Cheers To This New Life

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

Akeem let his gaze wander all around the room, scanning every aspect of it. The other guy would expect a verdict eventually. Or not. He doubted Scott O'Riley really cared what his opinion on the matter was, despite actually asking him how he liked it. It was just for the form, really. You cannot invite someone home once that you were done settling in and not ask them what they thought of your place. Akeem didn’t really have anything to say about it though. It was a house, a duplex, like duplexes normally looked like. Whatever decoration there was or the way everything was placed was to the taste of the one living here. It was fine but so long as it was not his place, Akeem didn’t really see why he should be ecstatic over it. Even if it was his place, he wouldn’t be this excited about it. It was just a home.

“So that’s what it looks like now that you’re settled in?” Akeem said, giving Scott nothing more than a nod of approval. Akeem was the kind of friend you could call if you wanted to have a drink or get some ladies at a club. Or the kind you could call for legal advices, free of charge. He was not so much the kind you could count on if you wanted to move to your new place, paint the walls and put everything where it belongs. Scott could count on him to come once that was done, with the appropriate gift of alcohol to celebrate the fact that if he was still chained to the school thanks to college, he now was out living on his own.

The fact he chose a duplex though, in the suburban area of town, left him perplex. “The apartments didn’t look nice enough? I'm telling you man, Alpine Grove’s amazing,” Akeem reminded Scott as he dropped on the man’s couch. An apartment was a single man’s perfect home. A duplex, it left to Akeem the taste that this was more the kind of thing you bought when you wanted to show you were the type of man who could settle in a nice and cozy family life. He preferred the apartment. Despite some neighbours he could do without. “Now we can only pray you’ll be done with Bellefonte soon.”

[Scott O'Riley]

Scott didn't have that many friends. He had acquaintances that he had already forgotten the names of. But every so often, people actually stuck to him for some reason and he found himself hanging out with them a lot more than he usually would. Akeem Ten-Amen was one of those people.

Bringing him over to the new place he had bought with the remainder of the allowance his father had given him the year before was just so he could break it in with a few cases of beer. He would have done up a whole party but that was what Akeem was here for.

"Settled in? Me? No man. This is hella cheaper than Alpine Grove. And a lot closer to the bar. And I may have slept with the realtor and she gave me a good deal on this place. You know how it is." He shrugged, opening a case of beer and handing Akeem a bottle.

"In case you haven't heard, I'm trying to get my life together so I can get my damn inheritance. So you know...I gotta keep up appearances and all." He smirked. "But that doesn't mean I can't throw a party every now and again. Which is where you come in. I've already got a few people coming later tonight. Just thought I'd call you, see if you could work your magic as well."

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

Akeem had a smirk. Whether or not Scott was just being cocky did not matter, this was the kind of attitude he expected out of his friend. Made the fact he chose to reside in a place that could pretty much be considered the suburbs a whole lot easier. “I hope she’s some sexy cougar and not an old sixtysomething or else I’m going to lose all respect I might have left for you,” he replied to Scott as he took the beer the man offered him. He was not speaking seriously, although if he heard that Scott really slept with a grandma to get a better deal he may well think something else entirely out of him.

He looked around the room once again. “That much cheaper?” He supposed you have to pay for the location. Alpine Grove was new, modern and offered pretty much everything someone may ask for. It made sense it came at a price. “And that called for this?” he asked, raising his beer to point at the room, the whole duplex in fact. But Akeem knew how it was. The last thing he had wanted when finding out they wouldn’t let him be a lawyer was to return home and do ‘as daddy says’.

The mention of a party was already more to Akeem’s taste. He smirked back at him. Now they were talking. “And what you have in mind exactly? I’m afraid sexy lawyers mostly exist in fiction.”

[Scott O'Riley]

"Thirty-five year old redhead. Limber as all hell. Pretty good night." He nodded as he sipped on his beer. "And hey, don't know on sixtysomethings. They've got things going on for them too." He smirked and laughed gutturally.

Looking at Akeem with a raised eyebrow as he asked, once more, about the legitimacy of his new place. "Bro, you have ten thousand I could borrow every week for the rent over there?" He asked with a smirk.

"As long as they've got legs, brother. I am not picky." He responded, sinking into his couch.

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

Akeem had a smirk at the way Scott described his landlady. She probably wouldn’t like the two of them discuss of her like this but she was not there and Akeem was not the kind t be stopped by scruples. “Now that’s more the kind that I can appreciate,” he let out. Hey, Akeem was only up for a good time. If a cougar was ready to provide this, he was not going to stop at the age. He might however if she looked older than his mother. That was just too weird. Like the sixtysomething. “Yeah, no need to tell me about it,” he replied. He could still remember this grandmother who took his drink and talked with him for a while. He just hoped she didn’t come to the club for more than that though. If so, Akeem could just shudder at the thought of it.

“Aw, come on. It’s not a palace I’m renting, it’s an apartment,” Akeem argued when Scott gave a price. If the guy wanted to look clean for his father to think his antics were a thing of the past, Akeem was not going to say anything about it anymore. As for himself, he couldn’t see himself living in a place that could pretty much called the suburbs. He needed downtown and nothing else.

“Oh, they’ve got legs. Some even have a pretty face. But they also tend to have a castrating personality,” he explained, turning his head slightly t the side so he could keep looking at his friend while he shared his wisdom on lawyers’ sex appeal. “Control freaks, most of them. And you better not try to have a different opinion than theirs.”

[Scott O'Riley]

Chuckling at Akeem's response, Scott rolled his eyes and took a long sip of his beer. Some things, he saw, wouldn't change. Akeem was still the scumbag he knew and loved. He needed that. In a sea of constant change that was his life currently, he needed stability and if it was in the form of a mouth that needed an acidwash, he was going to hold on to it for dear life.

