kevma - Tumblr blog

[kevma]

"Oh.. yeah," he fumbles slightly, though now he's also glad that it's covering his face so no one can see how red he's gotten. "I wasn't really planning on coming," he admits. "It's not really my thing, you know, the whole dancing thing. Requires functioning legs," he jokes, with more than a touch of self-deprecation. "But as you saw, Jessie and Ellie wanted to be here and my mom decided that was my problem. You know how they are."

Kevin's mom had never fully fit in with the rest of the Chinese moms, considering the glaring difference that she wasn't Chinese, and Dani's mom had been one of the few not to care as much. But unlike the Mas, people cared a bit more about what the Fengs were doing. Honestly, Kevin didn't know how Dani handled that kind of pressure all the time.

"Say hi to them from me when you see them," he lets her know. "But yeah, it's... a lot," he says with a slight laugh. Even in a suit, he still feels stiff and awkward, unlike most people who seemed to feel comfortable in the formalwear. He goes to say something else, to ask after Dani since it's been a while since they've caught up, but a loud, dramatized voice rings out to interrupt him.

He isn't sure he's hearing clearly, but the threat becomes immediately apparent. Kevin's spent enough time in hospitals to be unpleasantly familiar with the smell of blood. If it wasn't that, then it would have been the screams filling the room. "W-what th-" A running woman knocks into him from the side and he tries not to crash into Dani. "Shit, sorry, are you okay? Is this... I have to find my sisters."

"Yeah. Not terribly surprised to see you picked that mask, but if you needed something more formal, I would have been happy to help," she smiles. His Halloween monster look was... well, there were hunters here wearing just as garish and perhaps even tackier coverings. But amid the fabric, lace, feathers, and metalwork, it stood out like a sore thumb.

Danielle wonders how Jessie and Ellie are doing, both in general and with the event tonight. She wouldn't be surprised if they'd already learned something they otherwise shouldn't have -- but they'd end up forgetting before the night was over. Same as Kevin, though she's reticent to start spilling any important information to him.

His question makes her laugh. "Oh, c'mon, Kev. You know that whether I want to or not, I'm always technically representing both. But, I guess, this is more of a family affair for me tonight," she explains. "Jac's running around somewhere -- or, I guess running isn't really her style. I'd be surprised if she's anywhere but hugging a wall. Mom, Adrian, and the others are around too."

Dani looks around the room. "The glamour is doing a good job at keeping everyone hidden," she says, then pausing for a moment. "Like, the glamor, fancy-wise. I mean, I barely recognized Jac with eyeliner on even at home."

Innocent enough, that should keep it covered. Right?

[kevma]

Aria keeps denying it, and Kevin almost believes her. He wants to, but she isn't making it easy. There's an instinct at the back of his mind that tells him not to let this go. That there's something he's not seeing, and he can't tell if it's paranoia or intuition. Maybe he's making something out of nothing out of a fear of becoming irrelevant in Aria's life. She's different, even if she wants to insist she isn't, and maybe this whole thing is her trying to let him down gently.

The very thought makes him swallow hard but once he's had the thought, it becomes impossible to shake. It would make sense, her disappearing, and then when she resurfaces, she has a handful of new friends, new people she's associating with. The way she keeps Kevin at arms' length when she doesn't seem to have a problem letting other people in. The hurt is as plain on his face as the resignation, and he nods, clearing his throat roughly.

"Okay yeah. I think I need some space too." He takes a step backward towards the cab of his truck. "I'll..." Texting seems like the opposite of time or space so he instead just nods. "See you when I see you, I guess."

Aria flinches back, even though she knows realistically Kevin won't and - honestly - can't hurt her. She opens her mouth, closes it. "I'm not -" Her eyes roll and she shakes her head, "I'm not some android version of me, I'm still me." It defensive, to be sure, but she's tried so hard to be the same person she was before.

