2019-11-21 - When it rains, it pours...

It's a warm autumn afternoon, but there's rain falling outside, which makes it unusual for people to be out and about in the park, but there is Justin, walking along the pathways with a large doberman/english mastiff mix puppy leading the way. The pup looks to be growing into those big feet, but still has that clumsy puppyish energy about him. Justin's dressed for the weather in hiking boots, jeans, a white t-shirt and green/blue flannel beneath a light jacket worn less for warmth and more just to not become completely soaked by the rain. As he grows closer to the carousel, he ducks under its enclosure for a few moments as the rain begins to come down a bit harder. Caleb gives himself a thorough shake, sending water spraying everywhere around him, tags on his collar jingling.

Raining means that Matthew is sheltering on the carousel, watching the rain fall. His face is relaxed, the skin around his eyes creasing into a small smile, the brown eyes warm. The puppy turns that smile into a grin, and as Justin ducks in to shelter, he greets him lightly, "Nice dog." The shake draws a chuckle from him, even as he lifts a hand to wipe water from his face. "Lots of energy." The casual comment is given with a smile.

Justin hadn't noticed Matthew on the carousel itself when he'd ducked into its shelter to avoid the rain, so the sound of the voice has him glancing up, and then laughing a little. "Sorry, he likes the rain, and pretty much everything else, for that matter. His name's Caleb." The big pup whuffs, and gives another little shake, this one not quite so violently wet as the first. "I knew it was going to drizzle a bit but this is a little more rain than I was bargaining for."

"Caleb. Nice." Matt's grin comes easily, the expression warm and friendly. "I'm Matt." He offers a hand to shake, to the man, rather than the dog. "It is a bit more than they warned us about." He agrees lightly, peering out from under the cover, "Makes it a bit hard to do the repair I'd planned." The grin turns rueful, but the good humour doesn't fade.

Justin walks over to the carousel proper and steps up onto it to reach out and take the offered hand, giving it a friendly shake. "Justin," he introduces himself. Some might recognize him as the CEO of a popular video game company, others form his association with his mother and acting/modeling, or possibly from spending every summer in Gray Harbor from the time that he was a kid. Others might not recognize him at all. But he has a friendly, easy smile. Leaning up against one of the nearby horses, he chuckles and says "What'd you have to work on? I've loved this thing since I was a kid. Used to make sure to ride it every summer."

Abby comes wandering from the general direction of the hospital, meandering through the park. She's in scrubs, colorful stylized flowers, but these are largely hidden under a bright orange raincoat, hood over her head so she's got some protection from the rain. And her comfy yellow ankle boots are also not really hospital attire. And she's eating. Fortunately it's just an apple, which is rainproof in its own way. The other hand is safely tucked away into a pocket. She moves towards the carousel, peeking up curiously at it, and flashes a friendly smile at the two men already there, munching away until her mouth is free enough to speak up, "Hi. Good afternoon!"

Matt seems to recognise the name, giving a nod of recognision. He is a local lad, but it seems unlikely that Justin would know of him. "I make repairs but I prefer to keep her running in good condition." His grin flashes again, and he adds quietly, "She bites less that way." He glances up at the rain, adding quietly, "I think it is getting heavier." The greeting from the woman brings that broad grin back to his face, "Afternoon. Want to join us in our shelter?" The rueful humour in his voice comes with the smile.

"We're hiding out," Justin says to Abby as she comes walking up. Caleb wags his tail happily at more people. All the people. He likes people, and so he's busy sniffing a bit at Matthew then walking over to sniff at Abby, well, only as far as his leash allows him, but he certainly makes an effort to greet her as well. "It got a lot wetter a lot faster than I was planning for when I started this walk." Then he nods to Matthew and says, "I'd suspect that being bitten by a carousel leaves a mark," with an amused smile.

