2020-04-19 - Cookies and Chocolate in the 'Cuzzi

(TXT to Lyric) Jay : So. Cassowary. Cowboy. Cheerleader. Anything else with a C you wanna drag me into?

(TXT to Lyric) Jay : ... I just realized something about that entire phrase and it isn't that funny anymore! Hi!

(TXT to Jay) Lyric : I could drag you into crazy but I'm sure we all get enough of that. So something that starts with a C? I'm not sure, have any ideas?!

(TXT to Lyric) Jay : Church? No, no.

(TXT to Lyric) Jay : Christmas! No, too far off.

(TXT to Lyric) Jay : Oh!

(TXT to Lyric) Jay : Chipotle?

(TXT to Jay) Lyric : Want to make some cupcakes and cookies? 😃

(TXT to Lyric) Jay : That sounds kind of amazing.

(TXT to Jay) Lyric : Only if we don't burn down the house. We have to go shopping for all the things first! We can get some chipotle too, whatever that is!

(TXT to Lyric) Jay : You never been to Chipotle?

(TXT to Lyric) Jay : Also, I don't burn down houses unless it's in the Talking Heads sense.

(TXT to Jay) Lyric : It's a place? I haven't been there then. And that's a good song!

(TXT to Lyric) Jay : It's a Mexican grill style place.

(TXT to Jay) Lyric : Mexican food is good! So want to go shopping? We could meet at the grocery store.

(TXT to Lyric) Jay : Just tell me which grocery store!

(TXT to Jay) Lyric : Safeway, I'll meet you there. 🙂

(TXT to Lyric) Jay : See you there.

It's a little while later and Jay is leaning back against the seat of his motorcycle. It's a Japanese model, red. Looks fast. He's got his phone in his hands and is wearing some black jeans, black sneakers, a white v-neck t-shirt and a slim black jacket on top of it. Sunglasses complete the ensemble. He looks chill, just kind of waiting there and scrolling through his phone.

It takes Lyric a little bit longer to get there because she's on foot. Wearing a faded pair of jeans with frayed hems and a few rips with a pair of striped leggings beneath them, low top Converse sneakers and a hoodie with a band name across the front. When she walks up, she sees him there on the bike and grins as she approaches, "That's a great bike." Untucking her hands from her pockets, she waves one of them in greeting. "Hi." Chill doesn't seem to matter to her, clothes are just something necessary to leave the house. "Ready?"

Not entirely an inaccurate take when compared to his own, re: clothes, but alas, no house at the moment. He grins at her. "Thanks. It is, yeah. I like to go fast." He shrugs. When she asks if he's ready he bobs his head in a nod and pushes himself to his feet, ambling over to her and offering her his arm. "Shall we?"

His clothes were a lot nicer than hers! "Do ya?" Lyric questions on the topic of going fast, checking over the bike before looking back at him. "I can work on 'em, but I don't drive 'em. I don't drive anything except Mario Karts." With a grin, she takes the offered arm, that was a new one for her and she looks surprised at the offer even as she takes it. "Yeahhh, let's go shopping."

Hey, he can be a gentleman! Sorta! He winks at her and then heads for the store's door, pocketing his phone and ambling through them. "All right, so what do we need? Flour. Chocolate chips. Uhm." He's no cook, much less a baker, to be honest, so he sort of glances over and defers to her.

"Umm.." Lyric eyes the cake mix aisle then the baking goods aisle. "Right! Flour, chocolate chips, cocoa if you want chocolate cupcakes. I think?" As he puts his phone away, she gestures to it. "Maybe find a recipe we follow it. Do you like butter in it? And sugar I bet." A grin accompanies the suggestions, or maybe it's from the wink he had offered before they'd walked through the automatic doors. Reaching for a cart, she browwaggles. "It's a cart, it starts with a C. Should I give you a ride in it? Hop in!"

At some point she's either going to learn not to challenge him with this stuff or embrace it and keep pushing him to crazier stuff. Either way, Jay grins and pulls his phone out, then he hops up and swings his leg over the cart, sitting on the very front edge with either leg hanging from either side. He has pretty good balance, evidently. He holds his phone up. "All right. So. Flour." He grins at her. "Definitely cocoa because who can say no to chocolate cupcakes. Butter. Sugar." He's scrolling for a recipe.

