The signage has started to go up - Hold My Beer, Inc. The building itself used to be a major rural bank - all brick exterior, clean and fresh. The parking lot is still going in - asphalt - and the building seems to largely be done. In addition to the bank building several other buildings have been added including large scale fencing with razor wire and what appears to be gun ranges for days - including tactical bays that are some 100 feet deep and 50 feet wide, with 20 foot berms of sand and dirt separating them. Directed by BR to go 'round the back', the security gates were open to get back to the 'employee area' where a large garage/loading bay door is rolled open and B'Rays Land Rover is parked. This appears to be storage/receiving with tons and tons of boxes and materials. Billy Ray has on a set of overalls - yes - and his trucker cap on and a kerchief sticking out of a pocket along with enough various tools and multitools for a small Buick dealership. Scout is nearby, the mutt that's around 3 months old now and busily dragging a doggie bed to various places in the huge space along with his newish looking bird toy - as if 'trying them out'. B-Ray hads a heavy semi auto on his hip with spare mags and appears to be working on a very compact, small looking submachine gun as he hums along to some Georgia blues playing on a radio.
Leo had called Etsy once he'd called Billy Ray, and he had eventually figured out a place to pick her up. His car was used, with a sticker on the back indicating which semi-nearby giant lot of used cars it came from. It's also green. He drives along listening to the local radio, so it's to the tune of 'Fool' by Fitz and the Tantrums because that's what's playing on WFRB. "So. Like. This is B-Ray's place." he tells her as he gets out, the slam of the door likely expected by Billy Ray, because Leo had told him he'd be there in 'about thirty four minutes' exactly thirty three minutes and twelve seconds ago. He'd hit a green light he wasn't expecting. And so Leo would lead Etsy back toward the workshop area, where Billy Ray and Scout would be.
"You have a preciseness. It is so nice, that your brain has a precise." So that's where Etsy is wandering mentally right now, sitting in the passenger seat. She's got a smooth blue-furred collar -- or, at least, it would look that way if it weren't for the fact that both Leo and Billy Ray know that's her tiny otter hedgebeast, affectionately called 'mrbl.' One has to feel very bad for the TSA agent who gets handsy with Etsy if she flies, or the guy who tries to grope her on the bus, that is for certain. Otters are fuck-nasty and have awful teeth.
The mermaid's carrying a package, and wearing a white sash across her body, which glows gently. She seems to hover just above the ground, not quite resting the toes of her tatty silk slippers on the earth. "Special delivery!" the siren trills, toting the 'bigger than a breadbox' box in her skinny pale arms.
"Heya, Mister Leo, how you doin' young man?" says B-Ray as he pushes up the microscope glasses he had on, grinning wide, "Y'all want a beer or ... Oh hey, Miss Etsy! I didn' know they was gonna send you! C'mon now, how you been? Ah ain't seen you in damn near forever!" Barking, as Scout realizes they aren't alone and grabs his bird toy to drag it over to Leo. "Welcome to m' new place a' business an' whatnot. Still gettin' it all arranged. Got some chairs over there if y'all wanna sit a spell. Oh man oh man, this is muchly needed, Miss Etsy!"
Leo grins at Etsy, "Thanks, It's.. just time and numbers. Everything else is harder." he admits. He lifts a hand as Billy Ray calls out, nodding with a small amount of satisfaction when Etsy is recognized. "Hey Billy Ray! I'd take a beer if you're offering." he replies. His constellation is a bright lemony yellow as Scout charges over. The starry man crouches immediately, reaching out to lightly grip the bird toy, giving it a little shake and then letting the pup kind of play tug of war against his immobile hand with the toy for a little bit before he gently pulls it out of the dog's mouth and tosses it over away a bit, to give the pup something to chase. He rises up once the bird is in the air, crossing over toward the chairs with a grin, eyes shifting curiously over to the package before he looks over and away, as if trying to be polite about the contents.
