2019-10-19 - A Turd On The Mattress

Work had begun on the town, being transformed for the Masquerade event that was quickly coming upon Gray Harbor. Halloween had been one of Kelsey's favorite holidays before everything happened, but with all the new things starting to happen - Kelsey resolved to enjoy the season and the holiday. Part of that, she figured, was getting over her aversion to Addington Park after the whole earworm incident. Wishbone needed more than just her backyard to run and play in after all.

So texts had been exchanged and Kelsey told Nasir she would meet him there with Wishbone, because chances were slim they'd even make it to the park if he came to pick them up. Besides the weather was perfect for walking. Kelsey was clad in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved black shirt that had 'Welcome to the Jungle' in a crazy graphic font on it. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She and Wishbone neared the park and the designated meeting spot. Wishbone happily holding his new bright blue tennis ball and Kelsey holding a non-squeaky bone shaped chew toy in her free hand.

Work had begun on the town, being transformed for the Masquerade event that was quickly coming upon Gray Harbor. Halloween had been one of Kelsey's favorite holidays before everything happened, but with all the new things starting to happen - Kelsey resolved to enjoy the season and the holiday. Part of that, she figured, was getting over her aversion to Addington Park after the whole earworm incident. Wishbone needed more than just her backyard to run and play in after all.

So texts had been exchanged and Kelsey told Nasir she would meet him there with Wishbone, because chances were slim they'd even make it to the park if he came to pick them up. Besides the weather was perfect for walking. Kelsey was clad in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved black shirt that had 'Welcome to the Jungle' in a crazy graphic font on it. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She and Wishbone neared the park and the designated meeting spot. Wishbone happily holding his new bright blue tennis ball and Kelsey holding a non-squeaky bone shaped chew toy in her free hand.

It had only been a day ago that the pumpkin patch had been set up in Addington Park. But then there had been the fire, and the strange prank gone horribly wrong. So, for that reason, patrol officer Carter Reid has been assigned to step up an extra patrol around the park area as preparations for the Masquerade begin and more Halloween-themed hijinks are predicted. And so with the cruiser parked at the edge of the park, Carter strolls around the perimeter, just idly keeping an eye on things. He's in his GHPD uniform and pauses to smile and say hello to people that he passes as he goes. Fortunately, there don't seem to be any headless horsemen in the park at the moment.

No headless horsemen (which was a very good thing indeed), but Kelsey picked up a faint smell of lingering 'burnt pumpkin'. She made sure to keep Wishbone clear of any areas still marked off. "This Park is a magnet for trouble huh?" Kelsey remarked idly to Carter when he neared her and Wishbone. She'd claimed a spot on a bench and was teasing Wishbone some by lightly nudging the tennis ball from him when he dropped it so the pup would pounce after it. "Can I let him off the leash here?" Who better to ask than a police officer after all! "He isn't the sort to run off and whatnot."

There were still some singed areas where the straw had gone up in flames, and patches of burnt and missing grass here and there. He grins a little at Kelsey whens he makes her comment about the park. "Seems like it," he says. "It's had a bit more trouble than I'm used to expecting, but then, it's that time of year." And he hasn't been in town long enough to know what to expect. Poor soul. Though when she asks if she can let him off the leash he shakes his head and says, "You can in the dog park area that's fenced off, but otherwise he ahs to be on the leash. Leash laws. It's for his safety, too. Something could startle him and make him run that you didn't plan for. Want to walk him over toward the dog park?"

"True. Tricks, treats, mischief managed and all that." Kelsey chuckled, rising to her feet. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea." She switched up to holding the leash with her three-fingered hand and dug her phone out of her pocket and bringing up her text messages to send Nasir a text to meet them at the dog park area. Normally she'd voice to text it, but she didn't like doing VTT when there were other people around. So it was a little slow typing with the one hand - starting to walk. "So, I don't think I've seen you around here before." Kelsey said, finishing off the text and pocketing her phone. Wishbone was sniffing around Carter's feet, curious about the new person. "You been in town long?"

Carter wanders along with Kelsey, talking to her as he does his rounds of the park, keeping an eye on things after the Headless Horseman shenanigans of the day before. There are singed places in the grass where the straw had burned, and where flaming pumpkin bits had crashed to earth. There's probably some rotting pumpkin around as well, for good measure. He's in uniform, being on duty. They are headed in the direction of the dog park. He crouches down to offer a hand to Wishbone to sniff at and gives the pup a scritch. "No, just moved here about a month ago? Month and a half ago? From San Francisco." His badge reads "C. Reid" but he introduces himself as "Carter."

