[FIN] Bobbing for Apples

[TawnyAngel]

It was Thursday evening when Zevran came across the news story; a little local harvest festival on a farm just outside Sandalwood city celebrating apple season and the turn of the seasons, a beautiful time of year in the treetop city. For one reason and another he hadn't yet made time to visit Sandalwood but the idea of the place intrigued him and a fun little faire/festival was the perfect excuse to finally get around to going. It was also a good excuse to ask for companionship.

Spontaneous decision made Zevran closed down his browser and pulled up his messenger, clicking quickly onto the most recent contact and tapping out a text.

//¿Que pasa? Working hard? Are you free tomorrow? There is a little festival over near Sandalwood; apples, cider, all the sweet fruits of the season, and quaint local crafts I gather. I want to go but it would be more fun with company and if you can drive us there I will pay for your gas!//  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel had scarcely shut his front door behind him when he felt his phone buzz with a new message. With a weary sigh, prompted both from his lengthy day at work and from the certainty that Alyssa had sent the message, the blond kicked off his shoes as he fished around in his pocket for his phone. Upon checking it, however, his demeanor brightened considerably as he read and re-read the text. Tomorrow? Tomorrow... He didn't work at all tomorrow - his boss wouldn't let him work too many days in a row without a day off, and he'd hit his limit... again - and as yet Alyssa hadn't coerced him into spending any time with her tomorrow, so...

//Always working hard. I'm free tomorrow, that sounds awesome. Pick you up around 8am? The drive'll take a while//

With the short message sent, the blond headed into the kitchen to grab himself the usual dinner - cheap ramen and some water - while he awaited his friend's response.  

[TawnyAngel]

When the reply came in Zevran smiled to himself. //Perfect! I will see you then.// He was unreasonably excited about an excursion to some little festival now but then again it would be a new experience or the city would be and he assumed there would be time to see a little of that too. It would be good for Abel too he thought, the man always seemed to be working and - since his encounter with Alyssa - Zevran had had an odd niggle of concern about the taller blond; he wasn't used to thinking much for outsiders but now that he was one himself perhaps it was not so strange.

Regardless, he needed to be up reasonably early tomorrow to go on this trip and so he ought to shower while the water in the tank still held some of the heat of the day and then sleep. Decision made Zevran locked his phone and swung his way out of his hammock, depositing the Caterpie who had been cuddled up against him back into the gently swinging canvas bed. "A bit day tomorrow!" he informed the bug as he headed for the door. "We will see if we can find you some nice sour things while we are there."

The door opened and then closed again behind Zevran; Amigo blinked. <>  

[BlackFireKitsune]

//Great// he replied succinctly as he sat down to eat his meager, depressing dinner, and left it at that.

The next morning saw him showered and dressed in comfortable clothing - an old pair of jeans, a faded short-sleeved shirt and a pair of sneakers - because he could only assume they'd be wandering around a lot that day, and wearing something uncomfortable wouldn't do at all. While the majority of his pokemon remained in his apartment just in case, Isaac went with him. The likelihood they'd conveniently run into Alyssa was substantially low if they were headed out of town, and so both felt it safe enough for the Espeon to come along too. Thus the psychic-type happily curled up in the passenger seat as the blond drove to pick up his friend. At just about 8am, Abel slowed the car to a stop near where he'd agreed to meet Zev, and kept a keen look-out for the other blond. Was he there already, or nearly there?  

[TawnyAngel]

As it happened Zev was already there languishing casually against a lamppost in similar attire to Abel though his t-shirt was bright white and new, cheap but new. When he spotted the familiar car approaching Zevran cracked a smile and waved, pushing away from the lamppost and sauntering over. "Good morning!" he said cheerfully, opening the passenger door as the car slowed to a halt. "Do you want to ride in my lap Isaac, or in the back? Or am I going in the back?" Zevran chuckled wickedly. "I have nothing against going in the back."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Isaac snorted lightly and climbed across to Abel's lap instead. He knew Zevran was implying something, but he didn't quite know what - and figured it was better he didn't know, anyway. Once he'd gotten in the car, the difference in how their clothes fitted would be quite apparent, especially while sitting beside one another; while Zevran's clothes probably fitted him quite well, Abel's worn shirt hung loosely on his frame, as if made for someone a tad bigger than he. Not that the blond paid the fit of their clothes any attention - past the obligatory glance or two at his friend, of course - instead he smirked in response. "Good to know," he noted before switching to more innocent tones, "nah, you get to ride up front today. It's a bit of a drive, if memory serves, which is why we're setting out so early."

