The first meeting

[whrrenah]

The commotion at school was insane. Worse than insane! Wren had no idea what was going on at first but the crowd of people who gathered in the cafeteria, screaming someone's name warned her that she did not want to be there. As she walked by, she slowed down, looking in the same direction as everyone else, spotting the set up stage and a single man under a light, strumming a guitar and crooning. Oh. That's what all the commotion was about.

"And now, for our grand finale, the one person who can answer all of Mr Wik's trivia questions will win a band tee with his signature on it!"

Wren rolled her eyes, mentally going "and the crowd goes wild!" in her head while the crowd actually went wild. Along with a couple of her friends. "Wren! Wren, don't you know who that is?"

Turning to the girl who went by Tweet, she responded in a flat tone. "Another boy hell bent on stealing the hearts of thousands so he can pay the bills?"

"Oh my god, Wren! It's WiK! Don't be a spoil sport! He's soooooo cute! You have to look at him! Tell me he's not cute!"

"He's perfectly fine--for being a feelings moocher."

Tweet shook her head. "You don't get it, do you? He used to go to school here."

Wren turned her eyes to her friend. "And? Everyone goes to school in some fashion. There's nothing special about that. But you want to know what is special? Letting all these people believe that they have a chance with him. Hell, even encourages it because that's how he makes money. Sell the belief that you can be with him, and everyone is climbing hand over fist to buy the next new album. Or his Merch, or whatever guitar he says is good. He's an actor and he's playing to the crowd. So if you want to enjoy the fantasy, enjoy it. But don't buy into it, okay? You're smarter than that."

She went on to class, not even taking a second look.


*****

Having been convinced to go out to karaoke (as Tweet sadly, didn't win the shirt), Wren chose the blue halter-top maxi. It was hot out with no sign of relief yet in nighttime Bangkok. Cute and lightweight, she decided to pull her hair up off her neck and frame her face with a few ringlets. Ready for a night on the town, she joined her friends in one of the bar booths, filled with drink and food, they all took turns on the mic, making a bit of a game out of it. When it was Wren's turn, she decided to go with the Disney-themed songs and started her rendition of "Kiss the girl."

It just so happened that she caught sight of said pompous boy in the hall, strolling around the rooms. And there was some eye contact. Deciding to play it up since her friends hadn't noticed yet, she decided to sing to him and tease him as well. "My oh my! Look like the boy too shy
Ain't gonna kiss the girl."

Comments

[whrrenah]

"What's your favorite place in Italy?" she asked, choosing to follow Kim's interests. "I've never been." Getting him a little further out of his shell would be lovely and she wanted to know what put the fire in his eyes outside of music.

When almost finished with dessert a small group of Wren's classmates spotted her and waved, greeting her and then stopping short when they saw she was with a guy. "Oh my god, Wren, are you on a date?" one of them gushed.

"He's super cute," the other one went, smiling at Kim. "I thought you didn't date."

"I don't date for the sake of abiding by social norms," she corrected, trying to keep the conversation to herself. "Just as if I saw one of you one a date, I wouldn't be barging in like chickens dying for a shred of gossip for tomorrow. Some might call it respecting personal space." Wiping her mouth with a napkin, she looked over to Kim. "Ready to go? I am."

"What? No name?"

"Not to nosy people who haven't taken a hint that now is not the time." She looked up, standing from her seat. "You'll have to excuse us, we're on a timetable now." Throwing a finger to the chin wai, she smiled at Kim, careful not to say anything that would require him to speak. "Come on, we should go. I'm sure my classmates want this table for their dessert. I'll see you guys later, okay? In class."

[meanmugging]

" Venice, but there is also the beaches that I like too." he said before turning his attention to the intrusion.

Even if Wren was trying to keep the attention on herself and off of him, he didn't really roll like that when they were in the middle of talking and these rude girls just...

He stood up along with Wren, picking up his glass of water from the table and unceremoniously dumping it right on the head of the girl who had asked rudely about Wren's personal life in public and when she was with someone. Next came what was left on the plate of the desert smeared right into the chest of the other, careful to avoid areas that might be considered boob touching.

" Oh, I thought since you were fine with trying to embarrass her in front of me... I didn't think you would mind sharing in the being put on the spot with people looking at you. Do enjoy your day." he said before taking Wren's wrist and leading her out the doors.

[whrrenah]

When the water was poured, Wren was shocked, her eyes wide open and mouth in a small 'O' shape. And then the cream, on the other's shirt. Oh, holy shi--

She was up, barely rebalancing herself before Kim dragged her away. She didn't say anything until they had left the mall proper and they were waiting for the cab. While still in a bit of shock about Kim's behavior, she suddenly remembered something. "Oh my gods, we didn't pay! Kim, this was a dine-and-dash! And all the rest of the order..."

