2019-09-01 - Backyard Shenanigans

It's mid morning, the sun is up and big fluffy clouds are gathering in the sky. Thunderstorms are coming later. For right now though, the weather is sweet and perfect and there are two kiddy pools in the backyard of 21 Elm Street. Why? Because these people probably can't afford regular sized deep pools like those people on Oak or in Bayside.

Zoiya is flopped in one of the kiddy pools, wearing a black string bikini, a pair of sunglasses, and a big floppy hat with kittens roly poly'ing on the rim. She has a beer in hand and the hose, using the latter to fill the second pool and occasionally splash herself.

One little known fact is that there's a small single window in the basement that is partially bordered by overgrown grass. It's not at a height that's easy to see out, but that doesn't mean Blake can't catch a glimpse of something odd in the backyard on his way up to grab some cereal.

A few minutes later, he appears on the back porch, balancing his bowl in his lap with his bad arm while he tries to shovel some cereal in with his non-dominant hand. He's getting pretty good at it by now, but every once in awhile, like right now, as he watches Mae, his hand twitches and food flies off at his face, then rolls down his bare chest to his jeans. He flicks it off nonchalantly. The ants will love it.

Not long after the second pool started to fill up with water did a car appear out front. That car was carrying a shirtless Dominic who arrives already prepared for the weather and the pools. He's not a monster, he brought a shirt. He's just not wearing it right now. He climbs out of his car and slings his t shirt over his shoulder and carries in a case of beer. Beer in the fridge (less one can for himself and two more for anyone else who may want one), he tosses his shirt somewhere inside the master bedroom and then heads outside. Wearing only board shorts, sunglasses, and flip flops, he walks out into the yard, "Hey hey." He pats Blake on the shoulder in passing and considers offering the man a beer but the sight of cereal stops that. He holds one up as he passes, "Plenty of these in the fridge if you get thirsty later, dude." Stepping over towards the pools, he smiles at Zoiya, "Hey there."

The back door of the other side of the duplex crashes open, slamming against the wall when it drives forward on its hinges. A heavy looking box appears through it first, followed by Poe carrying the box. The man is shirtless, his skin and hair damp with sweat, wearing nothing but a pair of loose exercise shorts. He takes a few steps and drops the heavy box to the ground with a clatter of of what s sounds like things almost certainly breaking inside. "What a fucking mess." He says, scowling down at it.

It's only then that he really notices the party forming in the back yard, looking over to the woman in the pool and the two men. "Shit. Isn't there something in the rental agreement that says I get an explicit invitation to any party going on here?" He eyes the pools. "We might need more pools or vertical stacking." He cuts a glance toward Blake, since he's pretty sure Mae would be stacking with Dom.

Mae doesn't miss a beat, turning the hose to sprinkle Poe with water, not looking away from Dominic as she greets him. "Hey. Thanks for bringing beer." She lazily glances toward Poe then and gives him another water sprinkling. "I mean, we're out here, we're not quiet. That in itself is an invitation." She considers aiming the water spray at Blake, but he has food, so he is spared for now. She wraps her elastic hair band around the handle of the sprayer on the hose and tosses it into the second pool so it can fill. She sits up, splashing around in her own pool. "I didn't buy any floatie toys, I didn't think any of us would drown, you know?"

Blake can hear Dominic coming, but he doesn't seem prepared for the touch to his shoulder. He startles a little and flinches. "Thanks," he says in his more muted way. If Poe's getting anything that involves Blake, Blake isn't getting it. He just dully keeps munching on his cereal, watching the others, and then looks over Poe. "What?" He looks down at his chest, half expecting there to be a big splotch of bran that he never noticed or something.

Stepping up beside the pool Mae's currently flopping around in, Dominic kneels down and puts two unopened cans of beer down and cracks one open for himself. "Don't mention it," he says in response to her gratitude. Rising to his feet, he kicks off his flip flops and glances over at the sound of the crashing to see Poe. "Sup man," offers and then steps into the pool with Mae, sinking down against the edge and lying back so his torso and head are submerged for a second, his arm held straight up so his beer doesn't fill with pool water. Pushing himself back up, he rests his back against the pool wall and looks from Mae to the expansive pool, "I'm not sure. I can probably find a way to drown in here."

Poe lets out a squeal that doesn't entirely match his appearance when the fresh cold water from the hose splashes over him - not that it doesn't feel good after a moment and the second blast is actually pretty damn welcome. He forgets about his box and crosses the space over to the pool containing Mae and Dom, reaching down to snag one of the unopened cans that Dom had stashed. "I'll run inside and grab some more shortly." He promises, moving to the other pool and stepping into the ankle deep water, taking up the hose and aiming it over his head so the runs over his body before falling down to fill the pool. "Shit. That's alright." He narrows his gaze back toward Blake. "You were alright last night, man? You got up and left in a rush. Greg and I were a bit worried you were going to get your head knocked in a bit."

Mae quirks both eyebrows at that squeal, head tilting as she considers grabbing the hose to spray him again. She doesn't, she scoots and moves, coming to a rest on Dominic. "We're gonna have to share this small space, so you just keep your hands to yourself, kind of, and give me a drink of your beer." She accidently whaps him in the face with the brim of her hat as she leans over to grab the beer. "Oooh, what do you guys think about dragging that old barbeque grill up from the basement and cooking out later?" She leans back, hitting Dom once again with the brim of her hat. "I can run to Safeway and get some steak and burgers and shit, we can pretend to celebrate something. Belated birthday party for me?"

