Cameron sat up a bit to look curiously at Ava as she tossed her book to the side, raising his eyebrows at her unhappy expression.
"What should we do, then?" He asked, turning off his phone and propping himself uo on the foot of the couch, crossing one log leg over the other on the comfy, dark surface of the couch.
“I don’t know. Play a game or something? I just can’t sit here and read this stupid book anymore,” She huff, sitting up and casting a disgusted glare at the object of her frustration. Kreja lifts his head and stares at her for several seconds, clearly not happen about being woken up. He grumbles unhappily before putting his head back on his paws.
"I dunno, I'm pretty comfortable just chilling out on here," Cameron said with a grin at her clear anger. "What did that book to you, Ava? It's just a book, man." He looked down at it with her, blinking a couple times.
Lily's paws thumped on the ground again as she tossed the ball for herself, flailing her paws to get it back. She leaned forward, stretching out her hind legs and thumping her bushy, large tail happily.
“It’s a stupid book that would be better off as firewood,” Ava scoffs before stretching out a little. “Or even as a chew toy for one of the dogs.” She doesn’t care what happens to it as long as it’s no long in her possession by the end of the day. “Is there a paintball ball around here? Laser tag even?” She asks after a few moments of thinking. Being cooped up in a house all day doesn’t sit well with her and since she can’t do an actual mission right now, she’ll settle for the next best thing.
Cameron chuckled softly and rolled his eyes. "Jeez, that's a little intense. And no, since it's winter, all that stuff is closed since all the tourists are gone. It sucks." He sighed and stretched out on the couch with a yawn. "No, I got rid of all my games when my son and ex left. It's just my house and a bunch of nerd movies downstairs," He grumbled 'nerd movies' unhappily, reflecting on his ex-wife's dislike of them. She disliked everything he owned and it irritated the hell out of him.
“At least the tourists are gone. I know that they’re good for your business but they suck,” Ava laughs, shaking her head. At the mention of him having a son, she blinks. She’s never heard anything about his son before and it doesn’t seem like Cameron gets to see him a lot, if at all. “How old is your kid?” She asks curiously. If this proves to be a sensitive subject, she’ll drop it but until then she plans on asking a few questions.
Cameron chuckled meekly and shrugged. "They were noisy, but what type of people weren't? Now at least I get to stay here more often with my Lily. Right Lily?" He asked, and the dog looked up, thumped her tail, and went back to her ball.
"My son is seventeen," Cameron responded finally with a soft sigh and relaxing into the couch again. "I haven't seen him since he was twelve. My ex-wife somehow convinced the court I was abusing them, and against the word of myself, my lawyer, and even my own damn kid, she still got full custody."
“Noisy is an understatement,” Ava scowls, hating the tourists. They’re like bugs. The infect everything for a while and then leave the place in ruins. Besides, they’re presence makes her job so much harder than it has to be.
She frowns a little when she hears that. “I’m so sorry, Cameron. That’s terrible,” She says sincerely. Loosing one’s kid isn’t easy. “You’re not allowed to see him at all?” She asks with a frown. What type of mother would rip her son away from his father like that?
Cameron quite liked the tourists. They helped him put a spring in his step, and if used right, could prove to be a wonderful way of distraction of an assassination. They just had to be used right.
"No, not at all," He addressed softly, sighing. "He still calls me sometimes though. He says that she works a whole lot and he wants to come out and see me when he turns eighteen. Lidia was just jealous of me." He chuckled softly, shaking his head.
“Your ex seems like a real bitch,” Ava comments bluntly. If she ever happens to run into her…….No, it’s not her place to do anything. What happened with Cameron and his ex is none of her business, even if she does want to get involved. “I hope that your son gets a chance to see you when he can,” She tell him with a quiet sigh. She’s definitely curious about this whole situation but she doesn’t want to pry. Sticking one’s nose where it doesn’t belong rarely ever ends well.
"She fucking was," Cameron snarled harshly in response in a sudden wave of anger. "I'm so glad I got her out of my life. Now she can leech off of her own credit card. But she took Cormac." He shook his head and sighed, relaxing limply on the couch. "I honestly can't believe I married a woman like that, but I got a wonderful son out of it, so it doesn't matter too much."
Ava sits quietly and listens as he vents. It seems like he needs to get this off of his chest. “At least you get to see your son soon. Once he turns eighteen, he’s got the freedom to do what he wants. There’s not much she can do to stop him.” That’s the good thing about being a legal adult, you can do whatever the fuck you want. “You really love your son, huh?” She asks with a small smile, able to tell just how much he cares for his kid. It’s sweet.
"Yeah. I can't wait. He turns eighteen in a few weeks. I'm excited to see him again. He said he wanted to come down here for his birthday, since they live all up north. He wants to spend time at the beach and eat some good food." He chuckled again, sighing happily. "I do love him. He's a wonderful kid. You'll like him. He's nice and sharp. I didn't raise a fool, that's for sure."
A sincere smile tugs at Ava’s lips. She’s finding that she really enjoys it when he talks about something that he loves and it passionate about. “I can be out of the house all day for his birthday. Just tell me what day and Kreja and I can be out of your hair,” She tells him, not wanting to interrupt the day for the father and son. “We can even crash at our old place for that night, can’t we Kreja?” She makes a few kissy noises at the dog, who lifts his head and says his tail.
"Oh, no, I want you to meet him. He won't mind you there, trust me. He'll seem a little awkward at first, but he loves meeting new people. He likes evaluating their faces and how they act." Cameron sat up and stretched out with a yawn. "You don't have to worry about going anywhere else. Cormy and I will probably be out anyway, doing birthday stuff. But he might ask you to come along if he likes you enough," Cameron mused thoughtfully, as an added fact with a tilt of his head.
