2020-02-03 - In The Gutter

Bennie wouldn't let them settle on just some Amazon purchased matching bowling shirts. Oh no. She insisted that she be allowed to make them. She even borrowed a fancy embroidery machine to do the detail work. Now they all have perfectly sized red and black shirts with a pin and two bowling balls emblazoned on the back like the phallic symbol they are and little quippy name tags over their left breast pocket. While the boys are comfortably fitted and with buttons, the girls have zippered fronts with flattering darts and the ability to show as much or as little as their assets depending on the height to which the front is closed.

Bennie? Is living dangerously tonight with hers being half way to navel, but she has a black tank top on underneath. Cheater. She's getting her shoes from the desk as she says aside to Easton. "If I space out too bad, you're going to have to cover for me. I started the thing." Her weening off the Adderall before full detox.

[EARLIER]

Modeling his shirt for the initial fitting Easton turns and looks at in the mirror. "I still don't understand why I can't wear pants for the fitting?" He does a slow turn and looks at his bare ass in the mirror. "I mean it does look great like this."

[NOW]

Easton squeezes Bennie's hand as the walk back to put their shoes on, "Yea, you'll be fine. You get spacy, I'll just start undoing buttons on my shirt." What problem can his abs not solve?

Boasting faded jeans and a low-zipped bowling shirt, thanks to Bennie, Harper pulls on her appropriately loud, rented bowling shoes over socks with lightning bolts and flying books. The silver, filagree necklace she wears that has a simple silver ring hanging from it dangles right above where the zipper reaches. Harper's isn't unzipped nearly as far but without a tank beneath it, there's a significant bit of skin seen down to the hollow of her chest. She wears the hand-crafted objet d'art that is the bowling shirt with pride and a bit of an attitude. "Are we girls against boys, or couples?" Drinks need to be ordered. And possibly grilled cheese. She volunteers to retrieve said libations. "Because girls would definitely win." Easton receives a smug little smile from the librarian. Across the back of Harper's shirt it reads 'Mistresses'. The front name embroidered is 'Harper H. Harper'.

Geoff swaggers in tonight as if he owns the joint and after retrieving his rental shoes he pulls them on, his attire his typical pair of jeans and the bowling shirt only this time he's managed to secure a belt with a large belt buckle emblazoned with a large black rooster. "As far as teams go all I know is that I don't plan on losing." then again Geoff never actually plans on losing "Do they have nachos here? I can't imagine a bowling alley that didn't have nachos."

Bennie's own name tag reads 'Sunshine'. She hugs up against Easton's side, one hand snaking into the bottom hem of his shirt to scrape her nails against his stomach in a tease. "Hmm. Needs to be a little furry." She gives him a faux innocent look before she peels away and darts ahead towards the lane before Easton can get his revenge for that statement. "Help Harper with the pitcher!" She flops against the computer, starting to punch in their names. Teams are for the weak, this is every (wo)man for themselves.

"Girls against boys or couples?" Easton looks at Harper confused. "Isn't that the same thing" As witnessed by the boys shirts which both say, Husbands AF on the back. Easton's is emblazoned with Easy over the chest. He nods at Geoff and says, "Yea, let me grab the first pitcher and at least some nachos and apparently a grilled cheese?" Yes, he remembers that Bennie mentioned bowling alley grilled cheese at one point, even if that thought doesn't really fit his thought of bowling alley fare.

Bennie's hand under his shirt doesn't apparently cause any reaction what so ever. Her comment about any over eager manscaping just gets a "The guard slipped" in explanation. Of course about then his brain catches up and his head turns, slowly to look at her as if to confirm that she is actually joking about 'he of the little furry belly.' "We could always call out for a pizza."

With Easton's help, then, Harper retrieves a variety of foodstuffs, including grilled cheese and copious amounts of nachos with the horrible-but-necessary pump-style cheese. There are any other foods that were requested as well. She leaves the alcohol carrying to Easton. As they return to the lane that Bennie and Geoff have claimed, Harper is saying, "... should do something to make the outcome more interesting." Food and drinks are placed where they are most accessible while out of the way and Harper goes about looking for a bowling ball. She returns with an iridescent purple ball with swirls. "I think I was ten when I last bowled."

