Heatwave [Alex and Trace]

by **Grimm** Fri Aug 17, 2012 4:03 am

The Dusk Lodge was a ghost town today.

It had gotten to the point that Alexander had contemplated between sending his people home and going upstairs to crash in his bed or just leaving the place open and going upstairs to crash in his bed, since the rate at which people were trickling in and out of his bar had become less than desirable.

The A/C was kicked on and the establishment was relatively cool on this hot summer day, but he figured people didn't want to come since he didn't offer much in terms of refreshment. Everything he made was hot foods that most people would rather have once the sun set, but he didn't really offer very many desserts. Or maybe it was the fact that he charged for water after the first glass? It was something he thought about fixing, but not one he entertained for too long.

The sound of the door being pushed open caught Alex's attention for a moment, but the man barely lifted his head to glance over at the new patron. His people would take care of whoever it was, since his attention had already waned and drifted back to the racy book he was reading. His legs were flopped over the armrest of the chair near the rarely used fireplace as he sat in his work uniform, shades removed, but the usual headband he wore was in place which gave everyone in a bar a good view of his violet, cat-slit eyes. He was the owner, so he figured he could do what he wanted. If people didn't like it, well, there were still at least a couple thousand people in the city he could cater to if they felt the need for a drink.

by **Trace** Fri Aug 17, 2012 10:53 am

It was so hot that Trace almost couldn't remember where he was and why he was walking in the middle of a heatwave. Not that there was much to remember in the first place-- he'd just got up and lopped off in a random direction. No rest for the wicked, it seemed. Once a wanderer, always a wanderer. Or something like that at least. But the heat. Why? Just why? The Devil must have been doing renovations because once or twice-- Heck, it was a lot more than that-- Trace was sure he was wading through seas of the damned left to burn for eternity, rather than walking across the West District on a summer day.

And he'd forgotten to bring water with him for a reason that escaped him in this heat (if he even had one in the first place). So when he found himself walking down a path and there were steps and a building in front of him, he wondered why on earth there was a building in the middle of the street. But he didn't question it, and a cursory glance up did nothing to dispel his foolish (and heat-stricken?) notions.

The first thing he did when he got in was collapse in one of the nice, cool chairs by the (thankfully empty) fireplace. A nice, cool, air-conditioned chair. Or wait. Was it the.. room that was air conditioned? Yeah, it's hot okay? Shut up.

"Does anyone have a glass of water?"

by **Grimm** Fri Aug 17, 2012 1:25 pm

"Does anyone have a glass of water?"

Alex glanced up from his book. Of course the person that wandered in had to come sit by him. There were two armchairs to sit on near the fireplace, along with a loveseat that sat across from it, and he seemingly choose to pick the chair that was directly across from Alex (both chairs were kiddy corner the fireplace and love seat, a wooden table sitting neatly in the middle of everything). The boy seemed like he was dying of thirst, but Alex made no rush in ordering one of his people to get him a drink.

Alex didn't like kids.

However, after careful consideration, he figured that having a boy die in his store would be bad for business. He whistled for a girl that was cleaning one of the tables and gestured for her to come over. "Pitcher of water and two glasses," he told her when she got over to the pair before letting his eyes drift back to his book. The thing about prejudices was that it took people a while to get over the fear of Harbingers, but if the girl seemed a little on edge for any reason, it probably wasn't just that. Alex, on most days, wasn't the easiest person to work for. Or the nicest.

When the girl returned with the glass and the pitcher, Alex cast a glance back over at the boy to see if he made any movement. Just because he seemed like he was dying didn't mean that he couldn't help himself to the pitcher. The girl was courteous enough to pour them each a glass before setting the now chilled glasses on coasters, but Alex didn't move to drink his yet. Instead he just watched the boy a moment longer before turning back to enjoy his book.

by **Trace** Fri Aug 17, 2012 1:58 pm

Most of what happened completely flew over Trace's head. Whoops, still in a daze from the heat. But there was no way that he could mistake the sound of water being poured into a glass. Oh, no. Most certainly not. As fast as he dared, he reached over and grabbed hold of the glass, downing it in a few seconds flat. The thing about thirst, though, was that sometimes when you're really thirsty you end up gulping down a drink and ending up with a full belly but a throat still as dry as sandpaper. Which was the case currently-- though not the full belly part. Usually when he got this thirsty it'd take a couple of glasses before he got to that point.

