Zack is standing over by the bar and perusing a menu. He's resting one arm on the counter top and the other holds the menu as he looks for something to eat. It's slow in the restaurant at the moment, and it shouldn't be to hard to find someone you recognize. HINT HINT!
The oaken door swings open and Petra steps in, offering a quick wave to Smithers when he brings her the menu. As she's looking around to decide where to sit, she spots Zack at the bar and heads over. "Howdy, pardner," she says quietly. Mocking the accent. Not cool.
Maxine is about three steps behind Petra. She looks like she MIGHT have headed straight toward Zack, but then the P chick greets him and she's hesitates to see what's a-happening.
Zack glances up to see who this wonderful new Texan might be and... it's Petra. "Oh, howdy Petra," he says with a friendly smile and sets his menu down. "Fancy meetin' you here," he says all natural Texan. He hasn't noticed Maxine YET.
"We've all gotta eat," Petra says with a smile, and then she gestures at a seat nearby. "Mind if I join you?" She glances down at the menu and admits, "I don't know half of what this stuff is. I should learn Spanish or something. Or Latin. Then I'd know what filthy cuss words Liane is saying when she gets angry."
Maxine sort of slinks into the shadows. Which is to say, she leans against the wall by the door and watches. Spies. Observes. Cause she's like that.
"They're not that filthy," Zack breaks the news to Petra then hops up on the stool rather than remain standing. "And please, join me. I can help you figger out what everything is if you want. I eat here a lot with the store so close."
"That sounds very disappointing. I was hoping they were really raunchy. It'd suck to learn Latin just to hear her call someone a doodiehead." Petra grins and hops up onto a stool herself, then looks back down on the menu. "Like this, for instance: so.. pai... pillas? Is that even a *word*? Sometimes I think they just stick stuff on here to see if anyone notices."
There's no movement on Maxine's part to draw attention to her. She's a wallflower. Mostly, she's trying to see if anything's happy between the two.
Zack peers over towards Petra's menu to see what word she's butchering. "Oh, sopaipillas," he says it properly but still with his Texan accent. "They're great. They're like little fried pastries. Sometimes savory, sometimes sweet, like with honey. They're real good. That's probably a savory one 'cause it's an entree," he uses logic!
"Fascinating," Petra says, and she spares Zack's player having to know any more food entries, because she says, "I'll probably just end up getting a salad as usual. Maybe I'll live it up and ask for some of those on the side." She gets Smithers attention and orders just that, then asks, "Katie healing up okay?"
Maxine judges this conversation to be about nothing but dessert, so she moves over to the other side of Zack, leans her elbows on the bar, and says, "Hey."
Unfortunately Zack didn't delight Maxine with flirty date-style talk with Petra. "Oh yeah, Katie's doin' real good. She'll be right as rain in time." Then there's Maxine! To whom Zack sends a bright smile. "Howdy, Maxine. I just about to order. You want somethin' on me?"
That is indeed a shame. Petra smiles at Zack's words and says, "Glad to hear it. How's her neck look? I know it looked pretty bad the other night." When Maxine arrives, she gives the other woman a polite chin-nod of greeting. And to top it off, she even says, "Evening."
Gretchen walks through the oaken door of the Cantina.
Gretchen has arrived.
Gah, Max /could/ answer that question so many interesting ways, but she says, "Sure. Just order something." No Zack, I don't want anything on you. Ahem. She'll pick it apart and criticize it later. "Yo," for Petra.
Zack is over at the bar with Petra on one side of him and Maxine on the other. He's the luckiest fellow in the joint! "Yeah, the bruisin's almost all gone. She's healin' up real quick. I don't think it was as bad as it looked at first." Plus a little Zack TLC will help anyone! "Anyway, I was gonna get crazy an' try the seafood chimichanga. I'll also get us the nachos an' we can split it."
Gretchen has her head down to check her watch while pushing the door open with her backside. After a second or two, she enters the rest of the way to let the door swing closed behind her. Her destination appears to be the bar. When she gets close enough, she offers a sleepy "Good Morning" toward the three familiar faces there.
A little surprised, Petra says, "Oh, I'm so glad to hear it. You must be pretty happy." She smiles at Maxine and asks, "How've you been?" At Gretchen's approach, she offers the woman a smile. "Hey there. You look tired!" Petra, full of compliments.
"Yeah," Maxine mumbles. "Don't go that crazy for me. I don't know about seafood. Or chimichangas. Maybe just a bean burrito?" Which is what she normally has. For someone who used to eat out of the trash, Max is very picky. "I been good. You?"
Zack turns to look towards Gretchen as she approaches and gives the woman a simple smile. Then, as Petra seems to take care of the greeting of her, he turns towards the food as it arrives. A simple burrito for Maxine, despite what Smithers said, and seafood for Zack. "Did you see we got the bookcase all set up?"
"Can I get a huevos rancheros and a black coffee?" Gretchen orders the breakfast of champions while laying her overcoat over the stool she's chosen. As she gets settled, she leans her elbows against the bar. "A little," She tells Petra. "It's way to early to be awake. What has the three of you up?"
Petra orders herself a house salad and a side order of sopaipillas, though that last is not exactly part of the menu code. Oh well! "I've been alright. Classes are almost done for the semester, so that's a relief." When her order arrives, she opens the dressing that she's asked for on the side, dips her fork in, and spears a bit of salad. To Gretchen, she says, "I prefer to keep time guessing. Will Petra be awake at 5 am today? Who knows!"
"Joel says I should paint it," Maxine informs Zack. She says it like it's a crazy idea, but eyes the boy, nonetheless. She slices her burrito down the middle like a corpse on the slab to make sure they put all the right things and nothing else in it. "It's way too early to be asleep?"
"What time is it?" Zack has to wonder. "I usually go by 'daytime' or 'night time.' But I -did- sleep in late today... And I -have- done a lot. It's probably like midnight?" he guesses. Then he shrugs and looks towards Maxine. "Paint it how?"
Gretchen laughs a little at the responses about time. "Well, I suppose I have no room to talk." Her coffee makes it to the space in front of her and her dish follows shortly after. "Is the shop going to be open today?"
Slipping out her handy dandy iPhone, Petra pulls up the time. "2:54. So you're off by like three hours. You need a better internal clock!" she chides. She takes a few small bites of her salad, munching away while the others talk.
Maxine, convinced that there is nothing but beans, cheese, and sour cream in her burrito, nods once and begins eating. "He slept in today." So that throws time off by that many hours, right? "What sorts of animals you want on your tree, Zack?"
Liane has arrived.
Dylan has arrived.
Zack sends a smile towards Petra and gives his shoulders a light shrug before he starts to chow down. "I guess time flies when yer havin' fun, right? Anyway, the store'll be open. This is our busiest time of year. Just before the holidays people comin' in to get presents an' such. I think we're openin' at ten." Hopefully he's not opening, if he's still up! Then he turns towards Maxine. "A monkey," he decides easily.
Gretchen is sitting at the bar near Zack, Maxine and Petra.
Zack is at the bar with between Petra and Maxine. Gretchen is next to Petra. They're ordering food stuffs!
Gretchen nods her head. "I'll have to stop by after work. Been meaning to thank your sister." She quiets then to examine her food. After a good look-over, she begins cutting. As she talks, she listens to the nearby conversation. Yup. Eavesdropping. The best activity while eating a breakfast of champions.
Dylan walks in through the door, stopping inside to hold the door for Liane. He looks around the place, leaning a little to check out the back as he satisfies his curiosity.
Liane walks in, murmuring her thanks to Dylan with a nervous smile. "It's q-quite d-d-decent m-Mexican f-food, though n-not always l-like the r-real thing. B-but it's q-quite good, and n-near the un-n-nivers-s-sity." Liane explains to Dylan as they walk along. She stops at the entrance to scan around the room, then notices the crowd at the counter and stops, looking uncertain, then looks again and relaxes. She gives a little wave towards those seated, before glancing at Dylan and hurriedly away again, "I s-see p-people I n-know."
"I should stop by and try some more flavors of tea. You guys make the best stuff. I really liked that lotion I bought, too," Petra says, in between bites of salad. "Where did you guys learn to do all that? Katie might've told me, but it's totally slipped my mind." At overhearing Liane's distinctive mode of speaking, she turns around in her seat and gives the woman a friendly little wave.
"She downloads the recipes from the internet," Maxine lies. "Martha Stewart's website. I don't know how to do a monkey. I'll have to look in a book or something." She's eating a burrito. Or dissecting it.
Zack flashes a smile at Maxine and her slanderous lie. "Most of it from Miss Laura, though we've started makin' some new things of our own now. I'm glad y'all like 'em. If you think of anythin' we should try new, just let us know." Custom orders! He chomps on a mouthful of food and gives Maxine a light nudge with his elbow. "If you don't wanna do a monkey you can do somethin' else," he suggests. He hasn't noticed the new arrivals yet.
"Well," Gretchen begins. "If she could make a tea that'd make me ten years younger and maybe take a few pounds off my butt." She pauses and offers a joking smile before glancing toward the newcomers. "Hey Annie!"
Dylan looks over to where they're seated, asking Liane. "The staff here going to give me problems about sitting at the bar?" Wincing slightly, time for his cheeks to turn little pink as he gets embarrassed. "Because it'd be an issue if they card me."
It doesn't take but an instant for Petra to think of something she'd like to see at the shop: "Cedar-scented candles. I have never seen cedar-scented candles before. You could corner the market!" She's not entirely being serious with that last part, judging from her tone. She grins at Gretchen's words, then eats a bit more of her salad.
Maxine reaches for a napkin and rolls it into a tube, then flattens it, "Snakes are easy!" She beams a huge grin at Zack, then reaches up to pluck some bean out of her teeth.
