[FIN] Barbecue on the Beach

[BlackFireKitsune]

Like Dith, Abel shrugged unhelpfully and chuckled. "'Fraid not, sorry. I'm pretty sure it won't be like that though, so you're probably fine. Probably," he added with a cheeky grin and another chuckle. Ahh, how could he forget Solus though? He was the one who'd told him so calmly and matter-of-factly told them Zevran had broken a nurse's wrist. "Ah, it'll be nice to see him again too, though I'm curious to see if I recognize anyone else from the ICU." He'd spent a great deal of time there and remembered a few of them quite vividly, but some more than others; it'd be neat to see if he could recognize all of them. Or at least, all of the ones that were coming to the barbecue.

"Maybe we're just early?" Abel suggested, switching the barbecue lid to his other arm as they walked along. "Or maybe everyone else is just going to be fashionably late?" Either way he had no doubt people would show up soon, and then they could fire up the grill and start cooking. ...not that he expected to do much cooking.

...would Zev take over the cooking? He had a sneaking suspicion his boyfriend very well might try to do so.  

[TawnyAngel]

"It's about this guy who finds out his whole life is a reality TV show and," Summer waved a hand, "anyway, my life's too weird to make up! I think I'm safe. Oh! Look there's Solus- Hey!" Summer waved at the tall figure heading towards them down the beach; he was accompanied by a Lucario, who was carrying a bag and a cool box.

"Ah! Another one," Dith grinned at Abel and shrugged. "I think the others might just be late, nobody wants to be the first to turn up I guess! They'll want to arrive when they barbecue and the burgers are sizzling."

As the trio approached the blankets Zevran freed a hand from pokemon petting and waved. "Hello, good to see you both! You are looking well Summer, the dress suits you very well!" The garment in question was about knee length with a bold sunflower print and a distinct 50s vibe about it; it was a long way from his style but Summer wore it well, it suited her sunny disposition.

"Oh thanks!" Summer smiled and smoothed her hands down the skirt. "I feel like I spend my life in scrubs, it's nice to dress up a little when I get the chance."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Oh, huh," the blond said thoughtfully, pondering the premise for a moment or two. It sounded interesting and all, but it didn't seem like his type of show exactly. Either way he shrugged and grinned over at Summer again. "You're probably safe, yeah, though I wouldn't say your life is weird." Not that he knew much of it, really, but he liked Summer and felt it safe to assume her life was just fine, albeit probably too busy. Dith's too.

...which was why they were there today! Even if he hadn't really spent much time around Solus he still offered the doctor a bright smile and a wave just the same; it'd feel a little rude not to. Aiming another grin up at his rather large friend, Abel nodded. "I don't blame them one bit," he chuckled. "Who wouldn't want to come when food's already sizzling on the grill and smelling delicious? Besides us, of course. Someone has to get it set up, yeah?"

When they approached, Caleb let out a bass bark and his tail thumped against the ground, sending up little waves of sand as it did so. Abel reached out to give him a good scratch behind the ear as he passed by. "Try not to get sand on the blanket there bud," he reminded his rather large canine. Caleb made a grumbling noise in the back of his throat, but his tail stilled over the sand just the same, and Abel gave him a smile and a pat as Zevran and Summer spoke. Ahh, this would be a wonderful afternoon, he was quite sure. How could it not be? He had his boyfriend and a free afternoon on the beach with friends and grilled food - or he would have some soon - which meant a break from apartment cleaning and packing for a few hours. What more could he possibly want? Not much, that was for sure.

"It always sounds like you guys work way too much," he noted with a hint of sympathy as he waited for Dith to set the barbecue down before offering the lid to it back. "I'm really glad you all could get some time off to have this barbecue, it's going to be awesome." As much as he appreciated the break it'd provide them, he could only imagine how much Dith and Summer and everyone else would appreciate it.  

[TawnyAngel]

Solus smiled and waved a skinny arm back at the group but he didn't pick up his pace; he, his massive straw hat, and his garishly clashing Hawaiian shirt and patterned shorts did not seem to be in a hurry.