Despite the fact that it did absolutely nothing for his thirst, the effect of his body cooling down was immediate-- Oh, hello there. When did he wander into this joint in the first place? He leaned slightly towards walking off the road in a daze and into this... parlour? Lodge? Yeah. It was that or someone slipped something into his drink and he just woke from some kind of weird hallucinogenic dream.

Nah, the sun wasn't quite hot enough for him to believe that for a second.

It dawned on him that there was a person sitting across from him. A living, breathing person. That shouldn't have surprised him as much as it did. But then he was walking for hours in a bajillion degree heat. That was perfectly understandable, right? Yes. Perfectly. Oh right. Yeah, person sitting across from him. Yes. Sociable. That's totally a thing he can be right now.

God, he was so out of it.

"My hero."

by **Grimm** Fri Aug 17, 2012 2:20 pm

"My hero."

Hero. Not a word that Alex liked, since he was far from being deemed as such. "Heroine," Alex corrected, hooking a thumb back at the girl who actually poured the drink, "She poured it. Not me." Saying as much probably didn't matter, but Alex didn't like it when people misunderstood thing. Sure he was the one that ordered her to do it, but that was just splitting hairs at the moment. And since the boy's brain was probably scrambled because of the heat, the least he could do was correct (or instill his own twisted since of correction in) the addle minded youth.

Licking a finger and turning a page in his book, Alex glanced back at the boy and saw that he had already finished his drink. Sighing, the man snapped shut his book and set it cover-side up on the table. It depicted a couple draped in bedsheets on the front with the man's head seemingly trying to devour the woman from the neck down. The title was one of those forgettable trashy romance novel titles that no one ever remembered the name of, like 'Caressed by the Wind' or 'The Feverish Kiss', but he was only reading it to kill the time. They were a bit of a guilty pleasure of his, even if he could get the real thing whenever he wanted with Karis.

Reaching for the pitcher, Alex poured the youth another glass and set it back down. "This glass, however, I did," he said before reaching for his and taking a drink himself. He'd rather have been knocking back glasses of Scotch, but it was too early in the afternoon to even consider drinking in his mind. Being 'nice' Alex decided not to charge for the extra glass or the ones that came after it, but only because it felt like you'd catch fire if you took a step outside. Not because he was actually trying not to be an ass.

by **Trace** Fri Aug 17, 2012 2:55 pm

"Ah, yes. Heroine. Forgive me."

Trace flashed the man a smile-- It was comforting knowing that at least he hadn't lost the ability to do that. He observed this guy for a few moments, possibly buying time and hoping that his conversational skills would return because a two word reply was just... unsettling. Then again, the dude didn't seem to be in so much of a conversational mood-- Or maybe that's just how he was-- if the book in hand was anything to go by. But then he suddenly closed the book, as if he'd seen the train of Trace's thought, and set it on the table, face up and-- Oh my god, is that what I think it is???

He decided he liked this guy. Not many people would be reading that kind of thing in public. And definitely not comfortable enough to practically show off the cover to anyone willing to look. But then again, he owned the place didn't he? Or at least he had the air of someone big and important with the way he'd called over the waitress. And when he poured Trace another glass, well, how could he not like this guy? They were practically best friends already!

"This glass, however, I did."