His conclusion can't be further from the truth and she knows she could grab him and compel him to leave, but she feels frozen and rooted to the spot. Maybe she should. Maybe she should make him think everything is perfectly fine. But then.. she wouldn't be her. She would be some.. Her mind turns to Autumn, and she feels like she might throw up.

"I'm not - No one's hurting me. The police don't need to be contacted, it's okay." He's sweet, and she knows he's worried and he cares and he wants the best for her. So she approaches and reaches for his free hand. "Kevin, listen to me. I promise I will tell you eventually." An empty promise, maybe. "It's just - I need some time." I need to protect you.

[kevma]

Autumn looks... rough is the only word he can really think of to describe it. There's remnants of blood all over her, but no open wounds, and she looks dazed in a way that he has seen in traumatized people and high people. Judging from the smell around her, she was both.

"Coping works," he rumbles as he sits down next to her. He doesn't think he's physically capable of leading Autumn out of the venue like this, not without getting one of both of them hurt, so he has to hope that Aria will come back soon for her, and he can tag along with them.

He almost asks Autumn if she still has whatever seems to have taken her on a fun ride, but decides that it's probably not a good idea to lose his mental faculties right now. But her question also throws him off balance. "In on.... it?" Immediately, he thinks about the vampire thing, but Kevin isn't sure if his very barebones knowledge counts.

"I... not really? I mean... I know Aria is... but I don't know anyone else," he explains, scratching his head slowly. "And I'm starting to think that maybe there's more than just vampires," he admits. "Makes me really feel like I don't know this fucking city at all. But my sisters wanted to come tonight and I thought... I didn't want them to get hurt." He doesn't elaborate on what he possibly could have done to stop it, but at least it didn't come to that. "I'm sorry, Autumn. I didn't think... it would be like this."

Trauma, reconciliation, marijuana, and, now introducing champagne-drunkeness, she has managed to simply phase out of proper existence by the time Kevin finds her, thumbing at a sore spot at the back of her bottom lip, her expression lost in deep thought and consideration of just... everything. She's progressed from terror, to self-blame, to mania, and now she is just... somewhere else, the taste of her own blood on her tongue lingering as she flicks it over the bite on the inside of her lip and lets the moon accompany her deep thoughts like a friend her mind can whisper to. Kevin's voice, at first, is a distant sound, muffled and far away while she sits in her little castle. Vampires can turn people into new vampires, so why doesn't she just... ask Aria to do it. Is it that easy? Kevin's voice cuts through the deep thoughts and dissociation and re-sociates her, causing her to jump a little. "Kevin...?" the mask clouds his face and mystifies his voice but she knows the cane. An unhappy half-laugh. "...I-ah, I'm just... copin." She doesn't even know where her mask is at this point, and Aria's told her to wait here for a few while she handles something inside - god knows how long ago that'd actually been. "I... she's inside somewhere." She shakes her head, thinking about how distant he's become. "Wait, why are you here? Are you.... in on this too?"

[kevma]

"Then something is going on," he says, pouncing on Aria's slip of the tongue immediately. "And you're not fine, no matter how many times you say you are. You disappeared for months, and I get that, I've been there. But ever since you came back, it's like you're still not here. Like you got replaced with some kinda android version of you," he continues, feeling quite literally out of his mind.

He refuses to back down, to let Aria placate him with words that he can tell are obviously not true. "No, the fuck it isn't!" he snaps back, feeling bad for it briefly but barreling through. Because a good friend might have let Aria sit back and hide in her lies out of fear of rocking the boat or trusting her to handle it, but a good friend also wouldn't let her drown in her stubbornness.

"Is someone hurting you?" he asks suddenly. If she can't talk about it, then that sounds like something dangerous, and suddenly Kevin wonders if Aria is regretting having moved to Port Leiry at all. "Do you need help? We can go to the police. I know some people at City Hall too. You don't have to do this alone."

Aria opens her mouth to respond and nothing comes out - she's frozen in indecision. Shaking her head, she just resigns herself to whatever is about to happen. They've fought before, but this is different. It feels like - if he knows then she's signing his death warrant. Him throwing Autumn's name into mix makes her wince, though.

