[FIN] What Are You Hiding

[BlackFireKitsune]

A late night of card games and friendly conversations had eventually ended, leaving Abel glad he didn't have to work until later the next day. The following morning he forgot about Taavi's presence only twice - clearly he just wasn't fully awake yet - so he headed into the kitchen in order to fix that. With a pot of water set on the stove to boil, he pulled out a coffee press and some cheap coffee to put into it. Given Taavi had said the night before that he had instant coffee with him, Abel didn't bother to ask if he wanted any. He figured in all likelihood the answer would be a resounding 'yes.' "So how'd you sleep?" He asked instead while he pulled out some food for his pokemon - some actual pokemon food, supplemented with bread or honey, depending on who it was for - before handing the bowls out to his pokemon.

"I dunno what you guys normally have for breakfast," he went on after a moment, gesturing to Taavi and his pokemon before he then gestured to his kitchen, "but you're more than welcome to use the kitchen for whatever it is - as long as it isn't coffee, that is." They didn't need that much coffee, although some mornings he felt like that was debatable.  

[TawnyAngel]

Taavi's bed-hair was an impressive sight: rumpled, fluffy, very wide. He was in the process of trying to tame it a little, it was resisting as ever but he was pretty sure he was winning the battle. "Great thanks, your couch is really comfortable," he replied with a slightly sleepy smile to Abel. He had felt a bit disoriented when he woke up as he always did when he woke up in an unfamiliar room, and then he'd laid about and worried for a bit because though he had a few days here he still didn't have any prospect of a job and- But then Abel had been up and he'd been able to put panicking back in his schedule for the day.

"Oh,coffee, thanks!" Taavie yawned, put his brush down on his bag for now, fetched a little plastic box out of his bag followed by Melody's pokeball. "I don't really need to prepare anything for breakfasts; Melody is the only one who really has it and I've got it here, Swift and Valour usually eat around the middle of the day." He'd probably do the same, breakfast was important if you were going to be doing exercise but he didn't see that happening today. Taavi let Melody out of her pokeball, opened up the box and passed her a piece of dried fruit. While she munched happily away on it he looked over to Abel to ask; "You sleep okay?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"That's good," Abel said, his expression brightening just a tad. While he certainly thought his couch was comfortable, he also felt a little biased, all things considered, so it was nice to hear someone else shared that opinion. A moment or two later his phone lit up as it played a snippet of a tune, so the blond picked it up to check who was calling him so early. The name on the screen earned a light frown - ugh, why was she calling him? What could she possibly want right now? - and after deliberating for a few long moments, he silenced it rather than answer it and set it back down.

"Coffee should be ready in a few minutes," he announced instead as he moved to pour the now-boiling water into the pot, then he leaned his arms on his counter and looked at Taavi over it. "Okay, that sounds good. I usually don't eat until later too," although not for lack of desire; lack of money was a good reason to cut down on meals, unfortunately, "but everyone else usually does." Another buzz - or two, or three - from his phone alerted him to a couple new messages, and he gave them a cursory glance before tapping out a very brief response and setting his phone back on the counter. "Yeah, I slept okay. I'm a light sleeper, so I'm glad you don't snore," the blond said with a wry smile. A thought occurred to him and his expression morphed to a more neutral one as he added, "Oh, before I forget, I have to work in an hour or two - short shift today, only five hours I think - so you'll have the run of the place while I'm gone. If you think you'd wanna head out for a while I can leave you the keys so you can lock up," he offered with a shrug, "or not. Up to you, just lemme know beforehand."  

[TawnyAngel]

Man, who was calling Abel this early in the morning? Whoever it was he obviously didn't want to hear it, maybe it was somebody from work? Taavi shrugged internally and passed Melody some more fruit.

"Thanks, coffee is a good breakfast!" It got you going anyway and it was low effort and, also very importantly, it was cheap. "Heh, if I start snoring please come hit me with a pillow or something, I don't usually buuut you never know I guess." He didn't want to be an problem for Abel during the days he was here, he already felt guilty enough for not being able to do anything for him in return.