Trace couldn't help but fire one of his signature grins. He didn't hesitate to reach over and knock back the glass, sighing audibly when he was done. Water. The most beautiful thing ever invented. Even if water wasn't a thing that was invented. Still. Most beautiful thing ever award. They should make water the mayor of this District

"I see chivalry isn't dead," he mused, still grinning. Yep, looks like he was nearing 50% of his normal self. And just in time too. That was an opportunity that didn't just present itself regularly, and it would have been a damned shame if he'd missed a chance to respond. But all in all, things were looking pretty good. Promising, even. It struck him right then that he was almost like a parched puppy, lobbying for it's master to fill the bowl. He couldn't help chuckling to himself.

by **Grimm** Fri Aug 17, 2012 3:34 pm

"I see chivalry isn't dead."

"I wouldn't consider it chivalry," Alex drawled as he set his glass back down before pulling out his pack of cigarettes. "It just isn't good for business to have someone keel over dead in your establishment." He gestured for an ashtray and the girl from earlier had brought one over to him. He was the boss off the place, but he may as well have been the king. The building was his castle, this chair was his throne and the upstairs was his chambers. Everyone else were the peasants or his servants. He didn't usually start working until dusk when the bar came alive, since his tending skills were the best in the building, the rest of the time was spent either idling or leaving the store to his second in command as he roamed the city.

Pulling a cigarette from the pack, Alex patted down his other pockets for a lighter and grimaced when he couldn't find one. He must have left them in his other non-work pants, but he didn't feel like going back upstairs to fetch it. He also had a thing about sending people up to his room too, because that (again) was his domain. The only people allowed up there were the ones he brought with him and Karis, since he didn't like people rifling through his stuff and making a mess. So after a sigh, he placed it back in the pack and pushed the ashtray away, his agitation creeping into his expression.

Settling backwards into his chair and pulling the headband out of his hair, Alex let his hair fall back to frame his face. Violet cat-slit eyes watched the boy for a moment longer before drifting back to check out some of the patrons and see where his workers were. A beat later and he glanced back at the boy. "If you want something to go with that water, I hope you have Credits." There was a limit to being nice, after all. His skin was starting to crawl from all the free drinks he was giving away.

by **Trace** Fri Aug 17, 2012 4:53 pm

Trace shrugged slightly-- to each his own, he guessed. But he did chuckle at the second part. It wouldn't be good for business, indeed. He decided then that, yes, he liked this guy. And it seemed that he was also right about him being the owner of this place, if the way the waitress leapt on command -- like a show dog -- was anything to go by. King of the castle and such. The place was pretty fancy actually. Not bad. He might come back (Fuck yeah, free water!) sometime, you know. Just to ~~annoy the hell out of~~ chat up this guy. Yes, sounded like a plan.

Trace decided to take the opportunity to observe this guy. A smoker, it seemed. One who couldn't find his lighter. That made the corners of his lips twitch upwards. He has the 'I don't give a fuck" look down to a science. Kind of impressive, actually. All laidback in one of his own chairs, ordering his staff around like maids and reading romance novels. This guy knows where it's at. He could try and match him at his own game, but then what would even be the point of that? It's clear which one of them would win. Hands down.

And then the hairband came off and Trace raised his eyebrows slightly. Well, then. Undressing in front of a patron? This is moving a bit too fast for me. He did look better with his hair framing his face now. If he was going for a certain look with the hair and the cat eyes -- a nice touch by the way -- Trace had to grudgingly admit that, well, he nailed it.

He perked up when the other mentioned food though. Food. He hadn't eaten breakfast, had he? Oops. Now that he mentioned it.... Food did sound sort of good right now. He could hear his stomach growling right now. It was all a ploy. A cleverly crafted ploy. Pretending to be nice to your poor, helpless customer and then getting them hungry enough to spend a fortune on food.