Zack can't help but laugh at the quick response for ideas. "Okay, a magic tea and cedar candles. I'll see what I can do. I'm thinkin' the candle's more likely though." Between bites he bounces his attention back to Maxine. "Then you should do a nice big snake for me," he suggests, easy to please!
"Well, you know," Gretchen says with a grin. "I figured it couldn't hurt to ask, right?" She is quiet for a few minutes afterward while digging into her purse. To Dylan's question, she asks. "Do they really card this early? I thought that was only when they were selling alcohol." She shrugs.
Liane looks at Dylan, puzzled, "Hm? Ooh!" She says, comprehending. "Oh, I'm n-not sure at all. We c-can ask the oth-thers, th-they might n-know." Liane says, glancing at Dylan apologetically while wandering over towards the table where everyone else is. "So th-they do c-c-card? I w-wasn't aw-w-ware. H-hello G-gretchen, P-petra." She gives both women weak smiles, though when she turns to Zack and Maxine the smiles grow larger, "A-and you t-two as w-well. H-hello Z-zack, M-maxine. Z-z-zack, do y-you s-still have the b-beetle?"
Dylan follows after her as she heads over, shrugging as he slides up onto a seat at the bar. He looks the crowd over as Liane talks to her friends.
Maxine hooks her foot around a stool, slides it out from the bar a foot or two and says, "There. Now you're not at the bar. Problem solved. Hey Liane. How about cats. I can do paper cats and maybe ladybugs."
Petra smiles a small smile for Liane, and nods a greeting to Dylan. "Evening, Liane. And..." she pauses, peering at bit at Dylan. "And I don't think I've met your friend here." She extends a hand to him, all friendly-like.
Zack looks over towards Liane and her newest conque... friend and gives the pair a smile. "Oh, howdy Annie. I got yer keys," he says as he starts to dig in his pocket. He pulls out the keychain and offers them towards the young woman. Petra has the introduction task in hand. "Snake. Definitely a snake."
Nevermind that Zack is sitting at a bar with three lovely ladies.
"Nice to meet you, Sir." Gretchen tells Dylan while moving her things over so that there is more room at the bar. She must be hungry because her dish is half gone. "How are the two of you this morning?"
"C-cats? L-ladyb-bugs? S-snakes? Are you l-looking for a p-pet, M-maxine?" She settles down near Maxine, giving Smithers a smile.
Maxine manages to make it half way through the burrito before she slides the rest toward Zack, "No. Animals for their Christmas Tree. You know, because snakes gathered round the manger to watch the Baby Jesus kill a tree to celebrate life." She gives another big, beaming smile. This time, with no beans in her teeth.
Dylan reaches out to take the hand Petra is offering, firmly shaking it as he introduces himself. "Dylan. Just got into town." His empty hand motions at Liane, "Ran into her while I was checking out the neighborhood I'm thinking of getting a house in." A crooked, boyish grin crops up as he releases her hand and straightens up. "So far the view and the neighbors are nice so I think I might be sold."
"Ooooh, oh, I get it now," Zack says as if the great truths of the universe had been revealed. "I was thinkin' you were talkin' 'bout the bookshelf this whole time. That you were gonna paint a tree on it." At Dylan's introduction he sends the young man a small smile. "Nice to meetcha. I'm Zack."
Maxine's answer makes Petra's lips quirk up into a very amused grin. She shakes hands with Dylan firmly and says, "Ah, well I'm glad to hear I haven't forgotten you from a previous encounter. I'd hate to know my advanced age is getting to me." She grins again, then adds, "Yeah, Liane's a pretty good neighbor to have, I'm sure." She then admits to Zack, "I thought the same thing, actually."
"That could be neat." Gretchen chimes in about the bookshelf idea. As talk turns to Liane, she smiles. "You're probably a lot better than my current neighbors. College kids are freaking noisy." Then, with a look around at present company, she adds. "No offense to anyone who's a college kid."
"That s-sounds lovely. B-both t-tree and sh-shelf. And a b-bit iron-nic. I m-may be s-staying in Alb-b-buq-q-querque for the Ch-christmas h-holidays. Chiron's d-decided to spend it with h-his g-girlfriend's f-family and Theseus thinks h-he might be spending it at a f-friend's." Liane says, looking over a menu. At Gretchen's words, she turns to the woman and says, "N-none t-t-taken."
Gretchen is hanging around a bunch of young'uns.
Maxine wrinkles her nose at Zack, "You're so slow, for a brilliant guy." Which means Petra must be challenged, too! "You want Original Sin watching over you while you sleep, there are faster, easier ways to get there. There's this girl I know hangs out on the corner of Eubanks named Bonita... I don't know what I'd paint on the bookshelf. Whatever it wanted painted on it. Maybe newsprint or something. Look up what the headlines said the day you were born, or some famous day."
Zack continues making his way through his food and stealing bites from Maxine's abandoned plate. "Bonita, huh?" he asks with half-smile. "Maybe you could paint her on the bookshelf." Please don't.
"I'd have to score a 50 to get to see her jugs. Less you want me to just idealize, or something," Maxine retorts, quickly.
Dylan nods to Zack, "Nice to meet you." He looks around at the conversations going on, grins and turns to stop a waiter in passing. Whatever he orders doesn't require ID at least. Turning back to the bar, using a foot to make the stool spin to get there, his hands come to rest on the surface, lightly patting to a unheard tune.
"You could always paint books." Gretchen shrugs helplessly and, really, she doesn't seem all that convinced of the idea. "Ancient, moth-eaten books." With her place finished, she pushes it away and tells the server. "Can I get a refill on the coffee?"
"The or-r-riginal s-sin was d-d-disobed-d-dience. So it m-might be b-better to d-draw a w-woman if that's w-what you w-want." Liane mumbles. She looks a bit confused as to why anyone wants to score fifty points to see some old containers. Maybe it's a bowling thing. Maxine's been bowling, right? "And th-there's thoughts that the or-r-riginal f-fruit was a p-pomeg-granate, or a g-grapef-fruit. It's a c-curious s-subject and n-not my f-forte."
"Fifty bucks to see her jugs?" Zack asks, voice incredulous. "That's crazy." But crazy enough that it's got him thinking. "How nice are they?" he wonders, pausing in his eating to contemplate.
"No offense taken," Petra says to Gretchen, a wry smile on her face. "To be fair, we *are* incredibly noisy." She arches a brow at Liane's words and repeats, "Chiron? Theseus? Were all the other names taken that day?" She grins at Maxine and Zack's exchange, and the conversation gets a bit more tame as she says to Maxine, "Didn't know you painted. What sort of style?"
"How the fuck am I supposed to know. It's not like I'd pop a fifty on some street-corner chicken nuggets." Maxine looks down at her own VERY flat chest and scowls. "Oh, wait, I do know. They're perfect. They're perfect. Like two suns rising together on the horizon. Too bad you'll never see them cause she caters to GROWN UP MEN."
"Ch-chiron was the w-wisest c-centaur of g-greek m-myth, and the t-t-tutor of many of the g-greatest h-heroes." Liane says mildly in answer to Petra, "And s-so my p-parents named my eld-d-dest brother that, in h-hopes of w-w-wisdom. Th-theseus is m-my youngest b-brother, n-named after the f-founder of Ath-thens, and the u-uniter of s-several k-kingdoms, and s-slayer of m-monsters. My s-second eldest brother is B-bellerophon, after the m-man who k-killed the ch-chimera and t-tamed P-pegasus." She gives a slight smile, "F-fortunately, I was n-named after my g-grandmother, Eliane."
Gretchen winces and tells Maxine. "That's cold. Funny, but cold." With her coffee refilled, she begins to rut around in her purse for change. To Petra and Liane, she smirks. "Well, I'm sure neither of you have a band that practices in your apartment... after midnight."
Dylan reaches for his coke slowly as it appears, looking to Maxine with a surprised couple of blinks. The glass comes up and he takes a drink, attention focusing on Zack for his response.
"Ice BURN," Petra hisses quietly, apparently a fan of the Intarweb. Speaking of ice burns, she then winces at Liane's reply-- she clearly didn't mean to insult her whole family there. "Ah," is her only reply. Because what are ya gonna say? She sheepishly returns to eating her salad.
And her whole culture, right there. Petra hates the Greek!
But they have good salads!
Zack laughs at Maxine's cutting remarks, apparently not offended in them. "Darn. Guess I'll have to use this fifty bucks for somethin' else. Got any idears? Us kids are notorious for poor decisions."
Maxine actually does have an idea for how Zack should spend his money, "A second bike helmet. Katie always tries to give it to me when we ride. Her head needs protecting, too." She ignores those who thinks she was being frigid. They have no insight into the intricate nuances of a Max-Zack interaction. "Or, we could go to a movie, steal someone's popcorn, and heckle from the back row."
Gretchen lays her bills on the counter and then stretches. "Off to work for me. Take it easy, guys." With a wave toward the group, she slides off of her stool and grabs her jacket. Then it's off to the outside world.
"Movies cost fifty bucks?" Zack asks, sounding incredulous. "That's crazy... but how nice are they?" Though he can't keep up the charade and laughs to Maxine. "But I'll see about gettin' a spare helmet. That's a good idea. AND we can go to a movie. There's that I Am Legend movie comin' out. I like that Will Smith guy."
"Anyhow," Maxine tells Zack, casually. "I'm going to go lock you out of your room, since you gave my bed to a pint-sized order freak and someone tainted the tub with Froot Loops. At least the pig's moved on to other sheep-herding pastures." Her player boycotted that movie because the dog dies. Didn't want to cry.
Petra forgets her earlier sheepishness at the mention of I Am Legend. She pipes up, gesticulating wildly, "That is an EXCELLENT story. I've read it, and the author is a genius. I cannot *wait* to see it on the big screen. Though, I kind of question the choice of Will Smith? He's never struck me as the type for that lead role. But I digress!" She's rather animated about the subject.
