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 Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:31 pm
"Yeah, like a tongue kiss," Skye shared a laugh with a few of the other boys before realizing Cruz's confusion. He mellowed, and took another drink of his beer, "What, you don't like tongue kisses or something? Wouldn't that provide you with more of a boost?"
Farrer offered Anita a weak smile, shrugged, and drank his bottle. "Yeah, guess you're right," he managed, "Damn."
Lyons took another inhale of his cigarette and crossed his leg. Like Anita, he was settling comfortably into his seat, but he was still having a relatively difficult time getting used to the cold. "Guess the jacket and shirt wasn't in order, then?"
"Whoa, whoa," Garcia added, patting Lyons on the shoulder, "Marry her first. She's not your servant, alright?"
"You gonna bow out and wear your shirt, Lyons? Cold too much for you?" Skye leaned forward; despite the redness of his skin from the cold, he seemed perfectly fine. "Or are you embarrassed now that your missuz is here?"
Lyons leaned forward. "There is no joint in the world that's worth this hell," he stood up and turned to enter the house, "I'm gonna get my shirt. Be right back."
Skye turned to Anita once Lyons left, clearly unimpressed by his antics. "Thanks for not getting his clothes, now we can sit in peace for a minute."
"Thanks for not freezin' to death," Mordekai called out briefly. Once Tango arrived, though, Mordekai immediately grinned and offered the meat to Tango. "Good dog, Tango. Y'wanna greet me proper?" He successfully managed to grab another piece of meat off of the plate without looking, and extended his other hand towards the hound.
"Does he?" Duncan peered over to where Mordekai and Tango were; Mordekai was, by now, offering Tango another few scratches on the head for his good work. He shrugged, "He has a penchant for animals. He really loves them, which means he spoils them with affection... and food, in Tango's case."
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:32 pm
Cruz blinked at Skye. ”I don't know. I never tried.” The raevan then lifted a hand to his face, finger tips idly tapping his lower lip. Was it a better kiss for humans? They all seemed to do it in some capacity, or at least knew of it. Humans must have enjoyed it if they all kept doing it, right?
His guardian shrugged playfully to Farrer with a chuckle. Lyons' question was quickly met by Garcia's intervention but Anita leaned casually back in her chair, pointed her index finger toward Lyons and gave a resounding ”Hell no.” The joke of marriage nearly went over her head, just making her laugh, but she caught it better at Skye's question which she responded to by scrunching her face and sticking her tongue out.
”Alright, man, if you can't handle it.” She jokingly hissed through her teeth as Lyons passed to get into the house.
Anita was about to give Skye and Garcia chiding looks for their poked fun but Skye beat her to the punch and she just laughed again. ”All that s**t was too tall an order,” Anita said airily, shrugging, ”but, everybody gets a freebie. That was his.”
Tango remained huddled close to Mordekai, all too attentive of where his hands were. Upon immediately being given the meat, his eyes bugged and Tango took it carefully from him. As soon as it was away from Mordekai's hand, though, his jaws clamped and tore at it greedily. In barely a few seconds he was seated again, licking his chops, and staring up at Mordekai as if he hadn't eaten at all. He watched the man touch the plate again but his other hand was held out, too. The dog sniffed the air around him but it was all taken up by the scent of the grill, the ribs, cigarette smoke, and cold. He craned his neck, nose pointed toward Mordekai's open and empty palm, then settled back and stammered in his place. A short, pathetic whine was punctuated by a snort and he stared balefully into the man's eyes.
The familiar sound dragged Anita's awareness back and she clutched the side of her chair while twisting to look at Mordekai and her dog. ”Tricks, please!” she called with a lopsided grin, her eyes more on Tango than his companion, ”Make him work for it.”
The frei watched the two as well and listened to Duncan, nodding. Tango was clearly enjoying Mordekai's company as well, looking like he was smiling whenever he opened his mouth. Cruz smiled and laughed under his breath, ”Affection's good.” There, he turned back to Skye and gently rest his palm on the table near the man to regain his attention, waiting patiently until their eyes caught. ”Are tongue kisses better?” The question was asked with utmost innocence, a child-like curiosity. He had to get to the bottom of this. Even if they seemed strange in concept, what if he did get a boost from them? Maybe he could feel more full and energized at home without making Anita uncomfortable.
