Catfish! (Lia && November Bleeds)

[November Bleeds]

The first thing Kai thought about was the whole whack of ideas that Charlie had thrown his way. There were so many possibilities that it was overwhelming. They could really do all that? Really? Truthfully? This all sounded quite strange to him, having such freedom because he had so much money to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Charlie must have been so carefree and here Kai was struggling each month to make all his bills but at the same time, he couldn't compare. This wasn't exactly about comparing now was it? The two of them grew up so differently and he hoped one day that maybe his music could take him far and that maybe, just maybe... he would have the ability to never worry about money again. But wishing big was only that.

Regardless as to his overwhelming amount of choices, Kai still followed along fairly easily. He was taking all the ideas into consideration of what they could tend to first and what Charlie wished to do. Curious as it were, Kai was beginning to wonder back to any of their emails if he ever mentioned having any friends to do all the things with but no, nothing like that was ever mentioned. Kai was thoroughly impressed by everything Charlie was saying that he couldn't quite figure out how to say anything- and thus the doorbell saved him. Until he was waved over by Charlie.

Gathering to his feet he adjusted his shirt and pants and made his way over to the counter. "Well you seem like you wanna do a lot, that's for sure." He smirked at him realizing that he was quite a bit taller that Charlie to begin with. Huh. Who knew. He barely even noticed it before, but he was at least a couple inches taller. It was nice being as tall as Kai was but sometimes he felt a bit too tall. He tried to use his height to his advantage and it usually worked with relationships but now thinking about that...things became awkward in his head again.

"You know I've never even been near a horse before. I wouldn't mind getting to try that out." Gathering his food together he rethought of all the choices given to him on a silver platter. "Broadway also sounds interesting...and murder mystery. I've never been to that either... come to think of it... I haven't done a lot of those things before." He laughed and got his plate all finished and assumed the couch was probably where they would be eating so he wandered back over there and sat down. "We don't have to go watch sports, I'm not really into them anyway. I do like entertainment, just not that kind of entertainment."

 

[Lia]

He wanted... Charlie looked up, confused for a second. And then it had dawned on him that Kai had said that they could do whatever he wanted. "Oh! No. I mean, yes, I'd like to do these things, but this is your vacation. I was just listing things that I thought you might enjoy, or not know about." The blond smiled up at the other, liking that he was a bit taller than himself. Charlie knew, though, that they'd be right about the same height when he put a pair of heels on. He still worried how Kai would react to seeing him in his daily clothes. "Everything I listed is in New York. But most of the eastern seaboard of the US is open to us. Maryland is about an eight hour drive, but they have the best seafood. Philadelphia is about...maybe four hours and they have a lot of the American history type stuff, and great cheesesteaks. Connecticut is an hour north and they have a great aquarium. Boston, of course, and New Jersey has a lot of stuff, too..." He hadn't really ever thought about everything that was at his fingertips. There was a lot to do just in his immediate area.

"Was there anything specific that you wanted to see?" he finally asked, gathering his plate and chopsticks and moving to sit on the sofa. "Anywhere in the country, really. Disney World? Hollywood? Chicago? San Francisco?" It would be so easy to just hop on a plane and fly somewhere for a week. Again, it wasn't something Charlie ever really considered. He had traveled a lot as a child with his parents, but once he was on his own he had stuck close to home. Everything he needed was in New York, it didn't occur to him to go other places. Though when he thought about it, Hollywood and Rodeo Drive sung to him. "No sports, got it. I'm not really into them, either, but you never know. Sometimes, going to a game at Madison Square Garden is all about the experience of going to the Garden, and not as much about what you're going to see there."

Charlie ate some of his food, tasting everything as if he'd never tasted it before. Food was something that he always enjoyed to the very fullest, no matter how often he ate the same dish from the same restaurant. He wondered how he wasn't a big, fat slob by now, really. He tried to stay quiet for a bit, wondering just how overwhelmed Kai was feeling. Charlie hadn't thought about how it might feel to have the world at your fingertips so suddenly when you were used to grasping at it just to not lose your grip at all.

 

[November Bleeds]

Kai was completely overwhelmed by the amount of freedom that Charlie had. It was almost unbelievable. He wished that maybe in another life somewhere, somehow, he too would have enjoyed getting to know what the rich life was like. Maybe his music career wasn't going to work out for him. Sure, he was going to do his best and try but right now he wasn't so sure it was going in the right direction. Part of him hoped that one day he would be able to stand on stage in front of ten thousand people or more and just listen to the crowd scream and clap till their hearts content. But that was only a dream but a big dream none the less.

