2019-07-23 - Little Soldier

Lyric had laundry day today and dammit, it meant spending her quarters. But she has an entire roll of them in her pocket, weighing down her shorts. It's just a duffel bag she brings and she carries it in. (drags) to the washer. Then she gets a rolly cart and drags it over to put her duffel in to make it easier to reach. She starts a washer, puts in soap and starts adding clothes. One for darker clothes. One for lighter ones. And she starts sorting them out.

Pushing his way through the front door, Tyrone ALSO has a duffel bag full of laundry slung over his back. It's his army duffel bag, too, with his name, 'Grier,' clearly stenciled on the outside of it. He doesn't notice Lyric right away, as he's pretty focused on NOT killing himself as he tries to negotiate his way through the non-handicap-accessible doors.

This would be a great place for a handicap accessible entrance. Sue the city! Lyric gets her laundry sorted and the lids closed as the washers start before she turns around. Then stops and looks over. "Stalker." She grins, because she's joking. "Do you want some help?"

"Nah, got it," Tyrone says, as he finally forces his way over the threshhold and squirts into the laundromat. He glowers over his shoulder for a second as he rolls towards the washers. "And if you're worried about me stalking you, just find a stairway. Totally safe," he quips, smirking a little. He tosses the duffel bag to the floor and bends over, unzipping it. "But hey, if you wantin' ta help ... how much you charge for laundry?" he asks as he starts pulling some of his clothes out of the duffel and tossing them unceremoniously into a washer. Who needs to sort?

Lyric tilts her head regarding him with a long-suffering look. "You know I was just joking." So while he works on stubbornly doing his own laundry, she walks over to the tall folding table and hops up on it, sitting down and swimging her legs, watching him. Only once she's settled does she wait for him to go on and she smiles. "I don't mind helping with laundry, but it'll cost you. You have to let me help you out sometimes, cause you're so crazy stubborn." She remains where she is, waiting for him to agree to her terms. "Oh and you gotta sort your own laundry before you put it in the duffel bag, kay?"

Tyrone continues plopping unsorted clothes into the wahser until it's mostly full. He then bangs into the washer to get the lid to close. "If I'm paying, you're sorting. Might as well get full service or none at all, right?" he says, smirking. He then fishes in the bag underneath his chair to find four quarters so he can begin the wash. "And yeah, I knew you were kidding. We're cool. Doors, I can get. Laundry, though, would be a total pain in my ass if I could still feel it. So I'd be willing to pay someone else to do it for me. ... I wonder if there's a cleaning service in town that delivers ...."

"Sorting is as easy as when you take it off, put it into two separate piles. So you sort or no deal." Lyric remains there, swinging her feet, hands planted on the table, watcing him, surprised at his resourcefulness. "I was gonna say, someone would prolly come to your house and pick it up and then deliver it. It wouldn't be a bad idea. And you can pay me to come clean your house. Or if you get your own washer and dryer, if I clean your house laundry could be part of it."

Tyrone shrugs as he moves to the next empty washer and continues emptying his duffel. "Suit yourself," he comments as he fills the next washer up. "I keep my house clean. Laundry is just pretty hard for me because these damn top-load washers make it next to impossible for me to get everything OUT. Especially if it's like a sock or something. Murder on my arms, trying to get to stuff," he explains, finishing with the second load. He /is/ using soap, by the way, in the form of little washer pods, which are tossed in to each load as well. The second load is closed and started, as well, and he picks the now-empty duffel up off of the floor. "So. ... how ya been?"

Lyric exhales and nods to his stubborn self. "I bet it's tough, but if that's all you need, I can do that for free. I can fish the laundry out. I didn't think your house was a mess. But there are things like windows and stuff. But that's kay, you do you and I'll sit back and watch you be stubborn." She smiles, "I'm trying to get a band together. I think it'll be fun. I put up flyers. I made them then ran off copies. It was kinda cool. And I'm good. How are you?"

"A band?" Tyrone asks, an eyebrow quirking as he rolls over and parks next to the table Lyric is sitting on. "What do you play? Or I bet you're a singer, huh? You're definitely hot enough for it," Tyrone responds, smiling. "And I'm good. Getting things settled with the VA. Finally ran into my friend, too, and we've talked. I think I might stick around here. There isn't a /ton/ to do, but ... there also isn't any kind of .... I dunno. Like, it's really laid back. I don't feel like everybody's staring at me or looking down on me."

"Do you gotta be hot to sing in a band?" Lyric grins, taking it down that road instead of gushing that he thinks shes hot or something. "I play the guitar and I sing too." She stills her legs from swinging and nods in response, "I'm glad you got things settled with the VA. And met your friend, that's cool at least you don't feel so alone now in the town." Cocking her head to the side she grins. "No reason to stare, you're just like everyone else. Shiny."

Tyrone blinks, just now realizing what he told her. "Oh! Uh ... well, no, you don't /have/ to be," he says, grimacing and looking away. Stupid mouth, saying things without checking with brain first. "But that's cool. Let me know when you have a show, I'll definitely come check you out." And there it goes again, except this time his brain catches it right away. "I meant the band. I'll come check the band out. ... not that I wouldn't check you out, but ... the band ... would be ... yeah ...." Well, at least he's shiny.

