2019-09-24 - Girls (and Everett) on the Boardwalk

Alison flashes a cute little smile at Kai, thinking that perhaps she held her gaze a little too long to get such an offer from a stranger. "Nah, I'm good. Thanks though." Her gaze turns back towards Kailey, watching as she packs her stuff up, then speaks up again. "Slight change of scenery, I suppose?" not entirely telling the truth there. She perks to attention briefly at mention of a soda fountain, her grip tightening on the manila folder in her hand slightly. "Soda fountain, huh.." She looks up towards the sky for a moment, making a slight mental note to check it out when it's not so late at night. So close to sunet is no time to be handing out resumes.

"OOOooohhh! Oh oh oh! Yeah I do. I don't have many. People tend to buy them up pretty fast," Kailey says as she turns to pick up the portfolio that holds her canvas boards. She pulls out two small 8x10 pieces. One is an ethereal sort of view of a pyramid seen through a dark and firefly lit forest. The other is a nebula in pink, cyan, and dark blues. "I've these two!" She says and hands them to Kai to look at closer. Apparently considering the outstretched hand as interest rather than help. "The wind also can dictate when I pack up. Cause people don't like having paint thrown on their clothes instead of the canvas," Kailey gives a laugh and her own clothes, denim mostly but for her black shirt with some tiny script across the swell of her chest. Something you'd need to stare at to really read. The paint doesn't help.

"Mmmhmm! Called Sweet Retreat. Pretty close actually," She says and points a ways down the boardwalk to the place. "As for why I'm here? Well, I travel all over. This year I was going up and down the coast, chasing various events and festivals and coastal towns with boardwalks and beaches."

Lucky or not for Alison, Kai doesn't seem to be noticing nuanced (or not so nuanced things) like staring, poignant eye contact, etc. There's only half of that drink left and she steps off to the side to steal a drag off of what can only be weed given the sweet stench it gives off. She does everyone the courtesy of exhaling in other directions with a step or two off to the side.

Kai isn't paying attention until the smaller pieces are handed to her. Oh yeah. Oh, she focuses down on each, a small grin forming. "I'll take both, if they're for sale?" She waggles the nebula painting at Alison, "You suuure? Who comes to this dead end town for a change of scenery?" She doesn't have the presence of mind to put two and two together. The in-congruency just bounces in and out of her head, whether it's anything to pursue or not. "You guys meet many people yet? Do some stuff for fun?"

Alison gives a little shrug. "I mean.. yeah, true enough, but it'd be weird if I just said that I had a really surreal dream with these scary looking monsters who convinced me to move down here, wouldn't it? It doesn't seem so bad, anyways, at least it's not hot out."

She eyes the nebula piece in particular and bites her lip. It's really cool. It's extremely her shit. But she doesn't know Kai. It'd be weird. It'd be awkward. She's got that kind of super hot androgynous look going on, and that can be a capital-P Problem for Alison. "..no, I'm good, but thank you for the offer." Turning back towards Kailey, she asks, "So what do you do during the winter, then? Just paint a bunch of stuff in advance and tuck it away until the weather's better, or are you heading down where it's warmer next?"

"Sure! They're twenty each," Kailey says with enthusiasm. Selling out is always good in her book. "Ohhhh, hey, what's a good place to get green in this town? I saw one sign, but...ya know the locals always know the best deals and stuff," She babbles as she continues to pack up.

Alison's comment about dreams has Kailey slow down a little bit. Glancing at the other woman in mild surprise. But she doesn't say anything about it. Instead she answers her question, "I do some of that, yeah, but mostly save up. And I can still do the big head sketching and do whatever online graphic stuff I can find." She shrugs her shoulders and grins. "It's not like I have a lot of needs. And the travel RV park has a shower which can often be an annoyance to find. And it's -hot- water is hot." There is a look of delight that washes across her face. "I could go south...but...I probably won't. This place is...bright. And it calls to me."

The lights of the Sweet Retreat turn off in series, no longer advertising the location, not that the store's been open for almost an hour. A large man comes to the front door and opens it. Ducking under the doorframe, leather-clad Everett puts a tall silver can down on the stoop before standing from his crouch and looking in the direction of the commotion down the Boardwalk. One hand on the door, the other going into his front right pocket, the big guy pulls out a set of keys where his stoic attention returns to while he thumbs through them, finds the right one, and locks after himself.

"And you listened to them?" Alison earns an over the top skeptical look from Kai, mostly conveyed in that discerning squint. "I'm glad. Maybe they were trying to tell you about the sweet sweet waffles to be had," she says with a wink.

The joint bobs haphazardly from Kai's lips as she digs into her back pocket for her wallet. She thumbs through a few twenties and hands it over to Kailey. It's more than Kailey's standard prices for 8x10s. Kai glances to Alison over her shoulder, plucking the joint from her lips in the process. "Your loss. If you ever change your mind, you know where to find it." She flashes Alison a warm smile in the wake of words, which is when she notices Everett, for now just glancing in his direction to keep a bead on him.