Lily looked up at the noise, dropping her ball and trotting around, confused. She couldn't seem to find a reason Kreja was so excited.
Ava studies him for a moment, trying to figure out if he’s been serious or not. To her surprise, she finds him to not be joking. He actually wants her to meet his kid. Is that a good idea? She looses herself in her thoughts for a few moments. “Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to intrude,” She says hesitantly. Would the kid take kindly to his father living with a woman who he doesn’t know? Probably not. She doesn’t want to make things awkward.
Kreja woofs quietly when he sees Lily, his tail thumping excitedly against the ground. He hops to his feet and trots over to her.
Cameron grinned warmly at her, flinging a lazy arm over the back of the couch. "Of course I'm serious, Ava. By the time his birthday comes around, we'll be close to best friends, so why the hell not? He'd love to meet someone like you, anyway. Overcriticsl and intelligent. He'd like to chat with you, for certain."
Lily paused and barked softly at him, leaning forward to lick his ears. She continued trotting around before settling back down at the fire with her ball between her paws. She leaned down and picked it up, tossing it up into the air and catching it with a small hop.
“Best friends, huh?” Ava raises a brow at him. “Don’t be too proud of yourself, you’re my only friend,” She points out, teasing him a little. “Well, besides Kreja And Lily, of course.” Looking down at the dogs, she can’t help but smile. “Did you just call me overcritical? I’ll have you know that I’m always optimistic and I’m always a delight to be around,” She tells him with a laugh. “Since you also called me intelligent, I’ll forgive you this time”
Kreja’s entire body wiggles as he happily wags his tail. When Lily ditches him for the ball and the fire place, he huffs a little in defeat. He walks over to the chair and studied his owner for a moment before leaping onto her lap.
Cameron chuckled a bit louder than the others as his mood was elated. "Right, I said in a few weeks. Anything can happen." He sat up a little more, swinging his legs over the couch lip. "Would another apology count as bringing you a drink…?" He suggested slowly, a smile working across his face. "I have beer, and I got more wine. That's it, though."
Lily glanced back behind her, stretching out her legs again when the other dog didn't come back over. She yawned, shaking her head out a little and setting her chin down on her paws, thumping her tail a couple more times.
Ava let’s out a strangled noise in surprise when her dog, who is most definitely not a lap dog, suddenly jumps onto her lap. “Kreja, you ham!” She exclaims, wiggling a little under his deadweight. The dog just doesn’t understand that’s he’s too big to be pulling this crap. “Now you’re speaking my language. I will be gracious enough to accept a beer as an apology,” She tells him with a grin. “Just this once though. Next time I expect you to get on your hands and knees to beg for forgiveness,” She jokes with him. Over these past months she’s become a lot more relaxed and open with him.
Cameron snorted and turned to pluck up Kreja mightily in his powerful arms. He was holding the dog like a teddy bear, hugging him close to his chest.
"I'll take this weight off of you, right Kreja? I can handle you as a lapdog. Perfect size!" He chuckled and turned on his heel, carrying the dog into the kitchen to retrieve a couple beers for himself and Ava. He brought them back and stuck out a hand with one beer in it for her, still holding up Kreja with the inner parts of his arms. He was straining just a bit with the weight.
“Do not manhandle my baby!” Ava exclaims, laughing loudly when she sees what Cameron is doing to her poor dog. Accepting the beer, she snorts in amusement, watching as the Akita starts to fully wake up. This should be interesting.
Kreja is half asleep when Cameron decides to pick him up and haul him around like a sack of potatoes. For a while, he accepts this but then he decides that this may as well be an invitation to play. He reaches out and grabs the human’s hair, pulling on it and growling playfully. It’s hard to keep a good grip on hair so he decides to go for the ear next.
Cameron laughed as he settled on the couch, now that the dog was attatched to his ear.
"Your baby seems to be putting up one hell of a fight! I like that in him," He mused to the dog with a wide smile on his face, pulling away from Kreja's grip. "Oi, let me drink my beer, okay?" He booped Kreja's nose gently as he cracked open the beer seamlessly with his powerful hands. He kept the dog on his lap, though, hoping the dog didn't totally spaz out now that he was let go and start running all around, taking a jump start off of his crotch. Maybe Cameron didn't plan this well.
“Yeah, he gets that from me,” Ava laughs, delighted when she sees that her little angel is piercing Cameron’s ear. Opening up the beer, she takes a few sips. She glances over to her supposed best friend and her dog, eyes going wide when she realizes what’s about to happen. She turns in her seat to face them, now fully invested. “Cameron…..” She starts warning him but it’s too late.
Kreja tugs at the human’s ear, wiggling around like crazy as he demands to be put down. The very second that he’s released, he launches himself off of Cameron’s lap and starts to race around the room. He’s completely wound up. The dog leaps from furniture to furniture, barking excitedly.
Cameron had luckily already taken a few gulps of his beer, or it would have been more of a pain in the ass than what Kreja launching off of him was. He let out a small noise of pain, wincing behind his hand before inhaling sharply to watch Kreja wreak havoc in his living room. As along as the dog didn't fall into the fireplace, there wasn't much Cameron was worrying about.
Lily yelped softly when she was scrambled over, and she hared into the kitchen for refuge from the crazy Kreja ruining her comfy time. She had her ball in her mouth and her tail was swaying slowly back and forth as she settled near the stove for some type of warmth.