Wishbone licked Carter's hand and enjoyed the scritch! Kelsey chuckled, "Leave the nice officer alone Wishbone. He doesn't want to be licked to death by your adorable self." She leaned out to give him a scritch too before offering him his tennis ball again. "Nice to meet you Carter. I'm Kelsey. " Wiping her hand at her jeans a bit to get rid of any remaining slobber and offering a hand.

"Oh, I don't know. Death by puppy affection doesn't sound like a terrible way to go," Carter says, straightening up after giving Wishbone a couple of gentle pets. He then slides his hands back into his pockets, pausing in the stroll only to look around the park every so often to keep an eye on his surroundings. "Nice to meet you, Kelsey. So, are you from here?" He nods, indicating the town with a gesture of his head.

Dressed in a pair of of black jeans, a navy-and-white striped top and a down vest, Claire strolls into the park and takes in the vestiges of the previous day's events with a curious expression. Passing by a pumpkin carnage, she catches sight of the officer and the woman with the dog and amiably heads in their direction.

"Truth. There are definitely worse ways to go out." Kelsey agreed, watching the pup fall in step happily with the ball in his mouth. "Nah." To the question of her being from here. "Been here about a year. Well almost 2 now I guess. But I'm from out east." She explains and then laughs. "Sometimes I miss it, if only because it rains a whole lot less there."

Carter notices the woman in the down vest coming toward them and grins, lifting a hand to wave to her as she grows closer. "Hey, Claire. Do you know Kelsey?" He introduces the two. "And this is Wishbone." He nods toward the dog with a grin. "Where out east?" he asks Kelsey with interest as they continue to wander slowly toward the dog park. "It does rain a lot out here. I'm kind of relieved that it isn't today or all that pumpkin would be even more of a soggy disaster."

Claire stops with a grin for Carter and a friendly smile for Kelsey. She crouches down to offer a hand to the puppy. "Hi cutie." A brighter smile. "The puppy's cute too. Nice to meet you, Kelsey. Wishbone, hmm?" Carter gives her name so she doesn't need to offer it again. "You two mind some company?" She doesn't simply presume to join the promenade. She pets the pup if it's not too shy for it then pushes back to her feet.

Wishbone drops his ball in favor of trying to lick at Claire in greeting. "Not at all. I'm waiting for someone myself anyhow." Kelsey offers, looking around to see if she can spot said person before looking back to the pair. "Nice to meet you Claire." Wishbone picks his ball back up when Claire pulls away. "North Carolina. Then Nebraska for a bit. Now I'm here." She shrugs. "And I think I'll be staying for a while."

"Not at all," Carter says. "I'm on duty, so I might have to go suddenly but.. you know how it is." He grins over at Claire then says to Kelsey, "Claire's my sister. She's an Emergency Response Operator." Then to Claire, "We're just heading over to the dog park so Wishbone can get a bit of a run without his leash. Thankfully, there haven't been any more pumpkin related pranks in the park today. My lucky day."

From the distance, a particularly eccentric-looking man walks a loose, almost suave gait in direction of the group. He looked to be going hard on someone at the phone, with the only word audible and recognizable from the distance being 'Mom!' in a demanding tone. It was as he spoke to the little square machine thing of a smartphone that he was suddenly hung up on, and he looked at the broken screen almost in disbelief; in bitter, frowned disdain.

He slipped the phone away into a pocket and walked on. His were lackluster clothing under daylight; a tight-fitting T-shirt with a squared neck colored a smooth dark red, buttoned once; beige cargo shorts with an unbuckled belt hanging off his midriff and a pair of olive flip-flops just so he wouldn't go through the park barefoot. His eyes appeared covered by wide eyeglasses you'd find on a narco, their lenses tinted a dark bronze. Caught between his lips a cigarette, inhaled down to a butt, and just as he approached the three he flicked it into an ashtray and announced his presence with a strained smile; "Hey everybody, what's going on?" quite visibly, he went for Kelsey and Wishbone at first, squatting down beside the latter to begin a rough and tumble bit of playing by tilting the pup over and scratching him all over.

