RP:Dirt

Part of the The Dust Up In Cenril Arc

Summary: Meri and Cal ask questions about one Sterling Townsend to see if they cannot uncover why a lifelong resident of Rynvale has suddenly up and moved to Cenril. They find their answer: Candice Snow.

Arayanne's Clothing Emporium

Meri would ask Callum to meet her out in Rynvale, at some date and time that works for him -- aka one of those days off he actually gets now. It would be known to him that the purpose of this adventure was work-related, at least for her, and not some for-fun outing. Boo. Regardless she would like his help because it was not one of the most horrible jobs she has taken. They just need to walk around the shopping promenade of Rynvale, ask some people some questions about one Sterling Townsend, see what people had to say. The bustle of the promenade is not where this adventure would start. Their meeting point would begin just south of the busy shopping district, at the Kraken Fountain. Meri would be easy to find and sitting in plain view at the edge of the monstrous fountain. Sure they could have met at SoulsKin but then she might get snagged up by a customer. The fountain was a meeting point quite near the promenade, plus the statue of the sea-monster was one of Meri's favored spots. Go figure.

Cal, the poor guy, had to come allllll the way from Larket to get to Rynvale overnight. Working overtime can be a pain, but when your bosses are a pregnant woman and a guy prone to murderous bouts anger (though apparently not so much as of late), you don’t really push your luck there. He’s a bit tired, after all that travelling, but he’s definitely glad to see that blonde chick just sitting there waiting for him. “Hey, sorry I’m a bit late. The boat from Cenril had to take a detour. Apparently someone angered a leviathan and it’s attacking ships every so often?” He really doesn’t know anything about this as he’s been on the mainland for the past few months and pretty far from the coast. “Anyway. Let’s get moving, yeah? We might miss rush hour if we don’t. Can’t ask questions if there’s no people.”

There is a warm smile for Cal the moment she hears his voice but it fades just a bit when she sees that he looks a bit on the tired side. Poor guy. That smile is gone entirely when the leviahan's tantrums are brought up. Meri does not look a bit guilty, not at all, nope. Even if she did know something about that it is not like she could just go and confess that she may have been part of the party responsible for this. Oh my. How many sailors in the immediate area would be less than happy if the overheard -that-? "So. Sterling Townsend. Apparently he is a really good looking middle-aged gentleman who has lived in a Rynvale for all of his life but suddenly has moved to Cenril. Now that he is in Cenril, he is running for mayor. So we need to ask some questions to try and figure out why it is that he suddenly moved from Rynvale to Cenril. I hear his wife is not the...best looking woman...and she also tends to not go to any of his political...outing things..." Look Meri is not a politician, she is not familiar with the fancy verbiage. "Because he is good looking, and his wife is not..it has been suggested to me that maybe we ask around the ladyshops." Ladyshops is said with finger air quotes and a roll of her eyes. A dudebro said this. "You look beat though, babe. If you wanted to go back to the parlor and just crash? Be just fine with that."

Cal would only shake his head and grin at her, “What? And miss out on doing stuff with you today? Of course I’m not frakking going back to the parlor.” That bed -was- nice, though. But, nope. He’d sleep later. Probably much later if this ‘stuff’ took up most of the day. “We can just swing by the inn for coffee in a little while when or if we take a break for a bit. I’ll be fine. Off to these “ladyshops” then?” ‘Ladyshops’. Callum started to wonder which of the dudebros Meri talks to called it that. A shop was a shop, even if some of them sold stuff for the more feminine types. Cal had gone into several with the Sunderia’s captain, Eileen whenever they’d make stops. In the beginning he was all like ‘Come on, Eileen’ and would protest against it, but then he soon warmed up to the places. Some smelled really nice and others had free chocolate to entice the ladyfolk! Or the Cal-folk. A lot of them were filled with flowers too and that was always a plus; whenever Eileen would try on new clothes, Cal would perk up the flowers a bit with his magic. He’s a nice guy, you know. Totally legit. And then he’d even tell her ‘you in that dress, my thoughts I confess’ and ended it with some nice compliments. No, they never verged on dirty because Cal is an asexual sprout. It was a whole thing. Anyway. Yes. Back to the present and not the sad fact that Cal’s best friend is hella dead and probably ashes in the sea somewhere. “You know the shops around here better than I do, so… Ladies first.” He did some overly fancy bow and some sweeping gesture in the direction of said shops.

