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A very late story about Barnaby Jazz and an interview with Daryl Conte following the All-Star Rookie Game. Like I said VERY LATE story...sorry everybody.
The din finally began to subside; the crowd on the court starting to thin out at last as the initial excitement of the West's victory petered out. Final hugs and hand shakes were given as people started to make their way to locker rooms, press booths and hotel rooms. Among the sea of bodies, one stood out as going against the tide. The uniquely cookie dough-like coat of the retriever mix stood out among the crowd as he made his way toward the bigfur who had been playing for the Western rookies. He wasn't sure why he had decided on the shark, but he just got a feeling about approaching him. Fixing his hair and dusting off his vest and jeans as he approached; Daryl took his usual calming breath and made his way to the shark. Clearing his voice, he hoped to get the shark's attention before just introducing himself out of the blue.
Barnaby was still laughing and sharing congratulations with his teammates on the way to the locker room, the big shark grinning brightly and his aqua eyes sparkling. But as he heard the clearing a throat behind him, he hesitated, glancing over his shoulder in search of the source of the sound. He immediately spotted the speckled canine, cocking his head a little.
“I’ll catch up with you guys…” He muttered to his teammates before turning against the flow to meet Daryl’s approach. “Something I can do for you?”
It hadn't really hit Daryl how tall the shark was until they were so close to each; the canine blinking at how far up he had to look in order to meet the other man's gaze. When they finally made eye contact, he said, "Good evening. I'm Daryl Conte, from the Cookie Dog's Sports Blog. I was wondering if I could get an interview with you; get your overall thoughts on the game and the All-Star Weekend in general." He had practiced the lines over and over in his head just so he'd be able to deliver them without fumbling over himself.
Barnaby hadn’t had many interviews since getting into the league; he had only been the fifth draft pick, his performance on the court had waned since the start of the season, and he really didn’t have anything that drew the press to him. So to have a cute canine requesting an interview with him was quite delightful. He appeared thoughtful for a moment before he gave a charming grin, chuckling a bit.
“Sure. But not here. How about over dinner? My treat.” The shark offered; his boyfriend had ended up not coming to Texas to cheer for him, and he was sure that he’d be spending more than enough time with his teammates for the rest of the weekend, so a quiet dinner with somebody was quite welcome.
The goldmation stood still, taken off guard by the offer. He hadn't really prepared for anything like this. Afterall, his last interview had been conducted just on the spot. It took him a moment to shake the bit of shock and hurriedly say, "O-oh, of course." He could feel his usual bashfulness rising up in him, his words speeding up as he continued, "So, should, I, um, meet you in the lobby, or where would be best?"
“Heh. Jus’ meet me out the locker room. I jus’ gotta shower and change. Shouldn’ be long.”
Daryl nodded, his hands having been attacking the lanyard with his press badge as his nerves got worse and worse. He was glad that he was given such simple instructions, saying in one fast blurb, "Okay see you there." before making his way back into the crowd as he had somewhere he needed to go before they met up. In truth, he was mainly wanting to calm himself after getting so nervous. He made sure he was out of sight, or at least hoped he was, before leaning against the wall and giving himself a "Calm the heck down" talk.
Barnaby chuckled a little bit as the dog blurted out his agreement before watching the canine dash off back down the hallway. Shrugging his shoulders, the big shark headed back towards the locker room, slipping inside and heading straight for the showers. Most of the team was already gone, though a couple lingered around the lockers, chatting about some of the highlights of the game, or what their plans were for after the game.
Once he had calmed himself, Daryl made his way to the bathroom and looked himself over. As he looked himself over, he silently thanked himself for loving vests so much. He looked presentable for a dinner, black vest over top of a plain green shirts; all atop a pair of well kept jeans. The only thing he had to fuss with was his hair...which kept him staring at the mirror for several minutes as he tried to get it to look decent. All the while he was telling himself "Okay, just stay calm. Its just a business dinner. Its not a like a date or anything. I mean, its just an interview with a backdrop of food. You can do this." He stared at his reflection for a few more moments; adjusted his hair one last time, and made his way to the locker room. When he found the entrance, he leaned against the wall and ran through the mantra of "calm the fuck down" over and over in his head.
