2019-06-08 - A Grizzly Festival Proposal

It's midafternoon on a Saturday, the weather is not quite hot but still just the right temperature that everyone's free to leave jackets at home. And inside the Grizzly, there are as always a handful of customers: a whole group of teens shoved in that corner, a trio of tired men in another booth who have a whole pitcher of coffee to themselves. The music being played brings to mind Bollywood, with a surprising amount of accordian accompaniment. As for the owner? She's currently at the register, reading through a weekly world news with an occasional smirk or a giggle. Her purple hair has been messily teased up in a side ponytail, with a studded cropped leather jacket dripping in fine chains over a ripped tee. Completing the look is a pair of black shorts over purple leggings, including legwarmers, ending in black tennis shoes, and wrists covered in bangles of different kinds. It's like Gina found the 80s in a back alley, beat it up until it cried and then stole its fashion sense.

Alexander enters, looking like a homeless person. So, pretty normal for Alexander. The old army jacket nearly swallows him, and the t-shirt underneath is well-cleaned but ancient. He walks in, looks around, and completely avoids the teenagers and the tired men. His head ducks low and his shoulders hunch as he makes his way to the counter, sliding into a seat near the register. "This is terrible music," he says, tonelessly. "Why do you do this to us?"

Wow, it really is a nice warm weathered day. This only means that Byron is sans heavy coat today, because he's still dressed in normal business attire with the suit jacket, the tie and all. There's even a shiny silver watch on his wrist. Since the sun is finally out, he has on a pair of dark, and probably expensive, sunglasses. In one hand, he's carrying a briefcase.

It's been a while since he's been here. Not usually, his restaurant of choice, but it's good for what it is.The place has radically changed for the better since the time, so long ago, when his mother was a waitress here, he'll openly admit if asked. Finding a seat near the register, he also notices that Alexander is here as well. "Lovely." He murmurs, before removing those dark shades and sets them down on the counter, giving the place a good look around with unveiled eyes. "While it could use a few touch ups, I really like what you've done to this place. Keeps the kitsch, yet makes it more... hip(ster), I suppose. If that's even a thing. I'll have a cup of coffee of now, please."

Gina doesn't even look up as the bell dings for new customers. Because, well, this isn't really the sort of place where customer service is key. No, she just continues to read her awful, awful magazine, chuckling to herself once in a while. She doesn't even look up when directly addressed by Alexander, just saying, "I genuinely don't include any of you in the thought process, princess." A new song plays, this one less Bollywood and more caribean, but still with...touches. "Not my fault you can't appreciate the cultural stylings of the Surimanese. You want something or just here to nap?" Now she looks up, smirking a little at Alexander, before her eyes go behind him as Byron makes his way in. And doesn't that just make her brows rise. "Wooow. Big B." His presence seems to amuse her somehow, and she shrugs, "Sure, if you want." And she leaves the magazine in front of Alexander while she heads to start making Byron's coffee.

"Callousness, not sadism," Alexander responds, continuing to be deadpan. "I can respect that. Coffee, and chicken fried steak if you have any. With some sort of vegetable or potato matter. I'm not picky." He, unlike, Gina, DOES look towards the door every time the bell rings, with the twitchy instinct of the hypervigilant. He sees Byron, and gives the man a curt nod. "Mister Thorne." Then there's a free magazine, and he reaches for it, because hey, if he has to put up with this music, he's going to indulge in a free terrible magazine.

Not bothered by the music, but not immediately recognizing the tune. Okay, he has no idea what kind of music this is, but that doesn't mean that Byron doesn't appreciate the oddity of it all. "So that's what it is. I was trying to figure it out. Can't say that I'm familiar with it at all, but... it's not terribly unpleasant. Rather interesting." On hearing the surprise in Gina's voice, he flashes her one of his trademark winning smiles, "Good to see you as well, Gina. Been a while. How has business been?" It's mostly small talk for now, though when greeted by Alexander, there's just the subtlest of nods, "Clayton."