"A pleasure," Claire answers brightly in return. "You've been all over the place, then," she observes to Kelsey. "Or you're working your way through the 'N' states." The auburn-haired young woman looks between Kelsey and Carter. "So what happened here yesterday, anyway?" Claire nods to Carter with a twinkle in her brown eyes. "I definitely know how that is." Carter having to suddenly go address some issue or another. "I think the dog park sounds like a fabulous plan for Wishbone." She adds, "So it was a prank?" The arrival of the unbuckled man draws Claire's intrigued gaze.

"I wouldn't say three states is all over the place." Kelsey mused with a wry smile. She had caught sight of Nasir, faintly hearing his voice and looked curious. She'd have to ask later. Her features visibly brightened some when he approached the trio. "Hey Nasir." When he went down to play with Wishbone some, she took the opportunity to briefly run her fingers through his hair. Wishbone wiggled and barked happily at the attention. Tail-wagging. He was getting all sorts of pets and scritches today! It was great. Kelsey looked back towards Carter and Claire then. "He'll love it more than my backyard, I'm sure. Pretty awful prank if it was one." She glanced back towards some of the remaining pumpkin carnage. "And you're right Carter. It's good that it didn't rain. Wet pumpkin would smell gross."

"Mr. Khairan," Carter greets the familiar face, remembering him from their conversation at the precinct, "How's it going?" He then chuckles and says to Claire, "I think she missed a couple of N states like New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Nebraska. Though I guess if you lobbed off a leg, a W could look like a very wonky lopsided N." Then he nods, "Apparently. Some sort of crazy pumpkin fight gone awry, a horse got loose? I don't know. The reports are all kinds of chaos. But, that's why I'm out patrolling here today. New guy gets pumpkin shenanigans watch." He grins a little lopsidedly. He's in his GHPD patrolman's uniform.

Nasir's hair was a curly mess of sweat and glistening heat, for the sun had been bearing down on it all the way there. He stood up from Wishbone's side into that hand, yet he didn't leave the pup on the ground, curling one single palm around his bare tummy to lift him up and cradle him like a babe against his chest. It must've been a challenge for the puppy, for his maw soon opened and aching teeth began to bite and struggle angles to squeeze down on Nasir's bearded jawline and nose as hard as he could. Nasir giggled thorough the struggle, trying to focus on Carter along the way; "Oh shit, Private-- hey, hey, good to see you're not on traffic duty. How're you feeling out the town thus far?" he inquired, and right after he dipped his head for Claire.

On a more subtle note, he spared out his right hand to the side - to Kelsey's side - to take her hand along with his amidst conversation, sharing a brief glance of eyes briefly before engaging Carter again.

"You are unhelpfully helpful, Carter," Claire observes with an amused expression. "Three states in completely different parts of the country," she counters Kelsey with that same amiable expression. "A pumpkin fight? How odd. People just showed up with pumpkins to lob at each other? Or was it the PSL gangs coming into season? They're dangerous. Especially when they break into musical numbers." West Side Story meets Pumpkin Spiced Lattes with lots of snapping and posturing. To Carter, "Would that make you Officer Krupke?" Claire offers Nasir a little wiggle of her fingers in return to the dipped head greeting from the man. Her gaze flickers between him and Kelsey a couple of times, then to officer Reid.

Kelsey couldn't help a laugh at Claire's West Side Story reference. "Especially the musical numbers." She gave Nasir's hand a squeeze with her own three-fingered one. Meeting the glance and giving him a smile. "As of living in different parts of the country. You'd be amazed at how they really just all look the same with just some different landmarks and stuff. So where'd you and Nasir meet?" Raising a brow to Carter. Simply curious.

"Alright so far," Carter says to Nasir with a little shrug of his shoulders. "Little damp, but it's not too big, so getting lost is at a minimum." He certainly seems in good spirits despite having been relegated to patrolling one park for the entire day. It doesn't seem that he minds. "Flaming pumpkins," he adds. "That lit the straw on fire." And then. "With a horse." Because all of these components just add to the oddity of whatever it was that happened in the park the day before. He comments not on whether he's helpful or not, just grinning at Claire sidelong. When Kelsey asks where they met he says, "Oh, he came by the station for some paperwork. Porter and I were there and we chatted a bit before I had to go back out on patrol."