Alison laughs softly with another little shrug. "Maybe! I mean, I don't exactly make a habit of it, but it seemed.. important, somehow. And it's not like waitressing is too different in a new town, no matter how small. People always need to eat. Waffles are pretty great, though, especially with good company."

Her attention's pretty focused on those close to her, doesn't particularly notice the big dude coming out of the sweet shop until she spots Kai's looks in his direction, but even then, she doesn't show any obvious reaction aside from adjusting her bag a little bit. She's a bit more interested in Kailey's question about where to pick up some weed, not having quite crossed that item off of her 'new in town' to-do list yet.

Kailey has everything broken down and turns back to Kai with a bright smile. Taking the twenties she sees the extra and that smile turns into a toothy grin. She has dimples! "Thank you!" And she pockets it. "I'm Kailey, by the way. I love that part of this. Meeting new and vastly different people."

Then those green eyes catch the movement of Everett. For a moment there might be a mischevious twist to her lips. "HELLO!" She calls cheerfully down the boardwalk, raising her hand high and waving it at the intimidating man. "I liked their fries. But the chocolate covered marshmallows are the best. And my weakness...though waffles are damned good too," Her voice has returned to conversational with the two women. Hefting the table and canvas bag she begins to hall them to her van. Then coming back for the box that has the paint and her tools, the drop-cloth on top of it all.

Turning around, the gorilla opens his black biker's jacket and withdraws from inside two small devices which he examines, then holds up to shine light on them. Making sure he's got them right, he uses both hands, one to sweep his long hair back, the other to wedge one into his ear. The process is repeated while he looks straight ahead, nowhere in particular. Once the airbuds are secure in his ears, he lets his hair dangle freely, and returns to the inside left breast pocket for his phone. It's black too, of course. His face is illuminated from below after a moment of gestures on the glass. And after a few more, his head starts to sway.

That is until he puts the phone back inside, and he glances towards the trio again. Bobbing to the music, not cool. And it ceases while he gives them a longer glance. Kailey's gesture isn't returned. Strangely, it causes his head to turn away and down, his eyes beginning to widen before he hides his expression. And then, another crouch to pick up the tallboy of beer.

"There's a place on Elm and then I think another place is opening up in a nicer part of town, but I'm a regular at the Elm spot. Owners are really nice. Good product. And if it's a deal you want, they're less likely to be padding their prices to pay the rent." If the other women aren't familiar with Elm yet, Kai's meaning should jump out at them as soon as they check it out.

"Name's Kai," the Asian girl offers to Kailey first, then to Alison by way of a followup glance and a expectant lift of her eyebrow. When Kailey's greeting isn't returned, Kai looks over her shoulder again to the man. "Hey! You want?" She waggles the glowing joint up in the night air. Maybe this bait will lure the guy over. Maybe she threw it out too late. Then she also holds the joint out in a universal offering gesture to the group she's already in.

Alison repeats the earlier movement of looking upwards, making a note, etc. She's waitressed long enough to be able to remember small little things like that (most of the time), but she still has to go through the motion of remembering something like that.

"Alison. Hi." she says, then somewhat casts a sidelong glance at the offer of the joint to the hulking dude down the street, but any interpretation of that is brushed aside at the subsequent offer, at which point she extends a hand in the appropriate position, though not quite grabbing it out of Kai's hand.

Kailey is obviously amused at Everett's utterly ignoring her. "Heh. He did it again. I think I spook him. Lil' ol' me!" And she giggles as she rocks forth and back on her feet. "Anyway, he works at the soda place. Or at least he was going into the back and no one was saying anything," She tells Alison. "Everett I think his name was? Yeah, like the city," And she bobs her head, secure in this memory.

As Kai reveals the location of her own weed supply, and then offers a toke from the joint itself, she positively glows. Her cheerfulness like a bubble, perhaps unconcious, flowing out from her. Taking it she puffs and then offers it over to Alison. A few seconds later the whispy smoke floats free of her lungs. "Sweet! Thanks. They open late?" She pulls out her own phone to check the time. It is the only thing she has that looks new. The case being decorated with a stylized phoenix reminiscent of henna peacock designs.

Rolling his gaze back towards the group, he affixes the can by the head in his hand without looking down. Held with his palm over the can, Everett rotates the can around, occasionally using his forefinger to pick at the lid to see where the pull tab is and, when it's aligned with his finger, pulls the tab. Carbon gas fizzes out violently, spraying hand and sleeve in his drink.

