2021-12-06 - Hot Chocolate, Cold Noses and the Click of a Camera

The boardwalk is usually not the place people want to be on a chilly, misty evening, but for some reason Perdita can't quite stay away, and has asked Garrett to accompany her. A heavier duty gray faux fur coat is on display, one that hits mid calf, and currently belted closed, and beneath, Perdita is wearing heavy duty denim. A thick pashmina is wrapped around her shoulders and over her hair, loosely, to keep it from getting too wet in the cold, and in the bag currently hanging from her arm, she's packed hot chocolate and sandwiches.

"Thanks for coming out with me. If I saw one more messed up room in that building I was going to rent a wrecking ball."

Cold is something Garrett is used to and ready for; his own coat is charcoal gray, mid-thigh, and puffy with insulation, the only faux fur in sight trimming his drawn hood. As usual, cargo pants and sturdy boots are the order of the day. Hands are stuffed into pockets for warmth, and he has a somewhat tired look about his face; he's made little effort to hide how well he hasn't really been sleeping lately.

"Not a problem. Getting out a bit will probably do me some good," he says with a smile over to Dita, one that manages to reach his eyes despite the exhaustion. "Controlled demo would probably be cheaper and easier, though," he adds.

"It would be." she admits with a sigh, "But I meant more the 'smash it all down and build up from scratch' kind, which would be a shame because it's a lovely, historic building... full of horrors. Did I tell you there's tunnels with... creatures in the basement?" she asks, looping her arm with Garrett's and smiling up at him. "Ravn and Alexander are excited to go exploring, though, so there's that." she just shakes her head and leads the way to what seems to be her favorite spot, turning to look out over the water.

"Still having bad nights?" she asks softly, looking up at him with a bit of concern.

There's a long pause. "...no, I don't think you'd mentioned the tunnel-dwelling basement monsters, yet," Garrett says, tone dry. He is not as surprised as a normal person might be, and he gives his head a shake. "How much stuff have those two dealt with? Do they realize what kind of trouble they're potentially messing around with?" His tone is truly inquisitive, rather than judgmental, as he looks at DIta.

Her question to him gets a small, shrugging nod. "It's.... not as bad as it was?" He sounds more like he's trying to convince himself than her.

Foggy boardwalk winter evenings are atmospheric and spooky - a perfect time for a photographer to play with light and shadow. "If we can just stop my batteries from dying from the cold and damp, I might actually get some good shots," says Ellery as he adjusts a few settings on his camera. Caed's been directed to set up a tripod a few steps ahead, pointing the way of the ferris wheel that looms through the misty evening. He's got two bags of camera equipment with him and he's wearing one of those rain shells common of TV crews.

"They know what they're doing. Ravn doesn't have much power, but he's smart and honestly a better thief than me, don't you ever tell him I said that, and Alexander's a powerhouse. If the three of us can't handle it... I don't know if it can be handled."

The bag is opened, and she hands Garrett a thermos of hot cocoa, as if this is the answer to all problems. "It's got a little heat." she warns with a smile, "A teeensy bit of cayenne, a little cinnamon. Mamá used to make it for me like this when I was little."

She looks dubious at Garrett's answer, but doesn't call him on it, except to say, "If you ever need me, I'm just in the next room. Even if I've got... company." not that she has, since Garrett's arrived. Ellery and Caed get a glance of curiosity and a bit of a smile, shaking her head slightly. Artists.

"You are aware it's a bit of a losing battle, aye?" The distinct Irish lilt of Caed's voice is muffled a bit by the knit scarf wound around his neck, the mist gathering in little droplets of water on his wool peacoat. He swings the tripod down from his shoulder and starts extending the legs. "Evening." He greets the other that are lacking the same sort of sanity that would keep most off the docks this time of evening. "So do the spooky photos pay better than the standard stock photography or is this for your private collection, then?" He doesn't quite pronounce the 'th' sound, the word coming out more like 'den'.

