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 Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 6:40 pm
Chris knocked stiffly on the door, gripping the leash of the behemoth of a dog tighter than necessary, but at the moment it was more for his own comfort than for restraint. He was tense and hyperalert, practically jumping at every noise, and trying not to look at anything too closely.
There was mold on the siding... The stairs didn't seem like they were to code... He was pretty sure there was something dead and decaying nearby, too.
How Zia could live in a place like this was beyond him. Had it not been for her brother and Chris's newfound responsibility for Zia's dog, he would have never been informed of the living situation his best friend was in.
Why hadn't she come to him? Was she really that desperate for a place to live? He could have had his Nana give her an apartment somewhere, well... not here. With the amount of cigarette (and who knew what else) smoke in the air, he was certain the place would probably end up going down in flames one night after some idiot drops a lit one into the cushions of a sofa.
No, he wouldn't have it. He wouldn't allow Zia to live in a place like this. Chris knocked again, a bit harder this time, hoping she wouldn't answer, and that her brother had given him the wrong address. Because... damn.
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Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 7:38 pm
No one might have jumped to the door upon the first knock but there was an obvious groan coming from inside. Whoever was outside probably heard a man curse, and if they were particularly apt at hearing they would also have heard a question following it.
"Did you order pizza?"
To be honest, part of him sort of hoped she did order pizza because at least then he'd have some fuel for the fire. It wasn't a big loss when Zia told him she hadn't but it did mean the next sound to reach the hallway was the sound of Pascal yelling to whoever was out there.
"GO AWAY, WE'RE BUSY!"
They didn't go away though, and instead they seemed to knock again. Pascal probably would have kept ignoring whoever was out there by going in to kiss Zia again but apparently she couldn't simply do that. She objected by smooshing her hands in his face (a gesture he felt she did a little too much) followed by a suggestion that he answer the door. He pouted at her, causing her to run her hands through his hair as if that would suddenly compel him to change his mind. It did.
"Fine," he grumbled. He would get rid of them as quick as he could, and then he'd come back for you Zia. He had his eye on her, and then smiling rather questionably he turned to the door. His good-nature smile twisted into something of seething rage. It wasn't particularly far to the door but he didn't get there in any sort of timely manner, and because of that Chris might have found himself surprised when Pascal swung the door open while half naked. For taking as long as he had, he hadn't even tried to get dressed.
"What?" He spat out, his abs tightening as he crossed his arms.
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Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 7:50 pm
Harley was very excited! Chris was a nice man, and a familiar man. He was a much nicer man than the guy his mommy had left him with almost over a year ago now. But it was okay, he remembered. And the not-nice man had excellent tasting drywall, the eating of which led to him more or less being abandoned with Chris in the first place. But that was okay, because Harley liked car rides.
The door opened and there was another man, and he might've taken an interest in examining his smells and newness to his small, dog world, but his attention was gripped by the familiar scent of mommy.
He bolted inside, paying no attention to the fact he was a monster sized creature and the door way was already occupied. He went right through, greeting Zia who was approaching in shorts and socks and trying to tie her hair up. with a lazy, "Who is it, babe?"
And then "Whoa, mind the dog," She joked s if the entire furry force was expected and mundane. But her stomach kind of dropped when she saw it was her dog, and at the door was Chris in close proximity to Pascal. She was very good at dressing him up in expensive suits, she was hoping she could at least ease into introducing him while he was dressed in one.
Right now she'd settle for dressed at all.
"Oh. Hi, Chris!" The greeting was laughed out nervously like a child caught out after dark or something.
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Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 6:45 pm
Even though Chris had been hoping for anyone but Zia, he would have preferred that someone to be fully clothed at the very least. The relief he felt was almost instantly negated, both because of the rude greeting, and the fact that Harley managed to yank free.
But his apology for the dog was cut off when he heard the voice he had been hoping not to hear.
"Babe??" Chris choked out, trying not to allow his expression to morph into one of revulsion and contempt. Instead, he clenched his teeth together somewhere between confusion and vexation. He stood stiffly outside the apartment, looking past the indecently dressed boy to his equally indecently dressed best friend... okay, she wasn't as bad, but he was still offended. The sight was almost humorous — them looking like they'd just rolled out of bed (pun unintended on Chris's behalf) and Chris with his neatly brushed, albeit shaggy hair, and his pink polo and khaki shorts his partner had picked out for him.
It didn't take long for Chris to recognize the boy, now that he saw them together once more. "You were at the diner," he observed through gritted teeth, taming his temper down to feigned interest, but he was certain Zia would have caught his slip even if this guy hadn't noticed.
"Noah gave me this address... He said he was tired of taking care of Harley and I would have kept him at my place longer, but Paris locked himself in the bedroom with Sassy and Annabel Lee saying something about how Harley will squash him and if I had any desire for dinner, I should probably get up with you so he can get out of the bedroom and into the kitchen," he said, both through gritted teeth and in one breath. Not because he was in a rush, but because the smell of whatever was decaying was really starting to bother him. "But if you'd rather me keep him longer, I can."
He did his best to ignore the shirtless boy.
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Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 6:59 pm
To be honest, Pascal's first thought was the dude at his door let a pony into his apartment. Sure, he might have been open to the idea of ponyplay but that's as far as it went. He turned his back to Chris to see what had run into his apartment in time to catch the tail of what he could only assume was a monster, and a very calm Zia.