"Of course. I wouldn't dream of coming into such a fine establishment without any means of paying."

by **Grimm** Fri Aug 17, 2012 6:25 pm

Alex's eyes narrowed at the kid across from him. He was also good at observation, even when he only paid half attention. Growing up on the street and self-educating yourself after running away at a young age made him that way. He was probably smarter than half the idiots that came in here anyways, more resourceful and cunning too. It didn't mean he hadn't finished school, however, since the man had finished out school when he was older and everything. He wouldn't have had the Lodge if he hadn't, anyways. The former owner made sure of that.

But really, sarcasm was all too easy to pick up on when you were fluent in it, unless the kid was either telling the truth or being a smart ass. Alex liked the 'being a smart ass' option better, since it gave him cause to snark at him. Even if he would have snarked at the boy either way, since that was just how he ~~rolled~~ was.

"You seemed rather out of it to come in here by choice. But I suppose you can have anything you want to eat. You'll just have to work off the difference if you don't have enough Credits," Alex returned easily, his lips twitching into a slight smirk. It was always nice to have more slaves, even if it was only temps. Folding his hands in front of him and kicking up a leg and crossing it over his other, Alex's lips curved further. "So what'll it be....?" he asked, leaving the question open-ended in case the ~~future slave~~ boy wanted to fill in his name or place his order.

by **Trace** Fri Aug 17, 2012 7:00 pm

He could tell that Alex was probably sizing him up the same way he had been earlier. He made sure to give Mr. Head Honcho over there a nice big, genuine~~-looking~~ grin. This could potentially be very interesting. His thoughts turned to idea of two wolves circling each other, both vying for the much-coveted spot of alpha male. There can only ever be one. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately for MR. H H), Trace wasn't the owner of the place. As such the owner had a fair bit more of an advantage. Not that Trace wanted to dethrone him or anything. All he wanted was to play. And so far it looked like Alex was playing along, if that smirk on his face was anything to go by.

"Oh, don't worry about Credits, sir. I'm more than capable of paying," he replied, leaning back and making himself more comfortable in the chair. He carefully considered his options. There were a great number of things that he could say, and he had no doubt what Alex's reaction would be to half of them. No need to make enemies this early on in the game. Especially when he only wanted to play.

"Though, that almost sounds like a temporary job opportunity, mister. One I might even be inclined to accept."

by **Grimm** Sat Aug 18, 2012 5:16 am

"It wasn't a job offer," Alex returned without missing a beat. The girl from earlier returned with a menu for the boy before Alex even gestured for her and his lips threatened to curve into a broader smirk. She was picking up this job faster than he thought she would, but her name was still forgettable along with everything else about her. Small chest, minimal curves, average height, brown hair, muddy brown eyes and a light dusting of freckles on her face. Sure she would probably be special to someone, but she would just fade back into the crowd if you took your attention off of her. Another faceless person in the sea of people that inhabited the Substratum.

"I'll take a hamburger while this one decides what he wants," Alex told her, figuring he may as well have ordered something as well. It was well past lunch and he hadn't eaten yet, so may as well, right? He'd give her the day off after this and probably give her a decent bonus at the end of the day, since it was rare for him to order his people around so much like this. But today was slow anyways, so they may as well be doing something since he wasn't paying them to just stand around.

After a moment, Alex's eyes glanced back at the boy. He slipped back in his chair, but not before he grabbed his glass of water on the way back, gradually nursing it as he waited for the kid to order or not. "So. Do you have a name?" he asked, mildly curious, but he didn't really care if the boy answered or not. He was just trying to stay conversational even if he wasn't the best at holding conversations with people.

by **Trace** Sat Aug 18, 2012 10:28 am

Trace closed his eyes and rewarded mister big boss with a big grin. No, it definitely wasn't a job offer, was it? But then, Trace wasn't exactly the most desperate person when it came to part-time work and odd jobs. He could have all of the latter he wanted whenever he wanted (one of the perks of working for dirt-cheap is that if you do a good job someone might recommend you to a friend who'll pay even less! He chuckled a little to himself a bit at that. The latter, well. He hadn't had a part time job in a long time. Not since he played waiter for couple of weeks back in May. And before that he'd worked at a toy store. They were both great-- the first one provided him with amazing tips -- Who could resist this smile? -- and the latter involved the cutest kids in the history of the Substratum's history. How could you go wrong with that? Besides, now he had his sights set on another place (as much as odd jobs were awesome, they just didn't pay well). Somehow he figured that if it had been an offer, and he decide to take it, mister boss man would ~~over~~work him to the bone. No thank you.

