[completed RP] Home Hunting
ooc: With the ever fabulous doug_ramsey - we decided to give the boys something cute and non-angsty to do, after all the crap we put them through recently. *cackles* Backdated to earlier this week, before Doug and John went away for the weekend, and before John knew he had a new job.
It had, on the face of it, been so well-planned. The two of them had arranged to have the entire day to themselves, free of social appointments with friends, to hunt for a proper house before they took a vacation to the other side of the world. And surely that couldn't be so difficult? Neither of them had jobs, and even if a lot of John's friends wanted to check personally that he really was still alive, they seemed to assume that John and Doug might want some, uh, personal time first. Doug and Jean-Paul had come up with a lengthy list of possible properties between them, and Doug had come up with a computer program to cross-reference the list with a New York map, giving them the best and shortest routes. Nothing could possibly go wrong.
After ten minutes in the car, Doug begins to think that he had been overly optimistic. John might not be a bad driver, but Doug's car is certainly a bad car, and John's new lust for life seems to have crossed over into a lust for making every traffic light, and turning corners with squeaking tires (okay, maybe that's just how the tires sound). So Doug checks his seatbelt every couple of minutes, and holds tight to his laptop.
"Make a left at this intersection," he says. "Then a right at the lights, and find parking. There's some kind of renovated 19th century building there they've split into apartments. Might be kind of cool. Or not."
"Hey, did I ever tell you about the time Toad and I raced Magneto's Jags through Vienna? We'd just watched the Italian Job, and we so we decided to race," John says, as he took the left. He glanced over at Doug, who was holding his laptop rather tightly.
John decides not to tell him about the crashing part of it, or how he had to ride around on the Vespa for a week as punishment.
"It was fun," he finishes lamely.
He takes the other turn, and tries to find parking. "Not too bad from the outside," he says as they drive by. "Hey, are we meeting a Realtor or, like, we just looking ourselves?"
"Yeah, JP found this guy for us," Doug says, consulting his notes. "Chad. Chad the realtor. Not the African country or bits that comes off ballots. Anyway, he's supposed to be sort of decent, and he knows a lot about, um, restored properties and tax law and stainless steel faucets, that I'm guessing neither of us do."
But, then, you never could tell what John had learned in the Brotherhood. It was always possible that Mr. Lehnsherr had delivered seminars on Victorian teapots.
"Later on we might swing by some properties that are being privately -- stop right here!"
There's a prolonged squeal from the tires, and then they are very definitely stopped.
Doug looks sidelong at John. "Uh, you can park, you know," he says, as every car horn on the block seems to sound at once.
John swerves into the spot that Doug found, puts the car into park, and grins at him. "Let's go, babe," he says, raising his eyebrows and they get out of the car. John grabs Doug's hand as they walk up the sidewalk, and opens the gate for him when they get to the property.
"Oh, helloooooooo, you must be Doug and John!" some tall dude with bleach-blond hair and a baby-pink dress shirt with a neon pink tie says. "It's good to finally meet you. I'm Chad!"
"No shit, JP found this guy," John mutters under his breath, and gets a swift elbow to the ribs. They walk up to him and each shake his hand, and John notices how this Chad guy looks Doug over appreciatively.
Oh no, he just didn't.
John sort of steps between the two and reaches for the doorknob. "So, the apartment," he says.
"Oh, yes, the apartment!" Chad says, but quickly steps between John and the door. "But the one you're looking at is on the second floor, and the private entrance to that one is around the corner of the house, so let's leave these poor people alone," Chad says, laughing.
John sort of wants to hit him. Instead, he just follows the guy to the proper doorway.
"Private entrance?" Doug says, being willfully oblivious to all of this as they follow Chad inside. "That's cool. Could be useful if we have visitors and things. Don't want to disturb the neighbors."
Chad is taking the stairs two at a time. "Well, yes," he says, looking back down at Doug, and, more specifically, at Doug's tight jeans, "I imagine things could get a little noisy between the two of you." He clears his throat and keeps heading upwards. "You know, with your music and things like that."
