“Yup,” said Malcolm.
“This is like… dad rock.”
Malcolm scoffed.
“This is Nirvana!” he said. “In what world do you live in where Nirvana is considered dad rock?”
“The real world,” said Melanie. “But it’s fine. You don’t have to change it.”
Malcolm smiled at her. She’d opened up to him more that night than she had in all the rest of the short time he’d known her. He’d been serious about what he’d said, and could see himself becoming fast friends with Melanie, over time.
He’d half expected Tapestry to be waiting outside the door, but she wasn’t. Malcolm parked in the driveway and followed Melanie inside. Her expression shifted into something slightly guilty as soon as they were in Tapestry’s living room.
“Hello?” called Malcolm. “Tapestry? I brought home the troublemaker.”
He could smell cookies already baking in the kitchen, but Tapestry was nowhere to be seen.
“She’s probably in the basement,” said Melanie. “It’s her idea of an exciting Friday night.”
Malcolm furrowed his brow, but followed Melanie through a door and down some stairs. The basement of the house was rough cement, outside of a section in one corner where several gym mats had been set up.
Tapestry was wailing on a heavy bag hanging from one of the rafters. She wore a pair of boy shorts and a sports bra, and both of her fists were wrapped with boxing tape. She was throwing combinations of punches and kicks, wailing away at the bag like it was the thing responsible for killing her family.
“Hey Aubrey,” said Melanie. “I’m home…”
It was only then that Tapestry seemed to notice them. She smiled at Malcolm, frowned at Melanie, and wiped sweat off her forehead. Her blonde hair was back in the usual pony tail, and combined with the tight training clothes, it gave her body a very streamlined look.
“Melanie,” said Tapestry. “Don’t you ever, for a second, think that you can borrow my car if you’re going to be drinking.”
“Sorry, Aubrey,” said Melanie. “I was in a weird mood.”
Tapestry turned her gaze onto Malcolm, her expression one of consideration. He turned his hands palm up, unsure of whether he deserved her scrutiny.
Hey, I didn’t do anything wrong, here.
“Thanks for bringing her home, Malcolm,” said Tapestry.
“Yeah, no prob,” he said. “I felt like an honest to god Uber driver, escorting a drunk girl to where she needed to be.”
Tapestry furrowed her brow in confusion. Malcolm smiled, remembering that anything invented more recently than the mid-nineties probably still sounded like gibberish to her.
“Anyway,” said Malcolm. “I should probably grab the cookies and get going…”
“Why don’t you stay for a bit?” asked Tapestry. “I mean, you’re here anyway. It’s been a few days since we’ve had a chance to talk.”
Malcolm shrugged.
“I don’t really have anywhere else to be, at this time of night,” he said. “Sure, why not?”
Tapestry smiled and then glanced down at herself.
“Let me take a shower, first,” she said. “I’m a little sticky right now.”
Urge… to make joke… rising.
“I’m headed to bed,” Melanie said, loudly. She gave both Malcolm and Tapestry a look that seemed to say that she was now the one disapproving of hijinks, and then headed upstairs.
Tapestry took a few more experimental strikes at the punching bag, and Malcolm found himself being drawn in by the aggressiveness of her fighting style.
“Were you always a fighter?” asked Malcolm.
“Not even close,” said Tapestry. “I was a housewife.”
She twisted, slamming a kick high enough up on the punching bag to strike the equivalent of her opponent’s head.
“After I got my powers,” she continued, “it seemed like something that only made sense. I can regenerate, but that’s not much of an offensive ability. I have to be able to fight and shoot guns to round myself out if I’m going to be hunting monsters.”
She threw another punch combination, her athletic body moving with catlike grace.
“You seem like you enjoy it,” said Malcolm. “Like it’s more than something you’re just doing for work.”
Tapestry grinned. She nodded and walked over to him.
“I do,” she said. “There’s a lot that I miss about my old life, but my old limitations are something I’m glad to be free of. My husband was old fashioned, and even after he passed away, I never had the courage to do anything interesting.”
There was a mischievous gleam in her eye. Malcolm held her gaze for several seconds, aware of Tapestry’s heavy, winded breathing, and the musky scent of her sweaty body.
“I should probably take that shower,” she said. “Why don’t you wait up for me in the living room, and we’ll have some wine after?”
Malcolm nodded.
“Sounds good,” he said.
CHAPTER 10
Malcolm fidgeted as he waited for Tapestry to finish her shower. His thoughts kept going back to the encounter the two of them had had in his apartment a few days earlier, the one that neither of them had brought up since.
He also thought about Rose’s advice, and the encouragement she’d given him to involve himself with his fellow champion. Tapestry was older than he was by an amount that was beyond significant. Malcolm had no idea how her mind worked most of the time.
She wants to drink some wine with me, after taking a shower in the middle of the night. She’s not exactly being subtle here.
Tapestry came downstairs wearing a tiny red and black robe. The fabric was thin, and the bottom hem didn’t make it all the way down to her knees. She had it closed completely over her breasts, but the cloth belt around her waist had only been knotted once, meaning every movement exposed a bit more chest and cleavage.
“Hey,” she said. “I’ll get some glasses from the kitchen. The wine is downstairs, in the cellar. Do you want to grab a bottle?”
“Sure,” said Malcolm. “Any of them in particular, or…?”
“Just whatever catches your eye.”
They shared another moment of electric eye contact, and then Malcolm headed downstairs, returning a minute later with a bottle of wine. He sat on the couch next to Tapestry, pulling out the cork before passing it to her to pour them each a glass.
“I was a little surprised that you called me tonight,” said Tapestry.
“Well, I was a little surprised by the drunk girl who showed up on my doorstep,” said Malcolm.
“That’s not what I mean.” Tapestry crossed her legs, peering at Malcolm over the lip of her glass. “You called me instead of… hosting Melanie, for the night.”
“Interesting choice of euphemism, Tapestry,” said Malcolm, with a smile. “So, you’re asking why I didn’t just let her stay in my apartment, and see what happened?”
Tapestry nodded slowly.
“You’re both teenagers,” said Tapestry. “She’s attractive, and she obviously went over to your apartment for a reason, even if it was inspired by alcohol.”
“Are you asking as my friend?” asked Malcolm. “Or as Melanie’s grandmother?”
“Great grandmother,” corrected Tapestry. “And you should know by now that my relationship with Melanie is more… sisterly, than anything. I’m only mad at her because she was driving my car after drinking.”
“That’s the only reason?” Malcolm held her gaze. “You wouldn’t normally be mad at her if she was over at my apartment, in the middle of the night?”
“It’s like I said, you’re both teenagers.” Tapestry was blushing, but she gave a small shrug. “Over the last couple of years I’ve been reintroduced to just how intense teenage hormones can be.”
The room felt hot. A significant gap had opened in the chest of Tapestry’s robe. Malcolm sipped at his wine to distract himself away from ogling her cleavage.