Lyric is all in for the crazy and once he's settled himself, she zooooms. Like, not too fast to be able to stop or turn without dumping him, but she laughs outright. He's totally not heavy, but then again she can carry things twice her size. Cause magics! While he calls out the ingredients, she gets them to the appropriate aisle before slowing down, so he can reach out to get them, or they both can. Its the dry goods aisle, so flour! Then she hesitates, looking at all the kinds. "Cake flour? Rice flour? Self-rising? All-purpose? Bleached?" So. Many. Choices.

"I don't know. I don't know!" Jay gives her a faux panicked look, putting one of his hands against his cheek. "Okay, no, it says cake flour here," he says, looking at the actual recipe. "Soooooo--" he looks up, runs his finger along the aisle and then grabs a packet. "All right. On to the butter! Refrigeration!" He kicks the cart a little with his heels, finally returning her browwaggle. "Giddyap."

Cake flour! No more panicking! Lyric looks at the bag he gets then goes back to driving while he spurs on the cart with his heels. "Save a horse ride a cowboyyy.." she sings the words from one of the songs from cowboy night at Two if By Sea. Turning the corner when they get to the end of the aisle, she jets him towards the refrigeration aisle where the butter is, and the eggs, if that's on the list too! Of course they missed the cocoa and sugar and frosting back there in the baking aisle.. That's not on Lyric's mind right now, she's laughing as she comes to a very abrupt stop. "What kind of butter?"

"Uhm. Just normal butter, looks like." He leans back, feet hooking under the cart as he stretches out and grabs a bread of butter, tossing it down next to the flour. "Over there," he says, pointing. "I see eggs. Those are on the list too." It doesn't matter that they missed something on the way; that just means that they get to roll around the supermarket more more.

"Oh good. I see light butter, stick butter, tubs of butter." So glad he knows what to look for. Lyric goes full speed even to the eggs, and she selects some. Super gargantuan jumbo sized from super duper gargantuan sized chickens, in a carton of six. It goes into the cart. While they are at the coolers though, she gets a pack of individual orange juices then a small carton of milk too. "Somethin' for the house. What do you like to drink? We can get you somethin' too for when we're cookin'."

"If we're gonna make cookies and cupcakes we should definitely have milk with them," Jay says with a grin. "So get some more of that. Is chocolate milk too much?" He sits on the car, tapping his feet. "Hrm." He shrugs after a moment, leaning over and grabbing a carton of chocolate milk anyway, dropping it in. "All right. Chips and sugar!"

"Hey! Hey, you two! Stop that!" Security guard.

Jay widens his eyes and grins. "Go. Gogogo."

"I like chocolate milk best." Reaching for a whole big gallon of it, she puts that in the cart too, "Chocolate milk is never too much! We can get what we want, I get a lot of money working at the club, and even more tips." A lot for her anyway. Turning the cart fast, she is about to take off towards the chocolate chip aisle when she hears the guard and with a laugh and at his encouragement, she takes off as fast as she can, trying to outrun the guard, destination unimportant now, but the aisle she turns in happens to be the right one. "Grab it as we pass!" Is that even possible? Maybe she slows a little for him.

Possible? Of course. Does she need to slow down? Not even a little. As they roll past the chips and the sugar--on opposite sides of the aisle!--Jay glances at both over his shoulders and then he stretches his hands out, snapping his fingers and tugging on invisible strings that pull them off the shelves, right into the cart. He flashes Lyric a grin and another wink, looking over his shoulder. "Anything else you wanna get?"

The ingredients are collected in nefarious ways that only bring laughter to Lyric. "Cupcake shoppin' is serious business!" There's not much else she can think of, except cupcake papers, so she throws some in the basket as they speed towards the registers to check out. "Do you need anything else?" Gum is added, an impulse buy. Lyric is the reason they put these things there!

Jay shakes his head. "Nope, I'm good." He hops to his feet on the cart and then drops ahead of it, catching himself with his feet on the floor. He starts grabbing things and sliding them across the register. Sundays are slow, okay? What's a line? "Hi," he tells the cashier. "How's your Sunday?" He pulls out his wallet. If Lyric thought she was paying, she should've gone in front, not behind of the cart.

"Hi," Lyric greets the cashier with a bright smile filled with all the innocence she can muster. The guard had lost them hopefully for the moment. Sidling up beside Jay, she hip bumps him much like she had on the dance floor. "I'm gonna pay for it," she tells the cashier even as Jay pulls out his wallet.

