Blast from the Past ((Brad))

[mailynnclarke]

~~~~~~~~~~

Mai awoke to a drizzly day. Sitting up in her bed she leaned against the wall behind her and looked around. It had been five months since she had moved into the small home in Port Angeles, Washington. She often missed the other pirates that had become her friends in her years at sea, but she needed to be on land for awhile now. Who knew, she might even meet someone new in the port.

The front of the small home Mai owned was large and opened onto a side street. This room was sectioned off from the rest of the house by a heavy oak door. The previous owner of the home had made the front into a small shop. Mai liked the idea of running a shop, but of what kind she had no idea. For now she kept the heavy door closed and the windows blocked out. She used the back door to come and go from the house and the rest of the place had more than enough room for her. There was even another small bedroom upstairs.

Getting out of bed Mai made her way into the kitchen and set a pot of coffee to brew. The coffeemate machine was one of the few technologies that she enjoyed. Her home had no TV but did contain a stereo; though there were very few CD’s to go along with it. As the coffee brewed Mai moved back into her bedroom and set about changing. She picked out a pair of worn army green cargo pants and a crème colored tank top. She planned to make a trip to the docks today. Her name was well known by the traders who docked in the port but rarely was there any work for her now a days. She needed to find an honest job soon or she would begin to spend her days wandering aimlessly around her home.

The coffee maker beeped as she was tugging the shirt over her head. Flipping her hair out she went and poured the coffee into a mug and sat at the table drinking it black and listening to the sounds of the port outside.
As the clock struck ten A.M. Mai pulled on her ankle high black boots and settled her daggers and knived in their proper positions. She pulled her black duster from the closet. It was a perfect fit jacket that went right down to her ankles and just brushed the ground. It kept the knives at her sides and the black sheaths along her forearms hidden from view. And while she might not have felt the cold, it kept it off her to prevent her from coming down with a cold.

Closing and locking the door behind her, Mai set off through the small port town for the docks. She wanted to look around and maybe find a trader that was willing to work with her in selling something in her front room. Little did Mai know that when she left the house that day many things in her life would change, beginning with a blast from her past.

[brad]

The day had just about started but Brad was already exhausted, he'd just got his new place and was still busy unpacking all the boxes, still unable to see the floors through all the clutter and still hungry from the previous day. He awoke on his couch, draped over the dusty blue cushions in the most uncomfortable of angles. He sat up, holding a hand against his head and looking around.
He ruffled his hair and sighed, it would be another long day of sorting, organizing and working, just as he was about to set to it his stomach let out a low grumble, he couldn't help but stare in shock at the volume of it.
"Well I need food...." He said softly to himself, scanning the room for anything that look edible, only to realize he'd just unpacked the fridge and had yet to fill it. Another sigh and he began to scratch through his stuff until he found an old pair of jeans, no stains thankfully, and a black T-Shirt that was just slightly too tight. He walks slowly toward the bathroom and washed his face, looking up only to see how bad a shape he was in. His hair was all over the place and covered in dust. Quickly he undressed and showered before getting RE-dressed and fixing his hair.
"Geez so much just to go eat..." He complained softly as he walked toward the door, grabbing a jacket on his way. In it's pockets he found his fighting gloves, he smirked and slipped them on before swinging the jacket around him.

He went outside, finding a still dark sky greeting him at 10 am, he'd need to get used to this, apparently it was like this even in the summer here, he didn't mind, he was just more used to glaring sun beating down on him. He stepped out, almost forgetting to lock his door. The smell of salt water was thick in the air and he suddenly had a craving for a seafood breakfast. He smiled as he began walking toward the docks, he'd only been there once, when he arrived, choosing to go by ship was pretty nice, but he had all his stuff brought over by plane, and this was his first day in his own place, having had stayed in a hotel the past few nights.
He expected to find at least one nice restaurant by the ocean side, and they should be open by 10 AM, or so he hoped, in not he'd just go for a nice jog or something till they were.

[mailynnclarke]

~~~~~~~~~~

Mai walked confidently through the streets, the salty smell of the ocean bring back memories of battles at sea and of sailing for days on end with nothing but ocean in sight. Sighing a bit she did smile to herself. She enjoyed being on land for a change. She went down to the docks and talked with a few of the traders. She brought up the idea of selling things in the town and a few told her they would keep their ears and eyes open for anything that might work for her. She thanked them and walked towards the pier with the ocean side shops and restaurants.

