2019-07-25 - No Cutting People?

It's been a day since Bennie showed up at Easton's bruised and bedraggled. She stayed through the night and the entire next day, holed up in his bedroom. Late last night Easton and Baylee connected to get her some of her things. Easton as per his habit is up early, leaving Bennie to sleep in. Dressed in casual loose pajama pants and a gray tanktop, he's in the kitchen frying eggs. His apartment isn't bare of food like some bachelors, it's just all very specific meal-prepped food in containers for the most part. But there's coffee on and he's frying eggs and staring at the cabinets in front of him as if they have the answers for what to do next.

What to do next is answer the door. Baylee has gotten let upstairs to the apartment, Jay in tow, and once she reaches the door she lifts a fist, banging hard and fast on the door. Like she were the police. But there's no shout of 'open up' or 'this is the police'. So might just be a rude person.

"Anyone ever tell you that you got only a smidge more tact than a pig?" Cop pig, not animal pig. Animal pigs are way more tactful than Baylee. Jay leans on the wall. He's in a pair of slim red jeans, gold-rimmed black sneakers, a red baseball cap, and a yellow t-shirt that says: I GOT WHAT YOU NEED on the front in red, blocky letters. It says IN MY PANTS on the back, but only Baylee knows that. For now. He has hung his shades from the collar of his tee.

The knock causes Easton to tense and get ready to murder someone with a spatula, but instead he just breathes for a few seconds. Then he waves a hand at the door and the lock clicks and the handle turns. "It's open!" He calls out, though really the fact that the door just opened is kind of self-evident. Should he use Glimmer for trivial things? Probably not. But he hasn't had enough coffee to care about such things. The door to the balcony in the living room is open with a warm breeze and faint smell of cigarette smoke wafting in to the sparse, modern apartment.

"I wanted to make sure they heard, in case they were asleep." Baylee points out, reaching for the door when the call that it was open comes, and she swings the door open. "Honey, we're home." She calls out, stepping to the side to let Jay come in behind her before she pushes the door closed, scanning the apartment before she spots just a single Easton in it. Then she double-checks to see if Bennie is hiding behind the couch or something, "You got time to talk, Easton?"

Jay wanders in, glancing around the apartment--windows, doors, places to hide behind should there be gunfire--and then smiles at Easton. "Boss."

Easton glances up at the door and checks that it's Baylee. He quirks an eyebrow as Jay also enters but gives him a friendly upnod. "Sure." He slides his eggs off to a waiting plate and mentions, "I think Bennie's still out cold. She's exhausted." At least now Easton knows why she's been running herself ragged. Not that he feels all that much better.

"Good. She doesn't need to be here for this anyways." Baylee heads towards the couch, throwing herself down onto it, legs crossing as she thinks, "So when I went to pick up the phone and shit for her, I did some snooping around. Found a ledger, had some initials in it that might be the guy in question." She tilts her chin towards Jay, "Jay and I are going to check it out soon as I figure out who they are."

Jay gives Easton a little salute from the tip of his cap when Baylee tells him Jay is going to help. He sits on the back of the couch Baylee has flopped on. "She hasn't told me anything, but I like Bennie. She's nice. Also my boss is dating her and I like scoring points." That second bit is a joke. Sort of.

Taking his breakfast to the island in the kitchen makes it possible to have an easy conversation with the two in the living room. He nods at Baylee's statement about not needing to involve Bennie in the talk. "Good, that's a good start." He didn't even think about having her look around when she went to get stuff, but that's probably why he hired her in the first place. He wouldn't know where to start. He glances at Jay when he mentions he isn't filled in. "Bennie's in a shit ton of debt, because her father was an idiot. That's why she's working seventeen jobs and why some goons dragged her out of her trailer the other night." And then he toally spills juice all over the counter. Stupid magic ring curses. He swears and grumbles as he gets up to clean it up.

"Right, evidently it is a whole lot of debt. Not just...couple thousand. But..." Baylee tilts her head, thinking, "More than I can even get from Daddy and explain away without him getting really worried. I checked all my accounts and I don't even think I'd put a dent in the debt if I cleaned them out for her."