Maxine slips quietly away! With grunts or waves or whatever's required to keep people happy.
Liane lapses into silence at her end of the table, looking relieved that everyone else is picking up the conversation. And that no one expects her to join it! All these pop culture references and weird bowling habits with people named Bonita. Doesn't anyone read read fairy tales? Ahh well. She orders herself some wine and sips, glad to be forgotten.
"It was a book?" Zack asks after waving his goodbyes to Maxine and turns towards Petra. "Was it called the same thing?" He takes polishes off the last few bites of his meal. Then the plate is pushed away from him towards the area Maxine vacated. "I haven't been to a movie in ages. Do you wanna go with me?"
"Yes, and it was an EXCELLENT book," Petra says, repeating her earlier praise. "And yep, it was called I Am Legend too. Came out in like the 1950s? Pretty much jumpstarted the whole zombie craze in the first place. It's been made into movies before. Definitely read it if you're into that kind of thing." She sounds truly excited just talking about it, her food momentarily forgotten.
Dylan drinks that coke, mmm mmm delicious. He seems to like it so well that he orders another when it's empty. When that one shows up he starts to drink it too. His attention has strayed, looking down the length of the bar to one of the windows, watching the late night traffic go by. While he drinks that coke, teaching it a lesson.
"Oh, well I'll see if it's at the library," Zack decides as he pulls a coaster over. He fishes a small golf pencil out of his jacket and jots the name down. "I ... am... Legend. Got it." He puts the two away and looks back at Petra. "I was reading this comic about Zombies," he says with perhaps a hint of sheepishness to his voice. "It was pretty good. I like that kinda thing. Imaginin' what the world would be like after something big happened."
Cassandra walks through the oaken door of the Cantina.
Cassandra has arrived.
Zack is sitting at the bar next to Petra. A stool away from them is Liane and Dylan. There are several cleaned off plates near by that are getting bussed away by the friendly waitstaff.
Liane decides she's never going to be able to figure out kids these days. Nevermind she's in her earlyish twenties. Yeesh. She turns back to Dylan as a safer choice of conversation as she pokes at the food Smithers slipped her a while back when no one was paying attention. "N-not h-hungry?" She asks Dylan curiously, "Ah. I'm s-sorry I m-made you b-bring me over. P-perhaps I sh-should have j-just t-taken a t-taxi so you c-could have g-gone back." She says, concern that she somehow forced the boy into social company and therefore did a Very Bad Thing obvious.
At the mention of the comic, Petra lifts her brows a bit. "What comic? I'll have to search it out. I've never read many comics, but now is as good a time as any to start, I imagine. And I agree... it's always fun to think, 'How would I handle a zombie apocalypse? Would I die in the first 15 minutes, or after a whole week or two?'" She grins.
Dylan looks over towards Zack, "I'd think it'd be pretty damn miserable. No clean water, no food, no clothing. Fuel'd get used up fast, power'd go out everywhere. Which would pretty much screw everybody already needing help from outside sources. Cool stuff like that." He looks to Liane and grins, his head giving a little shake, "Nah, it's fine, I don't have anything to do in the morning. Kinda floating until I find out about the townhouse."
Late, but insomnia goes well with late, so though she doesn't really know a single soul in down and doesn't really love looking like an alcoholic, Cassandra seems to have decided to brave the bar alone in spite of everything. She's in a sundress, red tulips all over its white background, and a small red shrug of a sweater across her shoulders. Cute, but not screaming 'screw me with your eyes'. She's just put a cigarette out before coming in, so menthol scent joins her as she heads to the bar.
"It's called the Walking Dead," Zack replies to Petra. "It's pretty good but I finish them an' end up waiting around a month for the next." He's learning patience! "At first it was great 'cause I had so many to read, but now..." He smiles and looks past the woman towards Dylan. "Yeah, for real it would be pretty miserable I reckon. But it's not real."
It's Petra's turn to jot something down, though she relies on her handy dandy iPhone, which she pulls out of her pocket. Tap tap tap. "So noted!" she announces with a flourish. She turns to Dylan and says, "Oh, there's no question it'd be hellish. But the question is, just *how* hellish, and could you survive in spite of all the odds? And if so, for how long? And in the process, you discover more about yourself and your limits, and about the frailty of human society as it is now."
Liane just eats. Oh, delicious food! She glances over at Cassandra when she walks in, trying to place the woman, looking a bit unsure. Then her eyes widen, just a tad. "Ah. All-l-lig-g-gators and g-guns." She mumbles, likely a little louder than she meant. Reddening, she stuffs a spoonful of whatever it is she's eating into her mouth, to stop her from having to speak.
Dylan gives Liane a puzzled look, trying to decide if she's adding to the apocalypse conversation before he looks at Cassandra. No lightbulb seems to come on, so he turns back to Zack and Petra. "So pack a camping bag and head out into god's country. Toss the compass and there you go. No replenishment of supplies, no manmade help...when you start talking to yourself though it's mostly downhill. That means your brain's screaming for human interaction so it's making up its own." still grinning as he takes another drink of that coke.
Cassandra actually flashes just a bit of a smile in Liane's direction, her own mind dangerously smart, of course she remembers when she brushed paths with the other woman. "Sadly... we didn't actually go hunting. I think half those boys were high in that room..." She jokes lightly about their previous meeting, shifting up to the bar fairly close to the group without actually intruding. She nods to the bartender..."Coffee, if you have it."
Zack takes a glance back at Cassandra as Liane speaks ... about her? He gives the woman a brief friendly smile then returns his attention to Petra and Dylan and the talk of Zombies. "The problem is the other people, I reckon. If you could get away from everyone else you'd stand a okay chance, if you could get food an' shelter. But in a big city, everyone's fightin' over the same pile of nothin'."
At the mention of alligators and guns, Petra turns to look at Cassandra, giving the woman a friendly smile. "I'm sure Ben's still up for it if you decide to go hunting some other time. I'm pretty sure he wasn't high-- he's always like that." She smirks, then turns back to Dylan and Zack and zombehs. "Exactly," she says toward Zack, adding, "And you're not the only person who thinks escaping to the countryside is a good idea. There are going to be a lot of others heading that way. Many of whom will end up infected. And assuming you *do* make it out there, you won't be the only one. Roving gangs, man, that's what I'm talking about."
Liane can't just let this woman insinuate her friends do illegal substances! She shakes her head as Cassandra speaks, though is still reddish about it, "Oh, n-no. Th-they're always l-l-like th-that. B-b-benj-j-jamin esp-p-pec-c-cially. H-he's....a b-bit odd, b-but m-mostly all r-r-right. And G-gareth l-lacked s-sleep."
Dylan shakes his head, "You couldn't pay me to stay in the city though. More infected, more chance of other diseases as the bodies start to go sour, all kinds of dogs going feral. No TV." He finishes the second coke, sliding it out of his way. It seems like he's sparing a third for the moment.
Cassandra narrows her eyes a moment, a few ideas trickling across them as she hears their topic of conversation. "Zombies? Or just massive death plague? you worry about that around here?" She's only half teasing, though she has the dogged questioning to her voice of a reporter used to throwing out the tough interviews! She then grins back to Liane..."Really? Always like that?...God, kids these days. I feel old."
Zack nods his head as he listens to the apocalyptic aftermath. "We're talkin' Zombies. And yeah, too much to go wrong. Gotta head fer the hills, at they say. An' this is New Mexico. Be hard to live out in wilds here. You want someplace lush," he decides as lets a hand come up to rub his smooth chin. "Maybe near the ocean."
Dylan shrugs, "Air travel would be tough though. Getting stuck in that little cylinder with three hundred other potential brain eaters and nowhere to go. It's a strong recommendation for a pilot's license."
"Yeah, I'm not saying stay in the city. Definitely not. It's a total death trap. I'm just saying the countryside is no picnic, either. You're pretty much screwed no matter what you do. Which is part of why I love the whole idea." Petra finally seems to remember that she has food in front of her, and takes a quick bite of her salad. She nods to Zack then, and says, "And yeah, maybe near the ocean would be good. Though, man, what if it got into the fish??" She pauses several moments in thought, then shakes her head and says to Dylan, "Yeah, air travel'd be a bitch. Or like in The Stand, being in prison when it all goes down."
Katie walks through the oaken door of the Cantina.
Katie has arrived.
Zack is next to Petra at the bar. Dylan and Liane are there as well, but perhaps a stool away, and Cassandra seems to be up there as well, but not yet seated. Liane is lost in thought (afk) while the rest are chatting amiably. Petra has some food in front of her while Zack has a bill.
Cassandra finally accepts the black coffee from the bartender who is no doubt giving her a strange look. She then scoops up a big sugar container and dumps enough sweet stuff inside to kill a diabetic. Once that's satisfied, she looks back to the group with a wiry grin.."Don't the sci-fi books say go to Canada? It's always safer there? Long ass drive, though... ocean might be better."
"Not the fish!" Zack laments with a laugh. "That would pretty much be the end of it," he decides with confident nod. "Canada's cold. At least... I think it is. Never been. Maybe I should just break down an' build a underground shelter," he says with a teasing smile. Or is it?
Katie walks in, looks around, definitely looking for someone. Spotted! She heads for Zack, breaking into an easy smile. "Howdy, ya'll," she says for him and Liane, and includes Petra too.
Dylan shrugs as he looks to Cassandra, "That's because there's less people in ratio to the territory though, right?" His fingers snap and he turns to Zack, "You know, there are people on the internet that make those kinds of places for you? I saw some the other day. They'd bought a bunch of old military silos and they sunk them into the ground. The really fancy one had like a medical area, school rooms and everything. You could rent out the extra rooms and be mayor of Zombietown."
