2022-04-25 - You Are Not Immune To Propaganda

Wi-fi on the marina? Spotty at best. Ravn Abildgaard has two options for getting most of his remote office work done -- and going home to sit in his kitchen on Oak Avenue is kind of dull and also, counterproductive to his other job: Being HOPE's bloke in the coffee shop next to the bus shelter. Or maybe he just likes Della the Day Manager's attempts to ruin his life, who knows? Love language can be many things.

Today's love language is a peach celery frappucino. Sometimes, one has to wonder if Della spends time off work researching the most horrific things she can come up with.

Ravn is seated at his usual table by the window, sleek little laptop, reading something and typing the occasional comment. Like most days, he's in black -- slacks, turtleneck, blazer -- granting him that aura of hipster hobo that he owns so thoroughly.

Last night was busy, with the hardware store and then doing some more planting. But this morning has been fairly quiet. A little light shopping and now some more coffee from the shop. Her usual order is made at the counter, along with the usual payment and the healthy tip. Perhaps it's the large tip that allows her to get away with getting that extra black coffee every time she sees Ravn here. Surely Della must know it's for him? Who knows? Either way, she is still hiding it as best she can as it's tucked out of view of Della, but where Ravn can reach it. Keep up the facade, at least.

A bag is laid on the table, curiously from the costume shop, but whatever it is, it must be small. Her espresso drink is swirled in her hands as she leans back in the seat next to Ravn and just relaxes. "How's it been going at the docks? I miss you being next door all the time. It's harder to bug you every day, you know."

Ravn looks up and then lights up in a small smile as he recognises the bearer of magic bean juice. Does Della know? Probably. This is a strange game and apparently, somebody else taking pity on the Danish sucker is not a rules violation. Maybe doing it openly would be. Maybe what Della really likes to watch is who's got the guts to go against her as the empress of the sacred bean.

"I'm going to owe you a pizza one of these days," the Dane murmurs and somehow that black coffee ends up right in front of him, almost as if it quietly sliiiiiiiid there all on its own, definitely unassisted. "It's going nice and quiet so far. The tourist season only formally starts on May 1, but some boats are here early, of course. You get used to hearing three different radio stations from three different boats. But let me be honest -- I am getting used to the idea that I can just go home for a shower every day, rather than have to hunt down a friend's every other day."

The bag gets a glance. "Going to a party, then?"

The empress has her tithing, at the very least, in honor of her title. Ava has at least that much respect, and enough fear to hide her misdeeds in aiding Ravn with the coffee smuggling. As long as that's enough, she's pleased that it still works. "I'll have to take you up on that," comes a soft laugh. "We still have to have our terrible pajama party after all. I haven't forgotten that idea. It's just sort of gotten swept up in everything else that's been happening lately." It's been a lot of other stuff.

"Nice and quiet should be enjoyed while it lasts. Tourist season is rarely either of those things. I don't hang out much at the docks, but I imagine the same could be said for that area as much as any other part of town. Or more, with the fishing crowd." One hand holds the cup so that she can sip from it, the other lays on the bag so that she can tap it, looking amused around the mug. Sip finished, amusement turns to a large grin. "It's for de la Vega. Somehow, I'm going to get him to wear it long enough for me to get a picture. I don't know how yet. But I will."

Ravn's eyebrows shoot up. "I'm afraid to ask what kind of costume it is. And how you plan to get him to wear it. The Chief is not exactly known to be accommodating when it comes to making a lot of noise. It's been more than once I've snuck off for the quiet corner at some affair, and found he was already in it."

Social recluses, bonding in escape.

"The marina's not so bad, to be honest. There's a few unspoken rules about what happens on someone's boat is their business only. I imagine the harbour at the Grand Olympic Hotel is a bloody nightmare, but then, I'd never berth there anyhow."

"It's not an entire costume!" defends Ava with a laugh. It's just one little thing. One tiny, thing." She tugs it out of the bag to reveal a large fake handlebar mustache. "I swear, if I can get him in it long enough to get one good picture, I could die happy, I think. Nefarious Chief." Her tongue clicks in amusement as she holds the packaging up to her own face. "It's a good look, right?"

There's laughter as she slides it back into the bag. "Of course what happens on their boat is their business. But at what point does the volume from their boat start becoming your business?

Ravn blinks. That's one hell of a moustache. More like, an entire weasel. This has got to be one of those Americanisms that go over his head. "I think I'm missing a reference here. Is this some kind of sit on my face joke? Like growing a Freddy Mercury pornstache?"

He sips the black coffee, pleased to find that it does indeed contain nothing but water and caffeine. Life fuel. "I suppose it becomes my business if it's too loud for me to sleep. However." One gloved hand goes up in a pistol-like gesture. "I win the gunfight at O.K. Marina every time. I have a violin."

"It's a typical villain mustache. He was buying bolt cutters yesterday and there were jokes." Ava waves a hand. "It was a whole thing. Certainly not a whole sit on my face joke kind of thing. As amusing at that might be." It gets slipped back into the bag with that amusement on her face still there. She's very pleased with her little joke, clearly.

"And you feel that a violin beats bass bumping rap music or the like of a full volume radio?" That's asked with a lifted brow. "How loud can a violin get? I honestly have no idea. Is it louder? Or can you just make it more aggravating?"

"Have you ever heard an amateur with a violin? It's torture. It's three screeching cats sharing a bag with an angry porcupine." Ravn looks positively smug. "And the worst thing you can possibly do with one? Play along. People take the hint pretty fast. Dubstep and violins, bad match. Whatever horrible glitter-country the boomer couple in the floating villa next berth likes? Even worse. Screeeeech."

Even quiet folklorists have a sadistic side, it seems. "Worst case scenario ever happens, I'll have Kinney come join me on his ukulele. Should be about able to take over the entire pier."

"Oh come on! You can't be that bad. Haven't you been taking lessons for a while now? You should be so much better at this point. Unless you're trying to sound bad, obviously, which you could totally do pretty easily." A hand lifts to cover her mouth as he goes on, laughter shaking her shoulders. "I didn't realize you had such evil in you, Ravn. Bravo," Ava offers. "You're adorable when you get all plotty."

Ravn laughs softly; does he actually flush a bit? Maybe just a little. "A violin is a grateful instrument when it comes to wanting to sound bad. Play it badly, even deliberately, it's pure torture. There's a reason no one wants you to play at the campfire unless they know you're good. The hipster kid with the guitar is just monotonous, the amateur violinist is assault."

He sips his coffee. "I'm not honestly not that bothered by other people's music, though. It's an outdoors area, people have a good time. That's the whole point. Always figured that if you crave peace and quiet and even the songbirds walk on tippy toes in order to not disturb you, maybe you should live out in the woods somewhere. Not in the busiest part of town which downtown and the marina admittedly are."

As is so often the case, the telltale tak-tak of heels announces Perdita's arrival seconds before she's actually seen stepping through the doors, her black hair in fabulously beachy waves, excepting her fringe. She's wearing an oversized t-shirt, tied at the waist, with the words 'YOU ARE NOT IMMUNE TO PROPAGANDA' printed in a bold font across her modest bust, and a pair of cut off denim shorts with the word 'PROPAGANDA' embroidered across her significantly less modest backside. This is paired with fishnet stockings, a cropped leather jacket and a pair of platform stilettos she could probably kill someone with in a pinch. Her make up, as always, is on point.

As she approaches the counter, she notes that Ravn actually seems to have decent coffee for a change, and so she treats herself to a chocolate frappe, heavy on the whipped cream and syrup drizzle, and an apple Danish, before moving to sit at the table with Ravn and Ava, flashing a catlike smile.

"Awwww, you're blushing! That's so cute! I want to pinch your cheeks. I won't but I want to ." Her face scrunches up just a little as Ava makes a little cheek wiggle gesture in his direction. So cute. "I'd love to hear you two play some time. You and Itzhak. I haven't heard either of you and that seems like a shame. I bet you're better than you give yourself credit for. I'm sure he's a great teacher." Listen tone. Stop that.

