#malachi.

Malachi DuBois was what you'd call a dessert afficionado. He'd never met a sweet treat he didn't like. Still, every now and then, he attempted to be good. Good was boring, in his opinion, but he was sure that his body had different ideas especially the older he got. Now, he was closer to middle aged than he was to his twenties and he needed to take better care of himself. That was what he told the patrons at the gym, and it was about time he started taking his own advice. So, he was starting small with smoothies; they were sweet enough that he could pretend that he was having dessert while being healthy enough that he could convince himself that he was being good. The fact that Main Squeeze was essentially Swolemates' next door neighbor helped. Maybe he could talk to the owner about a collaboration of some sort in the future. "So, he said," addressing the person nearby, "what's good here?"

" nobody can contain themselves around infinite's IT boy, huh. i don't blame them, but i'm a little concerned over tidal. members fighting over a boy? sad. and not to mention kai, poor baby. . getting tossed to the side like that. "

       annalise was so sure she had made a mistake when choosing to sit in this bar. although she had to get out to meet people, to boost her connections when she felt so lonely, she was really struggling to form any. she had been stand-offish at the start of the night and came to regret it as all that approached her were now either being rude to her or others. it had got to the point in the night where others started to get rowdy andit did made her feel slightly uncomfrtable. although she was facing the bar, every now at them her eyes would flicker to give ther perpetrators a scorning look. she would think as to why people had excused that kind of behaviour but she had excused worse. still, that didn’t stop her from casting judgement and downing the last of her drink. it would have been so much better if she had been with her best friend, armande, but lis had to take responsibilty for her actions and that wouldn’t happen. she was going to write the whole night off, yet another one that she looked like a fool. the woman didn’t know what it was looking for but she felt more alone in this bar than she did her penthouse.

Malachi was itching. Not literally, of course, but he may well have been. The need to get on a plane and go somewhere anywhere was like a physical itch under his skin. It got like this sometimes… Whenever he’d stayed in one place for too long. He hadn’t left Denver since he’d returned settled here fifteen years ago. He’d told himself that he’d had to stay – for his brothers, for the friends he'd made, for the business he was building – but the more time that passed, the less legitimate those reasons became. “So here’s what’s going to happen,” Mal began, balancing the weight of the dart in his hand. “I get on a plane to where ever this bad boy lands. You’re free to join me. Or not. Your choice.” 

This was a stupid idea, Malachi thought as he clutched the small potted plant in his hands. Between his schedule and Athena’s exuberance, this little guy was doomed. Still, his house needed some brightening up and plants were the easiest way to that, weren’t they? “For clarification purposes.” he began, turning to the person beside him. “Cacti are virtually indestructible, right?”

Avoidance was Malachi’s go-to coping mechanism. If he could avoid a situation forever, he would. Unfortunately, as much as he wanted to, this particular situation couldn’t be avoided any longer. Kassandra deserved an explanation, even if Malachi wasn’t sure he had one to give. They'd gotten drunk and had hooked up. They were both consenting adults. It should've been easy -- a one time oopsie kind of thing that didn't need much of an explanation -- but Mal couldn't help but think that he'd hooked up with someone that he'd tried to set up with his best friend. Granted, it hadn't been a conscious decision on his part. He hadn't set Kass and Vince up only to then attempt to sabotage any chance of a budding romance between them. Still, he felt guilty, but Mal could feel guilty about just about anything.

So, in the spirit of tackling the situation head on, Malachi had invited Kassandra to the Spring Carnival with him. This way, they could both talk and avoid without any awkward moments. "Thanks for meeting me," he greeted, one hand coming up in an awkward sort of wave. "I figured it was time we talked and it doesn't hurt to have carnival food while doing that."