all just busy-work though, my mind was elsewhere. Mostly trying to figure out how I was going to manage dinner. As soon as Puppet got in, I was going to give him a piece of my mind. Maybe two pieces.
"Oh, Nuke," Puppet said, flagging me over as I slipped into the back to get more coffee to grind. "Um... Do you think we'll be able to do dinner at your apartment tonight?"
"Sure, you and Kari are welcome. You're coming early, and bringing roast."
"Wha? Why?" Puppet asked, seemingly off-put by my forwardness.
"Because, Puppet, you told my father we were doing dinner as a group, and I was making roast."
"Oh... Right."
He was looking at his feet. It was cute and pouty, but I sure as hell wasn't ready to let this go, "No, Puppet. It's fine if you want to do dinner but you've got to warn me about these things. And you know how much it irritates me that you're a regular conversationalist with my father."
"But why, Nuke?"
"Because, Puppet, is that you knew my father was in town before I did. That you invited you and your wife, which you know still bothers me, over to dinner with him when I was cooking a roast I didn't have. I don't hate you man, but you can't keep dropping bombs on me if you want me to stay on-task, or at the very least completely sane."
"Alright, Nuke, stop being so overly dramatic! I know we share a friendship, but I'm still your boss. Stop being so dramatic and get back to work."
I ground my teeth, but muttered, "Yes sir. I better have a roast in my hands before I leave work today, or I'm quitting and you're eating elsewhere tonight."
He glared at me, but begrudging accepted. I left the employee room pissed, and I imagined he was no happier either.
By the end of the day, there was a roast in the fridge in the storeroom, and I had snapped at a handful of customers. The locals noticed, and many asked me if I was okay. I felt bad, since I had gone off on Neosage. But he had been talking with me on-and-off about asking Erana out. I told him to just get on with it, but he seemed a little too nervous. My mood had lead me to a lot of issues that day, and dinner was certain to be tense and thready with Puppet around.
The roast wasn't cooking very well, but my own pathetic cooking was going to do a great disservice to this otherwise great pot roast. Still, the cooking came out more or less alright. I managed to get the dinner finished before my dad got home. I had him carve it and set it out on the table while I worked on the side items. I wasn't a baker at all, but I managed to get a passable cobbler put out when Puppet and Kari arrived. To my surprise, my dad had already met Kari, and they settled down for small talk while I finished the dredges of work in the kitchen.
Dinner went relatively quietly, especially for how normally talkative Puppet and I are. We glared daggers at each other across the table, sparing nothing else but small and shop talk. There are only so many topics one could keep about coffee and entrepreneurship before we both fell into strained silence. My dad and Kari held a gorgeous conversation about local politics, but I couldn't keep focused on the topic. I could no longer handle the tension, and scuffed my chair back suddenly. "My apologies, but I suddenly remembered something I needed to do tonight. Please enjoy dinner, I have to go." I turned, and sprinted down the hall. I could tell I was too tense when I took the building stairs instead of the fire escape. Tears were blurring my vision, but I had no trouble descending the stairs.
When I got to the lobby, I couldn't quite handle it. I crashed down on a lobby chair, and stared at the tile. Something was bothering me, making me angry, tired, sad. I was a mess, what on earth was wrong with me?
"You look depressed," intoned the man behind the counter. I looked up, it was Baby_Tea. "Something the matter, Nuke?"
"Naw," I told him, shaking my head. It didn't matter if I were a good or bad liar, my eyes were red enough to betray any lie I could try and weave.
"Whatever you say, man." He stepped from behind the counter, letting his relief take up security. He pat my back, and headed out of the door. I got up to follow him. His ride was Srsly, and they were wrapped up in an embrace.
"Heya Neezilla."
"Nukezilla," she replied, waving at me, "how're things?"
"Can't complain," I lied, "just out for a walk."
"Don't stay out too late, you have enormous bags under your eyes."
"I always knew you thought I was ugly," I joked, waving as I left.
"I'm worried about him," she told BTea before I had gotten out of earshot.
Somehow, I ended up at Arendt park. It was a nice place, very well kept. I fell onto a park bench, and just let the day wash over me. My legs hurt from this morning, my lungs ached from the choking sobs that interrupted my night's jog. God, I was a mess. I needed someone to talk to. Normally I'd call Puppet, but I couldn't exactly do that. I hardly recalled what we fought about, but it wasn't worth this. There was a roast upstairs I should be eating, and talking with my family and best friends... Right?