"I might have done that if I'd thought of it," Summer laughed as she set down her bag and fetched a blanket out of it, which she spread out beside the two that were already lying on the sand. "And yeah, the hours are pretty intense," she shared a nod with Dith, "but we love it right Dima?"

"Right!" Dith laughed too and set down the barbecue a little way from the blankets. "But that said, I'm glad to have a day off to smell something other than disinfectant." He'd be fifty at the end of the year; fifty, still single, and likely to stay that way if he kept working the way he was but the idea of giving it up wasn't one he was sure he was ready for. Something to mull over, but not right at this every moment.

"Mmh, fresh sea air and cooking food are much better smells!" Zevran agreed cheerfully, hopping lightly to his feet and moving over to where Dith had set down a heavy looking backpack. "This is charcoal? Good," he made a shooing motion, "sit, I will set this up."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Well Solus had noticed them at least; Abel smiled and turned back to those already assembled. Solus seemed to do everything in his own way at his own pace, whether it be on the beach or in the ICU.

...aaand yep, there he went. Why was he not surprised? The blond aimed a wry smile at his boyfriend as he stepped closer to press a kiss to his temple and offered him the lid instead. "Going to take over barbecuing, are you?" He asked rhetorically. Of course he was, Zev loved to cook! And it wasn't like they had a grill of their own, anyway, so how often did he get to grill? Especially on the beach. No, Abel wasn't the least bit surprised that Zevran was going to usurp Dith's grill for the afternoon.

With his hands free he moved to help Summer straighten out the blanket, smiling and shaking his head a little. "They always sound intense whenever I hear about them, I don't think I'd survive such long shifts. But loving what you do helps, I'm sure, though I agree the sea air and food smell a lot better than disinfectant." They only had one at the moment, but soon enough they'd have both. The thing he was most curious about though was if Dith would give up the barbecue with or without a fight, because he had a sneaking suspicion that Zev wasn't leaving it up for discussion or debate.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Oop!" Dith laughed and stepped back, hands raised as if in surrender. "Well if you insist, you can stand over the hot fire on the hot day. I'll just sit down and drink a beer, I can live with that!" So saying he sat down on his blanket with a slight 'oof' and opened up his coolbox to fetch out a bottle of beer and a bottle opener shaped like the starship Enterprise (NCC-1701-D, not NCC-1701).

"I can get behind sitting down for a beer," Summer agreed happily as she sat down too and smoothed her skirts out neatly, though she was wearing leggings just shorter than the hem of it so it didn't really matter too much.

"For you Abel?" Dith asked as he got out a second beer for Summer. "I brought plenty of beer, meat, and carbohydrate; the perfect accompaniment to sea air! And to not working for twelve hours straight."

"But of course!" Zevran said with a bright grin over his shoulder at Abel as he shook the charcoal into the bottom of the grill. "Until somebody who thinks they can do better comes along. And this," he gestured around and then at Dith, "is not hot. I would say it's cool in fact! Don't tell me, Russia is an iceball. I wouldn't mind a beer myself, though we did bring our own; and plenty of meat, and carbohydrates, and vegetables!" Zevran tutted and turned to face Dith and Summer fully again. "Are you not supposed to set an example of healthy eating?" he turned to Abel and smirked. "We put them to shame Abel!"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Ah, well that answered that question! As Dith mentioned beer, Abel hummed a little and stooped down to grab two beers out of the cool box he and Zevran had brought. "I am in full agreement about sitting down for a beer," he chuckled. Oh, well. "Ah, I've already got these for now, but maybe I'll take one of yours after? I'll happily borrow your bottle opener though," Abel added as he stepped closer and waggled one of the bottles he'd taken out in the hopes Dith would oblige and open them for him, or offer the opener so he could open them himself. Either way, as long as the beers got opened in the end he didn't much care how.

Abel paused to regard his boyfriend for a few moments and with a thoughtful hum, though it didn't take long for his expression to morph into a sly smirk. "I dunno, it seems pretty hot to me!" Or maybe it only was because of who he was looking at? Hm! "And we do! It's definitely not just because you do all the cooking though or anything," he chuckled. No, certainly not!  

