2021-02-13 - What we do in the Park

It's still winter. It's still cold, but there's a dog that needs walking and Dahlia - for the first time - has volunteered to walk him by herself. Or maybe Justin had to peel off to take care of something else real quick. Whatever the case may be, Dahlia is out here with Caleb, walking the park. The adorable mastiff that is probably half her size these days. Maybe they're making their way to the dog park area so she can set him loose for a bit of running around. She's wearing a pair of dark jeans with ankle boots and a thick, navy blue sweater. Her hair is pulled back in a loose ponytail and she's also wearing a pair of leather gloves and a black scarf to help with the chill as well. She'd heard rumors of some fortune teller so was keeping an idle eye out for that strangeness, but didn't see anything yet.

Entirely mundane is a young man jogging along one of the paths. Or maybe he's ambitious, jogging in the snow. He's wearing sweat pants and a thin winter coat that's black with some stylized reflective striping worked into the design -- clearly designed for those that don't want to get hit by vehicles while jogging at night. He has a blue knit hat on and some gloves. Yep. He's a jogger. Out jogging. There is absolutely nothing noteworthy about the jogging other than he's heading on an intercept course for Dahlia and that dog.

Person!

Caleb makes a beeline for this new face. Which causes Dahlia to cry out in surprise and try to gain a better hold on the leash so as to A) Not fall on her ass and B) not have Caleb tackle this rando. She doesn't walk the dog ever. So it takes her a minute to actually get a handle on words and things that might stop him. "Caleb! Heel!" She calls out - just in time too in would seem. The big dog skids to a stop a footish away from colliding with the oncoming Wes.

Dahlia's pale skin is flushed red and she looks apologetically towards the guy. "Sorry!"

Nova is out for her own jaunt before her late afternoon shift. An orange hoodie proclaims she ‘Doesn’t have space for Wack energy’. This is pieced together with some running shoes and insulated black Nike leggings. She is wear hoops while running, because that is just how she rolls.

Catching Dahlia out of the corner of her eye with a dog that looks like it could eat three steaks, she focuses on the animal. The air about her shimmers just off <<Be Cool>> the Latina commands Caleb. She stops near her coworker with a smile. “Hey Dahl!”

Joggers are used to dogs. That said, Wesley hadn't been paying such close attention to the path and more looking around to take in the scenery. When he looks up, it's not just a dog that's racing his way. Oh no, that is a beast. His eyes widen in (some would say understandable) panic and he puts his hands up as he stops and tries to back-step, "Whoa whoa whoa fella." And much to his relief the dog does stop when Dahlia calls out the command to heel. He stares at Caleb with a healthy respect for the dog's space, and just smiles weakly. "Nooo problem." He doesn't move. Nope. He can wait until she comes and collects the dog. He doesn't even look Nova's way when he hears a new voice.

"Sorry, sorry." Dahlia retrieves the leash. "He's super friendly, I promise. Just excitable." Nova's be cool probably helped more than her own command. "I'm Dahlia. This is Caleb." Those dark green eyes swivel towards Nova as she hears her name called.

A grin is flashed to the familiar face. "Nova!" Lifting her free hand in a wave. "How're you doing, chica?" Dahlia wasn't fluent in Spanish, but she knew enough to get by.

Slowly, Wes lowers his hands when Dahlia assures him the dog is friendly. He still waits patiently for her to get the leash on the animal, but he's grinning. "It's fine. I just never know." The young man replies with a chuckle. He tugs his hat off and runs his gloved fingers through damp hair from the run, lifting his brows in surprise when she introduces herself. "Oh! I'm Wes. Hi! And hi Caleb. You're kind of terrifying." He now looks in the direction of Nova and offers a friendly smile.

"Mejor ahora que te veo." The dark haired diva responds with a wink. Even if Dahlia didn't get all of that, it was probably just Nova hitting on her. She had spent enough time on shift with her to notice when her tone was flirty. "That pup is bigger than you are hermosa!" The command given to the beast was to chill, not to move. The dog just sits, looking at Wes as the gals walk over. Nova kneels down and begins to rub the goodest boy's face, speaking to him like a baby. "You are such a sweetheart! Yes you are!"

