2022-03-05 - The Summer Lands (Are On Oak Avenue)

Moving from apartment to house. It's a big move, but no regrets. Especially since two of her friends live in the houses right next door. Oak Avenue looks pretty much like you'd expect, except for two of the yards. 3 and 5 Oak Avenue's yards look like Summer came early. Both of their yards look as if Disney himself got inspiration from the greenery and the flowers that blossom there. Even those white picket fences have beautiful vines wrapped around with perfectly bloomed flowers that shouldn't even be possible during the cold and snow that's been happening the past couple of days.

1 Oak Avenue's yard is looking pretty bare. What you'd expect of a wintery yard that was kept up enough to look decent for selling. That's where Ava is standing at the moment with her hands on her hips, expression a little huffy. "This won't do."

Merrick is coming out of the house with an annoyed sigh as he yells back into it."That is why you can't well download such things. It breaks your pc." His voice is gruff, as his hand is thrown up as he walks away from the building. His hand is holding his head as he shakes it back and forth. His hand is resting on the bridge of his nose his right hand is free of his leather glove. His fingers are dainty in nature, painted with a purple nail polish, as they stroke his nose before it is placed back into his glove."Ringo o motta baka rōjin. Tenki no bagu wa waruidesu." Comes out of his lips in a snarl, as he slams the door. His hand is holding a wad of cash, his hand goes into his pocket to produce a wallet with the Red and blue pill in the center with the words good for health bad for education printed. As he shoves the cash into it, as he stomps down the street so very very annoyed. That wallet shoved into his inner pocket of the jacket, as he is moving swiftly not pay attention to where he is going if he was a cartoon smoke would be coming out of his ears!

What are neighbours for in suburbian areas if not leaning on clematis-covered fences and checking out who's moving in next door? Officially it's called weeding. It's totally spying. But if you ask Ravn, he's weeding. Not that he can tell a dandelion from a yellow begonia, but let's not sweat the details.

The tall copper blond sits on the impossibly green and lush lawn of number 3. He's got a book with a gibberish title, a glass with something tawny and ice cubes, and a light black blazer over a light black shirt; definitely not dressed for the season -- unless you keep in mind that in that yard? It's summer, thank you very much. He has no idea how long this is going to last. He's going to enjoy it while it does.

And of course curiosity prompts him to drift up once he spots familiar faces, leaving the comfortable very small climate zone behind. "What won't do exactly? Also, brr, it's cold out here."

So many questions. So many. And so many things to do. Rhiannon's coming back home with her violin case slung over her back, her stuffed dragon hiding in the hood of her jacket as Rhiannon's taking in Oak today. It's her home street after all. New England money could have got her a nice home, but no. Not hwen it's just her, and she's, well, she's on her own since her folk band went their seperate ways. Still, her home is neat, food gets cooked, and she's driven to keep a clean house. Which is reason 5 or so why she hasn't fallen into the get one cat, get a hundred cats trap. She's got another 40 years or so t go for that.

Rhi slows her walk when she spots the others and gives them a nod and a smile. Even if the angry one she's cautious of for now. Rhi's not really wanting to get yelled at today. Not after that phone call last night, chewed out by her former bandmates. Somehow this and that's her fault. yeah...right. At least her yard's clean and neat...and she pauses, loooking over.

"Hey, you need any help with anything?" she asks in her curious Boston come Welsh accent.

Ava glances from the yard towards Merrick, as she hears him yelling. An amused flicker touches her lips as she raises a hand in greeting towards him. "Was it really all that bad?" she has to wonder. "You look like the porn they had on that computer was of you." There's a pause and then a look of concern. "It wasn't, was it? That would be troublesome." That's when Ravn is popping his head over and her look of concern turns into a smile, but only for a moment before it turns right back into concern. "Why are you coming to this side? You're going to freeze! Stay where it's warm, dummy."

"I haven't had a chance to make it climate controlled over here yet. That's what won't do. I need to match your and Una's yards. But you have a couple day's head start on me."

Ava tilts her glances towards Rhiannon, not immediately recognizing the face. But she does Glimmer, so that's always a nice sign. "Hi there!" she offers before looking back to Ravn. "Friend of yours?

Merrick looks over at Ravn blink blink blink at the summer land."What the hell." His voice is coming out, confused mixture with a sprinkle of rage at the idiot in that other house. He stomps over now, as he steps into summer, and then out into winter, then into summer, and then out into winter. Doing the season Hookey Pookey, that what it is all about! His head is nodding, his eyes hidden by if you could see them confused, as his hand is coming out to pinch his right arm."Ow!" His voice rings out, as he spins on his right heel of his combat boot, to look a Ravn."I thought ya be joking and stuff yesterday day. What the ever loving, holy land of seasons is this?" As he nods towards Ava, and then he looks at Rhiannon, as he looks at the summer standing in the winter."I'm high? I mean, I missed the fun bit, but I'm high as a kite? Ya'll seeing this?"

"Not of me no, they installed WeatherBug, and every other gadget known to man. It took me 4 hours to do anything due to the latency." His eyes watching Ava, standing there for am moment with a little chuckle."NO, porn of me. I ain't nevermind." A blush is forming in his cheeks, as he coughs now looking back at the summer."Now, then this summer thang. What the dealooie with it?" His hand is slides out of his pocket now, to bring a vape to his lips shaped like the Gandolf's from lord of the rings. As he takes a long inhale, exhaling a purple smoke int othe air in a perfect smoke ring.

"Her deal." Ravn chuckles and indicates Ava with a nod of her head. "Her and Una in number five -- they're playing around with plant stuff, and the faerie ring in the backyard of number three decided to play along, it seems. I just do the logical thing and enjoy it -- means I can sit outside in a shirt in February, that's a win in my book."

Must be some kind of running joke, or seem that way to someone just into town. Those two yards of number 3 and 5 are remarkably green, though. Awesome landscape gardening. Thumbs up to whoever's the botanical genius.

