2020-09-27 - Sweet Beach Treat

Kailey has just finished another stint of painting faces. Her own face has been done up in a rainbow butterfly that covers both of her eyes. Glitter sparkles and catches the sun giving it an irridescent hue as she turns to smile at something behind the counter. Bending down she scoops up a babe of a few months of age. Sucking on her lower lip, drooling a lot, the baby turns to look out at the people before reaching to grab at her mother's colorful face with chubby hands. "Ohhhh no no, pumpkin. Not the face," And she bends again to pick up a multi-hued fabric and plastic baby toy. Cooing with delight Morganna grabs at it instead.

Ravn Abildgaard is not a child person on any level. On one level he's thirty years old and hence does not qualify to wear the label himself. On another, children are frightening little people with needs and demands a thirty year old man without small children in his family knows anything about. To him, small children are things that sometimes happen to other people. Most of them seem to be perpetually sticky. Nothing about the tall copper blond in the black turtleneck and blazer in any way advertises 'kid person'.

The thing about children, though, is that their happiness tends to go well with sunshine and beaches and blue skies. This booth over here is churning out a surprising amount of happy -- and happy seems to come with sweets and painted faces. Ravn wanders among the various stalls and stands, and while he probably isn't looking to have a unicorn painted on his own face, the giggling and gurgling baby nonetheless puts a smile even on his face. It's instinct. Even if kids are small, sticky aliens, they are disturbingly cute when they're happy.

"He seems like one happy bunny," the Dane observes in his definitely not American accent, apparently defaulting to the assumption that babies are boys until they tell you otherwise. He is likely not the first beach-goer to make the observation today that happy kidlet = adorbs.

Kailey stands up and slips the baby into a tie-dyed wrap-sling. Where she coos with excitement as she is discreetly settled in to nurse. Who would know with the sling like that? Kailey picks up a large cup with a straw and is sipping from it when Ravn comments. She smiles warmly and glances down at the squirmy babe and back up. "She is actually. I was all set for her to be as stubborn as her dad, but nope. Happy and full of smiles," She says with a warm chuckle. Then she can be seen to give him a once over, up and down, before adding, "Isn't that turtleneck a little warm for today?" Her tone is light and friendly. A short-sleeved wrap shirt is worn beneath the sling.

"A little, perhaps," Ravn admits and watches with a small smile. "Nice wrap -- did you dye it yourself? I used to know a girl who did shirts and scarves like that. Some of them came out very pretty."

He's got the air of someone who's going nowhere in particular about him. On a day like this, with the beach full of people and children, there's a lot of activity to watch, and maybe participate in. Lots of people are visiting today whom you'd normally find on the boardwalk or Main Street; yachters and tourists, and large numbers of perfectly regular townsfolk. Many of them are daring each other to participate in the limbo -- the jokes about how bendy are you really, dear abound, much to the collective groaning of everyone who's hearing it for the fifth time today.

"I don't suppose you sell soda or ice cream?" Ravn adds hopefully and looks up at the stall sign. "You're from that little shop in town, aren't you? I've been meaning to take a look inside, only, I tend to discard all self control at the door when it comes to sugary things."

Kailey looks down and strokes the baby buldge in the fabric fondly. "I -did- actually! It's one of my favorite artsy things to do. Mostly I do spray paint art, but today...well, family day seemed more a face paint type thing," She says cheerfully as she sits lightly on the table. She looks at the stall next to hers next and then back with a nod. "Oh yes! Well, I sometimes have helped out when they are short staffed, but not so much lately. Baby and all. And mostly I do my art, but yes. The owner is my partner," She begins to scan the area with a faint frown, seeking out the towering dark-haired giant. But he has disappeared into the crowds again. "I doubt he's doing limbo, but I bet he went to find beer. That said, YES! Sorry, we have soda and ice cream. And floats too, if you like." And she moves over to the counter. "If you're feeling adventurous I'd try the caramel ice cream in a root beer float. It's surprisingly tasty. I did it by accident a few weeks back. Thought the caramel was vanilla." Kailey is, apparently, a chatter box.