It's a good thing that you aren't bothered, but that doesn't mean that some people don't also take advantage of outdoor areas sometimes. Especially when they're on vacation. Believe me, if it's a Tuesday night and it's four am and I'm trying to sleep and my boat neighbors won't stop blasting music? I'd be sinking their boat out of spite." Dita is approaching, which earns her a bright, warm smile. "Hello gorgeous."

"I doubt many people are immune to that kind of propaganda," Ravn agrees with a small grin as Perdita settles. "You look like a million bucks today. I suppose we should ask, whose million?"

Then he closes the lid on his laptop because honestly? Conversation with a couple of friends over whatever student email can be answered later? Not a difficult choice. "I'd never sink someone's boat at four am. I might move the batteries in their radios two millimeters to the right. It gets the job done with far much less noise."

"Hello, beautiful," Perdita winks at Ava, crossing her legs and leaning back slightly into her seat, "They're very talented players." Perdita tells Ava with a fond smile, clearly remembering the last time she heard the men play together. Her expression softens. "Their rendition of Gelem, Gelem brought me to tears." of course, at least some of that was just hearing the music of her father's people recreated, but it was also the talent of the men.

"You'd be surprised." Dita tells Ravn with her smile turning wicked once more, "Today's million is all mine."

Ava beams at Perdita, flushing a little at the wink. "Ah, I knew it! I knew they'd sound great together. That means I really do have to hear them play sometime." I don't think music has ever brought me to tears, but I do believe it'd be breathtakingly beautiful."

"I don't know, Ravn. Four in the morning? Really no thought to sinking someone else's ship? You're a better man than I. Mostly because I'm lacking the parts for it. But you know what I mean." A hand wobbles.

"Maybe I just don't want to listen to the screaming and half the harbour turning up to try to prevent the sinking, and rescue the people on board. Scared kids, angry wife going I always said this boat was a stupid idea, I'm going home to my mum in Orlando and you can't stop me, husband raging because the last payment is next month, and who can we blame for this, and somebody's getting sued. If I just sabotage their radio they grumble a bit and go to bed." Ravn smiles beatifically. "Make that better person, maybe? Although really, just lazier."

He doesn't comment on the violin playing at all. Not spoken of is quickly forgotten. Right? Right. Please say it is so.

"Good music with good memories does it to me every time. Gelem, Gelem is a song that honors loss and promises rebirth, so it's a very emotional song to begin with." Dita offers by way of explanation.

"Not better... but better at planning and less wanting to be inconvenienced. Also, he's clearly thinking about the extra workload you'd have if the ship sunk and all souls were lost."

Ava sips from her mug with a thoughtful expression as she listens to all of the reasoning. By the time Ravn gets to the end, her head is bobbing in agreement. "I honestly can't disagree with you there. That is a far better method of dealing with things. Much quieter." A glance towards Dita and a head bob, "Well, obviously we can't let people drown. Just the boat. But I get what you mean." There's laughter in her tone.

Explanation of the song gets an earnest nod from her. "Worthy of tears all on its own, then. Played beautifully by people you care about, even more so."

Ravn chuckles and sips his coffee. "The boat next to mine did sink last spring, but that was because of water gremlins. They tried for mine as well but then Kitty Pryde ate one of them, and this is why she is the Goddess of Death of a small sewer-dwelling tribe of gremlins."

A cloud darkens his memory. "It wasn't a great day. The poor craftsmen working on that boat probably got footed with the bill. And the asshole couple on the next boat over nearly managed to get me arrested for assault and substance abuse because they say Maggi Gyre on my boat, screaming at the water, and assumed I'd lured her out and roofied her."

Sometimes, you don't want to be at work, but you have to be at work -- and sometimes, you show up at work on your day off because you know somebody else will make your second cup of coffee correctly. The front door opens and closes to admit another rush of outside air and in comes Ariadne. She must be on her way to the other hardware store to see about that paint swatch of the mythical 'mint green' after all. In plain jeans and sneakers as well as a light rainproof peacoat in a navy-blue-and-black plaid, her hair is down her back in a braiding; it makes the natural deep-auburn intermingle with the cobalt-and-iris fade of the dyed underpanel.

Adjusting the small courier-bag-style purse on her ribs by dint of strap across her body, she idly scans the shop and locates the table of, well, locals.

A raised hand and bright grin and finger-twiddling wave for it. Clearly, once she has her drink, she'll float over in that direction.

"Precisely." Dita tells Ava with a slight tilt of her head. This earns Ravn a fond smile, "They're both amazing men. I can't wait to attend their wedding, someday." Because Ravn is definitely Itzhak's platonic boytoy... and Dita can't miss an opportunity to stir the pot and see how many people she can get the rumor mill believing Ravn's dating.

"... I'm sorry, water gremlins?" Perdita is distracted from her mischief now, brows raising slightly. "I knew they were in the sewers, I didn't know they were in the water. This town is terrible." she laughs, the sound one part genuine humor, one part 'holy shit what the fuck' laughter.

Ariadne gets, not a wave, but a blown kiss and a wink in return.

Myles is apparently developing a thing where he enters buildings right after Ariadne. Another gust of cool outside air brings in a very different sort of person. The large man walking in after the woman looks tired, though at least not carrying the anger he had the night before. Wearing a baggie hoodie and baggie jeans, he slips in with squinted eyes and a near-scowl people wear sometimes before having coffee. He's making a straight line towards the counter.

"I remember you mentioning that before, Ava offers to Ravn with a slight frown. "But now I have a little more context for it. Still, water gremlins." She shudders at the thought. Of course, that's right before she almost chokes on her espresso drink at the talk of the wedding. No, she knows the whole platonic thing, but still. Ow. She shoots a 'kill me' look towards Ravn for a moment as she tries to keep it in her throat and not in her nose. Yup. Ow. Head over heels? Dick.

What a beautiful distraction it is when not one, but two familiar face come streaming through the door. Once she's finishing coughing, Ava makes a big wave towards Ariadne and Myles. "Hey guys. Ari! Look what I got for the Chief!" She pulls something out of a small bag and holds it up to her face.

"Well, at least we know Rosencrantz has great legs for a dress. Missed out on him doing Sexy Little Red Riding Hood the Halloween before last? Sucks to be you." Ravn sips his coffee and then raises his hand in a wave to Ariadne and Myles alike. A nod; there are chairs free over here, get 'em while they last. "But yes, they're sewer gremlins. They hide in water -- any water. They had a whole city down there once. Until Maggi Gyre blew it up."

Not too proud to avoid playing along, Dita's greeting makes the barista grin. She reaches out sloooooooowly...to snatch an invisible something out of the air and clearly pocket it for later. Must have been that kiss. A little shoulder shimmy and the greeting is returned properly before she's at the front of the line to order. It's Russ. He asks something, amused, and Ariadne can be seen to laugh and shrug with one shoulder. Russ nods, grinning, before he writes down the order on the cup and shoos his coworker away -- guess it's her free drink today.

It means she can at least meander along down the counter towards the waiting area and lean there within easy distance of the table itself. Myles arriving earns him a glance and little smile of recognition; add in an upnod and he's greeted in turn -- hello, fellow late-night hardware store enthusiast.

Ava gains her attention and when the 'something' is revealed? The barista puts her lips to her mouth to stop up half of a blurt-laugh. Squinting, she then shakes her head. "Ava. Ava, my comrade, I'll write your epitaph," she says of the potential present for the Chief. "I can't believe you did that!" Russ delivers the drink and the barista floats over to grab one of those seats -- next to Ravn. "Also, I missed out on Itzhak in a Red Riding Hood get-up? Damnit, I miss all the good stuff around here," she fun-gripes at the table before sipping her drink. Caramel macchiato, mmm.

At least Perdita has the grace to turn concernedly to look at Ava, and make sure she isn't going to Actually Die. Once she's sure... "You might have a drinking problem." she finally takes a sip of her frappe, sighing happily. The lace front mustache gets a quirk of amusement from Perdita, "That's... actually not terrible. You could pluck the hairs and trim the plastic lace a bit to make it less noticeable..." she trails off, her expression going slightly 'oops' before she busies herself with her apple Danish. The one on the plate, not in the seat. She cuts a bite and clearly enjoys it. She doesn't bake. This is half the reason she comes here.

"Well, let's hear it for Maggi Gyre, then... But Ravn, I thought you would wear the dress. You have that lovely period accurate gown... with the plastic boning."