"We're going to go Dutch," Jay informs the cashier, "because I'm only half as insecure in my masculinity as the average dude." He bumps Lyric right back and then pulls out enough for arrrroooound half of the stuff they bought, and tucks it into the back pocket of her jeans. He moves on to start bagging while she pays.

"Ya shouldn't be insecure at all." Lyric gives him an appreciative look, but there's amusement too since she's still joking around with him. The money thing gets a shrug, she's agreeable to it, and when the total is given, she adds her money to his and pays for it all, sliding the change back into her back pocket. All done all through!

"Can I push the cart home?" Lyric asks the cashier guilelessly, like she's some kind of homeless person that keeps all her things in one.

The cashier sputters a little before laughing a little uncertainly, not sure if Lyric is serious or not!

"Just kidding. Gosh!"

Jay barks a laugh at Lyric trolling the cashier and then grabs the bag full of their stuff, reaching back and snagging the white-haired girl by the hand. "Come on, let's go. You'll have to give me direction back to your place." Because he does not have any sort of kitchen that can actually manage to make any of the stuff they're planning on.

"I live at 9 Elm Street," Lyric announces to Jay, and God and all who listen, apparently. With her hand in his, she grins at the cashier, crinkling her nose a little. "See? I get to go home with him!" Jerking her thumb on her free hand towards Jay. "Lucky me!" With a grin she follows him out and to his bike.

Jay flashes the cashier a smile and a wink and then leads Lyric to his bike. Once they get to it, he hands her the bag and then pops the seat open to bring out a small black helmet with a little red devil design on the back. He holds it out in front of her and then puts it on her head gently, patting the top. "There we go." He pops himself onto the bike and holds his hand out to help her follow suit.

"You want me to ride with you on it?" Lyric isn't adverse to the idea but curious. Leaning forward a little, she takes the bag and watches as he brings out the helmet. Once it's on her head, she touches it with her free hand and laughs a little before nodding with it on. Lifting her leg, she puts it partway over then slides up on the seat, the bag between them and she holds on around the back to his waist. "Ready when you are."

Jay pops his own helmet on. "Hold on." And then, once she does, the bike skids the back wheel on the parking lot of the Safeway before ripping out of there. It's a short drive, especially at the speeds he apparently enjoys. It is very fast. If it took her ten minutes walking, they're there in under one, and only because there's some traffic. He skids to a stop in front of 9 Elm Street, the entire back of the bike rising about a foot off the pavement before popping back down, bouncing her on the seat. He pulls his helmet off and turns to look at her over his shoulder. "You all right back there?"

Whoa! Lyric hadn't expected the speed! She laughs though, head back, holding tightly to him and the groceries, laughing the whole minute it takes to get back to her house. "Ohmygosh!" The exclamation squeaked after landing back on the seat from her temporary flight in the air when he stops. Hopefully she hasn't squished the eggs! "You do like fast," she laughs again, bobbing her helmet covered head. "I'm fine, next time we try it without groceries and we ride for longer!"

Jay flashes her a broader grin and then nods for her to get off so he can, too. Once they're both off, he takes back the passenger's helmet and puts it away in the seat. "I'm digging this 'next time' concept. We haven't even had or made the cupcakes and cookies and there's already a next time." He locks his helmet to the bike and then pushes his sunglasses up his nose, walking backwards with a grin for her.

Lyric climbs off when he reminds her to and she holds the groceries so he can put away the helmets. His comment reminds her she had done exactly that, made assumptions. With a sheepish grin she follows him while he walks backwards to her porch, laughing lightly. "That was fun though. I like doing fun things." She doesn't have to unlock the door to the house, it's unlocked already, she just pushes open the door. "C'mon inside, I share the house with the band an' all, well most of the band. Itzhak's got his own place. I don't think anyone's home though." Straight to the kitchen she goes to put the bag on the counter. "Want juice? Or milk yet?"

"It was fun," Jay agrees with a laugh, following her inside. He makes sure the door closes behind him and then follows her into the kitchen. "I will take... juice." He swings his arms back and rolls his shoulders, jacket slipping down his arms so he can catch it by the neck, swinging it around and finding a chair or something to drape it on. "So I don't bake or cook. So I'm going to have to defer on you and follow your lead." His tats peek out under the sleeves of his white t-shirt and just over the neckline of his shirt. They're colorful, at least.