"Root beer is a flavour I associate far too much with cheap chewing gum," the European admits. "We only get that flavour in -- well, cheap chewing gum, where I'm from. We don't even have root beer, just root beer flavoured bubble gum. Caramel ice cream sounds good, though. Wait, did you say you're an artist? Does spray paint art qualify as street art? I know a bloke who's talking about some kind of upcoming street art festival at Addington Park, you should absolutely, definitely talk to him. He's a very enthusiastic bloke, and I think he's rather looking for actual artists -- bystanders and spectators are dime-a-dozen, you know?"

"Really? Oh that's awful!" Kailey says and wrinkles her nose. "A good root beer is one of the more refreshing things, in my opinion. Here, I'll open a bottle. Samples are always popular," There's a bright grin given and she goes to the cooler in the back of the booth. Opening it and pulling out a dark brown bottle. It's got some label from a small-scale soda operation. A tray is pulled out and small little sample cups set out on it. Popping the top of the cool root beer she pours a caramel colored liquid into each of the cups until the bottle is empty. This she brings out to the counter and offers to Ravn.

Meanwhile the employees are moving to scoop Ravn up some ice cream. "Sugar cone, waffle cone, or regular cone?" The teen that was hired for this event asks Ravn with a smile.

"Regular, please." Ever the adventurous soul, Ravn goes with the safe answer. Then he glances back to Kailey and accepts the little cup, sniffing it with the caution of someone who does indeed remember from his troubled childhood just how bloody god-awful Jenka Chewing Gum It Has Big Bubbles was, and how badly it got stuck to your face and hair. It was grey. It had a texture that reminded you, somehow, of car tyre rubber. But it was cheap. Kids had bubble blowing contests, and consequently, mothers had kid washing contests.

"Do you know Grant Baxter? Purple-haired kid, seems inseparable from his skateboard, always smiling? He's the one who's putting together the street art festival." He sips the cup very carefully, as if expecting its contents to bring back unfortunate childhood memories in full force. Then relief washes over him at the realisation that maybe, just maybe Jenka was just cheap shit intended for a European demographic thinking that anything with a stars and stripes print must be cool. "This is actually very good," he admits. "Is this what root beer is actually supposed to taste like?"

"Grant? Yeah, I've met him a time or two. Seen him around. He's doing a street art thing huh? Hmmm, I'll have to look into that. It's heading towards slow season for me. Not that I mind, of course, baby after all," Kailey says with another pat of the sling. Where the formerly squirmy baby has stopped squirming so much. Possibly even falling asleep. "As for spray paint art, yeah it's pretty art festival friendly. I didn't do a lot this year, but I think I can start doing more now." She pulls out her phone to show him a picture of one of her pieces. "It's good, right? I can only imagine cheap chewing gum root beer," There's a dramatic and small shudder from her, but she smiles still.

The teen scoops the caramel onto a cone and tucks two chocolate-covered espresso beans into the top before handing it over. "If there isn't anything else, that'll be $5," She says perkily. Kailey reaches over and snags a bean from behind the counter and pops it in her mouth. Winking at Ravn as if sharing the all-too-obvious snatch. There is only an eye roll from the staff. She's done this before.

"So where are you from? I admit I can't place your accent and it's driving me nuts," Kailey admits around her small bite of chocolatey caffeine. "How long have you been in town? OH! I'm Kailey by the way," And out is held a hand as she grins at him. A bit of chocolate in her teeth still. Woops.

Ravn accepts his cone with one hand and dips into a blazer pocket for change with the other, placing the coins on the counter while craning his neck slightly to look at the cell phone; maybe he can pat his own head and rub his own belly at once, too. "I'm going to have to confess right away that to me, anything more advanced than a crippled stick figure is amazing. I can't draw a straight line with a ruler," he admits, nodding appreciatively at the picture. "That's why I'm looking forward to the event. It'll be fantastic to see, people who do art have amazing imaginations. I always wonder where you get the ideas."