Cassandra groans just slightly towards Dylan, shaking her head..."That's all a rip off... I mean, if there was a nuclear attack or something, they proved those wouldn't save you from anything. Zombies? Eventually, you'd have to go out and get food... besides. It's all just horror stories... You can't really believe that stuff." She is almost good at pretending she doesn't believe, but there is that curious sort of almost hope and interest in her husky voice. She gives the unfamiliar Katie a small nod.
Joaquin walks through the oaken door of the Cantina.
Joaquin has arrived.
Petra grins at Zack's reaction to her theory. As Katie arrives, she gives her a bright smile and a little wave. "Evening!" She looks interested in what Dylan has to say and replies, "Huh. I'll take two, please." Something about what Cassandra says makes Petra smirk, and she turns back to her food, munching quietly.
Liane gives Katie a warm smile, "H-hello K-katie." She says, though she seems curiously....light of tone. As if not all quite there. And indeed, after the greeting, she drifts back into her DeepThoughts while her player goes help her grandmother.
Joaquin walks in. What, you expected drama?
Upon hearing that familiar drawl, Zack's face lights up in a wide smile and he turns in his stool to greet the girl. He stands up and moves to meet her with a hug. "Katie," he says proudly. "I'm gonna be mayor of Zombietown."
Zack is next to Petra at the bar. Dylan and Liane are there as well, but perhaps a stool away, and Cassandra seems to be up there as well, but not yet seated. Liane is lost in thought (afk) while the rest are chatting amiably. Petra has some food in front of her while Zack has a bill. Katie is just arriving at the bar. (Repose/pose steal for Joaquin.)
Katie links her arms around Zack and hugs him tight, and interrupts her beaming smile for him only by giving a kiss to his cheek. "I reckon you got my vote, Mr Mayor!" she drawls at him merrily. "Are we fighting Zombies? Do I need to run out and get a shotgun?"
Joel walks through the oaken door of the Cantina.
Joel has arrived.
Dylan waves his hand as he shifts, "No really, it had a hydroponics bay and other stuff. No bull. It was unbelievably expensive, but you could totally live down there, never had to come up. Sometimes I think about it just so I can avoid the door to door salesmen." He looks over his shoulder as everybody's attention goes to Katie, giving her a once over and a crooked grin before he continues on topic. "I'm not seeing a downside here."
Zack is next to Petra at the bar. Dylan and Liane are there as well, but perhaps a stool away, and Cassandra seems to be up there as well, but not yet seated. Liane is lost in thought (afk) while the rest are chatting amiably. Petra has some food in front of her while Zack has a bill. Katie is just arriving at the bar. (Repose/pose steal for Joel.)
Joaquin doesn't recognize anybody here except for Petra, and that one kinda strange couple he ran into once, so he just gives Petra a polite wave and orders a beer.
"That's kind of the classic question," Petra says to Katie. "I mean, shotguns make noise, which can attract the undead hordes, plus you'd constantly need ammo. But on the other hand, melee puts you close enough to get bitten! It's all a matter of how you choose to get screwed over." She grins, then arches a brow at Dylan. "That sounds both awesome and kind of sad, really." Joaquin gets a chin nod and a, "Why hello, Mr. Garza. How art thou?"
Zack keeps at least one arm around Katie as he eases his embrace of the girl and turns half back towards the three he seems to be chatting with: Petra, Cassandra, and Dylan. "We're fightin' zombies but decided we should just live underground. In a bunker or somethin'. Silo."
Ben walks through the oaken door of the Cantina.
Ben has arrived.
Katie gives Dylan a curious look in return as she leans companionably into Zack. "You still need shotguns, because the zombies always find a way in. Or some dumb kid gets outside, gets bit and then some half-wit bleeding heart lets them back in so they can start biting everyone. Kids can be zombies too."
Zack is next to Petra at the bar. Dylan and Liane are there as well, but perhaps a stool away, and Cassandra seems to be up there as well, but not yet seated. Liane is lost in thought (afk) while the rest are chatting amiably. Petra has some food in front of her while Zack has a bill. Katie is standing near the bar, and Zack's arm is around her. Joaquin is also at the bar, having just ordered a beer. (Repose/pose steal for Ben.)
<OOC> Zack says, "The pose is as true in our time as it was in its day."
<OOC> Petra says, "Hahaha. :D"
Cassandra has fallen quiet now, mainly, listening to the conversation but really not familiar enough with anyone there to butt conversation in too much. So she just learns about the debate, searching everyone's eyes to get personal reactions to the zombie talk.
Joaquin drifts across to the bar, angling to give Zack and Katie a wide berth. "I art not bad," he replies to Petra, cheerfully enough.
No pig. No yelling. Ben arrives quietly, just entering like any other patron. Meandering towards the bar like any of patron. Surveying the victims- erm, customers, like any other patron. At least until he gets close enough to the bar to add, "Zombies are, perhaps, the single best horror mechanism in the world. And it saddens me that Hollywood abuses them so."
Joel rocks into the Cantina like a rock star, which is to say he has a large package with fascinating bulges. THAT'S RIGHT. He's carrying it in both arms, a burlap sack not unlike what you might buy potatoes in, but it doesn't appear particularly heavy. He seems exasperated, and marches towards the PEOPLE AREA, as there are many familiar faces over there, and he knows those people like fascinating bulges.
Zack's eyes are twinkling delightedly at conversation or the company. Or perhaps both. "Oh howdy Ben," he offers at the young man's approach. Then there's Joel incoming with the sack of bulges. "Joel," he smiles at the man. "You need a hand?" Despite asking he keeps his arm around Katie.
"Your Shakespearean speech is impeccable. Consider me duly impressed," Petra compliments Joaquin. "We're discussing the fine art of repelling zombie hordes. Any thoughts?" She turns to Katie to say, "Yeah, kids are a definite nuisance. Pets, too. I don't care how much you love Fifi, she will be the death of you, mark my words." She nods grimly, and then Ben's words make her smile again. "What, you mean like zoombies?" That is not a typo.
Joaquin says, "Nobody pays me to talk good, fire is the answer to pretty much all problems, and what is /that/?" The last, directed toward Joel's fascinating bulges. "Hey, Ben."
Katie looks around to see Joel, and he gets included in her happy, beaming smile. "Howdy?" she asks, eyeing his bulges with barely legal interest.
Ben gives Joaquin a chin-up nod and a, "Hey, how's the altar coming?" But then there's Joel. Joel and his bulges. "Please, please, tell me there are cats in that sack. Oooh, is there a river nearby?" Sociopathy has never seemed so gleeful.
Joaquin gives Ben a sidelong look that suggests if he ever was going to get over his universal stasis in that direction, he's rapidly changing his mind.
"B-ben!" Liane says, scandalized. "If it's k-kittens, I'll t-take them. M-malkin loves k-kittens." She turns to look at Joel, noting his bulges for any signs of movement. "H-hello J-joel. And B-ben. And- oh, it g-got so c-crowded." She says, paling just a bit.
"Yeah, I do need a hand," Joel replies to Zack, setting the sack down on an unoccupied seat near wherever the Kings are. To Joaquin's question, Joel cries, "MOTHERFUCKING YARN!" The sack is opened, and sure enough, it's filled with skeins of yarn, some oval shaped, some wrapped and folded, some like cones. "I delivered a fucking pizza to this fucking old lady and she PAID ME IN FUCKING YARN and I felt bad and now I don't know what the fuck. So guess what, you all get yarn." A rainbow-colored ball of yarn is the first out of the sack, marched over and handed to Joaquin. "Here you go," he sets it down so the man can't give it back.
Dylan gets quiet, looking back and forth as the zombie conversation continues and then starts to look confused as knitting material is introduced.
Joaquin finds himself holding a ball of multicolored yarn. He looks from it to Joel and back. "Uh. I didn't think you were allowed to pay for pizza with yarn. Can I pay with like pocket lint next time?" He turns the yarn ball over in his hand, trying to come up with some way to use it in his work. "And who the hell are you, besides, like, Yarn Delivery Guy?"
Zack tries to suppress his laugh as Joel reveals his dilemma. "She paid you in yarn?" he asks, still incredulous. "Maybe you could take up knitting." Or crochet or whatever. "Then make stuff an' sell it in our store and make TEN TIMES what she owed you!" Zack is somewhat optimistic.
"Fire bad," Petra says, in a pretty bad imitation of Frankenstein's monster. But more seriously, she says, "Yeah, hadn't thought about fire lately. It definitely has its merits." A glance to Ben, then an arching of her brow. "Altar?" She gives a smile and a slight wave to Joel. When she finds out what his fascinating bulges are, she arches a brow. "Next time, possibly suggest that woman look into these very handy pieces of paper called money. I hear they're all the rage." Her tone is dry and teasing.
There's a crazy gleam in Joel's eyes as he begins to march around giving yarn to people. Will he be able to empty the sack before management gets rid of him? It's a race! "No!" he stabs a fuzzy green bundle at Joaquin. "If you pay me in pocket lint I will hurt you! Or cry! No one wants to see a man cry!" The fuzzy green bundle, which is like lime green, he attempts to pawn off on Petra.
"I love yarn!" Katie declares with far more enthusiasm than yarn should ever merit, and she breaks away from Zack to look in the sack for the best colors.
"Yarn...?" If the idea of drowning kittens made Ben look gleeful, the yarn... Oh the yarn. He actually looks happy. Like Santa himself arrived, handed over the head of the Easter Bunny, and said he could keep the change. "Oh yes. Things must be woven from this yarn."
"M-my g-grandmother used to n-knit. She m-made l-lovely t-table p-pieces. D-do you have anyth-thing s-sturdy? I c-can give s-some for M-malkin to tangle up. Or d-donate it to the elderly c-c-community. S-some of the older women enj-joy y-yarn, and I h-hardly ever v-v-visit, so I c-could give them yarn as an ap-p-pology." Liane says, looking faintly optimistic about the whole thing.
