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Post by lili3 on Apr 2, 2012 21:57:48 GMT -5
 Something like a smile stretched over Py's lips as he rounded the bend that led from the interstate back into the sleepy town of Maple Hollow. He felt like it'd been forever sense he'd been here, though it had only been a little over a year. He stopped at the first stop light leading into town, the engine of the pristine Skyline purring under the hood. He glanced slowly around, this town seemed so sleepy and quiet compared to the places he'd been-- truly it was, but he loved the quiet. It was a much needed change from the hustle and bustle. He tapped the gas to make the engine whine a little before putting it into gear and taking off when the light turned green. He was heading back to the school, but it took him a moment to realize he didn't have to stay in the dorms anymore. He'd had his agent buy him one of the houses in the upscale neighborhood, apparently it was right down the street from Josh's house. Pyson was very happy about that. With his living situation changed, so did the direction he'd been driving and with a sharp left turn he made his way towards down town.
He still had a day or two before he had to start back to classes, so all Py wanted to do was relax and unwind from the stress of the tour. He never dreamed doing what he loved would be so complicated. Normally his favorite thing to do to chill was either grab coffee at Tim's or just drive, seeing as it was getting late in the day he didn't really have the want for coffee so driving it was. Or was it? As he turned down the main drag he cruised past Blackjacks, he'd never personally been in there as he'd only turned old enough to go in while over seas, but in the parking lot he spotted something he did recognize-- very well. He smiled, stopping at yet another red light, but when the light changed green he pulled into the parking lot and parked next to the clean white Lambo.
He pulled down rear-view mirror and checked his hair and the thin line of eyeliner that rimmed his eyes, always had to look his best you know. He shut the Skyline down and stepped out of the car, straightening his outfit he made his way for the door. After showing his ID he walked inside and was pleasantly surprised. Despite the name this place was actually very classy and clean, though he supposed he shouldn't have expected anything less if Josh was here. He quickly scanned the room for the familiar face, it took one or two passes to finally spot him sitting at the bar. As Pyson looked on at his friend he suddenly found himself nervous, he'd only felt like this one other time and that was the first time he'd ever met Joshua Donovan Dale. Would Josh even remember him, and if he did would they still be as close as they were before he'd left? Only one way to find out. Py strode cooly across the room and quietly up came up behind Josh. He put his hands on Josh's shoulders and leaned in close "Boo." He whispered into Josh's ear, then took a step back to wait and see how the fire student would react.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Apr 2, 2012 22:44:56 GMT -5
"You know," said Donovan, "I'm a bit concerned about how well you drink." The man tipped back his own shot then, barely seeming to notice the burn as he put the empty shot glass back on the bar. "Didn't you only turn legal last year?" Joshua's response was to grin at his father, lips sealed. It was not like either of them was kidding the other. Donovan had caught his son trying to break into the liquor cabinet when he was only eleven years old and if that was any indication of how early Josh had started drinking, his father was not blind to it. "It's been a year and a half, Dad, get it right." Donovan laughed and it made Josh smile, shaking his head and turning his attention to one of the big-screen TVs. It was playing sports, as per usual, and not one that interested either of them. They turned back to the conversation after only a brief interruption. The only sport Joshua could play was tennis and the only one he cared to watch was hockey in the wintertime. It was still summer, edging ever closer to fall, so there was nothing for him yet. The two men had decided that going out for a drink together would be a far more entertaining past-time than sitting at the kitchen table. They could still catch up, but it would be catching up and drinking. That was always the best kind of combination. Joshua was far from drunk, barely even buzzed, here at the bar on a full stomach with only two shots of whiskey to his name.
"How are you and Nell?" The mention of Nell made Joshua's lips twitch. He could not really answer for Nell specifically but as a couple they were doing fine, so he said, "We're great. You and Mum?" He smirked as he turned it around on his father, liking how he could mess around like this now. Donovan shook his head in amusement. "Good as ever. You know, I'm surprised you're not begging us to take Annabel back." They both laughed at this for a moment. Annabel, Joshua's little sister, was staying with him now instead of his parents. They'd given him the house and his sister had decided to live with him. He would not admit to his parents that she was more of a handful than he'd expected, never having realised how difficult she could get when something didn't go her way, but he was managing. "She's not that bad. I think you two are getting old." He gathered from Donovan's expression that the man was amused by this comment and not offended. Not wanting to waste the night, as it was still young, Josh decided to wait a little before he took another shot. He was his own ride home, after all, he didn't want to get totally wasted. If he started to feel tipsy then he'd stop drinking and wait it out. He had a good amount of self-control nowadays. "I'd better get going," Donovan said, checking his watch. "Are you staying a bit longer?" Josh nodded and Donovan departed, leaving him to drink on his own.