Garrett hesitates, then sighs. "If you three ever want one more idiot to join you..." he offers with a bit of resignation in his voice. "Can't let you all go have god-knows-what happen to you without at least trying to help," he grumbles, but the latter, at least, is good-natured. The thermos is accepted with a grateful look, but the mention of knowing where to find her gets a raised brow. "I'll be honest. I... probably won't take you up on that if you've got company," he admits, just a hint of amusement cracking his otherwise tired expression.

And then there's more people appearing through the mist. "Evening," he offers the apparently-very-dedicated photographers with a tiny nod and wave, taking a sip of the enhanced hot cocoa and shooting Dita an approving nod.

"Well, I never know until I've shot some photos," says Ellery to Caed as he takes a few more test shots and checks the result in the viewfinder. "Sometimes I try for something more arty, but end up with something that could be used in an ad or sold under a stock license." He looks up from the viewfinder when he hears the other man greeting someone. He lifts a hand in greeting. "Hiya. Don't mind us. Just taking in an atmospheric boardwalk."

Wandering up the boardwalk with a tired dalmatian puppy cradled in her arms Fae offers a flutter of her fingertips to the others congregating across the way. "Popular place tonight." she expressively beams, gliding her smile up her cheek. "What's everyone up to?" she inquisitively chatters, pulling her standard Nancy Drew look around and assuming there must be some clue to why other people want to freeze their butts off.

"While secretly hoping the Loch Ness monster appears." Caed adds with an amused tilt of his mouth, said as a light tease towards Ellery. He flips the tripod over and lowers his eye line to where the camera would be settled, deciding it needs to be a little higher to account for Ellery's height as he extends the neck of it and tightens it into place. "It appears as if we're all a glutton for catching the cold virus by lowering our immune systems with cold and damp." He answers Fae before the Irishman tugs up his scarf closer to his ears.

"I'll let them know you're interested in joining us... but you're not an idiot." she opens her own thermos of cocoa and smiles, inhaling the warmth before taking a sip, adding, "Any more than the rest of us, anyway."

"... what if the company doesn't object to the addition?" is asked very softly, with the slightest bit of heat behind it, her smile turning slightly wicked.

The photographer and his assistant get a more innocent smile, and she salutes the men with her thermos, before slipping the lid back on it. "Good evening. No worries, it's a beautiful place any time of day... though it gets a little more dangerous at night. Slippery and hard to see." she clarifies... and then Fae is there with Chief, and Perdita smiles, "I think he's doubled in size in just a few days!"

"Well, at least you all realize you're partly idiots," Garrett grumbles, but by now the side-eye he's giving Dita is definitely exaggerated. The second comment gets a small cough, the distinct impression he'd've choked if he'd been drinking more cocoas just then. He gives a raised eyebrow and a Look, but no response beyond that.

"Think you might have the wrong continent for Nessie, but it /is/ atmospheric, I'll give you that," Garrett calls to the artists, London accent a bit more apparent as he raises his voice. Fae, and the puppy (especially the puppy) get a smile. "Not much," he answers her. "Just enjoying the delightful weather. Listen to Hamilton yet?" he asks with a grin, one that widens when Dita is also quick to chat with Fae. Small town, it would seem.

"You're Irish, Caed. Aren't you completely immune to the cold and damp?" says Ellery with a wry grin to the other man. "It was Cadborosaurus, not Nessie. And I've given up on that. People are on the lookout for weird in this town, and no one's seen anything. Plus apparently if it's created by the weirdness, I won't be able to capture it on camera. Which is just...so, so heartbreaking." He feighs a dramatic sigh, broad shoulders drooping.

"What are we up to? Just snappin' a few pics. Believe it or not, slate gray is great light for photographs. Nothing gets underexposed or blown out. The mist...is a problem though." He sets his camera on the tripod, and has to pull it even a liiittle higher than Caed put it.

