riverviewlogs | It's a party, ya'll

Entry tags:

It's a party, ya'll

who: Everyone's invited!
what: That potluck he mentioned
when: Saturday afternoon
where: The park
warnings: None so far!

[True to form, Remy pulled out all the stops for this particular potluck. He has it on good authority that Rogue's bringing cornbread, but he's got what seems to be a wireless two-burner setup that he's brought along to the park, one of which is dominated by a very large pot of fragrant and spicy gumbo, and the other by a very large pot of cooked white rice, on warm. There's a small table with plastic-seeming (but totally biodegradable) bowls and utensils, two large coolers (because people might be bringing drinks), two big folding tables (for all the things that might be brought) and a big expanse of the park to cop a squat in and have some good grub, place some outdoors-y things, and have some fun! The park as a grill too, if someone wants to fire it up!]

(OOC: Feel free to post your own starters and have a ball! This is meant to be fun, after all. If you want Remy specifically, let me know! He'll be wandering around.)

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[He'd noticed the shiver and, at the moment, it was vaguely annoying. He wasn't trying to make her shiver or excited in any way. He was expressing his displeasure at her forcing him to come. He could have been at the bookstore looking over materials for his classes, or even looking for books and other things for his own, now growing library. Instead, he was here with Alex in a place where he knew no one and had even less inclination to get to know them. This was hardly how he wanted to spend his time.

Richard let out a heavy sigh over her ear, knowing it would have the reverse effect on her then he really meant. That is unless she decided to leave the picnic and go back to the housing complex with him. He wouldn't mind that at all.]

How long are we going to be here?

[As much as she liked the growl, Alex knew his annoyed sigh probably better than anyone else. Normally it was sort of a fifty-fifty shot if she was going to be annoyed back or try and defuse the situation. Sometimes Alex herself didn't even know until the words came from her mouth. Today, however she just ended with a soft sigh in return, and as a response she just slipped her hand into the crook of his arm and gave it a soft squeeze before she smiled up at him.]

Not long.

[Her voice was soft, because she meant it. The last thing she wanted to do was push him into full on arms crossed over his chest super annoyed mode. She did it on accident often enough, and she didn't want to cause this over dragging him out to something. But he needed to get used to being here, and over his delusion of it being a delusion. The best way of doing that, Alex herself had found, was to realize that these were real people going about their real lives.]

Besides, it gives you a chance for observation seeing people not doing the whole mourning thing. And look, wine and gumbo that you don't need to cook! You don't have to be best friends with them, Richard. Just meet them.

Edited 2018-05-08 02:09 (UTC)

[There was another sigh, but he slipped his hand from his pocket, sliding his arm up so his fingers could twine with hers. This was a part of his life that Alex could never understand. She was an extrovert and naturally likable. In fact, it was damn near impossible to hate Alex Reagan. It took force and determination. It was why he'd come back every time he tried to pull away.

He, on the other hand, was nothing like that. He was a force that repelled others. Unless, apparently, your name was Alex Reagan. Ruby didn't count on the list because she was an employee; Charlie wasn't on speaking terms with him until just recently. There was only Alex. He didn't expect that to change any time soon. He was, after all, abrasive and stubborn.

He knew that. He knew his faults and flaunted them proudly. He doubted anyone would be interested in getting to know someone like that.]

I like cooking, Alex. And I'm not exactly a likable person.

Edited (I REMEMBERED WHAT I WANTED TO SAY!) 2018-05-08 04:59 (UTC)

[Alex Reagan is one hundred and twenty percent of introvert. She can't help it, it's just who she is. And though she does try to understand Strand's introverted nature, there's just a part of her that will never get it. But it wasn't the only reason why she was dragging him to things and forcing him to meet people. There was only so many things that he would be exposed to on his own terms, and she was of the opinion that the only way he was going to get over the delusion of this being a delusion was to give him more data.

In her mind, people equaled data. He wouldn't believe this place was real until he could proof it, and this was a way of getting him proof.

Alex's fingers tightened around his, and she just grinned at the not exactly a likeable person comment.]

Is an hour or so with wine and food so bad, Richard?

Yes.

[The answer was immediate. An hour, a half hour, even several minutes in an area with people who he was supposed to be 'getting to know' was an unusual form of torture to him. He felt, uncomfortable, by the very thought of it. Except here he was, walking head-on into just that. Because of Alex.

Because it was Alex, and because he knew her far too well, he relented. It wasn't worth fighting over; especially now that they were there. However he would get back at her for this, eventually. For now, he just let out a heavy, frustrated sigh.]

One hour. At most.

[He would, of course, accept less time, but not more.]

Okay, okay, one hour at the most.

[He was trying, and so Alex would be agreeable too and not push him past that limit. Compromise, they could do it, even if they were two incredibly stubborn people with incredibly strong personalities. It was one of the reasons that they liked each other so much, even with everything that had happened to them. Honestly, if they weren't their partnership wouldn't have lasted past that first episode.]

Thank you, Richard. I mean it.

[And then she smiled up at him and gave his hand another squeeze, because she was glad that she'd gotten him even out of the apartment if nothing else.]

Do you want wine or do you want me to see if I can find something stronger?

[He was doing his best, honestly, but Richard was far more out of his depth here then he would be in a UFO abductees meeting. Still, he'd try, if he had to.]

I think a middle-aged man drinking wine by himself might be, awkward.

[There might have been some self-deprecation there. A humbleness that hadn't often shown around Alex, but he also didn't feel well, and he didn't want to be here. Besides, the mental picture did seem a bit shady.]