Barnaby didn’t take long to shower and change; being a shark came in handy when it came to drying off and whatnot. He didn’t have all that fur to worry about at least. Stretching, he waved to the last of his teammates and told them he’d catch up with the festivities later before stepping out of the locker room. The shark bigfur immediately spotted the canine nearby, moving to join him with a smile on his features.
“Ready to go? Daryl, right?” He asked with a smirk; Barnaby himself wasn’t dressed overly fancy. A pair of comfortable jeans with a few tears in them and one of his favourite t-shirts with the low-cut v-neck. The shark definitely managed the “casual and sexy” look quite well.
Daryl let out a mental sigh of relief as he saw how casual the shark was being about this all. This was just just two guys, eating dinner and talking... Well, that was still a scary thought for the canine, but it was less scary now at least. Reminding himself to stay calm one more time in his head, he smiled and said, "I'm ready when you are Mr.Jazz."
“Great! My car’s sitting in the parking lot. I was thinking of just grabbing a quick dinner at the hotel; I gotta catch up with the guys at some point as well. Gotta celebrate with ‘em and all.” Grinning, the shark led the way to the parking lot and out to the waiting sport’s car; Barnaby had rented a topless Jeep Rubicon, one of his favourite vehicles to drive in the warm climates.
Daryl let out a low whistle as he saw it. He knew nothing about cars, but he liked looking at them none-the-less. With a smile, his bashfulness banished for a moment, he said, "Oooh, very nice. Then again, I should have expected this from one of the All Star Weekend rookies" The compliment fell from his lips without thinking, feeling comfortable in the moment that he said it. He honestly meant it and, it just felt natural to say for some reason.
“Well, most guys in my place would probably rent a fancy sports car, but my first car was a Jeep, and I love them. Just sucks that it’s too cold in Sturgis for me to drive one that’s topless.” He said with a small sigh even as he moved to open Daryl’s door, helping the smaller canine into the Jeep before moving around to climb behind the wheel himself, his tail flopping over the side of the car.
"Oh yeah. The winter this year has been rough to say the least. Even with fur, its been awful. I can't say I'm looking forward to being back in Michigan. With the lake and all that, its been awful. There are days where I've wanted to just stay snuggled away in a blanket inside. Plus, now that I'm freelance, its harder and harder to force myself out during the day." He replied, feeling confident enough to shoot the shark a small smile. 'So far, so good' he thought to himself, his tail wagging about aimlessly as they reached the vehicle.
He actually blushed a little bit as the big shark opened the car door for him and helped him in; it was such an old-fashion thing and was rare to see in people these days. Daryl made a note of that for his article. It was always interesting when he could reveal some of the inner workings of the people he interviewed, even if it was more from his experience with them than from the interview itself.
As Barnaby headed out onto the road, the wind blew past them; Daryl unable to help the urge to fuss with his hair again. This time, he was thinking of what the shark thought as he did it, his cookie colored hands running through the scarlet locks and pushing them back into place only for the wind to tussle them once more. He hoped he didn't come off as fussy or anything like that. Thinking this made a whole stream of similar questions run through his head and made the dog blush a bit more. He knew it was going to be a short interview, but he still wanted to leave a good impression. Hoping to hide his blush, the canine broke the half-silence and asked, "So, how does it feel?"
Barnaby was simply enjoying the drive back to the hotel; he figured it would just be easiest for them to eat at the hotel restaurant. It was a nice restaurant, but not so classy that they’d look under-dressed. But he was startled by the question, glancing towards the canine with a touch of confusion in his eyes.
“How does what feel?” He asked simply enough, looking away from the canine again to focus on the road once more.
"Winning the game," the dog replied, just barely holding back a yawn. It hadn't hit him till he had gotten into the car how tired he was. He leaned on one hand, just a bit separating the two them as they made their way down the road. He made sure to keep his eyes open though, not wanting to be rude. Cars always seemed to have this weird effect on him, they always made him sleepy.
“Feels pretty good, but I really don’t think I played as well as I could. And it seems like it’ll just be my dunk that everybody really remembers; it was about the only bloody thing I did.” He replied with a bit of a frown, shaking his head a little; the shark had managed to pull off one wicked dunk that resulted in Otis Najac of the East rookies to get a faceful of his crotch, a ball to the head, and a tail to the face to finish it all.
