2019-10-21 - Moonlight Sonata

It's evening time, and the weather is well...cool. It's getting on towards the cooler part of the evening, and Ash was outside on the front porch for a while to decorate for Halloween coming up, but since the sun has started to go down she's moved inside the house to continue decorating.

Everyone loves surprises, right? Probably not true, but Garrett is clearly assuming he'll be a welcome surprise in this case. Dressed in jeans and a blue-on-gold University of Minnesota hoodie, he makes his way towards number 9. But he comes bearing gifts, too! A bottle of whiskey in one hand, his guitar in a hard case in the other, the first hand using a knuckle to press the doorbell.

"Just a second!" Ash hollars towards the door, the possibility of that no one hears it. For one, Ash isn't really that close to the door, for two...there is music playing.

After a second though, Ash pulls the door open to the dulcet tones of blackbear's do re mi drifting through the house, "How much was it?" It pops out of her mouth before she even looks at who is at the door, a hand reaching into the back pocket of her shorts for the cash to pay for whatever delivery she was expecting. But then she actually looks at him. Then she leans out the door, looking back and forth up the street, "You're not the pizza guy, Whiskey Fairy."

Garrett looks amused at the immediate response, glances down at the shorts, then back up to Ash's face. "We can pretend I'm the pizza guy, if you want. This is the part where you say you don't have any money to pay, right?" His tone is innocent, his expression far more playful than suggestive. "This a bad time? You seem busy," he says on a slightly more serious note.

"I mean...it is, if we're acting out the start of a porno. Which..." Ash shoves the money back into her pocket before she steps out the front door towards him, leaning in to give him a kiss, "I'm all for, but I'd have to find a camera so we can POV that shit." She then turns promptly on her heel to move back inside, holding the door open for him with a grin, "I was just decorating, not that busy. You on your way next door?"

It's the guitar case, it screams band practice, obviously.

"You say that like phones don't have cameras," Garrett counters, but still clearly not serious, returning the kiss and smiling wide when they part. He glances down at the guitar, then shakes his head. "Nah, felt like dropping by, and it occurred to me you've never been blessed by my dulcet tones, so the guitar seemed like not an awful idea." He glances at the whiskey. "And this is the poison of choice in this house, right? Seemed a shame not to come bearing gifts if I'm just going to show up." He says all this as he accepts the offered invitation inside, kicking his shoes off near the door and turning to smile at Ash once more. Decorating, hm? Mean I get to watch you climb ladders and all that in shorts in exchange for bringing you whiskey and live music?"

"You brought that just for me? Hot." Ash replies with a laugh, waiting until he's cleared the door to push it shut behind him, moving to take the whiskey from him when he mentions it, "It's one of the chosen poisons in the house. The boys are fans of mead, too. And fancy beer, I think. I never pay much attention to the beer, I just drink it." She points him towards the couch before smirking, "I mean, you could. Or I could just make a drink and listen to you serenading me with your dulcet tones."

Speaking of, she moves to turn the music off before offering, "You want a drink?"

"Sometimes I like to show off?" Garrett grins at Ash as he listens to the other poisons of choice. "Mead? Like, honey wine? Neat." Garrett seems vaguely intrigued by the choice of drink, moving towards the couch and setting his guitar down, opening the case but not pulling the guitar out quite yet. "I suppose I could do that, yeah," he confirms. Of the serenading? Of the drink? Both? That's for Ash to decide.

"Yeah, like...whatever. I can see if there's any floating around, but if you're into that the one you should talk to is Marius." Ash points out as she heads towards the kitchen with the new bottle of whiskey in hand. What she eventually returns with, and it takes a little while, is not something with whiskey in it. Tall, narrow glasses are brought out, and the colors swirling around in them are bright blue at the top, and the yellow-orange of orange juice at the bottom, only to begin mixing to a bright green in the middle. "So what are you going to play for me?" She wonders, holding out one of the drinks towards him.

"Oh, just thought it was interesting, wasn't like..." Garrett trails off with a shrug. "Don't hear about people drinking mead outside, like, Game of Thrones, you know?" He gives the colorful concoction an intrigued look when it's offered, reaching out to take it, taking a small sip. "Well that depends. What kind of music do you like?" he counters, smiling. "I probably know something you'll like." He takes another sip from the tall glass before setting it down and pulling out the guitar, a Guild F-50 jumbo that has clearly been well cared for over the years. He waits for Ash's input before he starts playing anything, though, starting to tune up.