Justin finally catches up to Dahlia and Caleb after an unexpected meeting went long, keeping him from joining them for a bit. He's dressed in a pair of comfortable jeans and hiking boots to trudge through the snow, a warm winter jacket and a dark blue hat on his head, leather gloves on his hands, and his cheeks a bit pinked from the chill. He grins as he catches up, catching sight of Wes and his upraised hands. "Oh, don't worry. He's a big softie." Justin crouches down and ruffles Caleb's ears and gives him some scritches and gets licks in return. He's an english mastiff/rotweiller mix which is evident in his rotweiller coloring and mastiff size. He is a very big dog.

Justin straightens up then and grins at Dahlia. "So, how's the first walk so far? Did he drag you halfway across the park?" He leans in to steal a kiss from her and then lifts a hand to wave to Nova as well. "I'm Justin, by the way." He grins as Nova greets Caleb as well, and takes a breath. "I'm officially free of meetings for the rest of the day."

Caleb's tail went to wagging again as Justin approached and Nova was petting him. So much attention! Much excite.

"He still thinks he's a puppy." Dahlia confirmed. "But he's an excellent couch cuddler. It's nice to meet you Wes!" Dahlia chuckled and passed a teasing wink to Nova. Her free arm slips around Justin when he arrives, returning the kiss. "Hoorah for no meetings! He...nearly did. When he saw Wes here." She laughed. "But we're all good now. Crisis averted." She shifted to relax lightly against Justin as she focused on the other two.

"Giant dog surprise aside, how's your days going?" And a secondary question to Nova, "You working tonight?"

"Yeah, she opted to let go of the leash and just let the dog come after me in lieu of being dragged across the park." Wes says in a good-natured voice. "Solid choice. Pretty sure a dog that size could devour all the evidence." He's definitely joking. There's a smile for Justin. "Hi." The man pulls his hat back on and pulls a small bottle of water from his pocket to twist the top off and have a sip.

Well the good news about the animal is they could probably all ride him back if they got tired, he seemed about that big. Nova gives a pout at the canine from how incredibly adorable she finds him. Finding her feet, she becomes people level again. Nova nods to Dahlia, metal earrings bouncing. Seriously who runs in those? "Ya. I tried texting you but I was probably high when I put your number in so it was uhhh...not you? I told some stranger you had a great butt..."

She trails off taking in the intimacy between the dogs true owner and her pale friend. Nova clasps her hands together at the side of her face, tilting her head. Her orange acrylics interlaced with her fingers. "...Which Justin already knows! This your boo?" Nova seems excited and very easily distracted. It wasn't that she had been trying to be rude to the newcomer, she just didn't always notice much. Realizing another person existed she grins. "Buenos días!"

Justin grins at Wes and says, "I mean, he's way more likely to barrel you over and lick you into submission than devour any evidence -- unless that evidence is bacon, in which case I make absolutely no guarantees." He lets his arm slip around Dahlia as she leans against him, giving her a little squeeze. Some might recognize him, some might not. But he's been in a few movies (though none in the past few years), and is the CEO of a computer gaming company that puts out a popular MMO. Though in recent years, his appearance in gossip rags and on TMZ have gone down a bit. Though, sometimes his face is still on publications in the checkout lines at grocery stores and the like. He can't help but laugh a little at Nova's comment. "She does, in fact, have a great butt," he confirms. "Heya," he greets her when she's done giving attention to Caleb, who sits contentedly, basking in all the people.

"I don't think I've seen you around before, you new-ish?" Dahlia asked Wes, mildly curious. "I'm sure the stranger appreciates the note. Maybe they'll swing by and give me a tip or something." She couldn't help but laugh at Nova's comment and expression either. "Yes, yes he is." Dahlia flashed another grin. "He puts up with me and in exchange, I make him drinks and let him look at my ass all he wants she, teasing in her tone as she chuckled again. "I have some ideas for a duo dance, maybe we can chat about them later on at the club."

