2019-09-03 - Double Date Double Trouble

Seated at one of the tables by the windows with a view of the ocean, there had been brief introductions by Justin when he and Stefano had arrived, and a first round of drinks acquired. He's dressed casually in a pair of comfortable jeans and a dark blue button down over a white t-shirt and relaxes into his seat, lifting his drink to those gathered. "To old friends, and new," he offers in toast. "And can I say it's a little weird for summer to be heading towards a close, and knowing I'm not about to pack up and go back to L.A. in a couple of weeks." Because by this time every year, he'd already be heading home.

A glass of whiskey already emptied sits on the table by the time Stefano and Justin arrive, not that they were late Easton just got started a little earlier apparently. He's dressed for a night out in a white dress shirt untucked over dark blue jeans and black dress boots. Whatever story he's telling Bennie ends with "... no, he threw up all over the cat." Rising to shake hands and help with the introductions before retaking his seat, Easton's loud and possibly a little drunk already.

"Hear, hear." Easton raises his new glass to toast to that and laughs, "I know what you mean. I'm still not convinced this place actually exists in the winter? But I guess we'll find out soon enough."

Bennie was assured it'd be 'nothing fancy' and indeed the fact that they're meeting at TIBS means she can dress simply. In a denim skirt and tank top, she has a blue kimono thrown over it and with the right accessories, she's ready for a casual double date night. All smiles as she sits at the table with the three men, but there is a thread of tension around the corner of Bennie's eyes as she puts a hand on Easton's knee. "It really is great to meet you guys."

Stefano is a bit more casual than Justin, in black jeans and a pale pink polo. "Did Dahlia also abandon the place once summer ended?" he asks Justin curiously. "Do most of the residents?" It'll be interesting to live in a pseudo-resort once the season ends. Interesting and perhaps low on funds. "I was glad to hear of the invitation." he tells Bennie. "Meeting people outside of work is always difficult once you arrive somewhere new."

"I figured they just rolled up all the sidewalks after labor day and turned out the lines, and those who stayed behind huddled in the dark until spring," Justin says good-naturedly, settling back into his seat. He glances between Easton and Bennie, perhaps noting Easton's pre-gaming and Bennie's tension, but for the moment he doesn't seem inclined to draw any attention to it. When Stefano asks about Dahlia he nods and says, "Dahlia was actually living in L.A. before she came back up here to take care of her mother. She was doing some acting down there. But no, most of the folks who actually live here don't pack up and leave, as far as I know. Easton and I were just part of the summer resident crew." Largely comprised of rich kids whose families were looking for a "quaint" place to vacation.

Easton puts his hand over Bennie's on his knee, intertwining his fingers. He notices the worry lines around her eyes and gives her a questioning narrowing of his eyes briefly before turning a big grin back to the two men. "Yes, Justin and I were summer people. Awful, awful summer people." He chuckles at Justin's supposition, "But I've since been schooled on the actual facts by some of the very, very pretty locals." He cants his head towards Bennie at this. He doesn't recognize Dahlia's name. "Course I'm still curious to see how the bar's going to fair once I lose the summer crowds completely." And he does in fact just sound curious, not worried.

Bennie isn't hitting the hard stuff yet, just sipping on a lite beer. With a light laugh at everyone's assumptions about what happens in the off season, and Easton's flattery, she pipes up. "As the only Townie at the table, let me assure you, life does in fact go on in Gray Harbor once the fancy boats roll out and the 'Boys of Summer' are gone. Mainly? It just rains. A lot. So we hunker down indoors. A lot of people shift jobs, going from working resorts to commuting into the city for holiday retail jobs. The bar though? You'll see a dip, but rest assured the locals will keep you afloat."

Stefano nods, reassured that his income isn't going to dry up in the near future. "Bit of a commute but I suppose it's no worse than lots of other places." He looks around a moment then suggests "Maybe you should get some live music to draw people in. Give them a reason to come here and drink instead of doing it at home."

Justin smirks just a little bit when Easton says they were awful and admits to Stefano, "I was kind of an entitled brat, all unsure of who I was, who I wanted to be, but just resentful of only being my mom or my dad's son instead of my own person." He then says to Easton, "Dahlia grew up here. Her mom lived over in the trailer park on Elm. Was one of the first people I met in town, actually... though I think Julia might have been the first." He grins over at Bennie then and says, "Pretty sure there's plenty of drinking to do inside when there's not much to do outside. Provided you don't like the rain." He nods to Stefano and says, "There's got to be some local musicians around who could use a gig or two. Sorry I missed bar triva. How'd that end up going?"