Myles gets a considering look, Dita's head tilting ever so slightly, before she turns back to her companions at the table, smiling.

Myles is going straight to the counter and ordering his coffee. Just coffee. Black. Apparently whatever coffee he's getting from home makes the drive here worth it. There's a glance over to Ava and her mustache. There's a little quirk of his lips though it doesn't break into a full smile. Ariadne gets a much more friendly up nod this morning. Even if he doesn't actually smile. The coffee is taken and paid for as he starts heading over towards the table. Giving an up-nod to Ava, then Ravn. "Ava." He grunts, though she gets the gift of a slight smile. How nice. "Ravn, right?" Myles asks over to the other man as he settles on the chair.

He pauses. "Fuck. My bad, cool if I sit here?" He asks once he's already seated. Myles looks over to Perdita, arching his brow for a moment. "Myles Webber." His hand goes out in greeting.

Ava can't help but beam a little proudly at Ariadne's reaction to the mustache as she holds it up to her face. "It will be worth my untimely death if I can get him to wear it just once and get a good picture. I don't know how yet. But I'm going to make this happen. Somehow." She looks convinced. "It's pretty good for a costume store one, isn't it? I was pretty impressed." Perdita earns a little grin from Ava. Mustache goes back in the bag as Ava squints a look towards Ravn. "Please, oh please, tell me that you have a picture of this on your phone that you can share with the table. Be our hero this morning."

As Myles settles at the table, she reaches out a hand to brush it up and down his arm in a gentle, soothing gesture. "Hey, feeling any better than last night? You didn't even laugh at my fabulous mustache, so probably not so much." Her head bobs. "You're fine to sit there. We all tend to congregate."

"But I don't have Rosencrantz' ability to twirl in a short dress and cause seven people to drop their drinks. And yes, I do in fact have a picture -- and no, I'm not showing you. That sort of thing you get to ask from himself." Ravn grins slightly; he'll never forget, and he'll never forget the sheer attitude about it either -- to have that kind of confidence, that must be something. Then he nods at Myles. "Ravn, yeah. Like 'round' but with the d chopped off, no awful puns intended."

He smiles up at Ariadne as she settles, and then nods his agreement with the coroner. "This does tend to end up being the townsfolk table. Personally, I go here for the wi-fi, and to see what horror Della will concoct for me today. Anyone want to inherit a luke-warm peach celery frappucino?"

Stepping into the coffee shop, Leila doesn't notice anyone at first. Her dark, almond eyes are fixated on the counter and she walks straight over, thanking the lord almighty that there is no line before her. It isn't until she orders her large cup of black coffee that she finally takes a moment to look around. Her eyes are tired but strikingly alert for the moment, or at least they appear to be bright and awake. Myles' magnificent height, followed by Ravn's, is enough to attract her attention. She smiles at the latter, and the smile grows as she spies the other familiar faces of Ava and Ariadne.

Once the coffee arrives, she pays for it then shuffles down to the sugar and condiments section. Grabbing the cannister, the woman pours some in; no, not some, pours a lot. Really, after a few seconds it seems to be more sugar than coffee. Snatching a stirrer, she starts to mix her thickening concoction as she begins to saunter her way over to the group. One of her legs kicks an empty chair over towards them as she invites herself. "Heya Ravn, Ava, Ariadne, nice to see you guys in a civilized setting." She offers a quick smile and nod towards Myles and Peredita as she introduces herself with a quick, "Leila."

"Yeah, no names on the chairs. If somebody tries that shit around here, we remove the chair or the name -- even odds as to which," the barista informs Myles with a faint smirk. Barista jurisdiction, this space. She leans back in her own chair, comfortable in the space, and wraps her hands around the macchiato. The door opening again makes the redhead glance over out of idle habit and she has a grin for Leila back -- hey you.

"Still think you might want that epitaph," she tells Ava, chuckling nonetheless. "I'll make it rhyme so people won't forget it. Here lies Brennon, full of sass, bought the Chief a mustache, it bit her in the...posterior." Such a drily-spoken word choice, dramatically sober of expression in turn. She sips her drink again. Dita gets a quick little grin in passing; Ariadne has heard the tale of Maid Marian, after all. "Also, twenty bucks Itzhak never shows anyone that picture so it becomes some town legend instead." Her brows flick as her smile turns somewhat foxy. Someone might be pretty certain about winning this particular bet.

Leila arrives and Ariadne twiddles fingers off of her drink. "Welcome to the drinking party, except we're getting buzzed on caffeine instead of the harder stuff. Oh, business real quick, sorry -- mind if I drop by with Sam sometime? He needs a check-up, he's due for one," she tells the veterinarian.

"Perdita Leontes. Feel free to call me Dita. Never call me Perdy, though." Dita takes the hand, giving it a friendly shake and a good humored smile. Those nails could possibly cut glass, today, glossy black and impossibly sharp at the tips, but she's careful. "Nice to meet you. We don't stand much for formality around here, from my experience."

She leans back into her seat, still smiling, turning the smile to Leila, "Perdita, or just Dita is fine."

"Are you kidding? Itzhak probably has it as his Grindr profile picture, the man has legs." Dita scoots her chair to make sure there's plenty of room at the table, smiling wide. "Right. Did everyone bring your dice? I feel like it's time for Dungeons and Dragons."

"Yeah. Doin' better." Myles grunts, giving a little shake of his head. "Just." He lets out an irritated grunt. "Just gettin' hit twice with that shit in one day when I was-- I got enough of that shit when I was here as a kid. You know? Figured I wouldn't have to deal with that kind of shit as much. Here. Now." He takes a slow sip of his coffee. He gives a little shrug, "It's whatever." He grunts. "I can deal with it." He glances over to Ravn.

"Ravn." Is repeated as if practicing the pronunciation. "Dita. Not perdy." He repeats. Myles looks up to Leila and gives an up-nod. "Myles." He returns going to take another sip of his coffee.

"Once, and then a misunderstanding," Ava offers, wishing that could actually make it any better. "The thing with Everett wasn't what it seemed like. I didn't realize what it seemed like until Nicasia was pointing it out, and then you guys were leaving, so I really couldn't say anything to try to make it better." Her hand squeezes his arm. "I'm sorry for that once there. They're lucky I wasn't there." Because she's oh so frightening, right?

"I'm so bugging him for that picture," Ava offers towards Ravn with a certainty. "Whether he'll show it to me or not is another story. But I can at least ask!" Ariadne's epitaph gets a golf clap. "That was beautiful. I love. Carve it into my headstone. Flawless." Leila gets a little finger waggle of greeting.

"Fuck yea," Leila returns towards Ariadne as she takes a long sip from her coffee. Letting out a long, slow breath of satisfaction, she clears her throat before continuing, "I want to see the little beauty. If he's friendly and good, Flower could use a little playdate." Settling back into her seat, Leila rests an elbow on the back of her seat as she assesses Myles and Perdita's shininess with a wicked grin, she's getting a hang of this. "This town positively glows," she murmurs in amusement.

A gloved hand goes up in a wave to Leila as well, before the Dane shoots a sympathetic look Myles' way. "Not going to lie. Growing up here sounds terrifying. As an adult, at least you know what you sign up for -- or you find out. As a kid? No choice. I know a bloke in town who tells stories about how his toys came alive and tried to eat him. He was pretty traumatised by it."

He sips his coffee and smirks at Ariadne's epitaph-ery. "You ladies are a bundle of trouble. Whole bloody lot of you. That said? I doubt Rosencrantz's going to keep that picture secret. Half the bloody town saw him after all."

"Misunderstanding?" Myles asks, slowly looking over to her. "I've never met the dude, Ava. And he literally acted like I was going to steal his kid when I introduced myself. People react to me a certain way. Whether it's cause I'm a big guy, a black guy, or a big black guy, I don't really care. Shit's still fucked up no matter which one it is. I get you're friends with the dude, but-- Doesn't matter why he did it Ava. That he did it is fucked up." His hand tightens on his cup somewhat before he takes another drink. Looking over to Ravn. "Not quite the same horrors I was talkin about but.. Yeah." Another. Longer drink.