Jay gives a low whistle, because he has seen those accounts, or at least been told some numbers. He clears his throat. "That's a lot of moola for a single blonde, and if it's the kind of debt that gets you roughed up, it's the kind of debt with a shitton of interest, too." He slides his hand up his bicep, scratching at a spot where his tattoo is visible, sleeve lifted. "But if we can get a name or something, it's a good start. She give you any details?"

"She mentioned a six hundred K figure. So. Yea, it's not time to shake the couch cushions, even of your British Manor" Easton cracks a joke but adds, "But I appreciate the thought. Really." He's done the same kind of mental math and come up with the same answer. He nods at Jay and says, "Yea, unlikely even if we ponied up big bucks it's actually going to help. Got a feeling that would just change the math on their side." He looks to Baylee and says, "I didn't, but you said you found something?"

"Yeah, got to agree that this is probably a debt that never goes away." Baylee reaches into the pocket of her jacket, pulling out a slender pocket sized notebook, flipping it open, "So literally everything is going to the guys, but there seems to be also smaller debts. But the big one seems to be someone with the initials R.J."

"At least the initials aren't F.M.," Jay says with a frown. "Though, if they are operating this blatantly in Gray Harbor, I'm pretty sure Monaghan is either taking a cut, or has reason to let them. If not, it's as simple as letting him know someone's racketeering in his town." Jay grew up in this sort of thing; criminals are territorial.

Easton sad head shake at Baylee's comment agrees that it doesn't seem likely. "Fuck Me?" The initials comment from Jay draws a confused look from Easton as he has no idea what those mean. And 'Monaghan' doesn't ring any bells for him either, though it should, he just doesn't know that yet. He quirks an eyebrow though and asks, "Is that an associate of yours?" There's no judgement per say, Jay mentioned he was a scoundrel so it's not big leap to think he might be doing similar work for someone else. With the OJ all cleaned up he returns to his breakfast.

The door to one of the bedrooms opens and Bennie emerges, wearing one of Easton's t-shirts and pair of boxer shorts with her left arm tucked into a make shift flannel sling. Bruises have fully developed overnight on her injured arm, an angry combination of black and blue on her bicep. With her hair is piled high onto her head in a messy bun, kept there by benefit of a lone elastic she must've found in the bathroom, a small cut is visible above one eye. Other than that she just looks tired.

She's grinding her fist into her eye socket as she zombies through the living room with a garbled, caught half way through a yawn as she says, "Morning." Apparently not finding it odd that others are assembled in her boyfriend's apartment while she was sleeping. She's either Tucan Samming her way to the smell of food or gravitating towards Easton himself as she goes into the kitchen.

"Shit, Bennie. We didn't wake you up, did we?" Baylee was not really planning to wake Bennie up, but now that she's up, and around, and present. She gets the little bit of news that Baylee's got, "I was considering off-loading my shoes, see if I couldn't get something for them. You want to help?" It's a lie. Really. But, maybe it is time to rotate the merchandise.

Jay eyes Easton and opens his mouth to explain, but then Bennie comes out of the room and he shuts it once again, smiling at the blonde. "Tell you later," he says to Easton. "Mornin', Benz." He lifts a brow and turns to look right at Baylee when she says she's thinking of selling her shoes. Damn, she must really care about Bennie.

At the opening of the door Easton turns to greet Bennie, "Morning Sunshine." Yes, she looks like she's in rough shape but he's not about to say that outloud, not this time. "You want a cup of coffee? Or eggs?" Really limited breakfast menu here in the Marshall home. Mostly because Easton eats either a strict meal prepped diet or total garbage takeout, no inbetweens or half measures. He doesn't react to Baylee's shoe plan but does give Jay a slight nod that they will talk later. Talk a lot maybe.

"I'm sure that's why you both have piled over here. To talk to Easton about off-loading your Manolo Blahniks." Bennie says dryly though at least it's accompanied with a small smile, it's no where near 'Sunshine' level yet, but give her time. She just woke up. (And hasn't downed a handful of Adderall yet). "But sure, I'll help you with whatever. You're the boss." Stealing a quick minty fresh kiss from Easton - which means two women have now used his toothbrush - she requests. "Coffeeeee." In the same tone a zombie would groan for brains before she looks back at the other two. "So, what are we really talking about, that we're suddenly changing topics of conversation and 'telling each other later' about?"