The soft accent on the man's voice underscores that he's probably not a native speaker, but he does seem to have that small-town curiosity down pat as he glances at Rhiannon. "Don't think we've met, no. Hello, Ravn Abildgaard, resident cat lady. That's the cat in question."

The cat in question is sitting there, on the fence. She's a small, black cat with yellow-green eyes and no collar, who looks like ten million other small black cats.

"Jeez,that sounds horrible" Rhi shudders and groans a little. She's not that good with technology (she has a not smart phone for calls/texts after all), but even she knows how slow a slow bit of tech is. "Ah hey. You got that sorted? If so..." Rhiannon shrugs sounding pleased...but the mention of cat lady, and feline gets a smirk.

Every street has one. "Ah it's nice to meet you, cat lady Ravn. Cats are....just...I dunno, that one seems pretty nice on the fence. Not tried to rub up against me yet, or tried to use my leg as a scratching post or worse"

Her attention turns to the yards as Rhi scrunches up her nose. "I don't get what's wrong, really. I mean...they're all yards that got plants in them, right? I don't keep up with gardening trends" Rhi offers, the grocery bag rustling a bit in her hand. "Keep my nose clean, bake cookies, play violin and leave my yard to it, as there's not too much in there" Read: Nothing RHi's desperate to keep. "I'm Rhiannon" she offers and sweeps her gaze over the others. "So a violinist, several gardeners and a cat lady are all on the same street?" Rhi offers with a gentle smile. "I know who to go to for yard work, and I know who to go to if I find a cat around townn then. It's nice meeting you all, realy. And the one blowing smoke rings over there" she nods over. Not her place to judge or say much really

Ava can't help but chuckle as Merrick dances in and out of the Summer to Winter mix. "Guilty as charged," she agrees as Ravn blames her. "I created it, the faeries and Una do some upkeep. Now that I've bought this place, I need to work on extending it. I just have to hope that the faeries will accept the extension. Perhaps in exchange for healing their wounded every now and then. I guess we'll find out."

Merrick's ranting has her scrubbing the back of her neck for a moment. "Is WeatherBug not any good?" That wasn't a suspicious way to ask that question or anything, right? Kitty Pryde! Spotting the black cat, Ava brightens and darts into the house really quickly. She's only really gone for about a minute before she reappears with something wrapped in brown paper, smelling like it came from the docks. Probably because it did. "Kitty Pryde. I brought you an offering," she tells her, unwrapping the paper and laying a fish about half the size of the cat right in front of her on top of the fence. "Careful of the bones, please, hm?"

"I'm not really a gardener. I cheated for all of this. I'm the coroner. Dr. Ava Brennon. Pleasure to meet you!"

"Weather bug is the devil in code form, also the dancing stripper program. They had that, all sorts of spy stuff, three key loggers, and a remote viewing program. They are a hot bed for ransomware, but they are only 32 so they should know better. I have seen old people with cleaner pcs ya know." Merrick comes up quickly with that silver in the knuckle, as he wags his finger at the offending house."But they paid me, so I guess it's like good and stuff. Charged em triple for tying me up all day, now I'm starving. I need breakfast."

His eyes locked on to Ava, as he studies her, and then he turns on the heel of his right combat boot to look at Rhiannon."Name is Merrick, I fix computer and other stuff." His eyes studying, and then he exhales another large smoke ring from his pipe.

As the smoke is drifting high into that chilly sky, turns to grins at Ravn."So you're the cat herder, do they do tricks or just nap under your loving hands? If I find any cats, I'll make sure they come to bask in ya sunny spots!"

"Oh, this one? She only does one trick." Ravn glances at the black cat -- who at least has the decency to look up from attempting to inhale a fish half her size. "She accepts sacrifices from obedient humans. And as you can see, she's very good at her one trick."

His voice is fond, though. The Dane tucks his gloved hands in his blazer pockets (it's cold in February outside of his little spot of summer). "That's the only one I've been adopted by so far. But that's probably because she keeps the others away, let's be honest. I'm that bloke, destined to living in an old, haunted house, surrounded by books and cats."

Merrick's little speech on computer security causes a wince, though. "I'll 'fess up -- I'm thirty-one, and I'd probably have to pay you triple, too. In my defence, all I ever use is a web browser, zoom, and a pdf reader. Can't get terribly bad that way, can it? I do know better than to use Edge."

"How?" Rhi asks. "Just...how...what....I..." she begins, lost for words, but the cat's name gets a smirk and a slight snorting giggle. "Cute" she decides. "I think I got some tuna in the fridge if you're still hungry" she offers. That's directed more to KittyPride than the two legged ones. Hey, if they want RHi to make them sandwiches...she'll do it.

"See. Even I" she shrugs and sighs, "Know better than that. And I only ever check my emails and my friends back home gave me a wicked set of rules to follow, honestly. Don't click on funky links, don't click on nothing that looks weird" Rhiannon nods and glances to Ravn. "One trick, inhaling fish? That's a pretty nice trick, honestly. Bettr than a lot of tricks some animals know. And yes. If I find cats...I'll send them your way. But I miss having a cat. Probably back home enjoying a New England day or chasing mice, or, or, something" Rhiannon guesses.

"So, my having WeatherBug on my laptop is a really bad idea, huh? I don't, however, have a dancing stripped program. That I know of. Unless Ravn's been borrowing my computer. Then I might. He's into all kinds of things." Ava looks sheepish about the program, but smirkish about Ravn's potential job as a stripper.

"Excuse me, if my spoiling her means that she isn't eating the faeries who are taking care of the gardens, then I say it's a good thing. Besides, she's a fierce hunter who no doubt protects you, and she should be rewarded properly for it."

She reaches down to pet along Kitty Pryde's back. "You don't mind being spoiled, now do you, KP?"

Merrick is quiet as he bubblers quietly inside, as he exhales the smoke into the air watching Ava."Yes. I'll look at your laptop. Where is it, Ava." His eyes narrowed as he fires another burst of purple smoke into the air."I'll do it for free, just promise to be nice to my corpse if you get it on the slab." His voice is teasing, his eyes hidden behind the sunglass, as he looks at Ravn."Get your damn laptop too, let's go in the warm and fix this shit. It'll be how I pay ya back for no snow for a bit." With that he strides into the Summerlands, as he slumps down on the grass, making a go fetch motion with his left hand the right is resting in the grass."Go go....before I change my mind and charge my rate of 250 an hour."

