2019-06-10 - Rules of Engagement

And in roughly 20 minutes more on the give side than the take, there is a knock on Easton's door that sounds like it came more from the kick of a shoe than a rap of knuckles. Bennie is standing in the hallway, one hand holding her phone to her ear and the other toting a ripe pineapple, all the while trying to balance the strap of her bag on her shoulder. "...and we appreciate you calling customer service. Is there anything else I can help you with today? Great! Then if you'd like to hold on the line for a quick three question survey..." They never hold for the survey.

The apartment building is well, upscale as she well remembers. There's security at the gate and a couple nicer amenities. The door to #400 is left purposefully ajar with some music playing from speakers embedded in the ceiling. The main room of the apartment is still mostly empty besides stools at the counter, a couch, sharp metal and glass coffee table and a wall mounted TV. Easton is flopped on the couch with a beer already in hand watching baseball highlights from the day. He doesn't look that into it as his phone is also out.

At the knock the door swings open a little bit more and Easton looks up from the couch. He looks at the pineapple and says, "Come in?" with a little more inflection in his voice than he meant to have.

Bennie shoulders in, giving him the apologetic 'one sec' finger as she pushes several buttons on her phone. "Sorry, had to log out of work. Hi!" She says brightly, nudging the door closed with her foot but apparently feeling secure enough in his apartment that she doesn't bother to lock it. With a little skip step over to the couch, she hops down knees first onto the cushion next to him. Plopping the pineapple into his lap, she frees the hand to start reading something she has scrawled on her palm in pen. "Bezel, revel, utensil, special, metal."

Happy to wait, Easton takes a big sip of beer and turns back momentarily to the TV. Just long enough to be surprised when she jumps on the couch. He laughs and accepts the pineapple, but then gets very, very confused by the list of words. "Are you having a stroke? Playing reverse charades? B. R. U. S. M. Poorly spelled brooms? I got nothin."

He does get up to take the pineapple to the kitchen. "Beer? Wine? ... Mixed drink? I'm fairly stocked." With liquor and alcohol maybe, otherwise it's pretty empty in that very modern, and oh so bachelor, kitchen.

"Words that rhyme with pretzel." Bennie declares with a laugh, harkening back to their conversation about Delilah in New York. She twists around to follow his progression towards the kitchen, unslinging her bag to tuck under the deadly coffee table and then palming the heel of a grey cowboy boot to slide it off. She's dressed casually for a night in, wearing a pair of beat up jeans and a tank top with a lavender cardigan that has bell sleeves. "Spoils of being a bartender? Beer is great, thanks!"

"See? They could have made it work! They were just too committed to their one sided kind of whiny story." He sets the pineapple down on the counter and asks, "And is there a reason for the pineapple? I mean I have a tattoo of one, but that's a weird story. Should I cut it up?" He grabs a beer from the fridge and leans over the couch to kiss her cheek as he hands it to her. The 'spoils of being a bartender' is not commented on, as it's more like 'warning signs of being an alcoholic' and he's just going to pretend it's not. "Glad you came."

"Lazy song writers." Bennie concurs, "Aidan gave it to me as a thank you for that..thing I did for him." She gratefully accepts both the beer and the kiss to the cheek with a beam of a smile. "Later." For the pineapple. For now she's reaching for his hand to draw him back down onto the couch with her. "I'm glad you invited me. Because otherwise I was doomed to an evening of taking telephone calls for people who bought too small a dress because they've been lying to themselves about their carb intake. Followed by a some light reading which would have left me face down in an emergency medicine medical journal."

The TV still continues to play sports highlights, though the volume is turned down at least, and the music continues over the speakers, some sort of classic rock stream or something. Easton makes his way back to the couch, led by her hand and sits down next to her, very much in her space. He gets a somewhat hesitant look on his face as he starts to ask, "How.." He apparently has to think about this before trying again, "Do you ever take a break? Or only when cute ex-military guys ask you over?" Making a joke of it is safer. She can laugh it off if she wants to. He knows it's kind of a bullshit strategy but they also don't know each other that well.

"And I have.." He reaches under the couch and pulls out stacks of take-out menus. ".. lots of dinner options tonight." He's not exactly one to cook for himself unless you count meal preps that are less cooking and more sorting groceries into containers.