As with every dickies workshirt that Geoff owns, his bowling shirt's nametag simply reads 'Earl'. Sitting at the table for their lane, he is polishing the bowling ball he'd acquired from the rack, just because a personal bowling ball is a bit too much, that doesn't mean that a custom polishing cloth similarly emblazoned with 'Earl' was out of his reach. As Harper and Easton draw back closer he says "How about if the losing couple has to cover booze the next time we go bowling so we have a bit riding on this."

So H.H.H., Sunshine, Earl, and Easy are entered into the system, Harper's name flashing for her to throw the first ball. "Pizza's not good for me. Too many carbs." Bennie is grinning as she, yes, picks up her grilled cheese and takes off the pickle slice that has been speared to its top to offer it out to Easton like that's the greatest gift she could bestow as apology. "Booze? Really? That sort of seems lame." Seeming how E is laying off or less of the heavy stuff. "How 'bout if the girl's win, you guys take us on the next Vegas trip."

"Yea, I'm not wild about pizza either suddenly." Go figure. Easton looks at Bennie with narrowed eyes but his lips threaten to twitch into a smile. He takes the pickle and chomps down on it with great gusto. He follows that with a big swig of beer. "Ooh.Them's some high stakes Sunshine. I was going to suggest nudie photos, maybe a tasteful boudoir photo shoot?" He also doesn't mention that booze isn't the best thing for him to be betting over.

Harper nods solemnly as Bennie eschews pizza carbs for grilled cheese carbs. She's still hoping for a more interesting wager, but she doesn't push the matter. "It really doesn't matter as long as the girls kick the boys' asses." Mmhmm. Yep. Asses. She devours a nacho with plenty of cheese, wipes her hand off on something other than Geoff's 'Earl' towel, then heaves her purple bowling ball up and heads for the slippery wooden floor that leads to the lanes. She starts off well enough, fingers in the correct holes, holding the ball up as she takes a moment to become one with the pins so that she can destroy them, then swings her arm back and ... at least it slides down the floor smoothly. It however rolls down the lane at an angle and takes out two edge pins, barely. She watches after it with a disappointed expression as if the ball itself had somehow been culpable for the low-average toppling of one point seven-two pins.

Pivoting on the smooth floor she goes to the ball return and picks it up as it slides into reach. "We definitely need higher stakes than trash beer." Because that's why she hit only two. Another aim, swing, and two more pins give up the ghost. She turns around and moves to settle in a hard plastic seat beside Geoff. "Make us look better than that, Bennie. You got this." She slides one hand up and behind Geoff's shoulders to play across the top of his back.

Geoff taps his foot as he thinks "Isn't nudie photos kind of low hanging fruit? Certainly not on par with the promised land that is Vegas." As he says this he grabs the corndog he'd had Harper grab and dips it into the nacho cheese. Wobbling the skewered sausage around, he watches Harper take he go before taking his bite and commenting "That wasn't that bad, not for the first go in a decade." And with that apparently he's up and grabbing his well polished balled he sends it hurtling down the lane towards the pins, only to just barely wing one and knock it down. "Well shit."

Even if all the pizza take out menus have mysteriously disappeared from his apartment, Easton may soon accidentally discover that Tor drives for Uber Eats too. Bennie just bites her bottom lip, giving Easton the widest eyed look of ever until he takes the pickle, then her expression turns to its full watt beam. "How about Vegas trip versus boudoir photo shoot. Of Harper and I. Together. That you boys get to stage." She leaves them all to contemplate that as she takes her turn at the lane, using one of the bright matte orange balls that was already in the return with an '8' on the side. Can she bowl? Hell no. In fact, the light ball actually catches air before it goes rolling and by some miracle clips six her first ball and another 3 on her second. Bouncing. The blonde is bouncing back to the pen.