Betrayed by purring cat. Kitty Pryde's affections are obviously for sale for sweet words and savoury fish. Ravn shakes his head and chuckles at the display. "I'm quite certain I'd make a god-awful stripper. I'd be the bloke having a nervous break-down backstage and refusing to go out and face the music."

He chuckles. "I appreciate the offer. But I am pretty certain there's nothing terrible on my machine -- all I ever use it for is academia. Moreover, the whole thing is set up in Danish so it'd probably drive you insane, looking at it. I'll provide a pot of coffee, though, if we're having an impromptu sun worship and Ava laptop fixing session in the yard."

Apparently, this passes for normal around here. The copper blond shoots Rhiannon a smile that's almost best described as a little apologetic. "You're new in town, then? We're honestly not as eccentric as we sound. Most of us can't afford eccentric anyhow, we have to settle for regular old nuts."

"Wel since I've not got a laptop. I can.." Rhi ofers and shrugs, reaching back to rest fingers on the violin case. The unspoken 'play something' is there. "No laptop, dumb phone, violin. I got my priorities right. But cofe and sun worship? yes. Yes I'm in for that. Didn't get enough at home and I'm indeed new in town. Came all the way west like a twenty something Feivel, with a violin, and a stuffed animal in my jacket, and enough curiosity for an entire county it seems like. So normaly we gather outside someone's house, question yards, and feed cats while the Danish guy blows smoke rings? Are you trying to send messages back home?"

That last one's a joke, and Rhiannon perks up at coffee. "Please tell me you got cookies somewhere?" she asks and looks more than a litle hopeful. "I ate my entire stash on the ride over here. I ate through a month's worth of cookies going from East Coast to here so..." Rhiannon sighs, hands palms up, as if asking what she did wrong in eating so many cookies. "Greyhounds are just...." she shudders and switches attention to the purring cat. "So no tuna? Guess I get to have tuna sandwiches tomorrow then while I job hunt. sadly being good with music doesn't pay the bills"work

"Hah! See?" The cat seems to agree with her, and that's enough for Ava, who is turning to beam at Merrick a moment later. "Deal! Let me go and grab it. It really shouldn't be too bad. I do try to be careful." She's darting inside again. It takes a little longer this time before she reappears, this time with the laptop in hand. She's passing it over the fence into Summer-land. "There you go! You guys all stay over there for now, it'll give me a chance to make my garden matching those."

There's a pause when she hears exactly just how new Rhiannon is. Maybe she shouldn't be going full Disney Princess in front of her, then. "If only Una were here, we'd have some great cookies. So Rhiannon. What drew you to our little slice of heaven?"

Merrick walks over to grab the laptop as he flops down now as he starts to tap tap tap tap. His fingers moving along it, as he starts to remove this with a little chuckle."Yeah, not too bad Ava. I have seen worse, I have seen better. Your medium level bad." His voice is teasing, as he works with his left hand the other is placing his pipe back into a little purple pouch."Music is good. I ain't ever gotten it down the playing of it. But I like to listen." As he grins at Ravn."Scanner roger dodger, and stuff. Gotcha." His voice is friendly now, as he works now as he removes things, fixes things, adds more protection."I want cookies!"

Ravn can't resist a chuckle. "No, I'm the Danish guy." He nods at Merrick. "And he's the one blowing smoke rings. Though I suppose I sometimes too, when I'm in the mood to take a break from my attempt to stop smoking. Let me duck in and put some water on for that pot of coffee."

He turns to head back to the kitchen door of Number Three -- and then pauses to look back. "Did I hear you say 'violin', Rhiannon? I play a little myself, and I have a friend who performs at the local piano lounge who you definitely want to meet sometime."

Then he's off to fetch coffee, and a proper sweater. Because it's actually kind of cold on the edge of summer, and he should have dressed better for it. He'll probably be back in a moment or three, depending on how long it takes him to find Aidan's secret cookie stash this time.

Rhi nods keenly, "Yes I said violin. What? Is it the secret to some secret club in this town? Or am I geting signed up to play at a local piano lounge? I mean, if it pays, I'll do it. Seriously" Rhi admits with a knowing smile.

"Honestly? I" Rhiannon shrugs. "My folk band broke up and I thought the town name sounded catchy, so I hopped on the nearest bus. Slept through where I was originally gonna go, Salem, Oregon and ended up here. Wait, I'm not in Oregon am I?" Rhiannon asks with a worried look around her, before said violin is carefully brought out as if showing it off. Despite how cold it is.

"Like I said, slept through where I was gonna go. But I think, compared to my actual destination. I made the right choice. Who knew sleeping was so useful?" she adds and chuckles, the violin in her hands. It may not be a cat. But. It's just as good as one to her.

"Medium level bad is better than what it could have been, I suppose. There could have been one hundred viruses I didn't know about in there that could have ruined my laptop. I have some old pictures in there I'd rather not lose, so that'd be really bad."

Ava tucks her hands into her back pockets. "Use the good coffee, if you have any!" she calls after Ravn before turning her attention back to Rhiannon. "You are not in Oregon," she assures. "You are right where you are supposed to be. The bus made sure of that."

Merrick nods slowly his hand is tapping tapping on information's door."Now then, it is all smooth sailing for ya know. I do like these burlesque pictures, very tasteful." With that, he closes the laptop, as he chuckles softly."Now that, it's cleaned out. Now, yeah good coffee!" He is leaps up to his feet as he exhales the smoke into the air, as he places once more that pipe in his maw."Yeah, well it can always be worse and stuff."

"So cool Violin, and Violin. Ya'll going to fight devil went down to snow land style?" His hand is waves between Rhi and Ravn with a grin."Put up a golden cat, for the prize." His eyes twinkle with mischief, as he hands the laptop towards Ava.