"Uh huh," Doug says as Chad opens the door to the apartment.
"Now, I wouldn't rush to any conclusions, but this really is a pretty stunning place," Chad says, consulting his notes. "Three bedrooms. Two bathrooms. Large lounge area. Perfect for remodeling, too, if you're into that." He lets John go further inside. "What are you into, Doug?"
Doug blinks at him. "Uh. Really, just give me wifi access and I'm fine, to be honest. Um, what do you think, J.?"
J. thinks that he really should just punch Chad in the face. Maybe pour some lighter fluid on him and see how that goes. But Doug's expression and answer are just, well, adorably clueless that he isn't that bothered by it. No, really, he isn't.
Instead, he looks around the lounge area that they have entered. It looks new enough, for being remodeled. "Hate the colours," he says. "But, I mean. Not bad. Not my penthouse, but, well."
He already knows that nothing they look at is going to be like his last home, the penthouse he had with the Freedom Force. But, that hadn't really been home to him, nor was it homey. Not that he really knows what homey is supposed to be like, but he figures Doug will help him with that mostly, anyway.
Plus, something like the penthouse isn't in their combined budget. John's, yes, but this is their place, so.
"Want to show us the rooms?" he asks Chad.
He really doesn't like the look that Chad gives Doug when he says, "Hell, yes."
It takes them at least half an hour to go around the apartment, although John and Doug could have probably done it in five minutes by themselves. Chad insists that they examine each room, and tells them the measurements while inquiring how big their bed might be, and whether or not they'll be having guests over a lot. Doug gets the impression that John is moments away from smacking Chad several times, but manages to steer the conversation back to property prices, inflation, and local taxes before it gets too bad.
Eventually, they buy themselves a moment alone to talk about it. "We could re-paint," Doug says. "That isn't such a big problem. And one of the bedrooms could be our office. For, you know, official stuff. And that still leaves us with a guestroom. But I think we should look at some other stuff too. What do you think?"
John nods. "I like your ideas for the rooms and stuff. But, yeah, I think we shouldn't just buy the first place we look at, you know? We should check out some other places. There were a couple lofts and other properties, weren't there?" John grabs Doug's hand and tugs a little bit. "Come on, we've got more time, let's see what else Chad," John rolls his eyes, "can show us today, yeah?"
After several hours tearing around a number of New York properties - from such high-class places that they couldn't even think of affording, to a couple of apartments that were literally falling apart - Doug finally decides that maybe they should break for lunch, and catch up with Chad in a few days to let him know what they think. The sense of relief that emanates from John after Chad has finally left them to it is almost palpable, and Doug is more than a little relieved himself that they had got through the morning without any physical violence.
But they sit in a cafe, Doug's laptop between them, and realize that, really, they're almost where they had started. "These are completely out of our budget," Doug says, slurping a milkshake while highlighting the properties he'd mentioned. "This one's in a bad neighborhood. These two would take a lot of time and effort to restore. This one is too small for a hamster to live in..."
And, soon, there's nothing left on the list. Doug sighs. "We could always just live in my place. Will can get a place of his own."
John picks at the salad in front of him. "Well, I mean, this is just our first day looking, right? Other stuff might come up soon. The hotel isn't that bad to stay in, right now. I mean, yeah. We could stay at your place, but I was kinda hoping that we would have a place of our own, right? Like, our place." Not that John didn't have some great memories at Doug's place, but starting fresh would be good for them right now.
Plus, well. Doug's place isn't that big either. And, really, just one big giant room. John really liked the idea for a bedroom and a guest room and an office and...
John bites his lip, thinking. He isn't sure if he should bring it up, because he doesn't want to insult Doug at all, but. "I mean, some of the places are in my budget, and like. You know I don't mind buying us a place, right? I just sold my penthouse for a lot of money, and I should invest it, but. I mean. I want you to be cool with that, especially since I just said it is our place."
"Well, like you said," Doug says diplomatically. "This was just our first day. If we don't find anything in a while we can look at more expensive places."
