2019-08-13 - Cookout Conspiring

By the time Cole arrives, Corey is settled in a booth, a pint of beer in front of him, along with a pad of paper and a pencil. A few things are noted on it in his usual chickenscratch; the ingredients for the cake he's baking. Then under that, 'meat'. He's drawing a blank now however, hence his SOS text to the other guy.

Cole wanders on into the bar. It takes him just a little longer than a few minutes to get there, but get there he does. Wandering over, he slides into the booth across from Corey and folds his arms on the table in front of him. "Shopping list emergency?" he asks with a smile that has a hint of amusement in it.

"Yeah. Making a list of shit to buy for the cookout. I mean, I could do all sorts of fancy dishes, but I'm stumped on the simple stuff," Corey admits after raising his beer towards Cole in a gesture of welcome and gratitude, sipping and then speaking. He sits back, continuing with, "Ideas would be great."

Cole grins and leans forward to read the list upside-down, "What've you got on there already? I can help." He seems easily able to read it upside-down without the need for it to be turned around. "You probably don't need to get that fancy. It's a cookout, not a formal dinner or anything."

"Stuff for the cake, and 'meat'." Corey passes the list and pencil over to Cole, making a gesture with both hands that amounts to, 'here, I'm struggling'. Another sip of beer follows, the chef slouching in his seat.

"Alright," Cole says with a laugh, "Well I will let you figure out stuff for the cake, since only you know what's supposed to be in there, but lets get more specific about what sort of meat. Do you know about how many people are going to be there? I'd suggest burgers, dogs, grilled chicken -- classics. Then, maybe a couple of cold salads like pasta salad and cole slaw. Maybe a green salad too. Some chips?" He glances over at Corey, checking to see if he disagrees or agrees with the items as he rattles them off.

Counting briefly, Corey decides, "Nine, maybe ten. Someone else is handling the grill stuff, but the cold salads are a good idea. Maybe also some raw veggies and breadsticks with dips?" He points to the pad, indicating Cole should write all this down as they go.

Cole takes up the pencil and scribbles the items down with a nod, "Veggies and dip are always good. Plus, if you get raw veggies for the salad, you can throw some peppers, onions, and tomatoes on skewers and grill them up too, with the meat." His handwriting is neat, precise, and easy to read as he jots down the various items.

"Nice, yeah. Good idea," Corey nods, glad that at least one of them has a brain today. His is decidedly MIA. "Bought a kiddie pool from a thrift store for holding ice and drinks," he adds a moment later. "Do we need any desserts other than the cake?"

"Were you still doing the madeleines?" Cole asks as he twirls the pencil between his fingertips, then taps the eraser against his pursed lips. He grins a bit at the kiddie pool for drinks and stuff. "Sounds like that'll work. Do you have ice? Or should I add ice to the list?"

"Obviously," Corey replies with a laugh. "They're the 'silver shells' Ash wants to decorate the cake with." Plus, why would he not be doing madeleines? "Oh, yeah. Good idea. Save us running the fridge icemaker all day. Gonna take quite a bit to fill the pool."

Cole writes down, "Bags of ice," on the list and grins, nodding about the madeleines, "I don't think you need more than that, unless you want some like, ice pops or something if it's hot." He shrugs, "But not really necessary since you're going to already have two other desserts. Keep it simple."

"Mm. Feels like something is missing." Corey can't put his finger on quite what, however, and so he sits back and sips beer until some ideas come to him. "Icecream, maybe? Can keep it in the house 'til people want it. Or.. HAH. JELLO." His free fist pumps in the air. Victory!

Cole writes down "JELLO," at the bottom of the list and laughs a little bit as Corey fist-pumps in victory. "JELLO works. And I'm bringing a couple of bottles of booze and stuff. Looks like a decent selection of stuff here." He nods.

Corey nods slowly. "Perfect. Thanks for brainstorming with me, Cole. Next beer is on me." He takes another sip from his glass, almost 2/3rds done. "So how's shit been with you anyway? All good at the dance studio?"