Nasir tried his best to be a faithful interlocutor to Carter's retelling of the evil happenings of the Park while in his absence, and every beat he took in the odd explanation made his head bob back and forth comically like a hula doll that belonged on the board of a trucker's cabin, unable to handle the momentum of its own neck with every new shocking addition to the tale. "Holy shit dude," was all he verbally managed, pulling off the glasses with his left hand and tucking a leg into the neck of his shirt, where they'd hang easy.

"So how many died?" That being the obvious next question of the entire story, or what Nasir cared for at least. "I mean, flaming pumpkins and angry horses, someone had to die. At least one person, right?" his wonder was passed from face to face - Claire and Kelsey respectively - before focusing on Carter again. "We met, uh," he spoke to Kelsey, yet looked at the Private still; "Was renewing my gun license. He pointed me at his main squeeze he's got in the station and everything went smooth. By the way, didn't get the chance, thank you for that Carter."

Claire smiles winningly at Kelsey at the laughing response. "Really?" To the other woman's commentary about most places having much of life in common. "Because we moved up here from San Francisco, and it couldn't really be much different." Carter provides the crazy details. "Flaming pumpkins? Well, they certainly celebrate fall in style in Gray Harbor. I think I'm sorry I missed that. Wait, they didn't light the horse on fire, did they?" Because that would not be okay. Carter's grin draws a bit of a laugh from Claire. Nasir's query earns him an thoughtful bit of a smile. Is he serious or playing? It's hard to guess. The words 'his main squeeze' tip Claire's brows up faintly. She looks to Carter.

"I mean, it sounds like a scenario where someone had to have died. Or at least get injured?" Kelsey raised a brow. "Hopefully it wasn't the horse." She reached up with her free hand to give Wishbone a few more scritches. "Well I mean. They look different, ascetically. Obviously one city to the next can't look like a cardboard cut out. But...they're all essentially the same when you boil it down. Houses, businesses, people, etc. But, some places have better people than others." She muses and maybe gives Nasir a bit of a side eye before refocusing on the siblings. "Well always good to have a main squeeze in the right places." Winking at Carter with another grin.

"Nobody died," Carter says, "But there were some burns, and some property damage, and a lot of the pumpkins that the high school was selling were damaged. Though they took the sale over to the high school parking lot to finish up for the rest of the month." He laughs at Nasir's description of their encounter. "Well, I pointed him to Nancy, the clerk who handles the license renewals, anyway," he tells Claire when she gives him that look, amusement in his expression. Then he says, "I don't know what happened to the horse, but I don't think it was on fire. There were some burns, though." He smirks at Kelsey, "Nancy's a happily married woman, and I more often than not date guys. There's no main squeezing or any squeezing going on there." In case that wasn't clear.

Nasir clicked his lips, less than happy with how Carter must've ruined his following line of teasing by putting it very plainly just how far from squeezed Nancy indeed was. He, too, was on the verge of voicing such complaints until a little pup's jowls bared against his nose and took an anchoring bite of his nostrils, squeezing as hard as one would when teeth ached and no shoes were available to absolutely destroy. "Ow," and a little frowned look for Wishbone who relented at the first sign of pain, looking back - and away - then back again, before licking apologetically at Nasir's chin.

Not two seconds after, Nasir's nose turned as red as a clown's honkball of a nose and just as bloated. "Alright, alright, alright-- it wasn't Carter's main squeeze. Anyway, are you going to introduce us, Carter? I still don't know who your friend is," at the mention, he looked at Claire, while idly bringing Wishbone down to his feet, letting the pup roam around and about again.

If Claire disagrees with Kelsey's basic premise about all places being the same at the basic level, she doesn't say so. It's true. People are people. Perhaps that point is what she recognizes. Or it might be that she's not feeling argumentative. Either way, her presence is largely amiable and particularly inclusive. "Definitely best to include all the squeezing," she finally replies. Carter clarifies the lack of death in the pumpkin carnage that ensued the previous day. "How do you even light a pumpkin on fire?" She muses. Her brother shares his predilection for men and Claire flickers a glance to the couple with the dog. Sharp puppy teeth attack Nasir and Claire can't quite keep from laughing at the sight. "Ouch," she tries to offset the laughter. "Were you hoping for a nose piercing?" She adds after the fact, "I'm Claire, by the way." She steps forward and offers her hand to Nasir.

