INFINITESIMAL

kenneth didn’t quite know how to articulate what is was exactly that he felt towards nina, whether it was intrigue, fascination or infatuation; the specifics of his feelings escaped him. this of course was something that he did not particularly enjoy. but however he tried, something kept him drawn to wanting to spend more time with her, and possibly learn more as he did. that exact desire is what had led him to appearing at her doorstep that evening, with notice of course- a whole fifteen minutes of it since he had text nina before showing up; not exactly waiting for a reply before he left. an uncharacteristic smile lit up his face at the door opening, as he held up the bag in his hands which held a container of homemade pasta he’d promised and a much more enjoyable wine to wash it down. “ hope you aren’t busy, if you are i can just drop off the pasta and head off but the wine does stick with me unfortunately. ” kenneth chuckled at his own joke, “ also - not exactly confident in my cooking so you might actually need the wine to get rid of the taste. ” he was half-teasing, while probably edible his cooking skills were just wavering on the edge of actually being enjoyable; had it not been for him perhaps looking for an excuse to show up at nina’s kenneth would have rather opted for a chinese takeaway than his own recipes.

“a writer? god know,” she tossed her head back with a laugh, “words aren’t my thing.” but in response, she pushed her sketchpad over toward the other man, “tattooist– i’m trying to come up with some nice flash designs for these walk-ins i’m being forced into doing for the time being.” across the page were several traditional style flash pieces, all in blackwork which she considered her speciality. “sometimes it’s like i stare at the page though and no matter what i draw, it just doesn’t look right or feel good– and if i don’t believe in the art, how can i expect someone to get it on them for life.” laiken sighed softly. the mention of vodka caused her to raise a brow, and despite it being mid-afternoon and definitely far too early to be having a drink, she pushed the cup and saucer toward the man. “i’m trusting you that it’s going to be nice, but if it isn’t then you owe me another coffee.” she teased.

kenneth’s brows raised as he learned of her tattooist occupation, unable to stop his mind going straight to thinking of how it could be an intriguing profession for one of the newer characters in his script that he was trying to flesh out. he let out a light laugh, “ oh i’m sure you must get all kinds of oddball walk-ins on a friday night, wow- ” kenneth paused, taking in the drawings spread across the page she had show him. “ these are seriously really good, perhaps i might end up being one of the oddball walk-ins myself. ” chuckling again as he looked back up at the other “ well if it isn’t to your tastes how about i buy you a proper drink instead? proper as in one that doesn’t involve coffee beans- unless of course espresso martinis are your drink of choice? ”

paris rolled her eyes some when the other had caught onto her and she had thought that she had a pretty good pokerface but apparently this problem was just bugging her far more than she ever intended it to. two dumb decisions and now she was worried that everyone was going to find out about it and see what she was really up to behind closed doors. that wasn’t something she wanted the world to see. “thanks.” she said with a soft laugh and took one from the pack. “have you ever done something like, spur of the moment because for a moment you thought it’d be a good idea. then you let it happen and you’ve gotta worry about everyone figuring out what the hell you did?” 

kenneth produced a lighter from his pocket, looking at a free table outside- “ shall we head outside for a smoke then, i’d rather just stay here but i don’t know how kindly the waitress would take to that idea, however attractive she may be. ” he joked, in an effort to perhaps lighten the mood slightly. kenneth nodded as he thoughtfully considered her question- there was a number of occasions that of course sprung straight to mind. but he was never one who wished to reflect on his guilty conscience for too long. “ i have to say, yes. i’ll spare you the details of all of my spur of the moment missteps but my advice? there’s no point worrying about people finding out until they do. and just another note; you don’t look like the type to have committed a murder or anything of the sort. so, unless there is a major crime i don’t know about- honestly i just say fuck what people think. ”

“Bottoms up, man. I’m not here to judge you at all,” Noah stated when the stranger spoke. He took a sip of his coffee, “it’s 12 o’clock somewhere.”

kenneth grinned at his response, “ and now that- that’s the kind of attitude i like to see. ” he chuckled lightly, taking another gulp of his own drink; grimacing only slightly as the strength of the alcohol. “ hmm, the trouble is my internal clock seems to always think it’s that time. ”

Anthony sighed heavily as he listened to his assistant’s voicemail. He was hoping his assistant, Micheal would be relaying some information about an upcoming show they’d been trying to arrange however his luck seemed to be coming up a bit short. They hadn’t been able to get the go-ahead from some artists because of one thing or the other and the deadline was quickly closing in. He was starting to lose hope that the show would be happening which meant all his most recent work of collecting art pieces might just be in vain.