"Bingo." Gina confirms for Alexander, pouring the cup of coffee... and then adding caramel syrup to it. And taking a sip of it, adding a touch more syrup, and taking a second sip. Mm. Perfect. After making her cup first, she gets around to pouring Byron's, putting it in front of Byron. "Baithak gana. It's pretty interesting. Suriname's an interesting place. Anyway, business pays the bills." She says, settling the coffee in front of Byron while having a second sip of her own. She then pulls a notepad from her back pocket, scribbling down Alexander's order in green ink and impaling it on the spike for the cook to deal with.

Alexander seems to expect his order getting back burnered with the same stoicism with which Eeyore expects everything to turn out badly. He pages idly through the Weekly World News, then smiles, warm but small. "Aw. It is nice to see that American tourists can make a positive difference in the world." He turns the article so that the other two can at least see the headline: Kidnapped Loch Ness Hatchlings Saved By Traveling Bigfoot. There's even a badly photoshopped picture of a Bigfoot cuddling an armful of snake-like Nesslings. "And they say no good news is reported these days." He sounds completely serious about all of this.

From what Byron knew of Gina from school, customer service didn't seem to be her expertise, but he doesn't seem at all put off that she makes her own cup first, even though he does give a light-hearted enough comment, "Thanks for risking your own life for the sake of your customers." Bringing the cup set down before him to lift to his lips, he takes his own sip, before stating, "Some of us have such delicate palates when it comes to bad coffee."

"Baithak gana. I ought to look that up." Only the mildest of glances is given Alexander and the terrible magazine, semi-curious as to what the man is going on about, but not curious enough to ask. Instead, he reaches into his briefcase to pull out a folder and a few stapled sheets of paper. This he sets down and gently pushes in Gina's direction. "That is the plans for a new festival I'm hoping to kickstart within town. I've got the permits and all from City Hall." With another sip of coffee, he goes on, "Think the Carnival of Venice. A Masquerade Ball. We're hoping to have the town decorated for this weekend long event, something to rival even Mardis Gras. Give that a look, I'm hoping to have the support from the various businesses within town as we're hoping this helps to drum up interest in Gray Harbor and bring in more tourists. Or residence."

On a happy note, everything the diner lacks in customer service is made up in the food, including the coffee, which is surprisingly good for the price. And for the bear-theme! So hey, the coffee is better than Starbucks, though Gina will just laugh in your face if you order a venti anything. She does, however, look over at the magazine with a little grin, "I know, right? The Weekly World always gets you the good feel-good articles about relevant things happening in the world today. Almost makes me feel hope for the world." Almost. And she says this with the same sort of deadpan, casual attitude as one might expect. "You want coffee too, detective?" Is Alexander a real detective? Who cares, it amuses Gina to call him so anyway. But she does glance over at Byron, sipping more hot coffee before her eyes follow the papers delicately placed before her. And when Byron gives his speech, all he gets is THE MOST SKEPTICAL of looks thrown at him. "Has boning Lil' Goth infused you with a sense of humor or something?"

Alexander's smile widens a little bit at Gina's grin. And maybe at the term of...amusement? "I did ask for it, Miss Castro. So. I suppose. Yes?" He doesn't sound grumpy, though. More amused himself than anything else. Then his eyebrows go up, and he glances to the side at Byron. "Lil' Goth?" His gaze slips back to Gina. "Who is Lil' Goth?"

If anything, Byron is surprised by the coffee. He lives on coffee, so he's tried a cup from every shop in town. Even in neighboring towns. "This really is good stuff." He's not afraid to admit. "I suppose I shouldn't be all that surprised. It has that bold bear taste." It's a terrible joke, but he says it anyway right before another sip.