A measured assessment of the doggo's progress into the realm of no longer being a tiny lapdog is given from the ginger girl's pale grey eyes. "Yeah, he's growing too fast, he needs to stop it." she chuckles over to Perdita as the weed in question pants happily in her arms. "He's also being lazy right now, he ran himself out up and down the beach so he's in full-on walk refusal mode."

Fae kneels down, rolling the loaf of dog from her arms which just folds over, and begins to meld in with the boardwalk. "See what happens with you try and fight the ocean? You silly thing." she can't help but be amused by the canines antics, or rather, lack thereof. "I'd have him show you some of his new tricks but he'd probably refuse to do those right now and leave me embarrassed," she murmurs low-key to Dita.

"He can shake and he can sit. We're working on play dead, but he really only listens when I have curly fries." the words ~curly fries~ seem to be a trigger as the lump laying across the boardwalk hops up with renewed energy, already whimpering for a treat. "Oh? You're fine now? I see how it is." the country girl drawls out to her mutt,

Her attention belatedly turns to Garrett, looking guilty, she was supposed to actually check into that Hamilton thing, wasn't she? "Um, not yet, been a little busy, Dog, boyfriend, car trouble, work...just life, you know." sounds like a bunch of excuses to me, she could have and she knows it.

"Why do you think we perfected whiskey?" Caed's smile is small and reserved as he steps aside and holds up a light meter for Ellery.

"With you joining the group, we're four quarters of a whole idiot." Perdita teases Garrett with a fond smile. Look! Perdita can not only fake emotions, she can actually express them!

"I would refuse to walk if I had to run around on this beach, too." Dita admits with a soft smile for Chief. She kneels in front of the puppy, offering him her hand to sniff. "It's okay. I don't perform on command, either. You make sure you get the payment up front, and if they refuse to pay you up front, it's not worth it, sargodi hakyares?"

Yes, Perdita, teach the dog Kalderash, that won't confuse him at all. "I think the mist is refreshing... if a little chilly. But I could see where it plays havoc with equipment."

"That means each of us is slightly less of an idiot!" Garrett offers up brightly, returning the smile before nodding his general agreement re: dog exhaustion. "Haven't done my homework either; you're off the hook," Garrett assures Fae with a soft laugh. More amusement at Dita's interaction with the pup,

Caed and Ellery get a vaguely sympathetic look. "The local weird /is/ notoriously not photogenic, it's true," he agrees, nodding as he sips more cocoa. Either he's just happy to have something drive the damp chill from his bones, or the spiced up variant agrees with him. Or both? Both is good.

Ellery rubs the sleeve of his coat across the display of the expensive-looking camera rig. "One thing I've learned about spending most of my life is that you can't tell how wet the mist is until you get out into it. It can be everything from sexy film noir rolling mist to 'it's not raining but it might as well be.' The kinda fog where you just get misted like a car wash." He wipes at his face. "I think this is more of the latter."

He fiddles with the camera a minute, then snaps a few pictures. He shakes his head. "Sometimes droplets are artsy, but this is just...randomly blurry."

Chief's tongue slathers Perdita's hand with dalmatian kisses, deciding that she might be the treat that he's really after. Watch out world, puppy love is real. "Chief, that's enough lickin' boy." Fae's eyes round at the now rambunctious pet. "She was tryin' to let you smell her, not get slobber all over her." such is the life of anyone trying to pet Chief though, they're likely to be taste-tested for whatever reason.

"As long as we both forget to do our homework I think that counts as getting an extension on the project." Fae agreeably bobbles her head over to Garrett, happy enough to have another week to become acquainted with Hamilton before term papers are due.

Her vision returns to Dita once again as she starts speaking Kalderash, the country girl and her pooch both tilt their heads to the side trying to understand. "What's a sar-goytdi hack-ay-yaris?" she butchers the foreign language like a cow led to the slaughter, hardly coming close to being recognizable, attempts were made though, even if they were complete failures.

"So that's why photos of bigfoot are always blurry, he's one of those things from the other side." When Chief slobbers on her, there's a bit of a grimace, but she smiles and just wipes her hand across his head under the guise of petting. She has hand sanitizer for a reason, after all.