The waitress stops by their table. "More milkshake?" she asks, smiling. Her accent is thick, and Doug is immediately interested.
"Yes, thank you," he says in English. "What other flavors do you have?"
She looks a bit disappointed by his question. "Um. Well, chocolate, and vanilla, and the, uh, the pink..."
"Strawberry?" Doug says in fluent Armenian.
"That's it!" She looks at him curiously. "What you say?"
"Strawberry," Doug repeats.
Completely ignoring John, now, the waitress beams at Doug. "How did you learn Armenian?" she asks in her native language.
"Oh, you know, language tapes."
She peers at his laptop screen. "You're looking for an apartment? My uncle has a great apartment. Do you want to see it?"
Doug blinks. "Um. He's renting it?"
"Selling, renting..." The waitress takes out her cellphone. "He has a big real estate business. Sells to immigrant businessmen, you know. Usually only local boys, but..." She writes down the number for him, finally glancing at John as she does so. "I know him," she says conspiratorially to Doug. "I thought he was dead. He works for, you know?" She mimes a bucket being placed on a head.
Doug laughs. "No, not any more."
"Oh, well then." She picks up his empty glass. "You call my uncle. And what kind of milkshake?"
"Chocolate, please," Doug says brightly.
John sits quietly through the whole exchange, sort of in admiration for Doug and his language ability, but mostly with a scowl on his face because he doesn't know what the fuck is going on. The scowl is more pronounces when she does her glancing at him and mimicking thing. AND the whole giving him a number thing. He right about says something there, but he trusts Doug, so he keeps his mouth shut.
It's hard, but he's trying. Trying real hard.
"Soooo," John says, trying to remain nonchalant but there's a bit of an edge to his voice so he's not as successful as he'd like. "What was that about?"
Doug tells him about the the waitress's uncle being a real estate agent guy, and John congratulates himself for not acting like an ass. "That's cool," he says, shrugging. "So, like, call him and maybe he'll be able to find us more listings or something. In our budget."
John grins. "Dude. I'm glad we're doing this. It's all, like. Grown-upy or something."
"I know!" Doug says, getting out his cellphone. "I feel like I'm getting old. Like... almost nineteen." He taps in the number, and listens to it ring. "Hi!" he says cheerily, and proceeds to explain in Armenian what they're looking for, and their budget limitations. After a few moments, he writes down an address, and hangs up. "Well, I don't know how good this guy really is, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to check just one more place out today?"
The waitress brings him his milkshake with a smile, and a can of Dr. Pepper for John as well. "Such nice boys," she says approvingly.
John just nods his thanks. Doug grins widely at her, and then proceeds to tell her (in which ever language it happens to be)... well, John assumes he tells her about making contact and the fact they were about to go and check out some place. She seems genuinely happy about it, and even smiles at John. So, hopefully this was a good plan.
After they finish eating, they head out to the new address. John makes a mental note to tame down his driving, because the last thing they need is a car full of Doug's several milkshakes. (He has no idea how Doug can drink so many of those things.) They drive along, and Doug comments they're almost there. It seems to be in a nice, clean and almost quiet neighborhood, which is different then the somewhat sketchy one Doug's apartment is located, and the busy metropolis one where John's penthouse was.
John parks, and they go to take a look.
This waitress' uncle, whose name turns out to be Eric, bursts out of the front door almost as soon as John stops the car. His enthusiasm is palpable as he pumps Doug's hand and talks to him so quickly that even Doug has trouble understanding. But the upshot is that Eric owns the entire apartment building. Most of the units are rented, often on a seasonal basis, to foreign businessman. However, there's one unit right at the top which never seems to be occupied for long.
"Stupid Americans," Eric says to John. "Think there are ghosts or something."
Doug beams. "Cool!"
Unlike Doug's previous apartment building, there is an elevator, and the three of them go up to have a look.