Kelsey winced a bit for Nasir when Wishbone bit at him, though she's chuckling some too. "You okay?" asked to Nasir. Once the pup was back on the ground, she offered the chew toy so he could attack that instead. She looked like she could say something or other about Nancy and being squeezed, but no need to tease on a woman she doesn't even know. "Probably pretty carefully...or douse it in lighter fluid first?" Kelsey pondered on the different ways you could put fire to a pumpkin. "Either way, clearly they didn't think it through properly."

"I try not to do any squeezing at work, unless it's a trigger at the range," Carter chuckles with a shake of his head at all this squeezing talk. Then he says to Nasir, "This is Claire, my sister. She's an Emergency Response Operator." He winces a little at the impromptu nose-biting by the puppy but can't help a little bit of a chuckle, as well. "I don't know," he says about the lighting pumpkins on fire. "But.. given the seared ground all around here.. it seems like someone figured out how to do it pretty well." He shakes his head. "I wasn't there, so I'm only going from all the police reports that we got from people who witnessed it, which are a jumbled mess."

The Arab's right hand was prompted off Kelsey's grip by Claire's approach, and he took a step forward to meet her halfway into taking it in, shaking it once and accompanying it with a subtle, somewhat poleaxed smile and expression; "You're siblings? Shit, that's nice. Having family around here, and all that, nice to meet you Claire. I'm Nasir Ibn Khairan, mechatronics engineer," soon enough, her hand was released and Nasir returned thusly to Kelsey's side. He didn't take her hand, however- he took the lower end of her back and leaned in to press a quick peck on her cheek of a response, to her worried query; "I'm great," he re-assured, beaming such greatness to the siblings with a toothy smile. "I heard Alexander was caught up in the whole mess. If you're writing a report, see if you get your breakthrough, why not talk to him?"

Claire's attention settles on Carter for a long few moments as he introduces her. She smiles at him, then looks back to Nasir of-the-red-nose. "I look forward to hearing about the incident on my shift later today." To Kelsey, "Dousing things in lighter fluid and throwing them around seems like a pretty stupid way to settle a score. But pumpkins and lighter fluid tend not to be my weapon of choice. So what do I know?" She shrugs affably, then nods to Nasir's query about them being siblings. "Nasir Ibn Khairon. Great name. What does a mechatronics engineer do? Especially in Gray Harbor?" She listens for a moment then asks, "Who is Alexander?" The information was for Carter, but the ginger younger sister is still interested. She shoves her hands into the pockets of her jeans after shaking Nasir's hand.

Kelsey doesn't seem surprised to hear that Alexander had some kind of involvement. "Alexander Clayton. I've seen him around a bit. Haven't really gotten to properly meet him though." She mused, relaxing into Nasir's hand a bit. "Yeah, pumpkins and lighter fluid seem like a pretty messy way to do things. And it leaves way too much of a scene. Clearly." Nodding towards the area of the mess. She looks interested to hear Nasir's answer to Claire's question, though she does add. "Let's move to the dog park and continue this?" They were very close to it! And so long as everyone was agreeable, once they were in the area, she'd let Wishbone off his leash and toss the tennis ball so he could go chase after it.

"Yeah, our dad left us the house provided we moved into it, so we moved up here," Carter says, giving the reader's digest version of what brought them to Gray Harbor in the first place. Though at the mention of Alexander, he looks a little blank, not sure who that is. "I mean, sure, I'll pass that on to the de.. oh wait.. that guy who was at the all hands meeting who wasn't a cop. Got it. Yeah, I'll let the detectives know." Since they do the detecting. He just does the patrolling to try to be on the lookout to stop a potential repeat offense. He nods though when Kelsey suggests they continue on to the dog park, and he moves on in that direction, lingering by the fence once Wishbone is let loose, watching as the pup runs off, grinning a bit. "We should get a dog," he says offhandedly to Claire.

Nasir let off a brief release of air at Claire's question, amused- it was something he was asked often, quite obviously, and he made it clear with the same effortless guile he'd subject any other clueless interlocutor. "Don't feel too daunted by the title, it just means mechanical and electronic combined- I have a master's degree in mechanical engineering and an electrical technician degree. Paid for by our beautiful, beautiful tax payer's money, which eventually ended in six month education in a Mechatronics post grade and here I am, yours truly," he made a theatrical bow of the head and motion of his hand for Claire as they walked, never quite leaving Kelsey's side on the path to the dog park, although he did look surprised at seeing Kelsey know who he spoke of.