"Oh, but time is the hardest of a precise. Time slips like water." Setting down the box on a flat surface, Etsy gestures toward it like the Will Smith meme, and as she does, her sash goes from glowing to just a piece of white silk with wings on it. And now, the courier is off-duty, her package delivered. "Tadah!" And then her hands are clapped together, quick and light. The mrbl lifts its head up from where it rests on her shoulder and stares at Scout, but then it rests its head back down on her again. "Well, they sent me! Actually I asked because I have not seen a you in the long time, so I would come to see the you, Billy Ray. And here I am. Do you have a food?" Her smile is small but briliant, and her eyes shift from a brackish olive to a bright, sunlit sea-green. There are no pupils or iris in her eyes, only the sclera.
"Y'know, ah do! One sec!" says Billy as he ducks into the shop proper. He comes back with a covered plate that he unwraps the foil from - it's resting ribs and sausage and pulled pork - unadulterated with those mean vegetables. He has beers also, one of which he opens and passes along to Leo. "Ah got a pit out back and las' night ah tried throwin' some meat on it t'see how it goes - ah ain't no chef so ah ain't sure how it's gonna go, we'll see!" he tells them. His hand digs into his pockets and comes out with a knife that a quick fingertip flicks open and he slices into the box. He slides out a red and blue and white oil can - labeled Royal motor oil. It appears well seasoned and cleaned and once he sees it Billy gets a whoop - startling Scout who's chasing after that bird toy and stumbling over his own feet to roll heads over heels and peer at his 'dad'. Billy dances around a second or two. "AW YISS," he calls, "Y'done made m'day Miss Etsy! This be a classic 1934 Royal Motor Oil can! Know what ah'm gonna do with this thing? Electric guitar, that's what!"
-> >> Billy Ray to Here << <-=========================================
Rolled 4 Successes
< 1 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 7 8 9 10 10 >
======================-> >> Intelligence + Crafts + 3 No Flags << <-
Leo grabs the beer and then straightens up at the sudden smell of barbecue. "Uh. There enough to share?" He asks in a sly voice, edging over toward the foil-wrapped plate with interest. His attention stays off the package, until Billy Ray whoops and hollars. That draws his attention, his head tilting to examine the oil can for a second or two with a blink. "Wait, you play the guitar?" He asks, head tilting to the side a bit as he does so, still hovering sort of near the food plate to see if more is coming, or possibly, if he can steal a rib. He seems leery of actually getting any of his meat-based bits -between- Etsy and a plate food though.
Leo is, honestly, very wise for that decision. Watching Etsy eat is watching every bit of delicateness disappear for a little bit. And it really is a little bit because despite how much food is on that plate? It's gon disappear REAL fast. She snatches the plate from Billy Ray, crowing, "THANKYOUVERYMUCHTHANKYOU" as though she'd been carefully instructed to say thank you when someone gives her food, and then she skitters off to one side and plops down on her tiny backside. The plate goes in her lap and the food goes in her face.
Etsy's teeth look like pirhana teeth.
Oh, that's just not -- no guy should have to see that happen to a sausage.
That's just not right.
"Yep, ah got plenty! An' got some bread and sauce if'n y'want it," says Billy to Leo, adding just that - white bread, bbq sauce, another plate, fork, knife. A grin at Etsy. Once she's taken her plate a bit of sausage goes onto a plate for the dog, who scarfs it up. "And ah do," he tells Leo, "Kinda, ah mean, ah ain't no real good at it, but ah like to pick now an' then an' ah think a oilcan gee-tar would be pretty damn sweet, right?"
Leo doesn't actually come near the food once its grabbed, that's far too clearly not a place he wants to be near right then. He does watch though, eyes zooming in with their soft whirr to watch her consume the plate of meat with slightly pursed lips. "Huh." is all he says in response to the plate of food being set down in front of him. "Man, I haven't seen anyone 'cept a hob eat like that. That's great." he says with a chuckle, moving to pull his plate in, setting his beer down near it. "Thanks dude, you're always super legit. We gotta get Mads out here sometime. You two still missing each other?" He asks, head tilting to the side, making conversation to cover up whatever sounds emanate from over to the side, where Etsy has run off with her food to pig out. He nods at guitar-chat too, "Yeah, I can't play anything, but I'm pretty good at doing the robot." he says, his left arm lifted up to the side then allowed to drop, every movement precise, mechanical, and perfectly timed. He grins and then picks up a rib, gesturing with it at B-Ray, "Guitar oil can thing sounds legit as hell though. You need any help wiring it up, let me know." he says, as if he's sure B-Ray won't need any help, but he's being polite anyway. Then he tears some meat off the rib he's holding with his teeth and starts to chew.