Holding his food in his hand he wasn't quite sure what to say since his options seemed almost limitless. "Well uh..." He thought about it. What was there to see? He had many options but this was actually his first time this far from where he lived. He usually just stayed in the city and maybe travelled to another close city to play a show but never quite this far. Kai could not quite make up his mind at all. "Well you've given me a lot of choices. I'm not sure what to pick... I mean I've never really been here before but, if you wouldn't mind Charlie for the first few days I'd like to stay in. Maybe we can look at going to places once I take a look at some magazines or take a look online or something? I don't know I'm just really...overwhelmed with options." His voice got more quiet and his eyes focused on his food, taking a couple bites he then sat there quietly until another bit came to him.

"I'm sorry I'm not as talkative as you," Turning his head to look at him, his brows furrowed and he was beginning to feel a little bit under the weather all of a sudden. "You have a good personality, you know that? I think more people should strive to be like you..." Leaning back against the couch he felt a bit worried that what he said may have been taken rough and out of context. Smirking he looked away. "Sorry... I just think you're really admirable."

 

[Lia]

Charlie looked up. "Don't apologize," he answered, studying the other man for long minutes. "You're here because we connected in some way, and we connected because I happen to like what you say when you do have something to say." He shrugged a little. Kai might not be as talkative as he was, but when he said something, it was usually important. The blond shrugged a bit and continued to eat. "We can decide what to do from day to day," he offered. "I didn't mean to overload you or anything... Like I said, I just talk and talk until someone shuts me up."

They ate in silence for a few minutes, before Charlie couldn't help himself once more. "You should look up some open mic stuff," he suggested. "Uh, I really would like to, you know, see you play?" The blond gave a small smile to the other male with the confession, and he could feel his cheeks warming with a slight blush. He'd always wondered what Kai looked like when he was on stage, and now he might have the chance to see it. Perhaps it was selfish of him, but he couldn't help it and it couldn't be taken back now, either. Besides, Kai enjoyed music and he had told him once about his dreams to make it big. If he was going to make it big anywhere, it would be in New York City. Who knew? Maybe they'd get lucky and he'd play on a night when a huge music mogul was there scouting...

He smiled at the compliment, blush deepening a bit. "Thanks. But if everyone were like me then we'd all be talking over each other!" he joked, laughing a bit. "I like that you're a bit quiet," he confessed. "Not because it gives me run of the conversation or anything but because...well it's you, and you seem comfortable enough in your skin to be okay with it. That's admirable, too.

"And a lot of this...energy, I guess, started as a defense mechanism when I started dressing up... A way to distract whoever I was talking to from the outfit I was wearing. Now, it's just habit."

 

[November Bleeds]

Smirking, Kai turned his head to face Charlie once again. Well he was right, he was here because they connected in one way or another. Even if Kai didn't understand it completely, he still had these really weird feelings stirring around inside of him. Charlie really did seem like a nice guy. Honestly he was probably one of the sweetest people he had ever met in the world. But there were times where Kai didn't feel like he was good enough even when he thought Charlie was a girl. But there was something about him that really was drawing him to Charlie and even though he couldn't quite figure out what it was, whatever these weird feelings were he was going to try and figure them out.

"Open mic huh?" Kai grew interested in that idea since he hadn't played out of his own area before and that would make this such a great change. He was curious what the open mics were like here and if he knew any really big places. Usually Kai got some decent feedback from people and he looked forward to hearing what the people though but he hadn't exactly been able to go to an open mic night anywhere often. Having been working at his job for so many months in a row and barely having any time off, he was pretty stoked to be able to get back on the wagon and try to go forth with his dream. Working at his job wasn't exactly perfect, he didn't want that life forever, it was just income where he needed it most.

"Well I'd like to think about that, I wouldn't mind giving it a shot. If you give me the OK." Kai then leaned back more and began to eat as Charlie blushed from the compliment that Kai had given him. He seemed to take it fairly well which made Kai happy. It didn't seem as if Charlie really was negative but he couldn't help but wonder if the man had a depressed side, one that wasn't super happy and always doing something all the time. It just seemed like Charlie was such a busy-bee and Kai wondered how he had time for all that.

"Well I am comfortable with you talking. I like it when other people run a conversation. Well you know, maybe you should show me sometime... like what you look like all dressed up. I'm a bit curious you know." He smirked and then continued to munch down on his food bit by bit.

