2021-06-13 - Before the Night Shift

It's evening. Not late evening, but evening all the same. It's also pretty dang chilly outside. The weather -- all drizzle and gray -- has sent a lot of people indoors. Ashley Jones is absolutely one of those people. He's not an uncommon sight in the coffee shop (or truly many of the coffee shops in Gray Harbor), particularly in the evening hours before his shift at the station.

Dressed in jeans, a gray t-shirt that reads 'PANTS' in big, bold script across the front, and a red-and-black flannel (he has a proper jacket thrown across the back of his chair), Ash sits hunched over his coffee and a worn paperback copy of 'The War of the Worlds.'

It's not common of late to find the Addington here, but Erin has freed up some of her schedule and it leaves her more time for the frivolous. Currently, she's dressed in a stylish over coat that proooobably cost a lot. The rest of her attire is mostly hidden beneath, except the solid white name brand athletic shoes and .. wait is that scrubs? How.. unfashionable. Certainly not her usual. Her car had just been parked outside, the growling of the Maserati an announcement to her presence to any locals around who would know her, even in passing.

Once inside she loosens the belt at her waist and slides the coat off her shoulders to hang on a coat rack. Yep, scrubs. Plain tealish blue colored scrubs. Rolling her shoulders a little to loosen them up, dark eyes take a look around before landing on the shirt of the guy. Out of nowhere, she muses, "At least you are ready for the shoes and pants requirement." A breezy smile given his way before she approaches the counter.

It may not be late evening, however, late enough for Devlin after a shift. Under his leather jacket, one can see hints of damp spots on his t-shirt that suggest perhaps he has recently showered. Once again, Devlin is wearing another of his printed t-shirt with this one saying, Combat Medic, Someone who does precision guesswork based on unreliable data provided by those of questionable knowledge. See also: Wizard, Magician. He holds the door for another customer and follows in. He sets his large gym bag on a chair at a table and sets his hat on top of the bag. Devlin walks over to join the line. On seeing Erin, he greets, "Hi Erin, hope things are slow for you over at the hospital. Slow night so far on our side of the house."

There's silence for a long moment from Ashley. Maybe he missed that he was even spoken to? But more than likely it's just that he's in the middle of a page on his book. With a thumb to capture his spot, he reaches for his coffee and picks it up for a drink, finally looking up at Erin at her comment.

Without missing a beat, he points out: "No Shirt, no Shoes, no Service. I'm actually lucky they let me in the door." Since he's wearing PANTSx2 and not a shirt. If you believe the shirt's declaration of itself that is.

The shirt sayings are really pretty clever and amusing. Erin finds herself checking over Devlin's also. "Wizard and magician. Claim to fame." A half smile is given his way before she places an order. Half cappuccino, half hot chocolate. "Things are slow, sort of like the calm before the storm Literally." Casting an eye towards the outside and gathering storm clouds everyone has been preparing for, she doesn't look too terribly worried, but there is genuine concern there at least.

Another look to Ashley, realizing she had interrupted him, she gives an apologetic look and a slight nod towards the book, The apology remains unspoken though. "Elly is pretty relaxed. Pants twice is better than.. not."

As her drink is delivered she looks expectantly at Devlin, "Care to share a table?" There's plenty! Without exactly waiting for a response, she moves to sit at a table adjacent to Mr. Pants.

"Sure, I'll be a moment. By the way, nice car.. hadn't seen that one I think." is Devlin's reply. "Just need to get another caffeine and banana bread fix." Seeing Mr. Pants, he extends a greeting to the man, "Hi there. I'm Devlin, one of your friendly neighborhood Paramedics. Hope that is a good read." He then makes his order followed by the waiting.

Really, if Ashley is concerned about his attire: he doesn't show it. His hair is a bit unkempt; like he just rolled out of bed. His clothes are in a similar rumpled state. He slurps at his coffee and glances back up at Devlin as the introduction is delivered. "Ash," he provides. His voice might well be recognizable. Most radio DJs aren't really recognizable by face, but they do have the voice and AJ has been on WKRW for the overnight shift for the past decade. Blue eyes drop back to his book and he sets down his coffee, lifting his hand -- subconsciously, like the motion has long since become rote -- to push up his glasses. "It's a good one. Better'n the Tom Cruise movie." There's a faint 'ugh' undertone to the comment.

