The Perk, Monday Afternoon

[pocketpretzels]

Watts had finally managed to free himself from the clutches of a cat who was quite displeased to have been abandoned for the weekend. He hadn't set out on a walk to anywhere in particular, but in passing by the Perk, a coffee seemed appealing.

So, here he was, having acquired an iced mocha and a blueberry muffin, settling in to a spot by the window.

[ooc: I have... a day off? On a weekday? Wild.]

Comments

[hasaknightjob]

There were a few things going on with Marc. First was that real life various things were shaking up his and Steven's regular schedules for the foreseeable future. Second was that after a weekend away with the boyfriend Steven had all but shoved Marc into the body and said "Go! Do something! Anything! I don't care as long as there's people!"

And not that Marc would've listened to that instruction exactly but, again, they did need to figure out who might be doing things when now so yeah, Marc could head out and grab a coffee.

He of course noticed Watts when he came in. "Hey."

[pocketpretzels]

"Marc, hello," Watts greeted, indicating an empty chair across from him with a nod in an invitation should Marc feel so inclined. Given that he and Steven had just spent a weekend together and were not in fact still in each other's company, it wasn't at all surprising to see Marc out and about.

[hasaknightjob]

Marc got his coffee and brought it over, taking the offered seat. Even if Watts probably knew, Marc still said, "Steven" by way of confirming it.

"No more of Lana's thing either," Marc added. "Think Steven's going to push for me to be out on Monday more now that that's out of the way."

Actually the original idea had been for Marc to participate in Lana's trips as much as Steven did, but best laid plans and all that.

[pocketpretzels]

Watts nodded. "That makes sense," he agreed. The back half of the week was rather crowded with Steven's schedule (which often, though not always, coincided with Watt's own) beyond Thursday nights. And it looked like even those might be hit or miss for the next while. "He worries."

[hasaknightjob]

"Too much," Marc said. He took a sip of his coffee. "Story of my life."

Also Steven's life. Marc maybe felt a little guilty about that. Which might also be visible on his face. Much as he ever had expressions.

[pocketpretzels]

"Yes, well, we're working on that," Watts said. "But it's a team effort." Meaning Marc had his part to play in making Steven worry less too.

[hasaknightjob]

"You could be distracting him right now," Marc pointed out.

He knew very well that wasn't the answer.

[pocketpretzels]

"Distracting him is not the answer," Watts said with a scoff.

[hasaknightjob]

"Worked great this weekend," Marc pointed out. "Didn't hear from him once."

[pocketpretzels]

"Unsustainable in the long run," Watts countered. "He's willing to go on holiday with me only because I understand that the exclusivity of his presence is a short-term arrangement."

[hasaknightjob]

Marc sighed. "Can't blame a guy for trying. I don't get it, though. He's got a schedule. I don't need one. There's no point in me having certain days or whatever."

The point was that maybe Marc would form connections to people that made him want to have them. But Marc refused to listen when Steven told him that.

[pocketpretzels]

"I like a good schedule," Watts mused. "Not that unexpected meetings are unwelcome, but there's something comforting in knowing I can go to a place at a certain time and someone whose company I enjoy- or at the very least do not find objectionable- will most likely be present as it is also part of their routine."

[hasaknightjob]

"See me Thursday nights just fine," Marc pointed out. Of course that depended on Annie working, which was going to become more infrequent to probably nonexistent when the kids were here.

[pocketpretzels]

“I do like seeing you Thursday nights,” Watts agreed. “But the babies are already interfering with Annie’s schedule and she’s not even given birth yet.”

[hasaknightjob]

"You and Steven have that thing Tuesday nights," Marc pointed out, both to show why he couldn't try to claim that one and because he'd just realized, "Wait, is that going on this week? It's the holiday tomorrow, might be closed."

Watts was Canadian, Marc figured July 4th might not be on his radar as a holiday to keep track of.

[pocketpretzels]

“I’m not certain,” Watts said. “It might be, you’re right.” The proximity to Dominion Day was really the only reason Watts was aware of the American holiday, and he hadn’t exactly done a great job of remembering when his own holiday was. “But that is a perfect example of the sort of reason you might want to be out and about- celebrating with your fellow countrymen and the like.”

[hasaknightjob]

"Do I look like the kind of guy who celebrates my country?" Marc asked. Though that being said, it was an American thing so not like Steven would go and - whatever - watch fireworks or something. Marc might go out just for that.

[pocketpretzels]

“If there’s a gathering there might be some food that you like,” Watts pointed out. “That would be reason enough for me.”

[hasaknightjob]

"Have you ever tried putting a whole burger in your pocket?" Marc asked. Mainly because Watts bringing up his love of food in the context of a July 4th gathering now had Marc wondering.

[pocketpretzels]

“Yes,” Watts nodded. And then: “They used to come with fewer toppings as standard.”

[hasaknightjob]

"Yeah, that tracks," Marc said, meaning it for Watts mainly. There was no judgement there, just adding to Marc's overall knowledge of Watts in general. "No idea if they're doing something around here for it but there's always stuff in DC if you're interested."

Steven would not be. Steven was British, thank you very much.

[pocketpretzels]

“I haven’t yet been anywhere on the mainland on my own,” Watts mused.

Did you want him walking into traffic because he forgot he couldn’t just cross anywhere, Marc? Did you?

[hasaknightjob]

"I would go with you," Marc said. Because no, Marc did not want that and could easily imagine it on his own, thank you. To say nothing of the odds that Watts on his own would probably find a way to stumble across a dead body.

[pocketpretzels]

Hey, Watts knew what to do with dead bodies, thank you!

“Oh,” he said. “Well. In that case- if there’s nothing going on here, I may just take you up on that.”

Because food!

[hasaknightjob]

So did Marc! Just, you know, not the same way is all.

"Play it be ear tomorrow," Marc said. "I haven't heard anything but - "

Marc shrugged, indicating his self-awareness about how he wasn't exactly the guy on people's party invite lists.

[pocketpretzels]

As Watts understood it, most parties on the island were open to everyone, but yes, he could see how people might fail to mention it to Marc (both because if they knew him they likely picked up on how parties were not usually his speed, and because if they didn’t know him, how would they know to invite him?).

“I wonder if Mr. Scientia will have themed specials tomorrow?” The man did like the occasional theme, but he also wasn’t American.

[hasaknightjob]

"Red, white, and blue?" Marc guessed, since it'd been a rainbow theme last week. "Hopefully not blue meat though. I'm drawing a line."

[pocketpretzels]

“… Oh. No. No thank you.”

Not that Watts ate much in the way of meat to begin with but… no. No.

[hasaknightjob]

"The stuff on Lana's planets was fine enough but no," Marc agreed.

Though Steven hadn't eaten anything that could've remotely passed for anything except a plant based life form so it was possible they'd missed some of the more frightening options there.

[pocketpretzels]

“Brightly coloured vegetable matter is one thing. Meat is quite another,” Watts shook his head.

[hasaknightjob]

"There's blue potatoes," Marc said, now that he was thinking about it. "Had chips like that on an airplane once."