Winter's Apex: Ch5 - Out and About
Ch5: Out and About
A quick click, which brought both Palmer and Apex to attention, ears perked, was followed by a thunderous clamor as the door swung open and their friends began to pour into the room. Palmer jumped to his feet, his heart pounding as Orion's boisterous voice arrested his attention and the rest of their party filed in.
"What sort of competition is it where none of us place?" said Orion loudly. "The judges must have been messed up in the head to be giving out scores like that. Relic here was out of placing range with, like, six more runs left. They must have been against us from the start!"
Dante rolled his eyes as he toke off his hat and tossed it on the bed, "You think everyone's against us. The judges weren't cheating us. We just weren't as on our game today."
"Actually, I think I'll side with Orion. There was clearly a vast conspiracy to keep me from winning."
Dante raised a disapproving eyebrow, but was met only by a mischievous grin on Relic's part as he leaned his board up against the wall.
"Anyway, how are you doing over there Apex?" inquired Dante.
"They got you all patched up and taken care of right?" Autumn's concerned voice came from the doorway as she moved into the room having been pulling up the rear.
Everyone's attention turned to Apex, taking little notice of Palmer as they crowded around the bed.
"They got me as patched up as I could get, I suppose." Apex sat up and looked himself over. "It really wasn't as bad as it looked. Just a few cuts and a lot of bruising. Nothing was broken. I'll be sore for awhile I'm sure, but other than that I'll be fine."
"That's good to hear." Autumn rested her paw on her bosom, giving Apex a concerned, though somewhat relieved look.
"Hey, aren't you guys back a bit early?" Apex takes on a rather questioning expression as his gaze bounces between his friends. "The competition can't be over already."
"No, you're right," explained Dante. "After Relic's run knocked him out of the running-"
"Which was complete crap!" said Orion, catching a look from Dante for the interruption.
"We decided we'd just find out about the results later as we wanted to check up on you to see how you were doing." continued Dante. "By the way I'm glad to see you're doing better, you looked pretty banged up out there in the snow, and we were really worried about you."
"I bet I did. The fall knocked me unconscious and my nose took quite a hit." he looks down his muzzle and lightly touched his black nose, wincing. "The nurse gave me some pain killers and they've helped a lot."
"Are you going to dinner with us?" jumped in Relic. "DJ Tek Fox is going to be there, you don't want to miss it do you?"
Apex sat silent for a moment, examining Relic's eager features, made curious by the unusual excitement in his voice.
"No I'll come. I'm not too banged up to sit." Apex gave a light chuckle which seemed to put everyone at ease.
"We've got some time before we need to go so I guess everyone can just do whatever till then."
"Where are we going again?" Apex searched his friend's faces until Autumn offered up the answer.
"It's called BG's shrimp house. Nikki, the female husky that works the desk most of the time suggested it to us the first year we were here and we've gone back every year since. Just about everything on the menu is wonderful."
"Well, I was hoping for a place where everything was wonderful, but I guess that will have to do." Apex tried to feign innocence as a mischievous grin crept across his slightly tattered face.
"You better watch that sassy attitude of yours. I wouldn't want to have to take advantage of your weakened condition," said Autumn between giggles.
"Heh, alright, I'll be good."
Relic, clearly tired, plopped down onto the bed alongside Apex and retrieved his sketch book from his bag. He began drawing as Orion's tail flicked about behind him. Simply rolling his eyes at their conversation, Orion held his paws on his waist and eyed Apex and Autumn with a bored and slightly agitated expression. Palmer, on the other paw, was listening attentively throughout the exchange.
"You guys can all keep doing whatever it is you're doing. I'm going to shower."
As Orion rummaged through his suitcase looking for various grooming products, the others agreed that cleaning up before dinner sounded like a good idea. Both Palmer and Autumn excused themselves, giving their goodbyes to everyone before returning to their respective rooms. Apex, with an arm covering his eyes, returned to his convalescence as he waited for Orion to get out of the shower. Relic sat with Apex, back against the headboard, continuing his artistic endeavors in silence.