The first thing John notices when they get inside is that it's pretty big and spacious, the main common area. The kitchen, dinning area, and livingroom all sort of flow into each other and while they are obviously different areas, there isn't a great divide into them, it's an open concept. It reminds John a bit of his old penthouse, except that his penthouse was sleek and modern and cold feeling, almost. This place was obviously renovated and redone nicely too, but it felt a little bit more homey. He liked the hardwood floors.
There were three bedrooms, and they were pretty nice, too. The master bedroom was large, with an ensuite bathroom and a walk-in closet. The second bedroom was pretty nice too. The third was a bit small, but it'd work for an office or something like that, John thought. There was also a second guest bathroom. It was already furnished, and John totally wanted to replace some of the more... decorative stuff, but that part couldn't be hard. Hopefully, they'd be allowed to.
They looked around, and the friendly fellow filled them in with information about the place, the building, including rent.
"Would you consider give us a seasonal contract as well?" John asked. "Like, a six month lease or something. I mean, it's a nice place and I'd consider renting it, but I would like to own something eventually, and we might keep looking."
This might not be the best way to get a place, telling the owner they were possibly going to leave, but he nodded as if he understood. "I think something could be negotiated," he said. "Now, would you like some time to look yourselves, and discuss?"
The boys nodded, and he took their leave. "I'm not kidding about wanting to own our own place," John says, but he smiles. "But, I don't know... what do you think? I mean, this could be home for now?"
Doug's running his fingers over an ornate piece of woodwork. "I like it," he says. "Looks like a bit of a jigsaw puzzle. Like there's history here. And maybe we could change things, too. Maybe we could even buy it from him in the future, if no one else wants it. Cause of the ghoooooosts." He pulls a face and laughs, hugging John. "We should probably think it over for a day or two, though. Maybe ask JP's opinion. I have this feeling he might be spending a bunch of time here."
"No shit, huh?" John says. Something in what Doug says doesn't hit John the way it should, he's got some sort of weird defense against it right now, but he can't deny that JP will be around a lot. John kisses Doug's jaw. "Yeah, some time would be good. Let's just let him know we'll know after the weekend. Hopefully he's cool with that."
John grabs Doug's hand, and they each take one final glance at the place, and then they decide to head back to the hotel.
It had, on the face of it, been so well-planned. The two of them had arranged to have the entire day to themselves, free of social appointments with friends, to hunt for a proper house before they took a vacation to the other side of the world. And surely that couldn't be so difficult? Neither of them had jobs, and even if a lot of John's friends wanted to check personally that he really was still alive, they seemed to assume that John and Doug might want some, uh, personal time first. Doug and Jean-Paul had come up with a lengthy list of possible properties between them, and Doug had come up with a computer program to cross-reference the list with a New York map, giving them the best and shortest routes. Nothing could possibly go wrong.
After ten minutes in the car, Doug begins to think that he had been overly optimistic. John might not be a bad driver, but Doug's car is certainly a bad car, and John's new lust for life seems to have crossed over into a lust for making every traffic light, and turning corners with squeaking tires (okay, maybe that's just how the tires sound). So Doug checks his seatbelt every couple of minutes, and holds tight to his laptop.
"Make a left at this intersection," he says. "Then a right at the lights, and find parking. There's some kind of renovated 19th century building there they've split into apartments. Might be kind of cool. Or not."
"Hey, did I ever tell you about the time Toad and I raced Magneto's Jags through Vienna? We'd just watched the Italian Job, and we so we decided to race," John says, as he took the left. He glanced over at Doug, who was holding his laptop rather tightly.
John decides not to tell him about the crashing part of it, or how he had to ride around on the Vespa for a week as punishment.
"It was fun," he finishes lamely.
He takes the other turn, and tries to find parking. "Not too bad from the outside," he says as they drive by. "Hey, are we meeting a Realtor or, like, we just looking ourselves?"
"Yeah, JP found this guy for us," Doug says, consulting his notes. "Chad. Chad the realtor. Not the African country or bits that comes off ballots. Anyway, he's supposed to be sort of decent, and he knows a lot about, um, restored properties and tax law and stainless steel faucets, that I'm guessing neither of us do."