"Ah, I think I'll stay in thanks," Taavi continued with a small nod. "I'll get online on my 'gear, do some more applications and that, and I've got a little sculpture I can finish off too." It was the last one he had still as a work in progress, once it was done... maybe he'd take a trip to the woods with Valour and see if he could find any fallen wood that would be suitable, it was a long shot but worth a try he guessed.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Agreed," he said wholeheartedly, if only because it made a small, cheap breakfast. Coffee and cigarettes - breakfast of champions. Coffee now, cigarettes later. "Hah. All right, I will," Abel replied with an amused grin, "though it sounds like that won't be necessary really. Okay, coffee's ready." As he spoke, he pulled out two mugs from a cabinet and poured coffee into each one, then pulled out a small bottle of creamer from the fridge and shook it a bit to gauge how much remained. "There's a little bit of creamer left if you want it, and sugar's on the counter here," he gestured to the little dish with the bottle of creamer before he set it onto the counter, "so you can help yourself. I dunno how you like your coffee," he finished with a slight shrug as he doctored his coffee a bit.

With mug in hand, he turned and leaned against the counter and hummed thoughtfully a moment or two. "That sounds like a good idea. You'll probably find more online than you would walking around looking at places, plus it's warmer in here than out there," he said with a brief glance out his window. No snow yet, it seemed, but undoubtedly it was cold enough to. "Sculptures though, huh? What kind of sculptures do you make?"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Oh, thanks that's brilliant." Taavi smiled over at Abel, passed another bit of fruit to Melody and then closed the box before heading over to the kitchen area to add a little bit of creamer to the mug of coffee offered to him. "I like warm," he agreed, wrapping his hands around the mug before taking a sip. Ah, cheap coffee, there was nothing quite like it; Taavi gave a sigh of contentment. "Perfect. Um, and I haven't mentioned? Heh, well obviously or you wouldn't have to ask. I do wood carvings of pokemon, it's something I used to do in the evenings by the campfire when I went out camping with my Dad and I've carried it on. Um, I guess I'm pretty good now?" Taavi smiled a little shyly and looked down into his coffee rather than at Abel, he always felt kind of awkward saying that he was any good at it but he was proud of his work too so he didn't want to just say it was crap.

"I mean I can always see flaws and ways I can improve," Taavi added, because being too positive about his work didn't feel right either, "but a lot of them come out well. I've got a few finished pieces with me, just small ones, and there's one I'm still working on. I can show you if you like?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"No problem," Abel replied amiably as he took a sip of his own coffee. Yep, cheap coffee. While he would've preferred something by quite so cheap - something he could say about a lot of things at the moment - he really wasn't in any position to act on that desire. Oh well. It was his own damn fault for getting into this mess in the first place, he reminded himself. He had little room to complain.

Forcefully shoving those kinds of thoughts aside, the blond took another sip of his coffee before he nodded. "Yeah, me too," he agreed with a wry smile. "I'm not looking forward to going out into the cold in a while. Ah, thanks Sonia," he said to his Zoroark as she presented him with the various bowls he had given his Pokemon. He set his mug down to accept them and set them in the sink to wash later on, then picked up his mug again for another sip of deliciously cheap coffee. "Yeah, that sounds pretty cool. I'd like to see 'em sometime. So you sell them for extra cash?"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Uh-hu," Taavi nodded, "that's right! I mean it's not a lot but every dollar helps right? I've got a little shop online, and I sometimes do craft fayres... but to go to craft fayres you need a decent amount of stock and also to be able to pay for the stall to begin with and apparently that can be pretty expensive!" Taavi shrugged and took another sip of coffee. "So, uh, sticking to online stuff for now. The site takes a cut of my earnings but at least that's only once I've had a sale rather than paying upfront for a stall somewhere and risking that you might not even cover that in the end. Plus there's sitting around in all weather and having people poke through your display for ages, mess it all up, and then not even buy anything! They could at least put things back down where they picked them up from, right?" No, craft fayres were not his favourite thing ever and he fully intended to avoid them in future; tried it, hated it, that's that.... Unless there was a really good sounding one he guessed, he couldn't exactly turn down a chance to make money if it was put in front of him.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Yeah, every little bit helps," the blond agreed in a voice that suddenly sounded a bit tired and rundown. Setting depressing financial thoughts aside again, he endeavored to focus on Taavi's explanation, making noises of agreement in between sips of his coffee and nodding when appropriate. "Yeah I can understand that," he said when Taavi had finished. "Whatever is easier or gets more money, yeah? Sounds like those craft--"