And then there's some accusation thrown out at him, something which makes him nearly choke on that excellent coffee. "I.." He starts, before there's this need to cough. "First of all, I have no idea what you're talking about." Though he suspects he knows the 'who'. "And secondly, hey. I've always had a great sense of humor, thank you very much." He might be all polished and pristine, but he didn't used to be. However, he continues on, "Mayor Addington signed off on the idea. I'm looking to take on an event coordinator, see about giving the town this air of mystery about it... with lanterns, costuming things of that nature. It'll be fun!"

"Somebody we went to high school with. Technically not her real name, but some people should never be allowed to forget high school. And it amuses me since we all outgrew the whole goth thing." Says the girl with purple lipstick, purple hair, a black leather jacket on over a ripped tee and black shorts. Sure. Outgrew. "And no need to rip my head off about the coffee. I was distracted." She might be lightly teasing Alexander, despite it being HER faux pas, as she pours him a cup of coffee as well. Looking back to Byron, Gina opens her mouth, then closes it and gingerly picks up the paper, as if she expects it to grow fangs and bite her any minute. "It sounds like a nightmare. You want a little coastal city like Gray Harbor to do Mardi Gras? It's going to look totally fake as fuck. And probably cause a string of affairs and pregnancies and bad decisions." The more she speaks, the more...intrigued she looks, and she looks down to studying the file more closely. "Think you're gonna find it's going to be lame as fuck, but I mean, I've nearly talked myself into it."

Alexander snickers, not quite under his breath, when Byron nearly chokes on his coffee. "A townie, then. Definitely not Dr. Glass. Interesting." Byron is given a thoughtful stare. "Dangerous game, Mister Thorne." He takes the coffee when it's offered, waving off the...something adjacent to an apology. His voice goes back to near toneless as he says, "Mister Thorne is distracting. Very distracting, apparently." Yep, now he's amused again. He also offers an encouraging nod at the characterization of the festival as a 'nightmare', but by the time she's finished, can only sigh. And drink his coffee.

Dabbing at his lips with a napkin, Byron looks Gina over with an appraising gaze, before Alexander brings Vivian up, his attention now diverted to the private investigator. "It's not what you think." His gaze drifts off to stare at nothing in particular when he goes in for another sip, his voice sounding distant. "That was a long time ago."

He then asks in a normal tone, "Tell me, Gina, I figure you'd have an eye for this sort of thing, Well, maybe not Venetian Festivals, but you get the idea. Do you think you'd like to assist in cobbling all of this together and trying to make it as authentic as possible. Now, I'm not expecting miracles. And I still will be hiring an Event Coordinator to help me promote and put this baby together. But if you think... or if you want to lend us your expertise, I'm all ears."

Gina raises an eyebrow at Byron, "Having gone to Mardi Gras twice and Carnivale like three times, they both basically suck. It's crowds of drunk idiots and a lot of fucking fancy as shit assholes basically cosplaying for days. You're never going to get that level of celebration unless you're planning for two from now instead of a few months from now." Gina says, quite blunt - but not aggressive. Just a casual statement of fact. "You have to convince people to give a fuck, and at least a third of this place won't buy in to it but will go along because it's something to relieve the boredom, another third will be halfhearted as fuck and maybe grab some stuff from Amazon, and all the business will either do some half-assed stall or take a loss on the festival hoping they'll get good PR. So honestly the whole thing seems doomed and I'm not fucking around herding any more cats than the ones I own." Something dings behind her and she turns to grab Alexander's food, setting it before him. "If you go through with it, though, sure, I'll make Bennie put cute masks on all the bears here, it sounds fun."

Alexander gives a nod of thanks as the food is delivered. Otherwise, aside from arching a single eyebrow at Byron, he keeps his mouth shut for most of the rest of the conversation. Except to eat. He does open his mouth to eat. And drink coffee. But, at the end, he shakes his head slightly at Gina. "On that, I will disagreed. I have every expectation that Mister Thorne can drum up the support he would need to put the festival on. He's sharp and has done more with less, in his time."

His phone must have beeped or gone off, because Byron reaches into his pants pocket to retrieve it, before tapping out a few messages. He even stops to take a look at the time, once, before making a response. He seems semi-happy about something. Or at least he's in a good mood to listen to Gina explain to him everything that will possibly go wrong.