Poor Cal. Meri doesn't even have the slightest inkling either about the song stuck in Cal's head. I mean, those sad memories, yeah...(It was kind of a catchy tune, maybe, then again more likely is she is probably just not that sort of psion.) Meri is definitely set in the present and in the present Callum earns a smirk of acceptance, no going back to the parlor then, as if Meri was going to argue on that point. "Yeah. What the heck even. This lady...." She points in the general direction of Lucky Gus', the armorer, who occupies the eastern side of the promenade. "If you really want to make an argument that I am one...." This is said with a smirk. "Would prefer to shop there." There were no chocolates or flowers to be had there, Cal, and Meri definitely would not be trying on any dresses. "So fancy," she comments to the bow. Lucky Gus' is not the shop that they would be going to though, they would be traveling past that and venturing into Arayanne's Clothing Emporium -- it seemed like a fair bid at a go at a ladyshop. Right, Cal? One needs to push through numerous strands of silver beads to even make through the entrance of the shop. Meri almost manages to do this successfully. It is not a major, embarassing fiasco or anything, but a strand of those silver beads ends up caught between dagger and belt. Meri does not notice, she expertly keeps waking, one strand of beads meets is death and beads scatter all over the floor. Oh well. This must happen all the time? Who hangs beads in front of a shop entrance? Ugh. This slip up goes mostly unnoticed, save by one woman who is nearby browsing a rack of clothing but she does not really care to say anything. "I am for getting some coffee, depending on how long this takes us. If it takes us that long..." Which depended on what sort of secrets they had to uncover, the more serious it was, the longer it would take. A wink to Cal before Meri would brave her way further into the store and settle into a rack of clothing next to a couple of other female shoppers. Ladyshops. Hmph. Both of those ladies would be greeted with a smile to test the waters of their friendliness levels.

Catalians seemed to be cursed with catchy tunes in their heads, unfortunately. If it’s not songs, it’s about pop culture references from a world they don’t even know about. Oh well. “I’m thinking you might be more of a badass warrior woman than a lady, if anything.” Catalians are also cursed in liking badass warrior women too. Okay, so maybe it’s not really a curse. “I mean, you -did- look really nice in that dress at the coronation, but if it’s not your thing, it’s not your thing.” Cal suddenly has one of those introspection thought processes, realizing all the things he’s done so far for Meri. There was the flower at the ball, the favor to help Lita with those eggs, the picnic basket, and then the cake too. You know, he thought he was just being nice, but maybe his subconsciousness had other ulterior motives that he hadn’t realized. That is to say, maybe he’d had a thing for Meri this entire time and hadn’t realized it? What? No. That’s silly. He doesn’t get much further with this train of thought though because he’s walked into that clothing emporium not far behind Meri, is immediately slipping on all of those beads like he’s some sort of cartoon character, and promptly falls flat on his back with a rather loud thud. Oof. Poor Cal. A breathless “I’m okay” surfaces from the floor where he continued to lay for the next few minutes. Good thing he’s not Brand’s age or else he might’ve broken something. Give him a moment and he will join you, Meri. Also no jokes about him being on his back.