A rapid knocking from the front door interrupted the blond and he paused mid sentence to frown at it. As he set down his coffee and stepped out of the kitchen he couldn't help but notice that Vanessa had disappeared almost instantly - blanket and all - while Caleb bounded forward to sniff at the crack under the door. "All right, who is it bud?" Abel asked as he joined his growlithe by the door, but Caleb's ears had already slicked back and he growled a bit as he slunk away from the door and back behind the armchair. Sonia and Isaac in turn adopted similar postures and manners, with the former retreating into Abel's bedroom to join Vanessa and the latter hopped up onto the back of the couch. The moment their demeanors shifted, Abel frowned deeply at the door and muttered "oh ********' hell" under his breath. God damn it, why was she here? s**t. This was exactly what he hadn't wanted to happen. Maybe he could tell Taavi to go hide in his room or something-- No, that wouldn't work, he would need to explain first, let him know that no, it wasn't an emergency or dangerous, just--

Knock knock knock!

Ugh, he didn't have time to do anything. He pushed one hand through his hair with a heavy sigh while the other pulled the door open.

"Took you long enough!" A feminine voice claimed in the tone of one who wasn't even remotely annoyed for waiting all of five seconds.

"Hey Alyssa," Abel replied tiredly. "Listen, I don't have time--"

"Nonsense, of course you do," she countered as she brushed past him. A young red headed woman walked halfway past the kitchen before she halted and looked in at Taavi with surprise first and then a gleeful curiosity. "Ohhh, so this is why you weren't answering! Who might you be?"  

[TawnyAngel]

Phone calls and visitors first thing in the morning? Ugh, and here he was standing around in sweatpants and an old t-shirt, and his hair was still half a mess, and.... Well if it was a friend of Abel's then he supposed it wasn't really important what he looked like, they wouldn't judge him.

At that point Taavi noticed the demeanour of Abel's pokemon and his heart sank; not a friend then. So who? Who would be knocking on Abel's door first thing in the morning that his pokemon obviously recognised the smell of and hated? Taavi just caught Abel's muttered curse and that worried him too, had he guessed from their reaction who it was or did he just know it was somebody they'd rather avoid?

Taavi didn't have time for any more thoughts along this line because Abel opened the door and a woman pushed her way past him with a rude comment. Taavi gripped his mug of coffee a little tighter - Alyssa was it? Who was she? What was she doing here first thing in the morning harassing his friend?

Oh, great, and now she had her attention on him. "Taavetti," Taavi responded cautiously. "I'm a friend of Abel's." Well this was nice... as in not nice at all. Taavi continued gripping his cup and thought uncomplimentary things at the woman who quite clearly was not welcome here.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Tav-- Tah-vet-ee," she attempted to repeat with a frown, butchering it only moderately. "Is that it? How do you even spell that?"

"Alyssa," Abel said again, but she ignored him again and merely looked at Taavi expectantly, waiting for an answer.  

[TawnyAngel]

That was... a slightly weird question. Well, no, it wasn't a weird question it was just weird in the context - you usually didn't ask how to spell somebody's name when you'd just barged into somebody else's apartment and were now ignoring them. Oh and also, rude English speakers strike again; 'How do you even spell that', ugh! How about he spelled 'go screw yourself Alyssa'. He could say 'you spell that t-h-a-t' but he didn't know who this woman was so maybe that wasn't a great idea; for all he knew this was Abel's boss or something, though it would be really weird for his boss to just barge into his apartment. It was really weird for anyone to just barge into his apartment.

Taavi shifted uncomfortably but managed not to frown at the woman's rudeness. "Uh, yeah that's pretty close. It's T double a, v, e, double t, i."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

As Taavi offered the proper spelling of his name, the woman listened intently and, when he finished, her expression turned thoughtful as she went over it once more and then mouthed it out silently, before finally she said, "Taavetti?" Unlike her first attempt, this time she spoke his name easier and more correctly than she had before. "Like that?"