"We were talking about money." Baylee replies, which is the truth. Just not the entire truth, right? She doesn't seem to be inclined towards going further into it, instead she gets to her feet, pulling out a pack of cigarettes as she heads towards the open balcony doors. If Easton wants to clarify that is on him.

Jay eyes veryone in the room, but especially Easton and Baylee, and then tells Bennie, apparently absolutely changing his mind on a dime, "We were talking about how to help you with your situation and how the solution is not money." He shrugs and says, to the other two, "She's not stupid or made of glass, that I can tell." He smiles at the blonde. "In fact, given the giverns, I think she's pretty tough." What are they protecting her from by not telling, anyway?

"She's gonna start with the Feragamo's." Easton chimes in helpfully about Baylee's shoes and what the plan is for them. To his credit, he's planning on clarifying some things. Maybe. But then Jay just goes and gives a good amount of it and Easton nods. "Yea. That." He moves around to make coffee, because coffee is always a good idea. He shrugs and says, "We're worried about you and we're going to be helping you figure a way out of this. That's not up for discussion." He will take exactly 0 amounts of protesting on that account.

There is an almost grateful look to Jay for the explanation and the affirmation that she's sturdy enough to hear it, but then Easton is piping up with the correct name of another designer instead of butchering it like he did the Louboutin's that time. "And now I know why you know what Feragamo's are." Bennie makes an ugh sound as she was about to sit at one of the higher chairs at the counter, but apparently changes her mind just then and puts a little space between her and that realization as she ambles out of the balcony door and makes a scissor motion at Baylee to share her cigarette. The blonde doesn't smoke, traditionally, but now may be a good time to start. Especially with Easton laying down the law in there. "I'm not going to argue. I can't live like this anymore. If you can even call what I was doing before as 'living'. So I'll just say thank you for thinking I'm worth the fuss."

"Does Easton own a pair of Ferragamo's?" Baylee wonders, then glances down at everyone's feet, even her own. When you have as many shoes as she does, sometimes she's got to double-check which shoes she's wearing. Then she turns her attention back to the real conversation, "I know Bennie can handle this shit, Jay. But so far, Bennie has been less inclined to allow us to help her deal with this. I figured that'd save the arguments. She takes a drag from her newly lit cigarette, but then holds it out to Bennie, "But since she's not arguing..." Yay Bennie. Also yay Bennie, because as soon as she's passed over the cigarette she's moving to pull the injured blonde in for a hug, "Why does Easton know what Ferragamo's are?"

Jay looks at them all. "Ferragamo's? Really? Ugh." He does a little hair flip, and then says, "But really, Bennie, just tell us where we can find these guys. Do you know? I have known enough of these people to know that it doesn't get solved with money. It gets solved making sure the person owed the debt can't collect anymore."

Easton is confused by Bennie's statement about knowing why he knows, he kind of forgot that some of his past came out the other night talking with Bennie. No he's not a drag queen or even cross dresser, sorry, it's not that exciting. He head tilts at Baylee's question but moves past it. "I agree. You've been surviving. And doing an amazing job, but it's time for a change." He's beyond impressed with what he knows about her past and he ability to not complain and just get shit done. He should probably say those words outloud some time. He brings two mugs of coffee out for the smokers, accepting a drag off the cigarette as payment.

Turning back to Jay, he nods and says, "Agreed. But before we go dropping bodies," wait what? "we should explore legal options. Bennie didn't rack up those debts. And at least a couple were from illegal activity. We might be able to use the cops to get this idiot busted."

Bennie tucks herself into the hug, keeping the left side of her body twisted out of it as much as possible but happy squeeze Baylee heartily with her good arm. "Because he can afford them." She says simply as to the matter of the shoes - and hey, they make men's too! - before accepting the cigarette and taking a puff. To her credit, she doesn't cough or choke, but there's a likelihood she might have done this back in high school and dropped the expensive habit some where along the way. She holds up the filter for Easton to puff off of before offering it back to Baylee so she can take her coffee without any needless juggling with only one good wing. "No clue." That answer must be to Jay, which she clarifies with, "They always came to me, but they're not local." She's trying not to argue, really she is, but she can't help but shake her head at the notion that the cops should get involved.