Ravn returns just in time, thermos bottle in one hand and a mixed set of plastic cups in the other, to hear Merrick's suggestion. He flashes a lopsided grin at it. "Rosencrantz and I have played Devil Went Down To Georgia a few times but we kind of have to do it the wrong way around. He's the better performer so he gets to do the Devil -- which means technically he loses but what the hell, he's still the audience favourite. Never got anything but a golden bottle of beer off him at best, though."

The mugs are mix and match. That's putting it conservatively. There's one with a rose stencil in pink and the words World's Best Girlfriend. There's a black one that reads, Wears Black, Loves Coffee, Avoids People. There's a blue one with a stencil of Snoopy as the World War I Fighting Ace. There's a rainbow mug. There's two different shades of red mugs. There's even a plain white one. The Dane hitches a shoulder as he offers them around (keeping the black one for himself). "Aidan loves rummaging around thrift stores. He finds some pretty funny stuff."

"Sounds like you two got it figured out" Rhi nods happily, "I'll play whatever works though. But battle songs are awesome. Oh? I'm not in Oregon?" Rhi asks reaching a hand for a cup, jerking a thumb down the street. "Bus stop's back over there somewhere but I'm here. I'm settling in" Rhi grins and looks pleased, then stares apprehensively at the coffee. "Is it good coffeee?"

Rhi's spent the last few weeks living on truck stop/bus station coffee. Which is a very, very low bar really, she could clear it by eating the beans raw, that's how low the bar is.

"The burlesque pictures are fantastic. My granddad really pulled that dress off, nicely. I never knew he had suck great legs." Ava grins back and takes the computer, setting it to the side. "Thanks for doing that, Mer. I really appreciate it."

She reaches for the Best Girlfriend mug, smirking as she reads it. "So are you or Aidan the best girlfriend?" she wonders. "I'm guessing Aidan, since he has the better closet. I need to get you a Best Elf mug. But Jimmy might get jealous. He would have worn all that superglue for nothing." She laughs.

"Don't worry. The coffee is good," she assures Rhi. "I'm a snob about coffee. I wouldn't drink it if it sucked."

Merrick picks up a mug at random ending up with Snoopy as he sips the coffee with a little chuckle."I like my mug, yeah grandad's legs out of this world." He grins at Ava, as he sighs softly. As he is quiet now, as he is falls into that typical movement of him quiet while he watches others.

"Well, it's not civet coffee. I have still to spot one and tame it, and even if I did, Aidan would probably make me clean the cage myself. But it's decent." Ravn offers a sheepish little smile -- because the coffee is more than decent. Somebody is a coffee and whiskey snob, even if they're not that keen on getting caught admitting it. "I didn't manage to find his cookie stash, though. Maybe for once there actually isn't one."

Nah. It's just better hidden this time. A search will commence, later.

"Protip," the Dane adds, throwing a smirk Ava's way. "Don't go near the closet. Turns out the house has one big walk-in closet which we have to share. There is a state of perpetual war between my clothes and Aidan's rainbow army. I have found single-colour red and green shirts crawling over to seek political asylum. It's a war zone up there."

Rhiannon's left with the rainbow mug. It's pretty, really. She likes it, mostly since it's colorful and fun looking and she's not some snob about mugs or things. See, She nods happily wanting to make a good first impression. To that end she grins, but the mental image of clothes at war has her flat out snorting while giggling. "I'd like to see the paperwork for that" she admits not even having got to her cofee yet, racked with giggles. "I...just me in my place and well..it's....well.....neat. I'm willing to take roomates" Rhi grins and nods keenly, finally, finally taking a sip of coffee. Oh. It's good coffee alright.

"Isn't that coffee, y'know, lemur droppings or something? Ugh, no thanks" Rhiannon groans. "I'll stick tothe good, non gross stuff thanks. It may be expensive but..."

Ava shakes her head at Ravn. "What is your obsession with civet coffee? If you are that desperate, I will buy you one. But I will never drink that coffee. There are some lines you don't cross, my friend. That is one of them." At the mention of the closet, her eyes drift upwards at the house. "All that does is make me want to go up and organize the poor closet. Those poor clothes. What have they done to deserve such suffering?"

A side glance to Rhiannon has Ava smiling. "Renting out a room to a roommate is a good way to keep costs down. You can always put out an ad in the local paper and see who comes sniffing around."

Merrick drinks his coffee slowly as he askes the question."What droppings, what is civet?" His voice is confused, as his head is tilts watching them. His glasses removed now to reveal his deep blue eyes, as he places them inside of the jacket."I mean, is it really droppings. That is a joke right?" His eyes are wide as he looks from Ava to Rhi and to Ravn."I mean, who wants poo poo coffee?" He leaps upwards now, as he starts to pace deep in thought, focused on this one thing.

"No, that's what the civet is for. They're weasels, not lemurs, though -- and I still haven't managed to acquire one so no weasel-tummy-matured coffee for us." Ravn chuckles. "It's probably best that way. There's something not quite appetising to the sound of 'weasel shit coffee'. Just doesn't have a very good ring to it."

Ava's offer prompts a lopsided smile though. "It is good. Civet coffee, I mean. But, you know. Jokes aside? Maybe not so great to keep a wild animal in a cage just so that you can have slightly tastier coffee. I don't think the civets are as thrilled about it. They're these little brown weasel type forest critters that live in South Asian jungles. Somehow, coffee beans gain an extra dimension of taste once they've, ah, gone through one's digestive system."

Ava scoffs. "Like I'd let you keep it in a cage." She sips her coffee, meeting his lopsided smile with a smirk. "But no. Slightly better tasting coffee isn't worth any part of the stuff people go through with those animals. It's so weird. Slightly better tasting coffee is not worth going through littler poop to get the beans." She shakes her head.

The coroner who no doubt had dealt with much worse, including the bowels themselves, can't fathom it. Or maybe it's because of that up close and person experience of hers that she can't. She's seen too much.