Careful Cal, Meri might one day try and drag you to Hudson and Alvina's and mayhaps they will have misfortune of running into the East's. Tack that for a pop-culture reference totally not understood. Meri hardly has a chance to address that compliment or the fact that Cal thinks she is a badass warrior woman, both bring a smile to her lips. Both sincere, but one was wider than the other. Meri does not even have a chance to start chatting up any of those women as Cal ends up on the flat of his back. What sort of girlfriend would she be if she just left them there? Also what sort of girlfriend would she be if she did not chuckle at his plight a little bit...As she is chuckling, though, she is also making her way over to offer Callum a helping hand to his feet. No jokes about him being on his back? "Well at least you are not feinting on a ship this time," she teases, because no one said no jokes at all. "One day I am going to have a chance to ask you why you were on that ship." It has been on her to-do list with Cal, but they had so much awkwardness post adventure and other things to talk about. Once the guy is back on his feet she favors his jaw-line with a quick smooch and then turns to try and ask those questions. By now many of the shoppers are of course staring at them and the two women that Meri was going to talk to have their judgey-faces on. One woman catches Meri's eye though, a short little brunette who seems to be smiling at Callumeri in an 'aw, that's cute' sort of way when Meri goes for the smooch. In a bit to not be too obvious with her approach, Meri checks out this rack for a little bit. Nope, not that dress. Nope, not that one. Then over to the one this brunette is at, where Meri will try again and greet the woman with a warm smile and a, "Oh that is a nice color. I was in Cenril just the other day and I saw Sterling Townsend's wife wearing that exact color. I think it would look much better on you." Callum is of course welcome to follow Meri toward said brunette, or hunt down his own target for some questioning. Whatever suited his fancy.

Cal blushed quite a bit as he’s helped up and accepts Meri’s kiss, “Right. Yes. That. One day.” But today was not that day thankfully, because yes people were staring and Cal’d become quite aware. He’d clear his throat awkwardly, as if to say ‘show’s over folks’ before heading to a different section of the store. There he managed to find a redhead (not THAT redhead that Meri knows, mind you) and cautiously went up to her as she looked through a rack of rather form-fitting black pants with various tiny crystals and gems encrusted onto the butt pockets. “Hey, so, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to bug you for too long, but I was wondering if you could help me. My girlfriend’s birthday is coming up in a couple days--” he motioned at Meri across the store “--and I’m a total klutz and forgot to get her something.” Wait when -was- Meri’s birthday? This was not a thing he knew and he probably should. “She told me a million times that she loves the things that Sterling Townsend’s wife wears and I’ve not gone and done my research on her yet. Been working overtime just to be able to get her something nice.” Cal put on those awkward airs again, this time for show, and rubbed the back of his head as he gave a the woman a bit of a chuckle. Aw, isn’t Cal sweet? He really truly cares about the things his girlfriend says. Totally. (I mean, he actually does, but he is also really working that ‘I’m an attentive boyfriend who would do anything for his woman’ act.)

The short brunette goes by Patti. She's an older, but hip mom of one and on the loose so to speak, in that her husband is watching their child today. She likes the look of Meri and Cal because they remind her a bit of herself and her husband, before children, though her easy smile freezes at the mention of Sterling Townsend's wife. "Oh," she says, in a certain tone. "Hm. That's interesting," she adds, conspicuously. She reconsiders the dress, which of course is very 'rich mother about town,' and she'd liked prior to this remark, though now she feels strange toward it. She appraises Meri with a sort of shrewd expression. "Did it go well with her brown hair?" she asks, in the sort of calculating and yet airy tone that suggests she's trying to quiz Meri on whether the woman she saw was really Sterling Townsend's wife... or someone else. Meanwhile, on the other side of the store, a redhead named Janine is being prodded by Cal. Janine is younger - hence the fancy butt jeans - and delighted to assist Cal in also finding fancy butt jeans for his girlfriend. That look she shows on him seems to harden in confusion when he mentions Sterling Townsend's wife as the woman whose personal style Cal is looking to emulate on behalf of his girlfriend. "Sterling Townsend's wife?" she asks, her tone hushed. She looks around them, and then at Cal once more, a look of concentration darkening her features, into something conspiratorial. "I think you're thinking of someone else," she whispers. "Did your girlfriend describe Sterling Townsend's wife? Like a blonde woman?"

