ridin' against the wind

Task Eleven → Intro & Connections

Colt usually was not bad with directions, but it also helped when people wrote down their addresses correctly. He was supposed to be dropping a recently-repaired car back at the owner's home, but it seemed they had not written down the address right, because he definitely could not find a house at the address given to him. So he had finally pulled into the first business he saw--a dance studio--and went inside to see if anyone could help him with the directions. "Hey, uh, was jus' wonderin' if I could ask a question," he began, then nodded at her reply and said, "Oh yeah, no rush." He was not in a terrible hurry. As long as he got the car back by evening, it was fine.

Ella was surprised to learn colt didn’t know she owned the boutique, but it did make her smile because that just meant they could get to know each other. “Why don’t you pop in some time - I can even give you a cup o'tea if you’d like, or a soda if tea isn’t to your taste?”

“Certainly!” Ella felt her smile widen all the more - a new challenge she thought.

//

Even if he was not a clotheshorse, Colt could appreciate a nice outfit, and the way her dress looked, she could clearly whip up some mean designs. And he could do with something nice, even if it was only for an occasion like this. "Sure, I'll drop by. Think I'll have t' go for th' soda though. Never really been all that fond o' tea."

Even if he did his best not to get carried away like he used to do, Colt still liked to spend time unwinding in the bar. But as long as he did not attract a bunch of so-called "friends" who could end up leading him astray, he did not see a problem with dropping in for a drink on a regular basis. He had no problem with meeting some typical drinking buddies, mind you; he had gotten to know some of the regulars and found them to be good company, but he would never say no to having more people to drink with either. One evening, when he had gotten a bit into his cups, Colt decided to make an offer which he felt would be guaranteed to make him a new friend. "Hey," he said to the bartender, "Tell th' next person who comes in th' door that their first drink's on me." He smiled and took another sip of his own drink, waiting to see who his new drinking buddy would be. When the next person came in the door, however, Colt's face fell. "Aw damn," he grumbled, recognizing the woman he had quarrelled with outside the hospital a few months back. Suddenly he was seriously regretting making that offer, but he was not going to go back on it, so he sighed and plunked some money down on the bar. "Yeah, ok, get her whatever she wants."

Ella scoffed a little, but it was the type of scoff to hide a laugh. She had not much of a clue who she was speaking with, the mystery of the night involved in such. But she enjoyed his company nonetheless. He seemed like a nice guy, that was for sure.

“Thank you, I had a lot of fun designing and making this dress-” She explained. “I own a boutique in town, the Bidibidi bobbedi boo boutique.” She smiled. “Well I guess that might have given away my identity.”

’I’m sure I would’ve been able to give you a suit you’d love if you went by. I love a challenge after all, and I mean that in a good way of course.“

//

That certainly would have given away her identity--if Colt had any idea who owned the boutique. "It sure looks like you had fun, yeah. But don' worry, your secret's safe wit' me 'cause, well, I don' know anythin' 'bout who owns th' boutique." He felt bad for admitting that he did not know, but at least she could be glad that she had not let the cat out of the bag as much as she had thought.

The extravagance of the dress made him wonder just what she would do with a suit. He might have missed the chance to have her design an outfit for the masquerade, but maybe he could still drop by sometime? "Well, I ain't really much for fancy clothes, but I could always use a nice suit for special occasions. If th' offer still stands, maybe I'll stop in an' see what you can whip up."

She wasn’t familiar with Colt, but it couldn’t be bad to ask a man what she should gift a man now could she. “Do you think a man would appreciate flowers.” It wasn’t the first time that got suggested to her - and she wondered if that was something a man would appreciate. “Would you like flowers from a woman?" 

//

Would he like flowers? Colt debated a moment. He could imagine some guys might not go for that; he himself probably would not mind, especially if was a plant that could be planted in a garden. "Well, I can't speak for every guy, but I'd appreciate if a lady wanted to give me a plant. Somethin' that could be put in a garden though, not flowers t' put in a vase. Don' think that's really somethin' a guy would go for, but ag'in, I'm speakin' for myself. Does th' guy you're thinkin' 'bout like t' garden?"

peter pan was currently the equivalent of a gremlin that had been left to its own devices and it had done nothing but cause chaos wherever it roamed. the longer he was left to his own devices, the more feral the boy got. and the boy was bigfoot in the woods level feral. 

living in a treehouse and with nothing to lose, peter barrelled into the ball with nothing but anger and a mission on his mind. anger? directed to everyone. the mission? wendy darling. 

wildly barging around with no regard for anyone else, peter was on the hunt for the eldest darling. “who’s idea was it for these fucking masks? i can’t find anyone for shit found here?!”