As Apex lay there, trying futilely to prevent putting pressure on any of his many bruises, a thought occurred to him and he removed his arm to scan room.
"Where did Dante go?"
"Uh, I think he left with Autumn and Palmer." Relic looked up from his drawings and tried to recall exactly what had transpired.
"Did he actually leave with them, or what was he doing?"
Relic just shrugged. Apex ruminated on this curious development as he lay back down. Finding resting more rewarding then worrying, he resigned himself to it with eyes shut and paws folded across his chest. The sounds of dripping fur, the shuffling of paws on carpet, and the rough rubbing of towels over fur drifted across Apex's consciousness as he lay half asleep.
"Do you want to jump in there?" asked Relic.
"What?" returned Apex, blinking his eyes groggily and sitting up.
"I said, do you want to shower now? I started this drawing and I want to finish before I do anything else."
"Yeah, I can do that." Apex ascended slowly off the bed, sighing and grimacing from the fatigue and soreness. Once up, he grabbed his bag and pulled out a change of clothes. Articles in paw, he stepped past a dripping, towel-wearing Orion and into the steamy bathroom.
Closing the door behind him, Apex peered at his reflection in the large, clouded mirror. He reached out a paw and wiped a large section of it clean of condensation. Lifting his muzzle up and to the left, and then to the right, he sifted through his white fur, looking for signs of damage. Crossing his arms and grasping at the bottom of his shirt he pulled it over his head and tossed it aside. Again his paws slowly sifted through the soft fur on his firm chest and tummy. He continued the inspection, moving to his upper chest and shoulders, and found them bespeckled with discolorations. He winced slightly as he pressed on one of the larger marks.
"Ugh, I hate being all banged up and sore."
He stretched his muscular, fuzzy frame as he moved to the shower. Reaching through the curtains, he turned the water on and a steamy cloud began to form. Returning to the mirror, he slid his ruffled pants and undergarments down his legs and kicked them into a corner. He examined his toned, naked, and somewhat battered furry frame in the mirror. With paws resting on his hips, he twisted and turned his body, occasionally sifting through patches of fur, watching in the mirror to see if he was hurt anywhere else. Turning fully around, he hiked up his large, fluffy tail and examined his posterior as his paws slid through the soft white fur covering his rump. Unable to discover any new injuries, he gave up the search and hopped into the shower.
Despite that Orion consistently felt the need to harass him for it, Apex had brought along his fluffy loofa. Holding the loofa under the stream of water, he stared blankly at it.
I can't ever seem to remember what these things are called.
Apex dripped some of the body wash into the loofa and stuck it back under the shower. As he squeezed it in his strong paw, watching the soap foam and envelope his wet paw, he gently rubbed the soapy poof over his shoulders and into his fur. His motions were slow and light so as not to press into any of his bruises. As the water rained down upon his back, he runs the poof across his muscular chest and stomach, his thoughts wandering back to the fall.
It was a hard trick, but I've done it before and I really should have nailed it. Probably would have taken first too if I had. I didn't have as much practice as I usually do, but that's a weak excuse, I should have had it. Oh well, at least I had Palmer there to help me back.
The soap lathered across his chest fur flowed down his tummy and over the rim of his sheath as Apex tried to wash away the day's tribulations. The lather ran a path down the sides of his sheath and over his fursac, dripping slowly from its ample underside, his muscles relaxing as the warm water flowed through his fur. Cupping his fursac and sheath, Apex ran the soft poof over them again and again, a relaxed grin working its way across his muzzle as his thoughts began to drift.