[TawnyAngel]

"Beer me up Scotty," Dith chuckled as he reached over to pop the tops off the beers for Abel and Zev. "Wrong series but you know what I mean... Possibly." Then again it was possible that he was just talking nerd again!

"I understood that reference!" Summer grinned. "I used to watch with my Grandma, the old series and the one with Jean Luc. I loved Uhura best, wasn't often you used to see black women on screen doing anything important.... Ohh, very good." This last was said with a laugh and a shake of her head at Abel's less than subtle flirting.

Dith laughed too; "Subtle! But yes, Russia is an iceball. I spent some of my childhood in Yakutsk, an average day there in January is minus thirty-seven." Now that was cold.

Zevran, who had not understood any of the reference at all, decided that it was best to just ignore it; the conversation was moving on anyway and in a direction he approved of!

"Oh, you want me to take my shirt off? Will that make it hotter or cooler?" he asked Abel with a smirk. Said smirk however was derailed by Dith revelation; he paused in the action of picking Clara up and stared at the massive man, so casually sipping his beer after announcing something like that! "And people live there?" he asked incredulously, shivering at the mere thought of it. "They must spend at lot of time indoors... though there is something to be said for spending time indoors by a crackling fire in good company. There are many ways to stay warm, no?" This was directed to Abel with a renewed smirk, it was hard to put Zevran off being terrible for very long.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Thanks," Abel said through a chuckle and a grin, then straightened up and took a sip of his beer. "Mmh. I understood it too, though I can't say I watched much of it. Star Trek, right? I remember seeing bits and pieces of some episodes when I was younger, but I never had too much time for TV." No, he'd been just a bit too busy with lessons and school and lessons and lessons and helping on the ranch. And lessons.

He wrinkled his nose a little and grinned at the both of them as he stepped back over to Zevran and offered him the other beer. "You know I can't ever say no to that, and we are at the beach, but I also think we shouldn't be too terrible in public," he chuckled, shaking his head a little. Rather than comment on whether it'd be hotter or cooler if Zev was shirtless, he sidestepped that in favor of shivering a little at the thought of temperatures that low. "I can't imagine living somewhere that cold, even if it was only once in a while. No thanks! But I agree, there are; curling up with a mug of coffee or hot chocolate and a blanket is my favorite though," he admitted somewhat innocently before taking another sip of his beer. Well, curling up with his favorite blanket, at least. Dith or Summer probably wouldn't know that, but he assumed his boyfriend would.  

[TawnyAngel]

"I may have a Star Trek uniform, or two," Dith admitted unabashedly. "Also a phaser or two, a ToS communicator prop that links by bluetooth to my phone..." He gestured with his beer and grinned again. "I spend my money on sensible things."

"Of course you do," Summer chuckled and clinked her beer against Dith's, "and that's why we love you Dima. Somebody's got to have some fun with their money!... Oh, what is Solus up to?"

The tall skinny man had stopped and hunkered down to study something on the sand.

Zevran smirked at Abel and sipped at his beer with a distinctly suggestive look in his eyes. "And how terrible is that, cariño? Ah, but come Clara will you light the coals for us? You are rather heavy. Then perhaps I can go and see what is keeping Solus so occupied over there." He didn't remember the man at all but there was no call to admit that!

Clara - who was tucked under Zev's arm - bwurfed helpfully and directed a small sustained stream of fire at the firelighter Zev had nestled among the charcoal; it caught soon enough and Zevran set her down again.

Zevran gave her ears a ruffle and then straightened up to lift his bottle at the other three. "I will be back, try not to miss me too much!" With that and a wink he turned around and sauntered off towards Solus and his Lucario.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Ha! If you can't have some fun with your money, what good is having it? Besides for bills and food and things," he added with a dismissive wave, as if such things were merely an afterthought. ...which reminded him of the fun things that he was doing with his money. He definitely needed more lessons before he'd feel comfortable buying a bike, and before that he needed to find the perfect bike to buy anyway. Would Zev like it? Hopefully he would. Abel wanted to think he would.