"I think we need to work up to Vegas. Maybe at the end of the season?" Easton looks at Geoff and says, "Look, just because I already send you nudie shots every other night doesn't mean I wouldn't like some." He points at Bennie and nods seriously, "Yes. Yes that works for me." Granted it's not exactly a big loss either way in that scenario. With another gulp of beer, Easton walks up and grabs any old ball. His form is stiff and looks almost a little painful, but it gets the job down. He punctuates the strike with a point at the other three before dropping to do ten pushups(?) Look, the last time he bowled he was in the Marines, so somethings were different.

"What are you suggesting, Earl?" Harper inquires. "A co-ed trip to Vegas? Or just a trip for the winners?" Harper seems somehow pleased with the fact that Geoff is eating a corndog. Who knows why. He reassures her that she didn't do so badly? "Thanks, baby. Now go get a strike." She tips her brows up at his first round and advises, "Stop thinking about how your ass looks -- I promise it's excellent -- and concentrate on the pins." Her encouragement tangles with trash talk and ass-watching. He finishes his turn and returns to sit down and she offers him a mug of beer. "Should I zip up my shirt?" Harper is apparently just the slightest bit competitive.

The exchange between Bennie and Easton about the merits of pizza delivery are lost on her as she doesn't know the story of said near-porn quality of pizza delivery that transpired.

Bennie adjusts the stakes just as Harper's taking a drink of her own beer. She chokes on it as she swallows at just the wrong moment. By the time Bennie's turn is over, Harper is clapping, impressed. "Nice, Sunshine. Very nice." Except Harper wants in on the Vegas end of the bet. Some first hand experience would be more than compelling. She sets down her beer with a jostle that almost spills it when Easton hits is strike and she jumps to her feet to applaud, only to stop abruptly, a bit conflicted about whether she wants to cheer for the man to win or not. "Nowhere to go but down, Easton," she finally teases, settling back to her seat to atop her foot. Wait, it's her turn. She returns that obnoxiously girly bowling ball and takes an arguably nice shot on the first try. She can't let Easton show her up so badly. She set the stakes pretty high on marshmallow night. Another concentrated swing, a spinning roll down the lane, and she jumps a few times at the spare, beaming as she heads back to settle again. She steals Geoff's corndog for a bite. "Remember Earl: the ass doesn't need any help." So helpful.

Geoff nods along with Easton "Vegas is more an end of the season thing, and really it's a pilgrimage one takes when they need to clear their mind of the worldly...and fill it with the vegas, and beautiful beautiful Sasha." looking with a skeptic expression between Easton and Harper "You guys need to step up your nudes game if it's worth haggling over." and then people are bowling and in general doing better then him, teasing Harper back "Babe it wasn't my butt I was thinking about." And with that he simply winks to leave it up to the imagination of who he could mean (maybe Easton?) A bit seriously he adds "You know, I bet if your zipper came down a bit further you might do better. And if Harper does pull that zipper down, Geoff is ready to mess with fate using glimmer to boost her luck.

Finally it is back to him and he closes his eyes as he takes his ball in hand, gravely telling the others "This one is for the Jesus." and with that he strides right towards the lane and sends his ball careening down the lane to careen with the pins at the other side, and well, he at least does better then last time.

"Oh. Em. Gee. Did you see that?!" Bennie turns to the others as Easton gets his strike. Apparently celebrating is totally acceptable, even if they are in competition. When Easton finishes his set of push-ups he's assaulted by an arm full of bright, bubbly blonde who can't stop hopping in excitement. "That was Ah-Maze-Ing." She jumps up into his arms, ready or not to catch her and stabilize them both and mutters something into his ear before she releases him.

"What I meant to say was that the girl's get a trip to Vegas. On the boys dime. Versus the joint boudoir shoot aaaand joint strip tease? As the end of season grand prize."

They're already onto their second frame, even as they're hammering out details of the bet, Bennie almost spitting out her beer as Harper gets a spare. "Yessss." As Geoff comes back from the end of his turn, she passes him on the way to get her ball and take her own. "Don't think we won't use any advantage we have, Turner. Up to and including making it hard for you two boys to walk." But thinking about doing just that throws her first ball off nearly into the gutter, clipping one tiny pin right before it bounces past.

