[FIN] Bobbing for Apples

[BlackFireKitsune]

The taller blond chuckled, his grin remaining as he said, "You seem pretty strong, I'm sure you'll manage somehow. I know it isn't easy putting up with me." Unlike Zevran he didn't have a jacket with him, but he did have Isaac, and the Espeon was more than happy to serve as a living scarf for the time being even if it wasn't that cold out yet. His gaze followed Zevran's hand as it traveled through his hair. "That way sounds good to me," he said as he turned to join his friend in that direction, then his grin softened into a smile, "and sure, though I'm afraid I'm not a very good space heater. I can pretend though? Though I'm not sure which I'd have more of, rain or snow... Probably snow, because at least the different seasons make things interesting. I'm guessing it doesn't snow there?" The blond asked conversationally; presumably Antiva was located in the country Zevran had mentioned once or twice before, where he was from, but the names of the wholly unfamiliar places meant little to him, especially when he'd likely never visit.  

[TawnyAngel]

"I am quite strong," Zevran grinned and flexed an arm. "I am no bodybuilder of course by my own weight is no trouble... oh but you mean strong in a different way! Did I show off for no reason? Unfortunate." Zev smiled and winked.

"And yes you are right, never in Antiva," he shook his head, "it is colder to the south in Ferelden, partially due to being in the south and partially due to the ahhh, the higher rise of the land?" Zevran gestured at around his own head level. "A lot of is is in mountains, on plateaus, though they do have their own harbours down in Gwaren, Amaranthine, and Denerim. Of the three I myself have only visited the latter and I cannot recommend it, it was damp and smelling of bad dogs and old garbage and that is without even mentioning the food which was quite unforgivable."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"You did, how unfortunate," he agreed with a light chuckle. "Most unfortunate."

As he went on about the various towns or cities, Abel listened quietly as they walked along, a soft smile on his face. None of the names meant anything to him - it wasn't like he'd ever been to Thedas nor did he have any intention of going - but it was nice to just hear his friend talk. "Ah, yeah, mountainous areas are generally colder because of the higher altitude. Antiva sounds like a nice city, and the names of the cities sound cool - and I'll keep in mind not to visit Denerim then," he added with a chuckle, as if there was any chance he would anyway. "If their food was unforgivable then I definitely won't go there."  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran wrinkled his nose up in disgust but grinned all the same. "You would not believe it. They seem to feel the need to make everything into a stew, perhaps a pie for variety, and they cook it all until there's no flavour or texture. And nobody told them about spices either, or herbs! The only way to survive there is to hunt the markets until you find some decent produce and then cook for yourself." As he said this an idea appeared to occur to Zevran and he pointed a finger at Abel. "I should cook for you sometime, I'm quite skilled if I say so myself! Oh and of course Taavi is invited too should he wish to join us... and I would need to use your kitchen but logistics aside, we should do that! I haven't had a chance to cook since I came here, I do quite miss it."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Ugh, that sounds awful." Abel's attempts at a disgusted face were foiled by the grin that formed instead. "Do they at least add a little salt or pepper to that tasteless mush?"

The pointing finger caught him by surprise, and he paused to look at his friend with eyebrows raised, his expression a cross between vaguely startled and puzzled. "Ah," the confusion faded to a more intrigued look, "that would be nice. Ah..." He... had nothing in his cupboards. "I'm not much of a cook myself," which was entirely true, "so I don't really have much to cook with. I mean I have the kitchen and all the appliances in it, obviously, but as far as ingredients go, I don't really have a very.. large variety, so we'll have to figure out all the stuff you'd need beforehand. You're more than welcome to come over and cook if you want to though," he finished with a smile. Huh... That was a bit of a surprise. "I didn't know you liked to cook that much."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Oh on, don't tell me you're half Ferelden all along?" Zevren responded with a laugh. "You can't be though because you know of pepper. And... hum, yes," Zevran nodded, picking his way carefully around his own thoughts and the shades behind a few of them. "I used to live with a couple of housemates and I was the cook while another cleaned well and the third coordinated and helped with both. We were quite a good team really but," Zevran's expression dimmed a little and he shrugged, "ah, not all things last as I am sure you know." Had blood ever been as red as her's? No no he wasn't going to think of that now, it was half a world away. Why had he believed Taliesen?

No, enough.

Zevran took a deep breath of the early evening air and shot another smile at Abel. "If you are something of a heathen though I will be sure to bring all of the spices and so on that I need. Do you like fish? I can make chowder!"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"No, I just don't really cook," the blond clarified with a chuckle. "I have at least a couple spices." Which was true, they had salt and pepper, and a couple other little bottles of various spices for.. he forgot what now. How old were they, anyway? Hopefully they hadn't expired or anything... And his friend's demeanor seemed to change just a tad. "Yeah, I know," he affirmed in a somewhat softer voice, but rather than elaborate further he simply lifted a hand to rub at the back of his neck. Where would he be now if he and Molly hadn't broken up? Still in Unova? Would they have.. No, no, he didn't want to think of what could have been, there was no point. It wouldn't accomplish anything except depression.

