When Narvin wasn't overworking himself at work or doing endless piles of paperwork at home because he had nothing better to do, he often sometimes finds himself lying on his couch and watching useless documentaries whilst his pet hound, Leela would snuggle up close to his chest whilst softly snoring and sleeping away, sometimes twitching as she dreamt. This was his idea of relaxation and resemblance of some form of rest away from the world.
That was, of course, until Narvin heard the sounds of someone manoeuvring outside his door. Leela was ahead of him. Already, she sat up and jumped straight to the floor, growling at it.
Narvin quickly scanned his eyes over his apartment, searching for an appropriate object to at least warn of the burglar trying to break into his home but there wasn't much but Narvin knew that Leela could easily scare them away by her presence. She was a very good guard dog. One of the best. Over the years they have been incredibly close and Narvin knew that Leela was certainly his best friend for their was no other companion as loyal as her.
However, before he had time to muse over Leela or find anything sharp, his door swung open and he watched with confusion as a tall, silver-haired man with a mustache stumbled in like he owned the place. Unusually, the drunken man before him was dressed rather proper. He was wearing a silver tailored suit with a fob watched attached to his waist jacket.
The other man quickly shut the door and rested his forehead on the wood, closing his eyes as though trying to get rid of a headache in which case, considering how much he has been drinking, he might have very well been trying to do that.
Narvin cleared his throat, gaining the man's attention.
The other man sighed heavily, opening his eyes and squinting slightly. "I apologise. This is the last time I'll hang out with Benny. I drank too many whiskey's and I somehow failed to remember my own address so I gave them yours." He slurred half of his words before he turned around and took one look at Narvin and froze. "You're not Jack."
"Clearly." Narvin replied dryly, holding back a sarcastic remark.
The other man tilted his head in slight confusion. His cheeks were flushed from the alcohol that he had consumed. "Why are you in Jack's apartment?" He slurred, more confused than angry.
Narvin was about to reply but before he could utter a single word, Leela had already trotted his way over to the strange man and was nuzzling her head against his legs.
The other man looked startled by this movement and looked down to see a large hound nuzzling against his leg. He hesitated, looking at Narvin. "Is he friendly? When did Jack get a dog? He has a cat."
"She." Narvin corrected him, rolling his eyes. "Her name is Leela and for the last time, you are not in Jack's apartment."
"Leela." Braxiatel echoed before his eyes widened in astonishment and his cheeks that were already bright red from the alcohol, turned an even deeper shade of red from embarrassment. A string of foul mouth curses came out of his mouth. "My apologises stranger! I find it highly embarrassing at the fact I miscounted the floors." His eyes flickered to Narvin's pleadingly. "Please don't call the police on me. I-I-I promise I am not here to steal anything."
"I know and I won't." Narvin promised him for he could tell that the strange man before him obviously meant his word and that all this was just a simple mistake anybody could have made when they were drunk and not themselves. He eyed him somewhat cautiously before taking a small step towards him. What Narvin didn't tell the unfortunate drunk that he was actually a police officer himself. "At least let me claim my companion back." However, what Narvin noticed was that Leela had taken a delight to the strange man before him.
"She seems rather fond of me." Braxiatel replied, somewhat flustered by this for he wasn't used to animals liking him, let alone, guard dogs and he continued scratching Leela behind the ears which Leela seemed to love.
"So she does."
Braxiatel paused, before he realised why he was here and what he was doing here. He stopped stroking Leela, turning away in embarrassment. "My apologises," He apologised to Narvin once more. "This is incredibly bad mannered of me. I broke into your apartment, drunk and disorientated in the middle of the night, I questioned you and now I'm here apparently making myself at home." He quickly reached for the door, too embarrassed to stay any longer. "This is very unlike me. I'm a gentlemen! I never break into people's apartment and steal their pets at night..." He shook his head and opened the door. "I'm going to leave now and please pretend that you never met me in the first place and that I'm just a figment of your imagination." That was going to be hard considered they only lived two floors down from each other.
He opened the door and Narvin tried to stop him. "Wait!" He started but it was too late, the strange so-called gentlemen was already out of the door and Narvin stared out after him. "At least tell me your name..." He sighed, petting Leela.
Honestly, considering that Narvin was a police officer himself, he could have asked Jack about the strange man who arrived drunk in his apartment. But he refrained, mainly because he thought he didn't care and that it might seem a little creepy asking someone he barely knew for five minutes.