"That" Rhi offers, "Is...too much information! I don't need to know how that cofee's made. God, now you put me off it" she sighs and carefully sits so she can see if she can put her violin back in its case, really. Coffee and instruments do not mix, at all, as Rhi looks a little bemused though at the change in topic. Computers to coffee that is at its basic, weasel shit in coffee. Rhi's kind of glad what she's drinking is good, regular coffee.

"So" Rhi offers with a smile. "So tell me about this town. What's there to do here besides a piano hall?"

Merrick leans back into the grass."I have no idea, I work my job and go home to my place. I'm not like a people person and shit. I avoid them, but today it seems I failed in my goal to avoid." His voice is joking, as he sips down more of the coffee, as he grins at Ava and Ravn."These two keep making me wanna be social. It burns it burns it burns!" His hand wiggling like an injured robot, as he chuckles to himself at the very odd joke.

"And to think, I get accused of being the introvert guy." Ravn can't help a small grin Merrick's way.

He takes Rhiannon's question a little more seriously and considers. "Honestly? This time of year the town's pretty quiet. The lumber mill is the town's big industry, but most of the shipping has moved to more modern harbour facilities up closer to Seattle, I think. There's an effort being made to turn Gray Harbor into some kind of yachter's paradise, so you'll see a lot more activity during the tourist season -- in town too, not just on the Casino island and hotel. I suppose we have -- a couple of bars and restaurants, but on the whole? It's a small town, there's not a lot going here in terms of nightlife. A dance club for the hip and largely young and or tourist, and if you're into that sort of thing, there's a strip club on the outskirts." From his tone, he's probably not seen at neither dance club nor strip club often. "And of course, the town is full of haunted houses and mysteries if you're into that sort of thing."

It's polite to frame it that way. At least pretend there is a choice. He's nice like that.

Rhiannon tsks a little, "I think I'm in the right place at the wrong time of year. Because..." Rhi grimacces, "Not into stripping, or dance clubs. I play music. I don't dance. Sailing? Not my thing. I can always curl up with a good book right, and see what happens. Which is gonna be me sat in a chair satring at a book" she adds, words quick and between sips of coffee while she thinks. Sailing? No way.

"Look. I grew up in Falmouth, I know a thing or two about yachters and how pretentious they are. Alright" she says raising her free hand, violin set on the ground now. "Maybe it's a trust fund kid out on the Cape thing. But...look. Out on Cape Cod, you get rich people who stomp in, demand service, then get all uppity when ya don't bow down to 'em, y'know?" Rhi offers and shrugs a little. "So if I'm wary of an influx of yachters, I got a reason for it. Been there, done that. Dealt with the rich trust fund kids.Hey, growing up some of my friends were that. No idea what happened to them"

Technically, if anyone looked into Rhi. She'd be a trust fund kid reallyy. Technically. She's just not admiting it, refusing to associate with that lot.

Merrick stands up now as his phone starts to ring with a frown, as he answer it."Okay. I'll be right there Mr. Johnson." His voice sounds annoyed, as he paces around in the summer lands. As he hangs up, as he frowns now."Well work calls, got to handle this. Nice seeing ya'll and meeting ya, Rhiannon!"He starts to shuffle off into town, with a sad look in his eyes. Old folks fixing the pcs, of them drives him batty, almost enough to not wanna do it. But a job is a job.

There's a subtle way to do things, and an unsubtle way. Subtle is the first attempt. Ava is happy to sit with her coffee and listen to the virtues of the town, but she tries to pull some of the attention right back to the last, key parts of what Ravn what trying to talk about. "And how are you with all the haunted houses and mysteries then? If not with the dance clubs and the stripping? I find those far more fun than a night on the town, myself."

"Oh, that's no different from here, really." Ravn chuckles at Rhiannon's little outburst. "We tend to get two kinds of yachters -- the fancy ones in their floating luxury villas, and the middle class family types. Both can be quite obnoxious though at least the trust fund babies tend to stick to the Grand Olympic Hotel and not mingle with the rest of us. Local yachters? I like to think we're pretty decent. But then, we're not vacationing here, I suppose, we live here."

Ava's question gives him a brief moment of pause before he sips his coffee (black, of course) and nods. "Well. You know what they say -- if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Things happen here. Might as well roll with it, make the best of it. At least it's never boring for long?"

And sometimes people end up dead or disappeared but hey, let's not scare the new residents off before they've spent their first week in town.

Rhiannon is quiet post outburst...but she seems infinitely more relieved that the rich uppity trust fund yachters don't bother the average folk in the street. "So. Don't go into that hotel. Right. Life advice" Rhi shrugs and makes a mental note, sipping cofffee. "OOh, haunted houses? I could be persuaded for this, I'm in. So. If we're gonna do this...do we bring a dog and rent a VW van?" she adds.

Ahh. Scooby Do jokes.

"Stay away from all the hotels here. That uppity hotel and the lower class one. It's nicknamed Murder Motel for a reason." That's coming from the coroner, so it's probably some healthy advice. "Though, if you are hunting ghosts, I imagine that would be a good place to start. But really anywhere around here is a good place to start. You just have to hang around Ravn long enough and one is bound to jump out and scare you." Quite literally.

She laughs at the Scooby Doo joke. "Not a genuine believer?" she wonders curiously, studying the other woman's glimmer curiously.

"Well, that's one option. Another is to go visit your neighbours. Our place has a poltergeist, Una Irving's got one too. Hell, half the houses in this town has some kind of memory imprint or other." Ravn hitches a shoulder. "I don't want to sound like it's nothing -- it's just, this is Gray Harbor. You live here for a while, you start to get used to things being -- strange."

He glances at Ava. Yes. Let the person who's actually from here field some of this inquiry. "Reality is a little frayed around the edges here sometimes. Or maybe my mental health is, I'll let others be the judge of that."

"The coroner teling me to stay away from Murder Motel..." Rhiannon shrugs. "Are you not wanting your neighbor to end up on the slab? Sound advice if so" she offers, trying to not get too distracted by glimmer. Mostly since, apparently, the coroner's got a glimmer like a lighthouse. Figures. Maybe Rhi can find her way home by encouraging the Glimmer lightouse to stand outside and go from there? Perhaps...

