Unfortunately, Ken didn't have the guy's number. In fact, he only had Cain's number from the team. After a few minutes of contemplating his life decisions, Ken called the man and was able to secure the number.
The next issue was trying to think of an excuse to meet up with Rohan.
RING RING
"Hello?"
"Hey Rohan, this is Ken… Sorry to call out of the blue, but I wanted to chat in person. Do you have time?" Ken asked, his face heating up.
"Is it not something that can wait until tomorrow?"
"You see… I've been called up to the Mud Hens. My flight leaves tomorrow morning."
"I see…"
The line was silent for a while.
"I'll head over to your hotel in a few minutes."
With that, the guy hung up. Ken could feel his pain on the phone when hearing that he had been called up to the Triple-A league. If Ken was in his shoes, he might not have been so accommodating.
Ken went down the elevator and waited out the front of the hotel. Around 10 minutes later, he heard the familiar choking sounds of the silverado pulling into the driveway.
"Hop in." Rohan called, pulling up.
Ken smiled softly and walked around, getting into the passengers side. Now that he was here, he realized that he did not have a plan on how to give the man the Recovery Elixir.
If it was someone like Steve, he could have just told the guy it was a sports drink and told him to drink it. But Rohan he had only known for a few days, and they were not that close.
"Have you eaten yet?"
Ken shook his head in response.
"There is a BK close by. Are you fine with burgers?" Rohan asked.
"Burgers are fine."
Rohan was right, in not even 2 minutes they arrived at the fast food restaurant and made their way inside. No one had spoken just yet besides the initial conversation.
The place wasn't that packed thankfully and the two lined up.
"What did you want? I'll pay for the meal and you get us a seat." Ken said.
Thankfully, Rohan didn't object. "Bacon deluxe and a regular coke thanks."
Ken nodded and watched the guy walk to one of the booths inside at the very corner. Now he needed to think of a way to get him to ingest the Recovery Elixir. He could pour it into the man's drink, but it might look suspicious.
After being called up, Ken placed the order and paid. He was given two empty cups, to which he raised an eyebrow.
"It's self serve drinks." The young man behind the counter said, pointing to the side.
"Ah! Thank you." Ken bowed profusely, his mind racing.
This was the perfect opportunity to fill up the man's drink with the Elixir. He already knew that even if it was mixed with something else that it would still work.
The only issue was to do it without looking suspicious in front of the other customers, or even Rohan himself. Ken walked over to the drink machine and placed the cups on the tray.
In one fluid movement, he placed the empty cup under the ice dispenser and before pressing the button, he asked Mika to give him the Elixir.
A small clear vial appeared in his hands and he swiftly poured it into the cup before pressing the ice button. Upon emptying, the glass vial disappeared as if it were never there in the first place.
Ken remained focused though, filling up the remaining parts with coke. He then filled his own with ice and water, there was no way he would risk mixing the two up, even if he wanted a coke.
With the two cups now full, Ken turned and headed towards the table. He was feeling a little nervous now.
Upon sitting, Ken handed the man his drink, his eyes lingering on the cup for a little too long. "H—Hey… Sorry for calling you up out of the blue, I know that you barely know me." He said, trying to recover.
Rohan looked at him and smiled softly, "It's fine, I know why you called me."
'Eh? He does?' Ken froze.
Rohan continued, "You're nervous about being called up to the Triple-A. Since I've played there before, it makes sense why you would give me a call."
"Ah, yes of course." Ken nodded like a pecking chicken. Yet inwardly he chastised himself. Why had he not come up with a proper plan beforehand?
Before they could continue chatting, their number was called.
'Damn that was fast…' Ken got up and collected the food before returning to the table.
The two then ate in silence for the next few minutes. All the while, Rohan did not touch his drink. This only made Ken more nervous and he almost choked on his food.
Only when they had finished eating did Rohan reach for his drink. However, he took 1 sip and frowned. "Did you get diet coke?"
'Ah… No way right?' Ken panicked. He used memory recall to check and almost had a heart attack. Instead of choosing coke, he'd used the diet coke right next to it.
'ARGHHH I'M AN IDIOT!' He screamed internally.
However, Rohan let out a laugh. "It's not a big deal."
But to Ken, it was. At least it would have been, had Rohan not drank the whole cup in the next moment.
"I should probably stop drinking soda altogether, it's not good for you." He replied with a smile, placing the now empty cup aside.
"So, what is it you want to know?" He asked.
After seeing that he had successfully administered the Recovery Elixir, Ken felt his nerves melt away, easing his tension. Now that he was no longer on edge, the conversation went well.
Like a true senior, Rohan told him what to expect, even naming a few of the players that were on the team and the coaching staff.
The two spoke for an hour or so before Rohan was beginning to yawn uncontrollably.
"It seems I'm not as young as I once was." He said with a laugh. "It's only 8pm and I'm this tired."
"Let's go then. Do you live far?" Ken asked. He would hate for the guy to fall asleep at the wheel and put himself and others in danger.
"A mile from your hotel."
Ken nodded and walked to the car with the guy. When he was dropped off, Ken thanked him once more.
"Hopefully I'll see you in the Triple-A soon as well." Ken said, flashing him a grin.
"Haha, sure man." Rohan replied, waving it off. "Best of luck, give em' hell."
With that, Ken watched as Rohan drove off, his heart already feeling lighter.