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While not freezing just yet, that doesn't stop early snows from frosting the ground, to be blown away or to melt, making the streets wet, potentially slick in some places. Thanksgiving week is starting though, a few places around town setting up for winter already, lights being prepared for lighting up the town on Thanksgiving day. Firehouse Grill not yet ready, still building up to Thanksgiving day festivities, they set up they day after usually. Meadow has big plans for the tree this year, well, every year, but this year even bigger.
Sam is betwixt it all, looking tired most days, but its school break this week at least. Or what classes he has on the first few days don't require much at least. Before going in to close at the Grill, he's gone to Judy Dee's, more interested in a chocolate malt at the moment, and hounds down, Judy Dee's has the best. He'll admit that, not family favoritism at all. So he's in there, huddled up over a shake, probably looking out of sorts as wanting a shake on a cool day that hints at the winter to come. He is leaning over to get at that shake while sitting at the long bar, but facing out to windows, not trying to be a loner at all.
The slippery surfaces of the sidewalks are hazardous at the best of times, add in the extra encumberance of pregnancy and you have a waddle-walking Ashton, despite the true waddling stage being months away. She pushes her way into Judy's and tugs off her beanie hat, dragging a hand through her unruly mop of red hair. "Hey there Copper Top," comes a greeting from an old man that is friendly with her grandfather. The name is said affectionately despite it having been used more like a racial slur against Irish and Scots immigrants to these parts nearly two hundred years ago. "Hey yourself Old Man," quips Ashton in reply. She presses a kiss to the man's bald head as she moves on more sure footing to sit down at the counter.
"Hey Sammo." Ashton, flicks a napkin his way to get Samuel's attention. "Moonlighting at Judy's now?"
Turning his head up at the arrival and friendly greeting, despite its history, Samuel fins a grin hitting one side of his face. Malt taken from being attached to his face, via the straw like some lifeline, there is a lift of his hand by the time she greets his way and flicks the napkin. Its a two finger up sort of wave, one or two shakes. "Hey Ash," returns the boy, "Absolutely, anything for a free malt … literally, working for peanuts." Or malts, but not really. He looks along the bar slightly, offering a seat if she's not intending to sit with others somewhere in the establishment. "My weakness," the malts, "Makes up for the mediocre season we're having this year." The in-town college team, he supports them, even if they're not at the top of their league.
She moves down a few stools so she is sat next to Samuel. "They are good. Nectar of the gods." Ashton orders herself the same as Sam and sits back to wait for it. "How're you doing? Sleeping alright?" The questions are posed quietly so as to keep them as private as possible in public.
"The worst sort of addiction," Sam throws in, at least from his perspective that is, cause more calories to work off at some point. Turning more to her, joining in the quieter conversation. "About the same, I've taken a few days off lately from work - Amelia's insisting, caught up on school too, but still comes. I've jotted down a few details from each dream like you said." Taking her advice full on it would seem, he amends, "Amelia says I should speak with Jude about it too." As in, he'll give it a swing, but could be fishing for opinion just the same.
When Ashton's malt comes she slides a five dollar bill over the counter then turns her attention back to Samuel. "Jude?" She says her brother's name more as a question as if she herself were considering the possibility of how helpful he could be. Absently, Ashton stirs her malt with her straw and then nods. "Yes, Jude might be a good idea. He can sometimes see things in a way others cannot." She ducks her head and sucks some of the malt up through her straw. "Mmmm, that is good." A faint smile tilts Ashton's mouth and she looks at Samuel again. "Did you hear that Gooderson blabbed about his cattle? Old fool."
"If he helps somehow, I'll be greatful, just don't want to feel like I'm bothering him," returns Samuel, perhaps redundant to tack on 'you know' as some of the town feels that way, like he doesn't want to be bothered. There is a grin about the malt being good when she has hers and agrees. "I'd moonlight here just to see what it is they do to make them." Just the right combination of the right ingedients is all. Then a nod, slowly, deliberate, "I heard that, has the whole town talking. Gives the window watchers something else to wonder about you, and how much you know, anyone pestering for information yet?" The nod stops with taking the straw, sucking at his own delicious concoction of malt from Judy Dee's once more.
"Jude ain't a people person," Ashton reaches up to tug on an earlobe, "that's true. But he is a good man and he doesn't like to see anything suffering, neither man nor beast. He'll likely help you as much as he is able." Another swallow or two of her malt and she has her elbow propped up on the counter and her head resting on her upturned palm. "And this is Haven Point, folks don't pester. They enquire, subtely - like a rock to the back of the head." Ashton chuckles a little at that.
"I'll make the effort then," returns Samuel, about getting a time to go out to the Brooke place, see Jude. "Any help is a step in the right direction. I did run up by the lake recently, seeing it from there as well." As his mind crosses the two over once he's drowning it seems. There is a chuckle from Sam at the comment on subtle and the folks in town. "How are you holding up," the early waddling due to weather, coupled with Gooderson blabbing and more focus turned her way with events, not asking after the case, just her.
"I'm fine," she says with a dismissive wave and another mouthful of malt. She then has to get him to rewind a little. Sometimes Sam's talk jumps in directions Ashton isn't yet ready to go or needs to recover the ground of. "Your dreams, you saw the lake in them too? Not just the creek?"
A nod of his head, glad she's fine, even if dismissive, he takes her at face value on being dismissive. Samuel lets the straw go from his teeth, lowering the now 1/2 malt he has left to one of his knees. "Its not so much that I see the lake. Its that feeling, I think all people get it. Its unfamiliar location in their dream, but they know where it should be in real life?" He hopes others dream that way sometimes, but he continues to explain, "Its always the creek when I start, just the moving water, you know. Surface looks sort of stable, but you can tell its a deep channel and moving fast down there." He knows the sort from fishing and trying to cast into the deeper parts after bigger fish. "Just in the dream, when I go down, the water isn't moving, it just feels Reservoir than … I guess sort of like that lure you said, I don't know which is which maybe?"