"It's not that I don't think you can handle it." She knows he can. It's the issue that she's not sure if whoever turned her would break him, too. She wants to step forward, but doesn't. Her entire world feels off its axis.

"It's got nothing to do with Autumn, I promise. Really. I- I mean I like her, but that's not - I.. It's not that." She winces again, already feeling her voice take on a pleading tone. Aria knows she's already admitted to too much by even insinuating that there is something going on. "Please, Kev, just believe me when I say it's fine. I just - It's not something I can talk about."

[kevma]

closed masquerade starter who: @autumnshowell

He knew he must look terrifying with this stupid mask on, but he can't bring himself to pull it off, like the world's worst security blanket. At least people seem to give him a wide berth for it. He had found Jessie and Ellie and sent them home, and for once, they didn't argue with him. Meanwhile, Kevin had turned back inside to look for Aria, and he figured Autumn would be nearby too.

Kevin skirts around the outer edges of the scuffle, doing his best to avoid any altercations, and he spots a familiar head of brown hair sitting on a planter. "Autumn?" he asks, limping towards her. His fingers ached from how tightly he'd been gripping his cane thus far, and he knew that there would be hell to pay tomorrow once the adrenaline wore off. "Hey, what are you doing? We need to get out of here. Have you seen Aria?"

[kevma]

Kevin felt more and more out of his depth the longer the night went on. As masks fell away, he began to recognize some of the people mingling about as powerful people from the city, and areas beyond. It felt like a fever dream, with faces and names that he knew, but pasted onto forms that didn't make sense. Or perhaps they did, and he was not getting a glimpse of everything that had been hidden up until this point.

It was making his head hurt, even as he slowly made his way along the edges of the crowd. Kev thinks for a second about pulling his mask off but there's a certain comfort in it that he doesn't want to lose. So instead he just keeps his head on a swivel for his younger sisters.

When someone who is not either one of them slides up next to him, Kevin pauses. So far, the only person who had really approached was Aria because she had recognized his cane, and this one knew his name. Kevin's grip on the handle tightened briefly until the stranger introduced herself. "Dani?" he asks, confused on why his eyes can't seem to recognize the person in front of him.

He relaxes then, though pauses because what if Dani is also secretly a vampire? But then he remembers having quite literally grown up next to the girl so that couldn't be true. He wondered if she knew about this underbelly, or she was like Jessie and Ellie, thinking this was just some swanky party that the rich people threw. "Hey," he greets her. "Are you representing city hall tonight or just your family?"

closed event starter: masquerade for: @kevma

If her coworkers at City Hall could see just how many of their constituents were really vampires, werewolves, and witches, Dani wondered how many would up and quit the job entirely. Then again, she was fairly confident a number of them were here tonight, taking her only solace in knowing the mortals would have their memories of the peculiar specificities of the evening erased when the night was through. She wondered what the office talk would be like on Monday. But thanks to the glamour in place, she wasn't likely to run into anyone from work that would recognize her.

Those that didn't know about the glamour, though, it was another story. As the night went on, some guises were slipping, and if they weren't entirely maskless, then it was clear that masks had been removed and replaced, distinguishing features becoming evident beneath the molded filigree of fancy metals, cloth, and leathers. Dani was pretty sure she saw Jessie and Ellie Ma running around, and if she knew anything, Kevin was likely not too far behind. Probably not running, though. She clued in on a young man in a monster mask with a cane and could swear she remembered that from a Halloween past. Typical Kevin Ma.

"Hey. Figures you'd end up on sister sitter duty, Kev," she laughed, sidling up with a champagne flute in hand. "It's Dani, by the way. Just so you're not sweating under that slasher mask wondering who's who."

[kevma]

Kevin feels bad for his words briefly, knowing that's not how he meant for them to come across but understanding how they might land for his best friend. But if it gets her to finally talk to him, it might be worth it. He waits, hoping that she'll spit out the secrets she's been keeping, but she shakes her head and Kevin feels like he's falling all over again. Like he reached out for Aria to grab his hand and she didn't.