Meri was being motioned at from across the room, a gesture she catches from her peripheral vision. Obviously Cal is cooking up some sort of story involving her, with the chick looking at the bedazzled jeans. First glance almost has her thinking that Cal is talking to one of the redheads she knows but she quickly realizes that no, this is not so. Would any of her redheaded friends shop bedazzled jeans anyway? Hm. While Meri is not entirely sure of what they are talking, she decides that it is a good idea to wave toward Cal and Janine but that is about as much attention as she is able to give them. She might be missing out on information that Patti may or may not have to offer if she focuses on what Cal and Janine are talking about. Please no purchasing of the fancy butt jeans. Wave aside, Patti has all of Meri's attention once more. Admittedly there were plenty of lies being told in this little shop right now. Meri honestly had not seen Sterling Townsend's wife, ever, and she had absolutely no idea what color hair this woman did or did not have. Which also meant that she did not provide Callum with a description outside of the detail that she was not one of the best looking women. What Meri could pick up on was a shift of demeanor in Patti but why exactly this occured was not yet entirely clear to Meri. Patti seemed both curious and hesitant at the same time, like she were looking for information to perhaps. "I mean, she could really use some work on that hair of hers, really out of style." Again, Meri had no real idea but as far as this Patti woman knew Meri could be the catty sort. "But it did not clash with the brown or anything no..." Every so often Meri would glance toward Cal to try and determine if he was having much luck gathering info.

Ah, hell. Meri didn’t give him any sort of description of the woman and as this ‘Janine’ spoke to him, she was clearly skeptical, Callum started to wonder if Sterling Townsend’s wife was even frakking real at this point. Hm. “I think she mentioned it was kind of blonde? But other times, in the right light, it could look brown, or even red. What is that? Highlights and lowlights and such. Hairdyeing, that is.” It could literally frakking be anything for all Cal knew. Maybe it was purple. Who frakking knows? Cal feigns a look of concern, those raven-colored brows of his knitting together. “You don’t know anything about her do you? What she wears? I’ve been working so much that I’ve missed out on a couple of our date nights and I wanted to make it up to her.” Well, it wasn’t entirely untrue; he -had- missed those ‘dates’ with Meri. He’d catch Meri’s wave out of the corner of his eye, then gave a bit of a wave back. “Please? I’m desperate.” Very sad puppy-dog boyfriend eyes are given to Janine. Look at him. He’s all pathetic and distressed.

Patti gives Meri a careful smile. "So we -are- talking about Betty Townsend," she says, draping the dress over her forearm for trying on later. "I wasn't sure," she adds, continuing to browse the array of dresses. "I would think she would be keeping a lower profile all things considered, but good for her." Meanwhile, Janine turns a wild-eyed look at Callum, like she's no idea where he's going with this. "Well, you're confusing them," she says, now adopting a sort of lording attitude, she's imparting her wisdom on him as he's clearly in need of a gossip education. "His wife is a brunette," explains Janine, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper and moving to a new aisle, "She has a sort of dowdier style. His mistress, however," she pauses, and looks at him to make sure he follows, "blonde, much younger, say, fifteen years? And would be more likely to be shopping here. Unless you're dating a much older woman, or your girlfriend likes dressing like a mom, I would say we're looking to emulate Candice Snow, not Betty Townsend." She smiles anew, and pulls out a little black dress, which she hands to him. "Here. This is so Candice. I imagine she won't fit into these types of outfits much longer."

Betty Townsend. Even that name sounded rather boring, too boring to even be considered basic. Betty was a nickname surely? Callum seems to luck over there with a gabby gal who is leading him toward? ...No, Cal. Please do not buy anything in this store in an attempt to gain information. From the glam butt jeans to the little black dress. Meri tries not to look mortified and quickly lets her gaze rest entirely on Patti. Cal was just talking, he was not going to buy anything silly. It is not that Betty was a total waste of Meri's time and effort, but the woman was being much more calculated with the information she opted to reveal and Meri cannot fully hear that Janine has just unloaded all of the dirt onto Cal. So, she keeps asking questions and pushing for information in that gossipy sort of way that many women partake in. Even Meri sometimes, even if it was a calculated move today, "With all things considered? She would be keeping a low profile? What do you mean? Why ever for? Her husband is running for Mayor? Shouldn't she be out and about with him? Shaking hands and kissing babies?"