As Fae butchers her father's language, Perdita both gets a little 'deer in headlights' and also manages to mostly conceal the wince as the Fae does her best. Doesn't everyone baby talk in their native tongue? "It means..." she pauses, actually having to stop and think for just an instant, before translating, "'take it as you will' or 'however you like'." she shrugs, scratching gently behind Chief's ear with a smile.

Caed's glance goes to the puppy, as if tempted to go ruffle some fluffy ears but he's here to work, at least to the best of his abilities which granted are small. He pulls out an eyeglass lens cloth and gets in the way of Ellery's view finder long enough to wipe it properly. "There is beauty in all of God's creation, blurry or no. Try again. If nothing we'll frame it to cover that nasty crack above the fireplace, yeah?" Crouching to dig through the equipment bags for an umbrella to protect the gear, he looks over to Fae and Garrett, "What'll ya be working on that requires homework, if you don't mind the intrusion?"

Garrett watches Dita and Chief interact, a definite 'awwwww' with a pang of something else in his smile. He bites his lip when he spots Dita's grimace, keeping a laugh in check. "An extension seems fair," he agrees with Fae, grinning and nodding regarding their neglected 'homework'.

"Well, was worth a shot, yeah?" he sends Ellery's way. "Or... a few shots, I suppose," he tacks on. In case the weak joke was missed the first time. Caed's question gets a brief head shake. "Just broadening each others' pop culture horizons. Ninja Turtles and Hamilton, specifically." Pause. "Not in any connected sort of way," he clarifies.

"Entirely possible," says Ellery with regard to the theory of blurry Bigfoot. "I gotta say, coming here and learning about the uh...what is it called again?" He looks to Caed for confirmation. "Screen? Mist?" he shrugs. "...anyway, that thing, has crushed my cryptozoologist dreams."

He looks from the dog, to Caed. He nudges him. "Go pet the pupper. I can take a few shots on my own. I just wanted the company, really."

"He's very soft." Perdita tells Caed, her voice pitched to make petting Chief seem even more tempting, her head tilted to one side slightly. "He's the best employee at the firehouse, I heard." she rises, hand slipping easily into her bag to find her hand sanitizer, discreetly cleansing her hands of pupper slobbers. Just because it's more sanitary than human slobber doesn't mean she wants to keep it on her hands.

"So what I'm hearing is... fancasting of Ninja Turtles playing Hamilton characters? This sounds like a viral video if ever I've heard one." not like the Veil will let that happen.

"I think they call it The Veil around here. Or The Border. I'm... a little less fond of that one, it leads to some less than amusing misunderstandings."

"The Veil, darlin'." Caed says absently as he digs, coming out with a light reflector umbrella shade which is better than nothing. He pops the white canopy open and holds it by the edge well above the lens so the effect of the mist can be captured in an image but it's not invasive to the camera itself.

"Now see, I know you said no connection, but I think a cross over with Shredder singing that he's not gonna miss his shot could be a box office smash." He responds lightly to Garrett before he asks Ellery, "Better?" Which would make the ache in his arms worth it and the fact he's balancing on tip toes holding the shield aloft.

"Tsch, no. See, now you got the lass in with the temptation. Relaxation after perspiration. That pup has no lack of love and attention while you clearly need my help, Ellery or you'll teeter off the boardwalk because your eye's in a view finder."

Fae points Caed over to Garrett with a few fun-loving nods "Garrett owes me an essay on Ninja Turtles lore." it's not traditional school work, but the knowledge that everyone needs none the less.

She shoos Chief over towards Caed as he seems to want to get his pet on as well, "Other people need licks too." she reports downwardly, letting the creature know that it's work has yet to be finished. Following it's owners lead it trots on over to allow Caed the opportunity to give him some attention, that tail leathily swinging through the air with enough force to sting alongside the biting cold.