Her stomach was beginning to cramp, though she did not feel the pain she felt the pressure of it and decided to get some food. Walking onto the pier she froze. A scent hit her nose, one that rose above the salty sea smell. The distinct scent of ferret. Her eyes darted around the pier looking for its source. If the scent was coming from the only person she had ever smelt it from, things were about to get very interesting. Her eyes finally settled on a man wandering the pier looking for something. Her eyes locked on him and she moved through the slowly growing crowd with grace, coming up behind him. Upon being this close to him, his scent was unmistakable. A slow smirk spread across her lips as she spotted the tip of the scar at the base of his neck that she knew ran down his back. “Brad….”

[/color] she muttered softly just behind him, knowing he would hear her.
[/center]

[brad]

I light breeze was blowing through his hair as he strode, his hands stuffed deep in his pockets, clenched into tight firsts, not from the cold, he was actually pretty comfurtable, but simply to have a feeling of something. He looked around, seeing more and more people arrive at the port every second, it was getting a little too crowded for his liking, but he was still hungry and his stomach still had the odd growl, making him focus on only trying to track down the scent of food.
While sniffing something odd came to mind, he had to stop and sniff again, even close his eyes, he could pick up an old scent, a rodent, he ruffled his nose, was there a rat around?
He looked around for the source, but on second thought the scent seemed at least a day or two old, so he simply shrugged it off, but as he walked the scent grew stronger, and he found himself following it without even thinking.
He got to a spot where he could have sworn it was standing, but there was nothing, he stood still for a minute and realised the wind was blowing, it must have been a scent from elsewhere that just came to him now.
“Brad….”
He froze, it wasn;t possible, that voice...and now her scent streamed in as well, but, no, it couldn't be.
He spun around and stared her in the face, total shock sweeping over him as he recognised her. "M...Mai..?" He asked, taking a step closer and squinting his eyes, was it really her? How could it be? Why would she be here of all places?

[mailynnclarke]

~~~~~~~~~~

Mai let a rare grin spread across her face, a grin that reached her eyes making them sparkle. The shock she saw spread over his face amused her. It truly was astounding that they managed to meet again. ”In the flesh.”

[/color] She said in response to his saying her name like a question. Laughing she grabbed his arm and spun him around pulling him gently with her towards what had become her favorite place to eat. “Come on, I’m hungry.” [/color] She walked in, dragging him behind him and moved to a table in the corner by the window. Sliding into one of the booths she motioned for him to sit across from her.

Once he was seated she grinned at him. “What’s it been? Seven years since we went our own way?” [/color] She was genuinely happy to have run into him. Over the three years the two had spent training together, he became the only person her age that she connected with and made a true friend of. She could remember at one point in the past wistfully wanting it to be more. “So what have you been doing all these years? And when did you get into town?” [/color] She asked as a waitress came over to give them menus and take their drink orders. Mai ordered a water and began looking over the menu, even though she knew she would more then likely get the same that she always got.
[/center]

[brad]

He was truly taken by surprise and the fact that she was being to fast about it, and seemingly not very shocked to see him was very strange to him. She grabbed him by the arm and began pulling him towards a restaurant, which he didn't mind, he was hungry too and it brought back a ton of good memories of the two of them, he was so head over heels for her he'd et her push him off a cliff just to see what would happen...which actually happened once. Luckily by then he had near mastered his were side and could heal nice and quick in his human form.
He walked into the building and sat opposite Ami, watching her intently as she spoke, still not speaking, just trying to accept that fact that she was there, in front of him, after so long.
"Yeah, seven I think." He said, staring at her maybe a little too intensely. He snapped himself out of it when the waitress appeared, ordering a chocolate milkshake, something he seemed to be craving before he turned to look at Mai again, she really was leading the conversation it seemed, which he was fine with.
"Me I just recently moved here, was traveling around, met a few new masters, trained a little bit, you know me, never stop working." He said, stretching his arms up and flexing his muscles, feeling his shirt hug him tightly. A huge smirk on his face and he tried to toy with her.
He turned to look out the window, resting his head on his hand.
"How about you? I by the smell of things you've been here a while, and i just thought the town had a rat problem at first." He said, smirking over to her, trying to tease.

[mailynnclarke]