He couldn’t help his attention being pulled somewhere else though as he watched as the man sitting at the table outside thee coffee shop he was planning to go into slipped a flask from his pocket and poured what Anthony could only guess as some alcohol into his coffee. Honestly he wasn’t even bothered by it and quickly deemed it as none of his business until the man spoke up, almost stumbling over his words to form an excuse.

Placing his phone in is pocket, he lifted his hands in a playful surrender, “Listen, I don’t judge.” He reassured, following it up with, “I don’t drink either, so, enjoy.” Anthony squinted at the man. “Do I know you?” He asked, trying to put a name with the very vague face. He’d met so many people, so many artists in his life and honestly he was never good with remembering faces.

kenneth let out a slight sigh of relief when he wasn’t met with the judgment he was expecting for so publicly indulging in one of his vices. “ well, thank you for that. ” now feeling comfortable enough to lean back in his chair, taking another satisfying gulp of his enhanced coffee. although his laid back demeanor was shot upon hearing anthony’s question. surely it was just him making conversation, right? although kenneth couldn’t help his mind from jumping straight to worry that he was being recognized from a certain viral embarrassment, once again. working hard to maintain a nonchalant appearance kenneth smiled at the other, “ i moved here just over a month ago, perhaps we’ve bumped into each other around town before? ” he suggested, “ or maybe should i recognize you? looked like you were dealing with some important stuff on your phone over there. ”

naturally, laiken’s eyes seemed to fall on whichever attractive man was in her nearby vicinity. this time, it was someone she hadn’t seen here before (but then again, being new herself, she was often seeing different faces that caught her eye). she tried to be subtle, taking little glances here and there, but when the man upulled out a little flask in the coffee shop– well, laiken couldn’t help but to stare. she raised a hand to her mouth, disguising a small giggle before the man clocked her and she held both hands up in innocence. “i’m not saying anything, i think i should get some tips because it’s a smart move.” she teased. “i know what it’s like to be on the end of a creative block,” laiken then said, before her lips curled into a playful smirk as the shot was offered out, “mm… it depends on what it is exactly because this is a caramel latte and i don’t want to taint it.”

kenneth felt a sense of relief when he wasn’t met with the harsh judgement he had expected, and perhaps had grown accustomed to over the last year. curiosity raising further as she related to his creative block- and being ever intrigued by anyone who shared his own interest in more artistic endeavors kenneth had to ask “ ah, are you a writer yourself? or what’s got you stuck in a block, if you don’t mind my asking? ” he leaned forward as he engaged in the conversation, resting his chin on top of his hand. “ today’s vice is vodka. grey goose, in fact- none of the cheap shit. caramel and vodka sounds like a good pairing if you ask me. albeit i’d probably try anything with vodka so, i’ll leave it up to you. ” kenneth smiled, placing his flask on the table incase she wished to take him up on his offer.

“you’re joking.” jon said, almost questioning the man as he said what he did. and the the audacity of him calling jon an asshole. sure, he definitely was one of the biggest assholes and definitely privileged people he’d ever met in his life. but being called out on it never set well with jon. being called an asshole one too many times in his marriage was something that sent him over the edge and caused him to get the hell out of there. but now this? and in the mood he was in, jon was having none of it. “i’m not being an asshole, actually. these people are here to do a job, their job is to handle my expensive furniture and belongings with care, as if they were their’s. and they weren’t, i saw a guy tossing some of my boxes to another and that just don’t sit right with me. especially when i’m sure that entire truck load of shit is worth more than they’ll ever make in two years. and i know for a fact, had someone been tossing your things around, you wouldn’t be too pleased either, man.”

kenneth raised his eyebrows at the suggestion of him joking, an insinuation that other times would have been almost always accurate- just not in this case. while kenneth’s own fifteen minutes of fame did rise to his head and stroked his ego massively; growing up with a more modest beginning always held him back from being as materialistic or unemphatic towards those working for him as some of his counterparts in los angeles could be. while he found it hard to relate to the other’s anger, kenneth was interested by the sense of entitlement he displayed, tilting his head to the side as he thought about incorporating that kind of trait in one of his characters. “ yeah well, you can still advise them of how you’d like the job done without being an arsehole about it, you know. ” kenneth shrugged, cheekily grinning as he tried to egg the other on. “ well someone wouldn’t have been handling my stuff in the first place, i’d just carry it myself- you know like most of us common folk do? ”