2020-01-03 - Couchfire

Dark grey clouds obscure the sky this afternoon with a flurry of snowflakes fluttering down and swirling between the trailers. Geoff can be found on his porch wearing a heavy hoodie, pants and boots as he tends to his grill and the strains of Savage Garden's 'I want you' play from a stereo system located beside him on the covered porch. Out in the yard a bonfire has been erected out of a couch and more standard bonfire materials.

After parking on the street outside the trailer park proper, Harper strolls into the park carrying an over the shoulder bag that looks crammed full along with two fold-up outdoor chairs in one arm, and she winds her way toward where the couch is being sacrificed to the bonfire gods. The librarian is wearing boots, jeans, and an overlarge Irish sweater. She drops the chairs and sets them up within the circle of warmth around said fire, lit or not, then sets down her bag. A couple of containers of various foods are pulled out and carried over to Geoff. "Hi there," the librarian murmurs warmly. "This was a fabulous idea." She grabs the man by the arm to pull him down for a kiss to his bearded cheek before tipping her head as she recognizes the music that's playing. "Geoff Turner. Are you listening to Savage Garden?" She reaches up as if to test for a fever with the back of her fingers to his forehead, unable to quite hide her amusement. "I brought some vegetable skewers." That's what's in those containers. "What I didn't remember was something to drink."

As of this Friday, Merry Hartwell has been given a reprieve: a night off and a FREE Saturday. Right when she saw fit to haul on the flannels and park her arse down with a book, her phone rang. Of course it was a friend of hers over Huckleberry way, catching wind of a do and wanting Meredith to 'live a little'. Merry has been to the mobile home park a handful of times in the past to visit 'Brenda', so...

... so now there's Merry in a puffy peacoat and black slacks with her hair left loose. She looks puzzled to not see Brenda here.. she's been stood up! But she has the grace to smile awkwardly up at Geoff as he mans the grill and Harper, who arrived minutes before. She watches their friendly banter and wonders if she (eeerk) happened upon the wrong place!

"Hi.." She's holding a tupperware container in her hands, "I have cupcakes." Softer still: "... and wine." NOW we're talking.

"I have drinks..." the voice offers softly, even tentatively, coming from an equally tentative looking young woman. Thin in stature, with a bright shock of red hair, Kass has made her way down from her trailer towards the bonfire. In deference to the weather, she's wearing an overlarge hoodie that hits her at mid-thighs and threatens to swallow her hands whole, emblazoned with a lot of different band logos that looks to have been airbrushed onto the fabric; then there's darkwash skinny jeans, and a pair of gold leather Chuck Taylors. A messenger bag hangs at her hip and clinks lightly as she shifts her weight from one foot to the next. She offers a small shrug and adds, "I suck at cooking, so I brought booze. Hope that's okay..."

Huddled around the bonfire in a folding chair is Easton, sans drink in his hand he's apparently taken up chain smoking instead. His hands occasionally leaving a cigarette in his mouth to warm themselves by the fire. He looks up at Harper as she arrives and calls out "Amen!" when she questions Geoff's choice in music. "Why do you think I'm way over here?" He gets up though to go greet her with a hearty hug and kiss on the cheek. Yeah, they don't know each other all that well, no that isn't stopping Easton. He grins at Kass, and then does a quick double take, "Hey!" recognizing her from the Dream from a few weeks back, "I'm Easton. And booze is always, always okay." Except for when he's avoiding said booze and it's not okay. But that's not what he means. He extends a hand to shake and then offers to help take the booze and put it somewhere useful.

Geoff snorts and offers a roguish grin to Harper, returning her kiss with one to the brow "Yes, I am most certainly listening to Savage Garden." then after a pause and the faintest hint of defense "It's a good song!" The fire has in fact been lit and it's blazing timbers keep the snow away in a fifteen foot radius around it. As Easton gets that jab in he says "You're just grumpy because we've got no beer to go with the burgers." Which was a choice Geoff was inwardly lamenting on his own."

As merry approaches he offers her a warm smile "I got burgers and brats coming off the grill, feel free to help yourself. The name is Geoff by the way." his head dipping in greeting to Kass as she makes her way up as well.