"I'm telling you, it's all for my dad. If I can find a wife and have a kid in two minutes, that would be even better." He shrugged. He knew he had nothing to prove, especially not to Akeem, but he needed to drive the point home. None of this was his choice. He wanted to be in a penthouse filled with ladies and booze.

Shrugging as he finished his bottle, Scott leaned forward to grab another bottle from the case before leaning back into the couch. "Like I said. As long as they have legs."

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

If life had forced Akeem to change a lot of things along the way, inside, he reminded pretty much the same. He refused to let go of that. In fact, it might have grown within him since he lost some power thanks to SPRITE. He had this need to show he could just sex anyone up despite no longer being able to send lust their way. If that made him a jerk, he could live with it. He wore that label almost like he was proud of it. There were worse things to be than a jerk. And being a bastard never stopped him from making money. As long as he’d have no financial issues, he saw no reason for a personality adjustment. It was not like he was looking for a spouse after all.

Akeem laughed out in amusement at Scott’s reply. “God, I’m so glad my dad isn’t like that. He suggested, if things didn’t work out in law to work at his restaurant but that’s about it.” Then again, Akeem couldn’t say he ever had any issues with his father. His problem was more with his mother. And even if she threatened to disown him, that did not scare him much. “So I take it you got yourself a good job too, to give a good impression?” He preferred not to talk of the wife and kid. The best Akeem could do about this would be to suggest he hired someone for show. Or tricked some single mom. Because marriage and children... that was not something Akeem saw for himself and that made it hard for him to imagine anyone would want it.

Another laugh escaped him. “Well, they all have legs. Can’t say they are all pretty but they sure do. I don’t know any limbless women, in case that ever had been your type.”

[Scott O'Riley]

Scott laughed along with Akeem, even though he saw no humour in the situation. Honestly, the faster he could get his funds, he was out of Kalispell again. He would be out of his father's grasp and he could do whatever the hell he wanted whenever he wanted.

Snorting at the thought of a bartender being a good job, Scott shrugged. "Working on it. An old friend offered a job at a private security company. Don't know if I'm going to take it yet." He paused to finish his beer before grabbing another one. "It does have it's perks."

Akeem's response had Scott chuckling as he took another bottle from the case and settled back into his chair. "I just want this house filled, brother. Oh you can come too, I guess." He smirked.

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

Akeem also had in mind to leave Kalispell. Once upon a time. With his chances of being a big time lawyer reduced to pretty much zero now that people knew of mutants, going to a bigger city didn’t sound nearly as important as it used to be. He’d probably get more jobs, which meant more money. And more money was always nice. But that would be a constant reminder of his failure, or half-failure. Kalispell did it well enough already. Besides, if he was like Scott when it came to being away from his family and its grasp, he already achieved that by living here. He was not in as much of a hurry to run away as he used to.

“Private security... you mean... what’s its name, Helios?” He was not sure if he wasn’t mixing some of the man’s companies by calling it Helios but he seemed to remember that Drew Connor owned such a company. The man might very well become their mayor. Another reason to stay in Kalispell. If he did, maybe Akeem would have another chance at becoming a lawyer. Who cared if his power was the reason why they weren’t sure about that and not the fact he was a mutant. “Like the fact that women dig the uniform?” Akeem asked. Oh, he was not serious and his tone made it quite clear, but he had to say it. If Scott wanted to stand in a corner all day, watching people to make sure they were not doing anything illegal, it was his choice. Akeem couldn’t really say his job sounded any more thrilling.

“Well, I better, if I help fill it,” he replied. He was not really offended. It wasn’t like he thought Scott spoke seriously when he implied he could have done it without him. “At this rhythm though, we’ll be drunk before we even invited anyone,” he added as he picked another bottle. Not that he minded drinking. Besides, he was pretty sure they could ‘fill’ the house as he said in no time.

[Scott O'Riley]

Scott nodded, pulling more from his bottle before laughing at Akeem's assumptions of the perks. "If a t-shirt and cargo pants got the girls all a fluster, I would have done it a long time ago." He shrugged.

He laughed again, knowing Akeem wouldn't have taken offense at the previous joke. "And that's a bad thing?" Scott asked with a lazy smirk spreading across his lips. He was starting to feel the buzz already.

"Might even have more fun being at a party drunk." He shrugged and finished up his bottle. "Alright Ten-Amen. Do your job. I'll get some stuff delivered from the grocery store." He leaned over, patting Akeem's shoulder.

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

Akeem had an amused smirk. He could laugh at this all he wanted, he too would have worn a uniform if that was all it took to get the ladies. Of course, he would have sucked in any job that required a uniform worthy of being called a panty dropper. He was not so good with authority or anything too physical. He preferred a job where he could get a lot of money doing as little as possible. Or, if he had to work, have people doing the dirty work while he just used his brains. “As long as you don’t expect me to work with you. I wouldn’t mind being a legal advisor there but something tells me the man already has plenty enough of that.” Which was sad because that surely meant lots of money along with prestige. It looked like Akeem would have to work to get both of those.

Although, for now, the only prestige he was going after seemed more to be in how many ladies he could call in. And boys too, he supposed, but he’d definitely base his success here on the amount of ladies he could get. “I guess not but the others will want the booze too,” he just said, not minding at all if they ended up drunk. It was not like he did that every day. And there was no one here to patronize them. At least, no one better try, or Akeem would just use his power on them an convince them to drink just as much as they were.

“You get it,” Akeem assured as Scott let him work on the invites while he made sure they had all of the good stuff to keep them here. Akeem pulled out his phone and started leaving some texts and info about this little party at his friend’s place. Thank the God of Internet for social media!