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 Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:08 pm
Valentine's Day was a depressing time for the teenager as he thumbed through the old photo albums, a faint smile playing at his lips as he pondered the memories he had had with Tyyne and Shouko. Unfortunately his heart was in turmoil, both of Tyyne's disappearance and his growning fondness for Shouko. He had invited the latter to his apartment after his third beer, and had forgotten about it by the fourth. That was the way things had been going for the past few days, an inescapable spiral of depression that seemed to be robbing his jovial nature and eating him alive.
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:14 pm
Teagan had sounded upset on the phone. And a bit slurry, like he'd been drinking. Shouko had taken a look at the calendar at headquarters and immediately suspected something was up. She wasn't totally sure what the status of her relationship was with the lemur, but if he was drunk and calling her on Valentine's day it was a justified cause for suspicion. As instructed, she'd made her way to his apartment and now stood in front of the door.
"Tea?" she called, knocking. "You home?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:19 pm
"Door's open," he groaned, laying his head back against the couch cushions. He didn't bother asking who it was, because frankly even criminal company would be a welcome thing. He felt acid rising in the back of his throat but held it back with a swallow, laying one hand on his forehead. Empty bottles were strewn about the apartment floor, along with photographs he had torn from the album. Most were of himself with Tyyne, but a few contained the three when they were young.
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:23 pm
The apartment was worse for the wear since the last time Shouko had visited back when he had moved in. She stepped carefully around the empty bottles and crouched to picked up one of the photographs. The smiling, innocent, familiar faces grinned up at her.
She looked at the recyclables strewn about the floor.
"How many of these are from today?" she asked.
Was it even possible to consume that much alcohol in a 24-hour-period without going into a coma?
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:26 pm
"Six or seven," he mumbled, knocking one over with his limp hand, "Maybe eight. I don't know." He coughed a few times then groaned again, turning on his side to look at her. His glazed over eyes seemed to follow her across the room, never leaving her face. Suddenly he closed them and sighed, scratching his stubbled chin, "You're still the prettiest."
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:30 pm
"You're only saying that because you're drunk," she sniffed, sitting down next to him and turning the picture over in her hands. Her eyes focused on the date on the back.
"Wow, that was ages and ages ago," she said, and turned it back over to study the faces again.
"Tyyne was the pretty one," she objected. "I was the awkward one with the fluorescent hair."
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:34 pm
"You're still prettier, drunk or not... Drunk," he managed, tossing an arm around her. He pulled back with a bit of his weight, inhaling the flowery scent that still seemed to follow her wherever she went, "And you don't go taking off and leaving me alone." He grumbled softly, looking up at the picture, "A long time is right."
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:42 pm
If Shouko smelled like flowers, Teagan smelled like a drunk monkey. Still, she didn't pull away from his arm. He seemed depressed on today, of all days, and if she did that it might just make things worse. She frantically tried to change the subject.
"We're you still thinking of getting a dog?"
He'd said something about that, right? Last time she'd seen him?
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:46 pm
"A dog," he said, trying to jog his memory, "A dog, a dog. Oh, a dog, yeah." He snuggled his head up against her side, flicking his ears nervously. "I found a dog in the alley, but it didn't like me." Since that he hadn't really tried it again.
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:52 pm
Shouko glanced down at him and thought about how much he reminded her of a puppy. A big, depressed, drunk puppy.
"Normal people go to pet stores," she said, and was struck with an idea. "How about we go to one sometime when you're not so out of it and pick out a puppy for you? A good one, that hasn't been eating chicken bones and doesn't have mange and fleas and rabies?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:56 pm
"Whatever you say beautiful," he mumbled, knotting his hands in her shirt as he tried to curl himself around her waist. He managed to pull his head into her lap, peering up at her with reddened eyes. "I messed up huh?" he asked, rubbing at the dark circles that made his face seem so hollow.
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:55 pm
"That's one way of looking at it," replied Shouko, pursing her lips and frowning down at him. "You'd probably feel better if you had some real food in you," she said thoughtfully. Gently, she lifted his head out of her lap and got up.
"What's in the fridge? I could cook something for you," she offered, picking her way across the room towards the kitchen.
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 4:07 pm
"Beer," he shouted as he rolled over onto his stomach, burying his face in the cushions, "And maybe some leftover lo mein." It was no surprise really that the teenager didn't have any real food, he'd never been much of a cook. His groceries came with Mom came to visit, and that wasn't very often. As such most of his meals came on the go, which he was afraid would disappoint her.
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 4:31 pm
Shouko opened the fridge and frowned. He wasn't lying when he said "beer and leftover lo mein" - there really wasn't anything. And the lo mein didn't look edible, so she tossed that.
"No meat or frozen pizza or anything?" she asked.
She opened the freezer. Bingo! A gallon of vanilla ice cream stared back at her.
"Tea? What would you say to sundaes without the toppings?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 4:35 pm
"There's peanuts in the cupboard," he piped up, propping his head up on his arms. His ears flipped back at the mention of ice cream, one of his few favorite foods. His stomach grumbled an angry protest to the milk product, but he shut it up with a clenching of his abdominal muscles. He'd be paying for it later, but it would cheer him up now. Besides, it was nice to have someone taking care of you once in a while, especially someone so cute.
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