Wes is drinking from his bottle when he suddenly chokes on the water and starts coughing. It's right when Nova is talking about her texting. The man goes through the typical motions of trying to catch his breath while his lungs are still evacuating the inhaled water, but puts up a hand to silently assure that he's fine. Nothing to worry about here. It's a moment before he even answers Dahlia. "Yes. New." Cough cough. He is kind of staring at Nova now but when Dahlia mentions the tip he looks back her way. "Sounds like a funny text for someone to get randomly."

"Oh, is that the arrangement?" Justin laughs as Dahlia lays out the terms of their relationship. He makes a show of leaaaaaaning back to check out her ass and then tilts his head to the side and then straightens back up again. "Alright. I can live with that," he teases. Then he glances over at Wes as he starts coughing. "You okay there, buddy?" he asks, a little concerned as to whether Wes can breathe or not. But when he assures them he's fine, he relaxes a little bit. "Welcome to Gray Harbor, then. It's a weird little town but.. it's home."

Nova giggles at Justin's response, agreeing with an up and down motion of her head. Dark brows raise at him, "That's a pretty sweet deal you have!" Full lips smile at the raven haired beauty. "I hope so, you deserve it." She grows excited by the prospect proposed to her, "That sounds dope!" Then Wes is dying in front of her. It's the first time she has really looked at him.

"Your life is about to get weird amigo, you shine." She does not offer any additional details on this, but she does look at him concerned.

Dahlia gives just a little wiggle of her hips when Justin leans back, giggling again "It is a good arrangement." . Her brows raise as Wes' reaction as well though doesn't ask if he's okay - the other two handle that. "Welcome to town. " Her head tilted slightly to study Wes a little closer. "It is a very weird town. Which might not make sense right now? But, ah, ya know. You'll know it when you see it." She agrees.

Wesley tucks the water bottle away since it's clearly out to get him, and instead pulls out his phone. Justin gets a smile, "Thanks. Moved here with my boyfriend and his sister. Well, trying to move here. It's the plan. We're still sorting it all out." He explains as he unlocks the phone. He looks at Nova, "So your name is Nova? N-O-V-A?" He seems to be entering that into his phone. "Shine? Uhh, okay." He just grins, some mischief in his eyes. "Are you still high from yesterday then? Did you ever get any sleep? Just wondering. And no, I still won't cover your shift today." To Dahlia he comments, "I heard there's some kind of 'mill' place that's ... strange? And there's some kind of professional ghostbuster I met at a bar. Definitely weird, but it's been fun!"

There's a glance over to Nova and then from Nova to Wes as he studies him for a moment or two. Yep, Wes does shine, just like the rest of them. "Yeah, the Mill is dangerous, actually. And not like, ha ha abandoned let's go hang out in it with some friends and creep each other out dangerous. Legit dangerous." He shrugs his shoulders. "But there's plenty of other strange in town that I'm sure you'll get to experience." He smiles a little bit wryly, "Hopefully of a less dangerous sort."

Now it is Nova who is coughing and she isn't even drinking water. This is true talent indeed. "You!?!?" Hazel eyes go wide with horror and some color that has nothing to do with jogging comes to her cheeks. A normal person would probably stop looking at the source of discomfort, Instead she looks Wes up and down approvingly. "Okay, you cute." She finally concedes, brushing a dark brown strand behind her ear that had come loose from her ponytail. "Antonio would probably hire you." This means something to some of them.

Gathering up her usual self confidence, she strikes a pose, hip out, hand placed on it. "I slept almost nada, not for lack of trying. I am currently not high, just cute. I can see some things. You can to if you focus. You are pretty bright vato so you in for it." Whereas a lot of people here were cryptic, the Nazario's had been born with abilities so this was all pretty normal to them. From the amount of drugs they did though, many were likely not to take them too seriously.

