An Evening Out
"Honest to God I don't know what the judges were thinking. It made no sense, I mean if last seasons winner wasn't enough to make me question their integrity..."
It was Friday night and rather than being out on the town, living the high life, carousing, hunting and/or seducing innocent victims or any of the things a thousand plus year old vampire was 'supposed' to do Eiryk was walking down the strip with his human boyfriend bitching about what they'd watched on TV the night before. Guess which one he'd rather be doing. Although, he was still dressed to the nines, that part of the stereotype at least, was safe.
As to the matter of reality TV Eiryk shrugged and quit rambling for a second, letting Alex get a word in edge wise.
They had one or two places to be tonight and the first was Eiryk's studio. He had an appointment with a client of the nocturnal persuasion tomorrow night and had, as he'd been in a hurry to curl up with Alex and watch TV the night before, he'd forgotten the portfolio. And as he needed to make some calls and a few changes to the sketches, Eiryk had to have it tonight. It also seemed as good an excuse as any to show off the... well show room to his boyfriend.
Alex had no illusions that his life had been anything worthwhile before meeting Eiryk. He was a nobody, headed nowhere. While the latter part might still be true he was now, at least, somebody to someone. And that felt good.
Holding onto Eiryk's hand, his fingers comfortably linked with his boyfriend's, Alexander took in the entirety of the Eiryk's storeroom. He was amazed at the sheer volume of 'stuff' in here, all neatly placed.
"Don't you have a computer system to help out or something?" he asked Eiryk. "That way you could keep it all organized by type and just be able to pull up a file. If someone's looking for rugs, you know, pull up all your rugs and see if you have anything in the style they're looking for."
Alex didn't know how Eiryk had everything inventoried now; that was how he'd have done it though. He had a ten mile wide neat streak however, and took inventory in his own store probably more often than he needed to. He liked everything in its place. He wasn't anal about it, but he was pretty strict with himself, both at work and at home.
"This is so much stuff," he marveled. "I can't imagine having it in my house."
Alex was used to his apartments being small, livable, and functional. He'd never owned anything just for the hell of it, or just because he needed a spot of color in this corner, or some light on that wall. It still baffled him, or would have if he hadn't seen firsthand by now what Eiryk was capable of doing with a space.
Eiryk countered softly. Alex had his act pretty well together when Eiryk had met him. He'd gotten settled in a new city and opened his own business. Impressive for some one his age.
Thoughtfully cocking his head Eiryk considered that.
"You know... we might. I know Esi keeps going on about something and why don't I update... you think that is why she wants a better camera?â€
Not that Eiryk wasn't orderly, that is why the store room had something of the feel of a library. It was just that his organization lagged a bit behind technology. Alex's suggestion was a very good one and he wondered if he'd been making his assistant's job harder than it had to be.
"OF course we don't often do full rooms out of here... It is one of those things were if I don't buy it when I see it or can get a good price then I don't have it when we do -need- it.â€
Eiryk couldn't help but laugh a bit at that thought. He'd seen Alex's apartment, and loved it, but the store room alone held more than his partner's place above the yoga studio ever could.
"Well some of it would fit quite nicely though. Here, look at this, it would work.â€
It was a smallish very stream lined club chair. It would have been dull and boring except it was upholstered in a very bold geometric pattern of charcoal and black.
He just smiled at his boyfriend. Eiryk could think what he wanted. Alex knew how it was. He hadn't thought he'd wanted a boyfriend, a relationship, anything that took time away from his shop and his current life. But now that he had Eiryk he couldn't imagine being without him and didn't want to be.
When Eiryk considered Esi and her camera Alex shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know," he said, grinning. "Maybe she just wants a new camera."
They wandered around the store room a bit more until they came to the chair Eiryk pointed out. Alex eyed it critically and then shook his head. "I don't know," he said skeptically. "I don't think it's me. It reminds me of my grandparents."
Not the one good grandparent, either. Alex couldn't see himself in the chair. "It is nice, though," he admitted. It was good-looking. But not his style. He didn't even know what his style was... so it made it tough for poor Eiryk, who was trying to nail that down. Alex wasn't trying to be complicated. He'd know what he liked when he saw it.
"Maybe.... well I'll talk to her."
Now he did wonder what Esi want the camera for. But the puzzle of the camera would wait until later Right now he was mortally offended by Alex's assessment of the chair. That or he was pretending to be mortally offended.
"It is retro modern!"
He protested before looking at the chair a little harder and realizing it didn't fit what Alex had said, 'homey'. Hmmmm... He pulled Alex to the back of the store room and the wall of rugs skipping past the oriental and the traditional into some of the more modern rugs. Stopping at a large rug that was gray and silver and black and white stripes, but not exactly horizontal, the looked more like ripples on a pond or waves.. no stripe was exactly the same some thicker some thinner among other things.
"Are we getting closer?"
Talk about your oxy morons. Alex shook his head at the odd chair and let Eiryk drag him away while he continued to laugh softly. His boyfriend seemed determined to nail down his style right away, here and now. Alex didn't mind. Eiryk was adorable when he got caught up in something.
He looked at the rug in question, and decided that this one was not only tolerable but actually kind of cool. He liked the wavy stripes on it, although he might have rather had some color in it.