A mistress, eh? Oh that’s good. That’s really frakking good. Cal did his utmost not to look like he’d been given the juiciest tidbit of information ever known amongst womenkind and nodded along with Janine. “Candice Snow? Hm. Yeah, maybe -that’s- who she was talking about.” He eyed the little black dress, but didn’t pick it up. “Right, yes. I will keep all of this in mind and take another look around.” Cal side-eyed Meri in her spot across the shop, looked like he was going to continue on elsewhere, but then took a step back and addressed Janine again, “But why would she not fit into these much longer?” The Catalian started putting two and two together, the lightning bolt going off in his head as he hears Meri mention ‘babies’. “Candice Snow isn’t...pregnant...is she?” His olive-tinted skin gained a shade of red after voicing that thought. Oh geez. Babies. Ugh.

Patti ceases looking at clothing and levels a look on Meri, shrewdly assessing whether the woman can possibly be serious. "The whole second family situation?" she asks, and then promptly resumes going through the racks. "Alleged second family," she clarifies, with a tight smile. "But I'm not one to gossip so we'll leave it there. Good luck browsing." She quits the section to move to the register, where she is rung up by the woman there. Not one to gossip but dropping bombs, OK! Meanwhile, Janine is simpering as she picks through the clothes. Well of course Cal had asked about Candice... Candice is more age appropriate unless Cal's dating a cougar. Janine's eyebrows wing upward at his next question. She takes full stock of his blushing face, and then throws her head back and LOLs at him. "I'm sorry, your face," she explains, once she's past this hot second of cackling and has tempered herself to a state of mild giggles. "You should have seen it," she adds. "Yes, I believe that's the word around town, she's starting to show if you know to look. No wonder they moved." She gives Cal an impish look in case she's scandalized him with any of her remarks. "I think I'm done here," she announces, gesturing at the clothes she's made Cal hold. "Get the dress, do it! It's so Candice. Gosh I love her clothes. Say what you will but she always looks pretty." Because, as it turns out, the infamous Candice is a well known and beloved actress at the theatre in town.

It would seem that Meri is not having too much luck with Patti, a few snipits of information that she could probably have used to ask more questions to a more chatty dame. Patti moves to check out and Meri's baby blues swivel around the shop in half contemplation, debating who to set her sights on next. There is another blonde in the room that looks like she might be willing to chat up a storm but oh gods, Cal has that look on his face again and Janine seems to be having a good laugh at him. It's okay Janine, Meri has this problem too. Cal is...well he's Cal. Rather than approaching the blonde, Meri moves over to where Callum and Janine are chatting. The both of them are greeted with a warm smile, one that is perhaps overly curious, but she wanted to know if Callum got any good dirt! "Hey hey. What are we looking at over here. Trying to get clothing advice for me?" Red lips curl up into a smirk. "Dangerous. Do you even know what size I wear?" At least he was not taking Sarge's recommendation to purchase bras, bad advice Callum, smart not to listen to Sarge.

Cal’s eyes get super wide as Meri shows up, his face getting even redder between both women’s teasing. “H-hey, dear. You’re not supposed to be over here, damn it. I told you I was trying to find your birthday present. And I could’ve swore you said it was Betty Townsend you liked, but I guess it’s Candice Snow! I almost got you the wrong outfit.” He seemed apologetic, and did his best to hide his embarrassment. He hid the dress behind his back, sneakily putting it back on the rack. “Come on, you. I’m gonna have to come back when you’re not here. Can’t have you ruining your birthday gift, you know.” Cal put his hands ever so gently on Meri’s shoulders, trying to steer her towards the exit. “Thank you, miss. I’m sure I’ll be back soon to pick out something stunning for her.” No he wouldn’t. That’d mean he’d have to ask Meri about what size she wears. That’s probably lead to things. Like more teasing. Also, Cal would never take advice from Sargaso. Probably not even if his life depended on it. Dudebro knowledge did not rank highly in Callum's mind.

Patti has left the building, to return to her bougie life. Janine, meanwhile, is quick to appraise Meri. "Hi!" she greets the other woman. "I promise I have rescued you from being dowdy," she says, positioning herself with Cal to better hide the gift that she really believes is going to be a gift. Smooth maneuver, that, sliding it back into place before Meri can see it. She shoots him a conspiratorial look of approval, and then lifts her hand at the couple. "Nice chatting!" she calls out, before returning to her shopping.