"I remember you... I'm Kass," she offers towards Easton with a brief, flickered smile towards him. Reaching in, she pulls out fulls bottles of Maker's Mark, Crown Royal, and Kraken. Either she has a drinking problem or she made a run at some point. Moving along with Easton to get the bottles settled, she glances back to Geoff and gives a nod, "I know you, too. Nice to, um.. actually meet? Introductions are always nice." She flashes a brief grin before looking towards Harper with a smile, "Hi. I"m Kass. Then to Merry, "Its nice to meet you all."

Harper turns as Merry approaches and smiles a genuinely warm and welcoming smile at the woman. "Hi," she begins. "I'm Harper." She may be assuming that Geoff knows the assorted folks who would attend a winter cookout at the trailer park. "Cupcakes sound terrific." Past Meredith, Harper spies Kass's demure arrival, assuming she heard the introduction, also. "Well, thank goodness someone thought of beverages. I can't believe I left --" She looks at Geoff. "Do you still have those cane sugar cokes?" And the bottle of rum? "I'm sure it's just fine," she reassures the redhead.

It's Easton. How in the world did Harper miss him? His agreement about the music starts Harper laughing, her brown eyes sparkling with mirth. With an expression that is fleetingly startled, Harper winds her arms exuberantly around Easton's neck and hugs him fiercely before stepping back. "Look at you, Marshall. All ... in a straight line. It's good to see you. I hope you had a good holiday." She looks around and, if there are no plates, utensils, or condiments, she will handily produce them from her bag-o-wonders. Because that's what Harpers do. There may be a few books in that bag, too. Don't hate the librarian.

Suddenly it's not quite so scary.. this lot seems rather accomodating to a random woman just showing up! Aware of Kass arriving so soon after herself and in a similar fashion, Meredith offers the fiery-haired woman a kind smile before turning to face the others. "Smells fantastic," She is too polite to remark upon the music. Not that she dislikes it! Just... yeah.. smacks of the 90s. The ribbing between Easton, Geoff and Harper amuses her nonetheless. "It's a pleasure Geoff, my name is Meredith. I was, ah.... word of mouth brought me here but she's..." A glance over a shoulder. "Kinda not here."

Egged on by the mood of the gathering. Merry sets the container down upon any ol'surface and pulls off the lid, revealing about two dozen homemade chocolate cupcakes. It's balanced out by a fine bottle of red Shiraz that she had jammed into her coat. A smile to Harper, "It's a pleasure. Thank you."

"Introductions are good. Not getting set on fire is even better, so let's aim for that, yeah?" Easton cracks jokes as he sets out bottles, looking perhaps a little too long at the Maker's Mark as he pulls it out of the bag.

Hugging Harper tightly he laughs, "Yup. Just got back in and Geoff is already plying me with his meat." He helps unpack things, all the while a cigarette dangling from his lips.

He offers a friendly wave to Meredith and leans over Geoff's shoulder ostensibly to check on the grill but mostly to growl something in his ear, though it's obviously some in joke between them not anything actually in anger.

Soon the music is ending and moving onto something much more modern, Smashing Pumpkins, apparently Geoff has made a whole playlist. "It's a pleasure to meet you Kass and Meredith. Make yourselves at home and enjoy yourselves." He gestures to the smattering of chairs around the bonfire and the meats that have already been set out. With a grin towards Meredith he assures her "Hey if your friend bailed on you that just means there's more fun for you, right?" Because that's obviously how fun works.

In regards to Harper's question he clicks his tongue "I think there are some in the fridge, or failing that try my glove compartment." filling in the second half of that unspoken question. With a laugh he leans back to give Easton a swat on the rear "Hey man, you know you love my sausage, don't try to pretend like you don't."

