Kris' Apartment 1} Clem and Kris

Clem played by Link, Kris played by CC

Snow crunched under heavy boots as Clem walked to Kris' apartment. The journey was a pretty long one, that she could surely have expedited by riding her motorcycle there instead, but she wanted to be out in the snow; it reminded her of simpler times, with the gentle snowfall soothing her in its silent, chilly descent. Bringing the sleeve of her glove up to her helmet to wipe the snowflakes off of her visor, she looked up at the building, and took a deep breath.
Clem stepped inside and walked over to the elevator, leaning back against the inner wall of it as it lifted her up to Kris' floor. It was a lot warmer in here, a fact which she was now grateful of as she came to realise just how cold she was outside in her usual tank-top and jeans. She rubbed her arm and sighed, checking Kris' apartment number in an old text on her phone. This should be the floor, she thought, which means this should be his door. Clem cracked her neck and her knuckles before bringing a fist up to knock heavily on Kris' door.

A stir of various noises, probably angry ones, came from inside the room. Loud footsteps were heard approaching the door before it (harshly) swung open to reveal a tired, messy Kris Crester. His fashion glasses were at least on, but otherwise he looked like he just woke up from a nap. Which is unlikely as he despises naps. So he just presumably looked like a sack of shit already. Before realizing who knocked, he spat out an annoyed, "What do you want??" before his expression softened at the sight of his friend. His tone dropped the annoyance, sounding more relieved. "Clem! Sorry- hello. You didnt tell me you were dropping by."

"sup, douchebag," Clem stated with a finger gun, leaning to peer over Kris' shoulder and into his apartment, "yeah, my bad dude, i was gonna tell you just now that i was comin but it seems you figured it out before i could say anything"
She offered a fistbump, looking Kris up and down behind the visor of her helmet.
"sht, man, did i just wake you up or somethin, you look like you just got birthed by an indonesian garbage dump who fckd a caved in coal mine, no offence"

Kris chuckled softly and returned the fist bump, letting his hand drop to his side after. He runs the other hand through his hair, realizing how tense he is. And probably how shitty he must look. The details from Clem helps. She never fails to give either exact or extremely exaggerating descriptions. Kris assumes it's probably the prior for him. "Ah, no, ive been up. Just tired." He leans against the doorframe casually and shakes his head. "Wouldve at least tidied up my apartment if you warned me. Whats the occasion, by the way? Something you need?" He tried to remember some formalities for company. When was the last time he had company? —Ugh, who the hell cares?

Clem folded her arms and idly tapped a finger against her arm. Kris was, once again, making her want to simultaneously punch and hug him with his depressing airyheadedness. She shook her head and stifled a chuckle.
"did you seriously just ask me what the occasion is," Clem asked flatly, "dude, its christmas, im here to spread some of that mthrfckn holly jolly cheer, ya dig"

"Oh!" His eyes widen as if this was news to him. It seems that he forgot what day it is. "Aw damn, we talked about that on trollian the other day too! I, uh, forgot." He chuckles sheepishly. "I guess in my head, i didnt really think you were coming? But that was stupid of me. Youre obviously too good of a friend. Shouldve known that holly jolly cheer was creeping up on me."

"my christmas cheer is inevitable mthrfkcr, im an s tier assassin of big nick himself and i wont stop til youre riddled with holiday spirit"
Clem nodded, rubbing her arm and glancing up and down the hall. She felt a little awkward being called 'too good of a friend', and cleared her throat.
"you gonna let me in or do i need my hazmat suit"

He glanced behind him and frowned. Clem really should've told him she was coming over. I mean, his room is habitable, but it's pretty cluttered. Like, how come he never picked up that box of spilled packing peanuts near the door? That probably should've been common sense to clean up? "You probably do. But come on in." He stepped out of the way of the doorframe. "Wish this place had even a smidgen of holiday cheer."

"honestly, dude, i dont give one percent of a sht what it looks like in here, long as theres no land mines or poison gas or whatever"
Clem took a glance around the apartment and rubbed her neck. She could sense Kris' discomfort at her presence, but didn't let that sway her.
"besides, im not gonna linger too long, just wanted to give you this before we met up with dirk" From behind her back, and presumably out of her sylladex, she retrieved a small present, wrapped in Skully-patterned wrapping paper. She looked away from Kris as she waited for him to accept the gift.

"Ah-" Kris made a small, surprised noise at the sudden appearance of a present. Oh shit. Kris, just accept the gift like a normal person. How do you accept a gift? He smiled nervously and grabbed the present with shaky hands. He looked at it and laughed quietly before looking back up at Clem. "T-thanks-" Stop being weird! "-Sick choice of wrapping paper. Uh, can i open it right now?" He, NOW, remembered that the douchetrio is meeting up. Haha, douchetrio. It seems like forever since they named themselves that.