Meri sort of makes a show of trying to take a peek at this birthday present that Callum was definitely not trying to buy for her only to pout up a storm when she is herded out of the shop. Heeeey! Meri tries to share a pleading look with Janine over Cal's shoulder, which she could do as they were relatively close to the same height but alas. It seems she is siding with Cal and has returned to her shopping, which is just fine by Meri because it was just a ruse. As if she would miss out on the chance to fake pick on Cal in this fake birthday scenario. "But Cal! How will you know if I like it if you won't let me see it before you buy it," this is delivered with a wink after they are outside of the shop. Meri promptly begins to walk away from the shop though, with Cal. "Weeeell, do we need to go find some other place and ask some more questions? I did not have -that- much luck with that Patti chick. Or did you manage to earn yourself a nap?"

Cal’s eye would twitch a bit at Meri’s act, “You might be too good at this sort of thing. And, I probably did earn myself a nap. Apparently Mrs. Townsend is old and ugly, so Sterling’s got himself a mistress named Candice Snow. She’s quickly gaining weight and won’t be able to fit into nice fancy clothes my girlfriend just loves ever so much because Miss Snow is pregnant. And that, according to our friend inside the shop, is why he’s moved to Cenril. Or so the word is around town anyway.” Shoving his hands into his pockets with a shrug, Cal tilted his head, “How much more dirt do you think we’d need? If you think we’re done, we could stop by the Kraken first and get a drink.” He -might- be asking her for a quick date-ish thing maybe before he heads back to crash at SoulsKin. “I mean, if you want to. Could save it for another time, if you want. Maybe when we go to Venturil?”

There would be a light shrug of her shoulder at the question of how much more dirt they would need on this Sterling guy. "I'll take the info back and see what is said. If we need to get more information, then I will let you know." Or maybe take care of it herself, she does feel slightly bad that Cal is out here working with her when he is so damn exhauted. Which brings them back to the question of a drink. Did Meri want to go have a drink and hang out with the guy a bit more? Probably, definitely, yes but the notion that they could put it off until Venturil has her wondering if this is something that Callum himself wants to do. As she has already gotten him to come out here to help her with a project that he really gets no gain from (at least no obvious gain at this point in time other than maybe hanging out with a blonde). "I...would love to get a drink but I am also fine if you would rather wait and hang out in Venturi or something." Don't make me decide. "Altneratively you could just invite me along to this nap thing you want to take. I solemnly swear to be a nice she-devil." As in she will sleep, not try and get into Callum's pants, the worst offense may be an attempt to cuddle. Oh no."I will leave it entirely up to you. You came all the way out here to help me out. I think you get to pick. I am a greedy woman."

Cal eyed Meri for what seemed like forever (probably moreso to her than him), a super serious look on his face. He might be offended. He might be angry. But, nope. That grin of his appeared as he slipped an arm behind her back, ever so slowly leading her back to the tattoo parlor, “Okay. We’ll go back, have a nap, and -then- go to the Kraken for a bit. Tomorrow, or whenever you’re free from work, we can head to Venturil, you can convince me to buy a really expensive horse, and then maybe we can stay the night there too. It could be like a mini vacation.” A really mini vacation, but it’s not like he gets to spend time with her every day, right? “And, maybe if you’re really nice, I’ll let you cuddle with me too,” he added as an afterthought. He may not be sure about that whole sex thing, but he definitely wasn’t opposed to cuddling.

This look definitely felt like it was leveled on her for an eternity. Oh gods. A nap is was not a good suggestion then? Was this a hard no? He looks so annoyed and super serious right now. Meri is not even sure she has seen him quite this serious! This is it. Fight number one. Hopefully it is just a fight and not a breakup. All of these thoughts race through Meri's mind while Callum is staring at her, Meri probably has the most dumbfounded look on her face. And then Callum smirks and throws his arm around her and off they go. "You..." she finally says with a smirk, now that she is past her moment of shock. "...may be hanging out with a she-devil too much." No, she was not going to let him change that, but the joke was clearly on her this time. "Frakkin' hell, man." This is punctuated with a wink. And then off they go to nap.