~~~~~~~~~~

She nodded as he spoke about what he had been doing. “You always were training more than me. Yet you still couldn’t beat me could you?” She teased him, her grin fading from her face and being replaced with a simple smile. It truly was a surprise to see him but it was something she thought might happen at one time or another. But she had thought it would be more of them passing each other by as they met at a port and both were only passing through. She never imagined them living in the same city together.

Mai made a face at him about the rat comment. “I’ve been here for about five months now. Have my own place off on some of the side streets. It’s not big but it works. When we separated I went back to the town by the shore and stayed for about a year doing my ‘work’. Met my own master of sorts, taught me about chemistry and such. Then I ended up on a boat for two and a half years. A pirate boat at that.” She laughed and her eyes twinkled when she mentioned her ‘work’.

The waitress came back to take their orders, Mai ordered a cheeseburger and fries. While she loved seafood, having eaten fish nearly everyday for almost three years it got a bit old. After the waitress left with both their orders Mai turned to look at Brad again. She took everything about him in, studying him carefully. He had certainly grown up in the past seven years and she had to admit to herself that he was still handsome to her. “So…are you planning on sticking around in town for awhile?”

[brad]

He just grinned as she mentioned how she beat him, he tried to act tough, but he knew full well she'd kick his ass all over the place, partly because he knew he'd never be able to hurt her, emotionaly of physicaly. He smiled softly in reply to her expression, she seemed very happy, which was a good sign. Brad sorely missed the old days with her, he'd try to impress her in every way possible, only to embaresse himself too deeply to be pulled out, hoping she'd just ignore things.
He couldn't help but be totally immersed in her as she spoke of her work, she had a certain aura about her and a twinkle in her eye, she obviously loved her work, and damn, a female pirate. Brad snapped himself away from picturing her, blinking and looking off down the isle of the restuarant.
The waitress came by, dropped their drinks off before taking their orders. He gestured for Mai to order first and grinned when she said she wanted a burger and fries, she seemed so girly at times, yet she orders a burger.
"Oh burger, very sexy." He teased before grinning to the waitress and ordering a mini seafood platter. He turned back to Mai, sipping on his milkshake as she spoke. Swallowing hard to clear his mouth to be able to speak.
"Me? yeah, I just moved to my new place, so I'm gonna be living here for a little while." He said, smiling lightly at her, very happy with the idea that he'll be living so close to her, for the first time in a long while.

He picked up his glass and sipped lightly as he looked around, it was an basuc eating place, a few tables, about half full, not much was going on, which was nice, but slightly boring, which when you're still half alseep is a good thing. Brad put his glass down and yawn lazily.
"oh, uh, sorry, long night last night, haha," He said, looking toward Mai again, a tiny smirk played his lips as an idea flew into his head.
"Say, you wanna do something after this?" He asked, leaning against the table, stirring his milkshake with it's straw. He could just imagine them hanging out together again, he'd been doing it for years, and now he actually had the chance, possibly taking her to his place afterwords. Brad blinked a few times and looked away, having to snap himself from the thought, she was a friend, nothing more, if she had wanted more back then, he wouldn't be in this situation, a silent sigh left him as he took another sip.