All expected, or so his lack of expression seems to suggest when it returns to impassive. He casts a glance down the Boardwalk and then back. Then, like a stray tempted with scraps, Everett turns his course for the group, promenading slowly while his biography is being delivered, his attention drawn to the planks that comprise the Boardwalk ahead of him, or around for the ninja horde about to pounce. An occasional frothy drip following his course until he joins them. Beside Kai specifically, to whom he offers his can of Coors light.

There's still plenty left to burn with that joint when Kai almost passes it along to Alison. The odd look from Alison gives her pause and pricks some momentary curiosity when Kailey suddenly snatches the joint up from her fingers. She smiles to Alison as if it might convey her condolences for her, but still goes with the flow.

When the aforementioned man arrives, Kai takes his offering of goodwill with a dip of her head and then takes a sip. Whether it's her kind of drink or not, she lets out a noise of satisfaction and hands the can back to the man. "My name's Kai." She makes sure the joint gets to Everett after Alison has had her go at it. She points her finger to the bottle in the same hand. "If you want something harder?" she offers to Everett first. "All are welcome of course...just a little water," which, to those in the know, would clue them into the spirit within.

Alison takes a small hit from the joint before passing it off as it was offered. Not her stuff, not her say! She doesn't know the lumbering dude, but given that she's surely only an inch or two taller than Kai, she's a little intimidated by Everett six foot holy shit inches presence. She speaks a polite "Hi." to him.

She's caught a little off guard by what Kai says, and she looks back at her with a slight confused look on her face. Alison shines to those looking, but she's most definitely not in the know. Water? Harder? Doesn't ask, though.

"Ohhh...tempting. But I gotta get to that place on Elm before they close," Kailey says with a bit of a pout. But she gives Everett a bright smile, "Hey Spook," He already has a nickname! "Those marshmallows are amazeballs by the way. I'm glad I got extra, especially with getting some green. Tonight I'm sleeping good, thanks to you," And she bobs her head at Kai. If the joint comes back around she'll partake again though. "I'll be out here probs every nice and non-windy day. Windy days...well, I'll find a spot. See you guys around. And see you for coffee tomorrow!" She points at Everett, before heading to her van. Coiling up the extension plug and climbing in to drive off.

When the can leaves his wet hand, without a care were droplets land, Everett shakes it. The dog metaphor, it continues. And when Kai speaks, he nods his head three times with little understanding. When it's his turn with the green, he takes a hit like a proficient smoker, of cigarettes or tobacco before passing it back to the tiny Asian. The point to the bottle is subtly turned down with a wave of his hand and when he speaks, with deep bass, it's loudly, like the music in his ears is set too high, "NO, THANKS!"

Glancing around, Alison's given an up nod acknowledgment long after her greeting. Thank god he didn't hear what Kailey said, or how she said it. Just watching her mouth moving and then he's getting pointed at. While she's crawling into her van, Everett moves a little quicker, tilting his head to the side to pull the airbud out of his right ear, "What? Wait, what?" He looks around, "What'd she say when she pointed at me?"

Kai seems unfazed by the vast amount of...sheer vertical difference, no distance between her and Everett. His loud talking probably helps his bass tones from swallowing up his consonants as some of the sound waves travel down to her. He's so big that everyone is small next to him, and there's something very equalizing about it, and relatable about sitting on some extreme edge of the same spectrum.

Kai lifts her 7up hand, cocking it to the side in a single wave gesture. "Have fun," she calls out and then looks back to Alison, catching her look of confusion, though just registering it as odd. Still, Kai leans over to say something to the girl, no mind for Alison's sense of space as she steps closer. When she pulls away with a hazy grin, she looks up to Everett and acknowledges his preference with two thumbs up, one hand still hanging on to the bottle.

Alison gives a little wave to the artist as she drives off. Looking back at Everett, she says, "Something like.. coffee tomorrow?" with a scratch at the back of her head.

Kai leaning close catches her a bit off guard, and she can't help but blush a little, not quite the same shade of her hair by half, but certainly noticeable. Hearing the other girl's words, she laughs a little, though. I mean, that much was obvious as soon as she got close.

A death metal growl emanates from the airbud he continues to hold in his wet hand while Everett throws bewildered looks down to those remaining, and the two red lights vanishing in the distance. A glance down to Alison, the expression of rumination returns to his countenance, with a dark addition; with a mutter, the earbud is returned into his ear, tilting his head to avoid adding hair.
"Ff-fuck."

Wiping his right hand on his leather pant thigh, the thug returns his drink to that hand as he dismisses himself from the crowd, tilting his head back as he sucks back a long drink from the can. Laws are for other people. Not more than five steps before he turns around mid-stride, pointing to Kai, shouting again so he can hear himself over his choice of music, "THANKS FOR THE HIT!" he acknowledges before turning back.