Dahlia snickered a bit at Wes' comment. "So you're the mis-text? What are the odds of that?" She also looks between Wes and Nova, mildly amused. Then nods in agreement with Justin's words. "Yeah, definitely don't go there. Bad shit always happens. But I've got a feelin' you and yours will fit right in." She flashed a smile. Though looks back to Nova, considering. "I can cover your shift if you want me too and you can try to get some sleep? I'm not technically on the schedule tonight, but was thinking on dropping in just to talk about a few things - maybe do a dance or two." She, ultimately, doesn't seem too concerned either about Nova talking about the shine stuff to a newcomer. Let all be warned, or something like that.

Wesley just laughs and nods confirmation that he's the one that got the texts. "My boyfriend told me to write that." He admits with a grin in regards to his appearance. "He was driving. And no, that's okay. I ... I'm good. I have a couple names of people to call about work here." He says quickly. When she talks about focus and being bright he gives her a long, confused gaze, then just lets it go. Justin and Dahlia both get a little nod, "I'll make sure the others know to stay away from the place. No idea where it is so there's that. Anyway, I should probably get back and it sounds like you have work schedules to figure out. Nice meeting you all." He will tuck his phone away and start making a wide berth around Caleb.

Justin chuckles and says, "In this town? Does anything really surprise you anymore?" He grins at Dahlia and then says, "Hey, wait.. I got the rest of the day off and now you're ditching me?" He mocks a hurt look, but then grins over at Nova, "Seriously, if you haven't been sleeping, you should get some rest." Then he nods to Wes, "Glad to hear that you've got some possibilities lined up. Feel free to look us up if you guys need anything. We're over on Bayside." He gives the address to the house as Wes begins to head off. Caleb remains very well behaved.

Nova waves a goodbye to Wes in an awkward 'What are the odds?' way. When he leaves it becomes easier to see how tired the dancer truly is, her typical energy deflating to only a baseline. "Thanks Dahl, I would really appreciate that. Ever since I got that nasty burn, dreams have been...hell..." She looks askance to the middle of the park, trying not to think too hard about it. "I'm just trying to tire myself out, ya'know."

Her pony tail flops as she considers Justin. "Have I seen you somewhere, or you just got one of them 'white boy' faces?" She means this in the best way possible, like Justin looked toothpaste commercial ready.

"Have a good one Wes!" She waved to the running man and then looked back to Nova with a grin. "Any time hun. For real. Us girls gotta stick together, right?" A touch of concern is in her features though as she studies her fellow dancer. "Also, it is a crazy coincidence that you ran in to him so soon after that mis text. Especially with him being new in town?" What were the chances she mistexted someone new in town anyway? "I think the Harbor is trying to embarrass you."

"Let me know if you need anything else too. You know I'm always happy to help." Then he looks up at Justin with a soft chuckle, curious to see how he'll answer.

Justin regards Nova sympathetically, knowing how that goes. Things in this town can mess you up. "Sometimes that's what you have to do to get a little bit of sleep." Though when she asks if she's seen him somewhere or if he just has a 'white boy' face, he laughs. "Well, I can't deny having a white boy face." He is, after all, a white boy. "But you might have. I did some film work, and I have my own company. I've been on some magazine covers." Then he shakes his head at Dahlia and says, "It's trippy but honestly in this town? I'd believe it was some kind of weird Gray Harbor vortex that caused it to happen. Maybe it even made you put in the wrong number." He grins a little. "We'll never know."

thump thump thump

The rhythmic pattern of someone else's rubber soles hitting the hard-packed and someone iced ground starts off faint and grows louder as Seth rounds the bend lost in his own little world as he plods along, air pods in his ears blocking out all noise aside from the thumping of his feet and the beating of his heart.

So that is why when he rounds the corner he almost plows into the folks (and dog) that are having a discussion in the middle of his pre-determined jogging route.

"Shit.." he exclaims as he manages to veer off course and come to an abrupt stop without knocking someone over or taking a spill on the slick ground as he slides along the patch of icy ground that borders the trail. The enforcer reaches up and pops the air pods from his ears as he eyes the gathering, a look of slight annoyance on his face. "Sorry. Wasn't expecting a fellowship around the bend. Everyone good?"

Nova is just about to ask her coworker why she still works for the Cabaret when she has a movie star sugar daddy, when they all almost get knocked down like bowling pins. Hazel eyes travel to their would be assailant, a look of irritation on her own face at the bouncer being annoyed. “Aye! Watch where you are going!” In her defense she was exhausted, so it was more that she was on the irritable side.