Leila gets a grin and a nod. "Sam's a good boy, but you know everyone says that of their dog." Ariadne shrugs, not too proud to admit she's done this very thing here. "I'll give your place a call then, schedule an appointment in the near-future. You can assess him and see if you think he'd be a good playmate for Flower."

Dita immediately gains herself an intrigued golden-hazel look. "...ooh, I knew I liked you," she tells her friend with a bright grin. "Dibsies on the Bard." Singsonging through the claim, she then pretends to rifle through a pocket. "Damn, forgot my d20 dice today. Next time, promise."

"Gonna carve it into your headstone, cross my heart," the barista then tells Ava with a literal drawing of an X over her own chest, criss-cross. Ravn earns himself a droll glance, her lips pulling up more heavily to one side. "Troublemaker? Never. Rascal? Absolutely. I've told you that before: rascal," she insists in good humor. She sobers when Myles explains what happened the night before. Glancing between Ava and Myles, her gaze then travels the table as well before returning to Myles again.

"Careful, you never know when you'll need those dice." Dita tells Ariadne, smiling, before taking another drink of her frappe, long enough that she should probably be getting brain freeze about now. Who the hell drinks a frappe when it's chilly, anyway?

"Like a lightbulb." Perdita tells Leila, quietly, before her attention turns to Myles once more, her expression sympathetic. "It can't have been easy."

Ravn looks up at Myles. "Hang on, Everett Woods caused a scene? Trust me, that's not about you, mate. That's about Everett Woods being the largest troll in Gray Harbor. He threw plates at my head once on the boardwalk. He thought his girl was hitting on me which was bad enough, and then he got it in his head I was rejecting her, which was worse, and then hitting on another girl. and there you go, flying plates. He's a weird one, and I think sometimes the small town-ness of Gray Harbor is suffocating him enough he wants to pick a fight with anything that moves. He's a good dad for his kids, though."

He pauses. "Probably didn't help that you're a big guy, yeah. So's he. Probably some competition in there."

Then his attention span, shorter than three squirrels on Ritalin, backtraces. "Oi. I'm a thief and a musician. Bard is mine."

Leila's dark eyebrow quirk upwards at Myles' description of his run-in with someone, lifting her cup to blow on it as she eyes him for a moment. "Well, that's fucked up," she murmurs with a frown etching its way across her brow. Her eyes flick towards Ravn questioningly as he begins to fill in some of the details, but the veterinarian remains quiet as she listens for now.

As people call out their classes though, the woman can't help but murmur over her cup, "Ranger."

"Oh yeah, cause being the Bard in last night's Dream went so well for us, huh? Where's your kazoo, lady?" A smirk for Ariadne at that. Ava's hand hasn't left Myle's arm which gets another squeeze. "That's a fair point. "It was a size, and power, and strength thing, rather than a skin color thing. But that doesn't necessarily make it better. Just different. I'm sorry. It was fucked up."

With all the worst timing in the world, Ava's alarm is chiming, letting her know it's time for work. "I have to get going to work, but why don't you message me tonight, yeah?" She pushes from her seat and gives him a quick hug around the shoulders. "If you save me some of that plant you got last night, I can super grow you some more." Pat pat. That should help.

"Cleric," she calls out to the table with a little wink. "I'll catch you guys later."

Another door jingle, and here comes Jules, kitted out like she's on her way into the Great Outdoors: serious hiking boots, flexible hiking pants, a thin blue base layer beneath the blue fleece she's left open at the throat. She marches straight up to the counter to put in her order, large black coffee and a bagel. While waiting for the bagel to toast, she lets herself scan the room. Her gaze settles on Myles, and she stands there a minute, considering. Then, with a deep breath, she walks straight up to say without introduction, "Hey. I wanted to say thank you. About yesterday. And also sorry."

Myles slowly looks over to Ravn. Plates thrown at his head. He squints, before looking back down to Ava's hand on his arm. A small shrug. "Doesn't make a difference to me. Sometimes it's one sometimes it's all three. He was happy to show Nicasia his baby then quickly hid it in his fucking jacket like I was going to take it and run off or somethin'." He grunts. "It's fucked up. He's one of us?" He makes a little circling finger towards the group of them before giving a small shake of his head. He looks over to Ravn further explain, a little tension coming out of his shoulders. "So he's an idiot?" Then a roll of his eyes. "Competition." He repeats bitterly. "Cause I'm tall. Fuck him, bro. Fuck him." Ava gets a little up-nod and one arm comes up to weakly return the hug as she goes before he gives the table an apologetic look. "Sorry didn't mean to be dragging everybody down with that shit."

Then Jules is there, prompting Myles to stand up, giving her a little up-nod. "Ay. You good? No problems from that fuckin' weirdo?" Myles really did have a full day yesterday. His hand goes out to Jules. "Myles. Myles Webber." They didn't get a chance to actually meet properly.

"Well, it's not the best moment," agrees the barista quietly, "And it sounds like you had a bad day as a whole. Thank god it's a new one, yeah?" she asks of Myles before she sips her coffee again.

"Uh, excuse you, I called it first, bud," Ariadne idly argues with a droll glance over at Ravn. She even evinces a look over invisible glasses at him, one brow lifted. "You said you were a Rogue. Be a musically-inclined Rogue. My only other option is...like...Warlock and we all don't want that, believe me. Leila has dibsies on the Ranger, she just called it."

Dita gets another quick slant-grin. "I'm seriously pocketing a d20 from now on, you watch," she informs the woman in a stage whisper. More loudly, she adds, "Also, everyone ignore Ava, I was the best damn Bard ever with my kazoo. Lies and slander, Gandalf," she fires back in a friendly manner at Ava. "Take it easy." Thus Ava is also bid farewell.

And then, Jules. As such: "Jules, hey there!" Beware, someone's caffeinated the redhead barista.

"Woods likes picking fights. Call him out on his shit if he tries it again." Ravn nods. "Last thing anyone needs in this town is to get hassled by other people, we got monsters enough to worry about."

He looks at his cup. It's not as full as it has been. "I'm running out of coffee. I think I may have to use some of my bardic qualities to seduce a barista. What do I roll and on how many dice?"

Argue about it? Some other time. "Jules? Aren't you supposed to be out in the woods chasing bears with a spray can?"

Leila lifts her hand to give Ava a lazy wave goodbye. She takes another sip of her overly sweetened coffee as she listens to Myles. "Hide. A baby. In his jacket?" Her tone just oozes 'what the fuck', as she tries to parse what happened. Then Jules is there and Leila blinks up towards the familiar face. She flashes the woman a smile and parts her lips to greet her, but quickly falls silent as she realizes Jules is involved in last night. The woman falls silent once more, wanting to hear just what happened the other night.

Now, Jules is not a tall woman. It means that when Myles stands up to greet her, there's a sudden shift to looking up, really up, before she offers him a smile. It's weak, but warm. "Yeah. I'm good. Appreciate you stepping in." She shakes his hand without hesitation, with a nice solid grip. "Jules Black. I'm Ravn's neighbor, and Ava's -- bye Ava!" The latter is called out when she departs, likely too late, but she tries.

Her glance flickers to the others, all too conscious that this introduction, and the apology she's here to make, is public. "Hey," she says to those gathered, along with a wry explanation for Ravn: "I had a day. Grabbing my bagel and hitting the road." Another deep breath, then, as her attention returns to Myles. "I wanted to say sorry, though. About my freak out. And about staring at you to begin with -- I just saw that you were like me, like us--" Her hand sweeps out to indicate the gathered group of Glimmery people. "--and I got curious is all. But it was rude, and I'm sorry."

"It's not shit. You had something bad happen to you. You're allowed to not be a ray of sunshine after it." Dita does her best to meet Myles' gaze and make him understand that she's not just saying that. And then he's standing up, and Dita's brain seems to need to reboot, seeing him in comparison to Jules. "How are you all so tall, this isn't fair!"

But then she's trying to let the heavier convo pass, if thats what Myles wants, "I don't think you're Russ's type, Ravn. I could be wrong, though. That said, I call wizard. In another life I was a shy, bookish nerd, so... sounds fun."

Myles tilts his head down to Leila. Confirming that tone. She gets it. Ravn gets another little nod. "I'll just avoid his ass. I don't need to be around shit like that."