 

[Lia]

The first bit of the week seemed to go pretty well. Or, Charlie hoped that it went well. He thought it had. They had done a few little things here and there, mostly museums or tourist-y things. Charlie hadn't dressed up at all yet. Everything else was bound to be overwhelming for Kai, and he didn't want to add to it when he didn't have to. It felt weird, though. This had been the first time in years that Charlie had gone anywhere in male clothes and flats (sneakers). He definitely wasn't used to it, and didn't think he'd ever go back to doing it on a daily basis if he didn't have to.

They had spent today around the house, though. Charlie wasn't used to quite so much activity during the day. Yes, a shopping trip and lunch were daily routines but not breakfast before two museums before lunch that they ate before walking through Central Park and then home again. He was wiped out, and needed to recharge. But they had decided to go out to dinner tonight, and the blond was excited. He wanted to dress up, because if there was ever going to be anything between them, Kai would have to see it sooner or later.

The blond primped and got ready, a very faint smudge of charcoal eyeliner on his lower lashes and even a bit of blush to accent his cheekbones was added. He chose a short, white skirt that showed off his legs and hugged his hips and ass perfectly, and a pair of white Louboutin pumps. A pretty, floaty blue blouse was slipped on and a few silver bangle bracelets topped it all off. After one last check in the full length mirror, and a deep breath for courage, the blond stepped out into the hallway.

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[November Bleeds]

Kai had been extremely lucky for the whole week. Both Charlie and he had quite the time and he actually got to see a decent side of the city. From going to museums to tour bussing, it was all truly something he never had the chance to do or see. It was nice to keep an open conversation with Charlie all the time, hearing all these rumours about the city and being told what Charlie knew about certain places, it was all just great. The fact that the blonde could talk as much as he did really kept Kai's mind going at a rate that he could keep up with all the conversation and respond when needed. He wasn't much of a talker, but Kai did try to input something here and there. He had gotten so used to Charlie and being at his house that it was just something that came naturally to him.

Dinner was tonight and Kai had been a little intimidated. Having known what was probably coming he didn't know how to take it or how he was going to react to it so instead, he thought he would just sort of let it happen. With the type of people within the last week that he got to meet, greet and see; he would be fairly open minded to seeing how Charlie himself was going to be. By the time dinner rolled around, Kai had dressed up in some of his regular clothes with a bit of a semi-formal tint to them. A black dress shirt and black vest, he kept that headband he always had going across his forehead today and his hair all messy -in a good sense- over top of the headband. Black belt and pants to top it all off, it seemed like he just really dressed a bit too dark today, but a little dark never hurt anybody.

Exiting into the hallway he waited for Charlie, wondering when he would finish up. Tapping his foot as he waited, he then heard the door open and Kai's green eyes glanced over, only to shift himself off of the wall. Looking at what he saw before him, a faint blush appeared on Kai's face. He hadn't expected to see what he had. Looking at the whole outfit up and down, it really did work very nicely together. Sure, he was surprised but it wasn't a bad surprise. A gentle expression soon hit his face and a smile to his lips. He looked up to Charlie in his eyes as they too, smiled.

"You look great." Commenting on something he didn't know how he would feel about, he was actually quite comfortable seeing Charlie this way. Especially if it made the man all that much more happy about himself and everything around him. Kai did not feel overwhelmed or afraid but happy for Charlie that he finally showed himself to Kai.

 

[Lia]

Charlie was sort of glad that Kai was already in the hallway. He stepped out of his room and stopped, smiling a little at the compliment. He had been worried about what the other male's reaction was going to be, and he felt that there was a big weight lifted off of his chest with the positive response. The blond couldn't help but notice how opposite they looked next to each other: Charlie in white and light blue, and Kai looking very imposing in his all black outfit. He thought it was sort of cute, especially as they hadn't planned to "match", as it were.

"Thanks." He leaned against the wall across from Kai, crossing one ankle over the other. "I've called a cab for us. I know you have your car, but once you get into the city, parking is a witch and expensive to boot. A cab is just easier." And there was no way he would be able to walk as far as they were going in the five inch heels that he was wearing. Well, maybe he could. He probably had while on one of his shopping binges. But that was beside the point anyway. A cab ride was part of the entire New York experience.

"Maybe we can get a movie or something after if you want. There's a theater a block over from the restaurant."

He stepped up to the other and reached out, straightening the shoulder seams of the vest that Kai wore. "Perfect," he commented, grinning at the other man. Charlie stepped away and nodded toward the living room. "Come on. We can have wine or water or something while we wait."