Recognition comes to her face, eyes narrowing. “Waffles?” She asks pointing a finger in his direction with a less confrontational tone.

Dahlia shifts a little , looking up at Seth as he came around the corner, narrowly avoing getting bowled over. "Hey Seth." Flashing a smile, recognizing the bouncer since she worked the bar at Firefly when she wasn't dancing at Platinum. "Sorry we're crowding up the walk." Caleb is likely back on his feet, wagging his tail and trying to sniff around the new person.

Caleb seems delighted for more potential attention, the big dog wagging his tail excitedly and snuffling at Seth when the man comes to a stop. Justin gives him a pat though and the dog sits back down. "Good boy," he says, and then gives an up-nod to Seth. "Hey. How's it going?" He grins a little. "Guess we are kind of hogging up all the space over here." He looks around, "We could move it off the path over there." He nods where there's a little bit of cleared space off to one side, where people could at least run past them instead of through them.

Seth squints a bit as he peers at Nova, and then over at Dahlia, recognition starting to form on his face as he looks to the two women, and then there is the dog. A smile comes to the enforcer's face as he squats down to give the mastiff the attention it demands, ruffling the canine behinds the ears with some vigorous scratching. "Well hello there. Who's a good boy?"

From his squatted position Seth looks back up to the humans of the group and smiles, "Waffles? Right! Waffles. Nova, right? You wanted to check out the Cobra sometime and were a dancer over at the Cabaret. I still need to make it over there sometime. Dahlia? I haven't seen you in ages. How have you been? What have you been up to?" Justin gets a nod of greeting, "I think you're safe for now. I didn't see anyone else on the trail behind me, but that could change."

In defense of the groups awkward placement, why were so many people running in the freezing cold? She does move as Justin suggests, knowing she was just being needlessly combative in her current state. She smiles in regards to Seth‘s reaction to the large dog.

“Yeah sorry about that man I’m a little… Distractible sometimes and I’ve had a hell of a last couple months.” She looks a bit on the gaunt side, more pale then he remembered. “I gotta try to make in back home without collapsing.” Nova says bitterly. “Thanks for taking my shift Dahl, I owe you.” A kiss is blown in her fellow lady’s direction. “Watch her ass Justin.” She says with a wink. A weak wave is given in Seth’s direction. “Text me? I might crash most of today but I do want to chill...” This seems genuine.

"Yeah that works." Dahlia agreed with Justin, moving the few steps towards that spot before refocusing her attention on the group. A little grin on her lips as she watched Caleb getting showered with attention.A little nod to Seth. "Yeah. This town's trying to kill me. And when it isn't, I think our shifts just don't generally match up." Dahlia laughed. "It's good to see you though. Been out and about, here and there. Working on some side stuff too."

She reaches out and gives Nova's upper arm an affectionate squeeze. "Any time, for real. Do you want me to call you an uber or something?" She raised a brow briefly. "We definitely don't want you passing out on your way home."

"Or we can give you a ride," Justin offers, since his car is there, not all that far away, either. Caleb pants happily as Seth pays attention to him, tail thumpthumpthumping in appreciation. The big dog really is all friendly affection regardless of his size. He's quiet for a bit, just letting the others talk and make plans. He laughs and tells Nova, "I'll do that," when she tells him to watch Dahlia's ass. Then he says, "Have you seen Ravn about lately?" he asks Seth, "I haven't really seen him since that time at the Two if by Sea," which is where he met Seth, talking to Ravn and Devlin for a bit.

Seth looks up from the dog to Dahlia and smirks, "When isn't it. It's tried to bite my ass a few times as well, and it has been touch and go at times. This town certainly has its moments." But as Dahlia speaks to Nova again, he rises up to his feet after one last run of his hand over the mastiff's furred head. "No worries, if I couldn't handle an acerbic personality, I wouldn't have a job. Are you ok?" he asks the pale woman, a hint of concern creeping over his features. "Do I need to call you a ride, your brother, or someone else? You're not looking so well...or that" he retorts as Justin offers to give a ride.