"It's not so bad, is it?" Abby asks, tilting her face up and allowing some drops to splatter on her, one fat enough to make her flinch when it hits her eye. "Oh, shoot!" And so, squinting one eye nearly shut, she shuffles closer under the cover of the carousel, blinking rapidly. "Haven't been on this thing in forever and ever," she comments with a smile once she manages to open her eyes wide, leaning down to offer the dog a smile as well. "Hello!"

"it can do. Sparks fly." His lips briefly twist but quickly resume his smile, one that chases shadows from his eyes, "She runs beautifully so far..." He reaches out a hand, brushing fingers down the side of one of the horses. "Should be rainbows." The light words come with a dramatic peer up to the sky, the man trying to deadpan his face. "Nope, none there yet."

"That's Caleb," Justin introduces the dog to Abby, "And I'm Justin." Then he nods and says, "I haven't been on it either since actually moving here permanently.. until today." Caleb happily sniffs at Abby and sits down somewhere between the three of them where he can pay attention to everything that's going on. "Probably when it lightens," Justin opines on the topic of rainbows. "When there's a bit of a break in the clouds and the sun can reflect off the moisture in the air." But right now it's too grey for that, very little sunlight actually peeking through.

Abby does smell, hower faintly and indistinctly to human noses, of cat. "Hi, Caleb," she greets the dog first. Then she straightens up, pushing the hood back off her head and reaching behind herself to redo her short ponytail again. "I'm Abby," she introduces herself in a warm, friendly tone, then takes another small bite of apple, leaning out to have a better look at the sky. "Hmmm." She shakes her head. "Nope. Which is too bad, because I could totally go for a pot of gold," she shrugs, feigning disappointment for a moment, then gestures to the carousel with her apple. "I probably only rode it, like, half a dozen times, maybe? When we came to Gray Harbor for some reason, when I was a lot smaller, and... well, sometimes."

"Matt." He adds his name to the lst of names being provided, smiling at Abby's joke about the gold, and then adds with a grin, "I could turn her on, if you want a ride." Then he reviews what he said, and a ruddy colour seeps into his cheeks, his gaze flickering uncomfortably to them and away. "I could turn the carousel on." He clarifies quietly, obviously awkwardly. "You both visitors?" The words are quietly spoken, his eyebrows arching in question, even as he answers the question for himself, "Grew up here, myself but I'm just back now." He rises to his feet, heading towards the controls of the machine, "Here, have a ride."

Justin can't help but laugh just a little bit at Matthew's turn of phrase and then abrupt correction. "I think we knew what you meant," he says gently, though, and he pats one of the benches for Caleb to hop up on, since putting the dog on a horse isn't going to happen. Then he, himself, settles onto the bench next to him, giving him a pat. "I used to come to Gray Harbor every summer with my folks. They liked it here and we had a summer place for a long time. I moved up permanently in the spring."

"Not if it's a lot of trouble," Abby replies warmly, blinking but otherwise saying nothing about the business of turning on the carousel. She does climb on it with a little puff, holding what's left of the apple in her mouth, teeth gripping it tightly until she makes her way to a horse. She carefully climbs on one, freeing the apple to explain, "I'm from Elma." Elma being a little town of just about 3000 people, around a 20-minute drive away from Gray Harbor, along the road to Olympia. "So we'd come in sometimes, you know, for shopping or... well, seeing a specialist at the hospital, things like that."

"Two minutes." The man mumbles, his hand absently stroking down one of the horses as he passes. "No trouble..." The second mumble comes as he opens a small panel, and glances over his shoulder. "All ready?" Then he presses the button, bringing the carousel to life, the horses begin to move and the music starts, blurting out into the rain, lighting up like Christmas. "See, she likes to show off." Another pat as he moves to lean against a pole, tilting his head. "Settled here now, Abby?"