Lyric doesn't really have tattoos, her skin is mostly unmarked. Unzipping her hoodie, she places it over the arm of the sofa for now. The house is clean at least, smells nice. The living room and kitchen are more an open concept, so there's communication ability between the two rooms. While the appliances aren't new or anything spectacular, they are in working order. Back in the kitchen she starts unloading the bag and opening the package of bottles of orange juice, offering him one then taking one for herself. "Oh that's okay, we'll just need your recipe from your phone. All we gotta do is follow it and it should work pretty good."

Jay takes the juice offered and sidles up next to her, leaning back against the counter. He pulls his phone out and scrolls to the recipe again, setting the device on the countertop so she can see it too. "Just tell me what to do, chef." He tucks his sunglasses into the collar of his neck and slurps at his juice, wagging his brows at her.

Okay so she can cook, she's not exceptional at it by any means, but previous jobs had her cooking in a restaurant, even if only briefly. Lyric looks at his phone then at him before taking out a bowl and a measuring cup set. "Cream the butter and sugar it says." Course he can read the amounts, she doesn't voice them. "That means stir them till the sugar is all in the butter." A wooden spoon is dropped into the bowl. "I'll measure the other ingredients so we can pour them all together at the end."

"All righty then." Jay flashes her a smile and then pops the correct(-iiiiiish) amount of butter and sugar together, grabs the wooden spoon, and starts to stir, working the ingredients in the bowl. "So this is probably the most obvious and repeated question of all time but is Lyric your actual name or, like, a stage name that you go by anyway?"

"No one has ever asked me that before. It's my real name. My whole self is a nightmare. I live on Elm Street, the last house on the left if you're coming from the right direction and my last name is Bates, like the Bates Motel. Everything is a horror story or something." Lyric grins at him then reaches for the eggs, "We need an egg or two. I think two but these are super huge, maybe just one." Leaving that to him since he has the wet ingredients. "I guess my mom liked music or something. I never asked her, but that's all I can guess."

"Huh. Really? No one's ever asked. It's not exactly a common name." He can't think of a single other person. He shrugs. "Bates. Elm Street. Last house on the left..." He gives a little shake of his head and grins at her. "That's funny. Until you realize it's Gray Harbor," he admits, after a moment. He grabs two eggs in one hand and cracks them both over the bowl. Two, apparently, is the Decision.

Two works for her! Lyric continues measuring the dry ingredients, she's not meticulous or anything, which will probably even them both out on it. Hopefully. "Yeah Gray Harbor is weird and has always been weird as long as I can remember. It seems like it may be gettin' worse now, but it's always been really weird." Once measured, she scoots her own bowl by his and encourages, "Now you add mine to yours in little bits at a time and stir 'em in!" Triumphant they are working well together without exploding things. Her orange juice is lifted and she opens it, takes a drink then asks. "Did you always live here too or are you new?"

"Relatively new. Maybe almost a year now? I moved in with a friend when I needed a place to stay and she was nice enough." Jay shrugs. "I'd already gotten a little taste of weird but Gray Harbor is something else, man." He stirs, letting her pop in the ingredients as he goes, in little bits, while he works the mixture. "And now here I am, making cookies and cupcakes." He smirks. "You ever think of leaving?"

"Yeah anything after birth is new around here." Lyric jokes a little in response. "Do you still have a roommate then? I have a lot of roommates. But since Cole moved out, I've been sleeping in his old bedroom instead of the one with all the bunkbeds the band sleeps in. We practice in the garage, our instruments and all are there." While he stirs the last of it in, she gets the cookie tray and the muffin pan. The latter she lines with paper cupcake liners. "I won't ever leave I think. My mom is here. She's buried behind the church. So I can't visit her if I go."

"I do and I don't? I hardly see her around, really. She spends a lot of time with her dude, so." He shrugs and continues stirring, smiling at her. "More room for me in the tiny trailer, I guess. Maybe I should get my own place but I'm kind of comfortable? I don't know. Sometimes you just think you're comfortable, you know?" He nods, re: her mom being buried here. "That's rough. How long ago?"

"Who is your roommate?" Not that Lyric knows everyone. But she does know a fair lot of people! "I used to live in the trailers, I grew up there, it'll always be my home. I like this house an' all but I'm not sure I want to keep living here with the band forever. I mean we all gotta grow up sometime, yeah?" A smile given his way before she looks into the bowl and gives an approving sound. "Looks good, now you can make balls from them and put them on the baking sheet. After you add the chocolate chips. I got some pecans or walnuts if you like that in your cookies. I like anything or everything." There's an absent-minded nod, "I know what you mean about kind of comfortable. It's not bad being alone, I lived most of my time since I turned eighteen alone." Her smile turns only a touch dimmer. "It was a super really long time ago. I was six."