Wren paused a moment, looking to Kim. "Are you okay? I know they're a bit dramatic and pushy. But I do have to deal with them tomorrow in class--which is fine! I've dealt with worse."

[meanmugging]

Wren was asking about dining and dashing and Kim was already handing his card to a waiter that had rushed out after them with a payment pad and bags with the rest of the order inside. He looked to her as if to say, you were saying? Signing his name along with a generous and not typically given in the place, tip. The Waiter was thanking him profusely, Kim settled for a man nod.

" Perfectly fine." he answered as the waiter went back inside. " They were rude and annoying, my actions have little to do with you. If they want to fuss about it give them my business email."

[whrrenah]

She stopped, watched the transaction and then walked with Kim to the traffic loop to catch a cab. She couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that he didn't do what he did on her behalf, but then again, they were barely more than acquaintances.

"Wouldn't that out you to them as to who they think you are?" She barely looked at his email at the time in the apartment. All she could assume was that it would reveal that he was WiK.

[meanmugging]

He crossed over with her and looked to her side ways. " I don't care what speculations they make, they would have to prove it. Who would believe that some uni girls just stumbled on my actual email address. Also anyone can make any kind of email address they wish."

Maybe he had done that for Wren, just a little but he wouldn't admit to anything of the sort. That would just complicate things, and complications were the opposite of things he liked to deal with.

" More than likely they would just come off as crazy super fans."

[whrrenah]

"Who isn't a crazy super fan?" He had a point about the email and perhaps she was overthinking it--but she didn't want him to be bothered by stupid college students! "Thank you for dessert," Wren added with a small smile. "I appreciate it. It'll be extra fuel for the move."

The move. From a dinky, vermin-riddled apartment to a penthouse! She was still shell-shocked with that one but was willing to go with the flow.

[meanmugging]

" I don't think you were when you slapped the shit out of me." he said with a little smirk, it wasn't funny at the time but looking back on it. It was kinda funny since she was learning he is not actually like that at all.

" You don't have to thank me." I like spending time with you. It was on the tip of his tongue, but not spoken. She really was turning out to be a really awesome girl. Firey, down to Earth,pretty..trouble in every sense of the word to his normal policy of keeping everyone at arms length. " I can get people to take care of the moving for you, that way you're not over there alone and I won't worry about you when I am traveling."

[whrrenah]

Wren's eyes widened just a bit about his thought that he was worried about her. Trying to downplay it, she hid her smile by looking down, then glanced up. "So you don't worry about me, I'll accept the assistance. Besides, you'll be closer to my home town than I am while you're off. I'll have to keep tabs on your media page to make certain you're not causing too much trouble."

[meanmugging]

Yep, right move there Wren. Unless you wanted a ceiling Kim who was a flustered mess, down playing how special it was to you was the right move. Fortunately this emotional constipated man would work on not being embarrassed any time he showed concern or care for someone.

" Good." he said, it was just that easy, he preferred not having to argue about a point he would just take upon himself to just do anyway.

He looked to her, " Oh, how close is your home to New York City?" asked the Thai guy who knew very little about geography in America anyway.

[whrrenah]

Wren thought about it, humming softly.  "Well, New York City and my town are in different states. If I have the conversion correct, almost 900 kilometers away.  It'd take a whole day and maybe then some to drive between the two places."  And that was an interesting question he would pose, too.  Why would he want to know where her home base was, so to speak?  Before she could even put words to her silent question, the cab rolled up for them.  There was no way to ask why he would want to know at that point.

[meanmugging]

Well, he was actually just being nosy in asking about her home town. It would be just awkward to show up there and nose about just for the sake of being nosy.

" Interesting." he said tilting his head and trying to map it out in his head.

As the cab rolled up he stepped off the curb to open the door for her. Once she was inside he handed her the bags to settle while he got around to the other side.

" Thanks. For coming out with me and all. "

[whrrenah]

Wren watched him carefully, a small, shy smile coming across her face. "I should be the one thanking you. You didn't have to agree to it when I made that silly text."

[meanmugging]

There was a little smirk on his face, " Yes, you should. I was so so terribly busy!" obviously he wasn't and was teasing her in a round about way of saying he didn't mind coming out at all with out being too direct. She would learn a lot about Kimanese and his ways of saying things with out saying them in time.

[whrrenah]

Tons of people said one thing with their lips and then other things with their bodies. Wren was an expert in that, so perhaps it wouldn't be too much of a learning curve to read the words between the words with Kim. Clearly, the 'terribly busy' part was a lie, that much she knew. And she was aware culturally, most Asian countries would play off hospitality to some extent. Maybe this was something similar to that?

"Well, next time you're super busy and I ask for some undivided attention, you'll need to communicate to me that you're actually busy instead of spoiling me in this fashion." She jostled the bag set between her feet for emphasis. "You'll make me fat with all these desserts and I thought that getting fat was the norm with people who wanted to keep women. Am I wrong with that? The single girls are all skinny and the married moms are fat? Well, less skinny."