Perked up a bit, working to resist the feeling of weariness pulling at him. He nodded at the comments saying, "Well, it was definitely quite the moment to the say the least. Still, from what I saw you did pretty good. I mean, I'm still learning, but you looked pretty good out there." His head start bobbing again as he finished, making Daryl glad that the shark was focused on the road and not him. He just had to make it back to the hotel.
“My form was good, but my game was off. It’s been off since early in the season, unfortunately. Made me surprised that I got voted into the All-Star Challenge, actually.” He admitted as he drove along; they weren’t far from the hotel now and Barnaby started to slow down a little.
"Ooh, I'm..sure its...fi-" Daryl started to say, but trailed off as he slowly slumped over, leaning against the shark with closed eyes. Seems like sleep had won this round. The feeling made the shark look over and smile a little as he spied the dozing dog on his shoulder, chuckling a little bit. He made no motion to move or awaken the Daryl and merely pulled up in front of the hotel calmly before gently shaking the canine awake.
“Daryl. We’re here. Dinner time.” He said with a soft chuckle, gently pushing the dog off his shoulder as he saw him start awake. Barnaby tossed his key to the valet as he slipped out of the Jeep and moved around to pull open the goldmation’s door politely with that big charming smile on his features.
The canine took a second to awaken fully, feeling himself slip back fully into his seat. Blinking the heaviness from his eyes, he suddenly snapped back to where he was and what he had just been doing. His face was redder than his hair by the time the shark opened his door; Daryl hopping out and hurriedly saying, "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry. Just have this thing with cars sometimes, I get super sleepy, and I just doze off without noticing..." All this tumbled out in a rush of words, the canine's racing at embarrassing this must be. So much for giving a good impression.
“It’s fine Daryl, really. It’s been a busy day no doubt. We can do the interview up quick and then you can head to your hotel room and I can head out to celebrate with the guys.”
"Sure, sure. Sounds like a good plan to me." Daryl replied nervously; his ears drooping a bit. How was anyone supposed to take him seriously with him doing stuff like that. Thinking all this, his eyes slowly drifted to the ground as they often did when he was thrust into situations like this. It was time to chalk up another mess up on the long list of failed conversations.
Smiling, Barnaby didn’t make a big deal out of anything, merely reaching over to ruffle Daryl’s hair in playful reassurance before he got out of the car, tossing his keys to the valet before leading the way into the hotel restaurant.
Daryl looked up, surprised at the reassuring little gesture. He blushed slightly and eagerly followed the shark into the restaurant. The little bit of reassurance was enough for him to think to himself, 'Its gonna be okay. This is your first big interview on your own. Just get through dinner and you're golden.'
Barnaby immediately requested a table for two in a quiet part of the restaurant, slipping a tip to the hostess to ensure he got what he asked for before they were led to just such a table. Daryl followed swiftly behind, returning to the confident attitude the canine had earlier; even managing to say, "Wow, this place is pretty nice. I can't believe I didn't come here sooner."
“I didn’t wanna go anywhere too fancy, but this place is decent enough, and it’s fairly quiet. Should work well for your interview.” Barnaby said with a smile as he actually pulled out Daryl’s chair, waiting for the canine to sit before the shark moved around to take his own seat, settling in comfortably.
Daryl, surprised at the gesture, smiled wide, and bowed his head a bit to the shark, "Why thank you. I'll be sure to mention that you are quite the gentleman."
“Well, I try.” Barnaby said with a modest chuckle, scratching at his headfin absently before glancing towards the waiter that approached them for their drink orders, the shark promptly ordering himself a glass of expensive porter before looking across to Daryl with a smile. “Would you like some wine Daryl? A cocktail?”
Daryl folded his ears back for a moment, shyly admitting, "Well, I don't really drink much. So, um, I'll just go with whatever wine you suggest. Sorry, never been one for the fancy stuff." Under the table, he fussed with his hands a bit, hoping it wasn't too awkward that he knew nothing about wine. He made a mental note to learn a bit before his next dinner interview. Smiling softly, the shark gave a small chuckle before ordering a glass of ice wine for Daryl, the waiter nodding and heading off to get their drinks while leaving them to decide on their meals.
