Ananda's apartment

[BeyondRedemption328]

Ananda wiped the sweat off his brow as he examined his apartment. Everything had been set up perfectly and he was proud of his handy work. Walking over to his counter he picked up a pair of tongs and lifted a coal that had been sitting on a coil burner. Walking back to his living room he placed the coal on the foiled covered bowl of his hook and plopped down on his couch. He grabbed the hookahs house and put the tip into his mouth, taking a long drag he let out a huge cloud of smoke.  

[red_ember14]

Kat was in her own apartment, only a door down from Ananda's. She was putting together a new TV and stereo stand, or was about to when she realized her screwdriver had gone missing. Sighing with frustration she stood up from her position of kneeling on the floor in the middle of a bunch of parts for her stand. Maneuvering around the mess she made, Kat pulled on a knit white sweater that fell off her shoulders and slipped on a pair of converses. She thought about going out and buying a screwdriver but then remembered she had seen a young man, probably around her age, entering the apartment next to her and figured that would be a good place to start before she made an unnecessary trip and wasted gas.

Running a hand through her hair, Katherine walked out of her own apartment and over to the one where she had seen the young man walk into, Ananda's apartment. She knocked on his door and stood there, waiting. When he does answer she says quickly, without really looking at him, "Hey, I live next door and was wondering if you had a screwdriver I could borrow? I'll return it and if I don't you can always come bug the living hell out of me."  

[BeyondRedemption328]

Ananda was lounging on his couch with the hose of his hookah hanging lazily from his hand. Hearing someone knocking on his door he put the hose down and got up to answer it. "Sure that shouldn't be a problem. One question though, have we met?." He replied in heavily accented English. "I'm Ananda, it's nice to meet you."  

[red_ember14]

Shaking her head, Kat glanced upwards towards Ananda, her green eyes taking in his appearance in that quick glance. She couldn't deny he was good looking but what she was really looking for was if she had seen him at the gentleman's club before. She wasn't ashamed of her job but she tried to separate her work with the rest of her life.

"No, I don't believe we have. My name is Katherine but people normally call my Kat, I'm a door down from you, on the right," she scrunched up her nose as she took in the strong smell that came from his apartment. It didn't smell particularly bad, it was just strong. She didn't make a mention about it, though.  

[BeyondRedemption328]

Ananda grinned and took in her appearance. She was pretty and had a sense of style, which was always a plus when he met new people. Being new to the country and being without friends he decided to be bold and invite her in. It would be nice to have someone to talk to in this new environment.

"Well it's nice to meet Kat," he saw her nose scrunch up and chuckled, "That's my hookah your smelling, strong I know." Nervously scratching the back of his head he asked her a question, "I'm new to the country and I haven't had the chance to get to know anybody yet, and this may seem out of the blue but do you wanna come in?."  

[red_ember14]

As he said that he was new to the country, Kat relaxed a bit, knowing that she didn't have to fear him knowing about where she worked. "Sure," after she took a few steps into his apartment she asked him, "So what is hookah?" she hoped it wasn't drugs, she promised her mom to keep away from any and all drugs but she wouldn't judge him for his own choices, though.

Having been invited in, Kat took the liberty of making herself comfortable as she sunk onto his couch, she wasn't really shy, just tended to mind her own business around most people in school.  

[BeyondRedemption328]

He walked in after and shut the door behind. Walking over to his stove he lifted a kettle and emptied it's contents into a tea pot. Carrying the teapot and two mugs over to the couch and plopped down next to Kat.

"Hookah is basically a water pipe you use to smoke shisa, basically flavored tobacco." He placed the mugs on the table in front of them and poured the tea. "The flavor I'm smoking right now is white peach, wanna give it a try?."  

[red_ember14]

"Tobacco?" since it didn't seem to be some type of illegal drug, Kat nodded to his offer, "Sure, I'll try some." She shrugged her shoulders, she smiled in his direction, a soft natural smile that only seemed to light up her features. There was a reason she was known as the Dark Angel at her club; she had the smile of an angel but wasn't exactly the picture of perfection. She stretched, a bit as she waited for him to explain how to use the contraption that held the hookah in it.  

[BeyondRedemption328]

"Yeah it's tobacco, like the stuff they put in cigarettes minus the tar and chemicals." He noticed her smile and grinned back, her smile was contagious and he couldn't help himself.

"All right here's how you use a hookah," He reached down and picked up the hookah's hose and pointed at it's tip, "You put the tip in your mouth and slowly inhale the smoke, don't let the smoke hit the back of your throat though unless you want to have a coughing fit." He demonstrated by placing the tip to his lips and inhaling deeply, putting down the hose he slowly let out a large cloud of smoke. "Yum tastes like peaches, here you try." He handed her the hose and reclined into the couch.  

[red_ember14]

Taking the pipe from Ananda, Kat placed the tip to her lips, she noticed it wasn't too much of a different technique then smoking weed which she had done many times in high school. Inhaling the smoke, she was careful not to inhale too fast and when she finished inhaling she blew out the smoke smoothly.

Closing her eyes she relaxed further into the couch; slipping her converses off, she pulled her legs under her. "It does taste good," she commented before handing the pipe back to her neighbor.  

[BeyondRedemption328]

He gently took the hose from her hand and lazily placed it between his lips. He took a long drag and let out a cloud of smoke that enveloped his head.

"So tell me about yourself Kat, where your from and all that." He asked reaching down for his mug, reclining back he took a sip and sighed happily.  

[red_ember14]

There was a short moment of silence before Kat said anything to her host. "I'm from a small town not too far from here. It's just my mom and I, my dad left before I could remember him. I'm a journalism major at Kensington with a love for dance. There's not much else to know about me, really. What about you, Ananda?" Katherine looked at her nails as she spoke about herself but when she turned the subject on to Ananda, her gaze traveled to him.  

[BeyondRedemption328]

"Me?, well my dad is from Laos and my mom is Thai so I grew up in both countries. I'm a business major at Kensington but I would go into music if I could. I wanted to go to school in a new environment so here I am in California." He played with the hookah's hose as he answered her, "It's kinda strange being in a new country considering I've never left Asia, but I think my stay here is gonna be an one hell of an experience."  

[red_ember14]

Katherine laughed softly, smiling her natural smile again that seemed to glow. "I'm sure that'll be an understatement. America is an interesting place to live in," she said, moving her legs out from under her to stretch them. She was wearing short shorts despite the fall chill outside and with her smooth legs it wouldn't be hard to imagine her as a stripper; her legs were slim from her years of dancing in her room as well as from her job.

After she was done stretching, she pulled her legs up to her chest before slipping the hose out of Ananda's hand and taking a long drag from it. She closed her eyes as she released the smoke, a more mischievous smile playing on her lips as she thought back to her days of dealing marijuana. She missed the excitement of high school. Stripping had it's own type of fun, true, but she still missed it.

"So, Ananda, do you have a nickname? Because if you don't I'll be tempted to call you Ana," she slid her gaze over to him, her mischievous smile not completely gone yet.  

[BeyondRedemption328]

He chuckled and then reached for his cup of tea, "Honey I lived in Bangkok for most of my life, it takes a lot to surprise me," he took a big gulp of his tea and sighed happily. Glancing at Kat from the corner of his eye he laughed softly and shook his head, "I know it doesn't get that cold here in California but aren't you a bit cold right now?."

He raised an eyebrow and smirked at her question, "Well my friends usually just call me Ananda, but no one has called me Ana before."