The same girl returned with a menu and Trace make sure to shoot her an extra grateful smile. It was when the other ordered that Trace realized that, well, he really was King of this castle. Literally. He opened the menu and perused it (failing, or perhaps refusing, to acknowledge the deep rumbling of his stomach). What would it be? Pasta seemed like it would be good, but he didn't feel like eating anything too starchy. Besides, what did they say? In Rome, do as the Romans do?

"I'll take a hamburger too," he said, ignoring mister boss man's question for the moment. After handing his waitress the menu and smiling thanks, he turned back to the man sitting across from him and smiled jovially. "Of course." He adjusted in his seat; made himself more comfortable.

"Trace. Nice to meet you, Mr....?"

by **Grimm** Tue Aug 21, 2012 5:25 pm

"Trace. Nice to meet you, Mr....?"

"Valentine," Alexander replied as he watched the waitress leave to go place their order. His eyes grew hooded as he watched her leave, but averted his attention back to Trace after a moment since he was probably watching. The boy seemed to be making himself right at home in the chair opposite him and Alex didn't know how to take that. Soon he would be back on the street and forgotten like most of the other people that came in here, unless the boy soon became a regular.

Alex didn't know how he'd feel about that.

"Alexander Valentine," he continued before he finished off his glass of water and reached to refill his glass. He only made his people do so much for him, after all. He made sure to get a few ice cubes to pour from the pitcher into his glass, but it was slowly running out from both of them getting glasses from it. Alex set it back down and left the rest for Trace if he wanted to finish it off, since he wasn't sure if he'd make the waitress bring back another free pitcher or not.

"How do you like the Dusk Lodge so far?" Alex asked, out of curiosity sake. Even though the bar existed in Diamond Dust territory, Alex made it a fact that the establishment was neutral grounds for all people. Gang related issues were left at the door, unless you wanted to be zapped to oblivion (Lower case o, not the gang. Joining that way would be way too easy.) and kicked to the curb outside. Issues like that were just another thing that was bad for business.

by **Trace** Tue Aug 21, 2012 11:56 pm

Valentine, huh? Trace resisted the childish urge to snicker. To him, for some reason it was incredibly ironic. But it also sort of suited him. So many goddamn contradictions with this douche. So. Many. Which brought to mind the fact that only the first glass of water was supposed to be free. Trace had the urge to just swoon right there on the chair. Damn, did this Valentine guy know how to treat a woman. Hnng.

Okay, that was enough of that. He was certainly having a lot of weird urges today (and in general), and he hoped they would stop because they were weird and way uncool. Luckily, no one could read his thoughts or he'd likely drown himself in a toilet immediately out of pure, unadulterated levels of shame and uncool that he was currently exuding. But that wasn't even a thing as far as he was aware so he threw that thought into the mental forge and watched it shrivel and blacken.

"Alexander Valentine," he murmured quietly, thoughtfully observing the way it rolled off his tongue. A nice name. And it had a ring to it. When he thought of his own he couldn't help but feel the urge (Goddamnit, urges!) to retch. Such a horrible name. We're talking about Hellspawn. Or like. The Devil has a covert affair with Atropos... Or maybe Clotho. He wasn't sure which would be more to the Devil's liking? But anyways, yes. The child of one of the Fates and the Devil. A horrid, misshapen, gruesome hunk of nasty. That's what his name was.

Oh yes. He was in a room. Talking to someone. Alex. Yes. Funny how distracted he got sometimes.