Expecting the full on celebratory assault by Bennie, Easton easily catches her in his arms and spins her around. He whispers back laughing. His eyebrows raise when she clarifies the terms of the bet and then furrow. "Would we at least get photos?" And even as he's saying it he's realizing that she's going to immediately ask for reciprocation and his eyes dart to Geoff.

"I think you are mistaking my enthusiasm for you as a lack of self-control Miss Oakes." He intones with seriousness when she 'threatens' to make things hard for them. And after his strike he's feeling a little confident, which is quickly brought back down to earth when he rolls a 1 and follows it up with a whopping 3 more. There are no pushups this time. No kicking at the imaginary spare. Nope there's just a shaking of his head and picking up his beer. "I may not prove to be such a worthy foe afterall Harper."

Easton's strike push-ups earn a roll of laughter from Harper, quickly followed by delight at Bennie's PDA. Then Geoff is talking about nudes games needing to be stepped up. Probably at Easton. Harper has assiduously sidestepped the prospect of boudoir photo shoots. "You have some problem with my nude game?" The librarian laughs low at Geoff's retort about whose ass he was thinking about. Vegas is a pilgrimage. That's an analogy she's bookmarking for later. She arches a brow just so when he suggests that her luck is inversely proportional to how high her zipper is pulled. Lifting finger and thumb, she drags that selfsame zipper down another inch. "Strike," she murmurs toward his back when Geoff steps up to take his turn, as if the power of suggestion would have any effect on the outcome of his turn. Bowling for hay-soos, indeed. She smiles brightly at him as he returns to his seat and takes a healthy drink of her beer. "I see what you're doing. Don't think I don't." Whatever it is she thinks he's doing isn't stated. Harper toasts him with her mug. "Not bad, Earl."

"That's to make up for the strike you're getting next round, " Harper tells Bennie of the single pin. To Easton's four, Harper catcalls. "Slippery slope, marine." She doesn't remind him about her poor opening. Getting up and grabbing her ball, only to turn to Geoff and lean forward to ask his advice on her swing whilst flashing him nicely. That accomplished, she pivots and walks up to the lane, sights it, then takes her shot. All the pins go down and Harper spins back around with a grin to Geoff. "I suppose this is where I tell you that you were right. I've been librarianing all wrong." Sure that's a verb.

Geoff laughs easily at Bennie's assault on Easton and her strike there "Not bad Sunshine, not bad at all there." with a click of his tongue and a shake of his head he turns his attention on Easton "You know the rules man, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Though if there is going to be a trip it might as well be fun to have a couples trip." Holding up a finger he waggles it "You know for all this talk of strip teases and naughty pics, you guys are forgetting how jealous I get of Harper and she of me." holding his hand up he says as an aside to Bennie and Easton "Look at her, do you think she'll let me look at those pics? She'll go all dewie decimal on my ass. What if we met trip with trip only the boys get to set the destination if we win." all the while he is eying Harper as if she might librarian at him then and there."

Being a man of his word, when that zipper lowers another inch he hits her with his mojo, bending luck to guide her ball for that bit of extra luck, and when she gets the spare he hops up and picks her up in his arms, hoisting her in the air and pressing his lips to hers in a light kiss "Way to go babe, you nailed it." And then it's his turn, taking his bowling ball he, he dips his head and closes his eyes for a moment before taking the several long steps in windup before sending his ball downstream, crying "The Jesus take my balls!" that's how that goes right?

"Uh-huh. Self control." Bennie teases Easton, as her eyes go below his belt, as if expecting a magic trick to appear right before her eyes by just one suggestive raise of her eyebrow. "Jealousy. Iiiiinteresting." Bennie looks the three of them over collectively, smirking at something unsaid before she turns towards the ball return and picks up her kiddy ball, and throws a spare. She turns around, pointing mirroring index fingers at them. "I know I have a vagina, but I'm gonna need you boys to suck my dick." Insert indelicate crotch chop here.

