log - too tired for title whee - closed to B1 and A4, open to those likely to wander by

[conning]

Who: B1: Closed to Neal and residents; A4: open to B1 and those who wish to poke their heads in because socializing and open doors
When: Early September--on a Sunday and then the following Wednesday. Why the following Wednesday? Idk man I just picked something.
Where: B1 on Sunday, and A4 on Wednesday IG???
Summary: Meredith invited Neal to visit, and Neal suggested making it a mingle for both apartments. Then Malcolm invited Neal over and Neal decided to do a solo trial run or something like that.
Warnings: Not at the moment. except possibly meredith giving neal a shovel talk


B1 - SUNDAY

Okay, well, he meant to make it simple. But then he got carried away, because that's who he is as a person. So here is Neal managing two coolers, one slightly smaller than the other. He has to set one down in order to knock on the door.

The coolers themselves contain tiny servings of about a dozen different dishes, from tiny seasoned steak slices of varying doneness to little onigiri stuffed with lightly salted salmon. If it's stupidly elaborate, feel free to assume there is some dressed-down (read: locally available) version available in miniature.

The other cooler has small bottles of cheap wine and those little paper cups that barely hold a mouthful. He sets the wines with the foods that pair best.

Look this is who he is as a person, okay? At least he's dressed normally--turquoise sweater, close-cut jeans.

[ SUPPLY ACTIVITIES AS YOU WISH, both with Neal and each other. ]


B1/A4/Passerby - FOLLOWING WEDNESDAY

Okay, so the tiny food was a bit much. Only God can judge him.

At least this time it's a plain old cook-out with a grill on the patio of A4. Yes, the grill items include salmon, chicken, and... tofu in several marinades including citrus-chipotle.

Only God can judge him.

There's also a spread of perfectly ordinary salad-shaped objects and tiny pickles et cetera inside on the kitchen counter.

[ SUPPLY ACTIVITIES AS YOU WISH, both with Neal and each other. ]

Comments

[retisense]

Well, that's a shame. If she had any idea that Malcolm wanted it that way, she'd make sure to tease the hell out of Neal.

"Nice to meet you. And yeah, yeah I live with Neal apparently. And a talking cat. Shit's wild. You live here?"

[abrightboy]

It would probably become obvious at some point, if she paid attention, since hiding his crush on Neal wasn’t going spectacularly well.

“Not… here here. The apartment you were at on Sunday. My roommates are Meredith and Tim. I got lucky in that respect.” He glances out the balcony doors at Neal. “I guess you did too.” In the context of his crushing crush, that sounds like too much of an admission to his own ears and his gaze snaps back to Abby, quickly adding “Because of all the gourmet cooking,” as he gestures to the table. He puts a piece of chicken on his plate he can probably only eat half of. “So. A talking cat, huh?” he remarks, changing the subject.

[retisense]

Thankfully, she's perceptive enough to notice. Or maybe not so thankfully, for both men involved.

"Oh! I don't know Tim, but I met Meredith, she seems cool."

Pretty, too, but she's not mentioning that. After a moment, she follows his gaze out to Neal and hears that timbre in his voice when he says she got lucky too, and then the quick way he adds the detail about gourmet cooking.

"Yeah. Good cook and not so bad to look at. If you're into that kind of thing."

A little smirk, and she pops another bite of tofu into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully and swallowing before she speaks, "Yeah. It's kind of weird, and super cool."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm glances at Neal again, then looks at Abby.

“Are you? Into that sort of thing?”

[retisense]

That gets a little laugh out of Abby.

"Me? Hell no. I used to think so but at some point I just realized like, why would I want to be with a guy when I could be with a girl? No offense."

[abrightboy]

"None taken," he assures, glancing in Neal's direction again, then refocusing back on Abby. "Are you seeing someone back home?"

[retisense]

Well, there is definitely something going on there. Time for some gentle interrogation.

"Me? No. Just haven't found the right girl yet, you know? Besides, I have a lot of baggage. You?"

A little pause, and she leans in, eyes bright.

"Or is Neal the sort of thing you're into?"

