2019-08-01 - Mud

Marius has a day off from work at the construction site, which means he's... digging in the back yard, cutting squares of turf and setting them aside. There's a collection of river-rocks (who knows how he got them here on his motorcycle) nearby, as well as other necessities for making a fire-pit. Given that the morning is warm and even as muggy as it gets here on the coast, his t-shirt is hanging over the rail of the back deck, leaving him in jeans, work-boots, and work-gloves as he digs and digs.

Someone went out to the club the night before, but still has to wake up early for things like lunch shifts for dumb tourists. Which means that despite the fact it is before noon there is still and Ash moving around. She's gotten herself coffee, and apple, and wandered outside to oogle, whistling at Marius, "So sexy."

You know. Astrid is actually being helpful right now. She is taking those squares of turf that Marius is cutting free and delicately moving them to other parts of the backyard. She's doing yard work in a bikini top and shorts because she's confident in her ability to be adorable and helpful. She has her purple-lens aviator glasses on and her hair up in a high ponytail. When Ash ogles, she flashes a grin over her shoulder. "Thanks, sexy. You're hot, too." Then she's dropping the turf in a pile. To be used. Somewhere else.

Runa prefers indoor work over outdoor, so she's been on laundry duty. Stuff is folded like nobody's business inside. "Remind me to get more dryer sheets on the store run later," she calls out the window. Odds are not good that she'll remember. She rolls out the back door a few minutes later, casual in a light gray hoodie to help protect her from the sun.

Marius looks up over his shoulder as he hefts up another shovel-full of earth and looks over his shoulder at Ash. Slowly turning his head to Astrid, he lifts his brows, "Uh. I'm pretty sure she's talking about me, Ast. One of us is sweaty and awesome." Okay, maybe they both are. Immediately after Runa's question, he calls back, "Get more dryer sheets on the store run later!" Of course he's helpful like every older brother is helpful. As the first cloud scuds across the sun overhead, he frowns upward, then shakes his head, "Look, one of us is out here topless. The other one just has a sexy bikini on."

Meanwhile, Jens.

Fucking Jens.

Above the yard, a head sticks out, and he looks down at the assembled. "You guys think if I jump out with my umbrella open I can Mary Poppins down the side of the house?"

"Look...everyone is pretty. Just not as pretty as me." Ash points out as she takes a bite from her apple, glancing towards Runa in her hoodie, moving to give the poor lobster to be a hug. "It'll be winter again soon." She is try to be reassuring at least. When Jens asks his question she calls back, "'m not taking you to the ER."

"Uh, pretty sure she's talking about me," Astrid quips back before she moves toward where Marius is digging. She crosses her arms as she cocks out her hip, looking at him with a narrowed look. "You know, just because you're threatened by my grace and beauty." Then she is striding toward Runa and Ash, leaving Marius to do all the hard labor. Spotting Jens, she waves her hands in a stalling gesture. "Hey! No jumping! I haven't tried mending bones in a long time." She then points at Jens. "Bring vodka when you come down! And that watermelon!" Then she's bouncing back up to Runa and Ash.

"I am going to go unfold all your shit," Runa eyes Marius. As Jens threatens to yeet himself off the house, she groans and just buries her face in Ash's shoulder for a moment during their hug. "Maybe I should just flee to Canada."

"I think you should try it," Marius informs Jens. "Because you're Mary Poppins, y'all." Of course he's going to go for the Guardians reference, not the actual Mary Poppins one. Sadly, both Ash and Astrid are giving better advice, and he slams the shovel into the ground and then throws up both hands, "What the hell? Come on, people. We're trying to get Jens in a cast, right?" They're not. Brushing his forearm against his brow and smearing dust across it, he looks at Astrid in askance, "I'm... threatened.. by... your... grace... and... beauty...?" Shaking his head, he chuckles over at Runa, "But I like my undies with a crease in them, Roo."