Easton says, "What kind of schmoopy bullshit is this Turner?" Easton calls out with a grin when he catches the action of him bumping up Harper's luck at this. He shakes his head and admits to Bennie, "My husband is such a fuckin' cheater."

"I don't know G. She seems relatively okay with sharing you with me." Easton grins, sipping his beer, one arm dangling over Bennie's shoulder on the squeeky faux leather U shaped benches. He says, "But I would not say no to a boys trip versus girls trip wager." When Bennie gets the spare and then oh so elegantly invites them to suck her dick he laughs so hard he nearly spills his beer. Nearly. He stands and gives her a congratulatory kiss, "Maybe later, I wouldn't want Harper to have to cover Geoff's eyes."

He nearly gets a spare and yells discouragingly at the last pin, "No! You're 'sposed t'fall down you piece of shit. Not stand there upright like a seventh graders pants in health class." "

Harper's expression brightens at the suggestion of a couples trip. She was pretty sure the boys would play for their own getaway. Geoff's statement about getting jealous seeds a small smile from Harper. Then she nods as solemnly as she can after nearly a full mug of beer. Dewey Decimals:"You'll find martyrs in the two hundreds." Nobody expects the Harper Inquisition. That eyeing from Geoff only encourages Harper to toy with her zipper a bit more.

After her strike, Geoff's hoisting and kissing are met with legs wrapped around his middle and an extended return kiss from the librarian who apparently lays down the smack, if Geoff is to be believed. "Totally nailed it," she agrees. "You and your ... spectating." After reluctantly climbing off of Geoff, she retakes her seat and celebrates with some nachos while watching Geoff's spectacular form (aka ass) and religious fervor. "You're relentless," she tells him when he takes his seat. Relentlessly consistent. She stretches her legs across his lap and watches Bennie take her turn. "Strike! Yes! That's what I'm talking about." She holds her hand up to high-five Bennie when she returns victorious. Bennie's triumphant demand gets a shrug. "You heard her, boys."

Easton's claim that Geoff is a cheater receives a nod of pleased agreement from Harper. She's not complaining. She gives Easton a thumbs-up at his not-quite-strike, her brown eyes sparkling, then hops up to take her turn. Back to three on one side and then four on the other, leaving three pins down the middle. She stops in front of Geoff, "You're turn, Earl. Think of England." She moves out of his way, finally and settles to the decades-old seats with a pleased survey of Bennie and Easton.

Geoff nods solemnly "She's relentless, but then against it's part of why I love her so much." Yep he just dropped the L word in public. Returning to dipping an finishing off his corndog as the others go through their rounds he nods along with the highs and lows of their adventures in bowling. At the accusations of being a cheater a mischievous grin pulls at the corner of his lips "Man it's not cheating if no one can actually prove anything. Those are the vegas rules at least."
$r Using his corndog stick he gestures idly "What if we went to a native american reservation, did a sweat tent then tripped on peyote to find our spirit animals. I think that sounds like a pretty good victory condition." bringing his hand up to share as if a secret with Bennie "I'm betting mine is a Pangolin. Not only they armored and have sharp claws but they can hang upside down from trees with their tails." After that info drop on the nature of pangolins he stands up and brushes himself off "Okay let's do this and see if I can't do better this time." He does not in fact do better.

Bennie throws a leg over one of Easton's as they sit back down while the other couple have their turn, half in his lap and nuzzling back against his chest so that his arm will go around her again. "And there was a certain marshmallow incident that was rather friendly. The only one here not getting some Harpoff action, is me." That is their couple's name. It has now been decreed. "Wait. He's cheating?! Okay, totally uncool. This game is now officially just a practice game and doesn't apply to the grand prize." Which they have yet to really agree on, but who cares. She's not in a hurry to get up and throw her own frame right now, take a snack break and she drains the pitcher with a refill of her glass. "Cheater's gotta buy, though." She waggles the empty at Geoff. "And my spirit animal is totally a unicorn."

Easton says, "This is true! She totally shoved her hands down my pants to rub hot fluff on me." Easton grins as he divulges some of the details around the marshmallow incident, "So maybe she's a little more open to being frisky than you thought Turner." He grins but is easily distracted by Bennie cuddling up to him. He is ridiculously happy to be back into 'complete lack of personal space' mode and balances his beer easily on her knee in his lap.

