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 Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 9:48 am
Thorn paused, weighing his options. Nodding, he got up. He wasn't too hungry anyways. "Come on, precious." he said, smiling. "Why don't we go look around, see if there is anything else we can do to entertain you?" his words were gentle, light and really, every inch the godfather or uncle.
Haki smiled. Slipping out of the booth, she offered her hand to him, and he took it.
Marc let out a sweet sigh of relief. Turning back and nudging Hadrian's foot with his own, his forehead creased. "I can't take that sometimes." he muttered. He wouldn't say sorry. He didn't know how. But he could say other things.
"That mean." he pressed his lips in a line. What else could he say without seeming weak? And he didn't want Hadrian to think him weak.
((... how long do you think they need to eat, before Thorn comes back with news? XD ))
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 9:54 am
((Just say in your next post or so that they 'ate for a bit' or something, and you can have him come back then XD))
Smiling, Hadrian hoped that would reassure Marc. The longer he was with this man, the better he seemed to get at non-verbal communication - mainly because both of them were too pig-headed to say some things out loud. Or embaressed.
For a brief moment, he caught the other mans hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, before allowing his hands to return to his plate. Normally, they didn't seem to go too much for public displays - hence why it was short. But all the same...
He limited himself to that and a smile, and a few words.
"There's nothing to worry about."
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 10:01 am
And they ate.
Marc asked for the bill first. He was just mildly worried about what was taking Thorn and his daughter so long, when his question was answered by the two of them walking back in. Haki's cheeks were uncharacteristically flushed-- as if she had been running around.
Which was ridiculous, wasn't it?
Marc, who had enjoyed his private time, the banter and the touching with Hadrian was in a more magnamous mood as he smiled, nodding his head. "Thorn." he said, on the tip of his tongue to thank him for baby sitting, when Haki said.
"Hay-dren, we go play goff?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 10:05 am
"Goff?"
For a moment, Hadrian looked completely bewildered and lost. He hadn't the slightest idea what 'goff' was. Then he remembered, hearing about something of a similar name...'golf'. Dacian had mentioned it, if he remembered correctly - it was some sort of game.
"Ah, you mean golf? Well, I've never played...but sure."
Smiling at Haki, it never really occurred to him that Thorn was going to accompany them all. He noticed the man there of course - but he was doing his best to try and ignore him while being polite.
Needless to say, there wasn't much success in that.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:17 am
Haki brightened. "Yay!" she said. Turning with a thriumphant grin, she almost wiggled her eyes. Almost. See? "See?" she said.
Thorn smiled slowly. "You're right Haki, you're the master manipulator." he conceded, an inside joke that had Marc tense. Why was the man being so nie to his daughter?
"Golf?" he asked Haki warily, looking down. When the bill arrived, he handed the cash over, waving it away as if it was a distraction to other more urgent needs. Why golf? He frowned. "I can play, kind of." he said grudgingly.
"I had to give you your lessons, Marc." came the wry answer. "We found a miniature golf park a couple of blocks down. I told Haki we could all go if you said yes." his eyes were sly.
Haki nodded. Hadrian had said yes, and Marc almost always did everything Hadrian wanted. So taking this as the yes she needed, Haki moved quickly to take Marc's hand.
Thorn saw this gesture, and smirked. "So will we be holding hands Hadrian, to finish the pairing?" He asked innocently.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:22 am
"I think we should leave that to the father and daughter."
Awkward, but at least it was better then anything else he could think of to say to that. Honestly, what else could one say? Especially when it was someone like Thorn saying it.
Standing, he supposed that he should actually find out a bit about the game before they went - 'miniature' golf? What, was everything smaller there? Perhaps it was a child-sized game, with that.
So, speaking more to the group in general then any one person, he asked.
"I've heard of golf, but I'm afraid I don't know anything about it. What exactly is it?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:33 am
"It's a stupid gamer." Marc said simply. "You have a tiny ball no bigger than a fraction of Haki's hand, and you'r expected to hit it from the ground with a thin stick towards a hall no bigger than the ball."
Thorn winced at Marc's descriptive skills. "It is a game, Hadrian." he stood side by side, more or less blocking Marc out from the conversation with the shift of his body. "One that requires not only physical but mental skill. Just in... miniature version."
His expression turned sly.
"Marc isn't very good at it, I'm afraid. So he'll do well on teaching his daughter. But yourself?" as if he was granting Hadrian a favor, he nodded. "I'll teach you. And if you get the hang of it, you can always come back with Marc."
See? Mention Marc, alone, and wrangle a golf lesson out of it. This was terrific.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:41 am
Being polite really was a trial sometimes. Because there was no way to 'politely' refuse such a suggestion - or at least, not that Hadrian could think of. So the answer? Be as vague as possible.
"Well...I'm sure that, as a beginner, it won't make too much of a difference in who teaches who. Haki and I are technically both beginners, so either would work."
Yet that wasn't very polite. And it was a kind offer, even if Thorn made him uncomfortable, what with what had nearly happened. The mage felt as if he was imagining the way the other man kept acting around him, almost - probably even in part due to Marc's reaction to him.