But, then, you never could tell what John had learned in the Brotherhood. It was always possible that Mr. Lehnsherr had delivered seminars on Victorian teapots.
"Later on we might swing by some properties that are being privately -- stop right here!"
There's a prolonged squeal from the tires, and then they are very definitely stopped.
Doug looks sidelong at John. "Uh, you can park, you know," he says, as every car horn on the block seems to sound at once.
John swerves into the spot that Doug found, puts the car into park, and grins at him. "Let's go, babe," he says, raising his eyebrows and they get out of the car. John grabs Doug's hand as they walk up the sidewalk, and opens the gate for him when they get to the property.
"Oh, helloooooooo, you must be Doug and John!" some tall dude with bleach-blond hair and a baby-pink dress shirt with a neon pink tie says. "It's good to finally meet you. I'm Chad!"
"No shit, JP found this guy," John mutters under his breath, and gets a swift elbow to the ribs. They walk up to him and each shake his hand, and John notices how this Chad guy looks Doug over appreciatively.
Oh no, he just didn't.
John sort of steps between the two and reaches for the doorknob. "So, the apartment," he says.
"Oh, yes, the apartment!" Chad says, but quickly steps between John and the door. "But the one you're looking at is on the second floor, and the private entrance to that one is around the corner of the house, so let's leave these poor people alone," Chad says, laughing.
John sort of wants to hit him. Instead, he just follows the guy to the proper doorway.
"Private entrance?" Doug says, being willfully oblivious to all of this as they follow Chad inside. "That's cool. Could be useful if we have visitors and things. Don't want to disturb the neighbors."
Chad is taking the stairs two at a time. "Well, yes," he says, looking back down at Doug, and, more specifically, at Doug's tight jeans, "I imagine things could get a little noisy between the two of you." He clears his throat and keeps heading upwards. "You know, with your music and things like that."
"Uh huh," Doug says as Chad opens the door to the apartment.
"Now, I wouldn't rush to any conclusions, but this really is a pretty stunning place," Chad says, consulting his notes. "Three bedrooms. Two bathrooms. Large lounge area. Perfect for remodeling, too, if you're into that." He lets John go further inside. "What are you into, Doug?"
Doug blinks at him. "Uh. Really, just give me wifi access and I'm fine, to be honest. Um, what do you think, J.?"
J. thinks that he really should just punch Chad in the face. Maybe pour some lighter fluid on him and see how that goes. But Doug's expression and answer are just, well, adorably clueless that he isn't that bothered by it. No, really, he isn't.
Instead, he looks around the lounge area that they have entered. It looks new enough, for being remodeled. "Hate the colours," he says. "But, I mean. Not bad. Not my penthouse, but, well."
He already knows that nothing they look at is going to be like his last home, the penthouse he had with the Freedom Force. But, that hadn't really been home to him, nor was it homey. Not that he really knows what homey is supposed to be like, but he figures Doug will help him with that mostly, anyway.
Plus, something like the penthouse isn't in their combined budget. John's, yes, but this is their place, so.
"Want to show us the rooms?" he asks Chad.
He really doesn't like the look that Chad gives Doug when he says, "Hell, yes."
It takes them at least half an hour to go around the apartment, although John and Doug could have probably done it in five minutes by themselves. Chad insists that they examine each room, and tells them the measurements while inquiring how big their bed might be, and whether or not they'll be having guests over a lot. Doug gets the impression that John is moments away from smacking Chad several times, but manages to steer the conversation back to property prices, inflation, and local taxes before it gets too bad.
Eventually, they buy themselves a moment alone to talk about it. "We could re-paint," Doug says. "That isn't such a big problem. And one of the bedrooms could be our office. For, you know, official stuff. And that still leaves us with a guestroom. But I think we should look at some other stuff too. What do you think?"