[mailynnclarke]

~~~~~~~~~~

Mai sipped her water through the striped straw for a moment before using the straw to spin the ice around in it. She had noticed something about herself since she had come back to being on land. She was becoming more civil. She chuckled to herself about the thought and looked from her water to Brad. He yawned and she laughed a little at it. “What were you doing last night?”

[/color] She asked with a smile and a raised eyebrow. Chuckling she spun the ice around in the glass once more before leaning back against the booth and stretching her legs out under the table. She rested them on the booth next to him.

“Sure.” [/color] She responded nodding. “What exactly did you have in mind?” [/color] She asked thoughtful. Her eyes studied his face as something changed in it, for just a moment but there was something. What had that been about she wonder. She wouldn’t mind hanging out with him. She missed having someone she didn’t always need to have her guard up around. Though thinking on that fact she wondered if he was still someone she could trust. They hadn’t been around each other for seven years. A lot could change in seven years. Her mind drifted with these thoughts as her eyes moved from him to look out the window. Whatever he said next, about what he wanted to do passed her by. Hearing him call her name she blinked and looked at him again. “Oh sorry. What was it that you said?”[/color]
[/center]

[brad]

He just chuckled at her asking about his night. "Haha, I'll tell ya later." He said, winking, hopefully this would make her see he wanted to hang out for quite a while. He smiled sweetly as she agreed to go out, and he actually had to take a little while to think of what to do, he couldn't take her back to his place...well not yet, he chuckled and looked up, she seemed lost in thought, a light smile playing her lips. He wondered what she was thinking about.
"Um, wanna go to the beach or walk down the docks?" He asked, remembering she liked the ocean, she did move to a port after being a pirate after all. Another chuckle.
He waited for a response, but it was silent, he blinked worriedly. "um, Mai?" He asked, but still nothing, he looked away, scratching his head, wondering if she was ignoring him or just so deep in thought she lost his voice.
"Mai?" He called louder, leaning into the table, his eye brows raised, finally she turned to look at him, apologizing.
"Haha, it's okay, wanted to know if you wanna walk the docks?" He asked, curious on what she was thinking but not wanting to go too deep into her mind.
Suddenly their food arrived and a large plate covered in all kinds of shell fish was placed before him.
"Aaah food." He said, rubbing his hands together before thanking the waitress and picking up his fork.
He placed a few muscles into his mouth and chewed slowly, savoring the taste. He swallowed and looked to Mai. "Gosh I missed real food, trained high in the mountains, all we had to eat were Yak...do you know, how dull it is to eat Yak, morning noon and night?" He asked, remembering one of his many training outings.

[mailynnclarke]

~~~~~~~~~~

Mai chuckled at his comment about telling her later. She really did wonder what he had done last night. She slowly became lost in her thoughts until he called her name twice. The waitress then came by with their food before she could answer question. She smiled at the waitress as she placed the plate with a large burger in front of her. She thanked her as she walked off. Grabbing for the ketchup Mai nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.” She took the top off the burger and squirted some ketchup on before replacing the bun. Pushing the fries around she made room on her plate for the ketchup. Closing the lid she replaced the bottle and picked up a fry.

She laughed at his comment about yak. God was she glad she wasn’t like him with the constant training. “Well you should spend less time in the mountains and more time in towns and cities then.” She teased, popping the fry into her mouth. She sat munching fries for a moment wondering what she could bring up as a topic. She could always ask him what he was into now in the way of music and such. But that just didn’t seem like her. An idea popped into her head suddenly. She looked up from her plate and stared at him for a moment. “If you had a shop what would you sell?” She asked, totally randomly. The idea of opening the shop up in front of her home was still buzzing in her head like an angry bee. Her work truly was dying off in this city but she was beginning to get tired of the consent moving. She had already seen the world in the past two years. Very few places stuck out in her memories, everything was beginning to look the same. She was hoping a change of pace would change that.

[brad]

Her comment on him spending MORE time in cities actually made him shudder, he was still wierd around most people, and now she wanted him to spend MORE time? Well he was going to be living here now, so it was kind of nessisary for him to get used to people.
He watched as she seemed to drift into thought again, he couldnt help but stare, she got this look when she was in deep thought, suddenly she turned to him and asked a question.
“If you had a shop what would you sell?”
Brad stared for a few seconds, was she serious? It was an odd question, but he wasn't about to just sit there and let it go unanswered.
"Well, uh" He looked away, scratching his head, a few things sprung to mind, some causing him to chuckle, knowing she wouldn't appreciate it, even as a joke. He looked back to her, still thinking and took a bite of food until finally it hit him, he knew what he'd actually do, but he wasn't really sure on telling. "You, um, you need to promise not to tell." He said softly, his eyes flashing to her and away. He waited for her to agree and then slowly, softly.
"I'd, um...open a pet store.." He said, hanging his head low and saying it just loud enough for her to hear before coughing shyly.