"I'll listen to anything." Ash points out with a shake of her head, dropping herself onto the couch, pulling her knees up so that she can wrap one arm around them before she takes a sip from her drink, "I mean...seriously. I will listen to anything. I've got no taste in music beyond radio crap, so..." She shrugs her shoulders, actually managing to look apologetic as she expects she's crushing his delusions of her being one of the musical set. "Play what you like playing, seriously....and they are into that Game of Thrones...Viking shit. So. Mead."

The front door to the house opens and in pops Astrid. She's got her TIBS uniform on -- a soft black t-shirt paired with skinny jeans. She has no idea that Garrett is here, so her desperate whine might be a little embarrassing. "I just want you to cut off my feeeeet. Maybe all the way up to the knee. Tell Easton I can never come back. I have no ability to stand. And it's all his fault. I don't care how sexy his beard is, or how his new jeans make his ass look great. I'm tired!" She throws her bag in the hallway corner with a thump. "Ash! Are you home?"

Garrett fights back a wounded look at Ash's taste in music, or lack thereof. He tries to, anyways, and mostly fails. "Well. Nobody is perfect, I suppose," he concedes with a melodramatic sigh. He starts tuning his guitar, a look of contemplation on his face, lips pressed into a line, clearly thinking, when the door opens and a not-overly-familiar voice comes from the front door. "Or I can wait a minute," he says, stopping his idle picking at strings to let Ash reply to the latest arrival.

"You've got to go back! How else will you keep me in the manner in which I've come to expect being kept?" Ash calls back promptly to Astrid from where she's parked on the couch, the drink she was drinking is held out though. Because if nothing else, she likes getting people drunk, "You're just in time to listen to Garrett." She then nudges the man, "You should ask what kind of music Astrid likes. I bet she'd have a better answer than I did, too."

"Goddamnit and your champagne habit. This is why people get divorced, Ash!" Astrid is stepping into the living room. Then she spots a not quite familiar person in their house, and her brows arch. "Heeeeey, there's a person in this house that isn't in this house normally and he's cute and has a guitar." Then she completes her path to the couch and plops down beside Ash. "Rub my feet or I make him play country music."

Garrett looks amused by the little exchange, giving Ash a faux-disappointed look. "You're so demanding," he teases before looking back to Astrid. "We met, right? Movie night? Most of this household was piled on a couch under blankets praying for swift death or whiskey?" He offers her a small smile. "Glad you're feeling better. I'm Garrett." The country music threat gets a mischievous look from Garrett. "Better listen. I'll do it," he threatens, even going so far as to play the first few notes of Sweet Home Alabama.

"Drink." Ash wiggles the brightly colored drink in Astrid's direction, "I can't rub your feet if my hands are busy." She doesn't look nearly as scared of the threatened country music as she probably should. Which might be worth fearing, maybe that is her deep, dark secret. "You should play Free Bird."

Astrid flops back dramatically against a pillow, and she then glances slightly toward Garrett when he helps kick her memory back into gear, and she snaps. "Right! Hi!" Then she is looking back to Ash when she complains about her hands being full, so she reaches for the glass. "Here, I'll help you!" At the mention of Free Bird, Astrid rolls her eyes. "No, no. Please not Free Bird. Momma listened to that song on repeat when she was in her '70s kick."

"Ash. Nobody has the time or energy to listen to Free Bird. And I certainly don't have the time to learn it." Astrid's objections get a faintly approving nod. "See? Two against one.. Any requests, Astrid?" He pauses for another sip of his drink, then looks over at Ash. "What is this, anyways?" he asks, beginning to strum idly, not playing anything in particular, clearly waiting for a request more reasonable than Free Bird.

"Thank you!" Ash replies cheerfully when Astrid liberates her drink, then she reaches for Ast's feet to tug off the shoes and socks in the way of this foot rubbing that she's supposed to be doing. "Fine, then you've exhausted my music knowledge."