A warm hand settled on my shoulder and squeezed gently. When I looked up, it was Aeryn who was frowning at me. "Nuke, are you alright?"
She looked concerned for me. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"No you're not." She said, tugging me out of the park bench. "What is it, Nukey? Tell me!"
"It's nothing," I said, dodging her gaze. I wasn't a good liar, "I'm fine."
She sighed, frustrated, and pulled me into a tight hug. My arms were stiff returning the hug.
"See?" She said, stepping away from the embrace. "I'm worried about you. Now come here and let's get you something to drink. You look awful."
I accepted, choking on a sob, "Worse than usual? I must look abysmal."
She sighed and me, and pulled me by arm back to her place.
The first thing I learned is Aer had a cute apartment. Light blues and whites, and everything matched. She sat me down at the table and gave me water. I took it, and drank. Everything felt mechanical, just going through the motions. She sat down next to me, and held me. "Oh Nukey, you look awful."
I didn't have a reply, so I just sat there, choking on misery. "Just quiet down, it's okay. It's all okay."
I closed my eyes, and felt everything melt away but the arm around my shoulders.
When I finally felt decent enough to open my eyes again, we had moved to the couch sometime. She was asleep again, leaning against me. I extracted myself as slowly as possible, and tried to leave the apartment. Aer woke up, and called me over. We hugged briefly, and talked for a moment. "So, are you feeling better?"
"Quite," I told her, and leaned over to kiss her. It felt right...
She slapped me, hard. I reeled, turned to look at her in shock. I said nothing, and rushed from the apartment. My watch face read 9:40 pm, and I had been out of my apartment for several hours. Dang, I wondered if Puppet was still around?
Making it across town took a lot longer than I had expected, and I didn't get home until almost 10:30. When I got in, my dad and Kari were in the bedroom, and Puppet was waiting for me in the living room. Without giving him time to speak, I spilled out a broken apology. I couldn't even form a sentence without my eyes watering over. Was I really this much a mess?
"Whatever Nuke. If you ever talk to me like that again, I'm going to fire you. Make no mistake, I am still your boss." He went into the back room, retrieved Kari, and left. My dad came back with his sketchbook, and sat down to finish his sketch from the cafe. I told him I was going to bed, and fell asleep thinking about Puppet. God, could I really face work tomorrow?
Which was pretty surprising. I'll admit, I was absolutely smitten with Puppet back in the day, even to the point of inviting him over to meet my folks. Well, my folk. My dad and Puppet were easily friendly enough to meet independent of me, and ended up comparing notes at car shows and occasionally seeing a movie together. I was the best man at Puppet's wedding, but my dad would've been the next in line. It bothered me a bit, since I tended to keep my child and adult lives separate. Just seems weird to mix my childish days with my arguably more mature ones.
"Well, uh, hey dad. When did you get in town?"
"This morning. I tried calling you, but it went to the answering machine."
I hazarded a glance at the tape machine on the kitchenette counter, it was blinking red. "Well, look at that. So, any requests for dinner tonight?"
"Well, Dave said we were doing roast, and that was fine to me."
Crap, roast. I couldn't afford that. Thanks for telling me, Puppet. "Yeah, that's the plan. Anything else I can make?"
"Whatever you'd like. But if you want to make dessert, I won't be offended."
"Alright, I'll make sure to bake something after work tonight." Screw you Puppet, there goes my evening. "Oh, dad. By the way, where are you staying?"
"Here." He said, looking at my couch appraisingly, "if that's alright?"
"Oh yeah, absolutely." I looked around for Veru, "So long as you don't mind the cat."
"You still like cats, huh?"
"Yeah, I'm a sucker. Anyway, I need to finish getting ready for work. Make yourself at home."
He rolled his luggage in as I got back in the shower, and proceeded to finish showering. He called to me from the door, "I'm going to go walk around, give me a call when you get off work."
"Got'cha." I replied, stepping from the shower and going to my room to get dressed.