Joaquin dodges the fuzzy green bundle before Joel has a chance to foist off another yarn ball on him. "You know, there's a lot of yarn here. Probably worth more than the pizza, which doesn't mean you should just let people barter for pizza. Don't you have to, like, pay /your bosses/ if customers don't pay you? I don't think I'm going to ask him out anymore," this last to Petra and accompanied by a nod in Ben's direction.
"This one's made from angora goats," Joel informs Cassandra, his next victim, leaving a wrapped and folded skein, still with its label, at wherever she's sitting. "I didn't know there were angora goats, but there you go, I guess they're really fluffy and you can knit like sweaters and gun cozies from their hair. It's not always like this in here by the way," he assures. "But you work with the public long enough and you're gonna snap."
Zack doesn't quite follow after Katie, lest he get drawn into the Yarn Hole. There is an inverse square proportional chance that the closer you are to the hole, the more likely you are to get more yarn. "You love yarn?" Zack says towards the girl as she falls into oblivion.
Petra does indeed accept the yarn, looking quite bemused. She clearly has no idea what she's going to do with this lime green yarn, but she dutifully tucks it into her backpack. To Joaquin, she notes, "I think it's kind of sweet, actually. Worth paying for one measly pizza to his bosses for this story, and this moment. Pretty awesome. And there's the humanitarian angle."
Joaquin says, "I think I've missed the humanitarian angle."
Vic has arrived.
"She was like... an old fuckin lady! Her house smelled like cat pee!" The yarn fortunately does not. "What was I gonna do?" Joel plaintively answers Joaquin. "Tell her she can't have dinner? She told me all about how she was really hungry and she likes pizza cause it's easy on the dentures."
"Ah ha!" Katie says as she happily falls into yarn oblivion, laughing about "gun cozies" all the way. She pulls out not one, but two, no wait three matched rolls of yarn in a lovely pale peach. "Perfect! I want these," and she hugs them to herself just in case Joel suddenly becomes the yarn grinch and won't let her keep them.
Zack is next to Petra at the bar. Dylan and Liane are there as well, but perhaps a stool away, and Cassandra seems to be up there as well, but not yet seated. Liane is lost in thought (afk) while the rest are chatting amiably. Petra has some food in front of her while Zack has a bill. Katie is standing near the bar. Joaquin is also at the bar. Joel has a GIGANTIC bag of yarn which he is foisting on people. (Repose/pose steal for Vic.)
<OOC> Zack says, "Pose Steal is becoming dated. Liane's no longer AFK!"
<OOC> Petra says, "Damnit."
Liane isn't lost in thought, she's lost in horror as yarn takes over the room!
Liane looks over at Katie. "K-katie, what are you g-going to d-d-do with it all? Or is it a s-s-surprise?" Liane asks. She's looked at the yarn, but hasn't touched a single skein of it. Likely she'd pay for it instead of letting Joel give it away! "And th-that was v-very k-kind of you, J-joel. I n-knew you w-were actu-t-tually r-rather n-nice." Liane's tone is serious, but there's a twitching at the corners of her lips.
"Lies," Joel informs Liane, and gives her a rough, scratchy rust-colored wool bundle.
"Yarn..." Ben says again, completely lost to its dark powers. Mind and soul are gone, leaving a zombie craving only "Yarn..." And also Petra, as he turns on her, grabbing her by the shoulders and stating, "You should make a cozy. Or a sweater. Or a tapestry. Or a something. Maybe a blanket for Pigglesworth Snortimer?"
Zack glances towards the wallflower nee spitfire as she is presented with the Angora. "Well, not really. It kinda IS like this a lot of the time. You never know what's gonna happen with Joel. It's why we keep him around."
Joaquin shakes his head a bit sadly at the strange yarn man. "And you fell for it, huh? Hope you're independently wealthy."
Liane looks DELIGHTED with her yarn. "Oh, s-such a p-pretty c-color! And p-perfect for M-malkin to destroy. Th-thank you, J-joel." Liane says, sounding as if Joel's just granted her the biggest favor EVER.
"I'm gonna make a scarf," Katie declares, with a wide grin. Petting the soft yarn with one finger as she holds it hugged to her bosom. "It's going to be great!"
"If nothing else I gave you somethin' to talk about this week, right?" Joel grins at Joaquin. "You can be standin' around the water cooler like 'Jesus Christ you'll never believe what this weird fuck did in the Cantina on Wednesday,' and then you can show off your yarn." He stalks up to Ben now, and hands him something that looks like a bundle of orange and green shag carpeting on a string.
Joaquin eyes the yarn in his hand with a look that redefines 'dubious.' "I'm the only one who doesn't get this, aren't I?"
Vic walks in making his way for the bar and he glances over to the others that are there and in normal Vic fashion ignores them and settles in at a end of the bar not expecting it to stay quiet.
Zack feels the pull of the bag. Try as he might the gravitational field inexorably draws him closer. "That's gonna be a long scarf, I reckon," he decides as he reaches out towards Katie to feel the peach yarn.
Cassandra is pretty much mirroring Vic right now, dead quiet and simply nursing her drink (she's strangely drinking coffee, maybe a recovering alcoholic?) and her fingertips keep a slight twitch to them, the motions of someone almost nic fitting but who doesn't want to walk outside to smoke.
"I f-f-find it's b-best to j-just t-take things as th-they are." Liane says, with a glance towards Joaquin. "I r-r-really d-don't g-get m-much, but if you acc-c-cept it, it g-gets easier."
Petra laughs at Ben's suggestion, though the idea does seem to appeal to her. "Oh my god. I really *should* learn to knit. I could make a little zombie with a detachable head, and a cute little bit of red at his head for a head shot!" She goes digging in Joel's Bag O' Yarn for some more yarn without asking. "This is going to be SWEEEEEEET." She is freakily excited at the prospect.
There is plenty of yarn. There is probably some red yarn, as well as some mottled greenish yarn for excellent zombie stitching.
Joaquin leans back against the bar, giving Liane a bemused headshake.
Vic might be a curmudgeon, but he's not escaping the yarn. Even Cassandra got yarn. Joel spots him, heads over, and places a plain black roll of yarn next to him on the bar. "Yarn," Joel announces firmly, just in case he wasn't sure what was happening. "Everyone gets yarn. You showed up, you get yarn. You're doing your part to make an old lady happy, cause she didn't have money and I traded her pizza for yarn. I dunno what you're gonna do with it."
"I don't think Pigglesworth Snortimer wants this," Ben says to Joel, once Petra has been replaced with yarn in his grasp. "And how's that work for a name? Since we can't eat him and all, he needs a name, right?" He begins to unwind the yarn, throwing it into the air and looping it over anyone who doesn't dodge fast enough.
Dylan comes out of his zone, watching as the yarn gets shoved at more people. He seems to decide it's time to put away that third coke, asking for a refill as the option presents itself in the form of passing waitstaff.
The manager is starting to come over. He looks pissed. He is looking for the source of this yarn, following the threads like Theseus in the Labyrinth.
Vic orders himself a beer and looks over to the black roll of yarn and then up to Joel. "You see me with black yarn?" he looks back to it once more and gives a shrug. "Yeah I guess I can see that fitting." He holds up the beer as it's delivered in a little salute to Joel. "Thanks...I think."
Liane shifts in her seat in an attempt to avoid yarnification, though she doesn't get up. "B-benj-j-jamin! You're g-going to g-get us th-thrown out. Or at l-least, J-joel th-thrown out." She hisses as soon as Benjamin passes through. And, like psychicness working, there's the manager approaching!
"Black is a color that just doesn't fuck around," Joel grins at Vic, explaining his choice. Are there reasons for who got what color? Hmm!
Zack decides, after feeling Katie's yarn, "Oh, that's soft. Since when did you knit? Or are you takin' it up," he wonders curiously. The fascinating bulges of the bag drawn him closer as he peers in side. "That's a lot of yarn. I think you got the better end of the deal, Joel."
Katie has sort of stopped in her yarn love, just standing there while Zack inspects the yarn she's chosen. She went from laughing and beaming to just suddenly standing and staring into nothing toward the bar. Maybe the Zone Dylan was in has overtaken her, robbing her of yarn joy.
Petra picks out far more than enough yarn to complete her project, clearly overestimating her needs. Or maybe she's just excited over all the free yarn and wants to get in while the getting is hot. She glances up at the exchange between Vic and Joel, and her enthusiasm dampens a bit. Expression a tad more normal, she asks Joel, "I dunno, black doesn't fuck around, but what about lime green? It seems like a definite 'fuck around' color."
Who hasn't gotten yarn yet? There's someone, sad and yarnless. Bereft of wool or synthetic fibers or angora blends. Joel makes his way toward Dylan, who receives a cerulean blue skein -- like everyone else, whether he wants it or not. "Yarn," he announces, and perhaps would have gone into further explanation, but he feels the need to reply to Petra. "Lime green is fun. Bright. You can't miss it in a crowd and you're probably gonna remember whatever you see with it."
The manager draws closer, having asked some NPCs what the hell is going on. They are pointing at Joel.
"Well, I don't want to get Joel thrown out..." Liane the Killjoy has obviously ruined Ben's fun, as he begins to wind the yarn back into the spool. Or the ball. Or however the hell yarn works. So sad and dejected, he too gets sucked into the Dylan zone as he fiddles with the yarn. (And goes AFK for unspecified reasons. Everyone except Petra can use their imagination.)
Vic seems to agree with Joel's explanation and he takes a drink of his beer while he spins the small roll with his free hand. He seems to be thinking it over in his head. He looks back over as Petra talks and he lets a brow raise at her comment. He watches her while he lets out a little sigh.