He's looking back down to Jules. Giving a little smile and a shake of his head. "You don't have nothing to be sorry for." He waves his hand dismissively. "You were starin' at me, but that dude was first, just mad dogging me and I thought you were with him for a second until he made it pretty fucking blatant you weren't." Myles addresses his OTHER situation of the day. "You don't have to be sorry for reacting. We go through shit. Our body reacts without our say so. You didn't do anything wrong." He assures her with a gentle smile. He reaches up and gives her shoulder a gentle squeeze if she allows it. "Weird fuckin' day for me. After that I had a dude try to hide his baby from me or some shit. It was-- A day. Weed helped though. You?" He ends with a little smile, motioning to the table as he goes to sit back down.

Smiling a challenging little smile, Ariadne lightly notes to the Dane, "I believe you've mentioned Charisma is your dump stat, so...you'd probably need an eight-dice pool for it. My dice pool is, like...twelve to start with." Confident in herself? Just a little.

She can't help the soft giggle at Dita's comment and a glance towards Russ, busily making some sort of mixed frappe drink probably not too unsimilar from what the shorter woman is drinking. Dita's admission has the barista reorienting on her again, brows lifted. "Oh hey, I can see it. You'd be an excellent Wizard." She scoots her chair over to make more room for Jules in turn and lifts brows, looking between her and Myles.

"Okay, I feel a little silly asking this, but there's a weed shop here? I haven't seen it yet. Where's it at?" A little roll of eyes at herself. "I'm still new around here and learning the lay of the land," Ariadne explains.

"I'll work my way through the baristas, starting with the one closest to me." Ravn nods firmly. He shoots Myles another sympathetic glance; the Dane is as far from black as you can get without the application of cake make-up but he's been a homeless drifter, and he knows that Look some people will shoot you if you get too near their kids; like poverty might rub off, or spread through fleas. It's probably a similar feeling, and at least in him it tended to inspire urges to go cough on them (and steal their wallets).

"Maple Road," he says, instead of commenting further. "Bloke named Murphy runs it. Came into town last year, saw him once, then never again. For all I know the Veil ate him, but the shop's still there. Good thing, too, because the other one blew up. Entire town was high for a week."

Jules lets out her breath like it's a sigh of relief, something she's been holding in and bottling up. Her smile's a bit more confident now, and she looks gratified with the shoulder-squeeze. "Thanks. And God, yes. I went home and lit that shit up." She hesitates a second, but there's making room, and what the hell, it's not as if she's in a complete hurry. She grabs a spare chair and fits it in at the table, full as it is. "And that's why, Ravn, I didn't hit the road last night. Because me and Della were high as a kite. Una wasn't home."

After a moment, Leila finally chimes in towards Ravn and Ariadne, "Also, considerin' he's a folklorist, my vote is Druid for the Professor, maybe warlock." And then there is talk about weed shops. Leila blinks at Ravn owlishly before she cocks her head to the side. "I wish you were kiddin', but by now I know better. The Veil probably did eat him. Although I kind of wish I was here when the other one blew up..." she trails off before letting out a soft snicker at Jules, "I'm guessin' Una isn't the type?"

With the drama more or less resolved, Myles drops back into his chair and lets out a hefty sigh. He brings up one hand to scrub at his face. Ravn's look just gets a little up nod. Before he looks back to Ariadne. "Yeah. Get Lit--somethin' somethin'." He forgets. Then he seems to remember Perdita's comments about his height and he gives a little shrug. "Ask my ex-wife and she'll say it's because I'm competitive. Had to be the biggest." There's a roll of his eyes that is not devoid of some amount of fondness. Then he's looking around to the rest of the group. "What are we talkin' about? Wizards?"

There's a slight eyebrow raise as Perdita looks from Ravn to Ariadne and back, but she doesn't say anything.

"I am incredibly grateful I missed that particular explosion." Perdita says, eyebrows raising slightly. "I like my senses just the way they are, excepting the rare occasion I let a man drive me to drink, of course." She takes another bite of her danish, smiling. She points to herself while smiling at Jules, "Perdita. Dita." she's meeting lots of new people, but luckily she's good with names.

"Dungeons and Dragons. You ever play?"

"I'll settle for rogue if I can't have bard. Warlock is far too flashy, and druid goes to someone who talks to animals. Give me a shadow to hide in and a pocket to pick, I'll pull my weight." Ravn nods firmly.

Then he has to admit, "It was an, uh, interesting week. I got several texts that were definitely not meant for me. And yes, I am enough of a gentleman that I deleted them. I also ended up in the woods, shooting up trees with two guys whom I'd never thought would befriend me, and definitely not each other. And another bloke whom I thought despised me turned up on my doorstep with a pan of brownies. A lot of strange friendships were forged that week."

"Somehow I suspect not, but who knows," Jules answers Leila with a small, wry grin. "People surprise you." Almost as soon as she's sat down, she's popping up again to grab her toasted bagel from the counter. It's been packed to-go with a container of cream cheese inside, but when she comes back to the table, she opens it up to eat right there.

"Jules," she greets Perdita with a smile of her own. "Nice to meet you. And oh, before I forget--" now she's swiveling to address Ravn. "If Lobster Boy comes asking after me? Do not give him my number, do not tell him where I live. The only way I got him to stop bothering me was to threaten to call the cops for stalking. Well. We both did that." She tilts her head to indicate Myles.

"Nah." Myles mumbles with a small shake of his head. "But I paint the little figurines." He brings out his phone from his pocket and brings up a few pictures. "Never played the games. But I like going to comic shops and getting the little guys and..." He places his phone on the table so Perdita can see, or whoever else if they're interested. There is a whole gallery of pictures and whether its surprising or not Myles is pretty talented and painting miniatures. Especially for someone who apparently doesn't play the game. There are dragons and ogres and little knights, all with gradient shading, and obviously a ton of attention to detail. He's certainly no novice, and while some of the miniatures look like maybe he was taking risks with the color schemes-- They're all pretty.

When Jules starts talking about Lobster Boy, Myles rolls his eyes. "Little asshole started calling me poor and saying he was going to play someone like 'me' in Rush Hour four. He was gonna replace Chris Tucker or some shit. Then said something about cops and guns on me, bad at my job or something." He rolls his eyes. "Think he was mad I was interrupting his stalking." There's a little grimace given over to Jules. "Sorry you had to deal with that. He was crazy."

Ravn gets a side look not quite furtive and another coy smirk. Well then.

"Ah, okay." Ariadne nods as Myles gives the name of the shop and glances around at the others as the tales unfold. She's heard about last year's fiasco and quietly wonders how she'd have dealt with it herself. She grins to hear about the figurines, resolving to ask Myles later about the hobby as a whole out of curiosity. However, hearing of what happened at Get Lit so recently?

The barista frowns and sips her drink. Not cool. Not cool at all.

". . . Lobster Boy?" Ravn looks blankly at Jules. "I'm assuming you don't mean a literal lobster. Some bloke from the fight ring? Let me know if someone's giving you trouble, I've got the power of a mafia boss over that lot."

"Every week is a strange week in Gray Harbor." Perdita tells Ravn, with a slight tilt of her head.

"Nice to meet you, too, Jules." But then she's being distracted by miniatures, and Dita's smiling wide, "You've got a very steady hand..." and then the convo's going to stalking. Dita's jaw clenches, ever so slightly, "He ever gives you problems again, you find me. I know how to handle that type."

"Jesus. What the ever-living fuck. I think I missed most of that, I was too, you know." Myles knows. Jules keeps it vague. "He called me a rich primadonna, first time I met him. I just about took a swing at him." It's not the same, and she knows it. But she's a woman of color herself, and she's clearly riled. A sharp nod across the way meets Perdita's offer. "Yes," she confirms for Ravn before taking a bite of her bagel. "Guy from the fight ring. Guy with Miss Pinkett."

Myles reaches up and gives Jules' shoulder another little squeeze. "Boy is batshit. Just avoid him." Beat. "Did you get his name?"

But on the whole he's more interested in hearing the nice things Perdita is saying about his painting. He's leaning forward with a softly suppressed smile as if to hide the pride he has in his work. He leans over to flick a few pictures, revealing a huge eastern inspired dragon painted gold and black. "This bitch took weeks, but I like how it turned out."