“Well now. While we browse the menu, how about we start this interview. What did you wanna know?” Barnaby said with a grin on his features as he absently looked over the menu; everything was simple, the menu was small, but the shark was certain that everything would be delicious and flawless. Daryl was thinking just about the same as he grabbed his oPhone, pulling up the recording app and saying, "Well, lets start with how it feels to be be drafted? I can guess it’s been a big adjustment moving here to the states?"
“It’s a huge adjustment! This place is nothing like Australia, and there’s lots of things I miss about the Wonderland. But it feels good to be in the league, living the dream as it were. And the team is awesome; we’ve got a great dynamic going I think. And it’s pretty amazing to have been drafted by the reigning champions! It makes me wanna work that much harder! Last thing I want to do is drag down the team.”
Daryl nodded, checking to see if the app was running one last time before continuing, "Sounds like a good way to start out your career. Have there been any particularly memorable moments so far?" He looked over the menu, trying not to look too surprised at how pricey everything was; at least compared to the place he usually ate at. He looked for something decently cheap so that he wouldn't cost the shark an arm and a leg just to feed him.
“Memorable moments? On the court, I haven’t had very many that really stand out for me, but off the court? There’s plenty. Going out to the bars with Pura, steak and beers with DQ and Red. I mean, as a team, we’ve had lots of strong wins and amazing games, but to me as important as the games are, the really important times are the times spent off the court.” Barnaby explained with a smile, putting down his menu and placing his order for bison steak when the waiter came over.
When it came to Daryl to order, he made another rushed look over the prices and ordered just a pulled pork sandwich. It was on the cheaper side, so he didn't feel like too much of a mooch. He let a soft sigh of relief at that, and then continued the interview with a smile. Barnaby was quite pleased to have the interview over dinner, savouring his steak when it came along with the wine he was drinking. He even managed to talk the canine into drinking a couple extra glasses of wine. Smiling, the shark paid for the meal without letting Daryl even catch a glimpse of the check, the shark getting to his feet and helping the other male to his feet and heading back out of the restaurant.
“I hope you enjoyed your dinner, and I hope that I answered all the questions to your satisfaction.” Barnaby said with a warm smile, his aqua eyes practically glowing.
Daryl smiled back at the beaming shark, his energy nearly infectious as they walked to the elevator. He only just felt the weight of sleepiness start to creep in on him as he cheerily replied, "You were great Mr.Jazz, I have a lot to work with for my article. Thank you so much for both the meal and the interview." He yawned just the slightest bit, rubbing his eyes as they started to feel heavy again. He shook off though, not wanting to fall asleep on the shark again.
Barnaby led Daryl into the elevator and decided to show the canine to his room, especially as he saw how sleepy the smaller male was. “You’re very welcome, Daryl. I’ll see you to your room before I go and join the boys for celebration.”
Daryl nodded as they both stepped into the elevator. He smiled at the shark again, his eyelids drooping more and more he leaned again the shark for a moment, murmuring "Thanks Barnaby, my...my room is...number..." Before he could finish, his eyes were shut and he was out. He didn't even have enough energy even to remind himself of earlier. He just leaned against the shark, breathing in a soft, rhythmic way.
Barnaby was a little surprised as the canine suddenly nodded off against his him, looking down at the sleeping face with a rather fond smile. Were he a single man…
But as it was, Barnaby realized that he didn’t know which room the canine had to go to, and he just couldn’t bring himself to wake the young man up. So, with a small sigh, he headed for his own room instead, carefully lifting the dog into his arms and carrying him into the room quietly. He settled Daryl into the bed and tucked him in snuggly, hesitating a moment before stroking a hand over the dog’s crimson hair.
“Sleep well, Daryl.” He said with a grin, taking a moment to scribble a short note letting Daryl know what was going on before he headed to join the guys for some celebratory drinks on the town.
Written by myself and
Barnaby belongs to me, Daryl belongs to him.
The din finally began to subside; the crowd on the court starting to thin out at last as the initial excitement of the West's victory petered out. Final hugs and hand shakes were given as people started to make their way to locker rooms, press booths and hotel rooms. Among the sea of bodies, one stood out as going against the tide. The uniquely cookie dough-like coat of the retriever mix stood out among the crowd as he made his way toward the bigfur who had been playing for the Western rookies. He wasn't sure why he had decided on the shark, but he just got a feeling about approaching him. Fixing his hair and dusting off his vest and jeans as he approached; Daryl took his usual calming breath and made his way to the shark. Clearing his voice, he hoped to get the shark's attention before just introducing himself out of the blue.