"Justin was a fuckin' saint compared to me." Easton is quick to correct him, "Though we may have been mutually bad influences on one another." He catches Bennie's eye and nods, setting his fresh drink down on the table slightly awkwardly. His eyebrows raise at Stefano's suggestion and Justin's addition, "That's true. I mean it beats karaoke." Easton gives a small shudder as if he's haunted by the thought, "And trivia was good. Pretty sure we're making that a regular thing. It's fun, gets people in the seats and only occasionally makes me want to tell patrons they're f- er.. idiots." He finishes that last part awkwardly as well. "But I should put up a post on friendzone about the music thing. I like that."

"Oh, karaoke is going to happen." Bennie assures (or threatens) quickly. "Even if we have to buy you a pair of noise cancelling headphones. You've gotta give people what they want, and if that's belting Journey songs at the top of their lungs? Then so be it." The blonde has never met a stranger in her life, and yet there is a tingle of nervousness surrounding her tonight as she sweeps a strand of hair behind her ear. "So Easton tells me you guys used to serve together? And Stefano, you're a massage therapist?"

"Have a wings night." Stefano suggests to Easton. "Really cheap, spicy wings. Or a nachos night since they're salty. Anything to get people to drink a lot since that's where most of your money is made. I tended bar a couple times." he explains then nods to Bennie. "Yes. Sports, deep tissue, trigger point. And just basic Swedish, of course." But then he glances at Justin and Easton. "Served together? As in the Army or something?"

"Enablers, both," Justin agrees with Easton, chuckling just a little bit. "Nothing wrong with karaoke, though." He lifts his glass in Bennie's direction and says, "See, Bennie will do karaoke with me, won't you?" He grins over at her. Though when she asks about serving together, both brows go up, and he glances between the three of them, "I think he probably meant someone else, or tennis, but I don't even play tennis." He says to Bennie, "I'm a software developer, primarily. I've done some acting, and modeling, but most of my focus is on my company. I've never been in the military, myself."

Easton's face falls, keenly aware that he has already lost the first great karaoke battle. His only hope is to figure out someone like Magnolia to go rock out to eighties hits with, and get someone to cover for him. He's literally thinking up battle tactics, but then Justin volunteers and he agrees quickly, "That is a great idea." He nods at Stefano and says, "Yea, we have specials. We'll see how they do without crowds." with a bit of a shrug. "Yes, Stefano's been working on my leg, it's a huge help." The comment about Justin and Easton serving together gets a wry smile, "Noooo. Justin and I vacationed like spoiled rich kids together." He asides to Stefano, "I served." And then he drinks, though it's more of a polite sip than a gulp at least.

"No?" Bennie looks quickly between Justin and Easton, wrinkles forming on her forehead as her eyebrows knit together, and then it all smoothes out with a bit of a laugh and touch of color hitting high on her cheekbones. "I guess I was...I guess I was mistaken." She shakes it off, with a little wiggle of her shoulders. "Spoiled rich kids. Got it. And yes, I will totally sing with you Justin! You thinkin' Grease or Moulin Rouge?" It could be she's just rubbing salt in Easton's karaoke wound at this point.

"If you do Lady Marmalade, I'm in." Stefano tells them. "I love that song. 'Hey sister, go sister, soul sister, flow sister.'" he singsongs. "We just have to make Easton join us. Once he actually does it instead of just listening to it, he'll be hooked."

"I'd come for a wing night," Justin says with a grin. "I can't help it. I have a wing problem. As long as they're not boneless. Boneless wings are not proper wings." He takes a sip from his drink and then gestures between Bennie and Stefano and says, "Moulin Rouge, of course. And hell yes, Lady Marmalade." He ponders for a moment and then says, "I'll be Christina," raising his eyebrows and then grinning over at Easton, "Come on.. it's a quartet."

Easton looks Bennie dead in the eye and finishes his drink in response to her question about musical selection. And then Stefano is singing and saying that he's going to drag him into this? His brow furrows and says to Bennie in a faux stage whisper, "Actually he's a terrible masseuse and I'm thinking about firing him." He's playing up his grouchiness some, but while karaoke and trivia might bring in the crowds to his place they aren't quite his style either. "Boneless wings aren't even wings. That's just nonsense." Easton agrees with Justin, perhaps finding an ally in his old friend. And then betrayal. He shakes his head and says, "No. Nope. Keep it up and I'm putting a ban list into the contract for whoever does the karaoke."

Clearly it's time to fight fire with fire, and Bennie is up out of her seat, striking an exaggerated pose in some vague approximation of what she remembers from the music video. "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?" Arms above her head, she gives her hips a little shimmy.

Stefano grins over at Easton as Bennie stands and strikes a post. "I really wouldn't suggest cutting off your girlfriend from what she enjoys doing. Or she might cut you off from what you enjoy doing. Not to mention we can come up with a lot worse things to be singing."