Bennie has no personal space issues, because her legs immediately swivel to drape over his lap and she snuggles in against him. "Only when this particular cute ex-military guy asks me over." Her hand lifts, and nails that somehow retain a manicure despite her various career choices gives a light scritch into his beard in affection.

"Oooh." She actually gets excited about being handed a stack of menus, pulling them into her lap and after a gulp of her beer, her drink gets set aside so she can sort through them. Of course the one for Grizzly gets shuffled to the bottom of the stack, probably because ninety percent of her meals already come from there. "I'm kind of in the mood for actually sharing that pizza we didn't get around to. No muss, no fuss. But you get to pick the toppings this time."

Beard scritches cause Easton's face to scrunch up and press against her hand in appreciation. And yes, deftly distracts him from asking about her financial woes, and how she plans to not drop dead from working fifteen concurrent jobs. Though to be fair, he also appreciates the fact that she is just getting shit done and not complaining. It's admirable in some ways, but still worrisome.

He laughs as she gets all excited about takeout menus. It's that kind of excitement that he's been trying to regain, about anything really. He sagenods and says, "Yes. I'm thinking sausage and pepperoni, onions and peppers, and wings.." He manages to pull out his phone and order very quickly.

Then he pushes his face closer to hers to kiss her quickly and say, "Ok. So when do we start trying to scare the crap out of each other with real talk? Before food? After hot passionate love making on the bare wood floors? Post coital cigarette on the balcony? Just trying to plan out the night here."

As he pulls out his phone to order, Bennie pokes him playfully in the ribs, "And garlic bread! And garlic bread!" Because the only way this machine keeps working is with ample fuel. She grins into the kiss, chasing after him with a slight lean when he pulls back. Her elbow props on the back of the couch and her hand nestles into her blonde waves to lean her head against the palm. "Do we have to?" She whines with a crinkle of her nose. "Alright. How about this. No matter what, we're not leaving this apartment without the hot passionate love making part this time. No matter how freaked out we get. Or how tired. Or if the place is on fire. Because I swear, if I have to go one more day without tearing your clothes off I might implode." And in all seriousness, she extends her pinky finger.

'Of course' is mouthed to her and the request duly relayed to the person taking their order at the pizza place. He very reluctantly breaks the kiss and when she asks if they have to, he clarifies. "Oh, fuck. Not like a 'relationship' talk, not what I meant." Because: NOPE. But then she sets some very reasonable ground rules and he nods in very serious assent. "Yes. All the yes. Because I think I might pop something in my brain if that doesn't happen. Tonight." He nods and takes her pinky with his.

"And seriously, I'm not going anywhere." He wraps his non-beer'ed arm around her and pulls her close. "I just feel like I somehow skipped some steps..."

He gets quiet for a minute and says, "I was in your dream. At least I think that's how it works? I saw." He tries to go slowly, knowing this is a lot less fun than the sexy talk but also knowing he'd feel like an ass for not saying it first. "I saw your brother. Your mom. I'm guessing some of that was memories? And I feel like I spied on you. Like I shouldn't know that unless you want me to. I .." He takes a sip of beer, and clears his throat. "And I don't know how the hell you are still standing after all that, but you.. You are something." His admiration is clear in the last statement, a deep desire that he could handle hardships with half the pluck and courage she has apparently been able to muster.

"I guess you learned the quick and dirty way that I tend to jump in with both feet." Bennie's grinning when he says that he feels like he skipped some steps. And yet, somehow, relationship talk would be easier than what he broaches next. "You think that's the way it works? On memories? Because if so, whoever had to live through the Easter Day Massacre had it waaaay harder than me." The chipper blonde tries to play it off, but there are even some things her sunny demeanor can't endure, because her smile dulls a few notches. "You know, I think my beer is actually skunked. Would you grab me another one?"

"Yea well, we haven't talked about how fucked up Easter was at my house." He laughs but knows that's hardly the end of that topic. Yea, maybe post-coital cigarette was the right answer, oh well. No going back now. He ohs? at the comment about the beer and gently extracts himself up to get another one for her.

"And listen, if at any points you need to tell me to shut my big dumb mouth, that's also valid. Just no running out the door." He comes back with a beer and tries to settle back in to the cozy clump they were previously making on the couch. "And I also jump right in, except it's more like one foot and stump.." Yes, he has a lot of these jokes and deploys them often.