Barnaby was still laughing and sharing congratulations with his teammates on the way to the locker room, the big shark grinning brightly and his aqua eyes sparkling. But as he heard the clearing a throat behind him, he hesitated, glancing over his shoulder in search of the source of the sound. He immediately spotted the speckled canine, cocking his head a little.
“I’ll catch up with you guys…” He muttered to his teammates before turning against the flow to meet Daryl’s approach. “Something I can do for you?”
It hadn't really hit Daryl how tall the shark was until they were so close to each; the canine blinking at how far up he had to look in order to meet the other man's gaze. When they finally made eye contact, he said, "Good evening. I'm Daryl Conte, from the Cookie Dog's Sports Blog. I was wondering if I could get an interview with you; get your overall thoughts on the game and the All-Star Weekend in general." He had practiced the lines over and over in his head just so he'd be able to deliver them without fumbling over himself.
Barnaby hadn’t had many interviews since getting into the league; he had only been the fifth draft pick, his performance on the court had waned since the start of the season, and he really didn’t have anything that drew the press to him. So to have a cute canine requesting an interview with him was quite delightful. He appeared thoughtful for a moment before he gave a charming grin, chuckling a bit.
“Sure. But not here. How about over dinner? My treat.” The shark offered; his boyfriend had ended up not coming to Texas to cheer for him, and he was sure that he’d be spending more than enough time with his teammates for the rest of the weekend, so a quiet dinner with somebody was quite welcome.
The goldmation stood still, taken off guard by the offer. He hadn't really prepared for anything like this. Afterall, his last interview had been conducted just on the spot. It took him a moment to shake the bit of shock and hurriedly say, "O-oh, of course." He could feel his usual bashfulness rising up in him, his words speeding up as he continued, "So, should, I, um, meet you in the lobby, or where would be best?"
“Heh. Jus’ meet me out the locker room. I jus’ gotta shower and change. Shouldn’ be long.”
Daryl nodded, his hands having been attacking the lanyard with his press badge as his nerves got worse and worse. He was glad that he was given such simple instructions, saying in one fast blurb, "Okay see you there." before making his way back into the crowd as he had somewhere he needed to go before they met up. In truth, he was mainly wanting to calm himself after getting so nervous. He made sure he was out of sight, or at least hoped he was, before leaning against the wall and giving himself a "Calm the heck down" talk.
Barnaby chuckled a little bit as the dog blurted out his agreement before watching the canine dash off back down the hallway. Shrugging his shoulders, the big shark headed back towards the locker room, slipping inside and heading straight for the showers. Most of the team was already gone, though a couple lingered around the lockers, chatting about some of the highlights of the game, or what their plans were for after the game.
Once he had calmed himself, Daryl made his way to the bathroom and looked himself over. As he looked himself over, he silently thanked himself for loving vests so much. He looked presentable for a dinner, black vest over top of a plain green shirts; all atop a pair of well kept jeans. The only thing he had to fuss with was his hair...which kept him staring at the mirror for several minutes as he tried to get it to look decent. All the while he was telling himself "Okay, just stay calm. Its just a business dinner. Its not a like a date or anything. I mean, its just an interview with a backdrop of food. You can do this." He stared at his reflection for a few more moments; adjusted his hair one last time, and made his way to the locker room. When he found the entrance, he leaned against the wall and ran through the mantra of "calm the fuck down" over and over in his head.
Barnaby didn’t take long to shower and change; being a shark came in handy when it came to drying off and whatnot. He didn’t have all that fur to worry about at least. Stretching, he waved to the last of his teammates and told them he’d catch up with the festivities later before stepping out of the locker room. The shark bigfur immediately spotted the canine nearby, moving to join him with a smile on his features.
“Ready to go? Daryl, right?” He asked with a smirk; Barnaby himself wasn’t dressed overly fancy. A pair of comfortable jeans with a few tears in them and one of his favourite t-shirts with the low-cut v-neck. The shark definitely managed the “casual and sexy” look quite well.