Joaquin studies his rainbow yarn for a long minute, and then starts to unravel it, making a little crochet chain around his fingers.
Zack keeps quiet and loiters near the bag. Surely Joel will forget he hasn't received any yarn, unless he missed it somewhere. "Hey Katie, you want any more of that? You can have my share," he gives up the ghost.
Dylan looks at the yarn as it's foisted his way, turning the skein over in his hands slowly. "I'll find something useful for it. Promise." Bemused and confused with what he's been given. He sets it on the bar next to his third coke, the beverage destroying any hope of sleep tonight.
"What?" Katie asks, frowning in distraction, and seems to come back to the moment. "Oh, I think I got all the peach, but if you see a color you like you should grab it."
Zack is not going to escape. Zack gets yarn. It's actually probably an expensive yarn, not that Joel knows shit about yarn, in the way it changes colors along the string -- red, orange, yellow, white, bright fiery colors. There are probably still more skeins left in the bag, but just after Joel informs Zack, "This one's yours," he tells his sassy straight friend. But further explanation is not forthcoming... the manager has found Joel now, and is asking to talk to him. Joel blinks and then the two step aside...
Liane doesn't do anything with her yarn, except tuck it into her bag, and settle quietly in her seat. It's so /crowded/. She copies Dylan and orders a soda, in a glass, with a wedge of lime. Noticing Joel and the manager, she shifts, blatantly eavesdropping as she listens and sips her drink via straw.
Joaquin continues to chain the yarn, using his fingers as an impromptu crochet setup. Well. Yarn. Yes.
Briefly, Petra glances over at Vic, and then her eyes return to the yarn in her hands, which she turns over thoughtfully. At Joel's explanation of the color, she brightens quite a bit, and says warmly, "Thank you for the yarn. I really appreciate it." She then grins over at Joaquin, saying, "Fabulous."
Dylan watches as Joel gets pulled aside, straightening in his seat. "Really? What the hell." grumbling as he looks to the manager. Then a funny look crosses his face, and he turns back to the bar, hunkering down slightly. Nope not here, can't see me. The coke starts getting attention.
Zack looks down at the multicolored rainbow of yarn he's presented. "I..." but he knows resistance is futile at this point. "Maybe someone could make rainbow socks out of these," he decides as he holds it in his hand. But then his sassy gay friend is abducted by the manager which gets the employee frown from Zack. Boo, manager!
Joaquin holds the few inches of chained yarn he's made up to his neck like the world's smallest necklace. "You think?"
Katie notices Vic, after noticing that the true Yarn Grinch has found Joel and is now trying to steal the Magic of Yarn and the Holiday Season away. She lifts her hand and waves to Vic, "Howdy."
"Definitely," Petra says with a nod to Joaquin. "After I knit my little zombie friend, I will make you an even *more* fabulous necklace than that, if you can believe it. I like this idea!"
Cassandra finally, drowsily stands, scooping up her yawn and flashing Joel a brief smile even as management is speaking to him..."Thanks, kid... I..have no bloody what I'll do with goat yarn, but I'll figure something else. Maybe take up knitting on a slow news day..." She then pulls out a few ones, putting them down on the bar as payment. Apparently, she is soon to take her leave, probably needing that cigarette.
Joel thinks Joaquin's necklace is pretty fucking sweet, but he can't say so right now, as he's busy conversing with the manager. There's lots of gesturing and the conversation is going something like, "...yarn... can't... not allowed. Old lady. Pizza. Yarn... disruption... yarn... patrons... fascinating bulges... colors... yarn."
Joaquin says, "I dunno, Petra. I'm not sure it's possible to make a more fabulous necklace than this."
Vic watches Petra walk away and then turns as he hears Katie's voice. "Hey there." He says softly to her. He glances to her pile of yarn and he nods. "I think your color suite you as well." He then takes up his beer taking a long drag off it looking to the crowd.
Zack follows Katie's attention as it moves towards Vic. "Oh. Howdy there... Vic?" This might be a first. "Did I do that right?" he looks for validation as he turns towards the loner down the bar.
"You may be right," Petra nods to Joaquin, with a look of abject mock sadness. But then she brightens and says, "But I can certainly try. I am going to knit the *shit* out of this yarn. Everything will be yarnified. I will make yarn bustiers and yarn purses and little yarn cat o' nine tails." She probably doesn't have quite enough yarn for that.
Liane continues to BLATANTLY EAVESDROP, frowning a bit at the manager and his taking of her amusement, but she just shifts in her seat, not wanting to wander over and make things worse. But the Cantina can expect a strongly worded letter for interrupting her friend's passionate quest to distribute gifts, help the elderly, recycle materials, and perform acts of kindness!
Joaquin says, "Well, /somebody/ needs an etsy store."
Dylan looks to Petra, "Is there a market for yarn underwear? It might chafe but I bet it'd keep people's bits warm." He remains leaned up against the bar, though the crowd is probably helping keep him blocked from the managers view.
Katie eyes Petra a little sideways, and then glances at Ben, then back to Petra.. but then Zack has made his first Achievement in Twin Recognition and she has to praise him. She smiles, "Yeah, that's Vic." She meanders over Vic's way. "Thanks, I think it'll be pretty. Are you going to do something amazing with your black yarn?"
"If there is *not* a market for yarn underwear, I will be incredibly surprised. Rule 34, you know? *Somebody* out there has a yarn fetish. It is a guarantee." Petra nods firmly, and while she's thinking about it, reaches in to take a bit more yarn. A hot pink skein and a black skein this time. She can't hold all of it, so she has to slide her half-eaten salad away to put some of it on the bar's surface.
Cassandra notes that there are several friends keeping an eye on Joel and the manager, that leaving her content enough that the too nice man is going to be safe. That mental note made, she heads out the door smoothly and into the night
Vic nods back over to Zack and just like every other time he does nothing to correct the man. "Hey Zack." He tips his bottle a little to him between sips. "What color did you end up with?" he looks to try and see if he's even got yarn on him. He sits up a little as Katie walks over and he shrugs. "I was thinking about making a noose." He smiles a little to Katie.
"Yarn," says Joel's only-somewhat-audible conversation with the manager. The gesturing is picking up a bit, and Joel is looking offended. "Old lady! ...yarn... compassion... gifts... chaos... customers... business... going to have to leave, sir." That's right. Joel is getting kicked out of the Cantina. The manager doesn't seem to care about the skeins everyone has received, or even the bag of remaining rolls (there's a lot of fucking yarn) still perched near Katie. He does care about the source of distribution, which is violating social norms all over the restaurant. You don't go to a nice meal and expect to get yarn for god's sake! There will be Complaints! A bartender and a chef appear at the manager's summons... and the three of them escort Joel out of the restaurant.
You paged Joel with 'That fucking *rocked*.'
Joel pages: Hahaha. It all came about because the only way I could entice Ben to join in is that I promised him I'd RP "fascinating bulges"
You paged Joel with 'HA! I think I love you.'
Joel pages: I was like... what's fascinatingly bulged? A BAG OF YARN. And it went from there.
You paged Joel with 'Your mind does not work like my mind.'
Joel pages: Well I can't RP about my junk.
You paged Joel with 'But your junk is the only reason we RP with you!'
Joaquin continues making his fabulous goddamn necklace, eyeing Petra's accumulation out of the corner of his eye.
Zack holds up his skein, though it's unlikely he even knows the word. "I think I got all the colors," he admits to the rainbow stripes he has. But then what's this? Joel is escorted out. "Hey, wait a minute," he says, setting his jaw and starting after the trio. His rainbow collection and him mean business!
There is an expression on Liane's face, and it is not pleasant. It is not pleasant at all. She pulls out her cell phone and types something in - who knows what she's typing. But she doesn't chase after Joel, oh no. She gets up and taps the manager on the shoulder, and gives him something which can only be called a smile by the greatest stretch of the imagination. And then she asks to have a quiet word with him in his office.
"Awww, Vic," Katie chides him with a grin, and she comes to lean up against the bar still holding her yarn trophies. "Decapitation is never the answer, or, uh hanging.." and then there are people appearing to escort Joel the Pizza Guy out into the cold. This seems to surprise her, and then Zack stalks after to save the day. She seems a little torn.. defend the yarn, or go after Zack and Joel. She compromises by putting her peach collection back into the bag and picking it up. "That was totally uncalled for," she says loudly.
Vic nods a little to Katie's comment and finishes his first drink. "Well, really yarn is far too soft a thread to be used as a noose. The knot would never actually snap the neck as it would be expected to do. At most it'd just suffocate." He looks back over to the door and he nods. "Well really how long could you expect the fun the last? I'm sure there will be other yarn parties for him."
Somewhere inside the office, a man is yelling. Somewhere inside the office, a woman raises her voice, but doesn't yell. The words are all quite unclear.
Joaquin is now faced with a dilemma: if he takes the nascent crochet chain off his fingers, then it will almost certainly unravel. But if he doesn't, it's going to be very awkward getting home.
Petra finally decides enough is enough yarn and puts all of her yarn into her backpack, which she zips up tightly. Now the yarn is safe from being soiled! But then Joel gets escorted outside, and her features contort into a ragey little scowl. She is less discreet than Katie, and says, "That was fucking moronic." She turns to Joaquin and says, "You want something to protest? Protest this!" And then she heads out after Joel.
Dylan however takes this opportunity to exit the premises. He digs out his wallet, laying down enough to pay for his drink and tip. Because they remember the non-tippers, and heads towards the door himself while the manager is unoccupied. He pauses, then heads over towards Katie, butting in long enough to ask her. "I'm kinda Liane's ride...so if you could tell her I'm standing out front if she wants a lift home?"