Hipsters.

Getting his bread and coffee, Devlin goes over to the table Erin staked out to take a seat. "Nice to meet you, Ash. Hipsters.. interesting title, author any good?" If he recognizes the voice or not, no hints from his demeanor as he chats. "I tend to read a lot of boring journals and medical texts.. I do need to break them up with something else at times, for sanity's sake." A bit of a grin there as he takes a few bites of the bread and sips at the needed dark brew.

With his thumb caught between the pages and fingers splayed across the back, Ashley flips around the book so Devlin can see the front cover. It's faded, pulpy, and absolutely a copy from the 60s (even if the original was published just before 1900). With his free hand, he picks up his coffee and takes a long drink. "War of the Worlds," he explains as he swallows. "Good read. Wells was way ahead of his time. Bet he was abducted a few times."

Ash is joking, surely. Got to be.

Oh yeah compliment her car! Erin cannot stop the smile from that and her eyes drop from the sky outside to the car through the window. "I love my car." Said with a very real affection in her tone. Lost in her drink for the moment, her mind on something else, she glances between them as the conversation gets directed towards Ash. A single brow raises and her head tilts ever so marginally to the left. "Yeah that happens around here." Yeah, Erin is for sure joking. Probably.

His voice does seem somewhat familiar, she always had something going in her car or her house. Not usually a television in the latter. "You sound familiar." Of course she may be recognizable. An Addington.. a somewhat recently disinherited one.

That gets a chuckle from Devlin, "Walked right onto that one. Yeah, fair bet he was abducted.. Wells is a hell of a good author. I do enjoy Victor Hugo too, myself. Read a few of his books on my 3rd deployment." He rubs his chin.. "I want to say Les Mis.. Hans of Iceland.. and I think..that one on how to be a grandfather. Taliban put a round though that one. No respect for the classic on their part." He gives Erin a smile, "Welcome back to the land of the living or was contemplating your coffee that amazing?" a bit of a tease in his tone. "May be if they make a good off road vehicle that can hold my gear.. I'd think about one."

"Oh, absolutely it does," Ashley agrees with Erin's assessment, already looking back to his book. It's delivered deadpan. When she mentions he sounds familiar, one shoulder rises and falls in a shrug. "I work for WKRW." Also known as 'The Krew.' Because every radio station needs a super corny 'catchy' nickname.

The blonde-haired man does glance up briefly toward Devin. "Haven't read much Hugo. Bit long-winded for my taste."

"You should get a Land Rover," Erin tells Devlin guilelessly. Who cares that it's stupid expensive? The cost of it never crosses her mind. "It'll hold all your gear and get you around in style." Her coffee is lifted when it's mentioned and she takes a sip, clearly savoring the flavor of the concoction.

Finally, she drags her dark gaze to the DJ. "You work for the radio station? What's your name?" Of course she means his on-air nickname since likely it's more recognizable. "I am Erin Addington." A touch of snobbery to the introduction. Old money. The snobbery isn't deliberate.

"Long winded can be good when your in Afghanistan." Devlin replies as he nods to Ash. "Oh.. your the voice on the radio I hear when I am with Chuck between calls. Cool." Devlin smiles a bit as he sips on his coffee. "Land Rover is a bit out of my price range, but I'll consider it, Erin." He doesn't seem at all bothered by her pricey suggestion. "So far my Jeep is doing a good job for me. Granted.. no where near as stylish."

"Ash Jones. Though there was a while around 2010 when I was A-to-the-J. It was a whole thing." He looks embarrassed by it. Coffee is lifted and then he frowns down into the mug: it's empty. Dog-earing the page in his book (it looks like many of the pages have had this treatment many times over the years), he drops it on the table and pushes to his feet. "Glad to keep folks up all night like I am entertained," he tells Devlin. It's followed up with "Excuse me" before he schleps his way over to the counter to get a refill.

"A to the J?" Erin muses over that and maybe there's a niggle of memory to it. "Interesting.." Though the way she says it makes it seem maybe not so much. It's just her way. "Do you do requests and dedications?" Do they even do that anymore? She blows into her cup and sips before turning her gaze back to Devlin, "Land Rover is worth it though. If you test drive one you may not be able to walk away. If you want a sports car though, I could give you the number to an excellent dealer."