It's a bit after Astrid yells for vodka that a stuffed pink unicorn about the size of a chihuahua comes flying out the window and lands in the middle of the yard. It is ... a little... bulky. Because it's made to smuggle things in it. Basically he has a smuggling unicorn and he just shoved a vodka bottle up its ass, get on his level.

A rope ladder comes down the side of the house. Shit.

"If you get him in a cast then that means you have to feed him and baby him. And that's your thing." Ash points out, reaching out an arm to include Astrid in the hug circle, her apple being used to pat-pat Runa on the head, "So you weren't there the other day, but we're totally having a party soon. Karaoke, for you musical birdies." She is not talking about three people here, no one is shocked.

"The hot guy and I are making a cake. Actually, he's making it, I'm decorating it." Which reminds Ash and she tilts her head, looking at the unicorn, then up to the window, "JENS!"

"Just throw all his clothes into the firepit, Runa," Astrid says as she joins the other women. She's pleasantly sweaty and dirt smeared, and she rests back onto her hands as she sits on the lounger. She kicks up her feet casually before she glances up to see the rope ladder unfold. Then she blinks at the unicorn. "SPARKLE BUTT!" Then she's scrambling back off the seat to go save the unicorn. She picks it up, and then-- "This isn't Sparkle Butt." She turns the smuggler unicorn over and finds the bottle of vodka. "Yeah, okay. But where are you going to put the watermelon?"

"I am not taking care of Jens when he breaks," Runa frowns and puts her foot down on that one. It's a matter of when, not if, from her tone of voice. The unicorn is eyed and she snorts before looking at Ash. "I love karaoke. Hot guy already? That was fast," she smirks in approval. "I guess I gotta go dig one up elsewhere." Her eyebrows wiggle at Astrid. "I loooove the way you think." Then she stretches out somewhere in the shade and scrolls through something on her phone.

"Nooooope," Marius claims to Ash, "He's my baby brother, I don't have to baby him." His eyes widen, and he looks up, "Nooooo!" Leaving the shovel stuck in the ground, he goes diving for the falling unicorn. He comes up short, so Astrid gets there first, "Vodka Butt!" Pushing himself up, he grins, "Oh good, he's not hurt." Looking from Astrid to Runa, he shakes his head, pointing a finger at the one who isn't his sister, "You just want me to have to run around naked." He points between Astrid and Ash then, "It's a plot. Wait, hot guy? Which one is the hot one? The cook?"

"What hot guy?" Jens is on the ladder now, bulky backpack on his back as he descends. For a moment, it really seems like the ladder is gonna give--it's a cheap plastic one--but the closer he gets to the ground, the safer he is, and then... thud! He lands. "Nailed it." He's in shorts, sneakers, and a hoodie with no shirt underneath. He swings his backpack off and hands it to Astrid. It weighs like a watermelon.

"There's two guys that live there, or you could make out with the sister. She's cute." Ash waves a hand in the direction of the house, "Hot guy is not the point. But, yes, the cook." Which is the important part because she moves towards Jens to grab his shoulders, which is hard with an apple in her hand, so she tries to instead shove it into his mouth. "Hold that." Wait. "I'm not plotting to throw yours clothes into the fire pit, Marius. I'll just drill a hole in the wall to your room and peek in that way."

Astrid tucks the unicorn under her arm before she is handed the backpack with the watermelon. She squeaks slightly at the weight, and then she squints at Jens. "You went downstairs, got the vodka and the watermelon and then came back upstairs to throw them out the window?" Beat. "Okay, that's some serious dedication." Then she is turning back toward the outside table and she picks up a BBQ knife, and she begins to cut the watermelon in half, and then quarters. She drags some of those outdoor-safe glasses, dumping watermelon into each glass. "The hot cake guy is Corey, right?"