As he shifted the car into drive and guided it back out onto the more populated streets of the city, he asked, "So how're your wounds healing up? It's been a while now, yeah?" Hopefully they were more or less healed by now, although he assumed they'd leave scars. Hopefully they weren't too bad.  

[TawnyAngel]

Abel's clothes had never fitted him well but it was especially apparent this morning; Zevran had never been sure if that was a choice, something he just didn't care about, of if he'd lost weight in the recent past. Abel was quite skinny, though.

As this thoughts ran though his mind Zevran got into the car and buckled up, shooting his companion a softer smile and nodding slightly. "All healed now, though I need to get around to having my tattoos repaired." It might just be smalltalk but it felt sort of nice to be asked apparently just out of concern, not to find out whether or not he was able to do a job. "I have never seen a city like Sandalwood before," Zevran continued as they set off, "do you think we might find time to look around a little after we visit the fair?" If Abel needed to get home early they could always part ways, there would be buses back to Camphoreon and he could find a place to sleep for the night if he needed to.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Ah, yeah." Zevran's tattoos were quite interesting despite the simplicity of their design, though he wasn't sure if it was because of their deliberate and careful placement, or his curiosity of why he'd chosen that sort of tattoo. And the wounds went right through at least one or two of them, he knew quite well. Despite the time that had passed since he'd picked up Zev from the mountains, he could still recall the memory of the fresh wounds that sliced through both tattooed and unmarked skin with perfect clarity. "Well," he went on with a smile for his friend, even if his gaze focused on the road ahead of them, "hopefully that won't be too difficult or expensive to fix, yeah? Even so, that's a much smaller bill to swallow compared to a hospital bill from them getting infected or something. You got pretty lucky. And lucky for you again, Camphoreon has plenty of tattoo parlors scattered around, so it shouldn't be too hard to find a good one."

Abel slowed the car a bit as he rounded a turn, heading for the outskirts of the city that would put them on the path towards Sandalwood. "To be honest I haven't been there much myself," he admitted with a sheepishly grin, "so we can definitely check it out more after the fair, yeah. It was pretty neat the couple times I went, though I wasn't there long enough to do a whole lot either time."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Mmmmh, I did," Zevran agreed with a soft chuckle as he settled comfortably into his seat. "And yes it should not be very expensive, unless I am tempted into getting some new ink while I am there that is! Always a possibility." He didn't really feel the need at the moment though, just fixing the damage would be sufficient.

"A city built in the trees!" Zevran continued with incredulous delight. "Who would think of such a thing? If not for my love of the ocean I would certainly have settled there, it must be a beautiful city especially as the seasons turn." Still smiling a bit Zevran turned his gaze from the view out of the window and onto Abel, who was of course watching the road. "Why did you choose to settle in Camphoreon? Do you love the water as I do, or was it perhaps for work?" They knew little of each other really, and of course there were some things he never intended to allow Abel to find out, but surely his current curiosity was harmless?  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel shot Zev a brief look and a curious smile before he turned his attention back to the road. "New can be fun, though it'd obviously mean more money, and I don't know how much of a factor that is. Still, you definitely need to get them touched up at the very least. It's always such a shame when a work of art is ruined," he added with a slight smirk that hinted he mayn't have been speaking only of Zevran's tattoos.

"Right? It's really cool," the blond agreed as he turned another corner, "and yeah, I bet it is really pretty. Maybe not so much in winter though," he mused aloud for a brief moment. A slight shrug dismissed the thought soon enough though. "Me? Well," Abel frowned and hummed thoughtfully for a moment as he mulled over how best to respond. "Well," he repeated as his expression cleared, "I guess I just didn't feel like going too far when I got off the boat. Really, though, I think it was because of the city and to a lesser extent the beach. Less opportunity for work in smaller places - if any opportunity at all - so I just stayed, I guess," he finished with a shrug. "What about you? Was it just for the ocean, or was it for the city too?" Kodo was surrounded by ocean, after all, so he doubted that was the only reason.  

[TawnyAngel]

"A terrible shame, a tragedy in fact," Zevran agreed with a dramatic sign and an everso serious shake of his head. "After a little restoration to key patterns however I think a piece of art can be enhanced by what it has survived, do you agree?" Zevran asked, smirking again and smoothing a hand back over his fine blond hair. It was true so far as he was concerned but nonetheless he had hidden most of his scars with curving patterns of ink, not that he had a huge number of scars but many of those he had picked up would be difficult to explain without giving away too much. Anyone could be shot once in a random unfortunate incident, several times not so much.