"Oh good, cause I don't think everyone thinks so, and if I'm in a band I hope they like the way I play and sing. Or maybe they won't and they'll make a band without me and get someone else to sing and play the guitar." Oh bother, so many things to worry about! Lyric contemplates checking her and the band out though and then his more fumbled words and she grins. "Thank you. I think."

Quick! What else can he talk about? Tyrone looks back and forth for a second, trying to find a way out of his current hole. "So what kind of music do you do?" Yes! Good! Now she can talk and he can not talk and get the taste of Toe out of his mouth. Yes, very good. He nods and smiles, mostly to himself, before he looks up to Lyric. Yes, now she can talk.

Completely unaware of his internal debate, Lyric just looks at him a moment before he asks her about the music. "I like most all kinds of music, but probably what he people would want is what we'd sing. I don't even know if there's other people who even want to be in a band. It'll maybe be just me and I can't be in one by myself."

"Sure you could," Tyrone disagrees. "Jewel did it. Pink did it. Gwen Stefani did it after No Doubt. Melissa Ehtridge, Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow ...." He smiles and reaches out to give Lyric's leg a light flick. "Start a youtube channel. You'll get dudes following just because you're hot. If you can make good music, even better!"

"They still had musicians to play the music for them. Or I guess I could play a guitar and sing and not in a band." Lyric makes no agreement or disagreement as to actually doing that. "But its a good idea, thank you." Ducking her head at the compliment, she smiles a little. "I'm not just all about looks. I'm a person too."

"Well /I/ know that," Tyrone says, shaking his head. "You're super nice and that's really great. Of course being a good person is more important than being hot. /BUT/. When it comes to being famous? Being hot sure helps." He pushes back from the table, then, and pops a wheelie. "I'm not saying you don't have the talent to make it on that alone, Lyric, honest. I've just never heard you sing or play guitar, so I don't know how good you are. But, I /have/ seen what you look like, and believe you me, you're a stunner."

"Oh but I don't really wanna be famous. I just want to be in a band and sing and play. I don't want to leave this town really." Lyric is content with her lot in life. Hopping down off the table when he moves back, she watches his wheelie and smiles. "It looks like you're having fun learning that chair. If I sing and play guitar, sometime will you dance?" Again, she doesn't really acknowledge him saying anything about her looks, but she walks over to start loading her clothes into the rolly cart, since hers had a bit of a head start on his.

"... /oh/," Tyrone responds, surprised. His wheelie drops as he blinks, watching Lyric get up. "... ... ... I guess I never thought of that. My bad." Tyrone moves back next to the table again as Lyric goes to fill her laundry. "But yeah, fa sure. Band or no band, you performing, I'll be there. I will be your very first fan." Then, Tyrone smirks and snickers a little. "Unless you're terrible. Then no promises."

"I don't make promises. People don't mean them, so I don't like people to make them. So I don't." The dryer is loaded and started, then she brings the rolly cart to his so she can unload them for him without asking, as soon as they are finished. "Do you sing or play anything?"

Tyrone blinks some more at Lyric's distaste for promises. "... well, now. Really? Because I've never made a promise that I didn't mean. And I mean that one, too. If you perform, I'll be there. Maybe not every time, but the very first time I'm able to, I sure will. Front row, center." When Lyric just starts unloading his clothes, Tyrone frowns a little and moves closer, reaching out to try and touch Lyric on her back or on her arm, anywhere he can reach. "Lyric, you don't HAVE to help me. I appreciate it, but we haven't worked out any sort of payment and I hate taking advantage of people almost as much as I hate feeling incapable of doing stuff."

"I don't want promises and I don't make them." Lyric tells him again, just reiterating that. She continues to remove his clothes until she feels his hand, but then she turns to look at him and smiles guilelessly. "I told you, this is easy for me so I don't mind. I can do it for free. Besides you're a friend of mine. What kind of friend would I be to make you struggle when I'm already here doing laundry?" Don't feel incapable. But you are different than you were. There are things you can't do anymore that you used to be able to do." That may sound rough, so she adds, "But there's things you can do now that you couldn't before. Like pop a wheelie." She grins and takes his rolly cart over to the dryers. This time though, she leaves it between two dryers. They can both fill one each. This is something he can do and she recognizes that.

Tyrone frowns a little, but he doesn't stop her from unloading the washer. He's stubborn, not stupid! He follows as she moves the cart between the dryers. When she starts filling one, he starts filling the other. "Well, you may not want them, but you can't stop me from making them. And I'll make sure not to ask you for one." And, because there's a lull in the conversation, and he can't really think of much else, Tyrone decides to finally ask, "So do you have a boyfriend or anything?"

Lyric gets one dryer filled then started and leans against it while he finishes his. "Thank you." Relieved he wouldn't be asking her to make any. His question catches her by surprise, "I don't guess so. Boyfriends want promises. What about you? Do you got a girlfriend?"

"... man. Hard bargain, you drive," Tyrone says, mostly under his breath as he shakes his head. "No, no girlfriend. My last one dumped me when she found out I couldn't walk. Figured since I couldn't stand at attention, my little soldier couldn't either. So it's been a few months since I've been seeing anyone. I am dating, though," he says, just letting that hang there for a second. Or for longer, depending on how the conversation goes after that. But he was just putting that out there for general information. Not like he was hinting at anything. ... OR WAS HE?!?!