"Yeah you do because I already called not it," Runa tells Marius with a tap of her finger to her nose and a glance up from her screen. "I'm definitely past my experimentation phase, especially with Sparrow. She's basically my sister," a hand waves. "I know Corey." She leaves it at that, flicking her sunglasses down from on top of her head to perch on her nose. "A lot of effort for strange gains," she grins and shrugs a shoulder at Astrid.

Despite the ragging, Marius looks up to make sure that Jens makes it down safely. He narrows his eyes at Ash, then shakes his head, looking back to Jens, "Remind me to check my room for holes in the walls." He comes over to collect a glass from Astrid, nodding at her question, then gesturing to Runa when she -- augh! He just got booped. He jerks back and blinks, wrinkling up his nose, "Woah!" Now he's sweaty, dusty, and a little streaked, so it's probably a good thing that there's the splash of a heavy drop of rain right on his face. "Augh!"

"I wanted to test the weight the ladder could hold," Jens tells Astrid with a shrug, just before Ash stuffs an apple into his mouth. He doesn't care that it's hers. He just shrugs and plops down on the floor next to Runa's lawn chair, biting into the apple and chewing. "Sparrow that chick you play with right?"

"Guys..." Ash doesn't even seem to notice she's actually lost the apple, "It's not about that." She waves her hands in the air, shaking her head, "We're going to have a peanut butter chocolate caramel cake..." She is really into this cake idea, guys. But then she glances upwards at the sky, squinting a moment, "I figured we can go shopping for things to grill before the party, though. Raise your hand if you're into that." She lifts both her hands up, glancing around, between Marius and Jens, then back to Runa and Astrid, "We can't let either of them have the fire, though. So one of us is going to have to be the responsible one."

"That cake does sound amazing." Then the droplet catches the edge of one of her glasses, and she gasps. "Oh no!" She is stacking the glasses, now all full of watermelon, but not yet full of vodka, on a tray so she can carry them under the shelter of the patio umbrella. Then she's talking as she goes back to making the watermelon and vodka cocktails. "Alright! The cake sounds great!" Then she looks back toward Runa and Ash. "I'll handle the fire, but I think our firepit is about to become mud."

"Eww," says Runa, on the thought of holes in the walls. "Pervs." Not that there isn't enough half-naked running around anyway. "Yeah, Sparrow, band," she confirms with a brisk nod, tugging her sleeves down past her wrists so she can clutch the edges in her palms. "They're probably gonna have the fire whether you want them to or not, but you can try." Wincing, she nods and slides to her feet to help Astrid. "Afraid so. Gross."

Marius raises both hands at Ash's question, "Uh... yeah." And there's more rain, spattering over his head and face before he wipes off a hand and snags up his watermelon slice, chomping into it before it's even been vodka'ed, "Wait. Who can't let who have the fire?" He nods to Runa then, "And yes, they're both pervs." Presumably Ashtrid. Back to Ash, "Now why can't Jens and I," he's made an assumption, "have the fire?" As the rain continues to fall, he stands just outside the shelter of the umbrella, holding his cup out of the rain, "What's wrong with a mud-pit? I mean, seriously."

Jens doesn't move when it starts to really start pouring. He just eats the apple with a ravenous sort of zeal, and then his brother is asking 'what's wrong with a mud-pit'. Jens looks up, and then scrambles to his feet, bee-lining for Marius to snag him by the legs and try to dunk him on the muddy floor. "MUD FIGHT." This isn't rare, it's just probably not something they've done in front of Astrid and Ash.

"So Marius and I will go to the store and fondle some meat." Ash moves away from the splash zone, and around behind Astrid, "I'll make sure there are vegetables, too." She throws her arms around Astrid's shoulders, tucking her chin down on her shoulder, "You don't like mud, Runa?"

With Runa's help, the watermelon-vodka drinks are prepped and she hands one to Runa first with a wink before she hands another to Ash. Then she takes a third, and that one is for herself. She takes a sip before she glances out toward Jens and Marius as they stand out in the bare rain. "Sorry, Runa. I gotta stare at your brothers for a few minutes." She does that, sipping at her drink casually. "Yes. Please engage in a mud fight." She leans back against Ash slightly. "Do we put money on this? I think Jens could take Marius down easily."