"I make no promises." Kass offers as fair warning in response, though she flashes that all-too-brief grin along with it, hopefully just teasing? Looking back to Harper, she gives a bit of a nod and glances to the bottles, "I can get a decent discount from the suppliers at work, so I tend to have a lot sitting around... not sure what that says about me but.." she lifts a shrug and seems to be okay with whatever that is. Her eyes trail back to Easton and she bites her lip, then sighs, giving in. "Don't suppose you have another one of those I could bum from you? It... I would pull out something else but I'm never sure if people are okay with, uh.. other smokables."

Harper sets up utensils, plates, condiments and -- what do you know?! -- a warmed container of baked beans, and another with potato salad. "Hi, Meredith. Word of mouth is a significant method of communication in this town. Completely legit." Easton's comment about not getting set on fire drags Harper's gaze over to him. "Let's not take all the fun out of the afternoon. A little pyromania is fun when you have a bonfire that includes what I think is an old sofa." Easton's suggestive commentary about what meat Geoff may or may not be plying and in what direction drags Harper's ready laughter. "And you like it that way, don't try to deny it." Her words come just on the heels of Geoff's which amuses her further.

The librarian tagteams Meredith right after Geoff. "Maybe your friend will show up after awhile. But in the meantime, we're happy to be surrogates." It's likely Harper's not using the royal 'we'. She watches Easton growl over Geoff's shoulder with a warm expression. Geoff keeps the cane-sugar cokes in his glove compartment? "I'll check the fridge," Harper answers and heads into Geoff's trailer without any further invitation. She comes back out wielding four chilled bottles of Mexican Coca-cola and sets them up on the beverage table. "Want a Coke, Easton?" Harper turns her attention to Kass, listens to the reply. "Where do you work?" She then adds, "Your smoke, whatever the variety, doesn't bother me." She tucks a strand of raven hair behind one ear and flickers her attention around as if trying to determine what might be missing.

Nervous blue eyes watch Easton leaning in to whisper to Geoff, and the latter's response causes Merry to very nearly knock over her bottle as she laughs to herself. Hey, she may look after kindergarteners and on her 'off' days love other peoples' children as if they are her own... but! Off-the-clock Merry isn't virginal in her sense of humor. Honestly it's their rapport that amuses the heck out of her. As she opens up the bottle -- it's a screw top, not a corked one.. thank God -- she feels much, much better. May as well make herself at home even if she is still a bit nervous.... time to get that wine down her gullet, fast. She didn't drive here.

"Anyone for wine? Ladies first." Merry remarks. She does not look concerned in the least re: smokables... hey, she's progressive! Go for it Kass! Also... hopefully Harper managed to magic up some plastic cups! Hey, wine in a solo cup is perfectly fine.

The Smashing Pumpkins or the slap on the ass seems to calm Easton down and he agrees with both Harper and Geoff, "That's true."

The comments from Kass bring a laugh and he says, "Fine but can we roast someone else? I'd take getting shot over getting burnt to a crisp again." He pops out a pack and flicks a cigarette up to offer to Kass saying, "Not a problem." His other hand pulls out a lighter though he hands it to her instead of offering to light it for her.

"Wine?" He asks a question and glances over at Geoff before starting to say something else when Harper asks if he'd like a coke. He pauses and says a little to brightly, "Sure! A coke would be great." So would some coke. And that whiskey that is staring at him with the single red wax eye. Or maybe that's just in his head.

Geoff plates up a hamburger and offers it over to Harper with a grin, telling Kass as he does so"I mean I have no problem with what you want to smoke, go ahead and relax I mean it's legal. At least on the state level. Just if the feds come don't smoke on my porch." He offers a laugh to go along with that." The talk of roasting and arson catches his attention as he tells Easton "He man I've /got/ to show you something later, it's pretty fucking awesome even if slightly useless."

Harper takes a moment to let the Smashing Pumpkins take the place of Sugar Pop as she carries Easton his own bottle of ... sugar pop. "As I recently told Geoff:" she begins, handing over the cold bottle that seems to be what she's talking about (maybe), "... just sit back and let it happen." She clinks her own bottle to Easton's, apparently choosing to forego the rum this time for some reason or other, and lifts it to take a drink. "Oh, Meredith, I think I'll tea-total it for awhile. Thanks." A nod to Easton. "You're off the burn list. I promise."