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:33 pm
"Freebie, huh? By the end of the night, Lyons is gonna use up all of ours combined," Skye sat back in his chair. He already had his cigarette pack in his pants' pocket, which is took out a stick from. It took him a while to rummage around for his lighter, but when he finally did, he gave the rusty old contraption a few flicks. The flame dropped out in a pathetic sputter.
"Ahh, damn," Skye said, cigarette still between his teeth, "I take that back. Somebody give me his lighter before he comes back."
Garcia managed to grab the lighter from Lyons' seat and throw it towards Skye, who caught it and quickly lit his cigarette-- unfortunately, Lyons had came back through the backyard by now, fully clothed and warm. He let out a clumsy "hey!" before walking adamantly towards Skye's seat, but the other men were now preoccupied by Cruz's question.
Skye laughed between puffs of smoke and tucked Lyons' lighter inside Twain's pants pocket before Lyons managed to get too far. Twain flinched and swore, but a rare smile shone through his features as he grabbed the lighter and waved it around. With his head ducked, Skye shrugged at the Frei.
"I would certainly say so. Lyons would certainly say so, wouldn't he," Lyons blushed meanwhile, but continued writhing around for his lighter. "Hey, if you haven't tried it before, you can't knock it 'til you try it."
"What d'you mean, you haven't tried making out before?" Garcia looked bewildered, "You're like, what, our age?"
Duncan covered his mouth as he nearly choked on his champagne-- he managed to catch his breath and laugh, lightly. "Actually-- Raevans don't age the same way we humans do. How old are you now, Cruz?"
Mordekai glanced curiously up at Anita at the remark. He laughed, sheepishly, and shrugged; "Sorry, sorry! I forgot." At this point, he figured Anita thought he had some serious memory problems already, what with his great track record, but nevertheless kept his palm open for Tango. His expression sobered.
"Paw, Tango," he smiled, "C'mon, you can do it. Fed you a little too soon there, tahyo."
"Mordekai, make Twain give my lighter back," Lyons whined; Mordekai glanced up.
"Or you could just take it from 'im, you baby." He hadn't been paying attention to what had happened prior, of course.
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:33 pm
The shenanigans with the boys amused Anita but she kept quiet for the most part, just offering laughter and goofy expressions instead of piping up. It was a much smaller and more comfortable gathering than Thanksgiving, though she now felt awfully silly and self conscious for dressing up when everyone else was dressed down. Way the hell down. She would have felt much more at home with this lot now if she'd just stuck to the jeans and t-shirt combo, or at least if her a** wasn't complaining about the cold while everything else was mildly content.
”No,” Cruz smiled to the question, his eyes alight with interest. His head tilted at the suggestion of his age. He had no idea how old any of them were. Thankfully Duncan interceded and gave a proper explanation, to which the frei nodded and smiled more. ”I turned two in September.”
Anita offered a short laugh to Mordekai's fumbling and shrugged. It had been several weeks since he met the dog, since he met them, effectively. She didn't honestly expect him to remember. ”You're fine,” she assured, though lingered in her turn a moment to observe Tango once the command was initiated.
He didn't hesitate at all. As soon as Mordekai's hand was out, his right paw found it – and then his left attempted to almost immediately after.
”Ah-ah,” Anita reprimanded gently and Tango calmly retracted both paws while keeping his gaze firmly on Mordekai.
With a small smirk, she turned back and scoffed at Lyons' whining. She lifted her chin and nodded toward Duncan, trying to catch his eye with a smile. ”What'd y'all do for Christmas?” Then her smile dropped. For a second she looked shocked. ”Oh s**t! I'll be right back!” Anita flew from the chair, catching one of its legs on her ankle accidentally but she didn't trip, the chair merely jostled noisily and she jogged quickly back into the house, out to the front, and toward the car.
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:34 pm
"What the ********> You're two?!" Garcia burst into disbelieving laughter, though Skye merely looked over at the Frei's direction with confusion.
"Well, you're awfully... heady? For a two-year-old, damn," Skye leaned back once Lyons managed to wrangle his lighter away from Twain. With a huff, the redhead assumed his seat back in his chair. Farrer dangled his leg out in hopes that Lyons trip, but it only lent itself to a mild stagger that Lyons shrugged off.