"This is true. Gray Harbor rules clearly state that if you aren't tricksy enough to cheat without getting caught, it nullifies the result and means you buy the beer." Yes, he's obviously making up Gray Harbor rules right now but that doesn't stop them from being legally binding. Coming back to the marshmallows he looks at Harper and asks, "Does that mean Bennie has to cover Geoff in something now? I'm not sure what the payback is?"

Picking off the last pin on his spare Easton makes a kicking motion as the pin flies off into the gutter. There are obviously certain habits around bowling that are deeply ingrained. He picks up Bennie to celebrate, kissing her hard and perhaps a little too enthusiastically for the bowling alley. Only after he sits down does he add, "Oh, hells yes to deep meaningful naked spiritual journeys. But I'm pretty sure my inner animal is a drunken bear with it's head stuck in a trashcan." "

Geoff's proclaiming love? Harper opens her mouth to ... who knows what? She closes it again and clearly decides to just go with it, tossing a scan around the bowling alley to see how the proclamation goes over. Clearly it urged other people to bowl and drink beer. She grins at Geoff. "Vegas rules in Gray Harbor? I'm going to have to make some changes in my daily life choices."

Sweat lodge. Spirit animals. "All of us?" Harper is hopeful. She clearly wants a spirit animal. Geoff's lesson on Pangolins fascinates the librarian. "Pangolins look like anteaters, right?"

Bennie brings up the marshmallow incident and Harper protests, "Easton started that. If I'd have lost, I would have taken my medicine." Geoff has had the full report on the Incident, which should not be surprising. As for being frisky? "I think I'll keep jealous-Geoff. And I'm pretty sure he knows the exact degree of my frisk. However, should Bennie and I have a marshmallow toasting contest, I'd play by the same rules." Or lack thereof. "She just hasn't smack-talked in my particular direction yet." To Easton's query? "If Geoff told her he was going to wipe the floor with her and she totally whipped his spectacular ass? Of course she could." Abruptly, Harper frowns. "Wait, did I cause a problem?" Her brows furrow with concern.

Geoff winks "You can only call cheating if you can prove it and show how it was done. So until then, no cheating has occurred." he's at least magnanimous as he explains this "As long as Bennie doesn't have to cover me in something like...Mayo...or pickle juice. Which sounds terrible in every possible way." Standing as it comes time for him to bowl again he snags a kiss from Harper on his way to the lane "And yeah, we're all going to go sweat lodge and claim our spirit animals. It'll be great...That is if we win."

Bennie hums happily against Easton's lips as he hoists her up for another kiss, her fingertips dragging along his scalp as it deepens and becomes a little suggestive. She's beaming as he settles her back down. "Geoff used the L word, did you hear that? When they start spitting out babies, you might have to stop sleeping half naked on their couch. They need to get you guest PJ's." A confused look is given Harper. "Gosh no." At least as far as Bennie is concerned when it comes to there being a problem.

Bennie makes it more difficult for him to break the kiss but he manages.

"Well I should certainly hope fucking so." Easton adds in response to Geoff saying he loves Harper. He looks at Geoff and tries to remember a specific detail of something he told him but decides that he doesn't know if mentioning that is one hundred percent Kosher. But if there's a ring in play somewhere they need to have at least said some I love yous. Even if the ring is just a ring.

"You? No, no." Easton laughs when Harper frets about causing issues. "Nope. Me fucking someone else, yes." Oh. So he's just saying that now. Oookay. That's a little much. But Easton has no inside voice, nor much of an internal monologue sometimes. "But no, marshmallow fights, sleepovers at Geoffs and Bennie's pizza delivery boy cravings aren't issues." He does at least have the good sense to check in with Bennie to see if he needs to put more nachos in his mouth lest more words come out.

Another round, another spare, complete with kick. If he weren't doing at least reasonably well he'd probably be a little bit more about the beer and nachos but he's having a decent night.