The fire escape climb felt longer today. Probably because sleeping sitting upright with the neck at a near-90 degree angle wasn't the most clever plan. Even still, I made it to the bottom and seriously considered lowering the ladder instead of vaulting the rail. I vaulted the rail, and felt the shock vibrate me to my neck, which ached. It didn't help that I landed wrong. Maybe I shouldn't act like I'm younger than I am. I'm not twelve anymore, after all.
"Bad landing for you, Nuke. Normally you're more graceful than that."
"Yeah, my stunning good looks and grace are going to go away soon. What'll be left?"
Caime frowned, "One of those moods, Nuke? You've got to stop that. You're stressed enough as is. Just put it away man, you're awesome, like it or not. And get to work, you're late."
I saluted, "You got it, boss."
He grunted out a chuckle, and I turned to head off to work, trying not to limp. I must've taken the landing a lot worse than I thought, and vowed to have worked the limp off before I got to work. By the time I had got there, it was gone. The soreness was still there, though. I bumped into Aeryn on the way in, who giggled, kissed my cheek, and waved a lazy goodbye as she hurried down the street. I couldn't help but stare as she left, and wonder what just happened.
"Probably thanking you for letting her stay over last night," my dad told me as I walked into the cafe. I eyed him, sketching a picture-perfect pencil sketch of a woman in the corner booth. It was Geek@Heart, but he probably didn't know that. I could see the empty container for the same drink Aer had yesterday sitting on the table.
"Which one of my ex's don't you talk to regularly?" Whoops, I don't think he knew Puppet was an ex...
"All of them? She's the only one I've even spoken to."
And him. "Ah, my mistake. People like to harass me about my sex life around here. Anyway, I've got to get behind the counter."
"Alright, I'll be here, drawing."
"Got'cha. Next coffee's on me." I hurried behind the counter and busied myself setting to work. It was all just busy-work though, my mind was elsewhere. Mostly trying to figure out how I was going to manage dinner. As soon as Puppet got in, I was going to give him a piece of my mind. Maybe two pieces.
"Oh, Nuke," Puppet said, flagging me over as I slipped into the back to get more coffee to grind. "Um... Do you think we'll be able to do dinner at your apartment tonight?"
"Sure, you and Kari are welcome. You're coming early, and bringing roast."
"Wha? Why?" Puppet asked, seemingly off-put by my forwardness.
"Because, Puppet, you told my father we were doing dinner as a group, and I was making roast."
"Oh... Right."
He was looking at his feet. It was cute and pouty, but I sure as hell wasn't ready to let this go, "No, Puppet. It's fine if you want to do dinner but you've got to warn me about these things. And you know how much it irritates me that you're a regular conversationalist with my father."
"But why, Nuke?"
"Because, Puppet, is that you knew my father was in town before I did. That you invited you and your wife, which you know still bothers me, over to dinner with him when I was cooking a roast I didn't have. I don't hate you man, but you can't keep dropping bombs on me if you want me to stay on-task, or at the very least completely sane."
"Alright, Nuke, stop being so overly dramatic! I know we share a friendship, but I'm still your boss. Stop being so dramatic and get back to work."
I ground my teeth, but muttered, "Yes sir. I better have a roast in my hands before I leave work today, or I'm quitting and you're eating elsewhere tonight."
He glared at me, but begrudging accepted. I left the employee room pissed, and I imagined he was no happier either.
By the end of the day, there was a roast in the fridge in the storeroom, and I had snapped at a handful of customers. The locals noticed, and many asked me if I was okay. I felt bad, since I had gone off on Neosage. But he had been talking with me on-and-off about asking Erana out. I told him to just get on with it, but he seemed a little too nervous. My mood had lead me to a lot of issues that day, and dinner was certain to be tense and thready with Puppet around.
The roast wasn't cooking very well, but my own pathetic cooking was going to do a great disservice to this otherwise great pot roast. Still, the cooking came out more or less alright. I managed to get the dinner finished before my dad got home. I had him carve it and set it out on the table while I worked on the side items. I wasn't a baker at all, but I managed to get a passable cobbler put out when Puppet and Kari arrived. To my surprise, my dad had already met Kari, and they settled down for small talk while I finished the dredges of work in the kitchen.