"So, you got plans to be a detective yourself one day, Carter?" he wondered, giving him a sidelong glance that lingered, one shared with Wishbone as he ran off like a little bullet for the thrown ball.

Claire nods once at the full name for the man she doesn't know. Perhaps it's common parlance in a small town to mention people by first name and expect others to know who one is speaking about. "You spend a lot of time at the station, Nasir?" She strolls along with the couple, their dog, and the officer to the off-leash dog area. Carter shares how they came to live in Gray Harbor and she nods to it as if confirming his story. A look to Carter, "Anyone can come to your all hands meetings?" Carter's comment about getting a dog has Claire looking to him with a startled expression. "Any time we go anywhere, we'd need a sitter. And there are vet bills. I mean, yeah. He's a cute little sucker, I'm not arguing that." She listens to Nasir's description of his job. "So what do you do with all that education and training?" Small town life is still anathema to Claire, despite a couple of months under her belt.

"He's a handful for sure. Lucky for me - I don't get out of town too much, so no sitter needed. But here's to hoping he doesn't get sick any time soon." Kelsey slipped an arm lightly around Nasir's torso as she watched Wishbone. She looks to Carter when Claire asks about the all hands meetings. Curious. Because if that was the case...she'd totally be slipping in to sit in on the next one..

"I was telling him when we met that we have a lot of broken electronic and mechanical things at the house. Maybe I'll bring some of them to him to see if they can be made functional again." Carter pauses, "Except the evil fan. That bastard has to go." He shakes his head when Nasir asks him if he has aspirations of being a detective. "K9, if I had my preference." Then he shrugs his shoulders at Claire and says, "There was an EMT there, and the Clayton guy, and more donuts than any one PD should eat. I don't know how things work in this town, but apparently Clayton was allowed." He didn't question it. "Honestly, I was too busy dealing with Sarah's crap to pay too much attention." There's no love lost for that woman, apparently. "I mean, sure, we'd need a sitter or to board a dog if we went anywhere, but uh, how often are we going to be going anywhere?" It's not like they went a lot of places when they were in San Francisco, but then there were more /places/ in San Francisco.

Nasir 'tsk'd' at Claire's question, dismissing it with a wave of his hand just as Kelsey's arm wound around his midriff. "I fucking hate the place. I don't hate the people, no, I hate the whole 'vibe' of a police station. The criminals, the complaints, the paperwork. Not my cup of tea-- I just had to renew my gun license. I have to do it every year, it's just easy for me since it's tied to the military ID, and the tax's a lot lower," he didn't bother to add any more sprinkles or words to that, and while working an easing rub on Kelsey's flank he furrowed his brows questioningly at Carter, bemused. "Man fuck your preferences. Go big, especially in this town, canine units don't get nearly the same amount of work and money like investigators do. Especially with the way everything's turning out in public lately, with all these disappearances? We need more agents on the field trying to look into it, I think," however serious Nasir was, there, at the corner of his lip, a hint of playfulness- even if his gruff tone didn't exactly leave room for it.

"I fix red neck's air conditioners out by and in Huckleberry. " There, deadpan, for Claire. Better to get it out of the way now, probably.

Claire uptips her head as Carter implies that Nasir does repair work. She utters a little growl at his mention of the fan. "That thing is going to kill me. It will be a bad episode of Dark Mirror. You watch. Demon machine." Carter's mention of wanting to be a K9 officer draws a small smile to her lips. "That kind of dog I'd be all about," she approves. She nudges her shoulder into her brother's arm with a smile, "You just have a prejudice against fried dough. It's highly unbecoming for a man of your station." Claire nods a couple of times at Carter's mention of Sarah. "I was hoping to go up to Seattle this weekend," she counters, as far as sitters go. But they don't currently have a dog, so that ought not to be an issue. There were so many more places to go in San Francisco. Do not get Claire started on that particular rant. "How'd you get Wishbone? And how old is he?" She casts a curious look to Nasir and catches the playful demeanor, so she lets all the commentary settle as it is.