It's a bit of a lame diversionary tactic, but as Easton gets up to get Bennie another beer, she's arching her back and lifting her hips off the couch to quickly dig into her pocket. A small white tablet is popped into her mouth and cheeked by the time he gets back to the couch. "Thanks." She wiggles back into their previous position, taking a thick swig of beer before cradling it in her lap. "For a second, I wanted that dream to be real. The parts before it went all tits over taco. But it was all wrong, out of order, things happening that didn't really. Details that were changed. The spirit of it was right though." Her finger nail scratches at a worn spot on her jeans, "You could show my dad a two headed coin and he'd still bet on tails."

Dumdumdum Easton is oblivious as he gets her another beer, handing it to her and assuming that she needed a moment to compose herself maybe? Heh. But now that he's back he happily lets her wiggle back around him. He nods and says, "Yea. I imagine. And I didn't mean t'make you talk about yer family. That wasn't my point. We got pasts, you can tell me as much or as little as you like. But I felt like a dick knowing things that.. you maybe didn't realize?"

Okay, he takes a bit swig of his beer and says, "I just meant that when I got blown to shit, and lost my leg and my best friend, and my career.." He is volunteering this information, trying to put them back on equal footing (meta foot joke). "I was a mess. I was just drinking, taking whatever I could get my hands on, just..." He's being cautious still with how much he shares, "And then there's you. And I'm .. I'm really glad I'm here. That I met you. That's all."

"When I said..." Bennie ventures but falters for a moment. "When I said that I thought you were sent here for a reason, it's because I felt like I had my head down for all these years and now I'm finally looking up." In any other situation, this would definitely be a relationship talk, but considering this is Gray Harbor, it takes on a whole other connotation. "I dismissed everything before. Wrote it off, explained it away as being tired or a trick of the eye. I've had nightmares like that before, but. This time. With you there? It's the first time I ever fought back in them."

"And you kicked some fucking ass. You took down more than I did, by far." Yes, he's super impressed to hear that was her first time fighting back. "I mean, the mace can throwing wasn't super effective against the little creepy girl, but a for effort." He tries not to dismiss what she's saying about not paying attention or explaining it away. He adds, "I get it. I've had some shit that I ..." He can't even think how to broach the topic of Banks. How do you even mention your dead best friend 'lives' with you.

Thankfully the food arrives and Easton is up off the couch in a shot. Almost like he's glad for an excuse to not talk now. He peels off a wad of mostly small bills to pay the delivery person and then is bringing the feast back to set it down on the coffee table.

"I'm hopin you can help kick some of my nightmare's asses. Next time, I'm hidin' behind you." No, not really, but it wouldn't exactly be a bad strategy per say.

Bennie is just as glad for the pizza itself as he is for the momentary lapse in conversation, edging forward with an actual twiddle of her fingers as he sets the boxes down on the coffee table and she's quick to flip the lid open on the pizza. "Oh, the Easter thing was different. I've had no problem going all Rarr in my other.." Her head tilts, "Someone other's dreams? But when it comes to facing that. Hey, do you think Kevin actually shared that dream too? He was the other guy with us."

Her eyebrows go up with the question just as she's shoving the point of her slice into her mouth. There's a content bit of chewing before she shields her mouth with her hand as she talks, "Man, I have so many questions. What else can you do? What kind of shit do you get? You said there are others like us, like Aidan and Baylee maybe? I felt a weird kinship with them right off the bat. I mean, I've felt it before, but does this mean it actually means something?" She babbles quickly.

The smell of the food momentarily distracts Easton as he sets it down and is thankful to dig right in. He grabs his own slice and is mid-chew when she asks about Kevin in the Easter dream. "Oh right, that was fucked up too because I was awake.. I was out in the park running and then that happened, and I woke back up in the park, bleeding off the path. But, I've seen that Kevin guy out before, but never actually met him. I don't know. I mean.. one of the women I saw get executed? Yea, saw her right after, just happy as a clam."

There's more eating, and yes, it's a no-holds-barred as usual for Easton. But there's wings to at least slow him down somewhat? He looks surprised that she has questions.

"See? I thought locals just knew this shit. Geoff and Alexander and .." He starts to say Gina, but stops himself. She's her boss, so he doesn't want to just tumble into that. "Yea. For me? When I meet someone, it feels like this danger sense actually. I was freaking out my first week here because I thought I was losing my mind, seein' all these people as about to attack me. But then I realized they were 'seeing' me too. But I guess that works different for some folks? Someone called them 'shiny', or bright like spark. It's more of a gut thing for me."