Free of coins he accepts Kailey's hand in a firm (but not finger crushing) shake; he wears gloves of black kidskin, something that can't do much for temperature regulation in the sun, either -- maybe it's no wonder this bloke's attracted to the ice cream stand. "I'm Danish, as it happens to be. Came into town about a month ago -- and I bet you know how it is, everyone tells you that you ought to pack up and leave, and that you won't. Turns out they are right."

Kailey considers for a brief second and then smirks as she says, "My ideas come to me a lot from Dreams." There's an emphasis on the last word. Something that holds some kind of hidden undertone if you know the joke. "But yeah, I was told to consider moving on too. BUuuut...I don't see that happening. Now especially," A glance to the sleeping baby and back. "Danish? Oh neat. Someday I'm going to go and backpack around Europe with this little one. Denmark and Iceland are on the list. The last for the Northern lights. Gotta see that. I can only imagine how much art that will inspire," She says cheerfully as they talk. Her own shake is firm and pleasant, but not strength challenge in it. "Well, we're about to head into the rainy season. BUt be prepared for the weather to go from rainy to sunny in ten minutes around here."

"That's... what I did. Backpacked through Europe." Ravn chuckles softly. "Then I ran out of Europe, so to speak, and crossed the Atlantic. Thought I'd make my way down to the south somewhere for winter but then Gray Harbor did its thing. I'd been here less than a week when I had my first dream experience." He too has that slight stress on the word dream. A brief hesitation, as if 'dream' is shorthand for oh god, terrible things are happening, no one knows why or what to do, can we all just panic and run around in a circle screaming now.

A couple of yachters make their way over, arguing with each other about whether to join the tug-of-war or not as they make their orders of entirely too complex ice cream combinations. Ravn throws a glance after them when they finally wander off again and then glances at the teen behind the counter with a commisserating expression. "Those are the kind that show up at the Twofer ordering cocktails with nine ingredients in each. Fortunately for me, they usually can't tell whether I get their orders right anyhow."

Then he looks back to Kailey and the sleeping tie-dye burrito on her arm. "If you do end up going, go through Italy. No parents in Europe is as sweet to kids as Italian. Life in an Italian household revolves around the bambini."

Kailey's painted brows go up, making the butterfly on her face seem to flap it's wings. "Oh? Then I'll have to pick your brain on places to hit on the way. I don't want to be a traditional tourist, you know? I mean, seeing the known sights is all well and good, but the real beauty of a place is found from people who have been there awhile," She says as she moves back over to her pop-up. There's a couple extra folding chairs and she gestures to one invitingly as she sinks back into hers. "Yeah, this place is pretty intense."

There's one of those relieved sighs as she settles into the chair and leans back. Then seems to realize something. There goes the butterfly flapping it's wings as she makes a face. Turning to look at the teen who helped Ravn she puts on a pouty face. "Liiiiiiiisaaaaaa...would you grab this dork a root beer please? I meant to grab one before I sat down. Then you can take a break too, yeah? Make it two of 'em," That seems to be the key to getting Kailey a bottle of the Good Stuff which she pops open. "Probably good they don't. I imagine some of the concoctions they ask for might be pretty vile," She chuckles softly at the thought. "Italy? Mmmm, good to know. I definitely want to hit Rome. What about Greece? That's also on my list of Need-Tos."

Ravn leans against the counter, resting one elbow on it. "I came through some of the islands. What you said -- about not being a traditional tourist. That's what I did -- tried to find the places that everyone else isn't going to. I mostly hitch-hiked but I suppose that that idea might not sound quite as attractive to a young woman with a child, at least not if you're on your own. There are some pretty screwed up people out there."