Since it was clear she'd ignore him to ask Taavi whatever she wanted, Abel moved past her to retrieve his mug before his coffee cooled too much and resumed leaning against the counter.

"So you're a friend of Abel's, are you?" She asked curiously, moving closer to rest an elbow on Abel's shoulder as a tall armrest while her other hand settled on the hip she jutted out a bit. Despite the frown that formed on his face, Abel merely stood there and allowed it. Her expression was curious and almost eager, her gaze searching as she watched Taavi first, then to Abel. "Looks like you spent the night or something. I didn't know you had friends for sleep overs, Abel," she said with a glance to the blond, earning a deeper frown from him.

"He's staying for a couple days," he explained partially, feeling the weight of her expectant gaze and not exactly wanting to ignore her when she was close enough to literally lean on him. She could tell Taavi whatever she wanted to right in front of him if she felt so inclined - if she didn't like him not answering her - and the thought made him feel as if a chunk of ice had suddenly formed in his chest. He took a sip of coffee to counteract it, as if that would help. Maybe if she knew he'd be here a few days, that would dissuade her from coming over whenever she felt like...? A guy could hope, anyway.

Alyssa waited a few poignant moments for elaboration, but when it became clear that Abel wouldn't say anything further she merely nodded slowly and said, "Ah, I see. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself, I'm sorry," the redheaded woman said in a tone that didn't sound sorry at all, but she held a perfectly manicured hand out towards Taavi to shake regardless, a wide smile forming on her face. "My name is Alyssa, I'm Abel's girlfriend."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Um, yeah that's good," Taavi agreed; for somebody so rude she was picking up the pronunciation well, most people who were like that just kept butchering it. He wasn't sure if that made him feel better or if it made him even more annoyed. Who did she think she was leaning on Abel like he was a piece of furniture? This whole situation was weird and uncomfortable and he wanted very much for it to stop right now but Alyssa didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave, apparently she had more questions to ask! Yes, so he was staying a few days, what business was it of he-

Girlfriend?

Taavi looked quickly at Abel, surprise written clearly on his face, and then back at Alyssa. "Um... Hi?" he said uncertainly, shaking the offered hand reflexively and then glancing again at Abel. Girlfriend? Really? Surely Abel wouldn't date somebody all his pokemon clearly hated, and he didn't seem thrilled by her presence either anyway! "You uh... must be a real morning person to be up and about already?" Taavi added after a moment to Alyssa, it came out sounding like a question which wasn't what he'd intended but apparently assertiveness was not a thing that was going to happen this morning. But really, girlfriend?  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Alyssa's smile broadened and she giggled a bit at Taavi's reaction, watching him struggle to process this new piece of information he clearly wasn't prepared for. Abel took the opportunity to mouth 'sorry' at his friend while Alyssa was preoccupied with watching Taavi, and when she turned her head to look at him - he didn't think she'd noticed - he was innocently taking a sip of his coffee. Turning back to Taavi, Alyssa's arm moved up and across Abel's shoulders as she beamed at him. "Yep, that's me," she said brightly. "I have work in a bit, so I thought I'd stop by to say hello to this grump here," she patted the blond's shoulder a bit, "but I wasn't expecting him to have a friend over." Her bright expression morphed into one of such eager curiosity that it could almost be described as hungry. "Now why--"

"Speaking of work," Abel interrupted her; she'd just keep going until he did something to put her off, "I've gotta get ready to go in soon, and I'm sure you don't want to be late, yeah?"

Alyssa pouted up at him in response for a few moments before she huffed out a sigh. "Yeah, I suppose," she ceded at length, watching him with a pout. "Did you get called in early?"

"Yeah," the blond replied after he took another sip of his coffee. "You know how it is when people call out for morning shifts."

"Ah, yeah, that's true," she agreed with a nod, her expression brightening again as she reached up and patted him on the cheek. "Well, I'll just have to come see you later, then! It was nice meeting you, Taavetti," Alyssa purred as she wiggled her fingers in a wave, slipped out of the kitchen and let herself out. A few quiet moments passed and, when it became clear she wasn't going to let herself back in, Abel sighed and finished off the rest of his coffee.