He thought about Alex's next question and nodded, smiling a bit. "It's a really nice place. I'm sort of glad I wound up here. Great customer service, very attentive staff members..." he trailed off, smirking wider.

"And the owner's quite an eyeful."

by **Grimm** Wed Aug 22, 2012 7:46 pm

"'s'that so?" Alex asked as a smirk curving his lips, but his wasn't as wide as Trace's. They were only attentive when Alex was around or on slow days, since there was nothing else to do. Alex was, truthfully, a little understaffed and his people were almost worked to the bone on a regular basis. He made up for it by paying them a bit extra if they didn't meet the minimum of how much they would earn through tips during their shifts (the waiters, waitresses and bartenders at least) and sometimes a bit extra even if they did on the busier nights.

Alex had thought about hiring more people, but his establishment wasn't big enough for him to afford paying additional people. Sometimes, however, Karis helped him out as well if she was free and not dead tired when she got home from working at the garage. It wasn't much, but it was nice to have someone who didn't mind working for free. ~~Her ass looked good in the uniform too.~~

Alex pulled out cigarette (finally) when he saw that one of the patrons was smoking and got up for a second to go get a light. He flashed her a smile when he asked for it and lit up before thanking her and moving back to sit down. "Sorry about that," he said to Trace before pointing at his cigarette, "Hope you don't mind. Bad habit that my restitution cursed me with." He may not have been using his power at the moment, but the addiction never died. His restitution just made the desire to smoke stronger now, causing him to light up after each use. If he didn't and held off, well... the cravings just got worse and worse.

by **Trace** Wed Aug 22, 2012 11:43 pm

He managed to make the boss -- Alex, he reminded himself -- smirk, if only even a little. That certainly didn't hurt his pride in the slightest. He made a slow nodding motion, the corners of his lips twitching upwards. Yes, his comment earlier was entirely true-- especially on one count, though his lips were sealed on that matter. He couldn't just afford to be spilling his tender innards out to just anyone. In fact, he could afford to to spill them out to no one at all. Yes, such was the state of affairs. Dire.

On second thought, what the fuck was he even thinking? He was reasonably sure that made no sense whatsoever. Ah well.

Mr. Valentine finally managed to grab a cigarette, getting up momentarily to go and find a light, Trace presumed. He carefully observed and made note of everything he saw for later. His cadence, the way he spoke, his body language. He wondered which letter he'd file it under. A for Alex, or P for profile? It was a tough job having an alphabetically indexed list of information and personality profiles at your disposal. Or it would be if such a feat was possible. Besides, who even needed an indexed list when you could have all the information at once. Duh.

He chuckled and shook his head when Alex returned, asking if he minded. How courteous.

"I don't mind at all," he said simply. " I can sympathize."

As he spoke, he drew his finger across the cold, wet surface of the glass, tracking tiny droplets of condensation on his finger. They congealed almost as if by whim, forming one bead that slid its way down to rest on the pad of his index finger. And as he raised his hand lazily, fingers pointing downwards, it hung, becoming that near-teardrop shape. Only it didn't drop. Instead it retracted in on itself and slid up his finger, resting on the knuckle.

He was the one with the reigns in hand. The puppetmaster. And his puppet was one of the best and most agreeable. Water, the element of change, as it was.

by **Grimm** Sun Aug 26, 2012 7:29 pm

" I can sympathize."

Alex watched, curiously, as the boy began to manipulate a drop of water. It was always interesting to see what other Harbingers could do, because each seemed to have a power that was uniquely their own. Which, honestly, was a little weird considering the number of them that resided in this forsaken city of their's. Thousands if Alex recalled correctly, so there was bound to be a few that had powers that overlapped. Who knew, maybe there was someone like him. A human taser. Or a human defibrillator, if the situation called for it. He could also be the worst enemy of most common electrical appliances or most anything else that ran because of it.