With a long sigh, he leaned against the shower wall and replaced the soapy poof with his with water-soak paw. Lost in pleasant fantasy, his paw ran the length of his sheath again and again, a low rumbling forming in Apex's chest. As steamy streams of water poured down his fur, he lifted his muzzle up and back as his paw tugged down on his sheath, his hardening tip pressing out from inside it. He stroked along his red member as it grew steadily into his paw, his previous rumbles turned into deep sighs. Pawing along the length of his sizable member, he gave a little moan as he tugged his sheath down and exposed his swollen knot. He tightly gripped a paw around his bulging knot as the other slid rhythmically along his shaft with more vigor, his head tilted to one side and his cheeks flushed. His tongue lolled out of his muzzle and his eyes were tightly shut as waves of pleasure washed over him. As his heart began to race and his breathing turned to pants, a loud rapping on the door sent a surge of adrenaline through his body and his eyes shot open.
"You're going to use up all the hot water!" came Orion's muffled voice through the door.
The sudden shock had the unfortunate effect of causing his foxhood to wilt, and he let out a few frustrated and disappointed whimpers. Sighing at the lost moment, Apex washed the last of the soap from his fur and tossed the poof onto the drain as he shut off the water. The stream of water subsided suddenly, leaving only a trickle continuing to run from the head. Apex's fur likewise leaked excess water from its fuzzy depths as he stood there for a moment, still disgruntled. He made sure the shower curtain was closed before shaking himself furiously back and forth, ripping the water from his fur and drenching the inside of the shower. Feeling a suitable amount of water has been extricated from his coat he stepped out of the shower and continued drying off with a towel off the rack. After a rather thorough rubbing with the towel, he grabbed the rather hefty blow dryer out of its wall perch and flipped the switch. As the burst of warm air hit his face his eyes closed and he gave a wide smile, thoroughly enjoying the feeling of the heated air whipping through his fur. After several minutes of drying he shut off the blow-dryer, taking a moment to look at his rather flustered appearance in the mirror before throwing on his clean undergarments and pants.
Tonight's going to be sweet. I didn't think Tek Fox would come and hang out, I should have figured he's just cool like that. Apex stared rather blankly ahead into the mirror as he considers the night ahead.
I should think of something insightful to ask him, it's not every day I get to talk to famous guys like this. I wonder who won the competition. Maybe Tek Fox will know. He was probably there for the whole thing. Heh, I wonder if he snowboards too.
With his previous outfit under his arm, fresh shirt thrown over his shoulder, and a brush in paw he exited the steamy bathroom and into the chilly bedroom. Relic looked up as Apex gave a slight shiver at the sudden change of temperature. Arms crossed, he looked over to Orion who was lying on the bed.
"You could let a guy enjoy a long shower after the day I've had. It's not like I was in there that long."
Orion merely shrugged, and Apex rolled his eyes over to Relic who, seeing that the shower was free, moved off the bed in search of his own bag. As Relic burrowed through his bag in search of toiletries, Apex sat on his bed and silently ran the firm bristles of his brush through his puffy fur. He moved the brush through his fur in long, deep sweeps from the top of his chest to the bottom of his tummy. Once he tamed his front side he attended to his arms and back, ending with a few passes over his ears and tuft. With his fur suitably groomed, Apex put his shirt on before reclining into a pillow.
As the bathroom door closed behind Relic, the bedroom's door swung open producing their missing comrade.
"So where have you been?" asked Apex, giving a pleasant, though incredulous look.
"What, do I need Foxie clearance before leaving you guys alone?" returned an amiably defiant Dante.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," returned Apex with a slight scowl. "So where were you?"
"I went up to see if Aryana wanted to come to dinner with us."
"What did she say?"
"That she just needed a few minutes to get ready, and then would come down and meet us in the lobby."
"Cool, should be fun."
"Hey, that's a good idea," chimed in Orion, who proceeded to just walk out of the room.
"Did I miss something?" asked Dante, raising an eyebrow and looking behind him at the newly closed door.
"If you did I did too, because I have no idea. I'm sure he went to do something, and that's as much as I want to think about it."