"We're not okay," he disagrees, his voice sounding too loud in his ears. He shakes his head and takes a step back, away from Aria. "You're lying to me or- or you're not telling me stuff. Because you think I can't handle it or something," he insists. "You're not h-here. You're always gone or distant or staring at Autumn," he waves his hand aimlessly. "That's fine if that's what you want, just don't fucking lie to me."

You're different sticks in her brain. It's not about that, or maybe it is. But it sticks. And repeats, bouncing around the walls of her mind. She visibly flinches and looks away from him for a moment. The thing most on her mind at the moment is that she can't tell him, no matter how much she wants to. It's not safe.

"I can't." She shakes her head, looking pained - "Just.. It's fine, okay? I'm still the same as always." Aria tries for a smile, but it doesn't quite work.

"All you need to know is that I'm okay, and we're okay, and it's going to keep being okay. I'm still here whenever you need me, whatever you need me for."

[kevma]

Kev's heel bounces nervously as he sits at one of the tables off to the side. He keeps losing track of his sisters, but he made them promise to at least stay together even if they didn't want to hang out with him. Apparently it was no fun to go to a party and sit in the corner all night. As though that's how he had planned to spend his night.

He hasn't talked to anyone either, and fortunately no one has approached him, though he nearly jumps out of his skin when someone greets him at that exact moment. "Oh fu-" he chokes, but tries to relax when Aria reveals who she is. "I... yeah, um Jessie and Ellie wanted to come," he explains. "Nice dress... Did you come with Autumn?"

closed starter for @kevma the masquerade

The cane caught her attention before the rest of him did - with that dumb ass Halloween mask she was sure that he wore two years ago. There was a moment where she wasn't sure if she should approach, or if he was busy, or here with someone.

Her stomach twisted at the thought of him meandering towards some of the more dangerous vampires, which is what spurred her forward. "Hey -" She starts, shifting around him, so her back is turned towards the crowd. "It's Aria.. I didn't think you were coming."

[kevma]

KEVIN MA — masquerade; august 2024

This is a last-minute decision by Kevin entirely, mostly made when he hears that his younger sisters plan to attend. Now that he's learned about Port Leiry's dark underbelly, he digs through his closet for anything appropriate, which includes a mask he used for Halloween three years ago. He leaves Saturn at home, but he hopes the cane helps give him a more distinguished look to make up for the rest of it.

[kevma]

Morgan's not like his mom, and he means that in a good way. His mom would push and nag and insist on things being done a certain way. Or try to overcompensate for his illness and act like he's incapable of doing anything for himself. Morgan lets him stand, as wobbly as that might be, and just takes care to be a safe place for him to land, rather than preventing him from trying in the first place. It's the kind of independence he didn't understand until he lost it, and he's grateful that she provides it without even having to say a word.

She mentions the crane game and Kevin smiles, nodding as he starts gathering up the tools to take over. "Yeah, if you want to go grab the key to open it up, I'll finish closing this one and can bring this stuff over," he offers. "I'll maybe even play a round to school them, show them it's just a skill issue," he jokes. His knees pop slightly as he moves, the new normal for him, but the dull aches feel a little less for now. He'll take it.

If it were up to her, Retrocity would be open forever. Not like, a 24 hours a day type of forever, but a 'well past her prime, even when virtual reality actually takes over everything else worth doing' type of forever. But part of the beauty of these things is that they were the building blocks of something new and different.

Nothing was ever meant to really last forever, not exactly the same as it was and always had been. Without that change, the movement of time, you wouldn't have progress. You wouldn't have nostalgia. You wouldn't be inspired to really live life, stuck forever in sameness.

At least, that's what Morgan thinks. But with the same breath, she understands that change, that lack and absence and need for growth is the same thing that's killing these machines. It's the same, unexpected, painful thing that took Bradley from her, and gives Kevin new pains she knows he's trying to push through. It's the same, onward crawl of the world that will someday leave her miles from where she started, waking up in an unfamiliar life that looks nothing like the one she remembers.