They probably actually haven't, but she seems to be more than happy to let the musical ones pick songs. When asked about the drink there is just a mysterious smile in return, "Two kinds of rum, pineapple juice, OJ, blue curacao." No name. It probably has a name. But she's not supplying it as she turns her attention to rubbing Astrid's feet.

Ash now has a drink and someone to rub her feet and this is why she's going to live with Ash forever. She sips at the drink, and she glances toward Ash as he explains what's in the drink. She tips it back with a little oooh. "You're pretty good at this. You ever think about maybe doing some bartending at Deuces?" Now her eyes flicker to Garrett. "Do you know that song from The Little Mermaid?"

"I don't even drink much and I still know that is the girliest drink I've ever heard of." This doesn't stop Garrett from taking another drink from it, clearly. "And it's delicious. Thanks." A bright smile, then an amused look at Ast. "Can't say I do. Anyways, here's Wonderwall." At which point he definitely starts playing Foo Fighters' Everlong.

"Uh...Excuse me. That is not Wonderwall." Even Ash knows this! But she does add in a request, "Do you happen to know Feeling Good?" This is a wildly different song than any of the other suggestions, but she sounds honest about the request. "I've not, I mean, I guess I could ask Easton if I can tend bar...but would the tips be better?"

"What's Wonderwall?" Look, she was a Waldorf kid. Astrid then squints at Ash. "How do you know this isn't Wonderwall? You still think that every N*SYNC song is just Justin Timberlake." Then she flops back with her pilfered drunk. Then she squints. "If I ask what Feeling Good is, do I get kicked out of the house?"

Garrett mostly ignores the chatter while he plays. Not like he can sing and talk at the same time, after all. Once the song is over, though, it's clear he was at least listening. "I know it's not Wonderwall. It was a joke, Miss Donovan," he informs her with a wrinkle of his nose and sip of his drink. "...Feeling Good....." He thinks on it for a few moments, then shakes his head. "Can't say I do, but I'll look it up next time I get the chance?" That's the best he can do. "You should definitely ask about tending bar," he adds in agreement, nodding.

Belatedly, Astrid adds, "Tips are always better behind the bar."

"Fuck, Ast...I mean, that's almost enough for me to not love you any more." Almost, but clearly not enough. But it does mean that she has to stop rubbing Astrid's feet so that she can get up. She heads to where her phone is docked with the speakers so that she can pick it up and scroll through something, then she sets it back down before hitting play on Feeling Good. "I'm kind of concerned about both of you now, I just want to tell you that."

Astrid's eyes widen before her expression droops. "You wouldn't." But then Ash is getting up and abandoning her, and she slumps back with her drink a bit dejectedly. Then Ash is hooking them up with music, and she tilts her head as she listens. "Oh... I have heard this one. I just didn't know it's name."

Garrett tilts his head and listens to the song. It doesn't quite click with him until the band comes in, but by then he's at least hitting the chords with it, accompanying Ash's phone. "Right, same," Garrett says, nodding with Astrid. "Just didn't know it by name." He stops playing when the song ends, nodding, amusement on his face at the banter between the two of them. "Ah, true love," he says with a grin.

It probably totally ruins her cool factor that right after the song is another one. This one? Not a classic. Ariana Grande's new song Break Up With Your Girlfriend comes on and Ash just doesn't say a word in apology for the change in music. Instead she just resumes her seat, and rubbing on Astrid's feet, "Fine...I'll forgive you both for it. But Nina Simone is amazing."

"I like her," Astrid agrees, sinking back into the couch with Ash as she rubs at her feet. She finishes off her drink, and sets it aside just before she flops back out. She releases a long, leonine yawn before she flops her head back. "Alright, so." Astrid isn't even perturbed by Ariana Grande joining the party. "What're you going as for Halloween, Garrett?"

"She is amazing," Garrett agrees as well, nodding. Another sip of the fruity, colorful drink. "This really is delicious," he informs the nights bartender with a smile. "Halloween. Right. Tomorrow night at the comic shop I'm gonna be Luke Cage to Sparrow's Jessica Jones. At your party... when is that, by the way? But regardless, I'll be going as James Bond." Which makes sense with the accent.

Thankfully everyone is in agreement with Ari, right? Ash stopped paying attention as she goes back to rubbing peoples feet. Which means Astrid's feet. "What are you going as this year, Ast?"