There was a sudden knock on the door, disrupting Narvin from his thoughts and Leela quickly darted her way to the door, her tail wagging excitedly. He frowned and followed her through. "Easy Leela." He soothed her and he twisted the doorknob open and he stood there for a full minute before blinking in surprise. "Oh. It's you."
Braxiatel grinned sheepishly at him and removed his hands from his back to reveal a fine bottle of whiskey and a box of expensive chocolates wrapped in a bright red bow. "Hello. I've come bearing gifts as an apology for my awful behaviour a few nights ago." He offered the gifts to Narvin. "I can ensure you that this is one of the finest whiskey's in the country. I know because I have been to many whiskey taster evenings and they all say it's the best of the best." Leela butted her nose against his leg, wanting his attention and he bent down and scratched her behind the ear. "Hello Leela." He greeted her before looking up at Narvin. "I am truly, truly sorry for my behaviour. Normally I do not drink so much. My friend Bernice is a bad influence on me."
Narvin merely shrugged but he accepted the gifts. He could use something to drink himself. "It's a mistake, mistakes happen especially when your system is full of alcohol and you are not fully in control of yourself. However, you owe Leela an apology." He gestured towards Leela. "She seems to be rather fond of your company. God knows why since you stunk last time we saw you."
Braxiatel smiled slightly at his rambling. "The name is Irving Braxiatel. But please, call me Irving."
"Pleasure to meet you Irving. The name is Narvin."
"So," Braxiatel cleared his throat. "Does this mean we're friends now?"
"I'm not sure," Narvin retorted and Braxiatel looked so disappointed, Narvin could have laughed out loud. "Leela has spent all week waiting by the door for you. I can't imagine why."
"Because it's my incredibly charming nature," Braxiatel replied cheekily but he was surprised at the fact that Leela had taken such a fondness to him. "How can I ever make it up to Leela?"
Narvin put down the bottle of whiskey and chocolates-well out of Leela's reach. "Well, perhaps you can take me to dinner."
"That can easily be arranged."
Jack knocked on Narvin's door the next morning after Narvin and Braxiatel went out for their meal. He whistled, occupying her time as it took a few minutes for Narvin to open the the door slightly ajar, his hair slightly messy and his cheeks flushed red. "Hello?"
"Ah. My name is Jack, I'm a friend of Irving Braxiatel's. I'm just trying to reach him but he's not answering his phone..." Jack told him, eyeing him as she realised that Narvin still had not opened the door fully to let him in.
"It went well. We've made up and he's apologised." Narvin retorted, not seeing why it was any of her business to know what went on between him and Braxiatel.
Jack arched an eyebrow. "Irving actually apologised? Now I would like to see that happen." To Jack, Irving didn't seem to be the type of man to apologise. Actually, she couldn't remember the last time he did apologise. He must have been feeling especially incredibly guilty towards Narvin.
"Yes."
He tilted his head. "Narvin, why are you not opening the door? Isn't it impolite to keep your guest waiting?"
Narvin cheeks turned even redder. "I'm not entirely decent..."
"It's 11am in the morning! Really Narvin, this is highly uncharacteristic of you." Jack reminded him.
"Oh for heaven's sake, you can let him in Narvin. Jack is just being incredibly nosy." Irving shouted from somewhere inside the apartment.
Narvin cleared his throat, looking incredibly sheepish as he opened the door fully and Jack witnessed a sight she thought she'll never see. Behind Narvin, Jack saw Irving Braxiatel standing closely behind Narvin, wearing only his boxers and petting Leela behind the ears. "As you can see, the date hasn't ended yet." Narvin replied calmly.
Jack's eyes widened before he quickly covered them up as though he was seeing some kind of nightmare. Ah. This wasn't something she entirely wanted to see. "Oh hell no," He groaned. "That is something I don't want to see in the morning."
Braxiatel lips twitched up into a smirk, his eyes shining with amusement. "Perhaps, perhaps not. I'm still enjoying my date with Narvin. Now go."
Jack rolled her eyes. "I'll catch you later. Don't get up to too much trouble." She waved goodbye before she left the pair.
Narvin closed the door once Jack left. "Well, that was embarrassing." He muttered.
"Really? I thought it went rather well." Braxiatel replied cheerily, cheekily pinching Narvin's bottom. "Now, where were we?"