"Because I've been thrown into it enough times to last me forever," Runa tells Ash with a frown. There's a wary look as her brothers rush off to wrestle around in the mud. "Ugh, I'm out," she makes gagging noises while heading back inside, but she brings her drink with her.

Marius wasn't really expecting the cowardly attack -- okay, he pretty much was. That's why he's able to toss the cup lightly, underhand to Runa as he's tackled away from the umbrella and toward the rapidly-forming mudpit. He gives a 'whuff' of expelled air as he's taken to the ground and covered in mud, and once he can get a breath, he adds a roar of "Betrayal!" Rolling in the mud with all appearance of enjoyment, he scrambles to his knees and looks to try and grab one of Jens's arms and give his brother a hip-toss. "I don't know why you came after me!" He totally knows, "I would've joined in anyhow." Everything takes a little more straining and slipping in the mud, even something as relatively simple as trying to hip-toss someone. "Should've gone for one of the girls." Who would have them killed him for getting them muddy, of course. This is probably also why Runa is headed back into the house. Because she knows how this goes.

"How is this even betrayal?!" Jens gets tossed off and he splashes in the mud, dragging off his hoodie and--pausing, so Runa can walk past him--and then sprint-sliding at Marius again, dropping to the ground to try to sweep his brother's legs out from under him. "You started it last time!" And so it goes. He tries to get Marius back on the ground, hands yanking at his brother's ankles. Jens fights dirty, even when it's mud fighting. Well, especially when it's mud fighting!~

"I bet he can, but that's just because he'll bite." Ash points out, swaying from side to side and making Astrid do it as well, then she lifts her drink up to fish watermelon out of it. When Runa says that she's out there is a bit of a blink in her direction, but she doesn't pry, instead she looks back towards the fighting happening. The piece of watermelon happily consumed she turns her head to start trying to gnaw on Astrid's face, and still watch. It's a weird look, but she goes with it.

When Runa ducks out, Astrid calls after her, "But we need you!" Then the redhead is inside, leaving the two other women to watch. "They come after us, I'm so going to run inside," she warns Ash. Oh, look, she's also being eaten. She doesn't seem to mind, turning into it lovingly. But then she's back to watching the boys get themselves lathered in mud. "We're hosing them off before they come inside. Agreed?"

Marius finds himself face down in the mud again, thanks to Jens's dastardly slide-tackle. His arms windmill, and then he goes splashing down with another, "AUGH!" He pops back up, starting to circle Jens, "It's a betrayal because now they've been warned, and they're going to run away if we go after them now." He slides forward on one knee, looking to grab his brother's leg in turn and yank to spill Jens into the actual mud-pit rather than just the muddy ground. "Ash! Why are you trying to eat Ast's face?" Apparently, he noticed that. It's kind of hard to miss.

"She's trying to what?" Jens turns to take a look at Ash eating Astrid's face and it's just enough to distract him for Marius to grab his legs and flip him right onto the mud. THUD. It's loud and it splashes brown sludge everywhere and it ends with Jens cackles on his back.

"That's why!" Ash calls back to Marius' question. It is probably not why she was trying to eat Astrid's face, but now she can take credit for it. She gives her a quick kiss on the cheek, setting the glass down. "You can hose us off. I'm probably going to get my ass kicked...buuuut..." She starts towards her muddy doom like a little lamb to the slaughter.

When Jens goes down, Marius thrusts both fists into the air, bellowing, "Berzerker!" He bounces around in a tight circle, waving his arms like a Tusken Raider. And then there's Ash coming to join in, and Marius is completely blindsided and easy meat. "Augh!" Again. "Astrid, save me!" It's hard to call out through the laughter. Looks like a dirty time at 9 Oak Street today.