"Luke Cage, huh? And James Bond?" Astrid squints her eyes slightly at Garrett, like she's trying to see it. But then she just shrugs and resumes her sprawl. "You're a bit tall for a Bond. Aren't they all kinda short? You going to shave your head for Cage, or just go bald cap?" Then she squints at Ash. "I'm not telling. It's a surprise. I do plan to get glitter everywhere, so make sure Jens pulls vacuuming duty next month."

"Cage had that afro in the comics." Ash points out with a shake of her head, "Blaxplotation shit." She then gives Astrid's feet a pat, then releases them so that she can slouch some, glancing over at Garrett with a smile, "He's going to help me sound British for my costume. Which'll probably go really, really badly, honestly."

"I'll be going as a combination of comic and Netflix." Pause. "The laziest possible option, in which it's me in a perforated hoodie," he clarifies with a shrug, then a skeptical look at Astrid. "First, Pierce Brosnan is plenty tall. Second, and more importantly, when you're in a tux drinking martinis in a British accent with a pretty girl in a slinky dress, height stops mattering." He finishes his tirade with a 'so there!' nod, then a little grin. "I'm really curious about your costume now. Definitely going to have to come see for myself."

"Poor hoodie," Astrid intones, which is what she said several times during the run of the Luke Cage series. She apparently quickly came to terms with the bulletproof man and has now decided to mourn his wardrobe. She drapes casually across Ash's lap as she curls back up on the couch. Garrett's words on accents and martinis and beautiful women has her snorting, but after a pause, she relents, "Yeah, okay." Then she looks up at her friend. "What're you going as, Ash?" She still avoids any hints on what she might be going as besides GLITTER.

"The hot chick." Ash replies with a curious look, then it dawns on her that Garrett didn't include that part in what he was going as, so she clarifies really quickly. "Vesper Lynd, the smartest Bond chick there was. I'm slinky dress shopping." Which might also explain why she's going to fake an accent, even if Vesper wasn't British. Was she? Ash then shrugs her shoulders before she throws her arms around Astrid, giving her a squeeze before she leans in to smooch her on the head.

"The hoodie is a willing sacrifice, I promise," Garrett assures. "I asked it repeatedly if it was okay with it, it assured me it was." Garrett grins over at Ash. "Slinky dress, potato sack, pretty sure you'll nail the Bond girl look regardless," Garrett points out with a fond smile. "And you've already established the brains side of things," he adds.

"Oh, so that's why you didn't ask me if you wanted us to have matching Halloween costumes." Is there a little droop in her voice? "You're becoming a Bond Girl." She then rolls over a bit to get fully embraced in Ash's arms, and she huffs out a little breath. "Did you find a nice dress?" Though Garrett's compliment has her smiling up at Ash. "You are pretty brainy, Ash." She rests her head against hers.

"I figured you might already have your costume in the works." No. No she didn't. Ash was, in fact, a very bad friend and now she's hurriedly trying to make it up to Astrid, which includes much hugging, "I haven't found a dress yet, though. Wanna go shopping for a dress with me? I mean, it's pretty close to the wire, and I'm going to have to find something soon, or just come naked." She glances at Garrett, waggling her brows at him, "But no potato sacks, because burlap itches."

"Right, rashes, you mentioned that. Can't have that." Garrett gives an overly serious nod to Ash before looking down to Astrid. "She really is, isn't she?" He's obviously not going to play anything else immediately so the guitar makes it back to the case for now. "So, it occurs to me, Astrid, that I know next to nothing about Ash's one, true love," he says, giving her a vaguely expectant look with a small smile.

Astrid casts Ash a reproachful look, because she can almost scent the rushed apology hidden in her friend's words. She works through it, nudging around the feelings in her own head before she nods soberly. "Sure. I can come help you shop for dresses." Her frown lingers just for a little bit before Garrett adequately distracts her. She glances back toward him, and then to Ash, and then back to Garrett. "Well. What do you want to know? I mean, I don't have a really epic life story or anything." She flashes him an easy smile. "Are we about to play 20 Questions?"

