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 Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 8:49 pm
"How about your girlfriend?" It was an absent question, except for the quirk of a smile in Ever's expression. A waitress appeared at their table just long enough to offer them menus and smiles before she was hauled away again, to deal with a spill at another table. This was not a fine dining establishment; service here was going to be bare bones. But at least the food was good.
"She makes some decent cookies..." No, definitely not absent. Ever was probing, his eyes on Tony as he posed the question.
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 12:16 pm
"My girlfriend?" Tony blushed, shaking his head. He imagined she was doing just fine, but if he were honest he hadn't heard from her as often as he would like. She was busy, it seemed, or she had gone off him. He wasn't sure which, but he tried not to fret about it too much.
She was probably just busy.
"She's fine," he said, offering a smile, though it was clear that he was uncomfortable. For so many reasons, beyond the usual awkwardness of having to field questions about his personal life. He cleared his throat.
He took the menu and thanked the waitress with a smile, though he looked a little confused as she hurried away. Spotting the spill, though, he realized what had happened. it happened, and he didn't mind waiting.
"Cookies... yes..." He cleared his throat and buried his attention in the menu, even holding it up as a shield between himself and Ever's sharp eyes. He was bright red behind the screen, and wished he had managed to deflect and handle the questions a little better than he had so far.
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2011 7:42 am
Ever didn't so much as touch his own menu; he just blinked across at Tony, bemused by the way he hid in its pages. His legs were still stretched out thoughtlessly under the table, arms folded across its top, leaning forward to focus on his dinner mate.
"Alas. I guess I'll have to give up any hope, then." His tone was too dry. Even if Tony didn't pick up on the teasing meaning of the words, the lingering edge of a crush [even if it was a crush faded down to a memory, mostly], he'd pick up on that tone. Just a little mischievous. A hint of self-focused mockery.
"...hope you'll tell me if things go sideways, though, so I can rush in to fill the gap." If Tony lowered his shield, he'd see the teasing grin.
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Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 10:50 am
Tony peeked up from behind his menu, blinking. He saw Ever's face and started laughing, embarrassment giving way to a jovial air as he nodded his head.
"I'll be sure," he said, taking his glass of water and holding it up in a toast.
He wasn't sure if things had already gone sideways, of course, but he would call her again and figure things out. He wasn't too worried, he told himself, as he had so much to focus on as Camelot and as a librarian, he sometimes wondered if he weren't the one that was hard to get a hold of and he just wasn't aware.
Dogby took a lot of his time, as well, of course. She was getting bigger, but she seemed not to change in the happy puppy personality front. Always eager for attention and cuddles, a pure sweetheart that needed walks, albeit short ones respective to her stumpy legs. She had an unwavering kind of loyalty and duty that Tony appreciated.
His first and only pet before that was a hamster, and they were, oddly enough, not as affectionate. Though he missed Booder sometimes.
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Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2011 8:34 pm
Ever's expression was bright and amused, eyes flicking off of Tony toward the kitchen, instead. The waitress didn't appear the second he looked up, alas: too busy, just now, too much noise. It'd be a few more minutes. He looked back to Tony with a twitch of a smile.
"This is a little weird, I have to say. I mean. I don't come by your place...." It seemed like he was joking, at least. Mostly. Well, he wasn't actually annoyed, at least. It was still a bit weird.
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 12:24 pm
Tony looked helplessly at him.
"To be fair, I didn't know this was your place. I wouldn't just drop in on you if I had known, I promise. I'd've at least called ahead." He chuckled, shaking his head, "it would be very odd if you just appeared on my doorstep, I know."
He smiled, relaxing a bit.
"I was just coming out to get some food. Get away from that miserable toad living with me. I probably shouldn't stay out too long, though, lest he take it out on Dogby and fail to feed her or something." He already knew Dogby wouldn't get her walk tonight, and would probably direly need to be let out when he got back home.
Nate was mostly useless.
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 7:04 am
"...miserable toad?" That, at least, sapped away some of his good humor, Ever's expression going more serious as he tried to figure out who the hell that could be. He shifted where he sat, licking his lips and watching the waitress finally approach. The light would kindle just as she was getting to the table, understanding and memory, considering the way Nate had slacked off and -- well, Ever'd encouraged it too, hadn't he?
Her request for their orders, quick and sharp but not unpleasant, would mostly disguise the guilty way Ever shifted. He'd probably made things worse.
A swallow, clearing his throat, and he'd manage to look up at the girl with innocent eyes. All he wanted was a slice of pizza and a lemonade, and judging from the way the girl rolled her own eyes and turned to Tony, she was used to him. And probably also used to him not paying or tipping much.
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Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 7:24 pm
"Ah. My son, sorry. He's... impossible. At least Dogby is a bit more of a relief, and I do look forward to going home and seeing her at least. I just don't like the way he treats her. Or rather... doesn't treat her."
He sighed.