Rhiannon shrugs and raises her free palm. "Oh no, I believe it, honestly. I believe it. Because..." Rhi nods quickly. "I'm open minded. Hey if I end up with a ghost friend, think I can charge them rent or see if they appreciate my violin playing?" Rhi grins hopefully and finally sets her empty coffee cup down.

"I love my job, but I would like it if fewer people ended up on my slab, yes. Call me selfish. I don't get paid per body, after all." There's a soft laugh from Ava, trying not to let it show how much the death toll actually takes from her own good spirit. It's disheartening for sure.

"Open minded is good in this town. You're going to need it. Especially in this neighborhood. Because my yard is going to look great tomorrow, and I really would rather not have to answer any strange questions like -how- did it happen. So let's keep that open minded nature." Ava pauses, head tilting. "If ghosts could pay rent, what would they pay it in? Ectoplasm? Could you sell that for something, do you think?"

A smirk is offered Ravn's way. "Can't reality be frayed as well as your mental health?"

"This is a fair point." Ravn chuckles and sips his civet-free coffee. "It's all a little -- I've always been the bloke who saw things moving at the corner of my eye or, you know, waltzing out right in front of me. What's new to me is that here, other people see them too. It takes a little getting used to. The town is -- a bit unusual in this regard."

He rootles in a pocket for a cigarette -- there are perks to being outdoors. The zippo lighter used is a battered old thing with some kind of silver coat-of-arms engraved on it, probably a pretentious company logo. "I don't think I know any ghosts who pay rent. I know one who cleans the house and cooks because as far as she is concerned, she's the mother of the guy who lives there. She's forgotten that she's dead so we just -- humour her. It's not like Mrs Kelly harms anyone."

"See, that's the sort of ghost I'd like in my house" Rhi offers with a nod as she gets to her feet, carrying the violin one handed and groceries in the other. "But....I should get going and put groceries away. I appreciate meeting you all, and it's certainly reassured me I'm in the right place" Rhi nods. "My door's open if you want to come on over at any point. Just...I tend to bake cookies or play violin. I haven't yet mastered the art of playing violin and baking cookies at the same time" she calls, heading for her door with a laugh.

Gonna go take a nap, my head's starting to hurt fairly badly

"I would love a cleaning ghost. I hate doing dishes. It's terrible for my hands, and I have to be very very careful about those." They're kind of important tools of her trade, after all. "Somehow, I don't think I'll be that lucky. We'll see if I have a ghost or not in the next couple of days, huh?"

Ava waves Rhiannon off as she gets up to head across the street. "It was great meeting you. We'll have to catch up again, soon. We'll have breakfast." Once the woman is inside, she glances back to Ravn with a faint smile. "I like her, she seems nice. I don't know if she's ready for our kinds of crazy. But she's nice." She leans back into the grass, soaking in the warmth of his yard with a happy sigh. So much better than the winter of her own. "We forgot to invite her to the faerie party. Did you guys set a date for that yet?"

"I don't think any dates have been set, and if they have, I didn't hear about it." Ravn chuckles and glances after Rhiannon as well. Then he nods. "It's always like that, isn't it? You stand there, trying to feel out whether they are aware of their own abilities, whether they know what the town is like. Wondering if you should give them the whole Hotel Californa speech, or just let them get on with business."

He draws on the cigarette, making certain to stand so that the wind blows smoke away from anyone else. "It'd be a lot easier if we could just ask outright. Hell, maybe we should. Might scare a few new folks into actually getting back on that bus and keeping right on going."

"I hate beating around the bush like that. But the direct method is so much more likely to make some of them think that I'm crazy. Then they won't come to me when they need help. I need them to come to me if they need healing. For that, they have to trust me. It's a crappy balancing act." Ava smirks, pulling a knee up to her chest so that she can rest her chin on it as she gazes back towards him.

"Do you think it would actually keep people out?" she wonders. "Or would that bus just eventually bring them right on back and we'd be back at square one?"

"If I thought it might actually make some of them move on, I'd do it. But we're all stuck in the pitcher plant here." Ravn hitches that shoulder again. "And it is important that new suckers feel they can talk to the rest of us about the weird. No one makes it on their own. It's very much an us against them deal."

Then he looks back at the garden, summery and lush. "And what the hell -- I mean, it's not all bad. This? This is pretty neat, and funny too. I like this town, I like living here. But I wouldn't want to raise a kid here, and I suppose that is some kind of bottom line to draw. It's an interesting town, but it's not a safe town."

"Sadly, there's no right answer here. It's always going to be a case by case call. You have to feel them out and figure out how much of the crazy you can dump on them at once. Then hope they don't get dragged into something that's too much for them before you can full them in completely." Ava sighs at that, finishing off the rest of her coffee before putting the mug aside.

"Hey!" Her tone is actually, slightly wounded. "I was a kid raised here. I like to think that I turned out okay, thank you. Besides, where else are you going to raise a kid that will inevitably end up having abilities like yours?" Her eyes drift down the road, brows knitting faintly. "I guess, eventually, it's a matter of how much you let fear rule you."

"And what the Veil entities think you're useful for." Ravn nods; this is hard to argue with, Ava is an adult and not gibbering in a corner. "I know a guy who told me that when he was a kid, his toys used to come alive on their shelves at night. Tried to eat him. Tried to eat others. He ended up medicated and -- well, he never told me the full story but there are people in town who calls him Cannibal Clayton. I don't think he had a very happy childhood."

He glances down the road as well and then shrugs lightly. "As for me? I grew up in a place not too different from this one. Not quite so -- active, but enough that our place was haunted as all hell. So I guess it wasn't that dramatic a change -- just had to get used to the fact that here, other people see them too."

"I guess that's true. Some of us had good lives, others not so much. But the same could be said outside of here as well. There are those who grow up with trust funds, and those who grow up with abusive parents, and end up in psyche wards without The Veil. It's the same thing, just different stakes."