"This one is pretty cool," he said, nodding. "Definitely closer."
He looked around but didn't see anything else that struck him at that moment; Eiryk knew what was where but Alex didn't. Nor did he really even know what he was looking for, not exactly. He sort of liked being tugged back and forth by his boyfriend though. Watching Eiryk in his work environment was interesting.
Eiryk answered with very sincerely, innocently, and slightly confused. Of course you could have retro modern. What was considered 'modern' in the 1950s or 1940s was now retro and it was modern so... retro modern. It was easy. Wasn't it?
He beamed when Alex liked the rug. Liked, not loved, but it was a start. OK he could work with that. Eiryk tugged Alex down and around some shelves.
"Whoops, no that is art glass. You can go down there yourself if you want but... it is a lot of inventory and not cheap.â€
Being aware of the price of some of the pieces he kept in storage, Eiryk very deliberately kept the more fragile things in the middle of the store room and he stuck to the outside edges unless otherwise necessary.
"One last try and then we're getting out of here. I think that Susan will probably be back soon and if I know her she will have a crisis.â€
She was a fine designer but had a tendency to panic if a client went at all out of her box. He prowled around the edges like a caged tiger until he came to some of the painting and then flipped through them until came to the one he was looking for. It was a contemporary artist who was still making a name for herself. She worked in mixed media usually water color and pastel and did landscapes. This piece was beautifully executed in Eiryk's opinion. It was a night set piece of the Canadian Rockies and managed to convey the sheer size and power of the mountains but captured some almost delicate details. It felt strong but with a soft edge to it.
"Truth be told I'm not sure I'm willing to let this one go to just any one.â€
[i]Even if Alex didn't like it, well Eiryk might add it to his personal collection.[/i
He glanced at the glass that Eiryk indicated, shrugging his shoulders and declining a closer look. He was content to observe from up here. He couldn't see himself decorating anything in glass. Glass was for drinking out of.
"Is she usually crisis prone?" he asked of Eiryk's co-worker. He could understand Eiryk's wanting to leave before more work happened though... Alex's plans for the few hours of wakefulness he had left did not include Eiryk working for all of it.
He looked at the picture Eiryk showed him. "Oh. That's pretty," he said. Alex might not be an art expert but he did kind of like it, and he was a fan of the mountains. "I like that."
He could see that hanging in their home, too. It was in a really nice frame, the artwork and presentation speaking to Eiryk's tastes but the subject matter really touching on his own. It was a nice balance of their two personalities.
Designers were artists and some of them had artistic temperaments. Eiryk didn't mind indulging them to an extent, she was young and learning and getting much better. She did have a way with people as well, she just needed a bit more confidence. Besides, you had to give her credit for only having her freak outs -away- from the clients.
"Let's just say I'd rather humor her next week."
He squeezed Alex's hand.
While he managed not to squeal like a little girl, Eiryk still did bounce up and down a little bit on the balls of his feet (a very little bit but undoubtedly Alex would notice). He was thrilled he now had a few ideas where to go with Alex's style and he should be able to incorporate it along side his more elaborate tastes.
Careful of the painting Eiryk still managed to half tackle Alex and kiss him deeply.
"Oh! This is going to be so much fun!"
Eiryk's delight in his approval of the painting was obvious, making Alex glad he'd said he liked it. He wanted to make Eiryk happy, and even if he hadn't liked the artwork (which he did) he wouldn't have cared if Eiryk used it at home or not. Alex thought any home Eiryk designed for them would be perfect because Eiryk was in it. Wther they did retro modern of french country or alien planet Alexander would just enjoy watching Eiryk decorate his heart out.
Life on a Viking ship had to have been tough when you were constantly having to design new curtains to keep out the sun, huh.
Alex just laughed at his partner's enthusiasm and squeezed his hand back. "Bring it along," he suggested. "I'm sure it'll fit in your back seat."
They were a decent distance from the Towers so they had come here in Eiryk's car, knowing he'd have a file to carry and possibly a few other things. "Let's get gone before your high maintenance person comes back."
He pulled Eiryk back toward the front of his office. There were still shops to look at while they were out; Alex wasn't quite ready to head home yet.
He didn't want to hang around any longer than necessary tonight. Taking Alex by the arm he did just that, left the paining on his desk and picked up the file Esi had left for him. With the file neatly tucked under his arm Eiryk guided Alex out the door giving a little sigh of relief that they'd managed to avoid most people.
"Well what did you think? Next time we'll have to have you meet everyone. You'll like that.â€
His team was fun. Even with Susan's occasional drama Eiryk enjoyed coming into work and sharing ideas and working as a group. It was quite a dynamic little work place given everyone's slightly quirky personalities. And there were at least two designers that he thought Alex might actually become friends with if introduced.
"Oh bother I meant to have Esi talk to you about yoga. Well it will just have to wait, some more. Now... where shall we head?â€
Eiryk, himself, chose to randomly head into the side of a building. He wasn't sure how that had happened, but like a pin ball he bounced back and kept going down the street like nothing had happened.
Alex, always prepared man that he was, kept the pinball action from being a total disaster and they set off down the strip. They did make good use of their few hours before Alex had to be in bed. they even got to bed.... well early.
((OOC... both out))