Daryl let out a mental sigh of relief as he saw how casual the shark was being about this all. This was just just two guys, eating dinner and talking... Well, that was still a scary thought for the canine, but it was less scary now at least. Reminding himself to stay calm one more time in his head, he smiled and said, "I'm ready when you are Mr.Jazz."
“Great! My car’s sitting in the parking lot. I was thinking of just grabbing a quick dinner at the hotel; I gotta catch up with the guys at some point as well. Gotta celebrate with ‘em and all.” Grinning, the shark led the way to the parking lot and out to the waiting sport’s car; Barnaby had rented a topless Jeep Rubicon, one of his favourite vehicles to drive in the warm climates.
Daryl let out a low whistle as he saw it. He knew nothing about cars, but he liked looking at them none-the-less. With a smile, his bashfulness banished for a moment, he said, "Oooh, very nice. Then again, I should have expected this from one of the All Star Weekend rookies" The compliment fell from his lips without thinking, feeling comfortable in the moment that he said it. He honestly meant it and, it just felt natural to say for some reason.
“Well, most guys in my place would probably rent a fancy sports car, but my first car was a Jeep, and I love them. Just sucks that it’s too cold in Sturgis for me to drive one that’s topless.” He said with a small sigh even as he moved to open Daryl’s door, helping the smaller canine into the Jeep before moving around to climb behind the wheel himself, his tail flopping over the side of the car.
"Oh yeah. The winter this year has been rough to say the least. Even with fur, its been awful. I can't say I'm looking forward to being back in Michigan. With the lake and all that, its been awful. There are days where I've wanted to just stay snuggled away in a blanket inside. Plus, now that I'm freelance, its harder and harder to force myself out during the day." He replied, feeling confident enough to shoot the shark a small smile. 'So far, so good' he thought to himself, his tail wagging about aimlessly as they reached the vehicle.
He actually blushed a little bit as the big shark opened the car door for him and helped him in; it was such an old-fashion thing and was rare to see in people these days. Daryl made a note of that for his article. It was always interesting when he could reveal some of the inner workings of the people he interviewed, even if it was more from his experience with them than from the interview itself.
As Barnaby headed out onto the road, the wind blew past them; Daryl unable to help the urge to fuss with his hair again. This time, he was thinking of what the shark thought as he did it, his cookie colored hands running through the scarlet locks and pushing them back into place only for the wind to tussle them once more. He hoped he didn't come off as fussy or anything like that. Thinking this made a whole stream of similar questions run through his head and made the dog blush a bit more. He knew it was going to be a short interview, but he still wanted to leave a good impression. Hoping to hide his blush, the canine broke the half-silence and asked, "So, how does it feel?"
Barnaby was simply enjoying the drive back to the hotel; he figured it would just be easiest for them to eat at the hotel restaurant. It was a nice restaurant, but not so classy that they’d look under-dressed. But he was startled by the question, glancing towards the canine with a touch of confusion in his eyes.
“How does what feel?” He asked simply enough, looking away from the canine again to focus on the road once more.
"Winning the game," the dog replied, just barely holding back a yawn. It hadn't hit him till he had gotten into the car how tired he was. He leaned on one hand, just a bit separating the two them as they made their way down the road. He made sure to keep his eyes open though, not wanting to be rude. Cars always seemed to have this weird effect on him, they always made him sleepy.
“Feels pretty good, but I really don’t think I played as well as I could. And it seems like it’ll just be my dunk that everybody really remembers; it was about the only bloody thing I did.” He replied with a bit of a frown, shaking his head a little; the shark had managed to pull off one wicked dunk that resulted in Otis Najac of the East rookies to get a faceful of his crotch, a ball to the head, and a tail to the face to finish it all.
Perked up a bit, working to resist the feeling of weariness pulling at him. He nodded at the comments saying, "Well, it was definitely quite the moment to the say the least. Still, from what I saw you did pretty good. I mean, I'm still learning, but you looked pretty good out there." His head start bobbing again as he finished, making Daryl glad that the shark was focused on the road and not him. He just had to make it back to the hotel.