"All right," Katie says, nodding to Dylan, drafted into being messenger girl for Liane. The manager's office is given a look, a bit of a raised eyebrow, and then she just holds onto the bag of yarn. "Well, he sure killed off his clientele. I haven't even ordered yet," she remarks, and looks at Vic. "I reckon it'll just be a fashion statement then, yarn noose. You might start up a trend."
Joaquin doesn't seem as troubled by Joel's ouster as others, but he does look over at Ben over his be-rainbowed fingers. "You have a pig?"
You push through the oaken door, leaving the cozy restaurant.
A sign, upon the door, reads 'Buena Suerte, Amigo'
Lomas Blvd: 300 East -- Albuquerque
Joel waves away the generous offer! "It's alright, Z. Just buy me gas sometime, or something," he insists. "I've already had it out with work. They're pissed but I don't think they're gonna fire me."
Joel is sitting on a planter outside the restaurant, being gay with Zack.
"Gas money," Zack says as he waves a twenty at Joel. That's probably street code for a blow job. "Go on," he insists. "Your night's been bad enough already."
Petra storms out of the restaurant not long after Joel and Zack, looking all Super Ragey. Her eyes scan about for Joel and Zack, and she notes, loudly, "That was so fucking STUPID." She doesn't specify what in particular has her so angry.
Dylan emerges from La Cantina, closing the oaken door behind him.
Dylan has arrived.
"Fair nuff," Joel grins, and accepts the twenty this time. They'll have fun in an alley later. As Petra comes out, he raises a brow. "The manager?" Joel guesses. "Ah, s'alright. Not everyone can be as virtuous as me, Joel, Patron Saint of Knitting. They're just tryin'a run a business and they don't want people fucking with the process. I guess I can respect that. Jesus, though, it's just yarn. It's not like I was handing out religious pamphlets."
Zack and Joel are sitting on a nearby planter and Petra has come storming towards them. "Yeah well, their loss, right?" Zack looks on the bright side of life. "An' ... never mind," he decides not to share what he was going to. He gestures for Petra to come their way.
Dylan steps out of the front of the Cantina, glancing at the crew that's gathered out front. He moves off to the side of the door, out of the way, then leans up against the side of the building. His hands go in his pockets and he waits, sniffing lightly before finding a spot on the pavement to watch.
Petra growls under her breath, but then she shrugs her anger off rather quickly. "I guess," she says reluctantly. "But it was still fucking stupid. I probably won't eat there again for awhile, out of being pissed. I can't imagine anyone there was frustrated except the clueless staff." She does come over to Joel and Zack, leaning against the wall.
"Hey, Blue!" Joel calls out to Dylan, referring to him by his yarn color. Half the people in that bar are going to be colors to him now. "What's your actual name? You give yarn to a guy, you got a certain bond, and I feel like I should at least know your name." He looks to Petra, "What happened to the rest of the yarn? Is it still in there?" To Zack, a firm nod. "Their loss."
"It was stupid," Zack is forced to agree though he's smiling now. "I'm lookin' forward to seein' what yer gonna make, Petra. I think yarn handcuffs might work better than the yarn cat-o-nine-tails."
Liane emerges from La Cantina, closing the oaken door behind her.
Liane has arrived.
Liane violently interrupts everything!
Zack is sitting on a planter next to Joel. Petra has wandered over and Joel is hollerin' to Dylan who's holding up the wall.
Zack goes to relieve himself in the alley. Right on the Cantina's dumpster.
That'll teach 'em!
"I'm gonna make the cutest little zombie that yarn and a lack of skills can make," Petra says to Zack with a grin, and then shrugs at Joel's question. "Last I saw, Katie had it." She takes a seat on the planter too, next to Joel.
"It's a zombie, what's it matter if you have a lack of skills?" Joel points out, amused. "If half its head is missing or it has six different colors, you can still call it normal."
Dylan looks up at the shout and gives Joel a crooked grin, "Dylan. Thanks for the...yarn." his brow twitches downwards, apparently finding the word odd to say. "I think your girl adopted the rest of it." He motions to Zack. "She was stuffing the one's she'd picked out back into it."
Katie emerges from La Cantina, closing the oaken door behind her.
Katie has arrived.
Vic emerges from La Cantina, closing the oaken door behind him.
Vic has arrived.
Katie walks out the door of the Cantina, that Vic kindly held open for her. She's rescued the remaining yarn from the clutches of small minded Cantina staff.
Joel is sitting on a planter outside the restaurant, talking to Dylan and Petra, who is also on the planter. Zack stepped aside into an alley to pee.
"I like the cut of your jib, sirrah," Petra says with a grin to Joel. "Okay, I am totally going to make the cutest zombie EVER MADE. And maybe I *will* get an Etsy store." She smirks a bit.
Joel grins at Dylan, "Good to meetcha. I'm Joel." Joel Yarn-Bringer. He perks up as Katie proves Dylan correct by appearing with the remaining yarn, and he hops up from his planter seat to walk over to her. "Katie! You rescued the yarn," he smiles, seeming pleased. "Sorry there was a fuss..."
Liane walks dithering about near the entrance of the Cantina, calling someone over the phone, and looking none too happy. The fuzzy cherry on this melted ice cream sundae. Once she's done, she snaps the phone shut and wanders to sit down primly next to Joel, if there's a spot available. If not, she's just standing. "The m-m-m-manager o-owes y-you an ap-p-pology. T-tell me if he d-doesn't g-give you one." Liane says quietly, with only a hint of annoyance and a bit of an edge to her voice. It really hasn't been much of a good week.
Vic walks out after Katie and nods. "Just a little two story place out in the woods." he looks over to the group and then back to Katie. "See ya." he then turns and walks off heading west.
Dylan looks a little confused, "What's an...Etsy store? Or do I want to know?" He looks over as the rest of the group comes trickling out the door, shifting to stand up from his lean as he spots Liane in the mix. Tugging the back of his shirt into place again he asks her, "Hey, I was going to try and get some sleep, you want a ride back to your place?"
Katie blinks at Vic as he makes his abrupt departure, "Uh, I guess I'll see ya later then," she tells him. And there's Joel, and she holds up the bag of yarn in triumph with a grin. "Did ya'll think they were gonna fight me for it?" Since they would win, in spades, if they tried.
Petra watches Vic walk off, her expression darkening momentarily. It doesn't last long-- a moment later she's smiling at Dylan's question. "There's nothing inherently pornographic about Etsy. It's just an online store where you can sell arts and crafts and things. Some things there *are* pornographic, like vulva-decorated tea cozies or whatever, but most of the stuff isn't."
Ben emerges from La Cantina, closing the oaken door behind him.
Ben has arrived.
Liane glances at Dylan and shakes her head, "N-no, I'm all r-r-right. Z-zack has m-my b-beetle, so I can d-drive back. Th-thank you f-for all your h-help t-t-today. G-good luck m-moving in!" The rest of the conversation seems beyond her.
Joel lifts a brow as Vic takes off.... but that's Vic. That's why Vic got black yarn. He laughs at Katie's comment and shakes his head, "I sure hope not, you'd make them rue the day. You'd get free nachos for life." At Liane's comment, Joel shrugs, philosophically. "They're trying to run a restaurant. I can respect that. Yarnparty is a bit out of their norm, and I was probably weirding out the other customers." Petra gets stared at, because she's talking about vulva-decorated tea cozies. Regretsy.
Long long ago, in a Cantina far far away, Ben wandered into a bathroom with a skein of yarn. Or something. Now he comes out draped in it, like someone pretending to be a mummy of old lady arts. Here to steal their medicine and their precious memories of a gentler era.
Meanwhile, Zack has been absent. Where could he be? Oh there, coming out of the alleyway, creepin' and peepin'. But what's this? Everyone's here! "Oh, y'all left," he observes and wanders over to the planter. "What'd I miss?"
"I did think about making the manager cry," Katie says with a serious expression suddenly on her face, which makes it either a joke or like she really pondered it. You decide. "Annie seemed to have that covered though. I did all I could," she sighs, hugging the bag of yarn to her protectively.. "I saved every last one. I left no yarn behind."
Dylan nods to Liane, "Okay, I imagine I'll see you around then, on campus at least." He brings up a hand to wave farewell, the motion including everybody. To Joel he grins again, "I'll take good care of it." Turning to walk down the street, yarn shoved in his back pocket where some of it hangs down.
Zack calls after the departing Dylan, "See y'all later, Dylan."
"You are a hero of untold measure," Petra says to Katie with what could be a serious expression on her face. And then she says to Liane, "You too. Way to stick up for Joel!" She smiles at her warmly, then leans back a bit and watches Dylan go. "Have a good night!" she calls after him.
Liane lifts a hand farewell towards Dylan, but his back's already turned, so whatever! Off he goes, into the night, escaping the insanity...were we all so lucky. Liane gives Katie a scandalized look. "I was h-hardly m-making h-h-him c-cry!"
"Take care, Blue!" Joel calls to the departing Dylan, who surely still has his cerulean yarn and will cherish it always even if it is a synthetic blend.
"I bet they wouldn't have said anything at the Frontier," Katie says after thinking about it, and then laughs. "Untold measure is probably right."
"No yarn left behind," Joel agrees with Katie's statement. He peers at the bag o'yarn, "I guess I didn't get one for myself. But I'm probably stuck with the rest of this stuff, so it's probably 'all of the above'. What do people even do with unwanted yarn, except apparently trade pizza for it?"
"Yeah, the Frontier is way better anyway," Zack decides. It's final. CANTINA IS ANATHEMA! "Hey, you leave Vic inside?" Zack asks towards Katie as he spots her in the group. He moves over towards her to offer to carry the bag with the fascinating bulges.
"Joel, you are my hero," Ben declares as he rejoins the group, arms held wide so yarn can dangle enticingly, should any stray cats attack. "I'm sure you can donate it to someone. Arts and crafts fares? Throw it over houses or trees instead of toilet paper? The uses are limitless!"