Ravn frowns. "I don't think that one is in the fight ring. What's his beef? I mean, besides picking a fight with a crayfish? I thought he was some rich kid on designer drugs, out slumming it from the Grand Olympic Hotel, maybe. What's got his panties in a twist, that you wouldn't let him run off with the damned thing? Miss Pinkett herself would have stopped him a lot harder than you did, I suspect. That crustacean shines brighter than half this town. Probably smarter, too."

Sometimes, discussions at this table turn plain weird.

"No kidding. Avoid the hell out of him." Ariadne too knows who's being referenced by the flat slash that is her mouth. Another sip of her coffee and then, because...well...barista, she happens to lean over to see about checking out the picture on display.

"Duuuuuuuuuude. Epic," she compliments Myles of his dragon. "Great work on the details."

Lifting a finger off of her coffee cup, the redhead adds, "Ravn's got a point. Picking a fight with a psychic lobster isn't the wisest move."

The figurines causes Leila to peer into the phone curiously, marveling at how such a large man could paint something so small. She lets out a low, appreciative whistle. As they discuss the guy, Leila finally pulls away from the phone to let out a small snort of laughter, "Jeeeesus, remind me to never meet this guy." She takes another sip from her coffee cup, though a bit mournfully as she realizes she is soon approaching the end of her brew. "Picking a fight with a crayfish? What the fuck is up with this town? I swear it's like a permanent episode of the Twilight Zone."

"... what in Queer Hell are you lot..." Dita puts a hand to her forehead and just... rubs for a second. "I am stuck in an episode of Sea-Haw and I don't know the script. I wonder if I could bribe Russ to put vodka in you?" she asks her frappe. "Only you understand me, Mocha Deliciousness." and then she takes another drink, expression just... confused and amused at the same time, now.

"Bayin something. Archer? He gave me his number. I took it and blocked it. And hell if I know -- something about helping me? He just wouldn't let up. Ugh." The last is expelled as a loud sigh of discontent, like Jules is trying to purge herself of her mess of emotions. She's turning her attention to the pictures on the phone too at this point, though she has to grin at Perdita's reaction. "Hey, that's pretty cool."

"Might be he's one of us," Ravn muses. "I mean, let's be honest -- some of us have had it pretty bad with all this Twilight Zone stuff. Not everyone's running at full engine capacity. Some of us approach sanity at one quarter impulse, you know? Hell, I have a handful of psychiatric diagnoses just for talking to people other people can't see and insisting that I can make things move with the power of my mind. I'm not the only one around here who does, either. But none of that excuses stalking and acting weird, obviously."

Myles' smile is small and sedated. He doesn't get excited per se. He's obviously far too cool for that. But the compliments his painting is getting are very clearly giving him some warm fuzz in his chest that he can't hide. His eyes flick up to Ariadne, smile growing just a little. Then over to Leila, growing a little more. And then even a little more at Jules' reaction.

He sits up a little straighter, shoulders broadening a little bit. "Thanks." He murmurs to the group as a whole. "Is there a comic shop around here still? Don't have any projects right now." Even if he should be focusing on getting his house and business in order.

However. The other topic. He can only go along with this for so long. "When you guys say psychic lobster and shit.." He slowly straightens up, his eyes flicking between the group. "How literal are we bein' with that?" Beat. "Bayin." He grunts, rolling his eyes once more.

"Pretty freakin' literal," Ariadne informs Myles with a shrug of hand off of her coffee cup. "I'm sitting next to a guy who runs a lobster fighting ring whether he likes it or not. And yes, the first rule is to not talk about it, but who actually listens to the rules anyways. They're more like guidelines."

Thus, having attained her daily movie quote, the barista sips her coffee again. "Dunno about a comic shop though." A glance around the table for that answer.

At Myles' question about the lobster, Leila can't help but snort into her cup before glancing at him with a sheepish grin, "I had the exact same attitude about...two weeks ago. I am one of the luckier ones though. My run-ins with the less than normal have been brief...but incredibly painful." She shifts in her seat a bit uncomfortably at the memory before she shakes her head. "What I /heard/, however, is enough to make my skin crawl."

"I'm just glad there's people in this town who've got each other's back." Jules applies herself to her bagel with intent. "Psychic ghost lobster is one hundred percent literal. Oh, Ravn, by the way. Fish and Wildlife confirmed that they're native to the pond, by the way. Said they're not too worried about spread, but to report any cases elsewhere so they can track it."

"I know there was a gaming store for a while, but the owner left town, I think. Don't think there's another one in the city. Which is a shame." Perdita walking into a gaming shop would be an interesting visual, especially dressed as ridiculous as she tends to dress.

"We're in the Twilight Zone, Myles. If you can dream it up, it can happen. Halloween, I ended up in a fight for my life, dressed as Elvira, dragged down the street by terrifying monster children. Luckily my knife was real."

"Cost me a good jacket," Ravn grouses at Perdita. It's not true either -- he still wears it, torn sleeve with a bullet hole in, and all. "But yes. Quite literal. The so-called ghost lobsters are large, white crayfish. They live in Gray Pond. And a few of them apparently are -- above average intelligence for bottom-feeding water spiders. And have powers just like us."

He nods at Jules. "I'm not really surprised. They turned up at the cemetery first but some of the locals helped us convince them to move. The whole digging in the ground and eating what you find, people who live there tend to prefer to remain undisturbed."

Myles look vaguely put out at the fact that everyone is very literal about psychic lobsters and... lobster fighting rings. It almost makes him look sad really. He just lets out a sigh as he reaches out to take his phone back, giving a little shrug. That no one knows about a game store. "I'm sure I can find one somewhere. Or just order shit online." A shrug of those massive shoulders.

His eyes flick up to Perdita when she says his name. Though they linger as she tells her story, eyes sinking down and back up for a brief second perhaps picturing the Elvira costume and then the.. terrifying monster children. There's a little smile for Leia before he slowly then looks to Ravn. Again looking depressed at the news. That there are powered ghost lobsters. He lets out a sigh. "So how does this shit work? Monsters come and-- Is there like a fuckin union? Among-- us? Is it organized at all or-- Every man for himself and just hope for the best?"

"Uhhhhhhhh, what the fuck, Dita." Ariadne gives her friend a look of plain horror. "Nooooooo thank yooooooou." This, perhaps, partially to the reality of Grey Harbor as a whole. Extra 'no thank you', reality.

Jules garners herself an interested look. "I'm intrigued that Fish and Wildlife care to leave them there instead of try and move them again, but...well..." Her gesture is for the entire city as a whole. Again, Grey Harbor. It probably makes up excuses for the ghost lobsters to stay on a regular basis in the poor wardens' minds. Myles asks an excellent question, however, about the monsters. It makes her look at Ravn in an obvious manner. Go for it, Hotel California.

Kelsey hesitated a beat outside the door of the cafe. There were so many people inside. "C'mon Kels." She mumbled to herself, drawing in a breath. "You got this." She carefully stepped inside, taking a quick peek over the group - spotting Myles and Jules from last night but everyone else looked unfamiliar. She gives a little upnod and makes her way to the counter to put in an order for coffee and a banana nut muffin. And they were talking about the Weird. God, you really couldn't get away from it in this town, could you? She was clad in a pair of jeans with a black tank top and a dark green flannel unbuttoned over top.

"Lobster who may be smarter than your average lobster, who knew Jordan Peterson was correct? Ugh, he would be part of the Veil," Leila returns wryly. She then lifts up her cup and down the last, sweet, sweet sludge at the bottom before slapping the cup down like its a shot glass. Done. "Oh, wait until you hear the guy who kills other monsters in order to create a flesh farm," Leila offers lightly, though her eyes belies her humor. "You know you have to be wary of someone who fuckin' hunts monsters like its nothing."

"I think it's a thing where history rewrites itself. They're here now, so who's to say they weren't always here? That's how I understand it, at least. And it can't all be bad--" Except that's when Leila mentions the flesh-farm, and Jules looks mildly sick to her stomach.