"Fans are totally evil." Kelsey agreed solemnly and smirked a touch. "Seattle's nice. Been up here a couple times over the last year or so." She offered. "Wishbone? Saw an ad online. Some chick found a box of puppies just out on the side of the road or something left for dead. And I figured it'd be nice to have some company around the house, so I reached out to her so I could claim one of them after she had them taken to the vet and all. I'm glad I did. He's adorable and, even though it's been a bit of an adjustment - I do like having him around the house. He's a great snuggler. But he's gonna be biggg when he's all grown up. He's less than a year old right now."

"We've got a lot of detectives," Carter chuckles, "For a really small area. Someone needs to actually be out on patrol while all this investigating is going on to try and respond when things are happening rather than after the fact." He does grin at Nasir though, apperciating the man's whole go-big-or-go-home attitude in all his advice, even if he doesn't seem inclined to take it. Carter grins over at Claire and pats his stomach, "You feed me too well for me to have a taste for fried dough. Not when I can have pancakes, bacon, eggs, fresh fruit, and hashbrows at home." Then he raises his brows, "You're going to Seattle? With Sarah?" Since that was the last he'd recalled. Something about dancing. "This fan is particularly vicious," Carter says to Kelsey. "It's tried to trip both of us multiple times. It bites." It doesn't. But it's cumbersome, bulky, in the way, and busted.

Some of Nasir's attention went away with Wishbone as he came running back to Kelsey and him, ball in mouth. He took it upon himself to indulge the little menace of fur and throw the ball off at an easy distance where he could watch him run after it, to ensure no issue rose in between. "Hey, well, you give me your address and the place, I'll show up with my toolbox. If you can give me a summary of the shit that's broken through the phone that'd also help me a lot in regards to what I'll be bringing, you know?" His explanation was entirely for Carter, but he couldn't help and squeeze in Kelsey's side once finished, his chin resting on her shorter head while he took in the view of the siblings with a smirk. "I'll admit, I wouldn't trade bacon for anything in the world. Especially not fried things made out of dough. Fried chicken would make me reconsider, but that's about it."

Claire nods to Kelsey. "So we've heard. Carter is taking me up there to go clubbing. I miss the San Francisco scene. A lot." She casts a Look at her brother when he seems to have forgotten the plans. "You're working too hard, Carter. Way too hard." An ironic thing to say while he is chatting up some acquaintance (and herself) in the park. Still, Claire knows better than to assume he's not taking in the entire public scene while conversing. "Do you have any idea what breeds are in him?" Claire inquires of Kelsey about Wishbone. She smiles at the thought of a cuddly canine. "Okay. So maybe it's not such a bad idea," over her shoulder to Carter about the dog. As far as what Carter says in response to Nasir's advice, Claire has heard Carter's opinion on the matter enough times not to be surprised at the words. "He's got the Every-Man thing down, Nasir. Don't fret. Heroes come from all quarters." She smiles a bit as Nasir bites the bait in terms of coming over and helping with electro-mechanical issues around the house. Then she's nodding somberly at talk of the Death Fan. Claire leans in against the fence and glances to the cavorting dogs in the play area with a thoughtful expression on her face. "I can make fried chicken as a thank-you if you can spare the time," she tells Nasir.

"Bacon is pretty hard to pass up on any account." Kelsey agreed, tucking her head comfortably against Nasir's shoulder when he rested his chin on her. Blue eyes watching Wishbone primarily though she was fully listening to the conversation. "He is excellent with his hands, so I'm sure he'll be able to fix up whatever you guys need in no time." The comment spoken with a completely innocent expression. "Fried chicken is something I haven't tried to make yet. Maybe if you do I could watch? And/or play assistant and watch. I love cooking."

"See?" Carter says to Claire. Bacon trumps donut. True facts. He then nods to Nasir and says, "I'll take an inventory of all the stuff that needs work and then I'll give you a call and let you know." Then he seems to remember, "Right. Clubbing. Sorry, I forgot that that ws coming up." He rubs a bit at his face. He had been working a lot and losing track of time a bit. He chuckles and says to Claire, "Tell you what.. we'll wait and see if I get into K9. If I do, the question will answer itself." He is still paying attention to the rest of the park. Even as they talk, he scans the park, its periphery, the parking area along one side. But for the most part, there's little of note going on. "You're both welcome to come over and have dinner with us," Carter offers to the pair. "Bring Wishbone if you like, too. Our back yard is uh, postage stamp sized, but it's a yard, and fenced in."