"Elma's.. near Olympia?" Justin says as he tries to place the name of the town, which is familiar, even if it's clear he's not entirely certain that he remembers where it is situated. Once the carousel begins to come to life, though, Caleb starts barking and Justin laughs. "It's okay, boy.. it's okay." He gives the dog a pat to let him know that yes things are supposed to be moving and making noise like that. And eventually Caleb settles. "First carousel ride," he chuckles.

"It's on the road from here to Olympia," Abby confirms with a quick nod, flashing Justin a smile, "It's almost halfway between the two, a little closer to Gray Harbor, maybe?" She blinks as the music starts, glancing up, and braces herself against the horse, leaning forward and wiggling slightly, though she has to twist in her saddle, so to speak, to answer Matthew's question with another vigorous nod. "Oh, yes, I'm a nurse now at Addington Memorial." And she twists in place to point in the direction of the hospital, too. As if someone might have missed it. Then tugs her raincoat slightly open to flash her scrubs underneath.

Matt lets the carousel run for a time, grinning broadly at Caleb's reaction, "Seems reasonable to me. Ground moved under him." He flips the switch back and the lights die slowly. The final light is a spark that leaps from the button to his hand, drawing a yelp and a mumbled curse from the repair man. The smile has a touch of gritted teeth to it, "Nice..." The mumble comes through those gritted teeth, and he nods, "Got to go, I've got a job to get to." Obviously avoiding fuss over the spark that did bite him, he gives them both a nod, and jumps down from the carousel, heading towards a well-cared-for truck. "Nice to meet you all."

Justin nods when Abby explains where it is located and gets a slightly better picture in his mind-map of where it is, "So, not too far away. Practically neighbors." He smiles then and says, "How is it over there? I ended up in the ER there a few times as a kid -- usually for doing something dumb with the guys." He smiles a little bit wryly. "Thankfully, I haven't needed to pay it a visit in a while." When Matthew goes to head out, he lifts a hand and waves to the departing man as the carousel continues to turn, the ride likely going to wind down on its own once the timer is over.

Abby nods and keeps nibbling away at her apple, swinging her legs out and back and forward as she settles into the ride around the carousel. "And me without a costume or anything. Worst princess knight ever. Oh, well, I'm living here in town now, anyway." She says it with a smile, which fades slightly into a slight pensive expression at the question. "Well, it's busier than I expected, considering the side of the town and population it serves. But I like it here. It's... it's fine, it has some very good professionals working there. I had to come here a couple of times when I was little, too, mostly because the hospital in Elma was a lot smaller and didn't really have some specialties and equipment."

Justin nods his head when she mentions how busy it is compared to expectations. "It's kind of a weird little town," he agrees, but doesn't really elaborate much more beyond that, getting the sense that he's not saying anything that she hasn't noticed. "I like it here or I wouldn't have moved here permanently," he grins. "I always liked coming up here for the summers, and I have friends here, and it's a lot quieter than L.A. even if the per capita crime rate seems to be higher."

Abby nods her head slowly, thinking while she finishes her apple, flashing a sidelong glance in Justin's direction while riding her horse. "It is... a little strange, isn't it? Well, I had another job opening in Seattle, but it was just too big and too busy and too everything. I just don't think I'm cut out for a really big city, so I ended up here. At least it's kind of familiar." Then she raises an eyebrow. "But it must be very different from L.A.! I wonder if it's the per capita crime or just... some crimes. There were also a few weeks that were just awful with accidents for no reason, it was crazy. I don't know if it's like this every year, though, I've only been here since January. Well, I had some classes here before, but I've only started actually working at the hospital this year."

Justin settles back in his seat now that Caleb seems to have calmed down and is embracing the movement of the carousel, hanging his head over the side of the bench as though it were out a car window. "It's very different from L.A. But then, that's why I came here. I needed to get away from.. everything that L.A. was, for the most part, and just get myself a bit of peace and quiet where I could focus on work and not deal with all of the distractions."