Ravn manages to not spit coffee. He beams at Leila. "Somebody else who read Jordan Peterson? Please tell me you also had to pause every three pages to laugh your arse off and picture him in a lobster suit!"

Ahem. He coughs. "Yes. Er. No. The whole point of surviving in this town with your mind more or less intact is to not try and go it alone. Try to make friends, have each other's backs, network. It's more than just being a good neighbour, it's literally any of us may be the one who's hauling your arse out of the fire tomorrow night. Or need you to haul ours out."

If anyone would notice that look from Myles, it's Perdita. She tilts her head to one side, smirking slightly. "I had a breast plate on." she tells him, utterly unbothered by it. "We try to stick together."

But then Leila's uttering the words 'Jordan Peterson was correct', and Dita shudders, "Don't ever say those words together again. He knows, and he draws power from them, and if he comes here, I will sacrifice all of you to get away from him again."

As Kelsey enters, Perdita looks up, then looks closer, clearly distracted by the young woman, with an expression like she knows her, but doesn't know where from. Which is a rare expression for the once and future grifter.

Open mouth at Leila. Close mouth at Leila. Sip coffee. Grimace. Ariadne's apparently learning things left and right today.

"...look, if Dita's saying things about this guy and wanting to sacrifice things to avoid him, maybe he's now He Who Must Not Be Named. Or something." Lobster suits, she muses to herself, glancing around the table again. A glance up at the front door at Kelsey arrives and the blonde's upnod is returned with a polite identical motion in return. Hey, indeed, it's the Weird Table, find an empty chair.

Leila's comment about Jordan Peterson has a quiet bark of a laugh forced through Myles lips. But he sobers quickly at the mention of a flesh farm. Myles is looking back down at his cup. Frowning. Deeply. He glances up from his cup in time to see Kelsey. Offering her a little up nod. His attention is back to Perdita and that smirk is mirrored on his lips. "I'm sure you pulled it off." He rumbles, a little amusement on his lips.

He glances over to Ravn and lets out another grunt. He's reaching into his wallet and soon a few business cards are brought out and set out on the table. "These are old." They have a Las Vegas address. "But that's my cell." One is passed to each at the table. Except for Jules. She already has one! Probably. "If any of you wanna hit me up, feel free. Still kinda.. Marinating in this shit." He finishes his coffee. "But I should head back and try to keep salvaging my house."

Jules is admittedly blank-faced and mystified about the Jordan Peterson comment. In any case, she's nearly polished off her bagel now, and she gets to her feet to clean up her mess. "I gotta hit the road before it gets much later. I'll send you a text so you've got my number too, Myles, but it'll probably be a week or so cause I got some hiking to do."

Kelsey accepts her coffee with her good hand and the muffin with her bad one - accidentally dropping a muffin seemed like a better alternative to dropping hot coffee everywhere. There's a quiet thank you given to the cashier and she turns - staring at the group, and catching Perdita looking at her, and then Ariadne . Then she seems to get over herself and finally take a few steps closer to the table. "Have a good day." She offers to Myles and Jules with an attempt at a smile before looking to the others still sitting and offering a, "Hi. Can I. Uh. Join you?"

"You two both watch your backs. I'll send you a text so you got my number, Myles. Don't be strangers. This town? Not being strangers is how you stay sane." Ravn nods. His lip is still twitching. Something about Jordan Peterson clearly amuses him a lot.

Kelsey's drifting over and question makes him look up again and offer a small, lopsided smile. "Please do. New in town?"

"How can you not?" Leila returns towards Ravn in excited outrageousness of it all. "Like what the fuck is up with that dude?!" At Perdita's words, Leila lets out another snort of laughter before she flicks two fingers from her temple in salute, "Will do. Trust me, I'd be happy to never utter those words again." She then reaches out to snag the card from Myles, "Snazzy, makes me want to get one for myself. I have yet to pick a look." She nods towards Myles before offering him, "I'm the veterinarian here. If you can't find me at the vet clinic, then I'm usually at the shelter right next door. Also uh, if you need any help with any injuries, I'm one of the many who can help. Number's online and in the pages." She waves to both Myles and Jules as they begin to depart.

As Kelsey approaches, however, Leila pushes to the side a bit to make more room for the woman so she feels more welcomed. "Hey there," she greets, offering her a little smile.

Myles' card is exchanged with one from Perdita, along with a smile. "Good luck with the house. If you need a good contractor, let me know. One of the guys renting space out of my building is amazing." Perdita also offers a card to Jules. They simply read 'Perdita Leontes, Bauer Building Owner & Manager' and her phone number.

She smiles at Kelsey, gesturing to the table, but there's still that 'I know I know you' expression toying with her.

Leila gets a grin and a nod. "I just shove things."

Leila gets a doubletake. "Vet? Oh shit. Fuck yeah." Myles lingers for a moment. "I'll bring Lady in soon. Been a minute since she had a visit. I'll text you about it." Myles gives Ravn an up nod. "It was a nice talk, yall. Thanks." Kelsey gets another small smile as he starts to move away. All he needed was one conversation where he wasn't compared to a dog or people treating him like a baby napper to restore his faith in the people of the town and he takes a deep contented breath as he moves away.

"Imma be just fine, now that I got my lucky stick," Jules tells Ravn with a grin. "Seriously though, I'm looking forward to this." She leans across the table to take Perdita's card, giving it the once-over before it goes the front pocket of her hiking pants. With that, Jules heads out the door via the trashcan, one hand clutching her coffee for the drive and the other lifted in a wave.

Kelsey shakes her head to Ravn's question as she carefully takes a seat. "No. I've been around. Kind of. Sort of. Veil stuff." She gives a vague wave of her hand, hoping that explains enough. "I've just, been trying to get, ah, readjusted." She picks off a piece of her muffin to eat it.

"You're a vet?" She asks Leila. "Good to know. I might have to bring Wishbone for a check up." She tries to keep herself relaxed, though that look on Perdita face isn't making it easy.

"I'm sorry, is something wrong?" She asked, finally focusing her attention on the woman.

"Bring her in any time!" She calls out, a bit excited at the prospect of meeting people's pets. Watching Myles go, Leila can't help but murmur, "God damn that man is a tall somethin', that's for sure." She then glances back at the remaining group. "He's definitely got you beat in the height department, Ravn," she flashes him a wicked grin. "Must be good to feel like you're back home." She does love teasing the folklorist.

Her dark eyes then focus on Perdita as she realizes that the woman is a building owner, "Oh hey, seriously? I may need a permanent place to stay if you have any empty apartment...Wait, you do mean apartment building, right? Or is my desperation making me assume things?"

At Kelsey, however, Leila's grin returns lightly enough, bobbing her head in agreement. "Hell yea, bring Wishbone over. Love that name too. Dog?"

Ravn in turn nods. 'Veil stuff' really does explain almost anything. Fall out of the woods after five years of being a missing person? Veil stuff. Walk in and announce that you were replaced by an evil clone? Veil stuff. Walk in and declare that while you're vanilla white, your parents are both black? Veil stuff. Be rumoured to have twelve kids at the age of twenty-two? Veil stuff. Be a Russian spy? Veil stuff. Be a Swedish celebrity chef who can't speak Swedish or cook a meat ball? Veil stuff.

He returns Leila's grin. "I mean, I'm not short, I know that. But back home? I'm not unusually tall, either. People around here obviously don't eat their oatmeal as kids. Except for the few who do, like Myles."

"Sorry, you just look really familiar, and I can't place you... which doesn't happen much." Perdita smiles apologetically, tilting her head slightly. "I don't mean to stare I just... sorry. I'm Perdita. This is Ravn, Leila and Ariadne." she gestures to each person in turn, lifting and twirling her drink thoughtfully. She prides herself on knowing faces and matching names, dammit.

"... Listen, I already want to flee to your country and seduce one of your less important princes, stop telling me about tall men."

Thus introduced, Ariadne twiddles fingers off her coffee cup in a polite greeting. Kelsey intrigues her and she's about to ask more about the new arrival to the table when Russ suddenly blurts a sound of surprise.

And the blender goes possessed. Like it does. So conveniently.