When Geoff offers her a burger just how she likes them, Harper pivots and heads over to him, "Thanks, Turner. The meat looks great." He receives a teasing smile before she sets about condiment application. There are definitely solo cups in the rousting about that Harper did to gather utensils and such: absolutely perfect for bonfire wine. She heads over to take a seat near the fire, a half glance toward the grill-master at his talk of fucking-awesome-useless things. She asks Meredith, "You from around here? I don't think I've seen you." This is an actual thing to say in Gray Harbor.

Kass takes the cigarette, tucking it into the corner of her mouth with a nod. Before he can even lift the lighter all the way, the end of the cigarette pops into bright life, cheery burning merrily as she draws on the tobacco. There might be the briefest hint of a smile. Maybe. She flicks a glance towards the bonfire, then down, then over to the liquor she brought in. The temptation is great. Letting out a cloud of smoke on the exhale, she nods to Harper, "Oh, um... Platinum? The, uh.. the Cabaret." She lifts a shrug and half smiles like 'whatcha gonna do', then turns the half-smile to Meredith and shake sher head, "No thank you.. the wine always messes with my meds. Not sure why. But thanks. I'll definitely have a cupcake." Because what's the point of being an adult if you can't eat whatever you want, right? Glancing towards Geoff, she offers, "I'm legal.. got my card. Helps with the.." she motions a circular motion towards her head as if to indicate something, then shrugs and drags off the cigarette again.

Something comes to Merry just then... it's like a radio frequency, whispering in her mind. The moment she looks into the eye of the bottle.. it's there. It's hard to tell who this feeling comes from, this feeling of longing. It's not easy; it's aggressive and wanting. But so very very... wanted. Merry blinks hard, looks over a shoulder. It's noticed in the moment of Easton passing Kass the cigarette and suddenly Merry feels bad. She looks back to her lone bottle, her portion of the inky dark drink winking in her classy A.F plastic cup.

Capping the wine and leaving it, while carrying her own, she smiles kindly to Kass and offers up a cupcake. "Here you are." They'll be frickin awesome, too.

It is a container of chocolate cupcakes that she holds out to the others assembled.. hopefully such a thing will help to temper the demon that she senses Easton to be grappling with. Merry's blue eyes sparkle as she turns to Harper, "Lifelong.. I am just good at flying below the radar. I live at the school, and the library."

The automatically lighting cigarette just gets a small smirk from Easton. He doesn't need to think too hard at this point to figure out that someone lit it up the new fangled way. He just intones to Kass, "Careful. Use it too much and you might end up back where we were that night." He doesn't bother hiding what he's talking about. He's only as cryptic as he feels necessary to not spoil the mood. But then he can feel something brushing across his mind and gives Meredith a good hard look before forcing himself to not give 'angry Marine' face, so he smiles which he manages to make not look like a threat of some sort, so that's good. He has no idea what she was about, scannig him or reading him or whatever but he's not about to get bent out of shape about it.

He clinks bottles with Harper and gives her a look, one that tries to communicate that she doesn't need to abstain on his behalf. But he doesn't comment on it, just opens his bottle and takes a sip. It does not in anyway hit the spot, but it's good enough for now.

Something catches at the corner of Harper's peripheral vision and she glances over to Easton and Kass at the cigarette-exchange ceremony. She arches a raven brow thoughtfully before flickering a glance from the redhead to Easton. The amount of pleasantness coming from the man may just make Harper a bit uneasy. Harper isn't abstaining on Easton's behalf, though it would be easy to construe it that way if one isn't familiar with her drinking habits. "Do you dance?" This is asked of Kass. There are no undertones of judgment to the question. Curiosity. Scads of curiosity. Back to Meredith, "Well that's interesting. You have amazing under-the-radar skills. Or the odds are incredibly against us meeting, given the fact that I work at the library. I can't believe I haven't noticed you frequenting my library." Possessive pronoun. "And you work at a school? What do you do?"