But all she can do now, all any of them can really do, is make sure to be present. Take care of the people and things that mattered, so maybe they could last a little longer before things really, really had to change.

"By ear. Got it," Morgan agrees. As much as she still sees him as a young man, Kevin is an adult too. She won't baby him, but she will do everything she can to give him the space he needs to make those decisions he needs without judgment and, hopefully, without guilt.

"Well, while you've got everything out, any chance you wanna tweak the claw on the crane game? I've got to rearrange the plushes inside anyways -- heard some kids complaining its grip was too weak and everything was dropping out. I mean, we're not gonna give them a freebie but maybe it's worth reconfiguring to see if that inspires any more confidence."

[kevma]

Kevin doesn't disagree, though sometimes he wonders if schools have also been making it harder. Because sometimes he looks at his little cousins' math problems and it doesn't resemble any kind of math he remembers. "Tough call, but least I get to catch up with you," he nudges her with a light tease. It was honestly more to get out of the house than anything, but at least it wasn't a total bust. "A little of this and that. Single player narrative games if the story hits good enough, flip between a couple different MMOs and have a dedicated group of raiding buds. But also sometimes a fella just wants to play tetris," he shrugs. "Why limit myself? No such thing as a bad video game in my opinion." He pauses. "Well, that's not true, but I'll give most of them a shot. You game?"

"Please, even if these losers went back to school they'd just flunk out." Lis scoffed, a chuckle leaving her lips as she thought back to the joy she felt in physically kicking someone out of the store. It was a wonder that she still had a job there. She didn't push more on the rolling for him during her break or after work, it was his decision and she wasn't going to force the matter. "Leaving the house with video games sat right there calling your name is a tough battle. Congrats on making it." The blonde paused, taking a sip from her drink. "What kind of video games do you play, Kev?"

[kevma]

The air is muggy as he stalks out of the bowling alley and he doesn't even have the satisfaction of being able to walk out on two steady legs. Another thing he didn't know how to miss until it was suddenly gone. He can hear his heartbeat in his ears, heat behind his eyes at the tears that want to come out and he angrily blinks them away. His truck is sitting innocuously a couple of feet away from the entrance and it's another unwanted reminder of everything.

Aria follows because of course she does. She's a good friend, his best friend, and she's worried about him. It's right and normal and it feels different from what he remembers and he can't understand why. Aria looks at him like she thinks he doesn't notice, like she's afraid of him. Afraid for him maybe. He can't tell and that's the problem because they've always talked to each other, even through menty bs and literal physical breakdowns, and he didn't know when that changed.

"What the fuck is going on, Aria?" His voice breaks slightly at the end but he barrels through. "With you. You're different and I don't understand." He can't put his finger on it, can't identify what exactly about his friend that sets his instincts on edge but he hates it, hates this feeling of unease that he shouldn't be feeling with her, hates this distance that has suddenly seemed to spawn between them.

It's all going to shit, Aria can tell - she's terrified of telling him the truth, terrified that he'll look at her differently or think she's a monster. When he gets up, she pulls her lower lip between her teeth and chews and chews until it bleeds. It heals so quickly that it's almost as if nothing happens - and before she can try and call out to get him to stop, to say something - commotion from a few lanes down catches her attention.

Laughter at him falling. He's leaving, and she hesitates - if only to glare at the high schoolers and flash fangs at them before jogging after him.

She purposefully doesn't use her speed to catch up, only waiting until they're outside.

"Hey - are you okay?" Aria gestures to his shoulder, worry written on her features. "I have some ibuprofen in my bag, I can go.." She gestures back, trailing off.

[kevma]

Kevin could feel his patience starting to run thin as this other guy clearly was trying to get a rise out of him. But eventually he at least does half of what Kevin asks and he relaxes his shoulders slightly, fingers loosening their grip on his cane. "Yeah, I do actually," he said. "See? Wasn't so hard." He steps closer, just to kick the rest of the glass towards the wall where it might be a little more out of the way.