Justin joins in the singing then, "He met Marmalade down in old Moulin Rogue, struttin' her stuff on the street. She said, 'Hey Joe, you wanna give it a go?'" and he gives a wink to the people the next table over that are now staring at the three of them when Bennie gets up to sing, throwing her arms in the air. He gives a whistle for her performance, "Sing it, girl." Then he chuckles over at Easton, "Come on, you love us man. We'll just serenade you instead. Like that one time .. on the boat.. when I got super drunk on.. what the hell was it? Jaeger? Schnapps? Something..."

"Why do you all hate me?" Easton wonders aloud. He raises a hand for a waitress, calling out "Scotch! Please!" across the bar without waiting for her to come any closer. Tracy just rolls her eyes and her co-worker / kind of boss and sings along with the group. Easton cries out "Treason! This is a mutiny." He grimaces at Justin's comment about the boat and clarifies, "Sambucca. And you were not half as good at those kicks as you seemed to think you were my friend." He's trying to hide the smile on his face, but there is definitely an uptick at the corner of his mouth seeing Bennie and the two men get up in the middle of the bar to sing. Because he may not love karaoke, but he loves a good antic.

"Gitchie, gitchie, ya-ya, da-da..." Bennie sings as she moves behind Easton's chair, slinging her arms around his shoulders and grinning across the table at Justin and Stefano as they join ranks. "You're outnumbered, babe." She presses a grinning kiss to his cheek before she flops back in her chair.

"So music, karaoke, and wing night." Stefano summarizes, ticking them off on his fingers."Who wouldn't come here and drink with all that on the table? And speaking of wings, I wouldn't mind having something to eat. Do you actually have wings? Cause those would be great right now."

"It was the /thought/ that counted though, Easton, the /passion/ of the performance!" Justin says, trying to look really earnest, but can't stop his shoulders from shaking with laughter. "I think you're right, it was Sambucca." His theatrics for the moment over, however, he takes up his glass and lofts it to the table at large before taking a sip. He then nods in agreement with Stefano and says, "Wings actually sound really good right now. And fries. And I think all of those things like good ideas. I'd definitely come out for them."

Leaning into the kiss, Easton admits defeat, "I give, I give. I will get Geoff to come and sing some Metallica with me or something." He's cautious in what he's willing to give up in defeat obviously. "We absolutely have wings." Easton did a full revamp of the menu after all to make it less kitchy and at least have some respectable bar staples. He laughs at Justin and says, "I think the only /thought/ we had was how fuckin' drunk we were. And I know it was Sambucca because I couldn't eat licorice for a year after that." Tracy arrives with his drink, and Easton puts in the order for booze-y snack food. Maybe they'll get real food eventually but it's never a bad idea to start out with wings and cheese fries.

"When I was in my misspent youth, we got drunk on Boone's Strawberry Field, not this fancy schmancy Sambucca nonsense." Bennie curls her hands around her frosty mug off beer and pulls it back in front of her, though she's not putting it back like she usually does with Easton tonight. "Next time the four of us go out, I'm treating you all to the definitive Huckleberry Park experience."

"Worst thing I ever got drunk on was schnapps." Stefano muses. "Sweet drinks are horrible. After that, I learned my lesson and stuck to beer or whiskey." Looking puzzle, he asks "What is a Huckleberry Park experience? Or just a Huckleberry Park?"

Justin sings, "So close no matter how far, couldn't be much more from the heart, forever trust in who we are, and nothing else matters," doing a little bit of Metallica, just for Easton. "What is Boone's Strawberry Field?" Justin asks Bennie, clearly not recognizing it. But he chuckles and asks, "There's an experience?" He seems as curious as Stefano is, though he at least knows what Huckleberry Park is, "The trailer park where Dahlia's mom's trailer is."

Easton likewise blanks on what Boone's Strawberry Fields is. He looks to Bennie and says, "I don't what that is either, but I assume it's cheap and horrifying?" The fact that Bennie is being so much more restrained with her drinking doesn't escape his notice thought it's nothing he's going to ask about right now. "The huckleberry park experience. That would be ... no shirt. cut off jean shorts. natty ice... and ..." He narrows his eyes trying to picture it. He laughs and says, "I got nothing. But yes, I think we need to put ourselves at your mercy and be shown how Huckleberry Park do."

Bennie slaps the table, "Hill! Boone's Strawberry Hill. Oh, man it's this godawful sweet wine you can get for like, two bucks. You still have to chug the entire bottle to get where you need to go, but it was the cheapest drunk we knew." Her finger waggles at Justin when he identifies the park. "That's the one, yup! I live there. Did. Live there." Before she moved in with Easton, but that's a whole other can of worms. "And if I told you, it would ruin it!" She tells Stefano. "Though, I'll need to get my hands on a pickup truck..."

"Oh, a trailer park experience. That... sounds like fun." Sure. Slumming with the rednecks. Or whatever they're called in the PNW. "If it produced you and Dahlia, it's got to be good." Stefano ends up saying.