"So if you had kids, would you try to leave here to raise them outside of this area? Or do you just plan to never have kids?" Ava wonders of him with a gentle curiosity. One that indicates he doesn't have to answer if he doesn't really want to.

"Or all three. Grow up with a trust fund, abusive parents and end up in a psych ward. Leave no options untouched." Ravn chuckles. "But you're right. A lot of it is pure luck, or lack of luck."

He cants his head, thinking -- a bit in the fashion of someone who's actually not really considered that question previously. Maybe he never had reason to. "I'm not sure? I haven't really planned on having kids, but people do keep telling me that I'll change that view when I meet the right person to have them with. Heaven knows I have an army of extended relatives who thinks I should. You?"

"I can't imagine what kind of hell that would be. Children should be loved, not have to go through that sort of thing." The thought that anyone has to go through that makes Ava's heart hurt. "It shouldn't be luck. But you're right. That's exactly what it boils down to. The roll of the dice."

"It's really not up to an army of extended relatives, now is it? It's a matter of what your heart wants. You may find someone who makes you want to see a little version of you and then running around, causing havoc. With cute little pointy ears," she laughs. Ava looks at her hands. "Me? I've always wanted kids. I'm not sure it'll ever happen for me. But it's been a dream."

Ravn finishes his cigarette and tucks the stub into his pocket rather than drop it on the lawn. "Yeah, I get that. I mean, it's a nice fantasy. And I reserve the right to change my mind if I do end up feeling like that some day. At the moment, though? The idea of diapers and babies not sleeping through the night, it makes me want to consider hiring a nanny and telling her to present the kid to me when it's old enough to wipe its own nose and answer when spoken to -- which is not really ideal parenthood, I suspect."

He chuckles. "I'd probably give the kids more disorders on my own than Gray Harbor could manage, if I have to be honest about it."

"Oh please. Like you sleep through the night now," Ava scoffs, giving Ravn a knowing look and a quirked smile at the edge of her lips. It's a little cheeky. "I'm with you on the diapers, though. I can't imagine anyone wants to deal with those. I don't see any shame in someone knowing they aren't ready for kids yet. Besides, like you said, you'd have to meet someone first. Then there's the whole falling in love thing first. That tends to take some time. You have the whole friendship thing first. Then the stepping into a relationship thing. Then the falling in love. And on and on." She rolls her wrist during the on and one part.

"Hopefully whoever you end up with can help you avoid the disorder giving, should you ever decide to have kids," she laughs. "Do you have any current prospects?"

Ravn looks up at that. And then offers a small, sheepish laugh. "No. No, I can't say there are any prospects. There was for a while -- but between obligations and family duty on one side and me on the other, well, let's just say I lost that contest. Can't say I've really been looking much, though. I have some pretty bad relationship drama in my baggage -- I had to deal with a pretty extensive breakdown when my fiancee got herself killed back in '15." He's blunt about it. Maybe he has to be. "Took some therapy to get over that, and not blame myself for her drunk driving."

Then he flashes a smile back at Ava. "I am guessing you haven't been back in town long enough that it wouldn't seem comedic or even a bit rude to throw the question back at you. I guess we're just that age -- or at least I am -- that relatives start asking if you've got any special friends, and whether they should get their hopes up about grandchildren and little nephews anytime soon."

Ava tilts her head. "I'm sorry. That couldn't have been easy to deal with. To still deal with. I imagine it's not gone away yet. If you ever want to sit around and talk about it, I'm literally right next door now. So I'm super easy to find. I'm glad you're at a point where you aren't blaming yourself, though. That's important."

A hand presses to her chest as she gasps with fake annoyance. "How dare you. I could have been doing long distance with someone while I was gone. You don't know. Are you saying I'm not a catch?" There's a scoff. But it doesn't last long as she laughs softly and shakes her head. "No, you're right. Don't throw that question back at me. I haven't had any prospects in a long time. Odd work hours, strange job. My abilities. A lot of guys feel like it's too much. Which I get. It's a lot. " She shrugs a shoulder. "My grandparents, I've got three of them still alive. They bug me a lot. I'm the only one really old enough to be bothering about kids."

"I mean, I'm not going to pretend I understand what makes anyone decide to be a coroner," Ravn admits. "It sounds -- challenging at times. But I don't see what is too much about it. It's an honest profession and you do an important job. Too much would be -- I don't know, something criminal, maybe. Or something blatantly dishonest if still legal -- influencer, pyramid game inventor, lawyer."

Beat. "That's unfair to my lawyer. She's really quite decent. For a human shark in a pencil skirt."

"The short story version? I wanted to be a doctor. More than part time like I am now. During rotations I realized that I wanted to heal everyone that I saw and I wasn't sure I could resist the urge. A little kid with cancer that I could just fix? Why wouldn't I? Why shouldn't I? Why not all of them?" Her eyes lift to lock on his. "We know why, obviously," Ava whispers. "But I would totally just heal a whole hospital and let Them come for me."

She smiles sadly. "That would be dumb. Coroner is quiet and peaceful and everyone is already dead. There's nothing I can fix. Only observe."

It makes sense through that lens. "I have better self control now that I'm older. I have the clinic so that I can help people, and heal our people when stuff gets rough. But I couldn't do it full time, or work at a hospital. The urge to over help would be an issue."

"Does that make sense, or do I sound like a total weirdo?"

Ravn shakes his head. "It makes a lot of sense. I'm going to say, I am not really sorry I don't have an ability like that -- because it must be very difficult to resist using it all the damn time. I can bend a teaspoon, great, nice party trick. But if I see a child with cancer or in a wheelchair, I don't need to justify to myself why I am not condemning that kid or myself to years of abuse from otherworldly entities. I don't envy you this position one bit. I'm amazed you're so -- clear headed about it."

He shudders. "Honestly? I am grateful to not have to make that kind of choice. I'm a teacher. I'm not emotionally equipped to deal with that -- not even without the supernatural aspect. I could never be a nurse or a doctor or a vetenarian -- I'd bring every damned case home with me, every day."