"As for why Camphoreon," Zevran shrugged, "my reasons are not so different to yours I think. When I got off the ship I knew nothing of Kodo, it seemed wise to spend a little time getting my bearings and as it turned out I had landed somewhere with ample opportunity for a man of my talents I have seen no reason to move on. Oh and as you ask about money," he made a small dismissive gesture, "currently not an issue; I had a successful night on Tuesday and I have not yet had a chance to squander it." Zevran grinned and waved a hand expensively in their direction of travel. "Perhaps today?" It would be wise to save it he supposed, he would probably want to find a place to rent soon before bad weather set in... Oh well, that was a problem he could deal with when it came to it. One could always make more money after all.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Oh of course," the blond agreed readily with a smirk. "There's always ways to enhance or complement a work of art. Then, of course, you'll need to spend some time appreciating it properly," he added innocently.

"Yep, that sounds familiar," he went on. "I'd never been to Kodo before I moved here, so I didn't know anything about it at all. I dunno how you can live like that though," Abel admitted, hints of curiosity mixed with concern in his tones. "I need a stable job that I know I can pay rent with. I couldn't live in a warehouse. What do you do for work, anyway? If you don't mind me asking, that is," he added quickly. Perhaps Zev didn't want to talk about it? If it was something rather morally ambiguous, he could understand any hesitance in discussing it.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Mmmmh, I do like to appreciate art, especially in company," Zevran said with equal innocence and a salacious smirk.

As for the rest... It was unusual, he knew that, but he just didn't like the idea of being tied to some job all day every day. And there was also the fact that.... Well he wasn't actually sure how you went about it all: finding the job, getting it, keeping it, finding the apartment, paying the bills; these were things he'd never thought he would have to deal with. The idea of starting to learn now was... it was a little unsettling that was all and if he didn't want to anyway then there was no reason to examine his thoughts further.

"Ahh, well, it has its benefits," Zevan replied lightly after a short pause. "No obligations, no bills, freedom to come and go as I wish; a reasonable trade off from my perspective!" At the moment; winters got colder here than he was accustomed to, he was going to have to do something about his current situation....

"And it is less work, more play," Zevran continued with a chuckle, pushing his thoughts aside again. "I play cards rather well you see, there are places where this can make you quite a lot of money. Of course there is always the possibility of losing but what fun is life without a little risk?" Perhaps if he just got a couple of heaters and a nice warm fire type he wouldn't really need to leave the warehouse after all.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Ah, well, that's fair enough I suppose," Abel responded after a moment or two of thought. He wouldn't trade his steady job and apartment for living day to day in an old warehouse with no heat or running water or electricity, no thanks. Bills and obligations sucked, sure, but he suspected that would suck much more. For him, anyway. "To each their own, yeah? If it works for you then that's what matters. I just know it definitely wouldn't work for me. Especially if I relied on my card skills," he added with a chuckle and a shake of his head. "I suck at card games, but hey, if you can make a living out of that then more power to you." No, he definitely couldn't live like that.

Eventually Abel slowed the car to a stop in a lot full of other cars. Various decorated signposts littered the area, pointing visitors towards the fair. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that this is it," Abel said as he shut off the car and unbuckled himself. With Isaac curled around his shoulders and his keys dangling from one hand, the blond got out of his car and glanced around. From their current vantage point, he couldn't see much more than one or two rides peeking out above a handful of tents. No doubt there would be much more to see once they entered the fair proper.  

[TawnyAngel]

"It seems to be going well enough for now!" Zevran replied with a laugh and another shrug and it was, the future might be a different matter but he had never been very good at making long term plans or thinking too far ahead at all come to that. Best leave it and deal with it when it happened.

As they slowed to a halt some time later Zevran grinned over at Abel and unbuckled his seatbelt. "I would not bet against you my friend! Ah, look, a Ferris wheel! There must be an excellent view of the countryside from there and over to Sandalwood City too, we must make time to ride in it." As he spoke Zevran set off towards what he was assumed the fair's entrance with a spring in his step and keen interest in his vivid amber eyes; so many people with so many valuables! Today was not the day for that sort of activity though, he was here to enjoy himself and so people watching was on the cards but not taking advantage of their cow-like lack of awareness.