Just as Zoiya demands he keep his hands to himself, Dom is in the process of reaching over to give her booty a pinch when his face is introduced to the brim of her hat. He stops and blinks, pursing his lips for a moment only to be smacked across the face yet again by the hat as she leans back up. His arms slowly stretch out in a 'what the fuck' look. His eyes rest on Mae and he just looks at her for a second to make sure the hat is done with him so he can have another sip of his beer. His hand disappears into the water to accomplish the goal it had set out to do before, "You mean I can run to Safeway and grab shit?"

Blake watches Poe as he makes his entrance, and generally everyone as the social interactions begin to unfold. When Poe talks about last night, Blake grins awkwardly and nods, a faint unsure look in his eyes if someone were perceptive enough to put it together. "Well, I think I'm okay..." Still, he reaches up to rub his forehead as if he's thinking. He might be feeling for tender areas.

Poe isn't renowned for being perceptive. He just nods agreeably. Blake doesn't have any visible damage and that seems to be all he needs to put it out of his mind. He turns the hose so it sprays directly in his face for a moment, drinking from it, then taking a pull from the dripping beer can in his other hand, dropping the hose in the pool so it can finish filling. "I'm game with grilling. Joey Kelly down the street was talking about having a cookout soon too and I said I was going to drag you all over there to meet him and his brother." He meets Mae's eyes in particular. "They're twins. You know - if that's something you're into."

Mae glances at Dom, sitting there with a pissed off look on his face and his arms stretched out. "What?" She says, leaning over to get her phone. WHAP, face shot. She sits back, leans against Dom and takes off the hat as she thumbs through her phone. "If you're volunteering, and it sounds like you are." She beams up at him, showing him her phone. "I can order shit and all you'd have to do is pull into a designated parking space and wait for them to bring it out." She reaches for his beer, takes a drink and then shifts her gaze to Poe. "Am I in to twins?" She looks like she's giving that some thought. "I guess we'll see? I'm into cook outs, as I am almost always hungry. If you want to invite them over, we can get more beer. Dunno if we can score more kiddy pools though, the lady at the store gave me a dirty look for getting two."

The hat continues its brutal assault of his face and he tilts his head back, resting it against the wall of the pool and shaking it as he feels the brim just being all up in his shit. He takes the opportunity to reach over the pool and grab another beer since Mae is having her way with the one he's been trying to drink since he showed up. He cracks it open just in time for the hat to come off. "Thank fuck." He drapes his arm over Zoiya's shoulder and gives her a hug and a kiss on the temple. "You got a dirty look for buying two children's pools? What else were you buying?"

Blake gets up and moves inside to dump his cereal in the sink, just sort of going through the motions. The things he knows that feel real while all the normalcy is unfolding out back. He looks through the kitchen window that backs up on the yard off to the side. After dipping down back into the basement for a few minutes, he comes back up and out with his phone to sit on the sidelines and grab a beer in all of his pasty white boy-bod glory.

"I'll let him know we're here if he wants to drop by." Poe says, sitting down into the pool now that it has filled a reasonable amount and stretching out as well as he can. He keeps his phone as dry as he can manage, tapping on the keyboard to do exactly that. "Is it the same look when you get 2 boxes of the jumbo condoms? Should likely just pick up a few more over time. Send different people in each time and save the pool-buying judgement." The phone is done with so he lets it drop in the grass next to him, focused o his beer and being much cooler than he was ten minutes before. "Was a good show last night, Mae. Hope you made out well on tips. The crowd was sure into it." He grins toward Dom - "And you sir went off to get drinks and never made it back. I hope whatever you were doing instead was fun." Poe's knowing smile says he know there are lots of ways to get distracted at the strip club.

"I was buying condoms, lube and hot dogs. We already have hot dog buns here. So I suppose maybe she had some assumptions, it wasn't like I was buying jello too." Mae rolls her eyes and gives Dominic a speculative look. "How do you feel about buying more kiddy pools?" Her eyes narrow and she frowns. "Thank fuck what?" Tread carefully Dominic. Oh it doesn't matter, she splashes water at him, probably drowning his beer and getting him damp from the chest up. "Where did you disappear to last night? You weren't in the back with other strippers were you? I'm pretty sure the red headed one has something you don't want to catch."

Kiddie pools, condoms, and lube. Well, and hot dogs. "Yeah I can't really imagine what that bitch's problem was." He offers a shrugs at Mae and then gets splashed. Right in his freshly-opened beer. His dead stare meets Mae's eyes as he watches her and debates dumping his beer on her and then wrestling her into the water. "Ran out of blow so I dipped out to pick up some more and ended up buying condoms, lube, and 17 kiddie pools." He gives Mae a little poke to the ribs then an eyebrow lurches upwards at the warning about the red head, "Jesus." He takes a sip of his watered down beer and winces but shrugs and takes another drink, "Kept my shit in my pants last night, thank you very much."

Blake is deeply engaged with his phone, typing it out with both hands these days, but it's all situated down where he doesn't have to raise his arm all that much. He sips his beer occasionally, but it's serving its purpose. Social camouflage. None of the jokes earn any reactions from the man. His mind is off somewhere else. "I need some sunscreen," he announces as if it had any bearing on the immediate topics of condoms, lube, and kiddie pools. "Coppertone." Okay maybe it does with that last one.