"Heh heh, yeah, that's probably a good idea. Is everyone about ready here? We should probably be heading over there soon."
"Should be, I just got out of the shower and Orion was in there before me. Given, I have no idea where he went or how long he'll be gone, but it's not like him to miss dinner, so I wouldn't worry. Relic just went in there, but he doesn't take long."
"Oh I'm not worried. Besides, I still need to jump in there myself. As soon as I'm out and everyone gets back we'll go."
Dante and Apex nod in agreement and go about their business while they waited for Relic and the rest. Soon Relic exited the bathroom, looking even thinner due to his wet fur, and Dante quickly took his place. As Relic ran a towel in-between his long ears Orion returned, a twinge of smugness on his muzzle. Apex relayed the plans to Orion who acknowledged them and continued readying himself while seeming lost in his own thoughts. Autumn and Palmer returned together having met coming down the stairs, and both took a seat on the bed with Apex. As they all conversed, Dante finished showering and made an effort to hurry his personal preparations.
Once everyone was ready, they amassed their group and Apex led them out of the room and toward the lobby. Along the way they all chatted cheerfully, clearly feeling better after having the chance to cleaning up. Even Apex, despite his injuries, was quite jovial. As they entered the lobby, they were greeted by the exuberant waiving of Aryana, her fur shinning in the lobby's soft light. When she noticed them she rushed up to Dante and gave him a huge hug, then searched behind them expectantly.
"Looking for something?" inquired Dante.
"Yeah," replied Aryana, continuing her search. "Nikki was just here. Said she'd be back in a moment, just had to take care of something quick in the office."
"Who's Nikki?"
"Nikki is the cute husky who checked us in yesterday." said Orion to Dante as she walked out of the office then out from behind the front desk.
"Hey, where's that Jackal I saw you last night with?" asked Apex of Relic.
"I called and asked her when you were in the shower. Said she would come, but she already had made plans with some other of her friends. Said she could meet me after dinner, though."
"That's good. Alright everyone, let's head out." Apex rallied his entourage and they filed out the front door. As they were going through the lodge's double front door, Dante hustled up to Apex
"How did he get her?" whispered Dante. "I never saw him talk to her, and she clearly liked me better." questioned the incredulous Lynx. Apex returned with an amused and quizzical stare as they walked together at the head of their congregation.
"What do you care anyway?" asked Apex with a chuckle. "You've got Aryana back there."
"I know, but it's just the principle of the thing."
"Shut up," laughed Apex as he pushed his friend back toward the female cougar.
Downtown Breckenridge was teaming with crowds of people flowing up and down the brightly lit streets lined with countless food and souvenir shops. Their group talked and laughed as they weaved between others on their way. As they arrived at BG's Shrimp house, they were taken in by the unique décor. The entire exterior was made up to look like a ship, complete with lifesavers, masts, nets, and ropes. Waiting at the front door was not only DJ Tek Fox, but CP and Diana, all conversing genially amongst themselves as they waited. Apex and Relic called out to the three of them as they walked up to the door.
"Brought quite a crowd with you I see. Trying to give the restaurants seating capacity a run for its money?"
"Heh, no. Just found a lot of friends along the way I guess." returned Relic.
"Hey," CP greeted them with a wave. "Tek told us he was going out to eat and asked if we wanted to come. Hope you don't mind."
"No not a bit," replied Dante. "I was wondering if we'd catch you again while we were here."
"This is Diana." CP turned and gestured to the shorter, White Wolf next to him.
"We saw you in the snowboarding competition earlier," replied Apex this time, looking to the White Wolf.
"Nice to meet you." She replied with a "Hi" and a bright, toothy smile as she waved.