"Raevans learn much quicker than humans do, " Duncan finished the last of his champagne, and settled it on the ground near his chair. "Though the learning curve greatly varies between the Raevans. I've only really talked to Cruz and two others, though..." he quietly thought over his experiences with Lazarus and Basil. All three Raevans were capable in their own right, though Cruz definitely seemed the most emotionally intelligent, while the other two were incredibly headstrong.
At the change of topic, though, Duncan grinned at Anita. "Mordekai and I decided it was best to just have a simple Christmas this year, so we stayed home. It was quiet--" he blinked and laughed soon after Anita bolted from her seat, though, and nodded in agreement.
"That's my man," Mordekai chuckled when Tango tried to offer his other hand-- he nodded in appreciation when Anita told Tango no. He offered the wolfhound the bit of hot dog, though, and offered him more scratches. "Hi t'you too, Tango. Hold on a minute." He stood up and opened the grill compartment to rub on more sauce-- when he noticed Anita excuse herself, though, he stared at Cruz with a dazed expression.
"She... good?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:35 pm
Heady? Cruz smiled in staggered confusion. Of course he was heady. They were all heady. They had heads.
Duncan explained it plainly and in such a way that sounded flattering. The frei chuckled and idly tugged at the neck of his coat. He was curious who the two other raevans Duncan met were, whether he knew them or not, but he didn't want to interrupt the current conversation. For now he tucked the question into the back of his mind; something to ask about later.
The offering of hot dog didn't go to waste. As before, Tango took it gently from his fingers. He backed up a few paces as Mordekai moved back to the grill and chowed down with his head lowered to the ground, picking and licking any scraps he managed to drop.
At Anita's sudden departure, Cruz looked as dazed as Mordekai. The two stared at each other a moment, the croc's lower jaw hanging slightly. His gaze drifted a moment as he thought about what just happened, then snapped back brightly as he mouthed 'oh'. ”She forgot something,” he smiled. His hands momentarily cupped his own cheeks and, beneath the coat, his rune pulsed with excitement. He knew exactly what she was getting and was happy she remembered, as neither one of them recalled to grab it as they stepped out of the car.
It didn't take her long to come back, still jogging, now with a distinctly festive gift bag cupped in her arms. Red and green gift wrap flowered out from the top of the bag which was white and decorated by various patterns and shades of the same Christmas theme. She carried it over to Duncan and set it in on the table in front of him.
”We got some stuff,” Anita grinned at Cruz.
He nodded, ”For you and Mordekai.”
Anita turned to the rest of the boys and gave an exaggerated shrug of her arms, complete with a sway of her hips. ”We didn't know when we'd see y'all again or we'd've got more but there's a thing in there that can be considered for everyone.”
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:36 pm
Mordekai had finished marinating the ribs a second time and was attending to Tango again by the time Anita had come by-- he issued another simple trick in his nervousness, "Roll, Tango," with another hot dog bit at the ready. Both Mordekai and Duncan glanced at each other-- the most they'd interacted with one another since the boys arrived-- and quirked a brow, causing Farrer to laugh.
"Forgot somethin'?" He flashed Cruz a confused smile, "S'it Tango's food bowl? 'Cause I got him covered--"
"Kantor, how thick is your head," Farrer glanced back at Mordekai with furrowed brows, "It's a present, dumbass."
"What!"
By the time Anita managed to jog back, Mordekai had stood from his place and Duncan chuckled in his seat. The two men hadn't necessarily issued Christmas presents to one another, either. Mordekai's eyes brightened at the sight of the decorative Christmas bag.
Duncan laughed, bubbling with contentment, "Wow, thank you two! You didn't have to go out of your way."
When Anita addressed the boys, Skye and Farrer both shrugged, and the remainder simply chuckkled it off. Farrer waved his hands in dismissal, "Think none of it. Your gift to us is your presence."
"Aw," Garcia chimed, which caused Farrer to shoot him an awful look.
Mordekai shied up nearer to the group with a dozed smile as Duncan received the gift with quiet thanks; the blond looked back at Tango and his knee again before continuing further.
"Probably know what it is already, but wanna see, tahyo? C'mere, boy."