Pfft. You're not drinking by yourself. You're drinking at a gathering. Way less awkward. But I can still try and find something stronger.

[A grin, because she is from Seattle and people from Seattle are beer snobs and it's just a thing along with being a coffee snob and Alex is probably never going to get those particular things out of her habits.]

I suppose I could try and find you a can of budweiser if it would help...

[Don't be fooled by that innocent look, Richard. Alex clearly knows what she's doing.]

[She's goading him, that's what she's doing, and he knows that better than most.

Still, he'll rise to the bait, slightly.

A brow rose just a bit at her suggestion and the corner of his mouth threatened to smirk.]

And I thought you didn't want to poison me.

[Richard could be called a lot of things, but a beer drinker was not one of them, and especially not a cheap beer like that. He was hard liquor and fine wines, a product of before his times and branching into it. A product of his father, his upbringing, and of being used to drinking alone.]

It just the sort of thing to make you look less awkward, Richard.

[Yeah, she's grinning openly at him now, and then she's off for a minute, before returning with two red solo party cups. They aren't the weighted crystal decanters and glasses that Strand had at his house, and they're certainly not his good scotch, but they're better than nothing, and she hands him one with a smirk.]

Here, this should help make you look like you fit in.

[He gingerly takes the cup from her and just, looks at it. This is ridiculous. He wants to go back to the apartment and have a proper drink. You drink out of glasses, not cheap plastic cups filled with - what was this thing even filled with?]

I look ridiculous, and what is this?

[He seriously can't tell, or maybe he's distracted by the stupid red cup.]

Bourbon. Close enough to scotch for a picnic, yeah?

[Alex takes a sip of hers, and she's surprised when it's nowhere near as bad as she was expecting it to be. But then again, Alex isn't bothered by drinking out of red solo cups even though her college days were well behind her. She still has a small army of interns and the studio still hosts a fair amount of parties and well, interns are college students.]

Better than nothing, yeah?

I don't, attend, a lot of picnics, Alex.

[It was a dry comment, and, contrary to what his entire being we telling him he lifted the cup to his lips and drank. He was sure he looked ridiculous doing it, but at least it was tolerable.]

I have met you, love.

[Alex grinned at him once more, and she raised her glass to him in a sort of toast, before she checked her phone, hitting a few buttons on it.]

Okay. Fifty-three minutes. You can handle fifty-three minutes. I promise.

I'll let you know in fifty-three minutes.

[He continues to frown deeply as he takes another drink from his cup.]

Go, enjoy your picnic.

[For a minute, Alex considers kissing his cheek, and she even moves in to do it, but stops at the last minute with a quick smile. She's already decided that she's going to let him be the one to kiss her next time, because well, he's the one who is new here, thinks this is a delusion and hasn't been involved in a relationship since Coralee.

And this is very new and different.

Instead, Alex just settles for a quick grin, and a squeeze of his fingers, before she adds:]

I'll be back soon.

I'll, be here.

[Drinking from his ridiculous cup of bourbon in a suit and wishing he were at home with a good book. He'd even add Appo to the thought. The dog was surprisingly pleasant to have around.]

[Ten minutes later, Alex returns, and while it's not to leave (she knows he's going to be disappointed about that!) she is carrying a fresh red solo cup and offers it to him with a grin.]

Found some whiskey. I think it's the same brand that the Sheriff had.

[He knows she's not going to want to leave yet. It hasn't been their agreed on time, and he can't imagine Alex wanting or relenting to leaving early on her own. In fact, if she had it her way they'd stay until the picnic was over and then she'd force him to offer to help clean up.

The whiskey and comment, however, bring up a good memory. Richard had liked Sherrif Osenga quite a bit. He was practical, blunt and had good taste in liquor.

Richard pours the rest of his bourbon into her solo cup before taking the whiskey.]

Sherrif Osenga had glasses.

[Still, he'll drink it. It's good whiskey.]

[That actually pretty much was Alex would have done to a t if they'd not already agreed to go in an hour. It's what she tended to do back at parties at the studio, or at Casa Bae, even if Paul's wife would shoo her away from doing it. Wiggling her nose up at the extra bourbon in her glass, Alex just rolled her eyes and took another drink of it. Bourbon wasn't her drink of choice either, but she was nowhere near as picky as he was.

In anything at all, really.

But she does gesture around them.]

Pretty sure Sheriff Osenga wouldn't be using glasses out at a picnic, Richard. It's definitely asking for them to get broken and making the party end with a trip to the hospital to get glass out of someone's foot.

More reason not to go to picnics.

[There's a smirk on his face as he drinks the whiskey out of the stupid red cup.]

[He's not the only one who can smirk, because Alex does one in return, which is definitely laced with more than a little innuendo. (She should have eaten before the bourbon.)]

You just haven't been to the right picnics.

[Well, this was a curious development. Richard knew what he would consider the 'right kind of picnic, but what was Alex thinking? Especially with that interestingly coy smirk.]

And what are the 'right kind of picnics'?

[The smirk stayed on her face as she dumped her whiskey into his glass, making them even for it, and then she took a sip of her bourbon before she answered.]

I suppose I could spell it out for you if you want evidence, Dr. Strand.

[Yep, it was the flirty one that she used all too often.]

[His brows rose as he grew more curious as to what she was going to say. They'd always skirted the line of friendship and, something more, but there had always been a line.

Until that night that she couldn't remember, and even then things had been too serious to flirt or insinuate things.]

I pride myself on evidence-based conclusions.

[He reaches out to inconspicuously run the back of his fingers over her arm.]

Edited 2018-05-10 23:44 (UTC)

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