Nikki had had the foresight to call ahead, significantly lessening their wait time. Everyone stood huddled in a group talking for the ten minutes it took the staff to pull a couple of tables together, clean them off, and set them up. Their table already had water in festive, multi-colored plastic glasses at each seat, and as soon as everyone had taken their seat their bouncy and energetic koala waitress took their drink orders. Leaving them with an excessively cheery smile, their waitress was lost to the surrounding crowd and the group turned its attention to each other.
"So who ended up winning anyway?" asked Apex, addressing Diana.
"Um, it was that one fox with the white tipped-ears." replied Diana after thinking for a moment.
"What?" came back Apex's incredulous reply. "That guy wasn't half as good as you were. How did he end up winning?"
Diana blushed and dropped her muzzle a little as she replied, "Thanks. I was a bit off my game that last round. I think everyone was after that guy fell"
"That was this guy here," said Dante, prodding Apex in the ribs.
Surprise shot across Diana's face "That was you? I hope you're okay." Her expression quickly turned to concern as she scrutinized Apex.
"Yeah I'm okay now. Rather banged up after it happened, but after seeing the nurse and resting a bit I'm a lot better, just bruised."
"We were all worried that you had broken your neck or something. I'm glad you're okay."
"Yeah," added Tek. "Of all the people to screw up, we thought you'd be the last.
"Thanks, I guess." Apex gave Tek a bit of a sideways glance. "It's was my own fault, I should have made the landing."
"Well, everyone was impressed all the same. Besides, better to miss your landing than break your neck right?" returned Tek, taking a drink from his water.
"Guess you're right there," Apex grinned. "You did some great mixing out there, and from what I've heard off it, your new album is even better than the last."
"Thanks a lot. It's great to hear that people enjoy what I make."
"Yeah, Tek use to do room parties and shows at backwater bars," added CP. "Now that he's all famous and such he doesn't have time to hang out with us regular people."
"Whatever," shot back Tek. "I'm here now aren't I? You're always too busy visiting your cooler friends to come see me."
"Heh, It's all you, you hate us."
"Yeah right," said Tek as he turned to Apex. "Don't listen to this guy. He's totally full of it."
"I'll remember that," said Apex with a grin. "Hey, I was going to ask you, do you snowboard?"
"No, but I am pretty good at skiing. I went snowboarding once or twice, but I kept falling down, and it never really felt natural like skiing does."
"You should come with us tomorrow on the slopes. I'm sure we can teach you something," added Relic.
"I'll stick with my skis, but I'll do some runs with you."
"So who's this guy you brought with you?" inquired CP of Apex.
"Oh, this is Palmer. He works with Nikki at the lodge." Apex motioned toward the Husky.
"Hey, how's it going?" Palmer extended his paw over the table to CP.
"I saw you and Diana at the party last night. It looked like you two were having a pretty good time."
CP grinned. "Yeah, you guys put on a pretty good party. Free booze makes every party good."
"Yeah, free booze is good."
"Palmer has some great stories from the hotel. You should tell one of them," cut in Autumn, catching everyone's attention.
Everyone turned from Autumn to Palmer, expectantly.
"Um, alright, give me a moment." Palmer puzzled over the request before pushing ahead. "I remember this one time I was on the late shift and wondering along the halls. At the time I was going to check out some noise complaints we had received about a room party. I never did find out who complained. It's pretty rare because most people end up joining the random room parties around the hotel, not complaining about them. Anyway, by the time I get there its pretty much broken itself up, but the door is still open so I walk in to check things out. Standing there, all naked, is this female rabbit and male raccoon. They're both clearly tanked and more than a bit wobbly, and neither of them noticed that I was standing in the doorway. Out of the guy's mouth comes this statement, and I swear this is exactly what he said, "I really like...your outfit. It goes well with your... eyes I think." She gave him a look like he had just recited poetry, and then pounced him. I just shut the door, and walked away."
The table erupted in laughter, catching confused and curious looks from neighboring tables.
"That is too funny," uttered Tek between laughs. "I wonder if they even noticed they were both naked."