Eyeing the machine, the barista sighs and gets up. "Sorry, have to go fix it again and tell it terrible things while I do. I can't let Russ struggle. Au revoir, homeskillets, I'll catch you around again, no doubt." Letting her hand be seen, she reaches out and gently rubs her palm over the round of Ravn's shoulder in passing after departing her chair.

Then: "Russ! Russ, my dude, I got it, just -- no, it's okay, shoo, finish your drinks. It hasn't been called the rat bastard offspring of a rusty hand-cranked batter-stirrer and a pickle can this week." It's a love-hate relationship. She disappears behind the counter to address this catastrophe forthwith.

"Yeah. He's an English Mastiff. He's so big these days, but still acts like a puppy." Kelsey smiled a touch as she talked about the dog.

She gives Ravn a curious glance. "Where are you from? If you don't mind me asking."

At Perdita's explanation, Kelsey grimaces a little. She certainly isn't going to volunteer how Perdita might know her. "It's okay. Just. Maybe got one of those faces or something." She took a long sip of coffee . "But it's...nice to meet you all." She looks up and over as the blender starts going crazy and then back to Ari as she gets up to try and fix it. Oh dear.

She clears her throat a little, looking to the trio remaining at the table. "I'm Kelsey, by the way."

"Wait, how many lesser important princes are there? And can I get one too? I mean, I bet I'd be darling at being rich and living in the lap of luxury." Leila offers after Perdita. She then grins at Ariadne as she heads off to the rescue before turning her dark eyes towards Kelsey. The veterinarian studies the woman, perhaps trying to see what Perdita recognizes, but after a moment she gives up and pushes her chair back. "I'll be right back, gotta powder my nose," she offers the group. Stretching her arms above her head and cracking her back with a little sigh, the woman heads over to the bathroom, tossing her cup on the way there.

Ravn laughs softly. "Well, there's two, and then there's the direct line but really, what the hell do you people want with Danish royalty? Horribly inbred, insists on speaking French at home."

He chuckles, and then nods to Kelsey. "And I suppose that answers the question -- I'm from Denmark. And much to Dita's disappointment, I am neither twenty-two nor a prince."

Click, click DING there we go, the lightbulb goes off and Perdita's grinning now. "Oh my god, you're Garrett's friend! I've seen pictures?" there it is. "You were co-parenting one of his dogs before he went missing, right? I've been trying to find them, but no such luck, as yet." And the grin fades, more somber. "I hope they're okay."

And then Ariadne's off to fight with a blender, and Dita's smiling once more, watching Leila head toward the bathroom. "I can learn French. I already speak English, Spanish, Kalderash and a smattering of Hungarian. I was planning to go for Cantonese next, but French makes sense, too."

"Denmark? That's kinda neat. Never been." Kelsey mused, seeming to relax a little more.

There's a weird look of relief and elation and then confusion. "Garrett?!" She sits up straighter. "He went missing? Is he still missing?" Garrett had been Kelsey's only real friend through everything. Since she'd been back she'd primarily kept to herself - trying to sort things out, figuring the world had just moved on without her so why bother them. There's a small frown at the mention of missing dogs. "I, by some miracle, found mine back at the pound when I came back. I, well I wasn't trying to look for his dogs I guess. But I'll keep a closer eye out."

Stepping out of the bathroom after a few moments, Leila is blowing her nose roughly into a tissue before rubbing the tip. Her nose twitches a bit but she seems to calm down as she moves to toss the tissue into the bin. Her eyes flick towards the counter as she considers grabbing another cup, but after a brief hesitation the woman seems to think better of it. She makes her way back the table, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. "I miss the days of being able to smoke indoors." Yea, when she was like, 5.

"With you," Ravn murmurs. "Probably better for our health this way, though." He looks after Ariadne as she goes and then looks back to the three women at the table. "Tell her you speak Hungarian. I think she does to some extent as well. You can sass the rest of us right in front of -- oh God, what am I saying."

He chuckles and then smiles at the revelation of Kelsey's relations. "Garrett's back, too. From what I heard, he was lost for a while as well?" Eyebrow at Perdita; she'll know.

"He was missing for a while, I guess... He literally spilled out of a room in my building, half starved and confused, missing a huge chunk of time. He's okay. He's staying with me in the penthouse of the Bauer Building." Dita gives a little shrug, her own excitement over having found one of Garrett's friends fading slightly, expression just a touch melancholy, before she smiles again, "We'll find them. Even if it's just to make sure they're in a good home and being taken care of." Perdita reaches into a pocket on her jeans, pulling out a card. "Here. This is my cell, text or call any time. He misses you. A lot."

As to Leila's statement, Dita wrinkles her nose. "I definitely don't."

Ravn's statement gets a smirk. "Exactly. You want to empower us to be even MORE shameless? Besides, it's mostly like... 'Igen, nem, kenyérpirító.'"

People going missing as well it seems, Leila presses her lips into a thin line as she considers this before glancing in Dita's direction at her comment. Those lips curl up at one corner as she dips her head, "Yea, yea, I know, shameful habit. I got suckered into it in pre-med and just never kicked the habit." Her eyes then flick over to those around the table as she asks a bit warily, "Do we know if the ones missing are um, not part of Evil Santa's little...evil factory?"

"Yeah I...I left in February...of 2020. I came out a couple months ago but I swear I'd only been gone for an hour." Kelsey admitted quietly as she turned the card over in her hands. "I will. I'll call. I'd love to see him again and I know Wishbone would love it too." She could feel a small lump of emotion threatening to rise up but she swallowed it down and straightened up again, trying to keep herself collected.

"If you don't care about getting thrown out of places, you can still smoke indoors." Kelsey points out with a touch of a smirk.

"Anyway I. I should get going." She pocketed the card Perdita have her. "Need to give Wishbone his walk and do a couple things." Rising to her feet, Kelsey summons another smile. "It was good to talk to you all. Really. I. I'm sure I'll see you around."

"I should get on my way as well," Ravn murmurs and picks up his sleek little laptop. "I have a hot date with a wine shop. As in, I want to find the perfect bottle for a special occasion, and given that probably takes up several hours of sales talk -- well, the day isn't getting any younger."

He grins lightly and adds, "This is one shop I really don't want to be kicked out of. It's Gray Harbor's best and only coffee shop. A smoke isn't worth being forever restricted to instant coffee on my boat. Or worse, instant salt water coffee."

He must be joking. He's probably joking. This is Gray Harbor, terribe things happen here.

"I'll see all of you around, yeah? Going to come see you one of these days as well, Dita. Need a few Hungarian translations." And on that note, he's off too.

"I know he misses you, very much, too. And any friend of Garrett's..." she shrugs a little with a smile. "Shoot me a text and I'll text you his number so you can communicate without a middle-woman."

"We're not sure. Garrett seemed to feel like... he was being hunted. He had really bad nightmares for a while..." Dita tells Leila. "The whole town kind of blinked in time for a hot minute, and suddenly summer was over. I didn't even get to find a rich sugar daddy on a yacht, just him." she juts a thumb at Ravn, amusedly.

"Oh. Special occasion?" Dita's voice goes low, practically a seductive purr now, "I need details later. Text me." She blows the man a kiss, playful rather than flirtatious.

"Goddamn, you know its bad when the best part of the year is wiped out before you could even enjoy it. That sucks /ass/. I'm sorry you missed out on your sugar daddy," she offers in a sympathetic tone, though there is a definite glint of amusement in Leila's eyes As the group begins to disperse, Leila lets out a little laugh, "I guess this is my excuse to go out for a smoke. Please bring Wishbone by any time you're free, Kelsey," she offers to the woman as she stands up as well, sliding the chair back from where she got it. Leila then digs into her back pocket to pull out her pack of cigarettes and lighter. "Wanna join me for a smoke?" she asks Perdita, even though she has an idea that it would be refused; still, she has to be polite.

"Oh, Devláika no, but thank you. Enjoy yourself." Dita flashes a slightly nauseated smile at Leila, hands up as if warding the offer itself off, tilting her head to one side slightly. "One of my uncles was a heavy smoker, and not a nice guy. The smell makes me ill, and one of the medications I'm on heightens my sense of smell for some reason. I should honestly be on my way, too. A woman's work is never done. I have an ex boyfriend to inform that I've just solved the mystery of a missing friend!"