John nods. "I like your ideas for the rooms and stuff. But, yeah, I think we shouldn't just buy the first place we look at, you know? We should check out some other places. There were a couple lofts and other properties, weren't there?" John grabs Doug's hand and tugs a little bit. "Come on, we've got more time, let's see what else Chad," John rolls his eyes, "can show us today, yeah?"
After several hours tearing around a number of New York properties - from such high-class places that they couldn't even think of affording, to a couple of apartments that were literally falling apart - Doug finally decides that maybe they should break for lunch, and catch up with Chad in a few days to let him know what they think. The sense of relief that emanates from John after Chad has finally left them to it is almost palpable, and Doug is more than a little relieved himself that they had got through the morning without any physical violence.
But they sit in a cafe, Doug's laptop between them, and realize that, really, they're almost where they had started. "These are completely out of our budget," Doug says, slurping a milkshake while highlighting the properties he'd mentioned. "This one's in a bad neighborhood. These two would take a lot of time and effort to restore. This one is too small for a hamster to live in..."
And, soon, there's nothing left on the list. Doug sighs. "We could always just live in my place. Will can get a place of his own."
John picks at the salad in front of him. "Well, I mean, this is just our first day looking, right? Other stuff might come up soon. The hotel isn't that bad to stay in, right now. I mean, yeah. We could stay at your place, but I was kinda hoping that we would have a place of our own, right? Like, our place." Not that John didn't have some great memories at Doug's place, but starting fresh would be good for them right now.
Plus, well. Doug's place isn't that big either. And, really, just one big giant room. John really liked the idea for a bedroom and a guest room and an office and...
John bites his lip, thinking. He isn't sure if he should bring it up, because he doesn't want to insult Doug at all, but. "I mean, some of the places are in my budget, and like. You know I don't mind buying us a place, right? I just sold my penthouse for a lot of money, and I should invest it, but. I mean. I want you to be cool with that, especially since I just said it is our place."
"Well, like you said," Doug says diplomatically. "This was just our first day. If we don't find anything in a while we can look at more expensive places."
The waitress stops by their table. "More milkshake?" she asks, smiling. Her accent is thick, and Doug is immediately interested.
"Yes, thank you," he says in English. "What other flavors do you have?"
She looks a bit disappointed by his question. "Um. Well, chocolate, and vanilla, and the, uh, the pink..."
"Strawberry?" Doug says in fluent Armenian.
"That's it!" She looks at him curiously. "What you say?"
"Strawberry," Doug repeats.
Completely ignoring John, now, the waitress beams at Doug. "How did you learn Armenian?" she asks in her native language.
"Oh, you know, language tapes."
She peers at his laptop screen. "You're looking for an apartment? My uncle has a great apartment. Do you want to see it?"
Doug blinks. "Um. He's renting it?"
"Selling, renting..." The waitress takes out her cellphone. "He has a big real estate business. Sells to immigrant businessmen, you know. Usually only local boys, but..." She writes down the number for him, finally glancing at John as she does so. "I know him," she says conspiratorially to Doug. "I thought he was dead. He works for, you know?" She mimes a bucket being placed on a head.
Doug laughs. "No, not any more."
"Oh, well then." She picks up his empty glass. "You call my uncle. And what kind of milkshake?"
"Chocolate, please," Doug says brightly.
John sits quietly through the whole exchange, sort of in admiration for Doug and his language ability, but mostly with a scowl on his face because he doesn't know what the fuck is going on. The scowl is more pronounces when she does her glancing at him and mimicking thing. AND the whole giving him a number thing. He right about says something there, but he trusts Doug, so he keeps his mouth shut.
It's hard, but he's trying. Trying real hard.
"Soooo," John says, trying to remain nonchalant but there's a bit of an edge to his voice so he's not as successful as he'd like. "What was that about?"
Doug tells him about the the waitress's uncle being a real estate agent guy, and John congratulates himself for not acting like an ass. "That's cool," he says, shrugging. "So, like, call him and maybe he'll be able to find us more listings or something. In our budget."
John grins. "Dude. I'm glad we're doing this. It's all, like. Grown-upy or something."