"I'll see you round man!" Kai lifts a hand back toward the departing Everett with a Puckish grin. "Any time. Thanks for the refreshment." She watches the guy as he leaves, just a few more paces. Then her dark eyes slide back to Alison. "Not sure what just happened." A beat passes and her eyes pop upward for a moment, "Oops." She puffs, allowing the need to hold in the smoke to provide a convenient break from talking, or is it just a more smooth way of putting the ball in Alison's court conversation wise. That twinkle in Kai's eye lingers a touch. She holds the joint out for Alison, low and relaxed.

Alison gives a little wave towards Everett as he leaves, seemingly a little less apprehensive about him than before. She gives yet another shrug, as if it's the only thing she's capable of doing in most scenarios. "No idea. Did that guy.. come out of the candy shop, though? Doesn't exactly quite seem like his scene." She eagerly takes the joint back, taking a slightly longer hit than before, then holding it back out, exhaling after a moment or two with a slight cough. "Usually end up with the vape pens with this stuff."

The redhead tilts her head a little bit, smiling a small smile back at Kai. "So you're from around here, I take it? I'd hate to not run into you again." She clears her throat slightly, the blush returning to her face briefly.

"Yeah, I mean. Maybe he just has a big sweet tooth." Kai takes the joint back to take another hit and tap the ash off to the concrete. Then she exhales above them, "It'd must be huuge."

"Oh yeah. I like to vape and sometimes dab at home but I kinda like the joint for the cold night air." Kai doesn't seem to have as much trouble with her hits, though they haven' been monster hits by any stretch. "I go to college here..sometimes," she adds with a smirk. "So," her head tilts, "I'm around. You have a number?" She reaches into her other back pocket to pull out a cell phone.

Alison rubs the side of her own face with one hand. "I imagine. Probably not the only thing about him that's huge either." Slight pause. "For better or for worse."

"Yeah!" she says, perhaps a little too eagerly than might be appropriate. She gives it over, then finds herself furrowing her brow, digging her phone out of her bag, checking on some screen in the settings, then nodding. "Yes. That's it. Sorry, I've got my work burner number in my brain more than my actual number."

"Wow. That's going to be burned into my mind. Thanks," Kai laughs a little. She can probably thank the weed for the mental image too.

Kai steadily feeds Alison's number into the contacts app on her phone. "Ali-son." Another thing to thank weed for. Words are strange right? Names are stranger. Thankfully Kai manages to only say this in her head, but it makes her pause. Kai nods and then looks as if she's replying to a text.

Alison's phone buzzes some time after Kai has sent off whatever text she 'replied' to.

(TXT to Alison) Kai: hey girl, kai here 🙃

Alison grins and thumbs back on her phone to respond.

(TXT to Kai) Alison: Hi! 👩‍🦰 ⬅ In case you forget who this is.

(TXT to Alison) Kai: Ha! It really was the right number. 🎉

(TXT to Kai) Alison: Of course! Sometimes dudes can be really pushy, especially when I'm at work and I'm sticking my sad excuse for an ass out a bit for tips, so it comes in handy pretty often.

Alison thumbs a bit further to save /that/ contact. Yes indeedy. "Sorry. First boyfriend was kinda hung like that and it kinda.. yeah. It was a bit of a thing." She blinks a bit. "What the fuck am I saying. Sorry." Shakes her head. "Maybe I better head home before I say something else stupid." She takes one step away, then thinks twice. "You alright getting home? I've got my car here."

Kai glances up from her phone to Alison and grins before sliding her phone away. Hopefully she hit save. Did she hit save? She reaches back into her pocket to pull her phone out and makes sure, then back away it goes. "You know. It's totally fine. It's not like I ever have to deal with them," Kai says, lifting her hand in the air. At Alison's words of retreat though, Kai just nods and finishes off the joint. Then the offer? There's hesitation. Kai looks to the sky and smells the air for that whiff of ozone. "Yeah, can I get a ride? I just don't want to chance it with these paintings."

Alison gives Kai a little smile. "Sure. C'mon." She turns and heads towards the parking lot, arriving at a fiveish year old Chevy sedan, unlocking the doors with the fob before popping open the trunk, turning back towards the other woman. "Did you want to toss those in here or hold onto them?" As she's finishing her sentence, the wind gusts again and makes a mess of her red hair. "Fuckin.." She sets to putting it back into place with one hand, combing hair out of her eyes.

Kai follows Alison back to her car and gives Alison's question some thought before ultimately securing them in the trunk. She looks up as she straightens up, her own hair tousling a bit. She laughs and just flips her hair back with a flick of her head, casually raking her fingers through it after. "Come on...before someone takes advantage of two unsuspecting shortstacks. I don't know a martial art, contrary to my packaging. Fencing though." She almost reaches up to help Alison with her hair, but then Kai slips away, still smiling as she slides away to the front to be whisked away back to her loft.

They go to their respective homes, nothing weird or untoward happens!