Most of it is gone in a very short time, though a little bit of each of the types of food is left aside on her plate. (This is also a habit of hers of which Billy Ray would be aware, though she's never explained it.) Etsy wraps up all of those bits of food in the tin foil, very carefully sealing it all away and tucks it into her pocket. There's also a half-sausage left on the plate. She picks up the half-sausage and stands up, drifting back over toward the other two with that held in her delicate webbed hand and the plate in her other. The mermaid drops the plate in front of Scout, and then holds the sausage out to Leo. "I only bit part of it," she assures him. "Only one bite." What a bite, but still, it's TECHNICALLY true.
"Sure sure, that'd be cool! And yeah, we ain't met yet. Ah think Mister Jon - that doctor in trainin' fella? - He says we're supposed ta go out to the junkyard or scrapyard to get some pieces fer a Greenie project we're gonna work on," he says as he snags a rather large piece of rib to toss to Scout and wipe his fingers clean on a napkin. "Ah dabble. It's th' price t'paid fer havin' an inventin' mind an' my Entitlement, y'know, we're always elbows deep in' technology an' wantin' to push th' limits an' make it cooler or better." A grin at Etsy. "Good ah hope?" he asks her as Scout launches himself at the plate to lick it clean - the Etsy gets a tail wag or 100 and a lean against her leg in thanks.
Leo looks from the sausage to his own plate, then reaches up to take the sausage anyway, giving her a small smile. "Thanks. You want another rib?" He asks, lifting one up and offering it to her. He sets the sausage on the edge of the plate for a second as he offers the rib, carely to only hold it by the far end away from the edge. "I probably can't eat that much." He says, his own plate heavy with meats. He nods over to Billy Ray and nods a few times, "Elbows deep in tech. I get that." His constellation tinkling softly toward pink for a second as he says it, followed by a quick grin. Then he leans in against the table, "Thanks for indulging my paranoia, by the way, both of you. Some weird guy came into town and claimed the Gentry were like right on his heels. I dunno if I believe him? Possible he's just gone crazy, but I've been hella paranoid lately."
"Greenie? What a Greenie is?" Etsy's approach to grammar is sort of similar to a berserker running into battle splattered with blood and wildly swinging a sword. She'll hack her way through to the other side and maybe when she gets there she won't have died in battle with words and meaning. "ThankyouforafoodBillyRay," she answers him in a rush when he asks if the food was good, and she bobs her head once, twice, three times. "Leo said, you would make a barbecue and you did, you made a barbecue, because of a hick." Solemn nod, eyes wide. She continues to hold the sausage out to Leo, a most solemn expression on her face. Look, when Etsy offers you food, you might as well be made of gold. He takes the offered food, and she beams brightly, almost literally. Her pale skin is suffused with light, and her Spring Mantle flares brilliantly. Tiny little white flowers clamber across the ground, and the air around her is suffused with the scent of salt water and the distant sound of waves. She scritches Scout's ears absently, and the mrbl protests quietly, then snores. Tiny otter snores. "Oh, They are always having a chase, and on our heels being just just. But if you have a tricksy, then you are doing okays."
"Greenie is a type of local group - they focus on gardening and healing. They got a few different groups here - Custodians focus on knowledge an' research, Harvestmen focus on fightin' and protectin', Greenies healin' an' whatnot, and there's another one ah think." Scout sighs, happily, flopping and showing belly as his tongue lags out, the bone from the rib in his teeth - he's happy, cause no one EVER gives him scritches, EVER. Billy Ray grins at the two.
Leo nods at the Greenie question, smiling over at Etsy a bit and then looking to Billy Ray. "Greenies grow the gardens. Custodians uh.. they keep secrets. S'the big ones I know about." he says with an easy smile. Leo picks the offered sausage up off the plate when it becomes clear how brightly Etsy shines, and he plops it into his mouth, chewing it and swallowing it with a smile at the woman. He nods at her again, and adds, "Yeah. S'why I'm not like.. walkin' around with a sword on my hip or anything. You got your tricks, you can stay hidden. The problem is really like.. you know. Uh. Like if they're also being tricksy, then someone might get fucked with."