[meanmugging]

There was a little bit of a grin on his face. He was enjoying the playful banter with her, and even though there were some cultural bridges it seemed they were understanding one another just fine. He turned looking to her with a head tilt.

" Or maybe I think you deserve a little spoiling. You are very little." he said even extending a finger to poke her lightly on the nose. " It depends on who you ask, my Ma was always quite thin, but I was also very young when she died too. most Thai people associate plump women with Grannies." he looked out the window and spoke the next part quite lowly. " Anyway, I think you are pretty skinny or fat."

[whrrenah]

She scrunched her face up as he booped her nose, feeling the excitement hit her on the back of the neck. But before she could flirt back, she noted that little bit of personal information and she reached out, resting her hand on the crook of his elbow. "I'm sorry you lost your mother," she murmured. "That's all I can say because anything more would be useless platitudes."

If she even knew the last bit he said, she didn't give any recognition that she did so.

[meanmugging]

" Thank you." he said bringing his free hand up rubbing the back of his neck. He didn't really like talking much about his mother, it was just something that he would rather just leave alone really. He spent enough time fighting with his father and wishing he had gotten sick and died instead of her.

" If you want, you can pick out colors you would like on the walls and curtains and such, and I can get everything ordered so you can feel more at home at the apartment."

[whrrenah]

She pulled her hand away as the topic changed. There was no need to push him for details when he didn't offer them and she hoped that her condolences were well received. "Excellent. Hot pink, dark teal, and a touch of fluorescent green to pull it all together." She was joking! But she wanted to see what kind of reaction she could get out of him. "Oh! And I can't forget the almost 8 cm thick shag carpet. For those extra rainy days where you just want to be cozy."

[meanmugging]

" Sounds headache inducing, but whatever you want." Gag, he thought she was joking but wasn't entirely sure. He prayed he was really just getting his let pulled here.

" Doesn't shag carpet give you rug burns?" he asked lofting a brow, " but if you want that it has to be electric purple or yellow since we are going for the gusto here."

[whrrenah]

"Shag carpet only gives you rug burns if you shag on them," she quipped back, her eyes bright but smile quietly. "And I think electric purple would be fantastic." She might get a swatch of that just to be a smart ass. Maybe a piece the size of a yoga mat.

On the trip home, Wren's brain was running around with the mental lists and what she needed to do to pack and honestly, redecorating the place was low on her list of things to do. Maybe after finals? Then again, she wasn't certain what she was going to do after school, either. Maybe she should hit up another school in another country? Was there enough here for her to stay? Maybe go back home? There was just too much to decide on all at once so she inhaled a cleansing breath before exhaling and turning to watch Kim for a while.

[meanmugging]

" It's called shagging because it was done on shag carpet." he said to her as a matter of factually, if that was true or not he had no idea but it sounded good to him in the moment. She'd better watch what she wished for too, because even though Kim had a bitch face on most of the time, he also had a wicked sense of humor.

" The apartment has computers in the rooms. You should add me on social medias." his way of saying he liked talking to her and wanted to talk to her more? Yes. It was. SSM also worked while he was overseas much better than trying to text and all did.

[whrrenah]

"Oh, you mean publically stalk you instead of covertly stalk you without following any of your accounts?" Yeah, she knew who he was online. So did over a million other people, too. But he saying she should find him there had her trying to hide the full-on grin. "I can do that. It'll be easier to report back how the shag rug is being installed one piece of yarn at a time. Or whatever material they use. I'm thinking it's like a giant, latch hook piece."

[meanmugging]

He smirked to her, " I see you have experience in this field." he winked to her before looking back to the window.

" You have it all wrong, the rug is going to be that fancy soft faux rabbit fur. That would be the best for the electric purple color, silly woman." he said turning back to her.

It was about that time the cab stopped in front of the building for the penthouse. Getting out to open the door for her and take the bags so he could put them away upstairs for her.

" Keys are in my pocket if you don't mind grabbing them."

[whrrenah]

Grab the keys? Wren looked at the back of his pants--damn, no pockets there. They had to be in one of the front ones. Which, yes, she wasn't terribly shy but in the same breath, wanting to be respectful was high on her list, too. Yet, in order to get in, they needed keys.

"Sure," she quipped, trying to not sound overly confident as she slipped her hand into his pocket, on search of the keys. Gods, his thigh was warm. Had she known him better and longer, Wren would be stroking that thigh and the crease where his body started. As it was, she could already feel her own body responding which was that tricky-edged sword. It'd been a while and... shit, he smelled good, too.

Hoping she didn't linger to the point were it was weird, she fished the keys out, glancing for a moment at his face before pointedly turning to start getting the doors open and taken care of.