"Baylee," Jay says with a quick smile, and then a much more sympathetic look. "My mom passed when I was ten, so." He sticks his finger in some dry flour and then reaches over to poke her nose with it lightly. Boop. "We can put whatever you like in them, so let's just chuck it all in," he says, mustering the enthusiasm that the talk of dead mothers has, if only a little, killed. "Do you guys tour or are you just like, a local sensation?" He grins.

"Is Baylee Aidan's girlfriend?" Maybe she'd heard of them or something. "I don't know them well, just by name and sight." Lyric nods a touch solemnly at the mention of his mother though, "I'm sorry." For his loss, for the entire subject, bringing down the mood? Any of the above! The flour thing makes her laugh and she tries to lighten it up a little as she dumps chopped pecans and walnuts in with the chocolate chips for a quick stir. "We have a gig in Seattle. I've never been there before, but we're going. And we're gonna cut a single, so it's maybe going places, if I can keep everyone together."

"That's the one," Jay says with a quick nod. He grins when she laughs and then hip-checks her again when she's dumping the walnuts and pecans into the mix. "Oh, Seattle's cool. I mean, I would tell you you'd like it but I have no idea what your preference for big cities is," he adds, winking at her. "But I liked it. I wasn't there for more than a few weeks, though." He licks his lips and then turns, leaning his hip against the counter, so he can face her a little more directly. "So are you the glue that holds the band together?"

Lyrics body sways a little with the action, she grins at him again. "I'll see when I get there. Itzhak is driving the van though. Park, Ico and Scott will all hopefully be going." When he faces her, she finishes what she as doing and turns to face him a little too, "I mean, maybe. I don't know. Sometimes I think the bands too big, it makes it harder for us all to get together at one time. Then I get things like at the bar the other night, where I can just get up there with my guitar and just play and sing and I like that, makin' my own decisions what I wanna sing. Even on Karaoke night that's fun to do."

"Yeah. It's a little like living with people or living on your own," which they were just talking about. "If you live in a house with people you need to get in synch, know who has what chores, errands, work together, be in each other's hair all the time even if just, like, passively. If you live alone, you can do your own thing, make your own decisions, be a sty or neat freak by turns, no one's on your ass..." He has his elbow on the counter, hands crossed at the wrists.

"Yeah I guess it's kinda the same. I do miss livin' alone and I may do that again even if I have to leave my hot tub I got behind. It can stay here cause I bought it for us all." Lyric shrugs. "I can wear what I want when I want when I'm alone." Or nothing, her tone seems to imply. She watches him a moment before giving him something of a whimsical smile and turning back to scoop round balls of dough onto the cookie pan before putting it in the oven she completely didn't forget to preheat. "Are you gettin' a place of your own?"

Jay just kind of smiles at her while she watches him, his head tilting a little bit when she smiles. "I don't know. I mean, Baylee's hardly around so it almost is like I live alone? On the other hand, I should probably get out of her hair eventually. It kind of feels like I'm overstepping at this point. I mean, I drop her enough cash to cover a lot of the utilities and stuff so I'm not squatting, but." He shrugs. "Sometimes you get comfortable--or think you do--and forget something is supposed to be temporary." Beat. "I like hot tubs."

The cookies are in the oven, the orange juice is cold and she reaches for it, opening it again to take a sip. "I guess it's the same, yeah, but maybe she doesn't mind cause you help with the bills. I like knowing I have my own place and I can invite a friend over or something if I want to." There's a grin in response and a look towards the back door. "You can use it if you ever want to."

He glances at the back door and then looks back at her with a smile while he takes a sip of his own orange juice, lifting his brows. "I'm not going to use your hot tub if you're not around, that just sounds like I'm using you for your hot tub and not even being subtle about it." He furrows his brow. "And that just ain't right. I should at least be, like, suave about it, right?"

"Yeah but I offered, so that nulls any using. And you talked to me before you knew I had a hot tub," Lyric tries to ease his mind before adding, "Or we can just use it together if you wanted, so it would make you feel better?" The cookies are beginning to smell good now and she checks them through the glass. Starting to put the groceries away, she continues. "Are you tryin' to be suave?"