In reply to Justin, Seth rolls his shoulder with a grin, "I see that Dane more than I see anyone else it seems. He is always showing up. I just saw him yesterday over at the Pourhouse, but he has been out of it for a while. He got himself shot in that big clusterfuck that happened, but he is doing better now. Well enough to go out for a drink, which I think he almost instantly regretted."

"Or we can give you a ride." Dahlia agreed with Justin's offer. At the talk of Ravn, "Oh I saw him...a while back." During a strange Dream-but-was-it-really moment with the terrorizing uncats. "He got shot?" Her eyes widened. "I'm glad he's okay. " She glances aside as if thinking about something. Maybe her own unkittens that are growing into normal cats more every day. "Why did he regret it?"

Nova seems to have blanked out for a moment, unfocused on what people are saying to her. “What?-“ She snaps out of her daze. Running after being up forty plus hours was a great idea. “I’ll uhh, be okay.” She says apologetically. “I just need a night without nightmares...”

Nova takes a breath and gives a small wave. “I’ve been kinda cooped up lately. I could use some friends. So text ya?” She smiles weakly. Her brother had been working like crazy or with his girl, no reason to worry him. There were just drawbacks to being a more sparkly person. “Sorry bout your friend.” She calls back to Seth when she takes a few steps. She is no longer running.

"Shot?" Justin says, a flicker of concern over his features and brows knitting. "I heard about that whole incident but didn't realize that he was there. I'm .. glad to hear that he's well enough to be out grabbing drinks, even regrettable drinks." Because the alternative could be a lot worse. He watches as Nova moves to depart and asks "You sure you don't want a ride?" But she seems to be certain, and so he doesn't press the issue beyond that.

Replying to Dahlia, Seth explains, "Because he was on pain meds still and the half a beer he put down really messed with his head. Either that or he suddenly lost all ability to hold his liquor, and I have watched that man drink scotch like water. I'm sure he will be fine, he just needs to take it a bit easy for a while. He is over the worst of it, so now it is just recovery. First getting stuck in the police precinct when it gets overrun by crooked cops, and then getting shot by a sniper in the middle of some...I don't know what it was. Like we don't have all this other shit to deal with that we need more on top of it all, right?"

He looks to Nova, then to Dahlia and Justin. "I don't know about you two, but I think she needs a ride regardless of what she says. She can not drive like that, and the thought of her walking around in the cold in this condition does not fill me with warm fuzzies." Seth makes a couple of steps towards Nova, reaching out to attempt to place a hand on her shoulder, "I really think you should let someone take you home, Nova."

"Oh lord. Yeah...pain meds and alcohol don't mix." Dahlia mused. "Damn, sounds like he's certainly been having some adventures of the not fun kind." She pushed a hand through her hair . "That's what this place does though, yeah? Piles it on till we lose our shit."

There is concern in her eyes towards Nova and a nod of agreement with Seth's words. "She definitely shouldn't be left to her own devices." Coming from the person who tends to hate taking help or asking for help even from her people. "Yeah Nova, Broadleaf isn't far from here." Presumably they've chatted enough to know vaguely where the other lives at least.

"Yeah, I think perhaps seeing her home is a good idea," Justin nods as Seth seems to be moving to do just that. He hangs back, just in case they're needed, but otherwise doesn't interfere. So long as someone sees her home, he's not too worried about who. Then he looks over toward Dahlia and says, "Do you need to go get ready for taking over her shift? Or do you have some time left?" Caleb makes an impatient sound, finally tired of sitting still in the cold instead of going on the walk that he was promised.

"I've got some time." Dahlia confirmed, keeping an eye on Nova a moment as Seth went for her and then looked back up at Justin. "We can finish our walk and maybe grab some lunch to go or something before I need to get ready." She looked down to Caleb and gave him a scritch behind the ears.

When Seth catches up with Nova she just nods and agrees soundlessly. The chica is officially too out of it to argue. Shivering slightly when the wind picks up, she follows his lead.