2019-08-13 - Forest Talks

It was early afternoon and now that the terrible, horrible, god awful song was out of Kelsey's head, she decided to celebrate by taking a trek into the Firefly Forest! To enjoy the peace and quiet and sounds of nature. She was walking along one of the outlined hiking trails. Hair tossed up in a ponytail, wearing a pair of hiking boots, sturdy jeans and a long sleeved white shirt. Her face and throat were still covered in scratches, though they were starting to heal at least.

The woods are far from empty, though. Wildlife aside, there is also a Garrett wandering them. Coming down the trail, heading towards Kelsey, the relative newcomer to the town is also dressed for outdoor adventures in his cargo pants, trail runners, and a long sleeve shirt with 'The Decemberists' splayed across the front. If he has noticed Kelsey, though, he gives no sign, apparently trusting his feet to stay on the path as he looks off to the sides and into the forest.

Some people might be noving about at a leisurely pace, while others are moving a bit faster. Rick has dressed for one exercise, and is moving through the woods at a jog. He looks relatively relaxed as he moves, only focused on the steps right ahead of him.

Kelsey also had ulterior motives for coming to the forest. Constantly on the look out for the strange and odd. The creepy. Maybe stuff to add to her collection. Her attention flits when she notices someone out of the corner of her eye. Then settles fully on to Garrett. A new person. At least new to her. "They're not half bad." She comments idly, nodding to his shirt. Then, hearing MORE footsteps, but from behind this time, she looks over her shoulder - eyes settling on Rick. She recognizes him from Two if by Sea. Lifting a hand in a brief wave to the man.

The voice snaps Garrett out of his thoughts, immediately looking up at Kelsey. He blinks a couple times, gives his head a quick shake then offers a smile as he glances down towards his shirt. "Yeah, I dig 'em. Clearly." Only then does he notice another person approaching and offers a little wave to the second stranger in as many moments, moving to the side of the trail to let him pass if he so chooses.

Rick almost doesn't see the people as he approaches. But Kelsey's wave makes him notice, and he comes to a stop, taking a few moments to get his breath under control. "Oh, hello," he offers to both of them, as he reaches for the water bottle he brought with him. "Nice day for a trip in the woods, right?"

"More of a Journey, Boston, GNR type girl myself. But every now and then something surprises me." Kelsey mused, pushing a few loose strands from her eyers. "'Sup." An upnod to Rick. "Yeah. It's great, good weather and all." And no children's songs. "I didn't catch your name the other night. I'm Kelsey." She offers to Rick, but also to Garrett. "And I haven't seen you before. You new in town?"

"Oh, definitely can get behind classics. I'm more Floyd and Zeppelin, but nothing wrong with the rest." Garrett's London accent creeps out as he relaxes and talks music, turning his gaze to Rick. "Yeah, not bad at all," he agrees, nodding. "New, yeah. Month or so. I'm Garrett," he adds, offering Kelsey and Rick each a handshake.

Rick smiles, "Quite a bit of good music out there," he offers, before he pauses for a few moments. "Rick," he introduces himself. Shaking offered hands, he smiles momentarily. "It's a pleasure to meet both of you. And I can't say I have been long in town either. Less than a year, anyway." It's offered a bit lightly.

"Year and a half for me." Kelsey nodded. She eyed Garrett a beat long. "Is England that bad that you all are migrating here?" But the quirk of her lips betrays that she's joking. "You're the second british person I've met in less than a week." Sliding her hands into her pockets and looking between them. "What the hell made you guys thinks this was a good place to live?"

"Nice to meet you both, too," Garrett replies, but then gives his head a tilt. "That so?" He gives a glance around, then shrugs. "Can't speak for the other one, but I moved here for work. By way of Minneapolis, mind. Not direct from home," he clarifies.

Rick shrugs momentarily as he hears what's said. "What made us think it was a good place to live? No idea, really. You got to live somewhere, I guess," he replies, before he shrugs a bit.

"Yeah but there's better-" Safer "Places than here." Kelsey rubbed the back of her neck a moment and shrugged. "But I suppose I can't talk too much. This place sorta sucks you in. Once you're here...it's hard to leave." She shrugs, looking around again. "But I hope you guys end up liking it well enough."

"It's not so bad so far. I'm still adjusting, got that new town weird feeling still, but people seem alright so far," Garrett observes. "And I got a year lease, so you're all stuck with me at least that long," he adds with a small laugh.

"It's not a bad place, though. Except for stuff happening, I mean." Not to mention getting shot, but that's not fun anywhere. "Seen lots of places around the country, after all." Rick shakes his head again, before he looks to Garrett. "What kind of work is it that brought you here?"

Kelsey winces just a little when they say this place isn't bad. Poor souls. They'll learn soon enough. Instead of pressing the point, she'll switch to other focuses. "Where ya stayin at?" When Garrett mentions a lease and then nods along with Rick's question about what brougt him out here.

Garrett jabs a thumb over his shoulder towards Elm Street. "Some house that was for rent on Elm Street. Guy was practically giving it away, so..." He trails off with an unenthusiastic shrug before he points vaguely northwards. "Working up at Olympic National Park. Definitely worth moving across the country for."

Tyler is out jogging, and the nice thing about the woods, you don't have to jog around people like you do on the boardwalk. He's shirtless, wearing only a pair of running shorts and his sneakers. The sweat glistens off his muscles as he runs along the trail, his hair damp from the exertion as well. As he comes upon the others, he nods a little, but then slows his jog, giving his attention to Rick. "Hey, you're a cop, right?" he asks, with a friendly tone. "I think I've seen you at work." Tyler is a fire fighter, so it's quite probable they've passed one another at an accident scene.