"You trust the legal system to handle people like this?" Baylee looks very dubious about this, which might explain why she drug Jay in on all this. He knows these things better than her. Poor broken bird. The news that Easton can afford Ferragamo's makes her raise a brow, smirking, "They aren't that expensive." She might be just a bit curious, but she slides right past that to retake the cigarette when it comes back to her, "You need to call Aidan, he can do something about this." The this in question is the busted up version of Bennie, "He's put me back together a few times."

Jay shrugs at Easton. "Hey, I'm all for not committing murder if I can avoid it," said to the tune of 'but you can't always avoid it'. He nods at Bennie. "All right." Licking his lips, he says, "Then I still think our best first move is to figure out if they have Monaghan's blessing. That's Felix Monaghan. Big shot company man who also runs... pretty much all the crime in the area. If they don't have his blessing, it's as easy as pointing out someone is running rackets in his town. He might do the rest. If they have permission, then it's a little more complicated, depending on whether he gets a cut. But you can't be paying them much, so I doubt it." He shrugs. "Key thing here is to figure out if the people who are sending the goons can be threatened. Like, will they stop if I cut off a toe? Two? A foot?" You work in increments in his previous line of work.

Easton just shrugs at the part about being able to afford fancy shoes. It's a good bit of understatement and he's fine with that. Not that he has any reason to be cagey about money in front of Baylee. He exhales the smoke and then heads back inside for his cup of coffee. His face pulls slightly at the mention of calling Aidan to fix her up. His own busted nose and other various Dream related injuries are also on the mend. "Aidan needs to be careful tho. Too much of that attracts attention." Says the man who literally just used Glimmer to open a door minutes ago.

The name 'Felix Monaghan' causes a shiver of a memory to visible concern Easton. He listens as Jay explains some things and gets a terrible feeling of foreboding that shuts him up good. He realizes he hasn't responeded or reacted to his comments about cutting off toes or feet after a long pause and looks back up. "Yea. I'm fine with putting the hurt back on this bozo. And sounds like you have some experience here." It's not a question, or a judgement, just a statement.

Bennie gingerly lifts her left arm slightly, now that it's back in the socket properly, it's just sore more than anything and bruised to hell from being manhandled enough to dislocate it in the first place. "Yeah, I can probably manage at the diner, but otherwise, I'll have to miss my shifts at the Station or get stuck on dispatch. So I was thinking I'd either call Aidan or track down Erin and see how she's doing to kill two birds with one stone. She's the one that saved my life before. Well, technically Sutton restarted my heart so that Erin could heal me, but...what!?" It's as if Bennie's brain took a minute to catch up with what Jay is saying and how Easton is just sort of going along with it. "Nonononono. We aren't cutting up people."

"I'll call Aidan, send him over. I know where to find him, and who knows where this Erin is." Baylee doesn't blink, not even once, when Jay starts to talk about cutting off things. Instead, when Bennie starts to freak out about it she just takes a drag from the cigarette before carefully curling an arm around her, lowering her voice, although not quiet enough for no one else to hear, "Bennie...trust us. You got to trust we all know what we're doing, right? Don't worry."

"Hrm? Figure of speech," Jay tells Bennie. But it's not a figure of speech. He has a whole trunk of used garden tools that have never touched a single plant. "It'll be fine. In the meantime, I suggest your rich boyfriend give you some cash in crumpled bills in case they come around again, so you don't get roughed up anymore."

Jay adds, "But not too much, or they'll start to think you're getting more money than usual. That'll just get them to press harder."

"Please." Easton might not want Aidan attracting attention but he also caves as soon as Bennie starts talking about managing and missing shifts and he realizes how hurt she actually is. He lets Baylee speak in terms of what they are doing. "We are not cutting up people." Here he indicates the whole group. "But Jay and I will tell them nicely to back the fuck off if needed." He glances between Jay and Baylee before outright saying to Bennie, "And you realize you could have snapped their arms when they came for you right? I'm not saying violence is the answer, but it is certainly an option."

"I gotta jet," Jay says, sliding towards the door. "My boss is a real hard-ass and if I'm late for a shift he gets all grumpy, starts stomping around like a tiny Godzilla. I'll see you guys later. Bennie, get better." He points at her, smiles, and ambles off. "Swish swah goes the willow branch," he sing-songs as the door closes behind him. They don't hear the rest of the verse. Better that way.