Nathan did everything in his power to be as useless as possible at any given moment. If he knew that Dogby needed food or drink, he made sure not to do it.
Tony ordered his food with a smile and a polite air, seeming in a good mood and not willing to make any kind of trouble for the girl. He would handle the tab and the tip and, lucky for her, he was a good tipper.
That done, he smiled.
"Ah well, hopefully he'll get bored with me and wander on his way. The only way he's really going to learn is on his own, as I did, though I'm going to help him even if he doesn't want me to."
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 3:12 pm
"I've met him." Couldn't remember if he'd been a Nat or a Nate though -- only that they hadn't exactly gotten along but hadn't exactly been at each others' throats, either. He'd been given a cigarette; as far as Ever was concerned, that made him an alright guy.
He might have felt differently if he'd known about Chaonis, though.
With the waitress gone, he leaned forward on the table, and finally retracted his feet some, giving Tony space for the first time. It was as thoughtless as the invasion, just because it was more comfortable. Ever was rather self-focused.
"Does he still live with you? Shouldn't he be, I don't know." He cleared his throat, shrugging at that. "at school, or...?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 12:21 pm
"He dropped out of school when he was young," he said, nodding his head slowly. He tapped his chin, not knowing too much of Nate's life story, as the boy would simply not share with him and Tony had been unable to get in contact with his mother.
That was a bit of a bummer, really. He hadn't seen her in years, and from what little he knew of her did not make him feel better about moving on with his life without her. He had never imagined how far their lives would move apart, and might have made quite a lot of different choices if he had known about the pregnancy so long ago.
For better or worse, as the case may be.
He sighed, shaking his head.
"It's fine, I'm sure he'll find his way some day. I'm trying to get him to go back to school, or get a job, but he doesn't seem too keen on my suggestions. I wonder why?" He didn't.
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 5:56 pm
"You probably didn't -- " There was a terrible joke in there, somewhere, and it went sour on his tongue before it came out all the way. Ever's eyes flicked away as he cut himself off, shaking his head and shifting uncomfortably where he sat. Not very funny, and Tony probably wouldn't have gotten it anyway.
"...well. I mean. My dad wasn't...quite so...easy going about things." A shrug, quick, and he pulled a face, still not quite looking back toward Tony. "Not that it did him a whole lot of good, obviously. Guess you just have to let him do his thing."
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Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 12:35 pm
Tony looked thoughtful and nodded his head. Maybe he wasn't stern enough on his son, but then, he had not much practice. Nathan had come to him fully grown, after all, and they hadn't technically known each other too long.
Maybe he was too much of a push over, regardless.
It wasn't an excuse, not really knowing the kid. Not any more. It never had been, really. They were still flesh and blood, and it was Tony's responsibility to make sure that Nate got the best out of his present and built his future. What else was there for him to do now? Safely wisdom would be ignored. Offers of good will would be scoffed at. Maybe putting his foot down was the only way.
He sighed.
"I suppose so," he said, his tone enigmatic at best. He wasn't sure what else to say on the topic, or if he wanted to continue it, so he let it drop and smiled easily.
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Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 2:11 pm
Another little fidget, Ever's mouth shifting, an offer to talk to him hovering on the tip of his tongue -- and then his expression went sour, amused. Instead of asking seriously, he made it into a joke, leaning forward on the table and drawing a smile around him like a shield. It hid anything real away.
"Well, obviously the solution is for me to give him a good talking to." His tone was dry, amused, pase fingers shifting against his cheek and eyes flicking away -- onto an approaching waitress, thankfully. "Then, you know, you could have a son who lives off of charity, works minimum wage at the library, smokes like a chimney and drinks too much. Perfect plan."
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 9:37 am
Sometimes teasing with Tony was hit or miss. He knew how to bandy banter back and forth with the best of them, barring his nerves or awkwardness getting in the way. He understood sarcasm, of course, and he was usually aware enough to play when he was being played with.
Except when he wasn't all that aware.
At the moment, he was distracted by thoughts of how to reach out to his son one more time, and his gaze had gone a bit distant. He looked up, though, and smiled.
"You make that sound like a bad thing, but it's all much more than he actually accomplishes. But, it doesn't really matter. It's not the best situation, but we'll figure it out." It settled on him that Ever had been joking, at last, and smiled sheepishly. "Of course, you could always just take him off my hands."
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Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 6:28 pm
"Not my type, Tony." Oh, thank god for that smile. It made Ever relax fully, smoothing fingers through his hair as the waitress came over, sliding food between the pair of them and smiling at Tony broadly. Not at Ever. He was an obstacle, and one she had to deal with too often.
He waited until she was gone and Tony settled before he wiggled his eyebrows, reaching for his pizza to fold it carefully in half, expression still far too amused.
"Close, but he's a couple decades too young, I think." The end of it was muffled around a bite of pizza. Perhaps Tony wouldn't pick up on all of it.
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