It wasn't a good night. Hell, it wasn't a good yesterday. The fact that Lex has even ventured out of her room is a first, as far as willing socialization has gone. The tattooist lingers just inside the door leading to the porch, still technically inside, as green eyes flicker toward the seated Blake. There's no making it outside without passing him, and it doesn't seem like she's quite... there. As for attire that's in danger of being soaked, she's wearing what appears to be one of Poe's black t-shirts -- long enough to hit mid-thigh -- and a pair of capri-length black leggings. Feet are bare, and her hair has been dragged atop her head into an attempt at a bun that is already starting to drop strands here and there. At least the longer layers are trapped.

Poe is laying back in the pool in such a way that he almost misses the shadow of Lex lurking int he doorway between the house and the yard. He'd likely have missed her completely had he not been occasionally looking through the windows of the house to see if he detected any movement from inside that would indicate that she was up and about. He tries to catch her eyes from where he's lounging and raises a hand to wave. "Join?" He calls out. If she's really trying stay incognito he's pretty much blowing her cover. "It's really nice!" He adds, cupping his hand in the water and then launching a spray from his pool to the one where Dom and Mae are situated.

Throwing a can of beer back at Poe would be rude, wouldn't it? Mae just shoots him a dirty look instead, mostly because she's shielded by the big guy who's beer just took another watery hit. She rolls her eyes when Dom speaks, nudging him with an elbow. "We might need three or four more, not seventeen fucking kiddy pools." She reaches up, grabs Dominic by the chin, dragging him down to give him a brief buss on the lips. "How about I come to Safeway with you, if you do go?" She asks quietly, patting him on the chest with an inked hand. She leans forward, flashing a smile at Lex, waving hello. "Grab a beer, we're discussing a cookout." She makes a mental note to pick up some Coppertone for the whitest boy in Gray Harbor.

Lifting his beer to his mouth, Dominic pauses as another spray of water washes over his head and his beer can. He looks into the depths of the beer-and-water mixture and sighs. When Mae grabs his chin, he obliges with a grin and gives her a sideways hug along with a kiss. "You are more than welcome to come along. You can point out the lady with the problem so we can have a little chat about what were clearly materials for sex education at church. And kiddie pools." He takes a long drink of his beer mixture and grimaces, "Fuck's sake this is bad." He gives Mae a little splash and then climbs to his feet so he can go get another beer, "Anyone need a drink while I'm inside?"

Blake looks up when Poe addresses someone who seems to be not quite him. He sees Lex and smiles softly. "Hey." There's an understood look like, 'you too?' A commiseration that doesn't acknowledge one sliver of what happened the day before between them. "You okay?" he asks in a rare show of pushing through his shell. His lack of response to Dominic is probably a surefire answer that he's all good.

Lex continues to stare at Blake, her expression remaining unreadable as the man speaks to her. It's... Blake. Blake-Blake. A part of her could likely sense that before he even turned around, but when he actually speaks, her 'brows are furrowing a bit. "Hungover as hell," she lies easy, even managing to quirk one side of her mouth into an almost-smile. "You?" She steps out of Dominic's way, if necessary, before glancing dubiously at the kiddie pool. It's only Mae and Poe's urging that has her stepping onto the porch outright, and making her way gingerly down the stairs. That's as far as she goes, lest the splashing be turned in her direction. "Where the hell did you get kiddie pools?" The question is directed toward Mae. Because... well, this has to be Mae's doing. Poe's invitation into the pool itself earns an uneasy look from the youth, but not much more.

Poe's eyes stay on Lex when she slowly emerges from the house and her brief interaction with Blake - his mouth only hinting at a frown for the briefest of moments before the casual smile is settled back into place. "Nice shirt." He says to Lex when she's a bit closer. "I think you could have a friend over to fit in there with you, though." He swirls his hand through the water of the pool but doesn't try to splash Lex. Something about knowing who butters your bread. His eyes swing around the yard - "You should get changed and crawl in here with me, Lex. Or at least drag over a chair and sit for awhile? Pools and cookouts, we'll have a fun day." Not like yesterday. Or parts of yesterday at least. His eyes only drift to Blake for a moment before calling out to Dom. "I could use another beer, thanks."

Mae is going to Safeway again. It will be fun. "We need more kiddie pools because, like Poe said, all of us piling into one or the other is just gonna get us in trouble, really." She considers for a moment, takes another drink of Dominic's original beer and sighs. "Can you bring me out a bottle of water and some of the tanning oil? The one that smells like coconut? Thank you!" She grins at Lex, shrugging a shoulder. "I found them at Safeway, got a little side eye for buying them, I guess I don't look like I have kiddies."

Pausing in the doorway after he passes Lex, Dominic turns around and holds up an arm in Poe's direction with a thumb's up. Then he glances over at Mae and swings his arm in her direction and offers her a middle finger and a mischevious grin before turning around disappearing into the house. A minute or two passes and he returns to the back patio with a massive bottle of water, some tanning oil, and an opened case of beer. He makes his way back over to the pool holding Mae and offers her the bottle of water and oil before kneeling down to put the case of beer down. He's emptied it out mostly but brought 4 or 5 beers out in the name of convenience. Pulling one out, he makes sure he has Poe's attention before tossing a can his way. He pulls one out for himself and climbs back into the pool, bending down to grab the hose and yank it from Poe's pool into his. Their pool was warming up a bit.