Duncan waited for Mordekai to finish addressing Tango before looking into the contents of the bag-- the white wrapping made it difficult to make out what it was. When Mordekai glanced back at Duncan, he nodded his head and urged him to go for it, which caused the grey-eyed man to smile gently. He slowly dug into the bag, and the crowd was momentarily silent with guesses of their own.
"Is this..." Duncan felt the object inside of the bag-- he quirked his brows, bemused, "This must be a--"
He pulled out the leg lamp, and everyone broke into peels of laughter. Mordekai, who was staring this entire time, erupted into cackles of his own.
"Girlfriend lamp! It's perfect!" Chuckling, he offered a hug to Cruz, then the same to Anita, though he waited with open arms for her to react first, "Thank you so much!"
"Perfect gift for two lonely as ******** bachelors!" Garcia shouted.
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:37 pm
At Farrer's comment and Garcia's follow up, Anita put a hand over her heart. She gave them both an exaggerated sentimental look, as if she'd been deeply touched, but ended it with a snide smirk and directed her attention back to Duncan and the gift.
Tango followed Mordekai over and stared between the lot of them, tail wagging idly. His breath came out in short visible puffs.
They all watched eagerly as Duncan began exploring. It amused Anita that he was being so dainty about digging through the bag. She crossed her arms and grinned while waiting, standing with a slight tilt to her hips. Cruz hovered, ribbon floating gently back and forth while it spun as though he were rocking in mid-air. His hands were clasped together, held in front of his mouth, and he attempted to breathe on them for warmth but his internal temperature wasn't as high as any of the surrounding bodies.
Laughter echoed through the garden.
Girlfriend lamp. Anita bent over and hit her thigh repeatedly with the side of her fist.
Cruz eagerly took Mordekai's hug, nails digging a bit into the flannel across his back but not enough to pierce through. His laughter was a deep rumble, toothy maw fully exposed, but he wasn't laughing nearly as hard as Anita who'd taken to covering her face with a hand and whose eyes were completely scrunched shut.
It took her a moment to realize Mordekai had approached her for physical thanks and she paused. Her expression didn't falter, still cheery and red from the cold as well as excitement, but she did hesitate a second to assess what was happening. A short shrug that looked more like a tilt of her head was given before she reciprocated. That was a good sign, right? She kept it somewhat brief, offering him a firm and friendly pat on the back before pulling away, and Anita continued to grin even as she stepped aside and approached the bag again.
”That's the everyone thing,” her hands dug through the bag much less carefully than Duncan's, and before long she pulled out a small assortment of various thick wool socks all neatly folded and arranged. Their patterns and colors were varied, though most of them had some sort of winter theme or Christmas palette. ”These,” she announced while displaying them to Duncan and Mordekai, ”you get to fight over.”
Cruz gave another grumble of excitement and floated higher. His wings rustled beneath his coat, thankful for the insulation but not used to being confined. ”I picked them out,” he stated with pride.
”Yes you did,” Anita laughed, holding them out further for the men to claim, ”I know it's real simple but we're pretty utilitarian. Don't get gifts unless we think they're gonna get used, y'know?” She eyed the small leg lamp and narrowed her eyes, grin pulling one side of her face. ”Usually.”
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:37 pm
Mordekai took the seconds-worth of hesitation with some significance, but the brief hug they exchanged was a firm one. He turned to Duncan and pined for the leg lamp; Duncan laughed at Mordekai before handing him the plastic object, which Mordekai held like a trophy. The blond knelt and displayed it to Tango with a well of happiness and pride. "I'd like to greet you to the new family, Tango," he began humming, "An' she's so fine~ she's all mine~ she got leg, she knows how to use 'em~"
"Now, now," Skye reprimanded, "The lady says it was an everyone gift."
The blond shrugged and laughed it up-- after displaying it proudly to Tango, he turned towards the house and looked around the surface of the wall. "Does she have a bulb in her already? We gotta light her up, man."
As Mordekai was fiddling with finding the wall plug, Duncan lit with another chime of laughter upon seeing the socks. He took them with a gracious bow of his head, "Beautiful! Thank you," he looked back at Mordekai, "Mordekai, there's more! Look at these socks."