"Tell me they were at least decent looking," inquired Dante. "It doesn't get much worse than ugly people naked."
"Yeah," added Autumn. "Were they as good looking as Apex?"
Palmer turned to look at Apex for a moment, and then placed a paw on his shoulder. "They were pretty good looking actually, but not as good Apex here." Apex smiled and blushed with embarrassment as everyone else just laughed.
Palmer retracted his paw as their waitress returned with their drink orders. After placing a drink in front of each of them, she pulled out a small notepad from her pocket and took each of their orders in turn. With orders taken and brisk smiles dispensed, she left them to their own devices. Conversations continued, and everyone quickly became better acquainted. Formal introductions gave way to laughter and discussions of the lodge until their cute, koala waitress returned. With the accompanied help of two other employees to carry all of their orders, their waitress delivered and distributed their meals, double checking everyone to make sure they were all correct. Assured of the table's contentment, the koala left them to attend her other tables.
Sporadic banter continued as everyone dined happily. Those who took the time noticed that the sun has since set and been replaced by the chilly, star-lit blanket of the Breckenridge night. As the evening wore on their waitress stopped by twice more to make sure that they were all doing well, eventually inquiring into whether or not they would require desert menus. After being reassured of their satisfactory and possibly overstuffed states, she left them with fair wishes and their check. Giving their meals a chance to settle, they returned to their pleasantries, relaxed and content.
"I'll tell you," said Nikki to Palmer. "I don't know what you're doing that I'm not, but I've never had anything happen to me remotely as interesting as naked shenanigans. I think the strangest thing that happened while I was working was when some guy came to the desk and asked me for something like fifty tubes of toothpaste. I mean, what could you possibly want with fifty tubes of toothpaste?"
"Probably something involving a pay site," suggested Relic, eliciting a chuckle from the table.
"Whatever it was," continued Nikki. "I'm actually quite alright with boring. I don't need to see a bunch of strangers naked or falling down stairs and what not."
"What's wrong with naked people?" asked Orion. "More hot people should be naked and leave their doors open."
Nikki replied with an elbow jab to his side and a bit of a disapproving look. Orion just gave a big grin and a facetious "what?" accompanied by a large shrug.
"But that's not true." objected Palmer. "Remember during the party last year when that guy ran out into the snow drunk and naked? You stood in front of the window and told everyone that that was just what he wanted and if they ignored him he'd eventually get cold and come inside."
"Oh yeah! How could I forget that? He did eventually come in, though he still passed out face-down and naked on those stairs between the restaurant and the lounge. Luckily, his friends gathered him up so I didn't have to."
"Sounds a lot like us and Orion last night," added Relic, generating a few laughs from the table.
"Hey!" Orion smiled, somewhat embarrassed. "I totally blame other people for that one."
"Oh yeah, like who?" returned Dante with a raised eyebrow.
"Sorry, privileged information."
"I'm sure," replied Dante as he rolled his eyes.
"Oh so your the one that passed out during the party," interjected Nikki.
"I remember that alright," laughed Aryana. "We were all worried that he had hurt himself, but after seeing that it barely fazed you, it seems rather funny."
"I guess I missed something," added a somewhat confused Tek, looking in Apex's direction.
"You did," replied Diana. "Orion plowed backwards into a table on his way down."
Looking back to Apex, Tek gave a chuckle. "Looks like you guys are prone to injury. You should all wear helmets around. Maybe look into getting a short bus."
"I know," conceded Apex. "And we're not even trying. I guess we're just talented that way."
"Or cursed," suggested Dante. "I'm fully expecting to break my nose on the door as we leave."
Dante's pessimistic prediction gained him quite a few laughs as Tek took the torch. "So injuries aside, what did you think of the tournament?"
"It was a great time with stiff competition, injuries aside," offered up Apex.
"And for once, it didn't take twice as long as it should," added Relic.