Cole motions for the server when she comes by and he orders himself a beer, grinning in thanks before turning back toward Corey. "Things with me have been alright, yeah. I've been teaching, and that's been keeping me in rent, which is a good thing." He traces a light pattern on the tabletop with one fingertip as he studies it. "Aside from that.. not too much new going on. I have a new pen pal." He grins a little lopsidedly. "That kid that I helped get out of the Murray House. She writes every so often. It's cute."

"Murray House? Kid? What does she write about?" Corey wonders, unfamiliar with the story. "Glad work and rent and stuff is going good, though. Gray Harbour isn't big-city expensive, but it can be pricey depending. Where abouts do you live in town?"

"Amelia, this little girl disappeared in the old Murray House. The police were ready to give up the search but some folks and I went out and we searched the house, which is creepy as fuck. Didn't find her the first time, but it's definitely haunted. Second time, we found her and were able to get her out," Cole says. He shrugs his shoulders, "She sends me drawings sometimes." He smiles a little bit and says, "Lyric's renting me a room in her trailer. She likes having someone around."

Corey waves away the waitress after she's dropped off Cole's second beer, with a, "No thanks babe." Still working on his first one he muses, "Oh, huh. Well, it's good you got her out, yeah? That's just the stuff of horror movies right there."

"Yeah, was pretty creepy, but glad she's safe," Cole says. "There was a bunch of us there. Lyric and I went out the first time just to, I dunno, see what we could see." He shrugs and then says, "And I took a cooking class. That did not go quite as well as expected." He laughs a little at that memory, shaking his head. "What about you? What else is new?"

"Well, we got some lamps for the house. Rave Jesus, Howard the taxidermy duck lamp," Corey relates, clearly the most interesting things in his recent days. Then his phone chirps and he digs it out, smiling at whatever text is showing and tapping out a quick reply. "Annnd maybe sorting out a nice evening with the chick we bought Howard from."

"Rave Jesus and Howard the Taxidermy Duck..." Cole repeats slowly, and then laughs a little, shaking his head. Then he glances over at the phone and grins, nodding a bit as he takes a sip from his beer. "Nice. Sounds like everything's coming up.. uh.. roses? Bizarre lamps?"

There's a nod from Corey. "Yep. Phil found a 'white messiah' sort of lamp, she's turning it into Rave Jesus. Howard, he doesn't need any dolling up, but she might paint his feet or something," he explains. "Apparently this is now a thing. So if you see any hideous lamps while you're out shopping, make sure you text pictures to one of us, yeah?"

"I can probably do that," Cole laughs, making a mental note. "I don't do a lot of shopping in places with lamps in general, but occasionally there are some for sale at yard sales around the trailer park. There are some truly frightening ones there. I'll send pictures next time I see one."

"Please. Gotta keep this thing going," Corey confirms, grinning somewhat and finishing the last of his beer. A few more texts are tapped out. "You seeing anyone right now?" he wonders, since his mind is on the subject of dates and stuff thanks to his phone.

Cole leans back in his seat and takes another swallow from his beer, "Have you been to Memento Mori? That place probably has some creepy lamps." He hasn't been in it, but it looks like the sort of place that would. The question about whether he's seeing someone gets a shake of his head, "No, not since before I left Boston."

Corey hmms quietly. "..not since I was in highschool, but you might be right," he muses, tapping a fingertip against his cheek for a moment. "Well, if you find some lucky girl or guy before the cookout, feel free to bring 'em along, yeah? Not like we won't have way too much food and drink for nine people to safely consume as it is."

Cole laughs a little bit, "If some hot guy randomly falls into my lap before then, I'll bring him along, but somehow I don't see that happening. I appreciate the fact that I could, though." He takes another swig from his beer, and sets it aside. "But maybe if Lyric is around and bored, I'll see if she wants to come. She's my roommate, and is pretty cool."

"Sure," Corey nods, to both possibilities. Then as his phone chimes again, he grins. "Time for me to head out. Thanks again for your help, Cole," he comments, rising out of his seat and leaving a few bills on the table to cover his drink and Cole's. "See you at the cookout, man."

"Alright, have a good one! Good luck on your evening!" Cole grins and waves, lifting up his beer to take another swig before reaching in and pulling out his wallet, adding a tip to the bills on the table. He remains a bit longer, long enough to finish his beer anyway. "See you at the cookout!"