Looking like he's about to make a comment, Rick shrugs a bit to himself. There's a pause as he looks over towards Tyler, nodding at his words, "That's right," he replies, offering the man a nod and a smile. "You're one of the firefighters, right?" Looking back to Kelsey and Garrett, he offers them both a grin. "Well, like you said, this place sucks you in. For some reason, once I came here, it seemed like the good place to stay," he offers.

The blonde's expression states clearly she doesn't think anything is worth moving here too by choice. However, Kelsey puts on a touch of a smile again. "No shit," When Garrett says he's renting on Elm. She holds out a fist to him for a fist bump. "Welcome to the neighborhood. I'm at number 7." Closer to the trailer park. Then she is looking over at Tyler when he comes into view, head tilting a touch and she may or may not shamelessly give him a once over. Hey, if he's gonna run around without a shirt, why not appreciate it? "'Sup?" She asks the newcomer and then nods to Rick with a wry smile. "I dunno if I'd call it good but it's an intriguing place. To say the least."

"I've had no issues with the place aside from usual new town stuff, so I'm with you, mate. Not so bad a place to live so far," Garrett says, agreeing with Rick before returning Kelsey's fist bump. "And here I thought the first time I'd meet someone from my new neighborhood would be there, not the middle of the woods," he says with a laugh. Newly arrived Tyler gets a polite nid/smile/wave combo of a greeting, but that's it for now.

Tyler offers Rick a smile, "Yeah! I'm uh... I'm Tyler. Tyler Wellington." He starts to extend his hand, then looks at it, realizing it's gross and sweaty, and he shrugs, withdrawing it and wiping it on his shorts. "Sorry." He looks at them all then and asks, "What are you all doing out here? I don't usually run into people out here."

"Rick. Carlson." It's a brief pause, before Rick grins at Kelsey's words. "Perhaps it was the demons in my mind or something that brought me here?" It's offered a bit lightly, before he shrugs at Tyler's question. "Originally, I had the same idea as you. Spent some time with light duties, so I thought I'd make sure I was still in shape."

Kelsey says, "Kelsey." Is offered to Tyler, even though he was mostly introducing himself to Rick. She slips her hands in her pockets again and chuckled to Garrett. "Nothing ever goes how ya think it will." With a shrug. "Was enjoying some quiet time. Been a...weird couple days for me." She offerred vaguely. "There's a lot to see around the forest if you know where to look and all.""

"Garrett." The name is offered to Tyler with another small wave before he looks back to Kelsey. "Good weird or bad weird?" he asks, head tilted slightly to the side. The mention of things to see seems to get him more than a little interested. "That so? I'm waiting to know the trails better before I head off them and see what sort of things there are worth seeing, but might be not so bad if I can get a friendly neighbor to show me the good spots...?" He trails off, offering Kelsey his best smile.

Tyler smiles at Kelsey, "Hi Kelsey." Then to Garrett, "Garrett." He absently scratches his stomach, "You're all talking about why you moved here? Weird is normal here. Believe me, I grew up here. Most people like you come here because of the thin curtain. I know, because it's why I never left."

Rick :nods a little as he listens. He sips his water, shrugging a little as he listens.

Kelsey gives Tyler a sort of look that says he should tread lightly with that sort of talk. "'Course I can show ya around." Kelsey adds to Garrett. An idle motion to the healing scratches on her face and throat. "Bad sorta weird but it's all good now." She shrugs. "I moved here on a recommendation cause I had some issues where I'm from. But, I'm working on settling in. I'd rather live somewhere terrible but interesting than perfectly peaceful and boring. Call me a glutton for punishment or somethin."

Garrett gives Tyler a blank stare, a very 'what the hell are you taking about?' expression, blinking a few times. "Right. The thin curtain. Of course," he says, nodding slowly. He doesn't seem to catch the look Kelsey gives him, but he does notice the scratches. "Bloody hell. Hope they weren't much worse than that originally," he comments with small frown.

Tyler just shrugs a bit at Kelsey when she gives him that look. "What?" he asks, dumbly. "Well, it's not terrible here. Just a lot of weird." He runs his hand through his damp hair, and shrugs once more. "How'd you get scratched up?" he asks Kelsey.

Frowning as the talk goes to those scratches, Rick looks to Kelsey. "What happened?" he asks, after a few moments of pause.

Kelsey looks at all the men, silently cursing because she totally didn't have a good story. "Well, at the risk of sounding like I'm crazy. I did it to myself." She reluctantly admits. "If I told you the whole story, maybe one of you would believe me." A glance to Tyler. "But suffice it to say, it sucked, it was terrible, and I hope it never happens again." She pushes a hand through her hair again.

Garrett blinks a few times, looking at Kelsey's face, then the scratches, then back to her face. "Well I definitely believe it sucked," he offers lamely.

Tyler seems a little confused by this entire conversation. Maybe it's the dumb jock in him. So, he just kind of nods. "Yeah. That sucks," he offers to Kelsey, and then just kind of lingers there.

"Ah..." Rick replies, before he lets out a bit of a breath. "I don't think it makes you sound crazy," he offers. "People do different things in stressful situations, after all. I'm sure we've all did things we shouldn't have done in similar situations."

"Yeah, something like that." Kelsey nods. "Anyway." Shrugging. "I should start heading back home. Got some work to finish. Nice meeting you all." Looking to Garrett. "I'm usually home, so just give a knock or two whenever you want to see the good spots around here." She offered, lifting her hand in a wave and then turned so she could start heading back the way she came!

"Yeah, I should actually probably head home, too. Nice meeting everyone. Totally wasn't weird at all," Garrett says with a little grin. "See you blokes around, I'm sure." And with that, he gives a wave, letting Kelsey get enough of a head start for it to not seem like he's following her before heading homewards himself.

Tyler nods, "Cool. See you around." And he jogs off.