Kevin turns toward the bartender and waves. Lyle knows him as a good tipper and he figures no good deed should go unpunished, even if it was like pulling teeth. "What was your actual order, dude?" he asks.

"I was not planning to, no, as it is not my job to do so." Liam pointed out. "Now... if they want to pay me an hourly wage to do it, then maybe I would." He said as his eyes shifted from the other, down towards the glass at his feet.

"I'll get my drink whether I pick up the glass or not. I'm a paying customer." A pause. "Or, well, maybe they should give the next drink to me on the house, seeing as how they fucked it up to begin with." It was a joke. Mostly. He knew that wouldn't happen, especially since he'd just broken a glass.

He let out a sigh, stooped to the ground and picked up a couple of pieces. He then placed it on the counter in front of him. "There, do you feel better now?"

[kevma]

It's a normal night, filled with flashing lights and ringing bells, the one place in the city where Kevin feels like he can be in his own skin. Even in his own bedroom, there was still the latent worry that his mom or his sisters would barge in with barely a knock. Not that he was even doing anything incriminating, but it left a feeling of being watched that he couldn't shake. At the arcade, there was none of that. Even when Morgan was there, he felt comfortable and it's the same feeling he has tried to give to everyone who walks in through the double doors.

Someone complained about Mortal Kombat eating quarters so he'd been fiddling with the wires for twenty minutes before deciding that whoever complained must have just been shit at the game because he couldn't find any issue with the machine. Shaking his head balefully at having gone through the trouble for no reason, he turns as someone calls his name. He's expecting that one of the regulars needs his help with something, but a surprised grin spreads across his face when he catches sight of Tal.

"Hey!" his voice is exuberant as he quickly wipes his hands clean on a nearby rag before struggling to his feet. "Holy shit, I can't believe it's you." He manages the handful of steps towards her and his arms are around her in an instant as he squeezes tight. "When did you get back into town? You can't text and give a guy heads up?" he teases as he steps back to look at her properly. "You look great."

Where: Retrocity Arcade Who: @kevma

It had been two years since she visited the place everybody at campus had been talking about - and so Tallulah had been dragged along to explore the arcade that came to hold a special place in her heart. Many nights of fun had been held here. Many nights that had Tallulah forget about the restrictions from home. Many nights that contained dancing around on arrows until she couldn't feel her feet anymore, that had her more often than not totally accidentally shoot the puck out of the air hockey table. It was all so nostalgic - the sweet memories she'd made in Retrocity.

Not to forget the sweet connections she'd made along the way, too.

Back in South Africa she'd kinda gotten lost in life there, slowly letting go of the connections she had kept in her phone. That's what long distance did to people, life went on, time zone differences were rough on friendships and eventually words died on people's tongues.

There's a few kids scattered around the place, having fun, fingers moving rapidly on buttons on the machines that Tallulah walked past, she wanted to capture this moment that seemed so similar to the memory she had of this place. Her eyes took in everything she possibly could, even moving around her own axis before her feet wandered towards the air hockey table. Her hand caressing the side of the table, fingertips smoothing over some new scratches before her eyes captured a figure familiar to her.

''Oh my goodness -'' her breath gets stuck in the back of her throat for a moment, causing her voice to break, ''Kevin, is that you?''

[kevma]

He laughs at Levi's jab. "If I've given you the impression that I'm sweet, I've done something wrong along the way," he jokes. It's hardly true. Kevin has tried to project an image of machismo and strength in the past, has played the part of the bully much to his own shame, but that side of him had slipped away long ago. "Besides, I'm just being honest," he shrugs. "Mildred's kinda dated, and not in the cool way like Levi is," he shoots back with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes.