"I know!" Doug says, getting out his cellphone. "I feel like I'm getting old. Like... almost nineteen." He taps in the number, and listens to it ring. "Hi!" he says cheerily, and proceeds to explain in Armenian what they're looking for, and their budget limitations. After a few moments, he writes down an address, and hangs up. "Well, I don't know how good this guy really is, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to check just one more place out today?"
The waitress brings him his milkshake with a smile, and a can of Dr. Pepper for John as well. "Such nice boys," she says approvingly.
John just nods his thanks. Doug grins widely at her, and then proceeds to tell her (in which ever language it happens to be)... well, John assumes he tells her about making contact and the fact they were about to go and check out some place. She seems genuinely happy about it, and even smiles at John. So, hopefully this was a good plan.
After they finish eating, they head out to the new address. John makes a mental note to tame down his driving, because the last thing they need is a car full of Doug's several milkshakes. (He has no idea how Doug can drink so many of those things.) They drive along, and Doug comments they're almost there. It seems to be in a nice, clean and almost quiet neighborhood, which is different then the somewhat sketchy one Doug's apartment is located, and the busy metropolis one where John's penthouse was.
John parks, and they go to take a look.
This waitress' uncle, whose name turns out to be Eric, bursts out of the front door almost as soon as John stops the car. His enthusiasm is palpable as he pumps Doug's hand and talks to him so quickly that even Doug has trouble understanding. But the upshot is that Eric owns the entire apartment building. Most of the units are rented, often on a seasonal basis, to foreign businessman. However, there's one unit right at the top which never seems to be occupied for long.
"Stupid Americans," Eric says to John. "Think there are ghosts or something."
Doug beams. "Cool!"
Unlike Doug's previous apartment building, there is an elevator, and the three of them go up to have a look.
The first thing John notices when they get inside is that it's pretty big and spacious, the main common area. The kitchen, dinning area, and livingroom all sort of flow into each other and while they are obviously different areas, there isn't a great divide into them, it's an open concept. It reminds John a bit of his old penthouse, except that his penthouse was sleek and modern and cold feeling, almost. This place was obviously renovated and redone nicely too, but it felt a little bit more homey. He liked the hardwood floors.
There were three bedrooms, and they were pretty nice, too. The master bedroom was large, with an ensuite bathroom and a walk-in closet. The second bedroom was pretty nice too. The third was a bit small, but it'd work for an office or something like that, John thought. There was also a second guest bathroom. It was already furnished, and John totally wanted to replace some of the more... decorative stuff, but that part couldn't be hard. Hopefully, they'd be allowed to.
They looked around, and the friendly fellow filled them in with information about the place, the building, including rent.
"Would you consider give us a seasonal contract as well?" John asked. "Like, a six month lease or something. I mean, it's a nice place and I'd consider renting it, but I would like to own something eventually, and we might keep looking."
This might not be the best way to get a place, telling the owner they were possibly going to leave, but he nodded as if he understood. "I think something could be negotiated," he said. "Now, would you like some time to look yourselves, and discuss?"
The boys nodded, and he took their leave. "I'm not kidding about wanting to own our own place," John says, but he smiles. "But, I don't know... what do you think? I mean, this could be home for now?"
Doug's running his fingers over an ornate piece of woodwork. "I like it," he says. "Looks like a bit of a jigsaw puzzle. Like there's history here. And maybe we could change things, too. Maybe we could even buy it from him in the future, if no one else wants it. Cause of the ghoooooosts." He pulls a face and laughs, hugging John. "We should probably think it over for a day or two, though. Maybe ask JP's opinion. I have this feeling he might be spending a bunch of time here."
"No shit, huh?" John says. Something in what Doug says doesn't hit John the way it should, he's got some sort of weird defense against it right now, but he can't deny that JP will be around a lot. John kisses Doug's jaw. "Yeah, some time would be good. Let's just let him know we'll know after the weekend. Hopefully he's cool with that."
John grabs Doug's hand, and they each take one final glance at the place, and then they decide to head back to the hotel.