"I'm sure it's very quiet compared to L.A." Abby smiles, though she does give Justin a slightly doubtful look. "I suppose it's all a matter of what you compare it to, right? Elma's a lot quieter. Nothing ever happens there, not really. So this feels pretty busy to me. Fast-paced city life!" She leans forward on her horse, as if... trying to gallop on it, then relaxes again and smiles. "What about the weather, though? Do you miss the sun, a little bit?"

"Not really," Justin admits with a bit of a laugh. "I mean, I can fly down there whenever I want if I want to enjoy the sun and the warmth. But I actually like the rain, strange as that might seem. This kind of moody greyness suits me, in a way." He chuckles a little, "Perhaps it's my inner emo teenager or something." He scritches Caleb a bit and then says, "Not that I dislike SoCal, really, either. But I spend most of my time wrapped up in my office, anyway."

"It doesn't seem that strange. But I guess I'm used to it, so it's just regular weather to me," Abby pushes her shoulders up in a slightly overdone shrug, smiling brightly as she takes a few final nibbles at her apple, thinking. "Right! I suppose if you're not going to the beach and, I don't know, hanging out with celebrities or other L.A. things like that," she gestures with one hand, fingers wiggling vaguely in the air at an imaginary constellation of strange L.A. things that probably happen in her mind. "Working in an office is probably kind of the same in most places, isn't it? What do you do?"

"Oh, I spent plenty of time hanging out with celebrities and at parties, and galas, and charity events, and.." Justin says with a little bit of a wry smile. He /is/ an L.A. celebrity, after all. "But then, that's what I came here to get away from, and it's worked pretty well so far. Most folks here either don't know who I am, or know and don't care since they've known me since I was about yea tall," he holds his hand up a few feet off the ground, "And all skinned knees and trouble." When she asks what he does, he says, "Well, my personal project is that I run a video game company. But I've also done some acting and modeling, mostly because of my mother."

Abby looks over and blinks. "Ohhhhhh... okay, I guess this is really different from that, then," she says with a little wrinkle to her nose and a tiny sympathetic smile. "That's good. Right! Elma's tiny enough that everyone knows me or my family. So I came here to get away from that. Same thing, really, if you ignore all the rest!" She winks, then looks up as the carousel winds down, swinging a leg over with a little puff of breath. "Ohhh. Any game I might know about?"

Justin grins at that and says, "Totally the same thing." In a way, it is similar, and he seems to like the comparison. He glances up as well as the carousel song starts to grow a little more tinny and then fades as it slows and stops, which causes Caleb to jump down from the bench now that the world is no longer moving. He doesn't go far though, just plopping himself down at Justin's feet. "Dreamwalk by Lucidwave Games," he says, "It's an MMO, mostly centered around a dreamscape created by the collective unconscious, and what happens when those multiple worlds collide."

"Right? Same thing!" Abby confirms with a nod, stretching as she gets off the horse, hands on her hips as she tilts back and to the sides like she's trying to get a kink out of her back, gaze dropping down to Caleb with a smile. She glances up again at the mention of the game. "Oh. I think I saw a bit about that! That's a pretty big deal. I don't think I have the time to play MMOs much these days... or at least to really get into them like I used to for a little while."

"Yeah, the game is doing really well. It's only been out for a couple of years, so we have lots of plans for expansion, and new projects that are being worked on. It's something that I got into early on when I was a kid, and it fascinated me. So I just kind of ran with it," Justin says, finally pulling himself to his feet and making his way down and off of the carousel, Caleb trotting along at his side as the rain begins to ebb a bit. "It was really nice meeting you, Abby. I should probably make a break for it while the rain has let up to get back to work but.. Hopefully I'll see you around."

"That's great! Right, I played a lot more a few years back. I kinda feel like I don't really have time for the big online games these days, but that sounds like a really neat idea!" She offers with a genuine warm smile, then switches the apple core from hand to hand to wave Justin off. "Nice to meet you, Justin. And nice to meet you too, Caleb!"