"Looking to see if I called or texted anyone," and his bank statement, but Blake lets the fantasy that he was just blackout drunk to continue to be a poor succor for what's really gnawing at him. "Did you...did you go to the the body shot night thing?" he hazards softly, but quiets as Lex falls into conversation with Poe. Yeah, time to check the credit card balance. He picks up his phone and taps around, eyes lifting when he sees movement in his direction from Poe. It passes by without having registered anything.

"No," Lex offers sidelong to Blake. "Decided to get shit-faced as a party of one." She continues to offer the words casually, as if they were discussing yesterday's weather. Her eyes turn towards Poe as he urges her into the pool, narrowing slightly. "I'll seriously maim anyone who gets my hair wet," she announces, before shrugging out of Poe's oversized t-shirt. One of her own black wifebeaters is below it, and a pair of boyshorts beneath that. Not quite a swimming suit, but apparently as close as she's willing to get, as she's finally starting toward the pool.

"Is it terrible that I want to see you try?" Poe says to Lex, eyes bright with a bit too much mischief in them while he watches her peel off his muscle shirt to reveal a muscles shirt. It's like a fucking russian doll of wifebeaters. He's not nearly drunk or high enough to have his mind blown by that, but it still has an impact. He shifts around in the pool, doing what he can to make room so that Lex and sit down in the water and lean back against him, his legs spread out to either side. "Dominic, you are a king among men. A fucking king." He notes when he catches the beer tossed from the other man. "I let both Greg and Joey know we're hanging out here and told them to bring anyone. So we may get a flood of folks or no one. I'm happy regardless." He reaches his hands up toward Lex to encourage her into the pool with him. cmere. cmere.

Mae could make room for Dominic to rejoin her or she could sprawl out in the pool with her eyes closed. She's chosen the latter, and seems to be comfortable until the re-introduction of cold water to her nice warm simmery Mae soup. She makes a noise that sounds like the weird mix of quack and squeak, grabbing up the hose to spray it in Dom's direction. "Now you don't get to put the oil on me, Christ. I was nice and warm!" She then realizes how good the cold feels so she aims it downward at her head, letting cold water stream down her body. She closes her eyes and doesn't move to make room for Dom still, he'll probably just manhandle her to get back in the pool. "Blake, want some cold water?" Better to give him warning if he has his phone out.

When Dominic returns to the pool to find Mae sprawled out, he stands there for a moment while he considers his next course of action. So many opportunities. Most of which will get him slapped. Before he knows it there's a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth and he lowers himself and sprawls himself on top of Mae with a nice, long, loud groan of comfort. For just a second he picks his feet up so the full weight of his body can press down against her but he knows he'll likely end up killing her if that lasts long enough. While he puts his feet back on the bottom of the pool and holds himself up in an effort not to murder her, Mae made her bed and now she's going to sleep in it. Or burn it down. Whatever she does. "You're welcome man," he offers back to Poe with a hoist of his unopened beer, "cheers."

Blake blinks up at Lex, a hint of concern in his features, but he says nothing, asks nothing. As she moves off though, he looks back down at his phone and tap taps. He's rubbing his forehead while looking down when Mae calls, having totally missed the display of all the rushing water over bodies and all that. He lifts his eyes and immediately knows to lean and tuck his phone around the corner, on the ground, and against the wall after he locks it. "How cold?"

"Oh, babe... there'd be no try about it," Lex offers Poe, her tone and expression as dead serious as it gets. "Hair. Stays. Dry." That part seems to be directed toward... everyone. And then the half-dressed youth is stepping into the pool, her movements still a bit hesitant, to find her spot between Poe's legs. She's even slower in settling into the water, wincing a bit at the sudden temperature change, before pressing her back against Poe's bare chest. She's reaching for his hand that isn't occupied by a beer can, attempting to drag it across her torso -- in or out of the water, depending on just how full they've made the kiddie pool. "Hey," she's finally offering toward Mae and Dominic, eyes flickering between the two before dropping back to the surrounding water. "Blake, that probably means she's going to spray you with water," she translates for the man, without actually looking at him. "I don't think it's optional."

"You ever light a fire just to see something burn?" Poe asks Lex, smile curving his lips when she starts to slowly settle down into the water with him, his eyes on her currently dry hair. Careful, Poe. Ever so careful. He wraps his arm around Lex when she's finally settled, splaying his fingers out on the woman's stomach and holding her there comfortably against him while he grins at Dominic clambering atop the prone form of Mae. "Look, Lex. I should get bonus points because I'm not currently trying to drown you in a kiddie pool. I expect my best behaved star. Glad you came over though. It's good to see you out." He pauses a moment and then adds - "I was going to have to go loiter in the park for a few hours to see if I could lure you otherwise." Water. Blake. Water. "We need at least one more pool. And if we have more guests, more."

"Very co..agh." Mae is squished beneath Dominic and she gives him a decently forcible push to try to get him off of her. "I will shave.." She huffs and pushes again. "..all of the hair.." Throws a punch to the kidney. "..off of your body.." She tries to brace her legs to push him away. ".. in your sleep." She makes a squeak noise, she obviously in no shape to spray Blake with the hose right now, but that time will come. "Gerrof.." She grumbles, managing finally to nudge him off and find a way to get comfortable around him. "Shit. You tried to kill me!"