"Love you." Ash assures Astrid with a faintly hang-dog look, going back to hugging to make it all better, her head resting against Astrid's head, then she glances over towards Garrett when he decides that he's going to start asking Astrid all about herself. There's a quick grid for that, but she doesn't say anything, instead she starts to pet at Astrid's hair, continuing to sooth hurt feels.

Garrett remains quiet through that little exchange, pointedly focusing on his drink while feelings, hurt or almost hurt, are seen to. He does return his focus to Astrid when she asks about 20 Questions. "Sounds like I'm planning to interrogate you when you say it like that," he says, the accusation teasing. "But I dunno. How'd you two meet?" Simple place to start.

Astrid looks at Ash dubiously. "Am I supposed to tell him this stuff? He's an outsider." She squints at Garrett thoughtfully before she gestures dramatically. "Alright, but not even Marius and Jens know this story." That's not true at all. "So, Ash and I were in Freshman comp, and, you know how this goes right, you start scoping out your own seat. Well, this dude was annoyingly good at always showing up and stealing other people's spots in class. He would somehow always show up first, grab a seat that was someone else's, and just rotated through the class." Astrid tucks an arm under her head. "Well, dude finally got around to my seat. I wasn't putting up with it, so I marched over and was ready to throw down, and then there's Ash. And I don't know, we must have had like a mild meld moment, because we totally joined forces and ended up in his lap as this glob. I don't think he expected anyone to do that. He freaked, and bolted out of the room, and like sat in the back for the rest of the term." That's what happened, right?

If that isn't what happened Ash isn't going to tell any different story. Nope. Mums the word. She continues to pet at Astrid, looking bemused by the interrogation that is starting. There is a mild shrug for Astrid's question, "I guess. I'll tell you all about how good a kisser he is for your pain and suffering."

"So a d-bag, I follow..." That's Garrett's initial response to the guy, nodding, listening, looking amused as the story goes on. "...and that made him /stop/ sitting there?" he asks, tone vaguely mischievous, before his attention turns to Ash, his scandalized expression very, very fake. A pause. "How do you know how good a kisser the seat stealer is??"

"Look, it's all about shoving the unexpected at someone. Some guy who is trying to get the upperhand by being a douche isn't going to expect to have two women suddenly in his lap, preparing to tackle class with or without a douche in their seat." Astrid takes this all very seriously. But then she's grinning up at Ash. "He was an okay kisser, I bet. He looks like the type that thinks he's amazing though."

"What...no." Ash wrinkles her nose at that, shaking her head, "I have standards." She does, sort of. "I was going to tell you how good he was as revenge for the interrogation." She gestures towards Garrett, since he's the one asking all the questions. "But you remember the really bad kisser, the one from the library that one time? He's going to be at the part again this year, Ast."

Garrett's faux-scandal only grows. "Ashleigh Donovan! How dare you!" But he can't manage that for very long, and soon he's laughing and reaching for a drink that suddenly finds itself empty. "But yeah, that makes sense. Trying to get a girl to sit in your lap is one thing, them doing it unexpectedly in class, quite another," he agrees. "So. School. What're you studying?" Poor, poor library-guy gets a sad little sigh of pity.

"Oh. Roger? Or was it Daniel?" Astrid is honestly trying to remember Library Guy's name. But then she's moving on, and she's brightening with Garrett chiding Ash. "Oh man, he used your full name. You're in trouble now." She leans her head against Ash in an almost gentle nuzzle. Then she looks over toward Garrett. "Oh, I'm studying ecology."

"Oh, yeah. By the way...you're totally banging the wrong part of the duo. Astrid can talk your language, unlike me." Ash points out, looking unphased by the use of her full name, or being told that she's in trouble. Nope. She's never in trouble. Life doesn't work that way for her. But she is very happy to give return nuzzles, then smooch Astrid on the cheek before giving her a squeeze.

"Big trouble," Garrett intones, serious voice at odds with the playful wink he shoots Ash. But then Astrid tells him what she's studying and he's immediately interested, leaning in just a bit. "No shit? Had some grad students up at the park.... two weeks ago? From UCLA, I think? Mix of biology and ecology and probably some others." He flashes Astrid a wide, approving smile of her field of study, then Ash a skeptical look. "There's a wrong part of this duo?"