"No mayo or pickle juice is pretty easy. It's pretty much contingent on the smack talk ahead of time. So just avoid those two." She returns Geoff's kiss-in-passing and then can't quite help but watch after him as he takes his turn. "I'm definitely cheating if I only get to go if I win," Harper vows. It's only once Geoff has sat back down that Harper turns her attention back to the enjoyable picture that Bennie and Easton paint in between his spares. "Oh, no. No babies. My frisk doesn't extend that far. Nor will it ever." For her playful words, Harper sounds entirely serious about that fact. Hence: "Easton can sleep in the nude whenever he likes." Harper waves a hand to bypass her next turn and lets one of the boys have a practice round in her stead. Bennie proclaimed this to be a practice round and thus it is so.

She looks abruptly relieved when Bennie reassures her that the protestations about equity in food smearing don't mean that she missed some line or limit she should have been aware of. Easton's statement results in Harper speaking up. "I absolutely love Geoff. He's my favorite." Interestingly it's the second part of what she says is in the soft voice. Harper uptips her brows at the mention of pizza delivery boys. "Is that code for something? PDB's?"

Geoff casually mentions "You know, Harper once lost out on a kiss when we first started dating to a Thai delivery boy." with a laugh he explains further "I promised that the first Harper to make to my place would get a kiss, turns out it was the Thai delivery boy. Though I'm betting he doesn't look half so hot rocking the naughty librarian look."

When it comes to the talk of kids, he simply shakes his head with Harper doing all the explaining "She won't even let me get a shiba inu. I was going to name him Erasmus." because that is definitely a good name for a dog." he's rather distracted as he's explaining the name of the dog even as it's his turn at bat "See what his thoughts on free will and all that are." Oh and there's the strike, The Jesus didn't bring it to him, no Renaissance philosophers did.

Bennie shoves her hand in Easton's face instead of nachos, giving him a playful push as she explains to Harper. "A delightful friends I slept with when Easton and I were broken up." She clearly harbors no guilt about it, and explained everything to Easton when they got back together, not hiding it either. "Easton said he hated pineapple on pizza, and I was feeling like a revengeful ex and ordered a pie with only that on it. Then smoked out with Tor when he delivered it and...defiled Alexander's living room floor." There! Now they're all caught up. "Don't worry, Geoff, we'll share Gunner when you puppy clock starts ticking again."

"Scandalous." Easton calls out at talk of molesting innocent Thai delivery boys. He almost killed one once, but that's a far less funny story that involves being possessed by Gohl. And he might be able to joke about his stupid daliance, but there is no way in hell he's joking about Gohl. He awws at Geoff's sad lack of a dog. "Really Harper? I mean, no babies. Sure. But no dog? Even with a name like that?" Though he quickly agrees with Bennie, "This is true, Gunner is your step-dog after all."

The story of the pizza delivery boy doesn't seem to put Easton off though he does laugh out loud about the part about Alexander's poor sullied carpet. "Yea, no hard feelings towards the guy. Though if he does get any funny ideas, I'll break him in half." He 'reassures' her.

Aaaand another spare. And a kick.

"That's right Harper, sit there, eat your nachos and be glad that your boyfriend cheated so that this round got DQed."

Harper's smile is slow and small. "I told Easton about that kiss the day we made hamburgers and he gave us the plague, I'm pretty sure." But then she adds, "I was actually the one who won that night." The night the TDB got her kiss. "I really should find that TDB and thank him." As far as the naughty librarian look goes, Harper simply laughs. Geoff could be incredibly serious or absolutely joking.

"You know I'm right." About a dog. "You'd get one and then you'd need another. And pretty soon the trailer would be a full menagerie of pets. I think adoption is the way to go." How that's different? "Don't try to sway me with your sexy philsophical talk," she warns Geoff at the name 'Erasmus'. Easton's seconding of Geoff's desires for a pet leaves Harper casting a look up to the unfinished ceiling of the bowling alley. "We'll all get play time, I promise."

