Peace, Love, Wine? (Kai)

[Jade Parrish]

While her roommate Kristina worked at this store, Jade could not bring herself to shop here. It was actually her first time here, walking in the doors just a few short minutes before close, knowing that the certain tall Asian with ridiculous abs that she'd once paralyzed was working, a tip from Kristina, but she was here. There were too many things eating her alive and what she'd done to him was one of them, even if she thought he was overall slimy, apparently he had a heart, according to her roommate. And so she'd went to the place where she'd knew he'd be and was carrying a bottle of wine in her bag, a peace offering that she was hoping he'd at least accept at the very least. Maybe she'd get to have a coversation with him, maybe not. But the store was closing down and so it was the perfect time. Unless of course he threw her out of the store.

She walked towards the back of the store, attempting to look interested in the racks of clothes which were incredibly out of her price range and way too designer-y. Jade liked thrift shops and so she felt out of place and annoyed, but she was also looking for Kai.

[Malachai Roen]

Things were... Pretty stressful at the moment for Kai. Despite the fact that he'd finished and presented his thesis on meta-human biochemistry (something that had been stressing him out for a while), there were other things going on in his life that were making the normally calm and collected man a bit frazzled. In his professional life, it was that he had been offered a manager position at From the Spectrum, a rather prestigious position given the store's high-end nature. However, there was also a opening for a research position at Hammel, which wouldn't pay as well but was something he really wanted to do... Hell, it was what he studied. It would be easier to have that part-time job while he went to grad school anyway. And it wasn't like he needed the money... But still, it was a dilemma. They really respected him at this store, and he had a lot of connections due to it.

In his more personal life, Kai had been struggling to figure out what to do about Zach. He was... Relieved that they weren't pretending they didn't have feelings for each other now, and had enjoyed what had happened on the camping trip, but... Now what happened? Were they boyfriends? Was it going to be serious? Ugh, he needed a drink...

He was in the back of the shop, going through the clothing and sorting things out. It was a constant chore - seriously, rich people seemed worse at putting clothes away the right way than regular folks. Kai was oblivious to who was looking for him, which was probably good; he might have hid in the back room from embarrassment and wariness had he known Jade was in the store.

[Jade Parrish]

Jade made her way through the store, only running her hands along the expensive designer fabrics and once checking a price tag, something she really regretted. Mostly she was trying to find Kai without seeming like she was looking for him.

She'd spotted his familiar head of hair, his nearly damn perfect hair, a few racks away and she impulsively grabbed a random dress off of a nearby rack and held it up to herself. It might not even be her size and she didn't even take the time to look at it and see if it was something she'd even wear, but who cared? She couldn't afford it? She sauntered over to where he was bent over a pile of clothing he was folding. "Excuse me," she began, voice unwavering. "Is this my color?" She at least knew it was blue.

[Malachai Roen]

Kai took a glance at his watch - oh thank God, his shift was over in less than a half hour. He was in serious need of a night to relax and sit back and have a glass of wine or three. Hopefully his boss wouldn't want to keep him around after to chat about his new position offer...

He was stewing over this when he heard a voice addressing him. Kai didn't even register that it sounded familiar as he turned and automatically did a look-over, like the trained professional he was. "It's very nice, but I think a shade of darker blue would better suit your complex-" Kai halted as he finally recognized who was talking to him. "Oh, uh..." His professional facade faltered, and he stared at her warily, uncertain what to make of this unexpected appearance. "Jade, right?" he asked slowly. "It's, uh... Nice to see you...?"

How did one greet the person that had paralyzed him upon first meeting, and then saved his life by calling an ambulance later on? Even Kai wasn't sure about this one. "Are you just shopping or...?" Something told him the answer was no.

[Jade Parrish]

"Won't that just make me look even paler? I'm not going for a Bella from Twilight thing here," Jade replied, snarkily playing along, even though Kai definitely realized it was her in the middle of his advice. She didn't even care. She wore black all the time and she was pale as all hell.

She moved the dress away from her and absently set it on a nearby rack, not taking her eyes of off Kai. "Please tell me you're just weirded out by me being here, but you actually do know my name, because that's kind of offensive considering I have just as nice of a rack as you do abs," she pointed out, taking another step closer. "Come on, Kai. Say what you actually want to say." Instead, he made a question out of 'Nice to see you.'

She realized she should probably cut the bullshit and get to the point. "No..considering I can't afford anything here." Like your evil spawn of Satan sister pointed out to me. "I'm here to see you, because I was a dick."

[Malachai Roen]

"Pale skin isn't bad..." Kai said weakly, still trying to keep up at least a little bit of a professional front. "And with your dark hair, the contrast would be very... Beautiful..." He held in a sigh. It was obvious his mind wasn't on clothing and appearance right now.

The employee in him winced subconsciously as Jade put the dress on the wrong rack, but he wasn't going to mention that now. "N-no, I... I know who you are," Kai sighed this time, pinching the bridge of his nose. The last thing he needed was this girl coming in and making his day worse, as he assumed she was going to... "It's just... Unexpected. Especially since the last time I saw you, I was disoriented and being rushed away in an ambulance." Kai paused and looked up at her. "... Thank you, you know. For saving my life and all." Hopefully that would at least keep her from spitting whatever venom she had certainly come here with at him, right?

But then... "What?" he couldn't help but blurt out. What Jade said was just... Incredibly unexpected. "U-uh, well..." Damn, Kai hoped none of his coworkers were nearby to hear him stammering like an idiot. He glanced around just to make sure. "I mean... I was sort of out of line that first night too," he finally told her, quietly. "So... I guess... You're not really to blame. And you... More than made up for it by calling that ambulance."

What was this? Kai admitting he'd done wrong? Were pigs flying too??

[Jade Parrish]

"Well, thanks, but that's really not why I'm here," Jade told him, although he probably already knew that. "So you can stop the fashion advice. Save it for another day. Or someone who actually needs it." Because let's face it, Jade knew how to dress. "I can't afford shit here anyway."

"You're welcome," she told him. "It wasn't a big deal. I just dialed three digits. I'm not heartless." And contrary to how she acted, she didn't think Kai was either. "But you don't have to feel obligated to thank me. I did what I was supposed to do. It wasn't a hard decision."

Was he that shocked that she was apologizing? "Man, you must have really thought I was a bitch if you are this shocked by my apology." Yeah, he was out of line. But Jade also had almost wanted him to be so she had a reason to do what she'd done. Then again with the ambulance thing. "Kai, we both know that you're just using the ambulance thing as a reason to excuse what I did." And it was bullshit, as she'd already established.

"I knew you worked here because of Kristina," she told him, finally getting to the point.