She sucks on her straw as she listens, watching Samuel out of the corners of her eyes. "Mmmm," Ashton pauses to lick her lips, "do you think it's specifically about water then? It is a powerful conduit for so many types of energy." Her head tilts back as she tries to remember something, "What was the name of that boy who died when we were really little? The one that got electrocuted on that rainy day? I remember it being some kind of freak thing but that's all I can remember. Hell, I was only seven or eight, you must not have been that much younger."
"It could be, and just my mind is constructing the creek and the lake subconsciously for reference point?" The feeling in the dream more important than the locations. Samuel isn't sure, but sounds plausible even. As she asks about the boy, he looks at the window a little, his hand tapping the malt still near his knee. As if trying to recall specifics. "Yeah, I remember that, I wasn't allowed to go out in storms for a few months." Eyes shift from window to the floor, "Tommy … Tommy Waller I think. We used to play over at the park, teenage mutant ninja turtles, that kid like Leonardo, no one else could play him." That floods in when the name comes to him. "Yeah, that was Tommy, why did you hear he was having dreams or something before that accident?"
"Tommy Waller," Ashton repeats the name as the memories flood her too. "I remember he liked eating his own boogers. Strange thing to remember." She half laughs and then shakes her head, "No, never heard about him and dreaming. I just thought about how water can mean many things. Reminded me of him dying weird like that."
"Yeah, the strangest things, never knew he ate them, new he was a habitual picker," grins Samuel, finding some of the more fun memories over a passed on. Chuckling and shaking his head, trying not to dweell on the eating, but it happens, always one (or more). "That was a weird one," with all the natural conduits in the area, such as trees and buildings, not like is Arizona deseert, with high probablity of lightning, and little else to attract that electricity. "Thanks," he says, still grinning with the thoughts of Tommy Waller, "Lightning will probably show up in that dream now."
Ashton salutes Samuel with her malt glass, "If it does then you know your dreams are open to suggestion. Next time I'll suggest hula girls." She drinks some more of her malt, having nearly drunk half of it now, and asks, "What do your sisters think of all of this?"
"They think its a little bit of stress and working to hard," offers Samuel, certainly known to be the last one to bed at his place, caring for the rest of the family in his own way. "Meadow is concerned the most. She seems to have some sense when I'm up after the dream, gets up every now and again with me when I can't go back to sleep. She's also concerned about the stone changing colors. We've been trying to see if it looks like some other stone," one condusive to their abilities at least.
Ashton looks at the ring but doesn't reach out for his hand or it, that would certainly send tongue's wagging. "Do you want me to try and see if I can clean it up? Purge it of whatever is causing the change?" She pushes her hair back off her forehead only for it to fall down again. "Have you been to the cranky old folks about it?"
"I haven't been to the cranky folks yet, hoping it clears up," returns Samuel, looking at his ring too, then putting the shake down. "I suppose I should go visit Granma, see what she thinks about it all." Left hand reaches to right, pulling off the ring, "If you don't mind looking at it, that'd be appreciated Ash, if there is something causing that to happen in the stone, maybe that will account for the dreams too." He hands it over if she's willing to take it.
She pulls a napkin from the dispenser and takes the ring with it, explaining, "Just in case." The ring is pocketed and she picks up her malt again, nodding. "Talk to your grandmother. I'll do what I can with the ring. It might not work, but it's worth a try, right? And if it doesn't work, well we'll know that either I'm not strong enough or it isn't cursed."
"Gotcha," returns Sam, when she explains the napkin, appreciative of that. Not thinking of it, he'd guilt if there was something going on with his stone and it spread somehow to others. "Definitely worth a try, Meadow and I were looking in a few books for answers, but not much covering anything like that. Either not there, or I need to work on research skills." Which might help his grades too just a little, if he did work on that.
"Yeah, research is a pain but it is useful. Never have quite stopped doing it." Using her straw she stirs what remains of her malt. "Your grandmother might have some books you can use for research too. I remember my mother talking about the records kept."
Joining in at the end of his malt, Sam takes it until the straw makes that sucking noise to get the last drops, leaving it on the counter while he does so. More turned towards Ashton's side as he finishes his own. "Yeah, I imagine a bit more useful to you to not stop .. researching." Thinking simply on job sort of stuff though. "I wonder if she'll let me borrow one even, that I might be able to read more." As it would relate to him more personally.
"You'll never know unless you ask." Ashton finishes off her malt and slides the empty glass across the counter then looks at Samuel. "I'll get your ring back to you in a couple days either way. Have you tried using it since it changed?"
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OOC Date: 2015.07.15
IC Date: 2014.11.22
Cast: Ashton & Samuel
Judy Dee's
Open at all hours of the day and night, this diner sprawls across the east side of the road, surrounded by an expansive parking lot. It's a little gaudy on the outside. The siding is a reflective aluminum straight out of the 1950s, wrapping around the bottom of the building, split by a wide strip of windows, and then continuing again up 'till the roof, which is flat. A thin red tube light borders the length of the building, matching the sign out front that declares the place simply as Judy's.
Inside the retro decor hasn't been continued. It's rather plain, from the gray tile floor to the booths bordering the windows and the round tables dotting the floor. Ceiling fans whirl lazily above during all seasons, and fluorescent lights above wash out most complexions. The restaurant serves food for all types of clients, but the most popular meals of choice are hamburgers. There is a counter that seats about ten people on short stools located near the kitchen.
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