"Yeah, I was probably at the diner. So why is there a dog in my apartment, Chris?" He asked, quick on the ball. He hadn't turned around to face Chris because he was more worried about the dog suddenly peeing on the floor. Not that he didn't assume Chris wouldn't pee on the floor but Chris wasn't currently in his livingroom.
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Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 7:49 pm
Well that answered the question of what he was doing here. Zia might've made some vague references to 'finding an apartment' but avoided giving out any specifics because of mostly this exact situation. Except maybe with more clothing on the judged party that was Pascal. She didn't see anything indecent about her own state of dress. It was spring! They were yoga clothes! Sometimes yoga was even done in those yoga shorts.
But she did shoot him a look that was anything but nice and understanding when he suddenly looked repulsed and about to choke. It softened when she decided maybe she should stop screwing around. They were, after all, making an effort to be grownups and stuff so.
"His name is Harley," She said, trying hard to keep her voice even and still failing a little. If there was ever a sore subject, it was her dog. Or, her former dog she kept trying to tell herself.
When you were pretty much on the run and messed up with an unstable living space it wasn't fair to keep an animal dependent on you, especially not one like Harley who was big and dumb enough to need extra attention.
She did her best to ignore him, even though he happily circled her and wagged his tail at a rapid speed. He pressed his nose into her side and tried to weave around all the people before pushing his head under Zia's hand where it belonged. Yes, good.
"Chris..." She said slowly and deliberately before making a sliding gesture between both figures at the doorway, "This is Pascal. My boyfriend." Who she totally didn't call a cold, arrogant piece of s**t when he broke up with her back in December, no siree.
"And you look like you're about to have a heart attack, do you want to come inside or what? I promise it's a lot nicer indoors."
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Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 5:55 pm
Chris did his best not to show any expression of disgust, thankful he wasn’t an animal otherwise the raised hackles would have given his displeasure away. “Why would I have a heart attack?” he wondered, speaking calmly and all but ignoring the fact that she’d just pointed out some guy standing practically in front of him.
It was as if there was no one aside from Zia, and Chris took her invitation and made his way into the apartment, turning just enough to avoid running into anything. “What are you doing here, anyway?” he wondered, purposefully oblivious of the young boy in the doorway. “You could have told me you were looking for a place. I’m sure my grandmother has plenty of properties she could have let you use.”
At least he’d been able to bring Harley back to her, and if anything... it gave him great joy to see the look on the boy’s face out of the corner of his eye. “He missed you...” he said with a smile, sincerely happy that the dog looked so content. Maybe now Paris would come out of hiding.
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Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 7:34 pm
The beast had a name and it ended with Davidson. It didn't really answer any of the important questions though, like why there was a dog here or why this fool brought it here. It also didn't answer the question on who the fool was and why he had Zia's dog in the first place. Of course, this was all circumstantial on the theory that this was actually a dog.
His eyes might have stayed on the dog had Zia not opened her mouth to invite the fool inside his apartment. Yes, his apartment. She might be living with him but it was new and he considered it to be his apartment over their apartment. His amber eyes fell on her with a look that said 'ZIA. DON'T INVITE HIM IN WE HAVE PLANS. YOU KNOW.' But no, it had already come out of her mouth and Chris had taken her invitation to come in.
"If you're bringing up your grandmother then you clearly don't know why she moved in here," he said with a light laugh, closing the door to the apartment after Chris walked in.
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Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 9:03 pm
"Chris, I can't take him, I gave him away for a reason," Zia sighed, and avoided petting the mastiff mutt. That was okay, Harley could pet himself, which he did, moving his head under her hand and wagging his tail like that was legitimate affection.
She crossed her arms and shrugged. "I didn't need a place because I'm hard up, we've been dating for several months," Several, and not an actual number because there were so many iffy variables on where to start counting, "And he asked me to move in." When in doubt, tell the truth, Zia figured. Or at least act like you have been the whole time and hope everyone plays along.
She cringed at the look Pascal was giving her and closed the distance between them to hold both sides of his face, standing on her toes to bump foreheads with him. "Don't be crass," She said slowly, but her tone wasn't chiding. It was clear from her body language she was babying him. At least until she broke contact to slap his a** and walk away.
"So you came all this way, you want lunch? We have the best leftovers," She announced, already making her way to the kitchen. "From that place off main I like, you know... that... uh..." That place that had steaks that probably cost more than the rent on this place. Zia definitely wasn't staying here because of a money issue. She was digging in the fridge now anyway. "Whatever, it's awesome."
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:08 pm
“I can’t keep him either, Zee,” he frowned in sympathy, doing his best to ignore Pascal in what he knew was a very immature way. He couldn’t help it when the guy was clearly not good enough for his best friend.
Then again, what did he know about things like that...? But he was totally allowed to be protective of her if he wanted.
“I wouldn’t mind lunch,” he agreed, moving around both Pascal and the dog to follow Zia to the kitchen, glancing up and down the walls, as if expecting bugs to start crawling out of the corners. He also made sure to try and hide his grimace at her and Pascal’s closeness by looking away and shuffling his feet a little.
“Remember when we went there almost every weekend in high school?” he wondered, hoping her memory wasn’t too messed up. He was still a little sore that she thought they’d only known eachother for a handful of years when it had definitely been ten. Appeal I’m so sorry. ;; We can wrap it up soon if you’d like!
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