[FIN] Bobbing for Apples

[TawnyAngel]

"Mmmh, I would be quite disappointed if you passed out straight away," Zevran agreed with a chuckle. "I would just have to watch TV all evening and I had much more interesting ideas in mind." Luckily it seemed this would not be a problem; Zevran tapped one of the icons that had popped up, which caused it to expand and provide more information. The place looked nice, very nice, but there was a deal on it for half off all of the rooms; better for them to fill the room than not. There were a few options but the one that caught Zevran's eye was at the top, probably so because it was the most expensive so they would be keenest to sell this one. "Enormous bed, balcony, hot tob- complimentary mini bar?" Zevran's eyebrows rose and he looked up at Abel in surprise. "I have never heard of a complimentary mini bar before! I suppose it is now off peak season though, they will need more lures to bring people in. This is, humm, eight minutes walk it says? And we can walk slowly, there is no rush." He could of course book it through the app right now but he doubted it would go between now and then and going to book in person would give him a chance to haggle.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"You and me both," he said with feeling, although he didn't specify to which comment he referred.

Abel's eyes darted over the words as Zevran read aloud, so his eyebrows lifted and he met his friend's gaze immediately. Despite how close their faces were, leaning in for a kiss didn't cross the taller blond's mind - not yet, anyway. "Dude," he said instead, eyebrows still up in surprise, "that sounds awesome! I never have either, but that makes sense.. I guess in off-seasons they don't do as well and need to make up for it any way they can. As long as they can entice people to come and stay, that's more guests than they would've had otherwise, yeah?" Maybe they could use that to their advantage...

"Eight minutes sounds just fine, that's not far at all. D'you wanna head out?" As he asked this question, he'd already pulled the empty dinner boxes towards him and stacked them together, along with the used plasticware and empty soda cans so they could dispose of them.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Sold!" Zevran agreed with a laugh. "Let's get moving." As Abel seemed to have getting rid of the trash covered Zevran left him to it and shrugged into his jacket again before heading to the door once Abel was ready. "It does make you wonder how much those things really cost, if they can afford to knock half off the room and give you the mini bar and still profit." Zevran shot a sharp grin at Abel. "Capitalist sharks, no? I have to respect that kind of shameless profiteering, it almost makes me want to get into the hospitality business. Only at the top of course, I don't envy the staff at the bottom at all."

Talking of that though did make his mind wander back a little to the idea of perhaps working in a bar, showing off making cocktails and flirting for tips? He had made money in many worse ways and he could still do other things but if he had reliable money coming in.... But it would still mean turning up on a regular basis and doing as he was told whether he felt like it at the time or not. He supposed he could apply somewhere though, see if they would even take somebody with no employment history and give it a try? He was all about trying new things.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Alright!" With that decided, Isaac trotted across the table so he could hop up onto Abel's shoulders, after which the blond stood and moved to the nearest garbage can with their trash. "Yeah, for real though. I know they're usually super expensive in regular seasons, and I agree completely, I don't think I'd mind it somewhere in the middle or on top. I wouldn't cut it as a housekeeper or something," he admitted with a chuckle as he pushed the door open, holding it for his friend to head through before following him out. "Or maybe if they hire musical entertainment, I could do that. I think that would probably be fun."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Oh yes, you play the guitar!" Zevran exclaimed with a smile as he remembered seeing it around Abel's apartment. "We could do together; you can play and I will sing, I can carry a tune quite well." He hardly had the most amazing voice in the world but neither did most of the people you heard on the radio and at least he did not require autotune to be in key.

With a nod of thanks to Abel Zevran stepped out into the night air, it was getting quite cool so when Abel followed him out he moved in close to the other blond and slid an arm around his waist. "You must be cold?" he suggested, hooking his thumb into Abel's belt. "I on the other hand am quite warm, rather hot in fact!"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Yep, I can sing and play guitar, though I don't usually do the latter unless I'm also doing the former. We could do a duet or something," he suggested, "though I think places like that normally have grand pianos or classier instruments they play, which is a pity really. Don't tell my sister I said that," he added in conspiratorial tones, as if Zevran would ever even meet his sister. No, Alex would not be even remotely pleased to hear him say such a thing.

The touch at his waist made him stiffen a bit in surprise and uncertainty, and he hesitated to return the gesture. They were out in public, but they were in Sandalwood so the odds of Alyssa - or someone who knew her - seeing them were slim at best, but was that chance small enough for him to be comfortable with? She hadn't caught him yet, but that was because he'd always been as careful as possible. With her behavior he couldn't really afford not to be cautious. "A bit," he admitted with a grin, "and you do seem quite hot this evening." A pause. "It really isn't chilly enough to warrant such a thick jacket, after all." In the end his hesitance left him reluctant to return the gesture, but he didn't move away to avoid it either.  

[TawnyAngel]

Humm, what was the problem then? Yes Abel had a girlfriend but obviously he was not that keen on her.... Why was he with her then? And something was obviously wrong there, he remembered her sharp-edged mercurial smile. Was he afraid or somebody she knew seeing them? He wanted to know but he didn't want to spoil a good night by bringing up unpleasantness and so at least for now he resolved to just put it to the back of his mind.