A single twitch. Yes- Kelsey's comment brought only a subtle, lightning twitch of a brow and no more. He kept his focus on Carter, letting go of his easy-goingness for this very fundamental need of taking work seriously, for Carter there offered, indeed, work; "Swell, awesome. We'll swing by, make a nice little visit out of it all, and hopefully Wishbone won't take a huge shit on your bed," he prompted in return, looking off to the pup with a visceral and toothy smirk, so retracted of lip he flashed two incisors of uneven length, only but exacerbating his sly demeanor in its aesthetics; "That'd be awesome, Claire. The fried chicken, I mean-- not the dog shitting on Carter's bed. We'll bring some cola, or beer, or whatever it is you guys' drink? Unless its coke zero, then you're going to have to go buy that yourselves. I'm not putting my hands on that evil concoction."

"Sounds like a good time to me." Kelsey agreed. "And Wishbone will enjoy running around anywhere. And will not shit on your bed." She laughed. "Thank you for the invite." She gave Nasir a squeeze in return. Wishbone came bounding back up to them. This time she took the ball to toss it lightly. Though right about that time her phone started going off. Digging it out she peeked at who it was. "Oh I gotta take this. One sec." Releasing Nasir and starting to walk off to the side a bit to answer the phone call.

"Sure," Claire answers Kelsey. "I make a decent fried chicken. It's mostly a matter of oil temperature. Too cool and you end up with greasy chicken. Too hot and you burn the outside before the inside is finished." Claire doesn't seem to take Kelsey's comment about Nasir's skill with his hands as anything untoward. Carter earns himself a bit of a smirk at his evidence of donuts not being the end-all of foods. "Yeah yeah, Carter. I heard him." She watches him rub his face and murmurs quietly, "I forgive you, Mister Extra Shifts." She nods to the K9 plan. "That sounds like the right course of action. If that's the way it goes, we'll have an insanely smart puppy to deal with. "Sure, you can bring Wishbone. But I think the yard is smaller than a postage stamp," she both agrees and disagrees with her brother. "But we're still going to fit a jacuzzi in it. Someday." To the couple leaning into one another she holds up a finger, "Don't expect much from the house. It's old. The furniture is old. Things are worn. But it's ours." And that last fact sounds like it's all that matters to Claire. The suggestion that the dog might relieve himself on Carter's bed causes Claire to screw up her face in an almost amusing reaction. "Make sure you give Carter your number," she suggests.

Carter nods to Nasir and says, "Coke is good. Beer is good." He doesn't seem to mind whatever they want to bring, really, and then he smirks at the talk of the dog taking a dump on his bed. "Noted. We'll keep the bedroom doors closed." Because really, these things do have simple solutions. "I've got his card from when we met at the station," he assures Claire, and then gives Kelsey a little wave as she begins to wander off. He too sighs, as though realizing the time. "I need to make another sweep around the periphery of the park. Been chatting for a bit too long." To Nasir he says, "Good to see you again, man." Then he gives Claire a one-armed hug and smooches the top of her head. "You, be good. I'll see you at dinner?" Then he's ambling off to do his job, like he do.

"Dinner," Claire answers approvingly. "Watch out for burning pumpkins." She smiles at Nasir, glances over her shoulder at his girlfriend. "It was nice to meet you, Nasir. Tell Kelsey I said good-bye."

Nasir isn't entirely happy with a simple, worded farewell-- they were more than acquaintances now, that was solidified by the prospect of a house visit, so Nasir reached out and gave him one broad pat on the shoulder. If there was one thing this engineer had, they were hands of fastidious size. "Get 'em skip," he prompted, doing a two-fingered salute as he angled off. With Kelsey's brief departure most if not all of Wishbone's safety was entirely on his shoulders, quite the responsibility. Knowing this, soon as the pup came back with the ball playtime was over and he scooped him up, cradling it against his chest and below the neck so he'd be in total control of the little puppy. "Alright so, I'm going to steal that girl there with the phone away but she just doesn't know it yet," he commented to Claire, sparing a brief glance Kelsey's way before knowingly looking back at Claire, smirking. "I also do renovating work, by the way. Tell your brother-- need a new ceiling, work on the room frames, walls, paintings, want a new rustic floor? And landscaping. Fuck, I pretty much work it all dude, just keep it in mind," after pontifying himself thusly as Bob the Builder, Nasir gave a bow of his head and angled off towards Kelsey with the puppy in his hands.

And much after, off to the former's home, as he was her ride after all.