Mordekai turned back and settled the lamp on the floor to briefly reconvene with Duncan. He bent over to meet eye level, one hand placed on the back of Duncan's chair for support. Laughing still, Mordekai whispered an ever-so-quiet beautiful before looking seriously at Duncan.
"Anita na' Cruz are so considerate, they even got socks for Irene."
Duncan stared at Mordekai. "...Irene?"
"Our new guest," Mordekai added, swaying his head back towards the lamp, "No fishnet's gonna keep her warm for the winter--"
"Mordekai!" Duncan lightly smacked a pair of socks against Mordekai's face, which caused the man to rumble with laughter of his own.
"Not the face, pappy!"
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:38 pm
Everyone's enjoyment of the leg was met with smiles and laughter from Anita and Cruz. Tango, too, offered his enjoyment when Mordekai began crooning. His tail wagged excitedly and he sniffed at the little lamp shade with wide brown eyes.
”She should!” Anita called as Mordekai ran inside.
Her attention, like Cruz's, shifted entirely to Duncan as he looked over the socks. More smiles. More laughter. At his compliment, Cruz gripped the bottom of his coat and grinned hard. His smile was wide and tight, fully toothed, and his green eyes were as bright as bulbs. Mordekai offered more of the same and it practically made the frei glow. If his rune were visible he would, in fact, have been but his coat carried beyond it and hid half his ribbon.
They both stared, like Duncan, at the new name. While Cruz smiled upon Irene being explained, Anita sputtered and shook her head laughing.
From there, laughter became the most constant conversation. Anita did manage to double check with Duncan on how their Christmas went and offered a little background on theirs. She agreed with him on the matter of her family not understanding Cruz, rather than disliking him, and the frei felt more assured for it.
Before too long, the ribs were about done and everyone started gearing up for food. Since Cruz couldn't partake, he merely offered compliments to how it smelled and looked. Anita pulled the frei over and cupped his face, offering a flurry of quick kisses to his hair, his forehead, and his cheeks, interrupted by the occasional loud raspberry. Tango's bowl and food was retrieved as well and Anita worked with Mordekai on just dumping the rest of the offered hot dog and some picked off rib meat to mix in with his dry food. No bones, she said, until he ate everything else – then only one. Once food began proper, Anita took her seat beside Farrer and rolled up her sleeves. Even in nice clothes, if they were expecting her to be careful while sauced up ribs were on the menu the boys would be sorely mistaken. She tore in eagerly. If anyone made contact with her while she was eating, Anita crossed her eyes while taking a big bite and occasionally made a show of tugging the meat away with her teeth like an animal. The sauce made things a bit difficult and, here and there, it got around her mouth. She just wiped it off with the back of her hand until she felt content enough to lick her fingers off and grab a napkin.
Five big ribs later and Anita sighed, giving her face another good wipe down and making sure there was absolutely nothing left of the meal on her skin or clothes. Tango had finished his bowl long ago and took to laying in the grass very nearby. Cruz hovered with him, ribbon draped over his back, and his hands delicately ran over his fur until they crept up and wrapped loosely around his ears. One turned slowly and he pursed his lips, making a small burbling sound to emulate a motorcycle rev.
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:39 pm
The boys went at the ribs as viciously as Anita, and they paid no particular judgment or heed to how she went about it-- in fact, they followed her lead, going at their ribs like a pack of wolves. Duncan and Mordekai stood back for the most part and allowed them to eat however many ribs they pleased; at one point, they even put more on the grill, much to Mordekai's faked exasperation.
Duncan ate a couple of ribs, and Mordekai found it more amusing to turn on Irene inside and help Tango with his food. He was contented with sitting back on the backyard porch step-- he'd forgotten a chair for himself again-- and watching everyone enjoy his cooking. Or, for that matter, smattering it on each other.
By the end of their late-night dinner tirade, two hours had passed of more lounging, eating, and drinking-- the literal cargos of beers and champagnes were quickly being drained, as was evident in everyone's exuberant laughter and behavior. Once Tango managed to finish eating, Mordekai gave the hound some time to relax it off; upon realizing that Tango was probably still full, the extent to his activity today was kept to idle petting and head scratches. No wrestling today, unless tahyo was awake later. Mordekai had a feeling his hazy buzz wouldn't go away anytime soon, nor would his sleeplessness.