"That was nice," commented CP. "I've been to a few of these before with Diana and they always last forever. We always have to find ways to kill time between runs, which usually ends in drinking. This time they really had a smooth system going."
"And let's not forget the quality of music they got for the event," added Dante with a grin.
"Thanks, I really appreciate it," replied Tek with a wide grin.
"I actually hadn't heard much of your mixing before, but I liked it," added Diana.
"So you two have known Tek for awhile?" inquired Relic.
"Yeah," replied CP. "We've known this guy since back before he got big. We all met through some friends." Tek gave a warm smile in return, adding," I still think you guys put on a better show out there," pointing to Diana and Apex. "You guys can really do some amazing tricks."
Both Diana and Apex modestly thanked Tek for his sentiment. The discussion turned to various moves and strategies used during the tournament until Nikki hopped back into the conversation.
"Did anyone else think that what's-his-name announcer guy was cute?"
"You mean Evan Eaton?" asked Aryana. "He was sort of cute, from what I could see of him, anyway."
"I don't know if I'd say he was cute," interjected Apex. "But he was a bit of an ass. I could have used without his questions while I was trying to get to the nurse."
"I was a little out of it at the time. I didn't even think to say anything," added Palmer. "But yeah, he should have just kept his mouth shut."
"What did the guy say?" questioned Autumn.
"Eh, just had a bunch of questions about what happened as we were going to see the nurse" replied Apex, disdainfully. "Nothing really bad, but I wasn't in any mood to answer anyone's questions."
"People can be real dicks alright." proclaimed Orion.
"Well, insensitive anyway," offered Nikki.
"He said something about hoping I got better quickly, so it was probably well intentioned," added Apex. "Not a big deal."
"Speaking of that guy," chimed in CP. "Did anyone else catch it when he said that thing about killer bees?"
"I know!" burst out Dante, incredulously. "What was that all about? What killer bees?"
"I have no idea," added Diana.
"I caught that too," replied Palmer. "I even went up at one point and asked him about it."
"Really?" questioned Orion. "Well, what did he say?"
"He told me I didn't want to know, and then he just walked away."
"Worthless," pronounced Apex. "See? That guy is nothing but trouble."
"And you thought he was such a great guy," taunted Orion.
"I just thought he was cute," replied Nikki. "I didn't say anything about him personally. Besides, at least he did a good job announcing."
"That's true," added Tek. "He did a good job. I didn't have any trouble with him. I thought he was a pretty nice guy, actually. I got to talk to him for a bit before and after the tournament"
"I'm sure," conceded Apex. "I was just biased because of the situation. He's probably a pretty good guy."
"And vexed by killer bee's," asserted Aryana, and the table gave a hearty chuckle.
"It looks like we're all done here," pointed out Autumn. "I know a really great, cozy bar less than a block from here. You guys want to go and get a drink?"
The general consensus of the table came back in the affirmative, with one dissenter short of unanimous approval.
"Actually, I think I'm just going to head back," said Apex, somewhat reluctantly. "I think I've had enough for one day."
"I think I'll head back too," added Palmer, quickly.
"Awww, are you sure you don't want to come Apex?" pleaded Autumn, her tone rich with disappointment.
"Yeah I'm sure, sorry. You guys go ahead. I'll be good for more tomorrow. By the way, it was good to meet you Tek, and you too Diana."
"It was good to meet you too," replied Tek. "Try not to fall any more ice on the way back."
"Will do," replied Apex, rolling his eyes.
"Seeya," added Diana with little wave and a smile and Apex returned the gesture.
"Alright, we'll catch you later then." Dante and the rest give their farewells as Apex and Palmer left.
With a large tip left for their enthusiastic waitress, the group headed for the door, and each in turn paid their part of the bill. Once outside, the two groups parted ways. As each group headed toward their respective locations, they enthusiastically shouted to each other of things to be done the following day. Once out of earshot, Apex, with Palmer at his side, began the trek back to the hotel.