He glances in the direction of the groups of people signing up for the various contests. "That's part of what I like about Gray Harbor. It's intense, it's honestly quite terrifying at times. But people here are good to each other. I'm sure the town has its number of assholes and jerks, but I haven't met any of them yet."

"There's always jerks and assholes. And in some ways this place has them worse, if you know what I mean," Kailey says with a hint of sarcasm in her face. As Lisa brings her the two root beers she pops one open. "You want one? My treat so you can enjoy it properly," She says, offering the other bottle and then setting it down. Ravn has ice cream at the moment and only so many hands after all. Sitting back she folds her arms around the tie-dye sling comfortably. "Oh, I doubt Ev would want me to go roaming around Europe on my own. I mean, I could. I'm quite capable in a lot of ways, but it's something I'd want to do with him anyway." She pauses again to look around for the giant. "Wonder where he got too...if he did the limbo and didn't tell me I'm gonna smack 'im."

Ravn smiles at Lisa and murmurs a 'thank you' to both. Then he looks sheepish in the fashion of someone remembering something that he absolutely spaced like a goldfish seeing something shiny. "I'm Ravn. Ravn Abildgaard. Resident person with his head under one arm, it seems. Sorry, I think I got distracted by all the -- " he gestures vaguely, ice cream cone in hand. "All the people, there's so much going on. I should actually be over there, signing up for something. I'm not very good with crowds and I really rather don't want to knock my brain out on the limbo bar."

He purses his lips and watches a rather generously shaped lady in a flower print shirt strong-arm her reed-thin husband into getting in line to sign up for the tug-of-war. "I didn't mean to suggest that you're not capable. I consider myself pretty capable, but I had to ask a few people very pointedly to keep their hands to themselves, too. I'm not sure I follow on this place having worse jerks though -- unless you mean the... well, the Veil things. Those are pretty bad, I'll agree. It's hard to not notice that in Gray Harbor, every other time you meet someone, they're in a cast or look like they've been through a wringer."

Kailey gives Ravn a warm smile and waves her free hand dismissively. "Nice to meet you, Ravn. And don't worry about it, I tend to do that to people. I have a habit of jumping around from topic to topic," Kailey says with a shrug of one shoulder. "Crowds -can- be overwhelming. I totally get it." She bobs her head and takes a swig of her root beer again. "And yes, -those- assholes," She says with a wrinkled nose. "I've been lucky to escape the worst so far, for which I'm grateful." A meaningful look down at her baby and back.

"So besides travelling the world, what do you do, Ravn of Denmark?" Her tone is bright and cheerful as is the grin she gives him. She takes another swig of her root beer. As she is setting it down a young family comes up and the two kids start ooing over face-painting and ice cream. Their plees easily heard and making Kailey suppress a bigger grin as she gives them a warm smile and little wave.

More ice.
Always more ice.
It's a hazard when dealing with the frozen desserts and temporary setups, nor is it the gorilla's first. With two massive bags in his left hand, Everett meanders from the docks down the stairs to the rocky beach. The scowl on his visage melting when he spies mother and child together, but careful not to smile. The bare hand is tucked into his pocket while he shifts his weight and pauses some distance back to watch the baby get slung. Yeet.

Lost, then, daydreaming, Everett gives his head a small shake, the scowl remembering to replace the temporary good humor while the thug resumes his steps to carry him behind the stand so he can leave the fifty-pound bags behind the booth and into a cooler to slow Chaos turning them back to water. Only then does he put a hand on the small of Kailey's back. The cold one. And uses the other to peek inside the sling, "Peek-a-boob," he murmurs with his gruff voice to the occupant inside.

Ravn nods. No argument there. Mermen wanting to sacrifice him to Cthulhu, headless horsemen, Aztec goddesses, zombie hordes. Assholery on unprecedented levels. He glances up the beach towards the Two if By Sea instead and says, "I work up there. Mostly as a barback though they let me try my hand at scaring patrons away during quiet hours. When I'm not trying to poison tourists I do a bit of blogging on the side. I suppose that by some definitions, I'm a professional slacker." He doesn't look bothered by this idea; maybe professional slacker is all the ambition he's got. Steve Jobs gone beach bum.