As far as Dominic is concerned, Blake owes him a solid for diverting her attention away from spraying him with cold water. He shields his body as best he can from the blows but does a poor job of it. He looks over at Poe and Lex and holds his arms up like 'see what I have to fucking deal with?' but the kidney shot has him tumbling down to cover his torso. "Gah!" he erupts as he shifts over to the side of the pool to give her more room. When he's accused of attempted murder, he points a finger at Mae and does his best (shitty) Macho Man voice, "That's what happens when you step into the squared circle, brutha. Oohh yeah!" He cracks open his beer and pours some over his head and then takes a long drink.

"Anybody home?" This salutation briefly precedes the appearance of Greg himself, who has found the back yard by following the noise. It might be hard for Greg's new friends to recognize him -- everybody's favorite pusher looks very different today. The wild mop of hair is slicked back and parted, and below the trademark Aviators (and a shaved face!) Greg wears a nice black button-up and... are those SLACKS?! No shit, they really are! The guy even has shiny black dress shoes on, and it must be said, he looks money as he comes around the corner. Especially for him! He is still Greg, though, so don't mind the rolling blunt he keeps puffing on.

While Mae is being smothered in her own greed, this is the chance for Blake to go bend down to take the hose. Really, he just wants to feel how cold it is. He doesn't realize he now has the 'loaded gun' and the upper hand yet. Dominic and Mae and whatever weird game they are playing is ignored as Blake decides he's thirsty, and the hose water will do. It's probably full of lead. He's barefoot, wearing his charcoal colored jeans from last night and no shirt, the whitest one around by far. Then he turns the hose on Dominic. "Let her up," he says as he presses his thumb into the spout to make it spray harder. He looks back to see Greg in such a nice church boy get up. "Were you at a country club or church?" he asks bluntly.

"Yeah, quite a few times... and I got my ass kicked when I actually got caught." Lex informs Poe, even as she lets her head back against his shoulder -- pillowed by her still-dry hair. "I don't think I'd have trouble catching you." Her gaze flickers toward Mae and Dominic's antics, and there's a soft snort at Mae's outburst. "She'll do it, Dom!" She raises her voice enough to be heard over the splashing. It's Blake's last question that has her looking from the pale man to the one that has just arrived. "Do we know him?" Referring to Greg. Obviously.

Mae makes a face when Dominic pours beer over her head and she gets up, stepping out of the pool. She's making noises that sound like muttered murder as she stalks over to the hose, grabbing it from Blake. "Get out!" She says to Dominic, kicking in his direction. If he does what she asks, she tilts the water out of the pool, shooting a grin at Greg. "Hey, nice of you to join us, but you don't look kiddy pool ready." She won't spray him, he looks like he's taken time and care at his appearance today. Once her pool is empty she sets it back down and goes to fill it back up, after she's sprayed herself clean. "Want a beer or something?" She asks, giving Greg a far friendlier look than others might be getting at the moment.

"I don't think you'd have a problem catching me. It's more how you're going to perform the ass kicking that I want to see. " Poe suggests, one of his thumbs taking on a pointy aspect and jabbing playfully into Lex's side. "You have to remember to behave or you're never going to see that ring pop." He says this gravely as though this might be a very terrible fate. His distracted from taunting Lex briefly by the arrival of Greg, raising a beer toward the remarkably dressed man. "Hey Greg. Glad you made it. That's not exactly swim gear, man."

Before being evicted from the pool, Dominic goes to take a sip of beer when he gets blasted by the hose courtesy of Blake. Once again, a beer is ruined. "What the hell is happening today?!" Stepping out of the pool, he glances at Lex and Poe with a wink. He clearly looks like he's enjoying giving her a hard time and he's obviously doing a very good job at it. He takes another long drink from his beerwater and looks over at the new arrival. He steps over to the man and offers him a fist for bumping since he's soaked, "Dominic. Welcome!" He cocks his head to the side in the general direction of the pool, "There's beer over there in the case if you're thirsty."

Greg grins as he approaches Blake, holding out the blunt. It's about the size of his thumb. "Church? Fuckin' never. Country club..." He smirks and gives a shrug. "Maybe someday?" He flashes a smile Mae's way. "Not unless we're skinny-dipping, I guess." He looks down at himself and chuckles. "Actually, I've been in meetings with real estate agents and bankers all day. The ink's drying on my new business lease right now... Green Harbor Organics will be opening our doors in a matter of days." He looks proud as a peacock. "I feel like an alien dressed like this, family," he admits with a smirk. "Got to look the part though." He gives Poe a smile and a wave. "I didn't bring my floaties either." He looks really broken up about it, but lets it go to fist-bump Dominic. "What's good dude, Greg Sumpter. Good to meet you. How's everybody doing? Who's your friend?" He flashes his best charming smile towards Lex.

Blake looks slightly put out when Zoiya takes his weapon away, but the blunt comes into view and he takes it readily, turning to face Greg more. "Oh. Congrats man." He hits the blunt and lets it pervade his lungs and then finally lets the smoke out above them. He holds it out for Greg. Oh wait, he looks busy with this fist bumping. Time for another hit. Puff puff pass right? He nods to Lex. "Met him the other night."

"Lex Falco," said woman is introducing herself, rather than wait for Poe to capture her under the 'who's your friend?' umbrella. That too-charming smile from Greg earns an arched 'brow from the heavily tattooed woman, but aside from that, her affect seems strangely similar to... well, Blake's. Or at at least it did, until Poe is poking her, and she twists around to give him a faux-glare. "Threatening to withhold candy? Low blow, babe. Low blow."