Clem chuckled quietly at Kris' response, looking back at him as she slipped her hands into her back pockets. God, she forgot how awkward he was in person. It was really quite impressive, she thought. Behind the helmet, she smiled slightly, happy that he appreciated the baller wrapping paper she used. "yes, dude," Clem said with a nod, "its yours, you can open it if you want"

He made sure to start unwrapping it before he reacted stupidly again. Kris seemed to be unnecessarily slowly unwrapping it, but really he was just saving the paper. It's super dorky, but he really didn't care all that much about appearances. His friend just gave him something. The wrapping paper is also super sick. It would really be a waste to just rip it and throw it away. And it'd be something he wants to look back on later, right? After a bit of tedious unwrapping, he managed to take off the paper with little to no tears.

Inside was a worn-yet-expensive looking leather wallet. Across it were various small nicks and marks from what would appear to have been years of use, which all paled in severity when compared to the blackened, charred patch on one of the wallet's faces. Again, Clem looked off at a wall, folding her arms.
"i got that a while ago, but never used it," she said, twisting her foot on the ground silently, "these jeans are too tight for a hunkin block of leather to be slid into, ya dig"
She rubbed the back of her neck, looking down at Kris' feet.
"my fat stacks of cash take up too much room on their own" she jested flatly, looking up at her friend, "plus, i didnt want someone to snatch it off me. you kinda remind me of the person i got it from, so i wanted you to have it" Awkwardly, she cleared her throat, and looked down at Kris' feet once again. "theydve liked you"

He stays silent for a couple moments, looking away from Clem when she finished talking and back at the wallet. He turns it over in his hands, searching his brain for an appropriate response. All he can come up with is a small, "God, this is so thoughtful. I really don't know what to say. Thank you." On his face is a genuine, somewhat sad smile. He couldn't find the voice to ask about her friend. Just accept the present, Kris.

Clem took a deep breath and looked back up at Kris, arms folded. Sentimentality was never her strong suit, but the fact that he seemed to enjoy the present permeated the awkwardness that would've otherwise consumed her. She cleared her throat.
"dont mention it, dawg, i hope you can get more use out of it than i ever did" she said with a slow nod, "just keep it safe, yo"

"Of course! My apartment is an inaccurate representation of how i keep things safe." He looks at the wallet for a quick moment before seeming to remember something and looking at Clem again. Clem's helmet. The helmet is constantly the only thing you see. "Before we leave, i did get a present for you and dirk right after you closed the memo. Like, right after. It was really stupid in retrospect- uh- can i get it really quick?"

Clem tilted her head slightly, stifling a snort. She wasn't expecting a gift in return; not because she didn't have faith in Kris, but because she wasn't used to receiving Christmas presents from anyone--other than Luna, on occasion.
"really now" she asked flatly, "alright dawg, you have my attention"
She tapped a finger against her arm, humouring Kris.

"Okay. Wait there!" Kris' overall mood seemed to have hyped up as he went to find where he put the gifts. He picked two boxes up and quickly returned to Clem, giving her a box wrapped in cyan paper, with various Christmas-themed decorations scattered along the side. It looked to be tied closed with a yellow string ending in a neat bow. He held a matching orange box under his arm. "Its designed to look like the bow is holding it closed, but its part of the wrapping paper. You can just pop the lid right off. Decoration for lazy people!" He said this with a happy smile. "You can open it whenever."

Clem took the box and looked down at it for a few quiet moments, before looking back up at Kris.
"well sht man, im absolutely poppin this fckr open right now," she said flatly, "im like a ravenous zombie crackin into the gourmet skull of a five star chef, im gonna absolutely ingurgitate this neatly packaged fckr"
She popped the lid off of the box and took a look inside.

To be Contnued...

I can't believe CC stood me up! On CHRISTMAS DAY, no less! And here I was thinking I had friends who cared about me...

1 September 15, 2022

best wacky evil pirate — 09/15/2022 10:38 PM "Wow. That looks really stupid now that i see it in this light." Inside was a chevron patterned bracelet. Each row of string was a different shade of blue, but it was prominently close to Clem's signature color. Kris' face, on the other hand, was flushing into his signature awkward. He wished he could turn off the lights. Or hide under a pile of discarded clothes. Or create a time machine on the spot and make a better present. Maybe one that took a little less time. It feels like it's been nearly two years. "God. Um." He coughed into his fist. "Ive never done this. Exchanging presents. Especially not friendship br-... no! We can pretend like thats not what i just gave you. You can wear it. O-obviously. Or keep it on a desk somewhere. ...A dusty box in the basement." He looked anywhere but at Clem's helmet or presence or anything she was currently looking at. She's not an accessory person. SO not. He was such a dork, he forgot logic! Kris could probably manifest a heart attack right then and there. Or a popping blood vessel. His face and lack of eye (to helmet) contact certainly looked like his heart was working overtime. "I have one too." He pointed his foot out a bit. Kris had an apricot-colored bracelet tied to his ankle. "Also made. Dirk one."

"S-sorry."

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

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