Flopping down on the ground next to Scout, the mermaid -- who still doesn't actually seem to touch the ground, her clothes don't get dirty, despite being the rattiest old things ever -- rolls on the earth next to the dog and starts rubbing his belly with both of her webbed hands, as the mrbl slides almost bonelessly off of her shoulders and snores on the ground. "You are a dog good, good doggo, yes, best puppers." Sitting up, she adds, "I will have a ribs please Leo, you did make an offer and I did not say yes because you had not said yes yet. Please a foods thank you!" Those hands she just used to pet the dog? Yeah, she reaches for food with them. She really is a wild little creature. "It sounds like a Greenie is a thing which is good for people who like a growing. I am not a fighting, I am a escaping. No Harvestmans. I am good for a healing, and a growing, and a getting out of jail free card."
Billy Ray nods to Leo, "An ah think Waykeepers - they like welcome to new folks an' maintain this cool Inn place fer new Lost. An' the Watchers, don't know much a'bout 'em. An really?" this to Leo at his words a few sentences back about the Gentry, "It's important t'know that stuff anyway, paranoid ain't really a bad thing when it comes to our new life, knowwhatImean?" A nod to Etsy, "Y'should talk t'Mister Ian then, the head Greenie fella, they always lookin' fer good healers an' growers!"
Leo reaches over to grab a rib when asked, plopping it down onto her dog-dirty hands, since that's apparently where she wants it. He grins down at her, "It's ok! Thanks for the sausage very much, it was super good." he says to her. Then he looks over at Billy Ray with a nod, "Yeah. I mean. I'm being way more cautious, that's why when I met Etsy I called you and checked before setting up a meet. Never know what some rando you meet on a run is actually thinking." He says with a small shrug. Then he glances down at the girl on the ground, and says, "Wasn't super worried about Etsy though." He admits, with a grin over at Billy Ray.
"Ian, like Sean, like John, head Greenie, okay!" And then Etsy with her tiny sharp teeth sets about shredding the very last bits of pork from that rib, staring up at the rest of the conversation with wide, considering eyes. Chew chew chew. "Thash becausch I have a goodness, and not a scary." She really WOULD be a good Privateer if she wanted to be, that's kind of the scary part. Who can be afraid of that delicate, seems-so-honest face? Chewchewchew.
Billy Ray grins at Etsy and Leo, "In fact, we got a meetin' on Sunday, Miss Etsy - at th' farm they run, a kinda collective thing ah think, not sure? Anyway, ah can git you the address an' give ya a ride if'n y'wanna go! You too, Mister Leo, o'course," he adds.
Leo nods a few times, grinning down at Etsy, "Yeah, you have a goodness not a scary." he agrees simply. He looks to Billy Ray for a second and nods, "I'll think about it. I'm not like.. super a green thumb or anything, you know?" he says with a grin. Then down to Etsy, "So, are you gonna want a ride back eventually, or do you wanna stay with Billy Ray for a while? I don't care either way, I think you can get a cab if you need it."
"On Sunday," agrees Etsy, and she pokes the sleeping pile of fur next to her. "SUNDAY, A GREENIES MEETING," she tells her hedgebeast, who trills annoyedly at her, and then coos, half-asleep, "I heard." So the mrbl can talk. She wiggles her toes in her silk slippers -- there's a tiny hole on the arch of one of them. "Oh! Um. I have a happiness, one way, another way. I like you, I do not want to cost you a monies, or me a monies, I like Billy Ray, but he has a business." She points after him as the other Spring heads off to his work for a bit. "You tell me, Leo. I am... it is a good. You drive a preciseness. And your car is a green." Which she likes. Is it green? Or is she misremembering?
There's a blink at the sudden shouting, his eyes moving over to examine mrbl for a moment. He grins down at the sleepy otter then looks back over to Etsy. "That's awesome." he says, pushing up with a small stretch. He gives Etsy a small shrug, "I mean if you're down to stay, I've got some errands to run. I've gotta do some training in like sixty two minutes so I can drop you off somewhere on the way if you wanna go now. It's no big deal, but I do gotta get going fairly soon." he says, gesturing back at the very green car. "In my Green Preciseness." he says with a grin at her.
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