"You guys are taking pictures of Big Foots? We have Big Foots here?" Fae queries the photographers, before shifting gears into overdrive as her words begin folding from her mouth at nearly the speed of sound. "We had a big foot back home, at least everyone used to say we did. Everyone in town called him Mr.Bowlegged since he walked through the woods with a limp...he made lots of crazy noises too, let me tell you what." she takes a single breath, her lungs needing some air after expelling all of theirs.

"I'm just glad he didn't ever get into my rabbit hutches, I would have been pretty mad at him then. My Uncle Harold always said he wanted to shoot him and mount his head, but I don't think he really would have, I heard big feets are kinda nice actually." that seems legit, I'm sure she heard that from a reliable source.

"Veil, right. I knew it was fabric-y sounding," Ellery is very good at working the camera while also carrying on a conversation. He's been fiddling with the settings and the aperture the whole time. "Ah ah, stay right there. Right..." the camera is digital, so the shutter sound is purely to signal the camera is taking shots. It flutters as het akes a series of images. "I think I got something cool, there."

"You're way too pragmatic about dogs," says the tall photographer fondly to Caed. "I got the shot. You can use your arms for pupper pets." He shields the display and checks through, making a soft sound of approval at what he's managed to capture. To Fae he says, "I dunno if there are Sasquatches here or not. I think the area's too coastal. I'm an amateur cryptozoologist." As if there are professional ones.

"I'm no expert," Garrett begins. "But Shredder is definitely the King George of Hamilton." Pause. "The rat is probably Washington. Turtles would have to be Ham, Laf, Mulligan, and Laurens." He considers a bit more. "What's the reporter's name? How sassy is she? It'll kind of determine if she ends up Eliza or Angelica." Garrett is not an expert on the Turtles, but he does know his Hamilton and damned if he won't prattle on about it with strangers. He catches himself, though, and clears his throat, looking only marginally abashed.

"Bigfoots are plenty nice; the one up in Olympic is named Henry, though, and would prefer you refer to him as such," Garrett says perfectly innocently. "I can't speak for anything more directly local, though," he says with a shrug.

Caed looks dubious as to Ellery's capture, "You're sure, then?" But after only a second's hesitation, he doesn't wait for confirmation and instead lays the open umbrella over the gear bag and plops down on the ground despite the wetness and calls the dog over with little kissing noises and pats to his trouser clad knees. "Who's a good boy, 'eh?" His glance goes up to the apparent owner, as he holds his hand out expectantly waiting for an inquisitive sniff of greeting. "What did you say his name is?"

"We won't let him teeter off into the water. Have to look out for each other, right?" Perdita asks of no one in particular... but she sounds like she's trying to convince herself of that philosphy, as much as others. One might get the impression she's only looked after herself for a while.

She gives Fae's rambles an amused look, tilting her head slightly. "I'll have to ask Alexander if there are Bigfoot around here, sometime. All I know is to... avoid the carousel and the old mill." Dita offers helpfully...

As Garrett goes full Hamilton Nerd, Perdita's expression softens, dark eyes watching him become more animated and relaxed as he focuses on something he clearly is passionate about... And then she's turning away to look out at the water, her smile hidden, before she takes another sip of hot cocoa. "Right. Of course there's one, and his name is Henry."

"April O'Neil is the reporter lady. As far as the original, I'd say she's not really that sassy, maybe a little bit, but she's more just a damsel in distress 99% of the time when she isn't flirting with grungy hockey player guys." ya girl knows a thing or two about the Ninja Turtles for whatever reason. "Although, the new April from the most recent cartoon, Rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles, is a much more well-rounded character and actually fights with them and stuff, she's a lot sassier and more fun. If that helps at all." Hopefully, that'll help Garrett come to a reasonable comparison.

Meanwhile Chief is having the time of his life, the spoiled little spotty boi adores all of the attention so much that he releases a few -roo roos- in thanks "His name is Chief, but we almost named him Otter." no explanation is given on why a dalmatian was almost named Otter, knowing Fae there is probably some ridiculously longwinded story about it though, so tread carefully with asking questions you don't really need the answer to.