If Astrid is surprised that Garrett and Ash are knocking uglies, she doesn't let it show. She instead just laughs at the kiss to her cheek, and leans in against Ash until she's in full cuddle mode. Then she is smiling up to Garrett, and her eyes widen when he shares the details. "Oh! Nice! I'm doing my capstone on impacts of manmade ecology on habitats. I've been doing an extensive study of Gray Pond because it's manmade, but it isn't actually providing enough habitat support." Nerd. Oh my god, she's a nerd. Then she grins to Ash. "Okay, I like him."

There is a slight cross-eyed look at this, only mentally though. Because Ash hasn't a clue what they are talking about, in specifics. The words themselves she understands, it's just a matter of how those words are used, like, "What's a capstone?" And then. "It's manmade?" She didn't know this. But then she shakes her head at Garrett's question, "Not really, no. I mean...conversationally, Astrid probably can talk plants and animals better than me, but we're both hot. So."

"That so? I know at least one of the lakes up at Olympic is man-made, if that'd help?" Garrett offers. There's a pause as he thinks. "...probably the one those other folks were at, now that I think about it," he muses. Then he sits up straighter and smiles, quite pleased with himself. "She likes me," he informs Ash, as if she didn't just hear that. Then he nods his agreement to that last statement. "Unfairly so, some might say."

Almost sensing Ash's cross-eyed-ness, Astrid smiles apologetically to her soulmate. Then she glances back over toward Garrett. "We can nerd out later and I can totally show you what I have." Now she looks up at Ash. "Capstone... big project I have to do to prepare for my masters program." Because science nerds are in school forever. Then Astrid wrinkles her nose with a smile. "You always say the nicest things."

"It's the truth." Both Garrett and Astrid are told this, because Ash is telling the truth, and so is Astrid, and so is Garrett. Ash licks Astrid's cheek before she releases her, starting to get up carefully, reaching for the glasses, "Are either of you wanting another drink?" She wonders, being so nice as to contribute to their future alcoholism and need for liver transplants.

"Deal," Garrett quickly concurs with Astrid, giving her a small, agreeable nod. "Have Ash take you up to Olympic, she knows the lake I'm talking about." But that's enough talking shop and he stops. "Well that depends if you're trying to get me drunk," Garrett teases as he hands her the empty glass. "It was delicious, though," he adds, tone a touch hopeful as he smiles.

Astrid hauls herself up with a groan, but not before she pecks a smooch to Ash's cheek. "No. I should go, like... shower and maybe see if I can sneak into Marius's room while you all pretend that's not what I'm doing." She pushes herself to her feet, groaning again. "But, if he's zonked out, I'll come back down here and cuddle." She ruffles up Ash's hair lovingly before she smiles to Garrett. "Let her get you drunk. It makes her happy."

"Smack his ass for me." Ash requests cheerfully before she nods to Garrett, "Very delicious, much rum. Plus, Astrid is right, you should let me get you drunk because it really does make me happy." She gives Astrid a hug before she's got a chance to run off, but then Ash is heading off to make drinks anyways.

"Night, Astrid! Nice actually meeting you!" Garrett gives Astrid a bright smile and a wave before laughing and eyeing Ash. "And how do I know you won't take advantage of me?" he asks, wrinkling his nose at her. Leaving him alone for a few moments... so the guitar comes back out, because why not?

"I mean, I probably will." Ash is nothing if not honest. Which is why the drinks she brings back this time are less fruity and more just pure alcohol dumped in a glass, which she holds out towards him before glancing upwards, "Want to come see my room?"

"I'll let him know that you asked me to smack his ass!" She calls this chipper over her shoulder before she disappears up the stairs with a cheerful bounce despite her aching feet.

Garrett takes the drink and immediately takes a drink... expecting fruity, a large drink, and he pulls a face as the higher proof catches him off guard. "...you know, I believe I do," he agrees, putting his guitar right back and closing up the case before standing, wobbling just briefly, then moving towards Ash, smiling. "Lead the way, Miss Donovan."

"LOVE YOU!" Ash calls after Astrid, then she moves to grab her phone from the speaker dock, tucking it into her pocket before she moves towards the front door to lock it. "Alright, crawl up the stairs, I'll be right behind you. Just going to turn the light off." Which is sort of not leading the way, but she's at least pointing in the right direction.