"But, thank you."
There. Polite, but hopefully not creating any more tension.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:28 pm
Haki frowned. "I want daddee." she stated firmly, just challenging Hadrian to argue. "Haydren have him already." See? She was working with good, strong logic. Instead of anything childish and possessive. Or something.
Thorn smiled. He would get THAT girl a big shiny present by the end of the night. With a nod, he smiled at Hadrian. "I'm a better teacher." he assured the man calmly, deciding that maybe touch would not do for now. Giving him distance and personal space, he looked up.
"See? We're here already."
Marc felt like the rug was being pulled out from underneath him. But it was a lesson. What trouble could Thorn come up with? Besides. He didn't have any defense against Haki's pleading look. And if she liked him... surely, she was a good judge of character.
Surely.
"I'll pay for it." Marc said.
"It's already covered." came the swift answer as Thorn smiled. "I had a bet with Haki, the bet being the cover charge." reaching for the balls, the scorecard and the putters, he smiles. "It seems I'm winning."
Marc tensed.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:36 pm
Give Hadrian a little longer, and the man would become more oblivious to exactly what Thorn was doing, anyway. The only reason he even noticed in the first place was that he was more attuned to Marc's moods - but right now, he just kept coming back to the thought that he was imagining things, just reacting to Marc being nervous about it.
With good reason, really...even with that argument gone and passed, the mage still felt guilty about it all. And felt that his lover would almost have to be wary of Thorn, as a result.
But...well, the other man hadn't been that bad. He was being polite, but...nothing that would lead him to think that Thorn was flirting with him.
Needless to say, Hadrian was very good at denial. And being oblivious.
So he didn't put up any argument about who his teacher in golf would be, as he was just as susceptible to those big eyes of Haki's.
"Where do we start?"
Scanning the area, it didn't look like there was much order to it.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:44 pm
Haki beamed. She knew the answer to this! Taking Marc's hand, she took him to number one. "One!" she stated. She was impatient about playing the game, making her the perfect sidekick to Thorn's plans.
"Very well." Marc eased his attention slightly from Hadrian, and tried to explain the rules to his daughter.
Haki wasn't in the mood for rules. She wanted to hit the ball and WIN! Winning was the whole purpose behind this game, wasn't it?
With a smirk, Thorn stood just slightly behind them, speaking in a low tone to Hadrian. He explained the rules. ((because Nae doesn't know the first thing about golf 0.0))
"We'll go after them." he said, smiling.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:50 pm
((Heh, I'm not all that knowledgable either. Just how mini golf works, and that's about it XD))
As Marc and Haki focused on each other and golfing, Hadrian turned his attention to Thorn and the rules. Well...it really didn't sound all that hard. Surely it couldn't be that difficult, right?
After all, it was a club and a ball. How difficult could it be?
And watching as his lover and the little girl went, it didn't seem that difficult then, either. What he wasn't factoring in, were all the physical, non-visible things required to be good at mini golf. How hard you swing the club, how you even hold the club, and a number of other things...
As it came their time, he stepped up - and it was pretty clear about him not knowing how to even hold the club.
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Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:55 pm
Haki tugged at Marc's jacket. "Two?" she asked. Marc hesitated. He didn't want to leave Thorn alone with Hadrian, but how much trouble could they get into?
"Okay." he responded grudingly.
Thorn smiled. He was going to buy that girl an apartment, if she kept this up. "Hadrian, you're holding putter all wrong." he moved closer, standing behind Hadrian and wrapping his arms around him to reach the stick. "See? You keep your hands here. And not such a firm grip either." his voice was full of amusement. "A gentle, firm touch is all you need."
Thorn was taller, which made this easier. But it also meant that he could use his height as an excuse to lean forewords. Keeping his hands around Hadrian, he nodded. "And then you hit the ball gently, because the course is miniature, after all." talking into Hadrian's ears, he smiled.
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 12:01 am
"Ah...r-right."
Hadrian was nervous, for a number of reasons. Because Thorn was that close. Because Marc might look back, see this and get the wrong idea. Because the other man was far too close for comfort.
The mage knew that his cheeks were turning red, as they always did when he got embaressed. He just hoped Thorn wouldn't see - or if he did, would assume it was because he was embaressed about requiring help on how to hold the golfclub.
Readjusting his grip on the club, he began his attempts at getting the ball into the correct place...not very successfully, but at least he was trying.
He'd probably do better if he wasn't distracted and nervous, but that was a given. To any random spectators, they probably looked like a couple - one simply more shy then the other.
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Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 12:04 am
Thorn smiled. "That was very good." the words were murmured much closer than they needed to be, stopping just short of Thorn's lips rubbing against that ear. Because Thorn had control, kind of. "See? You can get the hand of this." waiting for just a second before he continued, he nodded his head, releasing Hadrian. "Now you need to putt it one more time. That should be enough to get the ball it." he arched a brow. "Your command of the stick is..." he trailed off.
A wicked smile to know that the stick Hadrian was holding on to wasn't the only thing he was talking about.
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