Geoff dips his head towards Kass "I'm sure you are, I just have a faint mistrust of the feds." with that said he starts handing out burgers like they are going out of style, offering one to everyone in turn except Easton who gets a pair of brats made up for him. With a laugh he asks Easton "Man you say the potential for betting your life is a bad thing." wobbling his hand he admits "Then again I've never had to work my way through a saw movie so who knows."

The firm look will not fetch anything too foreboding, at least from what the eyes see. A slight young woman, long hair, astute blue eyes. Good thing the Angry Marine face didn't come out because Merry prolly would've fear!pooped a bit. That's an awkward thing to have happen at a gathering that feckin' Brenda stood her up at. She 'feels' eyes upon her though and offers an innocuous smile back. Poor Merry.

Thankfully Harper speaks up, bearing questions, and Meredith sips her drink and contemplates her answer: "I do not speak up much. Beyond my classroom I'm really a very.. well, I don't get out much." A gentle smile, there's such a light in those eyes. "It's a bit uncanny how I can keep to my own devices.. I really am sorry for not saying hello. Especially when you've been so kind, tonight. It's entirely been my loss, in that case." Merry looks down at her drink again, "I look after a kindergarten class a few days a week.. and in the meantime look after kids in my home." A beat, ".. I'm off tomorrow." A shy smile.

"Oh fuck your lucky ass Turner." Easton grins at the comment about betting your life. "Just because I usually end up getting burnt or blown up or whatever and you get to skip through fields of flowers or whatever shit doesn't make me wrong here." No Geoff has not to Easton's knowledge ever had a Dream about skipping through fields of flowers, but it's fun to say. Easton continues on, "Yea your version of the asylum is all cartoons and Disney shit and round two..." He stops and looks a little confused. He tries to remember how crappy it was and what went wrong and he can't remember? He blinks and trails off, "Anyway. Good thing I like your meat." He asides to Meredith, far, far too loudly, "I mean his dick. His brats are just so-so." Of course his dick comment comes right after he finds out he she is literally a kindergarten teacher, not that it would have in anyway stopped him.

Geoff mentions the Saw franchise and earns himself an amused glance from Harper across the space between the edge of the bonfire and the grill. But then her attention slides back to Meredith. "Some might say that you have a talent. Blending in is a skill set." She lifts her Coke bottle in a toast to Meredith's expertise. "You don't need to apologize to me. If a person wants to have a solitary experience at my library, I'll do everything in my power to provide them that. To provide you that, Meredith. But tonight we're neither in a library, nor are you under the radar. Are you out of your comfort zone?" The bonfire crackles and pops as it digests the furniture and other kindling. Harper leans forward, holding the plate with one hand, to reach over with the other hand to lightly pat Meredith's knee. "It sounds to me like you have an affinity with children. But a day off now and again is a good thing. What do you like to do when you're not working?"

Poor Harper. She's trying to be social and welcoming and she cannot refrain from glancing back to Easton as he mentions asylums. There's just another brow uptipping from the librarian, a weighted look, before her gaze drifts back to Meredith. Dick vs. brats? Harper starts coughing on the swallow of Coke she just took. It eventually turns to laughter inclusive of Meredith rather than at her expense. "They're incorrigible. I suggest you either encourage them with vigor or ignore it entirely. The former is usually more fun."

Geoff snorts and shakes his head "If there's no Mickey it ain't fuckin' Disney. Plus that was closer to gitmo then it was to fields of flowers. I want to go along with you next time you go." then to Meredith and following on the heels of Easton's comment he informs her "See this is why I married him, his tepid praise of my grilling. Really though it's pretty amazing you haven't met up with Harper before seeing as she's the dark and glorious queen of the library under whose thumb the dewey decimal system trembles in delight."