"What's the catch?" Alex asked when the boy seemed to finish his little performance, the droplet of water sitting on his knuckle as Alex watched him. If the boy was paying attention to Alex, as he was him, then he'd see that a tiny spark of electricity was hoping from finger to finger in his left hand. Alex created his own electricity, his power somewhat more useful than those that needed to draw from their surroundings. That was the limit, however. Whatever he created was the most he could put out, since he wasn't able to redirect bolts or draw from outside sources. It was just as well though, since it got the job done the way it was. The bigger stuff was harder to pull off though and the kick it gave him was usually bigger in turn as well.

The bolt stopped as Alex lifted his hand to hold his cigarettes, taking in a long drag of it before exhaling, a rather content expression on his face as the smoke dispersed in the air around him. The food seemed to be on its way, so he stamped the cigarette out in the tray on the table, now eying the girl as she came rather than Trace. It was more because he wanted to make sure she didn't fall while balancing the plates, and less because the barmaid uniform was rather easy on the eyes. The skirt was optional, but she always seemed to wear it. Probably something to do with tips.

"More water too, if you don't mind," Alex ordered when she got back to them, leaning forward to place the plates down. Maybe they should have moved to a table, since he didn't like people eating over here. But he was the boos, so oh well. All the tables seemed to have been slowly filling up too as the lunch hour rolled on by, so it was just as well.

by **Trace** Thu Aug 30, 2012 1:44 pm

Trace sloshed around the water in his glass, tapping out a nameless tune with his foot. Though, water wasn't technically correct. It was more like little bits of ice starting to melt and the last few remaining dregs of water. Then again, sloshed wasn't really the right word to use in the situation either, was it? Oh well. He studied the drops of water earnestly, felt them with his mind. Adhesion made them stay in place at the bottom of the glass when he wasn't moving it. Cohesion made them meld together when they touched. It also caused surface tension, which helped the ice cubes float atop the water (though they weren't as dense anyways) and caused a slight meniscus. So many little properties and forces acting on something as simple as a drop of water, and most people didn't even realize it. What a shame.

"Well, a guy stumbling through a desert in the middle of the summer is bound to get a little thirsty, no?" He punctuated the question by tipping the contents of the glass into his waiting mouth. Nothing was as satisfying as water moistening his dry palate and the back of his throat. Yep, dehydration was his deal. You know, being a little parched-- then dryness of mouth. And that was only at 2% fluid loss. Anything past that was irrelevant as far as Trace was concerned. Moderate and severe dehydration? No thank you.

Then the waitress appeared with the food, setting it down on the table, and he didn't fail to notice Mr. Valentine's eyes on her as she approached. Though, he'd keep his speculation to himself. To each his own was one of his ~~many~~ personal mottos. He did have to admit, however, that regardless of the reason, he had pretty good taste. She was reasonably pretty. But right now, the burger looked reasonably prettier. His stomach growled in agreement. And he could have sworn that his heart skipped several beats when Alex ordered more water.

"Wow, you sure know how to treat a guest. Any more and I might just take it the wrong way," he said with a wink.

by Sponsored content

Heatwave [Alex and Trace]

Heatwave [Alex and Trace]

Re: Heatwave [Alex and Trace]

Re: Heatwave [Alex and Trace]

Re: Heatwave [Alex and Trace]

Re: Heatwave [Alex and Trace]

Re: Heatwave [Alex and Trace]

Re: Heatwave [Alex and Trace]

Re: Heatwave [Alex and Trace]

Re: Heatwave [Alex and Trace]

Re: Heatwave [Alex and Trace]

Re: Heatwave [Alex and Trace]

Re: Heatwave [Alex and Trace]

Re: Heatwave [Alex and Trace]

Re: Heatwave [Alex and Trace]

Re: Heatwave [Alex and Trace]

Re: Heatwave [Alex and Trace]

Re: Heatwave [Alex and Trace]

Re: Heatwave [Alex and Trace]

Re: Heatwave [Alex and Trace]