"Look," Jay holds his hands up and feigns being defensive, "I may or may not being trying to be suave but if I am and it's not working then I'm not." He blinks at her, and then smiles broadly. "Quantum Suaveness." He nods matter-of-factly.

Lyric can just laugh and shake her head, falling into the sauve trap. "I guess the word could also be charming and if you're wanting a go in the hot tub, I get another ride on the bike, Deal?"

Jay squints one eye slowly at her as if he's suspicious of her, but only by halves, and then he gives her a broad smile. "I'm going to be entirely honest, I was going to let you ride nestled up behind me whether you let me in the hot tub or not, but I am not prepared to say no to this." He pauses, and then adds, "I don't think I know how to say no to this," looking off to the side briefly. He flash her a grin. "Deal."

With nothing left to do but the dishes, Lyric leaves them in the sink for now and leans against the other counter to face him more comfortably. "So I just showed my hand, didn't I? I'd be an awful gambler I guess." Extending her hand as if it's really some big deal or something, she offers to shake on it, eyes lowered to his grin before responding back the same. "Deal," she agrees anyway.

He tips his head to the side and cocks the side of his mouth, too, like saying, 'eh, kinnnnnda' to her tipping her hand. But then she offers her hand and he takes it, shaking once, faux-firmly, suddenly grinning again. He doesn't let her hand go. Or rather, he doesn't actively pull his hand back. He leaves it up to her, letting his hand hang a little. "So what do you wear for the hot tub, Lyric?" He glances at the back door and then back at her. "Bikini or one-piece? I'm a boardshorts kind, personally." Just so she doesn't think he'll wear a speedo, apparently.

Lyric shakes in return like she's doing a business deal or something, shaking firmly like he does, no limp handed bleh kind of shake. Then their hands are still there and neither pulls away. And even still, no one is pulling away. It becomes a thing of who is going to pull away. Still, no one does. With a lopsided smile, she looks at him, "Depends. If I'm alone, nothin'. If with the band, my bathin' suit, any of them. Bikini mostly. I never went in it with anyone else except friends."

Jay tips his chin up a little and nods. "I see." And it has become a thing to see how lets go first and Jay doesn't really lose this sort of thing because Jay will play any kind of chicken with anyone about anything and for no reason other than to play. This, though. He turns his hand a little in hers and presses the tips of his fingers against the inside of her wrist. Less a shake and more a hold, now, really. "How long until it's done?" He nods vaguely at the oven. "More or less."

Lyric doesn't let go of his hand either, just for the fun of it. Like him, she turns her hand a little then goes for lacing her fingers with his instead, a smile playing over her features. "The cookies?" Then she motions towards the oven with her head and a bigger grin. "They are probably done. But crunchy is another C word. Crunchy Cookies. We can call your bike a Cycle. But the hot tub? What can we call that to add it to the adventure?"

Jay turns his hand again slowly, until each of his fingers is interlacing with hers entirely and then he thinks, furrowing his brow. "I'm kind of drawing a blank," he admits with a tip of his head. He licks his lips and then smiles at her. "No, wait." He shifts a little, taking a step towards her, elbow still on the counter but now he's just a few inches from her, smiling slyly. "The Cuzzi."

Lyric looks down at his fingers and can't help but smile, but the hot tub name already has her shaking her head, "That's in the girls bathroom. A Jacuzzi tub thing." Keeping her hand in his, she gets a pot holder and opens the oven then takes out the cookies. Not burned, maybe a little brown but definitely edible. They go to the stove top, the door gets closed and she reaches over to turn it off before facing him again. "But Cuzzi works for me. When do you want to get in?"

He watches her do all this one-handed and grins when she turns back to him. He considers the cookies and then looks back at her. "We could have our milk and cookies in the hot tub if you wanted. I mean I don't have my boardshorts on me but." He shrugs, as if to say 'my regular shorts are fine'. "Or we can leave it for date number two." His thumb slides over the the bit of her hand just between her thumb and forefinger. "Since we've already determined there's going to be one." Cheeky.

"We can do that." Lyric agrees readily, but she doesn't release his hand. She just uses a spatula and holds the cookie on it expectantly. "Want to get a plate and some glasses?" Watching him, seeing if he would let go or not. Cause it was still a thing! "They are in that cabinet," nodding towards the one. Then her smile turns a little saucy before she adds, "An' it's not a date."