Ellery a bit sneakily turns his lens on Caed and the dalmatian to snap a couple of shots. And then he gets a little more obvious about it, removing the camera from the tripod so he can more easily change angles. From the cheeky look on his face, he's just waiting to be admonished by the Irishman.

"If anyone does see actual signs of bigfeet or Ogopogos or any other cryptids, do let me know. Even if I have very little chance of capturing them, I wanna try, consarndit."

"Course his name is Henry; think they just call each other 'Bigfoot' when they cross paths?" Garrett gives his eyes a hugely dramatic roll at Dita's perceived skepticism before focusing back on this Alexander Turtleton, working title, crossover. "Hmm. We'll pencil her in for Angelica for now, but that's subject to change," he decides. Chief and the clearly-well-deserved attention he's getting earns a small smile from Garrett. "Fae. The fact that having a dog didn't come up when we met is sorely disappointing." Pause. Eyes close and brow furrows. "The Dalmatian book might have been a hint. I'll take the blame on this one," he amends.

"I see Henry and I'll let him know the photographer guy in Gray Harbor is looking for him," Garrett promises solemnly while curiously watching to see how long it takes Caed to realize he and Chief are the new photo subjects.

"Ah, Chief. That's a fine name for a fine dog." Caed responds to Fae, but is addressing the dog as he pulls the Dalmatian into his lap, scruffing behind the animal's ears making those annoying little noises people make to small fluff balls. He doesn't notice the first set of photos but as Ellery goes rogue off the tripod he notices the movement out of the corner of his eye. His smile subdues, his eyes slit. "I know where you sleep, Boy-o. Point the camera at something more interesting before you crack your lens."

"No, but one would assume they'd have... non-English names for each other." Perdita points out with a little smile, tilting her head at Garrett, before looking back out at the water... to hide her smile at Caed's threats of murder.

Fae's hand reaches down into her purse as buzzing comes from her phone, "Oh golly, I didn't know it was so late. I guess I better get back to the homestead." she regretfully voices, a good conversation about Ninja Turtles/Hamilton/Bigfoot doesn't come along every day. "Come on Chief, your Dad said the tacos are done."

There are some words that dogs most certainly know, and ~tacos~ is one of those that Chief is already well accustomed to as he darts from Caed without a second thought. It wasn't that he didn't love the attention, Caed was great, but the allure of his humans feeding him table scraps was enough to get him tugging his leash back towards the beat-up old pickup the pair had come over in.

The country girl waffles her hand out to the group as she's being pulled across the boardwalk towards the parking lot. "Ya'll have a nice night." she blabbers backward, doing what she can to not get tangled up by a puppy that isn't very well leash trained yet. "Watch out for bigfeets, and reverse mermaids" there probably are reverse mermaids here, which are vastly scarier than a sasquatch, be safe.

"Are you kidding me? This light, those cheekbones, an adorable dog?" Ellery gets down lower, not bothered that his pants are getting wet as he kneels. He grins wryly at Garrett. "Mhmmm, people make jokes, but from what I've heard about this town, a giant man-ape would be positively normal compared to most of what goes down."

He's just stooping to get a good low-angle shot when the word 'tacos' sends one of his subjects darting off. He snaps a few shots anyway, before standing up. "Mighta gotten a few action doggo shots." He lifts a hand to the departing woman and dog.

"You'd assume so, yeah," Garrett agrees with Dita, nodding and offering no further rebuttal. "Night. Enjoy your tacos," Garrett calls to the departing Fae, returning her wave. Ellery's assessment of how normal Bigfoot strolling through would be gets a moment of consideration and, unable to find any reason to disagree with that, Garrett simply shrugs and gives a little nod.