[mailynnclarke]

~~~~~~~~~~

She smiled at his shudder. She knew he didn’t really like people or cities. She was the opposite. She enjoyed getting lost in a crowd. Though she did have to admit they most likely had at least one way that related to people that was alike. They both didn’t know how to truly interact with them. She was confident in herself and the things she said, which often put people off and made them label her as a snob. She didn’t mind too much though. She may have liked being in cities, she didn’t mind being alone. Or so she made herself believe. Her heart was starting to tell her other things, things that were oh so foreign to her.

Mai raised an eyebrow at his chuckle, wondering what his first thoughts had been about the question. She watched him curiously as she took a bite of the burger, he was watching her also while he was thinking and she couldn’t help but stare into his eyes for a moment. They reminded her of sweet dark chocolate. She grinned at the thought before he spoke, telling her she had to keep his idea to herself. She nodded, giving him a soft smile and leaning in.

"I'd, um...open a pet store.."

[/color]

She leaned back grinning at him. She liked the idea and thought it over in her head. Slowly the smile on her face turned to a frown. She liked the idea and all, and if the store wasn’t part of her home she would have begun setting it up. The thought of the smell of a pet shop was the only thing that stopped her. She wouldn’t be able to live there. “I love the idea…”[/color] she started. “But you see, if I do open something…this shop is part of my home. There’s this large front room that the last owner used as a shop. I don’t think I could take the smell of a pet shop every day.” [/color]She said laughing a bit. She smiled at him, hoping she hadn’t upset him. The thought of books seemed to be the one that popped into her head most often. She had her own collection from all over the world from her travels. Reading had become something to do on the long boring days at sea after her chores and workout. She took another bite of her burger, elbows resting on the table’s edge.
[/center]

[brad]

He watched her smile at his idea, it was nice she liked it, made him feel proud that a friend didn't shoot down his idea, but then her face dropped, and so did his, but as soon as he heard her reason he understood. "Oooooh, I thought you were being retorical, no I get it, don't wanna smell rats all night." He said, teasing his and taking a sip from his drink with a large grin on his face as he took a shot at her.
He recalled them having a slight rivalry, and actualy missed it, hoping she'd shoot something back at him.
He took another bite of food before looking around the table, until his eyes fell on the bottle of hot sauce, he leant over and grabbed it, putting it by his nose and taking a tiny sniff. He shut his eyes and swallowed hard as the spicey scent ran down his throat. He turned it over and covered his food in it, the smell was wafting off of it and Brad didn't hesitate to eat quickly, the hotness nearly hurting him, but enjoying every second of it.
He looked up to Mai, put a shrip on his fork and poked it towards her.
"Try it." He said with a small smirk, pushing it closer to her.
"I dare you."

[mailynnclarke]

~~~~~~~~~~

She laughed and raised an eyebrow at his comment before looking at her plate. “Aww…well that’s too bad, guess we won’t be spending any long nights close together.” She said smirking at him and taking another bite of her burger, leaning back and watching his face as she chewed.

She blinked watching him grab for the hot sauce. She chuckled as he closed his eyes at scent, it was strong, she could smell it from where she sat. She watched him pour the hot sauce all over his food. She raised an eyebrow at him as he quickly ate a bite. Watching him stab the shrimp and dare her to eat it she laughed and leaned forward, biting the shrimp off his fork. She chewed for a moment before nodding. “That’s not too bad. Gives it lots of taste.” She grinned and she wondered if he still remembered one of the few things that limited her. One of the reasons she still ran every night and kept herself fit.

She took another bite of her burger; she was getting down to only having a bite or two left and her fires. Her stomach was starting to fill up. She glanced at his plate as she took a drink of his water. She didn’t want to finish too much ahead of him and make him feel rushed to finish.