Okay. Maybe not so gentle.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm opens his mouth to respond, then closes it, then gives her a tight self-effacing smile.

“Doesn’t really matter,” he shrugs casually. “He’s not that into me. Which is probably for the best,” he admits. For Neal, anyway. “I have a lot of baggage, too.”

[retisense]

"Mhm..."

It's quiet, and somehow both understanding and a little teasing. Abby's eyes flicker back over to Neal and she shrugs, "You seem really sure of that."

If he is, that's fine, she's not going to go interfering on that level, not enough to actually check in with Neal. She'll just be...observant. Right.

"Baggage sucks ass, doesn't it?"

[abrightboy]

“I am really sure of that,” he tells her. He shifts his weight. “I asked him out. …He said ‘no’.”

Her observation gets a huffed bark of laughter. “Yeah; it really does.”

[retisense]

"Seriously? That's lame. You're a cute guy, you'd think he would've given you a chance. Did he say why?"

Okay, so maybe her nosiness is showing just a little.

"Right? The worst part is that it's just impossible to get with someone who doesn't have baggage."

[abrightboy]

He blinks at her at ‘you’re a cute guy’; it’s not something he hears much. “Uh, yeah. He said he’s not in a place where he can… be in a relationship. So. We’re going to just. Hang out.”

He laughs lightly at her observation. “Good point, though some people have less than others.”

[retisense]

"That sucks. But hey, who knows, maybe he'll get into a place where he can be in a relationship, eventually?"

It sounds kind of pathetic, like that one specific type of song she hates, where there's some guy pining uselessly over a girl who doesn't like him, singing about how much better off she'd be with him.

"Ugh, I take that back, the whole pining around waiting for someone to want you back is overrated. There are plenty of fish in the sea? God, that sounds even worse."

[abrightboy]

He holds up his hands.

“No, honestly. I’m fine. I’m not really relationship material, anyway. It’s totally fine. No pines, no fish. I’m fine.”

I am now watching Prodigal Son thanks to Jae.

[retisense]

Well, that's not super convincing.

"You know what, me too. Maybe we can be just be those cool single friends?"

A laugh.

Yessssssssss good!

[abrightboy]

“There you go,” Malcolm agrees. “We’ll… be that.” He glances out at Neal, then looks at Abby. “If he asks nicely, he can hang out singly with us.”

[retisense]

That makes Abby laugh, and she shakes her head a little bit.

"If he asks very nicely, and offers to cater our single hangouts. The man can cook, that's for sure."

[abrightboy]

"Yeah..."

Malcolm manages to stop himself from looking too wistful as he takes one more glance outside before shaking it off and taking a small bite of food.

"You know, we should do a movie night or something. Invite all the roommates."

[retisense]

It's really kind of sad, watching this guy pine over Neal, and she definitely makes a mental note to herself to ask Neal why he's got his head up his ass about the cute guy with the big eyes who seems to like him so much. Malcolm seems like a really decent dude.

"Oh MAN! That would be great. We can load up on popcorn and Skittles and everything. What kind of movies do you like? I'm personally a big fan of cheesy horror movies with the ghosts."

[abrightboy]

“Horror movies are good for watching with a group of friends,” he tells her, and it’s not really an answer to her question, but she’s lost him to a psychology tangent now. “The frights are almost like a trauma-bonding exercise. Studies show people feel closer after watching one together.”

[retisense]

Well, that's an interesting tangent. She'd hate to hear what he'd think of her if he knew her whole history.

"Trauma-bonding, really? Huh, that's interesting. How do you know that? Were you a psych major or something?"

[abrightboy]

“Yes. At Harvard. And then Quantico,” he replies.

[retisense]

"Whoa, that's some serious chops you've got there, Malcolm." she says, her voice genuinely impressed, "So what did you do for a living?"

[abrightboy]

"I was an FBI profiler for ten years. I specialized in serial murders. Then I was working as a consultant on homicides for the NYPD before I was brought here," he explains.

[retisense]

"Oh wow, now that is one of those objectively cool jobs, unlike architect."

She shoves her hands into her pockets, shaking her head a little in obvious admiration.