Mae is calm and happy now that her pool doesn't have beer or Dom in it. Though the latter will probably flop himself back in, because that's the kind of asshole he is. She takes the water beer, drinks from it and hands it back. She gingerly climbs into the pool, settles down to sit, and eyes everyone around her. "You're welcome to strip down naked to get in a pool if you want. If Dom gropes you, I apologize in advance, but he's a handsy bastard. I enjoy it." She shifts, putting her sunglasses back on, grabbing the tanning oil to squirt into her palm. She rubs it along her collarbone, down her chest, torso and arms. "We'll have to stop by and buy things from you."

Newcomer welcomed, Dom heads back over to the pool and stays out of it for the moment. He kneels down beside the pool and holds the beer in front of Mae's face while she applies oil so she can have a sip if she wants. Then he's going to finish it himself and grab another. He pulls a fresh can out of the case and has a seat on a chair beside one of the pools and cracks it open. His goal is to have at least one fucking beer without getting it filled with pool water. It's now that he realizes that he's left his cigarettes in Zoiya's room. Cursing under his breath is all he does as he realizes it'll be hours before he has a smoke. "She's right," he says towards Greg. "I get lonely throughout the day and by god sometimes I just need to grab something." He reaches out in Greg's general direction and pretends to squeeze something in his fist.

"Can claim you'd be any safer in our pool." Poe adds on the back of Mae's comment, raising his beer toward the man. "Congrats on the legit business. That's really rising up in the world. Let us know when the doors are opening and remember the friends that got you there, right?" Because they totally had anything to do with the man's success. They went to his house warming, right? A bright grin is delivered to Lex and he offers what is supposed to be an innocent shrug. "I only have so many weapons to wield in this duel, Lex. I'm the type of guy who is going to play to win regardless. If I have to eat a dozen ring pops to make my point? I'm ready to take that bullet." This is serious business, clearly. He stops poking Lex though, his hand going back to the familiar sprawl across her stomach.

"All the things," Greg tells Zoiya with a sly smile. He repeats his introduction for Lex with a bit of sardonic bow. "If y'all know anybody looking for work, I'll be hiring some people to help out on the legitimate side of the business. Perfect job for someone who wants to let me pay them to hang out and smoke dope all day," he observes to the space in general. "Hang on to that one, homie," he tells Blake, pulling another blunt from his shirt pocket and lighting it. He grins towards Dominic with a wink. "Mae, you better hold me back or I'ma steal your bae. You smoke menthol fam?" He reaches into the pocket of his slacks to produce a pack of Newport 100s, which he rattles suggestively.

Blake nods. "Thanks," he mutters and sits down on the ground to sit cross legged and take a deep hit off of the blunt, eyes closing slightly as he lets the world fuzz out a little at the edges. This is fine. Then he puts his feet over the side of someone's kiddie pool and lets his lower legs soak, the cuffs of his jeans and all.

Lex's eyes drift inevitably toward the blunt that has been bestowed upon Blake, and when he chooses she and Poe's kiddie pool to semi-violate, she's extending a tattooed hand. Palm upward, and fingers crooking in the universal 'gimme' signal. Well, at least she's looking at him again? Poe's commentary earns a smirk, and whatever she says in response is conveniently muffled by the splashing hose.

"If I know of anyone, I'll send them your way." Mae promises, blowing a kiss toward Greg. His commentary about Dominic earns him a brief smirk. "You can try to steal my sex poppet, but he always comes back to me in the end." She grins up at Dom and holds out a hand for his beer. She's probably not going to scoop pool water into it. Probably.

Eyeing Zoiya with more than a mild amount of suspicion, Dominic locks eyes with her as he tilts his head back and pours a large amount of the beer in his can down his throat. He sneers as it burns his throat and holds the can out to her, about a third of the beer left, as he wipes his mouth off with the back of his other hand. "I don't, but if you're offering I'm hurting for one, man," he says over to Greg. He steps over and graciously accepts a menthol from him and tucks it between his lips. Assuming Greg also offers him a light, he'll fire it up and take a long drag and then slowly exhale, "Sweet Jesus, thank you." He nods to Greg once again and then returns to the chair he had been sitting in a moment before.

Lex earns herself a grin and a roll of Poe's eyes, the man saying something quietly to her in return before swinging his attention back to the collected group. He eyes the blunt that Lex is looking to get her fingers on and will try to get his damp paws on it as well. "I might need some hours sometime, Greg. But, I've never been much in the retail game. Hoping some other work comes through so I don't have to worry about it too much, but I'll let you know where I'm at soon."

That's about the time that the back door from Poe's side of the duplex slams open suddenly again, crashing against the wall and with a mad howl four different cats race out of the house with alarming speed. The animals don't so much as pause to view the humans in the back yard, crashing through the brush to entirely disappear from sight, just leaving the door of the house swinging open.

Poe frowns toward the door. "Must have left it unlatched. Gran isn't even home. Maybe the cats won't come back."

Greg lights one up before he puts the pack and lighter away, hitting the blunt and the cigarette together. "Looks like you guys got the right idea today though," he says with appreciation and a look that takes in the general area of aquatic chaos. "How's everybody feeling? Anybody need anything?" Most of the people here already know explicitly what he means, but the rest can probably connect the dots. Greg jumps when the herd of cats stampedes through, almost dropping his blunt and cigarette, and blinks towards the brush where the guilty parties were last spotted. "You running a fuckin' Chinese restaurant fam?"