On that subject... Abel returned the suggestive smirk with one of his own. Putting how terrible they could or should be into words wasn't an easy thing and so instead he took another sip of his beer and stepped aside to make room for Zevran to lift Clara so she could light the barbecue. "Mmh, I miss you already," he said after he'd swallowed. And then his boyfriend was sauntering off, and Abel stood there for a good few moments to enjoy the view. The view he wanted to comment on but felt like he probably shouldn't; a little flirting in front of friends was fine but he didn't want to go overboard. It was a fine line to tread, and one he didn't exactly know the best way to toe, but being more conservative rather than less sounded like an okay way to approach it.

Once he'd had his fill of the fantastic view - or when he'd told himself he'd had his fill, at least, whether or not it was true - Abel switched his bottle to his other hand and with a contented sigh he plopped down onto their blanket Zev had set out already, only being careful so as not to spill any of his beer. "It's a perfect day for a barbecue on the beach though, yeah? I'm glad the weather decided to cooperate with your time off," he said amiably, gesturing towards Dith and Summer with his bottle before taking a sip.  

[TawnyAngel]

"True!" Dith replied, toasting his beer at Abel and nodding as Zevran sauntered away. He then waited for Abel to finish being distracted, smirked and waggled his eyebrows at him when he turned back, and nodded. "Perfect weather and a lovely view eh?" he said rather slyly.

"No comment!" Summer chuckled. "He is looking well though, it's really great to see him like that."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel had to do a double-take before he caught Dith's look, and he grinned widely as he looked back over at his boyfriend's retreating form. "You bet!" He chuckled, appreciating such a lovely view for a few moments longer since they'd given him the perfect excuse to do so again.

"Mmh," he hummed a little as he took another sip of his beer, then finally turned to gaze at Summer and Dith again. "Right? He's doing tons better than he was. I don't think he's a hundred percent better yet, but he's definitely doing awesome. If you couldn't tell," Abel added with another chuckle and a fond glance towards his boyfriend again, though unlike the last two times this one was brief. A moment or two passed before he turned back to them again, his smile warm and pleased and grateful. "It's thanks to you guys and everyone else though. I know I've said it before but I can't thank you guys enough." He'd said it before - multiple times, even - but he felt like repeating it again. How could he not? If it weren't for them, if Zevran hadn't had such excellent care, then he wasn't entirely sure if he'd still have his boyfriend at the moment, and that wasn't something he ever really liked to think about, especially not after how close he came to losing him.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Mmh!" Dith said happily around his beer, closely followed by; "Yes, I'm sure he's put weight on since I last saw you two and that wasn't so very long ago. I'm glad I was there to help, it makes all the hours worthwhile seeing people swaggering around and joking like the should be." It could easily have been a different outcome, Zevran had been very lucky... and so had he, really. He didn't know how he could have faced Abel if Zev had died on his watch, on his table. Yes, definitely something not to think about any more than he already had just now.

"Exactly," Summer continued, the crows feet at the corners of her eyes crinkling deep as she peered over to where Zevran was now crouched beside Solus, exclaiming something and gesturing to the ground. "Oh!" Summer turned back to Abel; "and did he get those tattoos upgraded on his arm? And fixed on his chest too I guess."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"He definitely has," Abel affirmed with a short nod and another glance back towards his boyfriend, "weight and muscle." While he wasn't back up to where he had been before the - ah - the incident, he had definitely come a long way since then. "I'm glad you were too. He's definitely back to normal now, more or less, swagger and all." Mostly. ...ahh, he loved his swagger. And his fantastic a**. And his handsome face, his brilliant amber eyes, his sweet smiles... Just him, really.

And his tattoos, of course.

Abel turned back to smile at Summer and gestured towards his own arm with his bottle a little. "He did! We got matching ones, even. At least I do on my arm, that's it for now, but he got the ones on his chest upgraded too. I'm sure he'd love to show you, if you'd like to see them." Zev, wanting to show off? Never! The blond chuckled a little to himself and took another sip of his beer.