Shaking her head at Harper, Kass mutters, "No way. I can barely walk in sneakers, let alone dance in heels. I waitress... running drinks, occasional app order. Uhm.. help come up with ideas for events and stuff. Just.. whatever needs doing that isn't being on stage." To Easton, she watches him, maybe looking like she wants to say something before deciding to bite down on it instead and just nodding. There are some things just better left unsaid. Instead, she offers, "There's worse places to be..." Then she's shifting around, cupcake in hand with a grin for Meredith for having brought them. Mmmmmmmmm, cupcakes. She takes a bite, shifting things around so she can pour herself a few fingers of the Makers Mark into a red solo cup, lifting it for a drink and giving a nod, "Chilled is best." She wolfs down the cupcake in order to get the burger, grinning at Geoff, "You know someone that doesn't? If I could avoid anyone in any sort of 'official' capacity, I would be a happier person for it." She wanders off to find a place to park her butt and have some burger and bourbon.

"You've a fine library. I come there often to take out books for my kids." Meredith smiles... she's a crackshot on her returns too: never late. The pat to her knee earns a sweet smile, "I enjoy hiking, baking... crashing cookouts... really nothing out of the ordinary." A soft laugh, before turning next to Geoff. "I am astounded, really... I must have really kept my head down! A pity! But better late than never.... could I have one of those brats?" Asked sweetly. Kass nomming the cupcake causes the woman's expression to positiveloy glow.. "Please, help yourself... I brought lots//." Said to the redhead.

Then! Easton's comment! Hey, the quiet pure ones are often the freaks.. sometimes. Meredith may not be too far in one direction but that doesn't stop her from laughing out loud at his words. Honest-to-goodness laughter. Though she blushes... hey, can't fault her that one. But bless her she's laughing outright. "Of course I will encourage them. It would be a pity to quash them before they really get going."

Then, in a deadpan tone to Easton: "All beef?"

Harper nods. Of course she nods. She's proud of her small town library. It's her kingdom. Geoff's words earn him a quirking smile. "Trembles in delight?" She adds, "Put Disney on the list. Or Magic Mountain. One of those." But Kass answers the question about what she does at the club. "I'll bet you could tell some interesting stories. And I think by a bonfire is a marvelous place to start." She motions to a nearby chair in invitation. "We're all ears. Meredith here is off tomorrow." She manages to intone the words the same way the kindergarten teacher did.

Easton catches the look about asylums and figures that's a 'file that away for later discussion topic' which is good because he's trying his best not to panic about the fact that he can't seem to remember anything about the second trip. He's sure that they received an invitation and went to the hospital and then... they came out? He got so busy with the trip and texting Bennie and somehow it slipped his mind? He shakes off those thoughts and tucks into the food, accepting that fine the coke is a fair substitute for booze at least when he has something to eat with it.

"We are not incorrigible! In fact we're very easy to encourage." Yes, he's being willfully ignorant of the meaning of that word. At Meredith's question he just raises his eyebrows and gives a very solemn nod.

When people start to gather around the fire he slaps Geoff on the shoulder and says, "Gotta run, need to check in on Bennie. Thanks for having me.." He hesitates for a moment before saying, "I might be back to crash later. We'll see how it goes." It being anything from checking in on Bennie to his avoiding substances to just being able to sleep.

He waves tot he group and wanders off, lighting another cigarette and pulling out his phone before climbing into his Jeep.

Kass looks up suddenly, owl-eyed at the request and hedging quickly, "O-oh.. uhm... I probably shouldn't. I still have to work there after tonight. And good stories aren't always super flattering..." She flushes and ducks her head down, focusing on her food for a moment. "Besides, I don't pay much attention to the people are doing... I just run the drinks and stuff..." She almost assuredly has stories, the stain of a blush on her face suggests as much. But she seems determined to stay close-lipped on the subject. Glancing up when Easton departs, she gives a quick nod and glances back down again.

Geoff dips his head in agreement "You know fire sounds great, give me a second and I'll join you two." with a gentle bump of his shoulder to Harper's he says "Save me a seat?" as if he actually needed to ask that. With a nod to Easton he says "Good luck man and I'll leave the sheets on the couch." and once Easton is setting off he waits for him to leave before he heads over to his truck and pulls a bottle of emergency rum from the glove compartment and brings it over to mix with the soda before trotting over to take a seat beside Harper, a broad grin aimed at Kass "Come on you can share with us, we won't tell anyone." Gesturing to Meredith he says "Kindergarten teacher." Then to Harper "Librarian. I don't think they exactly run in the right circles for those rumors to have any weight." Of course he leaves out the fact that he owns the local tattoo shop

The soft-spoken teacher is feeling the wine, already making her belly fuzzy. But she knows better than to go forth in excess. As Kass is brought forth to regal the cookout set with tales, Meredith -- not unlike her little ones on a commonplace day of classes -- is all ears. But Easton's departure is not overlooked. As the voice 'whispers' in her mind -- regretfully; what right was it of hers to feel these things -- she lifts her hand in farewell.. the wine-wielding hand is left in her lap, holding said wine.