"That one?" He points at the cabinet over with his other hand, without letting go yet. When he gets confirmation, he just sort of spins a little bit, reaching out with his free hand to pull the cabinet open and remove two glasses, closing it after, turning back, and setting them down next to her. "It's not?" He doesn't seem surprised or hurt; just curious.

"It can't be," Lyric tells him with another crooked smile, watching as he gets the things, amused at the way he is able to do it. She places the cookie carefully on the plate then scoops up some more, one at a time, placing them on the plate. "Cause I don't date. But we can hang out if you want?" Leaving him to figure out the difference if he wants.

"Oooh, it's like that, huh?" Jay doesn't look dejected or anything, just amused. "All right, all right. I'm not going to challenge the semantics of the word 'date' in this context," he says with a laugh. "We can just hang out." He looks at the plate of cookies, then at the glasses and the milk. "Couch?"

"Somethin' like that. I mean, I.." Lyric shrugs not sure how to put it in words. "Like if I was datin', I don't like, date a lot of people at the same time." But she doesn't date so that makes absolutely no sense. "And if I just hang out," another shrug, she ducks her head a little not exactly sure how to explain. "Thought you wanted it in the hot tub?"

"No, I get it. Every person has their own definition of a word in their head and it means what it means." He doesn't seem to mind. And then, re: the hot tub: "Oh, we can. I thought you'd decided on next time. You gotta get changed?" He tilts his head, still considering the ramifications, perhaps, of choosing to be the one to let go of her hand.

"This time is good. Next time we're going on your Cycle." Leaving it a C word too. Dropping the dating topic is a relief for her though, she looks down at his hand and hers linked when he asks if she needs to get changed. "I do need to," she grins and lifts her hand in his before she finally does let go and sashays past him towards the bedroom. She doesn't mind losing a challenge now and then! "Be right back! You can get the chocolate milk in the glasses if you want." Then she's down the hall!

He gets all of it. Cookies, chocolate milk, glasses. He even manages to find out how to make sure the water is warm in the hot tub by the time she comes back out. In fact, since she did give him permission beforehand, when she comes out, he's already in there, glasses full of milk, cookies in the plate still untouched. His tattoo is easier to see now: a giant dragon that winds its way over his chest, around his shoulders and back. It's a masterpiece, really. If she knew anything about underworld tattoos, she might have a thing or two to consider.

It doesn't take really long, but Lyric does come back out wearing a bikini. It's not immodest, not overly modest it's just a bathing suit, something to cover the strategic parts when necessary. Just like her clothes she wears. Not a lot of thought put in it. Her feet are bare though and her toenails are painted a bright and cheerful cherry red, There are also two super fluffy towels she carries with her. When she gets there, she smiles at him before sitting on the edge and swinging her legs over and inside, then standing in the water, looking down at him a moment. "Your tattoo is good. My neighbor in the trailer park before was an artist." Moving to have a seat, she faces him then thinks better of it and moves to sit beside him, closer to the milk and cookies. "The water feels nice."

Jey glances over when she comes out and smiles up at her. When she swings her legs in and then stands over him for a moment, he looks up and tilts his head to the side, almost as if asking if he can help her with something. He shifts a little, sliding one knee up on the seat he's taken so he can turn to look at her when she sits down beside him. "It's an old tattoo but I had it retouched not too long ago, so." It does look touched up. "Yeah, it is," he says, as to the water. He slides one of the milk glasses towards her and picks up his own, holding it out. "Here's to the letter C."

"It's a nice one, but I don't know much about them." Tattoos that is. Lyric settles down a little and turns to face him, accepting the glass of milk, "Cool," adding a C word of her own. "We can see how creative we can be for next time. Maybe ride the cycle to a canyon. The one outside of town?" A cookie is lifted, "The letter C," then bitten, it's crunchy, but she follows it with the chocolate milk.

He bites into a cookie of his own and then shows it to her, and it looks like a C. Aw. It's like Sesame Street but in a hot tub. With adults. And flirting. "I've never actually been to the canyon so I'm down for that. Is it a normal canyon or can we expect creepiness?" Also a C word.

Lyric laughs, rolling her eyes just a little. "Just a regular canyon thing, but there are kinda a lot of accidents there. Even some Addingtons." That's probably not news though. "Do you know any of the Addingtons or Baxters?"