Blake takes /oooone/ more hit before passing along the blunt to Lex. "You can have it." He looks back when there's a ruckus of cats charging out of the scariest place on earth. "Oh look. Cats. How many more are there Poe?" The man has gone where Blake has never wanted to go before. He must have eaten the woman's cookies too. He has answers to the mysteries that lie within.

Mae gets up out of her pool, a little wrinkled, her bathing suit slightly askew and grabs for a towel. "I'm gonna go in the house and get the ill earned hot dogs. You boys find a way to get the grill out of the basement. Someone find something charocoal and a way to start a fire. If we're gonna eat, we need to be productive." She considers and frowns. "I think there are hamburgers in the house somewhere too." She slants a look at Dominic looking all suspicious, taking his beer to finish it. "You wanna come help me get the food together?" There might be something suggestive about her tone, everyone else can completely ignore that though.

Considering Blake was handing it to her, Lex manages to get ahold of the blunt before Poe can. She's a quick little thing, when necessary, and it seems that drugs make such things... necessary. "Thanks," is her subdued response to Blake's gifting of the blunt. Her eyes flicker toward Greg as she takes a long hit off the drugs he has already provided, and lets her head back against Poe's shoulder once more before asking, frank as can be, "How much for oxy tens?"

"We're down to sixteen cats now. The local shelter took ten and I found a family who was willing to take one. I'm going to have to go further afield to get rid of more of them." Poe says with a sigh, eyeing the open door and deciding that he'll just leave it that way. He tightens his arm a fraction around Lex's body and follows her gaze to Greg when she's asking for prices. At least he trusts Greg to have decent product. He starts to sit up a little. "I suppose I should get up and help with the making of fire and cooking of dead animal."

Taking another drag from his cigarette, Dominic visibly starts and shoots a glance over to the horde of fleeing felines. "Run like hell, you crazy bastards!" he yells out with a laugh as they disappear through the shrubbery. He presses his flattened hand to his forehead and stiffly salutes them after they've gone. He looks over at Poe and shrugs, "That sucks, du.." His words are interrupted by Zoiya as she suggests that he may want to step inside and help her with 'the food.' He considers playing dumb and suggesting that she could handle it, but he's been pushing his luck with her all day and she's been gracious enough to tolerate his horseshit, so he declines to do anything that might haunt him later. "You bet!" He hop-skips and heads towards the door along with her, giving her a bump with his hip.

"For friends?" Greg flashes a smile toward Lex that's supposed to be inviting so probably doesn't look predatory at all. "I'll do a dollar a milligram. I only have a few right on me at this moment though... if you want more, I'll have to go pick up." He pats and digs at his pockets until he produces a little cellophane-wrapped bindle filled with just the most adorable little pink pills. "I think I got... thirty-two here," Greg says, establishing the highly skewed scale of 'just a few' in the Gregory Sumpter school of weights and measurements.

It's exactly as he feared. A small space drowning in old moth balled clothing, a billion cats, and old lady cookies. The talk of pulling things from the basement has Blake pushing up slowly in Dominic and Zoiya's wake. /Something/ is trumping opiates for some reason.

Mae laughs when Dominic bumps her, and honestly he nearly knocks her off track. She manages to grab a hand on his shirt, yanking herself back in orbit so she can open the back door. "We'll be back out, five minutes, tops!" She calls over her shoulder, not doing Dominic any favors if people guessed why they were disappearing inside. They might actually be getting food though, it's a toss up.

"Thirty-two milligrams or thirty-two pills?" Lex counters Greg, both tone and expression suggesting that she's had such conversations before. For good -- probably experienced -- reason. "I'll take what you got. I'll get you the cash when we're not... doing this." A glance toward the pool, and then a perturbed look toward Poe as he suggests getting up. "Nope." A single, definitive word, as she leans that much harder against his chest. "You lured me out here, you're sure as fuck stayin' where you are."

"Five minutes.." he says with astonishment. He pauses at the door and looks back at anyone outside who actually heard what Mae said and cares. "Pshhh." His eyes turn back to look at Mae, "Pshh." Then he steps inside to help the fuck out of getting some food. Unless they're actually just going in to get food, in which case he'll still help. Just not as enthusiastically. "I'm going to need at /least/ five and a half."

T'was Dominic just then.

With a grin, Greg considers the bindle, smacking it on his palm. "Thirty-two pillies at ten a pop puts you in the hole to me three hundred and twenty bucks," he summarizes, bouncing the bindle on his palm a moment. "Here ya go." With a little bump to the back of his hand from the other fist, he sends the goods slowly arcing through the air toward Lex. "I know you're good for it," he says, and the confidence in his tone is absolute.

Blake moves quietly behind the other two as they enter the house, not looking back. If either of those two actually ever make it to the basement door, they'll find it locked. If they don't, he's probably just planning on nipping down there first.

Fine! Poe is clearly staying exactly where he is, Lex's weight against him making that entirely clear. He watches the transaction take place and a ghost of a smile touches his lips at the confidence in Greg's tone. Of course everyone is good for it because the alternative to these things isn't really very pretty. They've all been in this business for long enough to know exactly how it works. His eyes drift to the pair heading inside to get some meat. At least they decided to go out of sight first? That's some respect.

Mae and Dominic reappear after two minutes, both bearing foodstuffs and more beer. You guys thought they were going in the house for naughty things? How dare? She nods to a folded up table leaned against the house. "Someone set that up, and .. where did Blake go? He .. fuck." She picks up her phone, sends off a quick text and starts to set out things she has in her arms. Hamburger, hot dogs, ketchup, mustard, buns. Dominic is carrying his fair share as well.