Geoff's reassurances to Kass are echoed by Meredith, and she smiles reassuringly to Kass. "Trust me, I'm as vanilla as they come."

There indeed is an empty seat on the other side of Harper from Meredith. Kass is most certainly nearby. "Take care, you sonovabitch," Harper calls after Easton, the words seeming a tad incongruous from her lips. Still, they don't sound like they hold any ill will. Harper takes a bite of her burger and murmurs a happy sound that might be a compliment to the meatsmith. Geoff encourages Kass further and Harper smiles winningly at the woman. "It's true. Although he makes me sound like I live under a rock, rumors are the antithesis of my mission statement, as it were. What's told around the bonfire, stays around the bonfire." Harper? Harper would argue with 'vanilla'. But no one has made the accusation of such. So she simply takes another bite of her burger and waits with expectation.

Kass sidles in closer to the bonfire but still offers a quick shake of her head, head ducking as she murmurs, "They'd kill me if some of these stories got out. Do you know what its like to choke on body glitter? Its not fun..." Shuddering lightly, she takes a seat, then sighs softly as more chime in for stories. "SO uh... so.. a group of uhm.. younger guys came in. Maybe just outta high school, maybe college age. Like four of them. I guess one of 'em just had a birthday cause they kept pushing drinks on him and uh... buying him lapdances. So, uhm.. uh.. one of the girls.. she's.. she's a pretty recent mom. Still looks great but uhhhh... she's breastfeeding? So like.. she goes to give the guy his lapdance and, uhm.. well.." Her face lights up crimson, "She went to do the thing where they rub the guy's face in her boos and... she sorta... hosed him down? Accidentally? It was.. it was... his friends were all kinds of falling over laughing.. poor kid had this look of just.. pure and utter shock on his face.. breast milk just dripping off his nose..."

Nodding solemnly Geoff says "I once choked on body glitter, it was not a fun occurrence...Well I mean the night was fun, my bae Sasha was there and well that's a whole other story, but still." With a broad grin he listens to the story before chiming in at the end of it "Damn normally you have to pay extra for that." This is said in jest of course "I imagine he got a great nickname and story he can never tell in public out of that though."

Red. Poor little Meredith is red.

Suddenly she cries out with laughter, claps her palms over her mouth, hunches over. Is silent for a time, collecting herself. Geoff supplying the 'choking on body glitter' bit doesn't help and Merry is lost to the giggles for a bit. (OOC: Pardon shortpose, had to see to something IRLY. 🙂 )

Harper listens to Kass's complete story with a fascinated expression. Geoff's solemn revelation that he once choked on body glitter earns him a deadpan side-long look. She turns her attention to see how Meredith is receiving the anecdote, then, belatedly, she starts laughing. She can't not make an attempt at some potential nicknames. "Mama's Boy? Milkman? Mothersucker? Babyface? Young Faithful?" Her laughter makes the words hard to get out. She has to pick up her plate and lean forward to set her half eaten burger on it on the ground so she doesn't dump it to the ground.

"Probably, but she got lots of tips out of it. Even guys that hadn't been with the group tipped her for that... so I mean.. she made out pretty good from it." Kass offers with a small shrug, still staring directly down at her hamburger as she sips her bourbon. Her eyes flit around from person to person before she says, "okay, so someone else should tell a story now. I can't be the only one that has some... and... uh.. I cna't tell most of the stories I do have..."