"Heh," Zevran shoved Abel away playfully, "well then I shan't trouble myself. I should recall that you come from a place where it actually snows."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Aw," Abel said as he tried to pout playfully, though his smile kind of ruined the attempt. As hesitant as he'd felt, it was nice walking so close to him. Oh well though, there was always later. Eight minutes later, even. "Well excuse me for growing up somewhere that had actual seasons. You're obviously just jealous that you never got to make snow angels, or build snow forts or have snowball fights," he said in self-important tones, because clearly that was why.  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran laughed heartily, spread his arms and tilted his head back to the sky. "Jealous? Of you my friend? Oh no, my Antiva City is a jewel without compare. It is warm there all year around, the difference is in the rains. Life goes on in riots of noise and colour at any time though, when the heavens open the city squares are covered by vast marquees and the people dance to the rhythm of the storm. Everything smells of life; the stink of fish by the docks, the reek of the tanning district, and the aroma of spices from the great market. In Antiva we perch for a few minutes on a stool at one of the many coffee stalls and set the world to rights with the proprietor or our friends while around us three musicians compete for our attention and our change from the cups we have just bought. When the evening draws in we go to one of the many bars, or we return to our own homes and up to the flat roof terraces where we share wine and at least six different dishes without mentioning the bread and oils. Pfh," Zevran grinned and made a dismissive gesture, "and you think I am jealous of your cold, white, terrible snow that turns brown in a few hours and lingers that way for months. I think it is you who must be jealous of me, now that I have told you a little more."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Yep, you heard me right: Jealous," the taller blond affirmed knowingly, even offering his friend a sage nod and an excessive shrug. "That all sounds well and good, even fun, but only for a while. I expect if that was how every day was for an entire year, it would get rather boring rather quickly. The seasons offer a bit of variety to the weather and to the area that might otherwise look stagnant and boring if it never changed. Snow is only part of that, and you need to give it more credit! It doesn't turn brown and slushy until spring, which may happen in a few minutes, a few hours - maybe not for a few months, depending on when it first fell. Or, when it gets driven on. And," he went on with a wrinkle of his nose and a grin, "I've never really cared for the stench of fish. I've never smelled a tanning district, but I'm going to guess it doesn't smell much better. Spices, though, that sounds nice. I wouldn't mind checking a market like that out."  

[TawnyAngel]

"But all of that slipping and sliding on ice and slush!" Zevran beamed and then put on a sneer with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Oh no, you can keep that, and the smell of good trade is nothing to be hated! The markets are the best part though I will give you that, no end of places to eat and things to buy you and all as fresh as you could wish. Plus I prefer not having to have a completely different set of clothes for one half of the year to the other- Oh, left here," Zevran halted abruptly, physically and in his case for Antiva as the Best Place Ever in order to gesture as they came to a fork in the great boardwalk between two towering trees. "I think we are not too far now, a few more minutes but only straight ahead," he added with another glance at his phone.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"All that slipping and sliding can make a perfectly acceptable excuse to bump into anyone you'd like!" Abel pointed out without hesitation. "An attractive stranger?" He moved closer to bump against his friend. "'Oh forgive me sir, I didn't mean to bump into you! The ground is just so icy though, I couldn't help it!'"

Zevran halted and so did he, in both respects, and once again he leaned closer to the shorter blond to look at his phone. He didn't actually care what was on the phone. "Ah, that's good, it won't take very long now." He squinted in the darkness of the evening, although thankfully not too much given the lights strung up throughout the city's walkways. "I wonder if we can see it from here? Though to be honest, everything looks more or less the same to me, especially at night."  

[TawnyAngel]

"I think they do that on purpose here, to maintain the ambiance," Zevran mused as they walked along the suspended footpath. "Every place must have its own charms and I suppose not seeming like a city is Sandalwood's. There is a large building before the next bridge though, I think that may be it?" Grinning again Zevran bumped lightly into Abel. "I do not need many excuses," he added.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Yeah, probably," he agreed as his gaze drifted across the lights that seemed to float in midair. It definitely was a nice area, and one he wondered why he hadn't visited more often. Maybe he should come back another time to just wander around and explore? Preferably not alone. Hm. "Ah? Oh, yeah, that's probably it." The building he'd pointed out did look impressively large, especially given the fact that it had to be built into the trees. How did they manage that, anyway? Trees were always growing and changing, though really cities did too, he supposed, just.. not in the same way.

Abel grinned down at his friend. "Ha, you're lucky then. I need them fairly often."  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran grinned and winked up at Abel. "Just be shamefully shameless, it has always worked for me."

Only a short way ahead, as they had both guessed, was indeed the hotel. It was his turn to hold the door this time and Zevran had been all set to do so, except it turned out to be a revolving door and so he shrugged instead and stepped into one of the partitioned sections. He had never much liked these things.

While they waited to get inside he turned to Abel with another smirk. "Now let us see how good a deal I can get. Fifty percent is the least, shall I aim for seventy? Sixty?"