Or not, apparently, for about a minute later he felt hands on his shoulder and heard a voice in his ear. Joshua was not a jumpy person by any means and so he merely turned to survey the stranger with a coolly raised eyebrow. His unamused expression cleared up and broke into a grin when he realised that he knew this particular stranger, and thus they were not very strange at all. "Py!" he explained, using the familiar nickname. "Holy shit, it's been ages! How are you, man?" He grasped his friends shoulder in an affectionate sort of greeting and gestured to the bar stool beside him. "Come on, sit down, have a drink. We've got some catching up to do!" He did not have many close friends. Josh had plenty of people whom he was friendly toward and whom he might tolerate but he did not have a broad circle of friends whom he would trust with his life. His inner circle was rather small compared to the outer one and Pyson, absent as he had been this past year, was an integral part of it. He hoped Pyson had done alright with the tour. "So, how'd it go? Got any interesting stories to tell?" He grinned at his best friend and ordered another shot of whiskey. After all, what was the use of celebrating a friend's return without alcohol?
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Post by lili3 on Apr 7, 2012 19:40:33 GMT -5
Pyson grinned and breathed a sigh of releaf at the warm welcome given by the person he would consider his best friend at the school. It had weighed so heavily on his mind on the trip back, how would his small little circle of friends recieve him after having been gone for an entire year? He had no worried apparently, at least where Josh was concerned. He chuckled lightly and slid onto the bar stool next to Josh and put his right hand around the glass holding the shot, this would be his first real drink after having turned legal age. He'd had his birthday while over seas but wanted to wait to be back home with friends before taking the first drink. "Yeah, feels like its been way longer then a year sense I left." He picked up the shot glass and raised it off the bar a bit, offering a toast to Josh. "Together again eh?" He gently tapped the edge of his shot glass against Josh's then tipped it back, shaking his head a bit as the whiskey burned all the way down.
When the inital burn had faded he signaled to the bar tender to bring on another round. He nodded slowly and put his hand around the new shot glass. "Yeah the tour went alright, though all the attention was a bit much, the paycheck was amazing though. Berlin and Paris were beautiful though." He'd been commissioned to play six months in Berlin, Germany, then another six in Paris-- a last minute change in plans by his agent. He suddenly burst out laughing before taking the second shot down. "I tell you though, those french girls are absolutely mad about asians for some reason.." A devilish little grin crossed his lips when he mentioned this. "We really need to take a vacation there one of these days." He added, matter-of-factly. He couldn't even begin to imagine what a trip to Paris or Birlin with Josh might be like, though he imagined alot of alcohol would be involved.
He slid the empty shot glass toward the bar tender and turned the stool to better face Josh. "What about you?" He realized he'd been rambling on about his little adventure so much that he hadn't even asked what his partner in crime had been up to. He very much hoped that the school drama he'd left during had eased up at least a little, as Josh was pretty much in the center of it. Truth be told Py had felt bad for having to leave the way he did, for that reason. "How are you and Nell, and such?"
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Apr 8, 2012 8:27:49 GMT -5
A year was one hell of a long time for Josh to go without speaking to a friend. He had been sad when Py said that he was leaving but like the typical, stubborn, unemotional person he was, he'd simply wished his friend luck and clapped a hand on his shoulder in farewell. Now Pyson had returned and the blazing glee that flashed in Josh's colourless gray eyes suggested just how pleased he was by the news. "Together again," he agreed. Realising something, he grinned, "Hey, and this means you're legal now! Awesome!" Lark and Devin couldn't drink legally in a bar like Blackjack, they were much too stiff and careful when it came to their rules and regulations to let a fake ID slip under their noses. Now Pyson joined the circle of friends he could call upon when he wanted a good drinking night. "Happy extremely belated, yeah? How'd your birthday go?" He wished he could have celebrated it with him but seeing as that was impossible he at least hoped that Pyson had a good time. Sad birthdays were bad birthdays, after all. Josh had been through a couple rocky ones but nothing too bad. Not like Ace, who seemed to drink during them. Drink to drown his sorrows and not to celebrate. That wasn't right.
He drained his shot with a steady hand and an impressive reaction, clearly the mark of someone who'd drank whiskey before—a lot of whiskey. It was his favourite. "I'm sure the girls were all over you, eh?" His eyes danced with teasing amusement. He liked the idea of his friend being successful, popular. He loved to see his closest pals do well for themselves and he'd support them in anything they wanted to do. That was why, despite his lamenting Pyson's departure, he did not hold it against him. Pyson had gone to make money doing what he loved and it would take a bad friend to resent that. "I'll bet Paris was amazing. Bel endroit, belles filles." He had Nell now and the pursuit of les belles filles was no longer one of his prime interests. All the same, he knew he'd like to visit Paris one day. Canadian French was different from the language spoken in France but he figured it would be similar enough that he could survive in the country without much of a hassle. He was fluent in French, after all, and he was getting good at Spanish now thanks to Nell. Trilingual had a nice ring to it, he thought. "I'd be up for that." He loved to travel, see the sights, experience the world.