Devlin sips at his coffee as he looks at the dog eared copy. "Ash, for some of us, your voice in the night was a nice element of something just NOT work to cling too. I know you helped Chuck get through some long nights especially after a run that just tears at your heart. Thanks." He smiles to Erin, "My dream car for a sports car is a Yenko Nova.. classic American muscle."

"I'm glad to hear it," Ashley tells Devlin as he turns back from the counter with freshly refilled mug in hand. "It helps me stay awake, too. So I'm happy to hear it helps others." Even if some nights the broadcast is AJ interviewing some supposed nutjob. 'Hey folks, this is Bob. Bob says he saw aliens harvesting rutabega on his farm last week. So, Bob... why do you think they need rutabega so badly?'

As he passes back to his table, Ash stops by Erin and Devlin's, digging in his pocket for a moment. What he surfaces with is a creased business card that he sets down within Erin's reach. It has the station -- WKRW -- logo on it, Ashley's name, and contact information. Website, email address, phone number (it's an 800 number). "I absolutely take requests."

"That is a great car also. Hopefully you get one some day. There is nothing like realizing some dreams and goals. And absolutely incredible to drive the vehicle you love."

Reaching for the card, Erin looks over it, reading every line. Especially the email address. Sometimes those were so frivolous and very telling! Poptartprincess@gmail? Yeah that'd say a lot! So she checks out all the lines before lifting dark eyes to his again. "Even random requests? For example, play a song for me tonight, I'll be listening, sort of requests?" Her eyes hold speculation as she studies him.

Devlin finishes off his coffee and bread, "It was a pleasure to meet you, Ash. I'll pass the request line number to Chuck." He grins to Erin, "Yeah.. got to have dreams and goals. I've get to get going to get some sleep. Wendy over in Physical therapy asked me to help her with remembering how to do some Na-qi exercises as she has a couple of patients that would benefit. So need to be there early in the morning before her patient load gets rolling." He rises, "Catch you both later."

The email address is pretty bland. a.jones@wkrw.org. The card is definitely professional kit.

Dropping back into his seat, Ashley takes a long drink of his coffee, even slurping a bit. He sets the mug down and scoops his book back up. There's a glance to Erin and an arch of brow. He lifts his hand -- that subconscious, unnoticed maneuver again -- to push up his glasses. "I mean, sure? It just goes into the rotation."

Okay, vanilla email, the card is nothing completely special so Erin slides it over beside her cup so she won't forget it. "So you just play a rotation of songs, pre-chosen? No spontaneity or anything?" Tapping the pad of her finger on the card, "Why would people request then?"

"I didn't say that," Ashley says without looking up. Bookworm, likely. Or maybe it's just a really good part of the book. Or he can multitask! Perhaps d) all of the above. "'Play a song for me tonight' is vague. So it just goes in the rotation. I'm on for eight hours. I can't custom-design a playlist every single night. That's how burnout happens. I wouldn't still be doing this if I did that." He turns the page, head tilting to keep reading.

"There's blocks of music where it plays at random. There's times I choose specific stuff. Sometimes I interview people. It's pretty much whatever I feel like on a given night."

Erin arches a brow again as his focus seems to remain on his book. Had he really looked up he may see a slight frown marring her features at the lack of attention on her. Perhaps it is something the Addington isn't used to. "Pat answers, I guess. Can you not see people and think of a song to suit? That's all I meant. I don't care if it's good or bad, just a song you'd associate with me and play it. I'd just hang out to see what it was. I'm not trying to get some mushy dedication or something, just something from your own opinion."

This time, Ash does lower his book and it's just to give Erin sort of a baffled stare. There's a deep breath and he rolls to his feet. The coffee mug comes along and he downs the rest of it as he gathers up his jacket. It's probably getting close to time for him to head into the station. The book gets shoved into a pocket of the coat. Tugging it into place to zip up, he gives a shrug. "Sure, why not. I'll play something around midnight." A few bills as a tip (likely on top of whatever was on the bill) is tossed on the table before he turns to amble on out, fishing keys out of his pocket.

Erin makes no move to get up from her seated position and she watches him when he gives her that look. Amused by it, she smiles wryly. "As long as it's not Crazy Bitch," she murmurs with a sort of self-deprecating tone. A little louder she lets him know, "I'll be listening then." Watching him as he heads out. Focusing back on her drink, she looks again at the business card before tucking it into a pocket.