Dinner went relatively quietly, especially for how normally talkative Puppet and I are. We glared daggers at each other across the table, sparing nothing else but small and shop talk. There are only so many topics one could keep about coffee and entrepreneurship before we both fell into strained silence. My dad and Kari held a gorgeous conversation about local politics, but I couldn't keep focused on the topic. I could no longer handle the tension, and scuffed my chair back suddenly. "My apologies, but I suddenly remembered something I needed to do tonight. Please enjoy dinner, I have to go." I turned, and sprinted down the hall. I could tell I was too tense when I took the building stairs instead of the fire escape. Tears were blurring my vision, but I had no trouble descending the stairs.
When I got to the lobby, I couldn't quite handle it. I crashed down on a lobby chair, and stared at the tile. Something was bothering me, making me angry, tired, sad. I was a mess, what on earth was wrong with me?
"You look depressed," intoned the man behind the counter. I looked up, it was Baby_Tea. "Something the matter, Nuke?"
"Naw," I told him, shaking my head. It didn't matter if I were a good or bad liar, my eyes were red enough to betray any lie I could try and weave.
"Whatever you say, man." He stepped from behind the counter, letting his relief take up security. He pat my back, and headed out of the door. I got up to follow him. His ride was Srsly, and they were wrapped up in an embrace.
"Heya Neezilla."
"Nukezilla," she replied, waving at me, "how're things?"
"Can't complain," I lied, "just out for a walk."
"Don't stay out too late, you have enormous bags under your eyes."
"I always knew you thought I was ugly," I joked, waving as I left.
"I'm worried about him," she told BTea before I had gotten out of earshot.
Somehow, I ended up at Arendt park. It was a nice place, very well kept. I fell onto a park bench, and just let the day wash over me. My legs hurt from this morning, my lungs ached from the choking sobs that interrupted my night's jog. God, I was a mess. I needed someone to talk to. Normally I'd call Puppet, but I couldn't exactly do that. I hardly recalled what we fought about, but it wasn't worth this. There was a roast upstairs I should be eating, and talking with my family and best friends... Right?
A warm hand settled on my shoulder and squeezed gently. When I looked up, it was Aeryn who was frowning at me. "Nuke, are you alright?"
She looked concerned for me. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"No you're not." She said, tugging me out of the park bench. "What is it, Nukey? Tell me!"
"It's nothing," I said, dodging her gaze. I wasn't a good liar, "I'm fine."
She sighed, frustrated, and pulled me into a tight hug. My arms were stiff returning the hug.
"See?" She said, stepping away from the embrace. "I'm worried about you. Now come here and let's get you something to drink. You look awful."
I accepted, choking on a sob, "Worse than usual? I must look abysmal."
She sighed and me, and pulled me by arm back to her place.
The first thing I learned is Aer had a cute apartment. Light blues and whites, and everything matched. She sat me down at the table and gave me water. I took it, and drank. Everything felt mechanical, just going through the motions. She sat down next to me, and held me. "Oh Nukey, you look awful."
I didn't have a reply, so I just sat there, choking on misery. "Just quiet down, it's okay. It's all okay."
I closed my eyes, and felt everything melt away but the arm around my shoulders.
When I finally felt decent enough to open my eyes again, we had moved to the couch sometime. She was asleep again, leaning against me. I extracted myself as slowly as possible, and tried to leave the apartment. Aer woke up, and called me over. We hugged briefly, and talked for a moment. "So, are you feeling better?"
"Quite," I told her, and leaned over to kiss her. It felt right...
She slapped me, hard. I reeled, turned to look at her in shock. I said nothing, and rushed from the apartment. My watch face read 9:40 pm, and I had been out of my apartment for several hours. Dang, I wondered if Puppet was still around?
Making it across town took a lot longer than I had expected, and I didn't get home until almost 10:30. When I got in, my dad and Kari were in the bedroom, and Puppet was waiting for me in the living room. Without giving him time to speak, I spilled out a broken apology. I couldn't even form a sentence without my eyes watering over. Was I really this much a mess?
"Whatever Nuke. If you ever talk to me like that again, I'm going to fire you. Make no mistake, I am still your boss." He went into the back room, retrieved Kari, and left. My dad came back with his sketchbook, and sat down to finish his sketch from the cafe. I told him I was going to bed, and fell asleep thinking about Puppet. God, could I really face work tomorrow?
Part 3 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/18.72805.3361403] now out.
Man, I'm bad at romance. Ah well, hopefully it's at least remotely enjoyable.