He held off ordering another shot for now. Joshua was no lightweight but whiskey was not a light alcohol. It wouldn't do to get pissed-drunk before he even managed a coherent catch-up with Py. He wanted to remember this conversation in the morning. He hardly ever got that drunk anyway, not since his life had improved. "I've been great, brilliant, really." It was rare for him to reply with such honesty, with such certainty. His response usually considered of two words no matter who he spoke with: 'I'm fine'. He was never more, never less. But this was his best friend and with that privilege, Pyson deserved more than a half-assed answer. His eyes twinkled mischievously when Nell was mentioned. "We're doing great. I'm sure the ring on her finger would agree." He lifted an eyebrow and waited to see if Pyson would pick up on what he was inferring. The news of his engagement had spread to most of his friends but as Py had been away overseas Josh had not yet gotten the chance to tell him.
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Post by lili3 on Apr 9, 2012 8:18:09 GMT -5
Py smiled when Josh actually agreed that they should take a trip to Paris together. Already these colorful images came to mind of the fun they'd have there, hell it'd even be cool to bring Nell along-- maybe a couple other of their really close friends. Then the idea struck him, Paris at Christmas. That was around the time he'd been there and he'd never seen a place that beautiful. "Maybe we could go over there over winter break or something." He waved the bar tender away when he came to offer more booze, he had no idea what his limit was before he got absolutely sloppy drunk-- this was the first time he'd really drank after all.
He looked back to Josh and raised a brow as a little grin spread over his lips again, he couldn't remember the last time he'd heard his friend give such a genuinely happy answer to the question 'how are you?' Don't be mistaken, he was very happy to hear the tone in Josh's voice, but it was just a bit of a surprise. Of course a tone of voice was nothing compared to the shocker that left Josh's lips after that one. Pyson choked like he'd taken too large of a swig of that whiskey they'd been drinking. A ring?! His grin spread into an all out smile when he was told the news. "What?!" He chuckled a bit and clasped his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Well shit! Congrats man." He continued laughing for a minute, he never thought he'd be so happy for someone over something like this. Though with all the shit those two had been through they deserved a little happiness, a light at the end of the tunnel you might say. The only thing that bothered him was that he hadn't been there for Josh when it happened. "When did all this happen then?" He signaled over to the bar tender to bring them another round, if anything deserved a drink-- this did.
He picked up the shot and drank it down, the whiskey didn't burn so much going down and he could actually start to enjoy the taste. He was kind of starting to see what Josh saw in this stuff. He slid the empty glass up on the bar. "So whens the date and all that?" He was referring to the wedding, of course. "Do you guys have a theme or anything like that?" He paused for a second to laugh at himself, he couldn't remember the last time he was this giddy about something. Not even landing the contract of a lifetime and taking tours to exotic places and getting to have a career doing what he loved. This was like the icing on the cake for him.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Apr 10, 2012 6:52:52 GMT -5
He nodded enthusiastically, then remembered a conversation he'd had with Nell when they were driving to the airport to catch their flight to Spain over the summer. Travelling together, a trip every year if possible. He'd been serious when he'd said it, he'd meant it. He loved her company, he loved to see the world, why not? "Would you be opposed to my asking Nell along?" He would understand if Pyson wanted some time alone with his buddy but he also didn't want to spend Christmas apart from Nell. She was fiancée, after all, his lover. "What about you, Py? Meet anyone in Paris? Berlin?" He was always happy for his friends when they found someone for themselves, provided that someone was a good person of course. He was so happy with his own relationship that he could hardly blame anyone else for the thrills they felt with theirs. "Perhaps the early break, though. I doubt my family would want me to leave them for the holidays." His lips twitched as he amended, thinking about Annabel and how upset she'd be if he missed another Christmas. Once was enough, more than enough.
Gray eyes danced with appreciation when Pyson grinned, though he was a little concerned when his friend nearly choked. "You alright, man?" And then Py was laughing and Joshua was smiling, no, grinning, because sharing this with his closest friends was always more satisfying than when he told anyone else. He liked when people were happy for him and Nell, it gave him an uplifting feeling. He'd had people question if she was pregnant, suggest that they were doing the wrong thing, spout things about young love never working out. They weren't giggling fourteen year olds, they were both adults and he figured that they could make decisions for themselves. Apparently Pyson agreed. "A few months back, earlier in the year. I'd have called but it's really better said in person." There was something awkward about telling your best buddy that you'd gotten engaged over the phone. The reactions were always better if you could see the look on the other person's face. He remembered what Nell's expression had been like, how she'd doubted he was serious and then looked so stunned when she'd realised it was no joke. It warmed him.
Still smiling, though the gesture was less prominent now, Joshua shook his head. "We haven't set one, we're not rushing." He did not want to drag her to the altar this minute, after all. He'd simply wanted to make a promise, a promise of a future that held the two of them rather than a separation. He did not tell Pyson he'd proposed because he feared she was soon to leave him otherwise. Those had been dark feelings of doubt and they were in the past, now, there was no reason to weigh down the cheery mood. "When we know, you will. And no, we haven't really planned much out yet." He wasn't bothered by the lack of planning. They had months, years ahead of them. "Don't let me hog the conversation, though. How's it feel being back in the Hollow? Getting ready to return to the Academy yet?" Though he enjoyed the feeling of spreading the news and he didn't mind compliments, Joshua did not want to be the centre of attention in a conversation with his best friend. He wanted to know what Pyson was up to as much as the Wind wanted to know about him.
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