"It is so much harder than people think. I can't go to the pediatric wing. I can't. Children's cancer center? Nope. The fact of the matter is that I could walk in there and send everyone one of those children's cancer into remission and let them live a healthy, perfect life. But doing that could cost how many other lives in the process because I'm not here to help?" Ava sighs. "It's a balance. Or that's what I tell myself, anyway."

She ruffles a hand through her hair sheepishly. "I'm not sure I'm emotionally equipped to deal with it, either. I just kind of have to deal with it." Vet. "Oh! That reminds me! I wanted to go to the pound and see what adoptions were available now that I have a whole house and a yard! Wanna come with? Tomorrow or the next day, maybe?"

Ravn glances back at the cat who lies on the fence, next to the bones of her piscatorial sacrifice. "I don't see why not? I'm no expert on animals, I should warn you. Kitty chose me, not the other way around. But it never hurts to have company. Got anything in mind?"

He glances at his cat. "No, we're not asking you. Because if we do, the only allowed pets are small furry things you can eat."

"Well, initially I was thinking a cat, but then I figured that might start a turf war with KP here. I would rather avoid that. So maybe a big, cuddly dog?"

Ava glances from Kitty Pryde to Ravn, smiling softly. "I don't know. I feel like, maybe when I see what's right for me, I'll just kind of know, you know?" Her head falls back as she gazes skyward. "It'd be nice to have a big dog, though. Something warm and cuddly to curl on the bed with. And they make great running partners."

"I can't say I'm really a dog person." Ravn glances back at the cat; it is kind of obvious. "My father kept German shepherds, though. They were beautiful, highly intelligent dogs, and I kind of wish I'd liked them better. Had hunting dogs as well -- not even certain of that breed's name in English, tall and lanky spotted dogs. Not Dalmatians. But they all need a lot of exercise and challenge to keep their minds busy and I am an asthmatic academic who prefers to lead a very quiet life. I'm a bad choice for a big, energetic dog -- whereas my cat, well, she's her own cat, she just allows me to feed her and pay her vet bills."

"All the more reason for you to come with me. Since you'll be living next to me, you have to be able to tolerate my choice. I'll need your discerning eye." Ava chuckles. "There've been quite a few creatures beyond The Veil I've wished I could scoop up and bring home with me, though. I'm not going to lie. You see some very cute things, sometimes.

"Oh, you'd have to pick something like a rabid bull dog with a penchant for Danishes for that to be a problem." Ravn laughs. "After all, I won't be the one who needs to walk him and come up with ways to stimulate his problem solving skills. Or hers."

He smirks back at the cat yet again. "I'd advise you to get something that's friendly to cats, or other cats, though. Kitty Pryde is just a cat. Veil touched, sure, smarter than average, sure, but just a cat. Her friend the Uncat is the size of a lynx and -- well, people have died because of the Uncat, before Kailey Holt managed to sort of convince it to chill and not wage war on us. And the yule cats every winter, they're kind of -- well, don't mess with them either, but you'll have seen those if you grew up here, I guess. I haven't actually seen one yet but everyone warns me about them -- don't fuck with the large, white cats in Christmas."

Ava tilts her head in his direction, her expression faintly amused. "Is that your impeccably polite way of turning down my invitation to join me?" she wonders faintly. "I wouldn't want anything rabid. I want something sweet, cute, loving. Super affectionate. Dog, cat, bunny. Probably a dog. But I guess I'll see when I get there."

Mention of the Uncat has a brow lifting in mild concern. "Kailey does have a way with Veil creatures and getting them to listen, doesn't she? I guess the secret is to treat them like unruly toddlers until they obey," she chuckles.

"Pretty much, and yes, pretty much." Ravn chuckles. "She does have a way -- I think it has to do with her ability to think outside the box. It doesn't occur to Kailey that these things might not in fact want to be shown the rules, befriended, and maybe given a few treats. She's pretty damned overwhelming sometimes." There's affection in the man's voice as he talks about the purple-haired artist; she's a good friend, and they've seen some bizarre things together over time.

Then he circles back to the first question in that line and shakes his head. "I'll go along if you like. Got nothing else I need to do tomorrow during daylight hours. I'm just saying, I don't really know a lot about dogs and breeds. I can definitely tell whether one wants to eat my face, though. Pick me up?"

"That woman is my hero. Raising a bunch of kids and being a badass hero all the time too? That kind of sounds like the dream to me. Except, less of being on the front lines for me. I'm not a front lines kind of person. I'm a 'heal them up afterwards' kind of person. Support afterwards, if you will." It works just fine for her, everyone needs that. "Can you get me her number? I need to get her the information about the mommy and me classes that I found."

That last question earns a little tongue click from Ava. "Mmm. I suppose I can pick you up. It's a little bit out of the way. You're a little far from me." Her eye drift from her house to his, then back. "I promise not to let anything eat your face."

Ravn laughs and dips into a pocket for his mobile phone -- which resides, it seems, in a sparkly pink casing with a Hello Kitty stencil. "I don't think I should be giving out someone else's number without asking -- not that I can imagine why she'd object. But I can give her yours and tell her to text you about it or call? Somebody told me once, don't hand out people's numbers."

He offers the phone over, for Ava to enter her own number. Most of the numbers in the directory seem to have the +45 extension -- the international code for Denmark. And then, "Not too early in the morning, though. Those bastard students of mine on Copenhagen time, I need to be done with them before I can go somewhere. Noon, maybe?"

"That make sense to me. I wouldn't want you giving out my number to someone either. Good call. Plus, it's a great way for you to score my number," Ava teases, giving him a little wink before she quickly adds her number into the phone. Then her business line. All of the numbers that she can be reached at just in case a healing emergency comes up. Her number in his phone, she hands it back to Ravn. "Text me later so I have your number, too"

Hopping up, she dusts herself off. "Thanks for the coffee. I'm going to start working on my yard before it gets too late. I'll see you around noon tomorrow, yeah?" Ava offers a bright smile before turning to look back towards the winter world outside. Ugh, back out into the cold. Here we go.