"I'd considered a lot of what you've said and I am hoping to gain some support and sponsorship from our many small businesses as I am hoping that this will drum up more business, whether in the form of tourists or new residents. It's a huge task, I do admit. The most difficult part of it all is holding it when we're not drenched in rain." He half turns in his seat, taking another sip from his cup, almost finishing the thing. "I am looking towards an early fall date. Cooler, gloomy skies, hopefully before the cold season hits in full."

Gina shrugs as both Alexander and Byron continue to tout how feasible the plan is. "Well, whatever. I won't debbie downer the whole shitshow, and I'll even decorate or make the staff dress up or make a special sundae for the shebang. But I mean, I suck at class participation. I decided to own my own business so I could do a shit ton of paperwork and then ignore people whenever I want."

"That's not usually how owning a business goes," Alexander points out to Gina. "For most people." He shrugs. "But what do I know?" He takes a sip of his coffee, then says, dryly, to Byron, "That appears to be another, albeit reluctant, piece of support for your plan, Mister Thorne. How many is that, now?"

"Gina, I'm looking forward to seeing your bears wearing domino masks. And capes." Byron says, his eyes flickering around the bear filled place. "One can even be wearing a top hat." He murmurs just over the rim of his cup before finishing off this coffee one and for all. When Alexander asks about the number of supporters he's gotten thus far, he shrugs, "I still have a lot more people to talk to. I already know off hand several that I know will embrace the idea. I even went down to the pawn shop to see if there were any pieces that would catch my eye. Mostly mirrors, if they can be aged, chalices, things of that nature."

As a suit, himself, having created and owned various start up businesses in the past, all he can do is smile in amusement at Gina's idea of business ownership. "She's not completely wrong. I was knew of a family of brothers who owned a company. When a customer complained and wanted to speak to the manager, the brother who was being complained about looked to his brothers and asked aloud, "Who wants to be the manager today? Sure, it enraged the customer, but it was a customer they were willing to lose."

"Pretty much. It's all about expectations." Another light shrug from Gina. "This isn't exactly a passion project, so I'm not emotionally ripped to shreds if customers don't rave. I picked up the business so I had no upfront insanity. Just closed down for a few weeks to make the whole place not a death pit with wiring from the 1970s and then ordered some ingredients and hired some people. Besides, my target audience love the place." She deadpans, before giving a sharp little smile, before she finishes her coffee and pours herself another. "Soooooooo," Her attention falls on Alexander, "As usual, you're up on all the local gossip, huh?" A raised brow, "Seems like you're following Operation Carnivale."

"The food remains good, the music policy remains extortionate," Alexander deadpans back at her. "At least there is consistency." He gives a sidelong shrug to Byron, offering the man a peculiarly intense look over. "And yet, you choose flattery and the excellent taste of designers to make your impressions, instead. Interesting." He turns his attention back to his food, working his way through it. To Gina, he says, "Only happened to overhear Mister Thorne giving his pitch elsewhere. It bears keeping an eye on."

"It almost makes me believe that Mister Clayton were stalking me." Byron says as he reaches for his wallet to pull out several bills to set beneath his now empty cup. Thorne is also known to leave a generous tip because he can. Packing up the rest of his paperwork, he zips his briefcase closed. "Thank you for the delicious coffee, Gina." He says on rising, "And the more than blunt advice. I'll take everything you'd said into consideration, especially when discussing the town's decor with a designer or three." He then murmurs, "And the event coordinator." There's so much work to be done. "I'll make sure to drop by more often. I heard excellent reviews about your food and after having that taste of your coffee, I believe it."

Before he departs, he looks to Alexander, "I'm sure I'll be seeing you around, Clayton."