By the time everyone cleared their plates to their hearts' content, it was nearing midnight, and the night was only getting colder.
Garcia was the first one to pipe up after the food settled in his stomach, his cheeks a rosy Santa red. "Furrwurks," he bolstered; a few others pat him on the back and encouraged his idea. Duncan and Mordekai looked between each other, wide-eyed.
"We usually just walk to the fields to watch 'em here. That what you wanna do?"
Farrer rose from his seat in indignation, and staggered off towards the back door. "No, you ********, we're doin' this right-- I got'em in the truck, let me--" he kicked the back door open, and the door pried open with a loud thwack-- "--********' hold on, let me go get 'em."
Mordekai scratched Tango's head again and rose from his place-- none of the plates were cleared off, and the area was an ocean of toppled bottles-- and sighed. He managed to bare a smile and sigh, indignantly. He scratched his head. He glanced at Duncan, who merely gave him a shrug and agreeing nod.
"Okay, well, fireworks it is--" the boys resounded with hoots and hollers-- "You good with that, Anita? Cruz?"
Mordekai paused and glanced down at Tango, "Can Tango handle the noise? 'S a good ten or so walk out, but they'll be loud. I can come back once the fireworks are ready t'fire."
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:39 pm
In light of Mordekai's lack of seat, Cruz had taken to floating with him and the dog like had been done for Thanksgiving. Anita noticed and offered him a confused glance while they ate but didn't press the issue – or even let her gaze linger long enough to catch his.
When Garcia exclaimed for fireworks, Anita laughed. Cruz looked up and smiled. He'd seen fireworks on TV before, and from a far distance. Sometimes you could see them across the shore, playing off the reflection of the water. They were always very pretty but he only ever heard dull pops at most, or it was filtered through by the television. That was why he furrowed his brows at Mordekai at the announcement of their volume.
By the time he asked, Anita had pushed her chair in and started gathering dishes since no one else seemed to. She looked over her shoulder and murmured, stack of plates in hand, then looked down at Tango who sat content.
”How far back are they gonna be?” she chewed her lip idly while gathering as much as she could, then started walking them toward the kitchen to set them in the sink.
”How loud?” Cruz's fingers stroked and scratched at Tango's fur, particularly around his lower back. The dog's hind leg stretched out at the feeling and he raised his nose to the air with a quiet groan.
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:40 pm
Mordekai followed along with Anita in gathering what dishes he could, along with a few stray bottles. He looked up at the sky in thought. "I'd say a good mile from here. There's a nice patch of dirt right along the fields," once Farrer staggered back with a cartful of fireworks, Mordekai glanced over. "Farrer, y'know how far off the dirt patch is? A mile, right?"
Farrer swung around with cart in hand and stared at Mordekai. He shrugged. "A good mile in, yeah. Ten, fifteen minute walk? Why?"
"Thinkin' about Tango," Mordekai scratched behind Tango's ear, "Think he'll be okay here alone?"
"If not, I can stay behind," Duncan smiled, "I should, anyhow-- the walk won't be good for my silly back. I'm sure that both Tango and I would appreciate the company."
Farrer and Mordekai both glanced at Anita for confirmation-- the other boys, meanwhile, picked themselves up from their chairs. They were all red-faced and ready to rumble, as it were, even though a few still had barbeque sauce smeared across their chests. Lyons let out a loud, pumped yell and raised his arms in the air. Despite being the most clothed of the men, his face was completely red and disheveled.
"LES'RUN!"
Garcia and Twain hollered in agreement-- without Mordekai nor the other men's say, the younger of the camaraderie bolted through the gardens. Skye swore and polished off the last of his bottle while Mordekai stared at where the boys were, obviously bewildered-- Skye threw the bottle on his chair and stretched his torso.
"I'll hold down fort," Skye muttered; he pat Farrer on the shoulder, "Those ******** don't even know where the field is." For a man whose cheeks were burning red, Skye was surprisingly coherent.
