2021-12-30 - Skating At Gray Pond Is Totally Safe, Right?

The weather is cold, the sun isn't quite shining, but it's not raining, and Perdita has somehow managed to convince Garrett to take her ice skating. She even has an outfit for it! Her black dress is thick and cozy, snug on her figure until it flares at the waist, and paired with black leggings and a bright pink faux fur coat and bright pink boots that mercifully have a low heel, considering the walk. Not that it'd bother Perdita overmuch. Long hair is braided up into a crown braid atop her head, leaving the fringe to bounce as she leads the way toward the pond, leaving Garrett to carry the bag with their hot cocoa and skates. "Have you ever been here before?"

Garrett is... less stylish in his ice skating attire choice. It is, in fact, the same winter choices he usually makes, with cargo pants sticking out beneath his charcoal grey coat. He has fur, though, so it counts as matching, even if it's also gray, and only at the collar of the coat. And mostly invisible with it being zipped up all the way. A black knit cap keeps his head and ears warm, and a pair of nice thinsulate gloves grip the straps of his backpack; one pair of ice skates is ties securely to the outside, everything else presumably inside. "To this pond? Yes. For ice skating? No," he answers.

"Weather service finally said it was long enough below freezing that it's strong enough to skate on. I'd rather go to a rink... but the nearest one is in Seattle." So she's going to the pond multiple people died at doing exactly this. But it was a long time ago, right?

"Question I should have asked before dragging you out here... have you ever ice skated before?" Perdita asks, glancing back at Garrett with a smile. "I know you're from the land of ice and snow, but..."

"That's a bit of a drive for ice skating," Garrett agrees, nodding as he sets their bag on a bench. Someone has cooperatively been keeping the benches and pond clear of snow. How considerate!

"I'm from Minnesota. Hockey there is like football in Texas," he points out. Then grins. "I can, as a rule, generally avoid falling over. I'm not going to be in the Olympics any time soon, though. This was your idea, so I assume you can skate?"

Chances are that Gail is NOT about to get out on the ice. 73 year olds with bad knees are not meant for the ice. But that doesn't mean old ladies aren't opposed to revisiting their younger glory days. Days when she and a handsome young man snuck out here without their parent's knowledge to do exactly what Gail and Perdita are here to do.

"No, I've never skated before, I was hoping you could teach me." Perdita states, head tilted slightly to one side, eyes completely devoid of anything resembling intelligence... before she laughs. "I grew up in upstate New York with a bunch of rich sheltered white kids. My high school didn't have enough money for band, but we had a hockey team every winter, once the football season was done, and lacrosse during the spring and summer." why does one get the feeling that Perdita followed the sports, not for the thrill of competition, but for the boys who played them?

"I... had a friend who taught me to skate." her expression softens, saddens just a little, before she brightens at seeing Gail. "That's Mrs. Leigh, Ravn's neighbor across the street." She waves to Gail with a smile, dropping onto the bench to set about getting her ice skates on.

Gail's smile is fond as she sees the two beside the lake. Her pathway is taking her towards them, but slowly. A hand is raised at the pair of them and a little return wave is given. Gail is leaning on her cane as she walks, keeping it to a nice sedate shuffle.

Garrett laughs at Dita's response. "Alright, alright, fair enough," he concedes, still smiling. The smile fades a bit when Dita turns sad, however briefly, before he follows her eyes towards Gail. "Ah, so you're Mrs. Leigh!" Clearly, he has heard of her, at least somewhat. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Leigh," he offers with a bright smile. "I'm Garrett. I'm friends with your granddaughter," he offers by way of introduction. "Also I met Gabriella the other day," he adds as an aside to Perdita.

"Mrs. Leigh, this is my-" Perdita hesitates only very briefly as she makes a decision, "boyfriend, Garrett Marcus." She glances up at him, as if to make sure the term is amenable to Garrett, with just the slightest of shrugs. How do you explain a complex relationship like 'guy who fell out of one of my empty rooms and now we're boinking' to a sweet little old lady like Gail? The comment about meeting Gabriella gets both eyebrows up in amusement. She'll ask about that when the lady in question's grandma isn't around.

Perdita gets one of her skates on and starts working on the other, smiling as she does.

A far-off smile, prompted by some inner thought overcomes GAil as she comes to a stop. Both hands rest on top of the cane. "It is a pleasure to meet you Garrett, Perdita, you're looking lovely. I do hope she didn't bite too hard, my Gabriella has a strong personality. I'm afraid it runs in the family."

Does Garrett stand up a little straighter, maybe smile a touch wider at the boyfriend introduction? Maybe! "Not at all. She was very... charming, I thought," Garrett assures, even if there is a slight pause as he picks his word. "But... a strong personality is also a good description," he agrees, grinning.

"Thank you, Mrs. Leigh, you're looking gorgeous, yourself." Perdita smiles at Gail with the same sort of fondness Gail smiled at her with. She can't help it, Gail reminds her of her father's mother... minus the terrifying stories about witches in the wood and the lullabies about wolves eating children.