He watches the kids try to decide on what face paint they want with a small, lopsided smile. You don't need to be a children kind of person to appreciate happiness. And happiness, at least, is something the day has in abundance, with the clear skies, the sound of the surf, and the bustling activity levels on the beach. Today, at least, the beach is not vomiting up more dead bodies or alien goddesses. Then, as the much larger man appears, the copper blond offers a friendly upnod his way and makes a fairly safe bet internally that this is indeed the other half of the parent constellation of the tie-dye burrito.

"IEE!" Kailey manages to stiffle the shriek for the sleeping babe in the sling. Jumping from Everett's cold hand on her back. She turns to shoot the giant a 'look' and narrows her eyes. "She's -sleeping- you monster," She says gently and pushes against the wall of flesh's chest lightly. "Everett, this is Ravn whose last name I've already forgotten. But he's from Denmark and has finally discovered what -real- root beer should taste like. How do you like the ice cream, by the way?" The cone in Ravn's hand is nodded too.

"I want a butterfly too!" Says the little boy as he points at Kailey's face. For some reason that just makes her grin brightly, "Awesome. Butterflies are so cool, right?" She glances at the parents and the father who is looking like he is about to argue. "Colorful -bugs- that change from caterpillars into flying wonders, right?" The little boy nods his head and bounces and something about how Kailey says that seems to sway the father at least into staying silent. The mother just smiles and pats her son's shoulder, "Are you sure you don't want a spider or snake?" The boy gives his mother a look that is similar to the one Kailey just gave Everett. "NO MOM. Spiders are -creepy-!" And with that he rushes to hop into Kailey's chair, making her chuckle. The little girl seems to be undecided and watches her brother wiggle into the seat.

There it is. A little smile from the shriek that escapes Kailey's lips and her reaction. It's like this hasn't happened to her before. Today even. The finger pulling the sling back so he can look inside releases while the thug turns his focus to the gaze of malice. He flutters his lashes before that hand begins to gently stroke in small, concentric circles. For the heat. "She sure is," he agrees before lifting his head to the introduction. His right hand is extended, "That's a long way away for root beer. Welcome to Gray Harbor."

He quiets, casting an inquisitive glance towards the conversation of face painting, then rolls his eyes a touch before smirking. Unimpressed. Needless to say, his face is untouched except for lack of sleep and shadows from the hour between four and six. "Kids," he murmurs under his breath, before flicking his long hair over his shoulder with the help of hand and head flick.

The Dane in return offers a gloved hand of his own. "Well, not for the root beer alone. But thanks. You run the sweets shop then? I keep telling myself to visit but I have a problem with sugar. Or rather, I keep shoving it into my face until I pass out from sugar high. No problem at all."

The little boy earns himself a look of mutual understanding, though. Spiders are, beyond a doubt, the vilest thing in creation. He leans against the counter, in no particular rush to wander on further into the condensing crowds. "You're both natives to the town, then?"

"I have a sugar problem too. You can just imagine how hard it is to resist temptation!" Kailey says with a chuckle as she moves to carefully pass the sling over to Everett. Back to face painting she is going for the moment. Picking up a sponge she asks the little boy, "Which of these ones do you want me to use?" She gestures to several multi-colored paint palettes. The boy points to the rainbow one instantly.

"Just like yours! Will it sparkle too?" The little boy asks.

Kailey smiles more and says, "It can if you want." And proceeds to lightly dampen her sponge before beginning to lay down the paint. "Close your eyes gently, like you're going to sleep," She tells him and the boy is happy to do so. Kailey is remarkably fast. Laying down top and bottom of the butterfly in under a minute with the sponge. In less that two the boy has a lovey butterfly mask just like hers, resplendant with sparkles. "I'm not a native. I don't really have a home town or anything. Travelled all over the US with my mom till I was ten. Then was in Oregon till I was 18. But never felt like home." A pause. "This place kinda does though." She shoots Everett a brief grin.