Mordekai made an aggravated sighing noise and brushed a hand through his hair as Skye also ran off. He hadn't imbibed in as much alcohol as the remainder of his friends, or even Duncan, and feeling displaced made him feel somewhat nervous-- he offered an awkward smile to the rest of the group, though, and in Anita in particular. "'Kay, well, since we don't got the time to s**t around anymore-- you good with Duncan stayin' behind?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:41 pm
At everyone's exuberance, Anita gave a subdued snort. She brought her set of dishes in and cleared off any remaining food into the trash, then stacked and rinsed them as best she could in the sink. Mordekai and Farrer had their short exchange by then, and Anita made a short pit stop to the fridge to grab the twelver of Blue Moon. It was a bit fancier, a light orange flavor alongside the bitter ale, so why not use it for a fireworks display?
She returned around the time Duncan made his suggestion and she offered him a concerned look. ”Are you sure?”
Then he mentioned his back. Yeah, maybe that would be for the best, then. Everyone was running off quick as anything and she, Cruz, Duncan, Mordekai, and the dog were getting left in the dust. Anita made her way to Mordekai with the beer again and handed them off with a short breath.
”That's fine. I'm just gonna get my coat, in that case,” she'd grinned and bared it enough, even if most of the cold was concentrated in her legs, ”You and Cruz can go ahead, I know the way.”
That slipped out.
She didn't react to her own words until she was already turned around and on her way back to the house, which resulted in a brief but grave expression at the ground. How did she drop that so easily? God, hopefully he didn't catch it. He was doing really well, he didn't need a reminder of that s**t. Then again, wasn't the gazebo in the fields? Was this a good idea at all? Too late now...
While Anita lead Tango back inside with Duncan, and then returned to the car to fetch her coat, Cruz hung back with Mordekai. He wasn't aware of the egg shells his guardian was walking on, willfully or otherwise. The situation, to him, was dealt with and no longer an issue – so he continued on as if absolutely nothing had been said. He watched the remaining trail of men head out towards and through the gates with a pleased grin.
”I've never seen fireworks up close,” he nearly whispered, though his excitement was nearly palpable. The frei was practically vibrating with anticipation. A glance back toward the gates and the distant fields alerted him to the lack of any light sources, save for the moon and stars. Cruz frowned slightly, though it didn't meet his eyes – they were still alight. ”Maybe we should wait for 'Nita. She doesn't like the dark much.”
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:41 pm
Farrer was dragging his a** along slower than the other four, but he was still a fair distance away when Anita and company were still preparing their leave. Duncan gave Tango a few gentle pets and thanked Anita for showing him inside-- he sat on the couch and watched the backyard intently. If he wanted to, he could go upstairs to watch the show later, but for now he was contented with the champagne warmth in his cheeks.
The sink was large enough that Mordekai was able to stack what plates he gathered on the opposite side of where Anita was rinsing off her's. After he did that, he kicked and grabbed a few bottles into a relatively neat hill off to the side of the grill-- that would need scrubbing later-- and stack a few of the chairs out of the way. He smiled calmly at Anita, though it strained at her last sentence.
"...Okay, you get that."
There wasn't too much time for Mordekai to ruminate on what Anita had said, though. When they were all eating, he'd preoccupied himself with thinking about the matter, anyways-- now he was just staring tiredly at the remaining mess from the party. The inside was a bit less clustered than this, but he still didn't finish cleaning up from cooking the remainder of the day, and the men's tops and jackets were strewn about the floor. He contemplated grabbing them so the men wouldn't freeze to death, but-- he certainly wasn't the dad of this operation.
He grinned weakly back at the Frei-- Cruz's energy at least spared him some motivation to continue on with the fireworks, which he was initially hesitant about. "Yeah? They can get bright. And noisy, too, but they're fun. An' there are these poppers," Mordekai scrunch his hands up to explain the size, "You throw 'em on the floor an' they snap. I'm sure Farrer's got some, he always brings some t'see if the kids roll around." As it were, the last time they celebrated New Years with a child around was when Jocelyn was still in middle school. Since then, no luck, but Farrer had a soft spot for kids.
Mordekai grimaced slightly at Cruz's suggestion. It wasn't out of weariness of Anita, though he was gravely anticipating what he had to say, and he hoped that a few minutes' walk of isolation would help him clear his thoughts. He shrugged weakly and nodded, though. Cheer up. "Y-yeah. It can get pretty black out there. We can wait."
He stood by and awkwardly pulled out a bottle of Blue Moon. It was nice, cold, and distracting.
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