"You can sell it to Hallmark, but that means you're covering the rent next month." Caed grumbles goodnaturedly, his hands coming up in capitulation as the puppy is called away with the lure of food and he doesn't want to get in the way, or in a tangle. "C'mon now, yah bean pole. If you're through with your pictures and embarrassing me, I'd like to get into some dry clothing and a hot toddy."

Perdita watches Fae heading out with a fond smile. The young woman is such a whirlwind of activity and cheerfulness that Perdita can't help but like her. The mention of tacos gets her stomach rumbling, and she glances over at Garrett, tilting her head slightly. "Have you ever made enchiladas rojas?"

She watches Caed and Ellery with a smile, clearly enjoying the energy the two have, if nothing else. "They are amazing cheekbones." she agrees with Ellery. "If we spot any cryptids, I'll try to get their info for you." see, the phrase SOUNDS like it should be joking, but around here... she might be serious.

Ellery grins good-naturedly and tosses a wink at Caed. He then places a lens cap on the camera. "All right, all right. I think I've got the best shots I'm going to get with this weather. "By the way, I'm Ellery. That's Caed," he points to the Irishman. "For hire for all your photographic needs. Well. I'm the one for hire. I just drag him along to be photo monkey sometimes."

"I've had okay enchiladas at a Mexican-ish restaurant back home, so no," Garrett answer Dita, shaking his head. "Offering to cook?" he asks, tone half-hopeful, half-teasing. He smiles as introductions are made. "That'll make sending Henry your way much easier; definitely beats 'the photographer with the Irish bloke hauling his gear'," he says, taking a sip of cocoa. "I'm Garrett," he adds with a little wave, letting Dita make an introduction or not as she sees fit.

Caed tips an imaginary cap at the other two, "And that's because nothing I'm good at is marketable, and I have to pay my share of the bills some how." He hauls himself off the cold ground with an obligatory swipe at the seat of his pants and straightens his jacket before he goes to help collect the rest of the equipment. "It's a pleasure to meet'cha both, and sorry if we intruded on your time."

"I'm Perdita, nice to meet you both. If I ever need a photographer, I will definitely keep you in mind." the young woman smiles warmly at both men, committing their names to memory in a way that only a grifter or a personal assistant seem to be able to manage. "And don't worry, you didn't intrude. It was wonderful to meet you both."

To Garrett, she grins, dark eyes bright now, "Yes. We're having enchiladas rojas, my abuela's recipe, and I'll see what else I can whip up, too... I hope you like heat."

Ellery hefts his camera bag onto his shoulder and passes another bag of equipment and the tripod to Caed. "Nice to meetcha both. Have a misty evening." He salutes loosely, then picks a wet leaf off the bottom of the Irishman's jacket before shoulder-jostling. "C'mon. I make a mean hot toddy."

"No intrusions, mates. Better luck with the weather next time, yeah?" Garrett flashes the pair a bright smile along with a wave before he's looking back to Dita. "Perdita. I'm English, here by way of Minnesota. I'm confident in saying that even if I said I liked heat, we'd have different definitions of the word," he points out. Pause. "But.... I'll try anything twice, so let's see what you've got," he says, just a /touch/ of probably-misplaced challenge in his voice.

"Only twice?" Perdita asks, ever so innocently, tilting her head slightly to one side. "The English invade the world for spices, now refuse to use any of them..." she smiles, though, offering Garrett her arm. "The sandwiches will keep. We'll get some groceries from Safeway and I'll make you those enchiladas, and also something a bit more mild if things get too hot for you."

"I can usually be persuaded to try again, depending who's doing to persuading," Garrett counters with a grin, then laughs at the accurate assessment of his native cuisine. "We decided we didn't like them. See? Trying new things is in my blood. I'm not required to like the new things," he says, teasing, then nodding at the suggested new plan. "And I will do my best not to cause trouble in the kitchen," he promises. "I'm helpful like that."

"That sounds like a pretty good way to look at things, honestly." she offers up with a smile, leading the way back down the boardwalk the way the pair came in... "You can cause a little trouble in the kitchen." she offers as compromise, smile wicked once more.