Everett's grip is just like the man: strong. But he doesn't detect a threat, so the pressure remains polite; three pumps and release. Everett nods once, indicating to the affirmative and jerks his ice-cold thumb over his shoulder, "That's me. Sweet Retreats. We have some artificial sugar candy too for people that can't handle the White Death." He lowers his head, covers his mouth the back of his right hand like he's passing on a secret to Ravn, "That's what they used to call sugar. Back in the day." He uncovers his mouth and stands erect. "I get it though. Carbs," he makes a good-humored snarl at Kailey, "uh."

Accepting the sling gingerly, Everett puts it over his shoulders before peeking in on the baberito, "Hey, sunshine," then reaches inside to do a ginger operation, take the hand out and wipe his fingers against the back of his pants. Babies. Sticky or goopy. He lifts his head to watch either Ravn or the painting and when he's affixed with a look, he returns the attention with sticking out the tip of his tongue. "That's not my fault. You just couldn't help yourself when you saw all dis," and he trails his left index finger down the stain riddled army green t-shirt until it gets to the sling, amused by his own actions.

"White Death. How appropriate." Ravn looks at the little girl who is still trying to make up her mind, and then seems to decide to brave the idea of Talking To Children. "Uh. Hey there. How do you feel about -- hummingspiders? Like, cute spiders, with wings, flying around stealing sweets? I had a dream not so long ago where I saw hummingspiders. They were ridiculously cute. I bet Kailey can do a nice hummingspider."

Some people probably just shouldn't bother talking to children.

Ravn refocuses his attention on the crowd beyond. "I guess I have better go see if I can find somewhere to sit that doesn't end with me accidentally finding myself in the middle of a limbo contest. Funny how these contests are always a lot more fun to watch than to be in, isn't it?"

Kailey finds herself giggling as Everett indicates himself. "It's true. You're sweeter than candy," She tells him with a bright grin and wink. The boy is shown his face in a hand mirror. He squeels with delight and hops down to go grin up at his mom. Demanding a picture be taken as his more timid sister carefully climbs into the seat. "What would you like, sweety?" Kailey asks.

"Can you make me a rainbow tiger?" The little girl asks hesitantly. "Or...or a leopard?"

"I can do either and make it sparkle too. You want me to decide?" Kailey replies as she goes about loading up that rainbow sponge again. The little girl nods quickly and rapidly in the affirmative. Then the painting begins. It is at this point that a line slowly begins to form. Looks like her break is just about over. "Are you having fun?" The girl is asked as she eavesdrops on Ev and Ravn. She and the girl turn to look at Ravn when he mentions hummingspiders. "That's...huh...spiders with wings? I dunno..." The little girl fiercely shakes her head to the negative.

"It was nice talking with you Ravn. Don't forget your root beer," She tells the man as he mentions heading off. "Ev and I will come see you at the bar some time. It can be a fun hangout. Oh, and maybe I'll see you at that art festival," Kailey waves in brief to Ravn as she speaks. Focusing on laying down a bright rainbow foundation on the girls entire face, but for shin and just below her nose and above her mouth. That gets filled in white with whisker spots and whiskeys added in with whispy black lines. The rainbow leopard is coming together quickly.

Stroke the ego. There you go. That's right, it won't bite you. Hard, anyways.

Everett's brows wiggle once at Kailey, "Darn right I am," he agrees, chest out, a small sway from side to side. What a nice ego. "Oh, um," Everett turns his head to Ravn, then shakes, "No. Neither of us are natives. We're both transplants, I was here a few months before her. Sorry," he adds, realizing he'd forgotten to answer the question put to him. Then happy to regard Kailey and Ravn silently, the way big, strong, silent types do, though nodding in agreement about visiting at the bar. It is just down the boardwalk.