They decided to go out of sight, perhaps, but so did Blake. Lex is watching the trio enter the house with an audible snort, but doesn't bother warning Mae and Dominic about their shadow. They'll find out soon enough. Instead, she's drawing another hit off the blunt, before turning enough to bring it to Poe's lips without actually giving it up. He can have a hit, but he can't have the source. "Thanks," she offers Greg, and actually manages to catch the flying baggie. Still trusting that no one will soak her upper half, the drugs are tucked casually into her bra.

Blake, having done whatever he needed to do, but his phone is still against the wall right next to the back door. He looks out the back window, looks back down to the basement. Looks back out. Then his phone buzzes, the screen lighting up briefly. He walks to squat down and check it. "Fuck." He goes back to the kitchen to start poking around. Oh...could they be here under the sink?

Dominic emerges from the house behind Mae with his arms full of various food items and condiments. He walks over to the folded table and kicks it away from the wall so he can use his elbow to push down the legs. Flipping it up so it's useable, he puts down the food items and some napkins and flatware. He steps over to the chair he was occupying before and grabs his beer and takes a pull.

CRASH.

The loud thud of something large and solid feeling the effects of gravity is heard from 23 Elm followed by the distinct sound of glass crashing and breaking in its wake. Three more cats dash out of the back door and follow where the first four had run away. This time Poe can't just stay relaxed in the pool. "Sorry, Lex - " He says, shifting out from behind her and standing in the pool, body dripping. He hops out and hurries across the lawn calling over his shoulder. "I need to see what the hell is going on. I'll get back out for food once I deal with this. I'll bring some cookies!" Apologetic group glance before he slips through the open door into the overfull cat house.

Well, fuck. Lex is left alone in the kiddie pool when Poe makes his abrupt exit, but rather than exit immediately, she's fishing out that little bag of pills. A few of the small tabs are popped into her mouth, and she's already chewing them by the time she's glances around the buzz of activity around her. Life will be much more pleasant in about fifteen minutes.

Blake finally finds the paper plates. There's only so long he can act like he doesn't know where things are in his own kitchen, or ignore that sack over there on the coffee table which, yep, has the paper plates in it. He nabs it and makes his way back outside. "I'd lend you a swim suit, but I don't have any," he offers to Greg with a slight mumble on his way back to where things are being setup, depositing the sack of paper plates, pulling it out, and then it's time to work on ripping the plastic casing them in.

Greg looks up from his sudden distraction with his phone, his expression painted with alarm at the sudden noise and another round of cats. "Holy shit," he comments, scratching at the back of his neck and glancing around the back yard with a clearly sketched-out demeanor. "Is it always this quiet?"

"Boo." It's been a while since Lex has used her 'official' nickname for Blake, but he'd have heard it often enough to know that she's referencing him. Her expression remains unreadable, should he look toward her, but that baggy of pills is raised, and a 'brow arched. She glances toward Greg at his question, and offers a half-smirk. "Depends on whether or not Mae's home. If it's quiet, she probably ain't here."

Sitting on the lawn chair, Dominic is taking a sip of beer and leaning forward so that his elbows are resting against his knees. He's just collecting himself for a moment when Greg speaks up, "Honestly, no." He grins at the man and shrugs as he glances around the back yard, "Breakfast is typically an event here so this is somewhat unusual." He takes another drink and kicks his legs up onto the chair and leans back, getting comfortable. "Thanks again for the smoke, man. I grabbed mine while I was inside. They aren't menthol, but you're welcome to them if you need one."

"It's only quiet in the basement," Blake reports as he balls up the plastic and tosses it in the sack. He looks over to Lex. "One sec." Then he tucks back into the house rather quickly before popping back out. He moves toward Lex, toward the siren call of those little pills...no, more what they bring. Blake squats down next to her outside the pool.

Lex is reaching into the baggy once more, fishing out a few of the little pills, and then holding them towards him until a palm or such is opened. The baggy is returned to her bra then, and she's saying something under her breath to the crouching Blake.

"I was joking about the Chinese restaurant before, but if you have that many cats you almost have to start cooking some of them, right?" Greg flashes a grin around that ends on Dominic. "Thanks homie... I'll let you know." Lex and Blake getting ready to toot up seems to spark something in Greg, because before long he's got something out of a pocket somewhere crushing it on the back of his phone. "You guys should try switching from cats to goats," he offers helpfully as he cards and then snorts a line. "Fuck! You get all the free milk you can drink, plus garbage disposal."

"Goat cheese is better than milk," Blake tilts his head. "I wanted a dog," That'd be news to /anyone/, "But we should get goats." Apparently, Greg is right. He repositions to lend Lex his good arm, quite literally. He holds it out like someone about to ask a girl to dance in the 19th century, but with none of the mercurial verve he had the night before.

Blake will be Blake. Lex only offers a soundless effort at a laugh as the man takes whatever she whispered so literally, but she doesn't refuse it. A thankfully dry hand goes to his forearm, and she's avoiding the slip-and-slide potential of the kiddie pool as she steps quickly free of it. It brings her close to Blake, considering, and she's reaching to press those pills against his palm. She's lifting herself briefly to her toes to brush a kiss against Blake's cheek, before turning toward the porch. Poe's abandoned her, and she has her drugs. Food be damned. "Seeyou guys later." That seems to be meant for everyone.