Turner rolls a strike! Harper climbs up on the plastic-naugahyde 70s yellow bench seats and dances. "Humanists for the win!" When Geoff returns from the lane she simply jumps off the bench and lets him slow her fall to the floor. "Nicely done, Turner." A half dozen kisses are dropped to the man's face and then his neck as her feet hit the floor. "So instead of England, you should have been thinking of the Netherlands all that time."

She retakes her seat as if that celebration were commonplace and leans into Geoff's side as she listens to Bennie's explanation. "Well," she replies at the end of the candid telling. "That's one way to strike while the revenge iron is hot." Nothing close to judgment passes over the librarian's face, interestingly enough. Sharing Gunner. "See? You have a dog. He lives with Bennie and Easton."

Easton bowls another spare and Harper salutes him when he returns. Finally! Finally Easton is back to his SOB self. "That's because you were rolling on my pins, Easton. Breathing the good air." Nope. Not going to back down.

Geoff negotiates "We could set the dog limit at a steady two, and put a time limit on the second one." he proposes this though doesn't seem overly invested in it. Catching Harper when she launches herself at him, he spins her around and returns her kisses before settling onto the bench and awaiting his turn. "See all that time I just had to be thinking of the Netherlands and I would have been good." settling his arm around Harper's shoulder he laughs as he listens to the story of the PDB, before casting a grin "If I call him up and tell him I want the Bennie treatment, how would he respond? Because I'd love to see his face." and that thought has him snickering to himself till it's his to launch the bowling ball down the lane once more, only this time he is too far distracted by the thought of pranking the pdb then to actually invest in the sport of kings.

"I think if you did that?" Bennie says of Geoff calling up Tor's family place of work, "He'd charge." She waggles her brow as she slips away from Easton's side on the bench to grab the empty pitcher. "I'll fly if you buy." She tells him, making a gimme hand for money for the beer. At least going to the bar will be a nice distraction from correcting Harper that Bennie hasn't actually returned to the co-habitating situation.

We'll all get play time, I promise

Easton looks at Bennie when Harper comes out with this he leans over to Bennie and stage whispers, "I don't think she means for it to sound that dirty, but I'm also not sure she didn't just preposition us?" He keeps an eyebrow arched as if still pondering this.

Laughing at Geoff's plan to ask for the Bennie treatment he adds, "No, you just have on a blond wig and a short kimono robe when he shows up and ask for extra sausage I think. And that way you can see the sheer terror in his eyes." Easton considers a version of this that includes more guns, but he isn't that cruel. And from the little he knows of Tor, the guy definitely doesn't deserve that.

Handing Bennie the money for more beer he adds, "Can I a little wiggle as you walk away if I give you another ten?"

"If you adopted two dogs, you'd have to give up two of your other adopted pets. Who is going to tell Sedgwick? Or Apollo?" Whoever they are. Harper is quite certain of her argument. Geoff isn't abandoning Sedgwick any time soon. Someone's got to keep an eye on the boulder. When Geoff puts his arm around her shoulder, Harper simply scoots closer and pulls his hand around and across her stomach atop the zippered bowling shirt. She does however, easily release him when he gets up to bowl her frames.

"You're going to do it, aren't you?" she inquires of Geoff. Call Bennie's pizza place and make requests. "He lives where you live. Just keep that in mind."

Harper makes assumptions. They are not corrected. Bennie retrieves more beer after Easton hands over the cash. After a minute or so contemplating the loud rental shoes, Harper says to Geoff, "Is it bad that I like these shoes?"

Easton speaks up and Harper gives him a quizzical look. "You take that however you want, Marshall." The fact that she speaks those words while tucked against Geoff's side might be significant.

Geoff snorts and nods to Easton "Got it, short kimono and tell him I want extra sausage." rubbing lightly at Harper's shoulder he continues "Hey if he lives where I live that just makes it that much easier to kick his ass if he gets too rowdy." Geoff says this as if it is simply a selling point for the whole matter "I don't see how I can possibly pass this up." as his arm is positioned lower he curls it in and snugs her to himself "Look, I'll never forget Sedwick and his rock vigil. He's key to all of this, but sometimes a man just wants a shiba inu named after a philosopher."