"She's a lot of fun, I need to go out for drinks with her sometime. She had half the guys at Pizza Kitchen eating out of her hand when I met her, and the other half were... eating out of each other's hands, so... I'll count that as a major win in her department." Perdita smiles, as though this was truly a good thing to have witnessed.

"Oh Gabby what have you done...." Gail says softly on an exhaled breath. There will probably be words with the granddaughter at some point along those lines.\
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But she shakes her head and refocuses. "And you two love birds are here to spread your wings in courtship hum? My Ronny and I, well." She smiles. "There were a few memories made on these shores. It is so nice to see the tradition continued."

Garrett listens with an amused look on his face at Dita's recollection. He doesn't seem particularly surprised at how things went at the Pizza Kitchen. His eyes move back to. Gail and her reminiscing gets a softer smile and then he glances from Dita to the ice and back to Gail. "Something like that, yeah," he agrees with a sidelong glance towards Dita.

Oh. Right. Older generation, doesn't understand the allure of being a bimbo. "I meant because she's so beautiful, not because of anything she was doing." Perdita clarifies with a smile and a slight head tilt. "You know how boys are, they see a pretty face and they lose all sense. I bet you had a few gentlemen interested before Mr. Leigh."

When Garrett glances at her sidelong, Perdita actually blushes, just faintly. Clearly, it's the cold, nothing else, that's turning her bronze skin pink. "Yes ma'am. Though we've been seeing each other for a bit. Garrett's also my roommate, he's helping me fix up the old Bauer building so we can get business back into the city where it belongs." the way she says it makes it sound like it's totally on the up and up, and would a mild, demure, polite girl like Perdita sleep with a guy before the third date?

"Well," GAil says, demure even at her advanced age. The way she flirted and the ways that Gabby has to flirt - they're just very different. More like the cute way that Perdita is standing there blushing so very cutely.

She reaches out a hand towards Perdita's chin to look her over. "You managed quite a catch in this one my dear," a glance at Garrett. "I hope you are treating her well. Flowers. Every young lady loves flowers."

But Garrett doesn't need her advice, does he, so instead, "Oh the Bauer building? They use to have this cute little shop at the bottom, a thrift shop. When the pocket change was a bit tight we'd go down and take a look. Get some pretty dresses."

"We are suckers for a pretty face, it's true," Garrett says, heaving a heavy, dramatic sigh. He spreads his arms and shrugs in a 'guilt as charged' gesture.

The blushing goes unnoticed; Garrett is still mostly facing Gail. "Perdita was kind enough to offer a spare bedroom when I came back to town and hit a rough patch," he expands slightly on their relationship origins. He smiles wide at Gail's assessment of Perdita, though.

"I really did, didn't I?" He turns the smile on Perdita. "I've been negligent on the flowers, but I like to think I earn my keep other ways. Keeping the kitchen tidy and singing for her count, right?" he asks, grinning.

"Mmm, that explains the rusted out racks in that one area."

"There's a locksmith shop there now, run by a Mr. Gyre, and Martin Construction has an office there, too. I'd love to get a thrift shop back in there, though... but I'd never get anything else done." Perdita laughs and smiles. She allows Gail to look her over with a bit of amusement, "He treats me very well, yes. I think I'm the lucky one, here. Flowers are appreciated, but I prefer live ones. Once spring comes around I'm going to turn the veranda into an outdoor garden and brighten the whole space up."

Well, that's a bit of a thought. Gail purses her lips and hums.... "Well now, that's an idea. You know, if it was a charity, dear, do you know any lawyers perhaps?" Gail has been firmly turns away from the thought of how Garrett is courting Perdita. "Specialize in charities or such?"

Garrett falls silent, nodding st Dita's rundown of what's currently in the building, and biting his lip to not laugh at the idea of Dita in a thrift store. Not at all his area of expertise, he keeps a polite smile on his face and looks Dita to Gail and back.

"Only one... he worked in criminal law... but he got disbarred in the state of Florida." Dita pulls a slight face, like she may have had something to do with it. "I try to steer clear of lawyers, generally... But you know who might? Ravn. He knows lots of people through the HOPE Center." Yes, get Ravn involved in this project.

"Why yes," Gail says planting her cane into the ground firmly. "I've done enough with interrupting your courting, I'm sure you have plenty of charm to rub on. Pardon," Gail looks between them and sighs. "Thank you - for keeping the memories alive here."

Lawyers? Garrett considers a few moments, but comes up blank. Asking the HOPE Center via Ravn gets a little nod. Good idea! And then Gail is announcing her impending departure.

"It was nice to meet you, Mrs. Leigh," he says, offering a wide smile as he reaches over to loop his arm with Dita's.

"I'll see you soon, Mrs. Leigh. Be careful out there." Perdita smiles, watching Gail walk off, making sure she's safely on her way and not going to topple, before she smiles up at Garrett. "Shall we get back to our courting?" there's not a hint of mockery, merely fondness. It sounds so much sweeter when described like that!

Garrett also watches, making sure Gail is well on her way before his focus turns back to Perdita, smiling at her. "Yes, yes we shall," he says sounding similarly fond as he offers her a hand and makes for the bench with their stuff so they can don skates and get on with the death defying.