"I c-could b-buy it f-from you." Liane volunteers. "I c-c-could d-donate it to s-several p-places that w-wouldn't mind getting all th-this y-yarn. If n-nothing else, I c-could give it to the U-univers-s-sity art d-d-departm-m-ment."
Pig Cozy.
Katie shakes her head to Zack, "Naw.. we walked out together but he left. He asked me to come over and see his new place, but I said I was here with you."
Petra grins at Ben's use of the string, and nods to his words. "Yeah, everybody should totally learn how to knit. It'll be a Thing. And we can *all* get Etsy stores and flood the market with cheap badly-made yarn products!"
Zack tips his head towards Katie, as if it takes him a moment to comprehend her words. "Huh. Sorry I didn't get a chance to say bye," he decides. Katie, however, doesn't give up the goods, so she must have it well in hand. Therefore his hands are free to put one around her shoulders! Did Etsy exist in 2007 or did Petra just become an internet billionaire?!
"You want it? You got it," Joel replies to Liane. "No need to buy it... it's just yarn, what am I gonna do with it? I wouldn't be distributing it in a restaurant if I wanted to hang on to the stuff." He still hasn't gotten a skein for himself, of course. Is that shit gonna fly?? He laughs when Ben declares him a hero, and shakes his head. "I'm just a guy who can't say no to sad old ladies." At the mention of Vic, he raises a brow, and simply shrugs, "Vic is an odd one. But so're the rest of us, in our way."
Etsy was launched in 2005 according to Wikipedia. Yay! Though it's really a shame Petra's not going to be a billionaire. She goes quiet for a moment, shoving her hands in her pockets.
Joel does not get away without yarn. If he's quick, he can avoid Ben's yarn-soaked limb flailings. Otherwise, he risks getting ensnared by the unwound shag carpet yarn.
Joel may not be quick, but Katie is, suddenly moving out from under Zack's arm to intercede between Ben and Joel. She might get yarnified, but Joel won't.
WTF Katie.
Zack is left unhugged.
Stop getting in the way of Liane's slash fodder!
Liane smiles at Joel, then glances at Katie, "C-could you k-keep the y-yarn and t-take whatever you w-want, and I'll p-pick up the r-rest t-t-tomorrow. I sh-should be g-going n-now, however. So t-tired." Liane does indeed look a bit worn as she stands, shaking out her skirt and smiling at the yarn-hugs being shared. "G-goodnight, everyone." She says, waving and stepping west. Who needs a car?
Katie is hugging a bag of yarn as a shield, she has no arms for hugging!
Zack is left standing there. Cold and lonely as his cruel sister runs away from him. "We'll keep it at the store." And probably price them and sell them, if the King's Business Sense holds true. "Annie, yer car is in front of the shop."
Joel doesn't get yarn'd, apparently! But Katie does, and as Ben ensnares her, he blinks and sets about an effort to disentangle her. "Who the fuck would even make yarn like this?" he wonders at the orange and green shag. "Jesus." Liane gets waved to as she heads off, "Take care Annie!"
Katie would wave, but she's hugging yarn and now entirely entangled in Ben's yarny webs of doom. She just stands there, keeping a fixed eye on her crazy classmate.
Liane waves as Zack calls out to acknowledge she heard him, but doesn't cease her walking, In fact, she spins around once before she turns the corner, skirts swirling about, and disappears. Obviously there's Vic-odd, and Liane-odd. Liane, at least, has nicer legs when she twirls.
Petra waves a farewell to Liane, her lips lifting into a smile. "Goodnight, Liane!" she calls out, and then turns to look at Katie and Ben, grinning.
Ben is strangely good at webbing people in yarn. And/or, it's just the flailings of his arms. Fortunately, spiderman he is not (merely played by Spidey's friend!) so Katie is rescuable. Although Ben makes it hard, as he keeps lashing about with the dangling yarn, threatening to ensnare anyone who tries to save her. "See 'ya 'round, Liane. Keep work'n on the crazy!" he calls out to the departing woman.
Zack ambles over to stand next to Petra to watch the Chronicles of Yarnia unfold in front of him. "Do you actually know how to do any knitting?" he wonders, still behind the times on the conversation.
Katie just stands there and lets Ben do his crazy worst to her, draping her in yarn, undraping her. She doesn't seem to care. She seems to have zoned out again.
"Nnnnnoooooo," Petra admits to Zack, but then adds, "But it can't be all that hard-- old ladies do it! And I think kids, too! So I'm gonna totally kick ass and take names. Assuming those names are yarn-related. I'm just not sure what I'm going to *do* with my little zombie after I make him."
Joel patiently works on untangling Katie, however... Ben is a tricky foe. And before he knows what's going on, Joel's not only caught in the web, he's tied to Katie. "Uh," the pizza guy says profoundly, as though he's just realized the predicament they're in. "Jesus, Ben, we're all in a snare. What're you doin? What would the pig say?!"
"I think I might need to get involved here," Zack says to Petra. "But I think you should make little zombie arms and legs and use velcro to attach them so you can rip it off. Like a real zombie." Like a -real- Zombie.
The ensnared girl has nothing to say, not even a laugh as Ben manages to bind them all together in a great web of yarn.
Katie is one of those new Yarn Core kids.
Katie is OD'd on yarn!
"The Pig says: Oink," says Farmer Ben, his wild weaving ways wreathing the two. Although the motions do finally calm down. "Hey, you gave me yarn, I'm going to play. I'm part cat, don't you know. Also, I like milk."
"OoOoOoOoOo..." Petra says, excited at the prospect of having a yarn zombie that she can terrorize. "I'm totally gonna steal that idea and say it was mine. If it makes me a million dollars, I'll totally give you at least a nickel." He's going to be rich after all! Her eyes follow the crazy yarn webbing in progress, and she asks Katie after a moment, "You uh-- you okay there, Katie?"
"Joel giveth, Joel taketh away," the pizza guy decides. And straining against his bonds, he manages to break the threads! Cause he's fucking hardcore. He shakes some threads loose, and disentangles others, then attempts to herd Katie out of yarnrange. "You want to head back to the shop, so we can find a place for this stuff?" he offers.
Zack flips a knife out of his pocket and advances on the yarn debacle. "Hold still," he says with a smile. The kind of smile a killer doesn't have. But then Joel goes and steals his thunder. Thanks Joel.
Ben has the kind of smile a killer has! Assuming a killer was a college aged guy laughing his head off. "See? I'd pay for the missing pizza costs, just for the fun right here, right now. But, uhh, can I get some more? I think we broke my toy."
"You have a whole fuckin ball of yarn, dude," Joel points out with YARN LOGIC.
That's more a String Theory.
Katie seems to come out of her zone once more, and looks around, "What? Oh, I'm fine," she says, and it seems to be true. She looks down at the remains of the yarn trap, and then glances at Joel and back to Ben. "Uh, sure, I reckon so. The peach yarn is in here," she says of the bag, which might be why she's hugging it close.. "Did you want Ben to have more yarn to weave more traps?"
"Ben?" Joel asks, with a total disregard of pose order. "Are you going to maim the innocent and inconvenience the pure with your yarn?"
Petra peers over at Katie for a moment, but then grins at the exchange between Joel and Ben. She waits for his reply in silence.
Zack slides his knife back into the folds of his jacket. And don't you forget it. "Clearly he will," Zack predicts Ben's answer after the briefest of glances towards Katie.
"I do need to weave more traps," Ben says, with a faint nod towards Katie. "Joel." All seriousness now. This is man talk about serious business. Involving yarn. "I will not maim the innocent, but if you find me someone pure I may just inconvenience them. Better with yarn than, say, play-dough, right?"
Katie, now free of the string trap, has unwound her arms enough to open the bag. She looks around inside, and pulls out a ball of light purple yarn to hand over to Ben. "Will this work?" she asks him.
Ben gives the ball of yarn a good studying before touching it. From all angles. Just to be sure Katie has not hidden anything dangerous in it. "I... think that will work," he decides, holding out a hand to claim the yarn. "It looks like good training material. I'm hoping Pigglesworth Snortimer is able to knit. Or willing to learn."
"Pigs don't knit," Zack breaks the news to Ben. "But that's a good name for him!" With the Zack seal of approval, you can't go too wrong. Except for that incident back in Dallas... "Oh hey, Petra. When do you wanna see that movie?" he wonders, as he turns back towards the young woman.
"*Most* pigs don't knit," Petra corrects. "But you never know until you give Pigglesworth a chance. He may just surprise you!" She grins a very wide grin at the mention of the movie. "I'm good pretty much any time I'm not in class. I'll be honest-- I don't study overly much. Lazybones. Here, let me give you my number." She fetches a piece of paper and a pen and scratches off her number for Zack, then hands it over.
Katie allows Ben to take the yarn, secretly pleased he didn't detect the bomb hidden in its depths. Her gaze travels to Zack, and then over to Petra, and her attention span seems to zone out again. Maybe she's on drugs! She should probably share, but this time it's shorter, and she stops with the staring to look back at Ben. "You are feeding that poor pig, right?"
Zack pulls out his phone and starts punching the numbers in. Why rely on paper scraps when electrons can do the work for you! "Alright, sounds good. I'm usually at work most days." Katie is a slave driver. "But we close up in the evenin' so I'm free then."
"A steady diet of lettuce, carrots, and, uhh... stuff..." Ben says, tucking the new ball of yarn into his bag. And uploading a picture of the pig to the wiki. The damned thing went from a gag to a key storyline element, apparently! "Really, I put food in front of him, and what he eats, I get him more of." Someone needs to raise his animal ken before PETA (and maybe PETRA) attacks.
Snipping after that point, as character secrets came up, and the scene ended not long after.