He moves to sit as the other man gestures, leaning his cane against the back of his chair. Mildred lets out a disgruntled chirp as he shifts her in his arms and jumps away, making sure to smack her tail in his face while doing so. "I think she might have heard me," he said with a stifled laugh. "But nah, Saturn's got no competition, she's my best girl. My sister's been talking about getting one though," he remembers. "They're supposed to be low-maintenance too. Don't gotta walk them or anything, and they let you know when they need stuff." He's an avid advocate for pets improving people's lives if they were capable of having them. "You'll want to invest on a good lint roller though. Or stop wearing black."

"Oh Kevin, there's so many grandmothers in the world who's feelings where so hurt by that." He places a hand to his heart in half-assed sorrow. "Where is the sweet boy I signed an autograph for?" He laughs, more a smile and rocking shoulders than a sound. He can never really explain it but Kevin always seems to lighten his mood. It's probably just because he's so genuinely pleasant to be around.

"I haven't really made any decisions yet. I might not even get a cat. This is primarily a scouting expedition. Learning the enemy and all that." He sips his coffee, that is so bland, and gestures for Kevin to join him. Fuck it, why not? "What about you? Should Saturn be nervous about keeping their job?"

[kevma]

Kevin stares at his friend as she takes the ball from his hands with remarkable ease. She's lying to him and it prickles at the base of his skull. Aria was the one person he didn't hide things from. She had been there at his most vulnerable, when he was dragging himself to doctor's appointments between classes and dropping thirty pounds because he couldn't keep anything down. She'd been there even when he refused to tell his parents, trying to push through it even if in the end, he'd been pulled back to Port Leiry.

He doesn't say anything as Aria bowls her last round, a perfect strike as Kevin had jokingly predicted, only he doesn't smile or cheer or congratulate her. His brow is furrowed, and she only looks more suspicious as she avoids his eyes. The longer she tries, the more frustrated he gets.

Kevin takes his own ball, feeling flushed under the collar at how it still feels heavy in his grasp, yet it was nothing compared to the one Aria had just thrown. He pulls his arm back and sends the ball down the lane, but in his haste, he overestimates his balance and slips on the very edge of the lane, his shoulder slamming roughly into the ground.

It jars him, steals the breath from his lungs and he lets out a quiet groan as he pushes himself up. He can hear quiet laughter from a few lanes down, a group of high schoolers doing a terrible job of hiding how they're pointing at him. His pride stings as much as his shoulder and Kevin hobbles back over to their chairs and grabs his cane. "I need some air."

Aria shakes her head as his voice booms, unable to the fight the heat rising from her cheeks - and takes the ball from him lightly. To her, it feels little more than a ping pong ball and stares at him confused - genuinely thinking that he's putting on a joke until she looks down at the number etched into the ball.

Eyebrows raising and eyes widening, she splutters a bit. There's literally no excuse she can think of off the top of her head and instead, she lets out a nervous laugh.

"Yeah. Totally. Wheaties." Turning, she marches down towards the lane and rolls it, heaving it from between her knees, and somehow manages to knock them all down. "Nooooo, damn it, I was aiming for the one off to the side."

The machine calculates up their score and she turns to look at it, very much avoiding Kevin's gaze.

[kevma]

"Yeah and there's still broken glass everywhere, unless you're planning on picking it up," Kevin points out, unbothered by his aggressive response. He'd known and been around guys like this his entire life, and they were all the same to him. Kevin turns just in time to stop another patron from walking over the puddle of beer and glass, quickly pointing down at the ground in explanation.

"C'mon man, don't be a shit. Just pick up the bigger pieces and ask the bartender if you can throw them in the trash." Kevin's sure that there would be worse on the floor by the end of the night, but it doesn't seem wise to leave the mess as is. "It'll take what, two minutes? And maybe you'll get your drink then too."

"Endanger everyone?" Liam scoffed at the other and then shook his head. "It's not like I fucking threw it at someone. I simply dropped it at my own feet. If anything, I endangered myself." Not that he cared about that, either. Liam tended to welcome physical pain.

The wolf pressed his lips together into a thin line and tilted his head from side to side, as if he was truly pondering the other's statement about apologizing. "I don't think I will. You can on my behalf, though. Have at it."