"I've heard of them but if I've met any of them they haven't let me know that they are." Jay shrugs and then dunks part of his still warm cookie into the chocolate milk, popping it whole in his mouth. He chews, swallows, and then says, "These ended up really good."

"Mostly they let you know when you're talking to them." Lyric speaks from experience! Her own is eaten a little slower but she does finish the cookie and most of the milk before placing it aside again. "That's cause you're a good cook. My old roommate Cole, before he left town, we went to a cooking class at the school. The College. It was pretty fun. He used to do ballet. I guess he went back home to his parents. Or maybe his boyfriend or something. He didn't say why he was leavin'."

"Uh huh," Jay says when she accuses him of being a good cook. "I'm sure it was me and not you, for sure, uh huh," he smirks at her, shaking his head. "People leave for all sorts of reasons." He shrugs. He eats another cookie, and then takes a long drink of milk, setting the glass aside, finally, stretching his arm out along the side of the tub. "So how often do you get pulled into weird shit like exploding cheerleaders and bird races?"

The smile fades slightly when he touches on something, a more sensitive subject to her. "People always leave." Just that matter-of-fact statement that encourages absolutely no deepening of the subject at all because she moves along to the next one. "Kinda often and since I was really young. Sometimes they are funny and I like the dreams, but sometimes they are dangerous and you wake up with all sorts of cuts and all. What about you?"

He frowns a little when she gets sad about it, and his hand slides out drum his fingers lightly on the back of hers, and then along her arm as she answers his question. "Just since I came to Gray Harbor, and not that often." His fingers nudge at hers, starting to interlace again. "I guess maybe having lived here makes you more susceptible? I dunno. Maybe I'm just lucky."

Lyric turns her hand and helps him in lacing her fingers with his, touching the pad of her thumb to his wrist briefly before looking up at him. "Maybe because you're not as shiny as some. You have some shine though, maybe not as powerful as others." Maybe that matters, maybe it doesn't. "How come you moved to Gray Harbor? What do you do for work?"

"I had to find a place where I could chill and Gray Harbor had Baylee, who's always good to help me out." He smiles a bit. When she asks him what he does for work he shrugs. "I work at the Deuce." That's where they met! Well, sort of. It's where they talked for the first time, anyway. "And I do errands for people now and again."

"I don't know if Gray Harbor is a good place for chilling or anything, but it's a place to go if you want to disappear for awhile." Sometimes forever. "I remember you there, but I'd never seen you there before so I didn't know if it was only for the cowboy night or not. Errands though? Like a courier or somethin'?"

"I take a lot of the weirder shifts, so maybe that's why. Or maybe," he says, tugging on her hand a little playfully, "You just didn't pay attention. Looked over." He sniffles a little, falsely. "Ignored. Unseen." He sticks his lower lip out a little bit, pouting while spying her from the corner of his eye.

"Aww, not ignored or anything. I just go to the Pour House more often. They have karaoke and contests a lot too, it's fun there too." Lyric watches him look at her out of the corner of his eye and laughs, leaning in a little at the tugging. "Can't ignore you! You're too fun to hang around with."

Jay tilts his head sloooooowly towards her and then spreads his lips into a smile. "Fine. I forgive you." Because she did nothing wrong, so it's particularly easy to do. After a moment watching her, he raises a brow and then shifts towards her a little more, stretching his hand out--taking hers with it--to shorten the distance between them. "What other fun stuff can we do?"

"Thank you." Lyric grins, shaking her head because he was fun to talk to. "You're crazy, I knew it. But it works in this town, we're all crazy here." She reaches for her milk and finishes it off then places the glass aside again, almost missing when he pulls her closer in his own way. "We can go to the Cabaret. I can buy you a lap dance from one of the girls. Or we can watch cartoons. Or go to the Casino?"

He furrows his brow and purses his lips, thinking through the options. He shakes his head at the lap dance. Apparently not his speed. He does lift a brow at cartoon watching. Could do that. Casino gets a pass. "I mean, I was gonna suggest making out, but you're right, it doesn't start with a C." He bites his tongue and tsks. "Cartoons, then?"

"I don't lap dance or anything but I could buy you one some day." Lyric grins at him, pretending to consider every option too. Then he offers making out. "Yeah, no C. Too bad." Pouty face, but she's totally playing with him too. "Cartoons win then. Are you ready now? I got the towels for us."