The Perk - Monday morning.

[mages_suck]

Fenris was stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the weather. He went out in normal clothing, no appropriate outerwear. He conceded that shoes were necessary and grumblingly wore those.

The intent was to go for a walk. That intent didn't last very long. He ducked into the Perk and ordered a large black coffee.

Letting his hands wrap around the mug to warm them up, he eyed the weather outside balefully. Sizing it up as though figuring out where its weak point was so he could kick it there.

It was that kind of day.

[Open!]

Comments

[somethingwithturquoise]

There was definitely a type.

"Oh, no, thanks," Summer held up a hand that soon rested a little regretfully on her stomach. If it hadn't been after a Sunday, she might have taken him up on it, buuuuut... "I am definitely good there, but it's nice of you to offer. And to bring some to Tip, too."

She debated with herself for about two seconds on whether or not she should before she went ahead and asked, "You two a thing yet?"

She was soooo out of the loop on those things! Well, excepting whatever the squirrels decided was chitter-worthy for the week, anyway.

[always_someone]

Were you trying to make Norman's ears go red, Summer? Because that was how you made Norman's ears go red.

"A thing? Yet?"

Hello, Summer. Meet Deer-In-Headlights Babcock.

[somethingwithturquoise]

As a matter of fact, a reaction like that was what helped her decide in those two seconds, so Summer was just going to give herself a mental pat on the back there.

"I'm gonna take it that's a nooooo then," she said, and, hey, at least she tried not to smirk too much. "So, what have you been up to, then? Anything interesting?"

[always_someone]

"I mean, I was a crab for about a week, which led to me getting arrested, and there was a tattoo, and-- can we back up to the 'yet' part again?"

Because she had said 'yet.'

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Mmmmmmmmmmm." Summer narrowed her eyes as she clearly gave that question some serious consideration, even though she knew the answer was going to be the swift and conclusive, "No," that she gave.

"I mean, yet's pretty self-explanatory, isn't it? That other stuff, though. I mean, obviously not the crab part, that's, like, whatever, no big deal, I was a squirrel for a week, but getting arrested? And a tattoo?"

Summer almost looked impressed. Almost. She was holding that until she had better deets.

"It's not in a place I'm going to totally regret asking about, is it?"

[always_someone]

"Not unless you've got a weird hang-up about wrists," Norman replied, tugging up his sleeve to show off the little ghost.

It was tiny and adorable and he'd totally fight anyone who didn't like it. Probably.

"It's more exciting than the arrest bit. Marginally."

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Awwww," said Summer, tilting her head as she took a better look, because it was tiny and adorable, and now she was wondering if she should get a tattoo, and she should definitely not get a tattoo, but now she was thinking about it, and it was all your fault, Norman.

"But I don't believe that," she said. "It's cute and all, but that hardly seems like the kind of ink that'd be more exciting than an arrest. Unless it was, like, the troopers were just bored and being dicks or they thought you were someone else or something."

[always_someone]

"... I turned back from being a crab in the middle of town and Detective Diaz caught me trying to get into the clothing shop because the island thinks it's funny and turned me back right across the street from it."

And just when Norman thought it wasn't possible for his ears to go more red, lo, there they went.

At least he wasn't hiding behind his whipped cream.

[somethingwithturquoise]

Which would have been a very viable option.

"Well, that's just your own fault," Summer said after a moment of putting those pieces together. "Once I hit the several-days mark on the whole squirrel thing, you better believe I wasn't leaving my apartment for anything until I turned back to human again.

"I do like, though, that it was an actual cop and not just a trooper," she added. "That does make it a little more," she lifted a curved hand like making a demarcation in the air, "next level."

[always_someone]

"Lucky me, I guess," Norman sighed. "Now my parents think I'm doing drugs or something. Which... admittedly, isn't the worst thing they've ever assumed about me, but it was a great time talking them out of not just dragging me back to Blithe Hollow."

And it would have been just before Halloween, to. Nope. No thanks.

[somethingwithturquoise]

Summer's smirk was still teasing, but it had softened a little bit with some sympathy. "I don't think parents who actually send their kids here have any room to talk about being on drugs," she murmured, "but, hey, whatever you did tell them, you're still here, so at least they actually seemed to listen."

Family members who listened? Without the threat of anyone almost dying first? What a novel concept.

"So what, then, is the marginally more exciting tattoo story?"

[always_someone]

Hey, it had taken Norman almost dying first for them to start listening in the first place!

"I got the tattoo the same day I got arrested," he explained. "Detective Diaz threw me into one of the jail cells, chucked me some pants, and once I got those on I realized a classmate was in there and she'd managed to put together a tattoo gun out of..." He paused. "You know, I'm not actually sure. But it means I can wave the little ghost around and tell people it was a prison tattoo or something."

A pause.

"Maybe not the most intimidating prison tattoo."

But it was for him, not for other people, so there.