“My form was good, but my game was off. It’s been off since early in the season, unfortunately. Made me surprised that I got voted into the All-Star Challenge, actually.” He admitted as he drove along; they weren’t far from the hotel now and Barnaby started to slow down a little.
"Ooh, I'm..sure its...fi-" Daryl started to say, but trailed off as he slowly slumped over, leaning against the shark with closed eyes. Seems like sleep had won this round. The feeling made the shark look over and smile a little as he spied the dozing dog on his shoulder, chuckling a little bit. He made no motion to move or awaken the Daryl and merely pulled up in front of the hotel calmly before gently shaking the canine awake.
“Daryl. We’re here. Dinner time.” He said with a soft chuckle, gently pushing the dog off his shoulder as he saw him start awake. Barnaby tossed his key to the valet as he slipped out of the Jeep and moved around to pull open the goldmation’s door politely with that big charming smile on his features.
The canine took a second to awaken fully, feeling himself slip back fully into his seat. Blinking the heaviness from his eyes, he suddenly snapped back to where he was and what he had just been doing. His face was redder than his hair by the time the shark opened his door; Daryl hopping out and hurriedly saying, "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry. Just have this thing with cars sometimes, I get super sleepy, and I just doze off without noticing..." All this tumbled out in a rush of words, the canine's racing at embarrassing this must be. So much for giving a good impression.
“It’s fine Daryl, really. It’s been a busy day no doubt. We can do the interview up quick and then you can head to your hotel room and I can head out to celebrate with the guys.”
"Sure, sure. Sounds like a good plan to me." Daryl replied nervously; his ears drooping a bit. How was anyone supposed to take him seriously with him doing stuff like that. Thinking all this, his eyes slowly drifted to the ground as they often did when he was thrust into situations like this. It was time to chalk up another mess up on the long list of failed conversations.
Smiling, Barnaby didn’t make a big deal out of anything, merely reaching over to ruffle Daryl’s hair in playful reassurance before he got out of the car, tossing his keys to the valet before leading the way into the hotel restaurant.
Daryl looked up, surprised at the reassuring little gesture. He blushed slightly and eagerly followed the shark into the restaurant. The little bit of reassurance was enough for him to think to himself, 'Its gonna be okay. This is your first big interview on your own. Just get through dinner and you're golden.'
Barnaby immediately requested a table for two in a quiet part of the restaurant, slipping a tip to the hostess to ensure he got what he asked for before they were led to just such a table. Daryl followed swiftly behind, returning to the confident attitude the canine had earlier; even managing to say, "Wow, this place is pretty nice. I can't believe I didn't come here sooner."
“I didn’t wanna go anywhere too fancy, but this place is decent enough, and it’s fairly quiet. Should work well for your interview.” Barnaby said with a smile as he actually pulled out Daryl’s chair, waiting for the canine to sit before the shark moved around to take his own seat, settling in comfortably.
Daryl, surprised at the gesture, smiled wide, and bowed his head a bit to the shark, "Why thank you. I'll be sure to mention that you are quite the gentleman."
“Well, I try.” Barnaby said with a modest chuckle, scratching at his headfin absently before glancing towards the waiter that approached them for their drink orders, the shark promptly ordering himself a glass of expensive porter before looking across to Daryl with a smile. “Would you like some wine Daryl? A cocktail?”
Daryl folded his ears back for a moment, shyly admitting, "Well, I don't really drink much. So, um, I'll just go with whatever wine you suggest. Sorry, never been one for the fancy stuff." Under the table, he fussed with his hands a bit, hoping it wasn't too awkward that he knew nothing about wine. He made a mental note to learn a bit before his next dinner interview. Smiling softly, the shark gave a small chuckle before ordering a glass of ice wine for Daryl, the waiter nodding and heading off to get their drinks while leaving them to decide on their meals.
“Well now. While we browse the menu, how about we start this interview. What did you wanna know?” Barnaby said with a grin on his features as he absently looked over the menu; everything was simple, the menu was small, but the shark was certain that everything would be delicious and flawless. Daryl was thinking just about the same as he grabbed his oPhone, pulling up the recording app and saying, "Well, lets start with how it feels to be be drafted? I can guess it’s been a big adjustment moving here to the states?"