"You paid for it." Is Gina's only kind response to Byron, but she does give a faint little grin, "Good luck." And she waits until Byron is at least halfway through the room and she has to raise her voice before calling over, "I'll mention to Lil'Goth that blowjobs alleviate stress. No need for thanks, just remember that reciprocation is healthy in a relationship!" Her attention then turns to Alexander, "I can just feel the roiling attraction between you two." She deadpans. "All those Mister Claytons and Mr. Thornes. I nearly brought out my whip to get in on the fun."

Alexander tilts his head to one side, studying Byron with interest. "No. It's unnecessary. You tend to stand out." He lifts his coffee cup. "Be safe." Then turns his attention back towards finishing up the last few bites of his meal. He frowns at Gina's remark, brow furrowing, although he doesn't look up. "I'm not sure what you mean, Miss Castro." A pause. He adds, slowly, "I believe I upset him. I didn't mean to. But I did. I do not think he feels any sort of attraction towards me. Nor do I, towards him." It's all very serious, as if this was a serious suggestion.

"What, you mean all relationships aren't formed on a basis of upsetting someone and misdirected aggression?" Gina says, brow furrowing as if this is all brand new details to her. "Well shit. No wonder my shrink always starts facepalming midway through our sessions. Whoooooops." Gina collects another one of the bear-print mugs, scribbling something on her ordering pad and putting it inside the mug before she puts it to where the orders go. That done, she leans against the counter near Alexander, resting her weight on her elbows. "So what've you been up to beyond the park stuff?"

Alexander does look up at her, now, and blinks. "I don't think I could say, Miss Castro. I'm not really an expert in relationships. Unless you want to know the signs that a relationship is likely to end in murder. Those I know." He smiles, a little, and pushes his plate away so he has a place to lean his arms. He makes a thoughtful noise at the question. "A friend from college is staying with me. I am trying to be more social. The Virgin Mary put a vision of arson in my head. I am doing historical research." There's a pause, before he adds, "And how are you?"

"Actually, that sounds pretty interesting. I'd love to know those." Gina says, because of course she would, She grins at Alexander, lazily, "Me? My cats broke into the dry catfood, and I bought a new container. The city is filling with the hum and the shine so much I can't walk down the street without feeling agoraphobic. There's been a music thing in Seattle I've been doing instead of taking shifts here. And I've been avoiding people because apparently people keep doing weird ass dumb shit."

"There are about forty common risk factors for deadly relationship violence," Alexander says, perking up fractionally. "Although the most common are also the most logical: a history of escalating abuse, threats to kill the victim, and a relationship which is ending or which has just ended." The rest, though, distracts him even from murder-talk. He nods, slowly. "The city seems to be calling people who stand out here," he says, voice dropping to even softer than usual. "It bothers me. What music thing? Not more accordions, I hope. And," he smiles just a little, "people doing weird ass dumb shit is just people."

"I mean, does it have to be the victim being threatened?" Gina wonders. Casually. Before she nods along with Alexander's words, "Something building. And there were a couple of things. The Salish Sea Music festival, for one, and I'm always down for eighteenth century chamber music shows. Then obvs I had to go to the Funk Dance Party. And Childish Gambino had this laser show, had to hit that." Apparently, Gina really does enjoy a wild and eclectic soundtrack in her life. "The Accordian doesn't get big until late summer. There's this whole thing with it, anyway." But she's smirking, at his last words, "True. Weird ass dumb shit that might involve me at some point is annoying as shit. I avoid trouble. I'm delicate."

"Delicate." It's flat, but Alexander's expression is a picture of skepticism. He finishes off his coffee. "But it sounds fun. The music, not the dumb shit. As to the rest...no, but it's more likely. Killings by a potential victim who defended themselves with deadly force, or who pre-emptively murdered someone they feared would murder them DO happen, but they are relatively rare. Statistical anomalies. But it does make them interesting." He fishes out some bills. He's a haphazard tipper, which seems to be related not to any service received or not received, but simply how many and what kind of bills he has in his wallet. He stands. "Stay alive, Miss Castro. And find music without accordions." Then he turns and leaves, as abruptly as he entered.