Bennie is still emphatically shaking her head with a bobble of her bun as people say things like 'trust us' and 'snapping arms' but at least she's polite enough to say, "Bye Jay, thanks." As the man leaves. To the remaining two, she says quietly, "Maybe I should have just stayed in bed, I don't think I have the stomach for this. I fix people, not break them. I might not have taken the Oath like a doctor, but this just goes against...like...everything." She takes a warming drink of her coffee, but finds the bitterness of it immediately hitting acid in her stomach as she steps back into the apartment.

"Later, Jay." Baylee calls, turning her attention to finishing her cigarette before she flicks it over the edge of the balcony. Sorry Byron. Then she turns to head back inside, "Well, I'll have Aidan come fix you, and you can get back to work." And ignore all further dicussions of doing terrible things to people. Once inside she tucks her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, "You here for the rest of the day?"

Easton goes quiet as Bennie talks about not wanting to hurt people. He looks down at his coffee and then back up with a nod, "I get it." He does. To an extent. And that extent stops far before they put a hurting on her like she obviously received. He is glad when Baylee chimes in to talk about Aidan, and he takes the time to start cleaning up from his breakfast and puttering around the kitchen. He wants to let that topic drop if possible.

"Yeah, I should be, although I'm already starting to get restless." For a woman constantly on the move, so much down time is bound to be making Bennie a little itchy to be productive in some capacity. For now, that will just have to be something as simple as adding more sugar to her coffee. She moves to do so when she spies her bag sitting there. "Oh thank god! You thought to bring it. I was feeling naked without my phone." Immediately plopping down next to it, she starts to rummage inside, pulling out her phone and frowning at the cracked screen. "Shit. Magnolia's in the hospital." She comments to at least one of her missed messages, and sets the phone down to start reading others as she fishes into her bag for her meds.

"Yeah, your phone looked craked though. Wasn't sure if that was new or old, so.." There's probably a willingness to replace it, but considering everything else they are forcing on Bennie she doesn't offer. Yet. "I'll let you guys get yourself sorted for the day, and shove an Aidan over...he'll want to fuss."

Taking his coffee to the couch, Easton sits and seems content to do nothing, at least for now. He nods to Baylee and says, "Thanks again. For everything" Including rummaging through his girlfriends stuff without telling her. That's an important bit under the umbrella of everything. He then beckons to Bennie to join him on the couch.

"Thanks Bay." Bennie glances up from her digging and reading to offer the woman a small but genuine smile. "I'll start on your shoe thing..." The blonde has to think about her schedule for a second, "Day after tomorrow? If you're still serious about it refreshing your collection. I know some consignment sites that specialize in designer ware." The beckoning from Easton has her just drawing her bag from one place to another, so she can settle next to him on the couch and curls against him.

"I was." Baylee replies, shooting fingerguns at them boy, which is clearly from hanging out with Jay too much already that day. "I'll be in touch. Call me if you need me." Then she's off to track down who this mysterious person is.

Seated sideways on the couch, his good leg agains the back, so that she can curl up against him, Easton curls around Bennie when she sits. He is sure to to be gentle with her arm and shoulder even though he's wrapped around her. "I hate seeing you hurt babe." He whispers it gently in her ear as he places his head on her non-injured shoulder.

Bennie can't seem to find whatever it is she's looking for in her purse, so with a bit a huff at a wisp of hair, she sets it aside and focuses her attention on the sweetly attentive Easton. She might not readily admit vulnerability or outright ask for help, but she certainly seems to gravitate to the comfort he's providing and seems grateful for it. "It's not so bad." She tries to reassure. "But if that offer still stands in the light of day...I mean, I'm not one hundred percent certain it's a good idea, but I would like to at least stay here for a few days or so while I mentally sort myself out. I'll need to back for a few things though. I mean, if all this is okay with you."

"Stay. Please." Easton may have been hasty in making the offer in the moment, but he's not sorry that he did. He says, "And I meant it. You want me and Bay to pack you up, we're there. Just say the word, and this is our place." He does realize that the trailer is her last connection to at least two dead family members though. He says more gently, "Or if you want to just try it out. We can do that too. See if my gross boy ways make you run for the hills." He's not actually that gross, the apartment is sparse for a reason, to make it easy to keep clean.