“It’s a huge adjustment! This place is nothing like Australia, and there’s lots of things I miss about the Wonderland. But it feels good to be in the league, living the dream as it were. And the team is awesome; we’ve got a great dynamic going I think. And it’s pretty amazing to have been drafted by the reigning champions! It makes me wanna work that much harder! Last thing I want to do is drag down the team.”
Daryl nodded, checking to see if the app was running one last time before continuing, "Sounds like a good way to start out your career. Have there been any particularly memorable moments so far?" He looked over the menu, trying not to look too surprised at how pricey everything was; at least compared to the place he usually ate at. He looked for something decently cheap so that he wouldn't cost the shark an arm and a leg just to feed him.
“Memorable moments? On the court, I haven’t had very many that really stand out for me, but off the court? There’s plenty. Going out to the bars with Pura, steak and beers with DQ and Red. I mean, as a team, we’ve had lots of strong wins and amazing games, but to me as important as the games are, the really important times are the times spent off the court.” Barnaby explained with a smile, putting down his menu and placing his order for bison steak when the waiter came over.
When it came to Daryl to order, he made another rushed look over the prices and ordered just a pulled pork sandwich. It was on the cheaper side, so he didn't feel like too much of a mooch. He let a soft sigh of relief at that, and then continued the interview with a smile. Barnaby was quite pleased to have the interview over dinner, savouring his steak when it came along with the wine he was drinking. He even managed to talk the canine into drinking a couple extra glasses of wine. Smiling, the shark paid for the meal without letting Daryl even catch a glimpse of the check, the shark getting to his feet and helping the other male to his feet and heading back out of the restaurant.
“I hope you enjoyed your dinner, and I hope that I answered all the questions to your satisfaction.” Barnaby said with a warm smile, his aqua eyes practically glowing.
Daryl smiled back at the beaming shark, his energy nearly infectious as they walked to the elevator. He only just felt the weight of sleepiness start to creep in on him as he cheerily replied, "You were great Mr.Jazz, I have a lot to work with for my article. Thank you so much for both the meal and the interview." He yawned just the slightest bit, rubbing his eyes as they started to feel heavy again. He shook off though, not wanting to fall asleep on the shark again.
Barnaby led Daryl into the elevator and decided to show the canine to his room, especially as he saw how sleepy the smaller male was. “You’re very welcome, Daryl. I’ll see you to your room before I go and join the boys for celebration.”
Daryl nodded as they both stepped into the elevator. He smiled at the shark again, his eyelids drooping more and more he leaned again the shark for a moment, murmuring "Thanks Barnaby, my...my room is...number..." Before he could finish, his eyes were shut and he was out. He didn't even have enough energy even to remind himself of earlier. He just leaned against the shark, breathing in a soft, rhythmic way.
Barnaby was a little surprised as the canine suddenly nodded off against his him, looking down at the sleeping face with a rather fond smile. Were he a single man…
But as it was, Barnaby realized that he didn’t know which room the canine had to go to, and he just couldn’t bring himself to wake the young man up. So, with a small sigh, he headed for his own room instead, carefully lifting the dog into his arms and carrying him into the room quietly. He settled Daryl into the bed and tucked him in snuggly, hesitating a moment before stroking a hand over the dog’s crimson hair.
“Sleep well, Daryl.” He said with a grin, taking a moment to scribble a short note letting Daryl know what was going on before he headed to join the guys for some celebratory drinks on the town.
Written by myself and
Barnaby belongs to me, Daryl belongs to him.
Category Story / Miscellaneous
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 120 x 107px
File Size 49.5 kB
Listed in Folders
Hehehe, oh Daryl...adorably unprofessional. Was fun seeing him freak out and trying to calm himself down. Tho to be fair with a guy like Barbie it's hard not to freak out! Wish we had gotten a little more insight into Barnaby's his own thoughts but what we did get showed us what an easygoing sort he is.
I'd say Barnaby's being a little too nice to a complete stranger just falling asleep on top of him, but then again, Barnaby is a swell guy and Daryl is adorable, so there ya go! haha!
So nice to read a story from you two! Keep it up! :D
I'd say Barnaby's being a little too nice to a complete stranger just falling asleep on top of him, but then again, Barnaby is a swell guy and Daryl is adorable, so there ya go! haha!
So nice to read a story from you two! Keep it up! :D
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