Geoff flashes Harper a reassuring grin "Sergei was showing us how cheap it was if you buy in bulk. He had boxes of the stuff and thought it'd be fun to throw a jar of it at me." And then he is turning back to Kass and Meredith, gesturing with his burger "I mean most of my stories aren't that fun... I mean I once had a customer relentlessly hit on me while I was giving her piercings and just wouldn't get the hint I wasn't going to flirt back. Or there was the time I had to break it to a customer that while the piece on his chest of a busty angel with a giant throbbing erection might make swimming season awkward there was no way in hell I could do a cover up of it with how heavily it was inked." lowering his voice he shares as an aside to Meredith "Look no matter how good of an idea it seems at a time, just avoid getting tats with boners. I've seen more heartbreak from that then I have from people with ex lovers names tattooed on them."

Harper delivers a decisive blow of humor. The names.. the names destroy Merry. "M-Mothersucker--" She inhales sharply. "Little Boy Boob!" Her suggestion is nearly lost to her laughter. Kass' tale is a hit! Even the well-grilled bratwurst in Meredith's lap -- does she even eat brats, typically!? -- is forgotten. To hell with Brenda, these people are hilarious. Look at the librarian, queen of her literary kingdom and the pure A.F kindergarten teacher yucking it up at tales of college boys getting pew-pewed in the face by loaded-to-capacity bazongas!

Kass bids others to speak of 'tales' and Meredith looks helplessly between Harper and Geoff--

Geoff ends it. Merry shrieks laughter, clapping her hands to her face. Angels with boners; she's done. She hasn't even had 'too much' wine... she just doesn't get out much! But clearly this doesn't stop her.. Merry is amused!

When Harper meets Geoff's gaze once more with her own, his collection of additions to the stories starting with the Sergei bit just starts her shoulders shaking again. "Don't undersell your acuity, Turner," she states as evenly as she can. "You've made some incredible transformations of disastrous images." Meredith adds her own nickname to the list and Harper actually reaches toward her to offer a high five, her own food forgotten on the ground beside her booted feet. At least Harper refrained from drinking this evening. "If I sidestep my own misguided adventures, I suppose my only contribution to this discussion might be to share the way I shame teenagers who are making out in the bathrooms at the library into finding some other venue for their extracurricular activities, but you'll think I'm a stalker. So perhaps let's not and say we did."

Geoff shakes his head slowly "Sorry Harper, you've got to share it now. That or you can default with the promise we'll make out in the bathroom sometime." he levies a /look/ at her "Only options." With a broad grin he looks back to Meredith "Really owning a tat shop isn't nearly that exciting, I got some other stories but they are either the kind that make you lose appetite or are just a downer."

Harper returns Geoff's look with a pointed one of her own. "God forbid I make out with a barbeque-ing, Savage-Garden-Listening, Marine-flirting, tattoo artist of some renown in the sacred shrine of my own library." She taps a fingertip against the glass Coke bottle in her hand. "I usually just walk in and lean against a sink or something and offer up a score of some kind and then by-the-way them. As a 'favor' I point up to the air-return vent and ask them if they can see the camera there." She pauses for a moment, then adds mildly, "There is no camera in the bathrooms. That would be illegal. But it seems to make them want to take their heavy-petting elsewhere. And they usually are appreciative." A sip of Coke with a covetous look at the rum-spiked version Geoff is drinking.

The soft-spoken empath supplies in a laughter-weakened voice: "I can't even offer my own tale to tell." Merry wipes her eyes, tossing her slight self back and pushing her hair from her face. "I work in an elementary school. Enough said." And that's the truth. Of Merry has tales of debauchery and boners and breast milk to share from her lime of work, then something is terribly wrong. She eases back into her seat. Like any teacher worth their salt, even half-snockered, Merry has her ducks in a row: a taxi to arrive in the wee hours, to bring her home. A fond look between Kass, Harper and Geoff... and to the latter, spoken: "I kinda want to hear more.. maybe I should consider my own tattoo someday, but I don't think my tale will be quite so timeless." That said, Meredith will ease into the background, all of her earlier anxiety forgotten. Hopefully those cupcakes will be polished off.

... damnit Brenda.