There is much finger licking as he downs wings and only a brief break to grab more beers for them and some more paper towels. "But yea, I get that weird connection thing. And mostly I can just move things or find things. And just a little bit of head stuff, though I think others are way better." He looks at her and tries to project a feeling of just how satisfied he feels. In having her here. In eating greasy takeout with her. In not feeling like a tightly wound spring about to break. <<Like that.>>

When Easton mentions a woman that he saw executed, Bennie makes a face of sympathy, reaching out to touch his leg momentarily. "Geoff too! I thought I could just read people's auras." Bennie admits sheepishly, but she's grinning like a fool at her own folly when he explains it's because people are 'different' or 'abled' like they are. Her smile softens when he projects both those feelings and that simple thought but her happy little wiggle on the sofa stops, and all of a sudden she looks positively mortified. "Oh my god, does that mean you can read my thoughts?!"

Easton shrugs off the sympathy, because sadly he wasn't all that traumatized by it? He was more freaked out by the fact that he was so ready to shoot the little girl until Kevin had a plan that didn't involved murdering children. But he doesn't share that. He laughs about Geoff, "Right, he texted me the other night a photo of you guys chilling? Didn't realize you were close."

He looks at her very intently for a moment and narrows his eyes as if concentrating. He finally says very slowly, "Holy shit, I've never even heard of that position. How does that even work upside down?" He smirks and adds, "No. I can't read thoughts, just send things. Unless the other person can send things back, it's a one way deal." His beer bottle on the table shakes a bit and then comes to his hand, "But mostly it's things like that. Moving stuff around. What about you? Do you know what else you can do?"

"Oh we aren't. Well, we weren't. I hadn't actually really hung out with him since middle school until the other day, but he was doing me a solid and then offered beer. I think he's sort of become the self proclaimed keeper of Huckleberry." Bennie is about to take another bite of her pizza when Easton starts going on about positions and her eyes round out. He actually had her going there for a second, before he clarifies. There is a very heartfelt and actual, "Phew," from the blonde. "I get to retain some sense of mystery."

And then the bottle moves and zips into his hand like it was pulled by an invisible string. "That is seriously cool. And way more convenient then using the Clapper to turn off the lights, I mean what happens when I start applauding at late night TV? It's like a disco." As to what she can do though, that warrants a bite of her bottom lip, "I fix things? I guess. And I can tell where you're hurt, even if you don't know it yourself."

Easton quirks an eyebrow at the explanation about Geoff. He had just assumed they were close because they were neighbors but that's interesting. He laughs as she gets a little freaked out by him 'reading her thoughts'.

"I don't know if anyone actually bought the clapper or if it was just an elaborate prank to get people to watch infomercials." He takes another drink of beer, and has slowed down in his frantic quest to demolish as much food as possible in as short a time as possible. He leans back on the couch now and rolls his head to the side. "Hmm." He blinks hard and looks away for a second, apparently having a random thought not quite worth sharing yet. "I feel like there's lots of other things out there though. Pretty sure at least.." Because if they can do these things, imagine what other people might be able to do.

Bennie tosses a piece of crust back into the box, all that's left of her devouring three pieces of pizza and some garlic bread during the course of their conversation but is apparently calling it quits. Or at least a momentary intermission. Her hands get wiped off on her pants, "It's my dirty little secret about how I passed my exams to become an EMT. Of course knowing how to fix it without my mojo was a different matter, hard won with blood sweat and tears. Now. They say you are supposed to wait a half an hour before swimming or risk getting cramps, but I like to live dangerously." Her grin turns wicked as she reaches over to fist a hand in his shirt and drag him with as she leans back.

"Mhmm" It's clear from the look on his face that Easton probably wasn't paying very close attention to the words coming out of her mouth, so much as he mouth itself. He is already moving towards her as she shifts topics. And though both his hands are accounted for, somehow her jeans unbutton. Yes, he may have been practicing that move.

And finally these two get to get it on without interruption. Or delay. Just a bit more of an audience than Bennie might have realized. The ghost of Tom "Banks" Richmond, stands 'leaning' against the kitchen counter making cheering motions that only Easton can see, though he does his best to ignore them.