2019-08-18 - The Competitors

A warm Thursday evening in the woods and Park is perched on a rocky outcrop looking at the town below. Street lights slowly flickering into life. The occasional sound of angry car horns drifting over the landscape as people try to rush home from work. The Asian girl is dressed in sneakers, tights, short skirt, sweatshirt, a pair of headphones on that look like Pikachu ears. The headphones plugged into a laptop and musical keyboard perched on her lap. She's not playing though. Just staring out at the world.

"One last tiiiime... relax have a drink with me one last tiiiiiiiime....." Singing can be heard long before footsteps can be, let alone the source be spotted. But eventually, Garrett appears on the overlook. He is presumably just off work, judging by the name tag embroidered into the tan button down shirt he wears with khakis and trail runners. "Oh. Uh, hi. Sorry." He offers a vaguely apologetic smile and wave, pausing uncertainly, glancing back over his shoulder towards the tail.

Even with the headphones on, Park knows great singing when she hears it. Removing the ears to hear it better, an easy smile forms as she enjoys his dulect tones. It's only his apology that wakes her from her reverie. "You don't have to apologise" she giggles. "That was lovely. You are a great singer." Noticing his uniform, it is now her turn to apologise. "Oh, am I in the wrong place? Should I not be sitting here?" She glances around for any 'Keep off the rocks' signs, already starting to pack up.

"Oh, thank you," Garrett says with a smile before he cocks his head to the side, confused for moment, at least until he glances down at his shirt. "Oh, no, I don't work here, no worries," he assures Park, London accent creeping into his voice as he relaxes a bit. "Yeah, no, I work up at Olympic, I'm just here to unwind after work," he explains. "Not interrupting anything, I hope?" he asks, nodding at the laptop.

"Ah, okay" Park nods with a smile to his explanation, calming down a little. "No, not interrupting anything" she sighs as she resumes her seat. "I was just thinking about things and this seemed to be a nice place to do it. So peaceful and beautiful. Though I should probably look at the woods not the town" she adds with another giggle. "I like you accent" she adds. Though she has Korean parents, she is American born and any accent she has is local. "I am sorry, I am Mee. Mee Park. Or Park Mee." A roll of her eyes. "There was some teasing about my name when I was younger. Like last week."

"Charmed, Park." Garrett offers another wide smile, moving to lean against a tree. "Does seem like a nice spot to relax and think. Didn't realize it was up here, just sort of wandered." He takes a moment to appreciate the view over the town before giving Park a curious look. "Why do you need to watch the woods? Close enough to town that you're not likely to have any wildlife sneaking up on you."

"Garrett" Park deduces with a point at his name tag. "Oh, I just meant that the woods is prettier than the town to look at. There are probably bears in there though, yes? The animals around here don't seem to care about people. Do you sing in a band? You really should. Or even just sing without a band." A nod of her head towards the keyboard attached to her laptop. "I play a bit. I thought I was going to be in a band but they ended up not liking me. I probably shouldn't have been surprised at that" she laughs hollowly. "Just trying to think what to do next." A roll of her eyes before she looks at Garrett. "That really was too much information. Sorry, you don't need to hear about my problems."

"What? Oh, right, yeah, Garrett," he confirms, again slightly apologetic. Another peek at the town. "I dunno, from up here it's not a bad looking town," he argues with a small shrug, but clearly not overly serious. "Wouldn't worry too much about bears. Pretty much only black bears and they're afraid of everything. You know small dogs that think they're big and mean? Black bears are the exact opposite," he assures. "What sort of music do you play?" he asks, curious.

"No, it is not a bad looking town" Park agrees, lower lip pushed out as she studies it. "The insides of the town..." A shrug before she smiles once more. "Those bears sound so cute. I will hug one next time I see one. I play all kinds of music. Keyboards and bass guitar usually. I was going to play bass guitar for that band but it was not to be. They went with someone more experienced. Which is fine but how can I get experience if I never play? It was a dream of mine" she sighs, "But my dreams are no more important than anyone else's. Whoever they picked had a dream too." She picks up her Pikachu headphones and offers them over. "Do you want to hear some of my music?"

"....I may have over-stated the friendliness of black bears," Garrett admits. "As a park ranger, I am obligated to tell you not to hug any of the wildlife, but definitely not any of the wildlife with carnivore or omnivore teeth," he clarifies. You know, everyone keeps talking about trouble with whatever in the town, but I dunno; I've had no real issues with the town." He shrugs. "You play bass? Cool, me too!" He pauses in his enthusiasm. "...you, uh... you didn't try out for a band with a girl named Sparrow, did you?"

"Awww...I can't even hug the cute bears?" Another pout from Park before she starts giggling again. "It's okay, I don't think I would hug bears. How long have you been in town? There have been explosions everywhere recently. And the serial killer as well. Bar fights. It's all go down there." A pause. "And that's just the 'normal' stuff." She puts her headphones down again while smiling at his revelation about bass playing. "Awesome! You should have tried out with..." Her enthusiam also flags. "...Sparrow." How many bass guitarists can there be in this town? "Oh...they picked you?"

"Right around fourth of July, so... almost two months, now," Garrett responds, then another shrug. "Guess I've been out in the woods and stuff too much to realize what was going on down there," he says softly, giving the town below a more scrutinizing look. And then his frown gets deeper, laced with guilt. "I... um, yeah..." he mumbles, looking mostly at the ground.

Park tries to maintain a smile but there is pain in her eyes. "Congratulations, I am sure you are an excellent musician. Sparrow texted you had more experience so that is good." Yes, Park received the news via text rather than in person. At least it wasn't via Facebook. "It is your dream to play in a band, so it is good that you are. And you can sing amazing. I can alway be a dentist instead."

Garrett scuffs at the ground with his toe, still frowning, before clearing his throat. "Right. I, uh... sorry?" He's clearly at a loss for words and lapses back into a few moments of silence. "Can I still hear what kind of music you play?" he asks, a hint of enthusiasm creeping back into his voice as he glances towards the laptop and headphones, taking a half step forward with a small smile.

"You don't have to apologise...but it is nice of you. Thank you. The band will be awesome. I know it." Park tries to summon some joy again, which is helped by Garrett's interest in her music. Even if he is being polite. "Of course you can." She offers the Pikachu headphones to him again. "You played in bands before? Whereabouts?" Once he has the headphones on, she is all poised to hit play on one of her tracks.

Garrett closes the distance between him and Park, offering a wider smile when the headphones are offered, slipping them into place. "Mostly out in the Minneapolis area," he answers. "I'd say garage bands, but basement band would be closer to the mark," he answers. "Hit play whenev-- one sec." He slips the headphones free to slip a buzzing phone free of his pocket. "Garrett. Yeah. Yeah. Oh no. Yeah, I guess I can, give me an hour or so. Yeah, no worries." He sighs as he shoves the phone back into his pocket. "Bloody hell. Apparently not. One sec..." He checks his pockets until he produces a very official-looking business card courtesy of Olympic National Park. "There. You wanna hang out and talk music or something some time, text me, yeah?" He flashes a wide smile before sighing and turning towards the woods, jogging off to handle whatever the phone call was about.