"Wha-- Heathen? I am deeply offended by that, good sir," Abel said, trying his hardest to make a serious face and use a voice to match, but botched both because he couldn't stop laughing. "I do like fish, chowder sounds delicious - honestly I'm not picky, I'll eat almost anything."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Ha!" Zevran let out a breath along with old thoughts and then smiled. "Well I will just have to make up that offence won't I? I would be very happy to do that you know, as well as to cook. Perhaps I can make us a little tapas menu? It is easier with more people, three plus some pokemon picking here and there will be good I think. Maybe I will surprise you, cook while you are out! Assuming one of your pokemon would let me in that is, guerilla cooking?" Zevran grinned again and bumped against Abel. "Worse things to find coming home, no?" He would like to cook again, for himself and for somebody he liked.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

His laughter tapered off, leaving a wide grin in its wake. "I should hope you'll make up for it! But really though, you don't have to if you don't want to. If you do want to I'm not gonna tell you no, though, and I'm sure Taavi would love to join us." Maybe he'd like to help cook too? He was pretty good at it, but Abel wasn't about to volunteer him for something he may not even want to do. "Ha, there are much worse things to come home to," he said with a wry grin as he casually returned the bump. Worse things like when you brought a friend in need home to patch him up, only to find your blackmailer-girlfriend there harassing your other friend who she's also blackmailing. That was never a nice surprise.  

[TawnyAngel]

"But I do indeed!" Zevran replied with a light laugh. "It is always good to keep your hand in you know, we will make plans and it will be a good evening." He nearly suggested asking Sasha but, no, no Abel and they did not go well together from what he gathered. Three was good, quite enough for many dishes he could put together.

"Ahh, viewing platform?" Zevran pointed at a sign. "Shall we follow it?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Heh, all right," Abel agreed with a nod and a grin, "we'll have to figure out a good night to do it. I think something like that would be a lot of fun, yeah." An evening spent with two friends was always enjoyable, whether food was involved or not, although he couldn't help but be just a little glad at the prospect of food. It was hard not to be glad at the thought of food, with how little of it he usually ate.

Mention of the sought-after viewing platform caught his attention, and the taller blond nodded as he turned to head in that direction. "Yeah, let's. I knew we'd come across one sometime if we wandered around enough." Were there stairs? He hoped there weren't stairs. An elevator would be much preferable, but stairs... He'd climb if that was the only option, but an elevator or something would've been much better. He didn't want to be completely worn out before they'd even found somewhere for dinner, after all.  

[TawnyAngel]

There were stairs but only two flights before they came to a solid platform, while not an elevator; "A ski lift?" Zevran observed with slightly raised eyebrows, he'd assumed that the platform was directly overhead but it seemed not. As the sight sank in he turned to Abel with a smirk. "The second time today for riding a gondola of sorts, we shall have to try not to get too distracted this time or we will end up back here again." As he spoke he moved to wait for one of the seats to come by and then hopped in lightly, offering a hand back to Abel once he'd sat down.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Whew," the taller blond sighed when they reached the top of the stairs, a very light mist of sweat on his brow. While he would've preferred not to take any stairs at all, at least two flights weren't bad. A ski lift to the top was much better, even if it was a bit of a surprise. "Huh... A ski lift," he echoed, traces of surprise - and only a tiny bit of weariness - in his voice. "Ski lifts are a lot better than stairs, though I didn't expect one to be here... Though I guess it's less a ski lift and more a viewing platform lift?"

He aimed a brief, wicked smirk at his friend. "No, we can't afford to get too distracted on this one, especially because we could fall right off of it. I don't know about you, but I'm not really interested in that kind of excitement tonight." As he spoke, he joined his friend and hopped up onto the bench beside him, while Isaac hopped down into his lap so he wouldn't fall off either. It was definitely far less enclosed - and thus much less private - than the ferris wheel, and as he had no desire to fall off the thing, he comfortably leaned backwards and draped his arms over the back of the chair. He couldn't help it if one of those arms had to pass by Zevran on the way.  

[TawnyAngel]

Mmmmh, yes, this was nice. Zevran shifted slightly in order to lean against Abel and watched as the platform dropped away, and as lights passed by first around and then below them. "There might be skiing, perhaps that is an alternate way to get down," he suggested with a slight chuckle at the ridiculous idea. "It would have to be a dry slope of course, spiralling around a tree perhaps? I think I would prefer to just take the lift again though, it is quite a pleasant ride even if it is not the sort of thing you would want to," he gestured a side to side motion with one hand, "Rock around too much," he concluded with a smirk.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Ah, yes, this was nice. It was nice to sit and ride a ski lift after going up two flights of stairs - especially while in such poor shape - but those paled in comparison to how nice the evening was, how nice it was to feel the cool night air on his face, how nice it was to spend the day relaxing and having fun with a friend. He felt relaxed again, now that they'd left the ferris wheel and any related individuals far behind, though not quite enough to lean in for the kiss he wanted to steal. No, not out in the open like this. "Tree skiing, I like the sound of that. A new summer or fall sport," he said with a chuckle, "or spring if you felt like it. Bonus points if you can jump off a branch and stick the landing, but I agree, I'd rather just take the lift back down too." His expression morphed into a smirk to counter his friend's. "No, this is one boat I definitely don't want to rock, it's much too easy to fall off this thing."

He shifted a little on the bench - it wasn't exactly the most comfortable seat - before his gaze drifted to the lights below them, though the higher they went the fewer city lights he could see filtering up through the dense foliage of the trees. Up ahead the view of the night sky became clearer the closer they got to the platform. "Thank you," Abel said abruptly as he watched the platform grow ever closer, then when he realized he should probably say a bit more than just a random 'thank you' the taller blond added, "for inviting me to the fair, I mean. It was fun. Today's been a lot of fun; I don't normally get a chance to just... Get away and forget about everything for a while, so thank you." As he finished he turned a smile - warm, calm, appreciative - to his friend. Calling it a nice day was rather an understatement; it had been almost like a vacation, a much needed but brief vacation, from his chaotic and kind of horrible life.