@happieststarters​

//

Granted Colt might not have been the most keen on the masked ball, but he also was content to just enjoy as much as he could, quietly. Even if it was not his thing, he was not going to cause a fuss about it. But someone else, it seemed, had not such qualms. 

Even though he had a feeling he probably should not respond to the angry shout, he did anyway. "Uh, I think th' point is so no one knows who's who, so th' fact that you can't find anyone is kinda th' point," he remarked, "I'm sure whoever you're lookin' for can give you a sign or somethin' so you know who they are."

-

Ella liked a masquerade ball, it was mysterious and involved a lot of dancing. So she really was in her element with her florescent dress. Ella didn’t have the pleasure to get acquainting with Colt, but she was quite charmed by his sense of humor. Well she could always appreciate a joke or two. She was glad that the man was understanding, the gown wasn’t the easiest to move in after all. As he stood up she moved past him and said:

“No, no it is fine, I didn’t really take in consideration that this gown would be so hard to move in.” She couldn’t help but laugh. “Luckily I have my driver’s license-” She giggled.

“I like your outfit, very cow boyish.”

//

She was not the only one who had an extravagant costume; plenty of people seemed to have gone all out with their outfits. Colt admired that, but it just was not something he was really good at. He might have thrown together a nice-looking costume, but it was hardly a stretch from a lot of things he usually wore, except for the mask of course.

"Well it's sure an eye-catcher," he said, nodding as he gave her dress a good once-over, "An' bein' as I thought th' whole point was t' impress, I'd say you're doin' a darn good job." Much better than he was, anyway. At her compliment, Colt gave a slight shrug and looked down at his own costume. "Aw, thanks. I ain't half as clever as most people here, so I jus' went wit' what I know. Which I guess wasn't th' point, but I've never been to good at tryin' t' be mysterious." Smirking, he gestured to himself, indicating that his size was not exactly conducive to trying not to stand out.

[happy to be...here] - (Ella event starter)

Ella was a mix of excitement and extensional dread all at once, once she opened the hefty doors of where the masquerade ball was held. Her gown was quite something, layers upon layers - with an additional glow to the dress, so it would light up even if the ballroom would go dark. She didn’t know what to expect from tonight - but she was glad to have her daughter with a caretaker, so she could dance the night. She wondered about her sisters, how they would be dressed and found herself looking forward to the idea that she’d recognize them.

“Pardon me, I uhm can’t go through with this dress do you mind getting up for just a moment?” She said as she tried to get around some tables, it felt like she was going through a maze.

@happieststarters​

//

Wow, this was really something--a masquerade ball. Colt got the basic concept, of course, but he was definitely not the type to come up with any sort of creative costume, and he most likely had missed the point of trying to be unrecognizable, because he had to be the only person in town who would show up as, essentially, a fancy masked cowboy. But hey, he did not know many people in town, so maybe he would still fool most of the party-goers? They were certainly fooling him. He had not the slightest idea who was who. The costumes were real nice to look at though, and Colt had been sitting at a table people-watching while having a drink when a lady with easily one of the fanciest get-ups he had seen all night tried to come through.

"Oh, uh, yeah! Sorry!" He quickly got to his feet and pushed the chair in, drink still in his other hand. "Wow, that's some dress you got there. Feels like you should have a license t' drive it!"

“Wish he was…” Tina muttered to herself, bottom lip jutting out in a sorrowful pout.

It seemed that when Tina was in that sort of mood - grumpy and fussy and probably slightly hungry - that absolutely nothing would satisfy her, even if it was the more reasonable suggestion on planet earth. You say right, Tina says left. Colt could have offered his weight in gold, bought her a personal assistant, or given her the middle finger, and she would still have been oppositional.

“But I need the milk!” Tina insisted, in a sudden panic, realizing that she had been too quick to throw on her stubborn hat. Goddammit Tina! Curse your whole personality. There was no way she could possibly embarrass herself further unless she tried climbing the fridge once more. The pout never leaving, and perhaps even on the verge of a bubble, Tina sighed, plonking herself down on the edge of the yoghurt shelf. “I’m sorry…” (She would tell no one of this.) “I– Please can you get me the milk…?”

//

Her attitude had led Colt to believe she would not apologize or ask for help even if hell froze over. So when she ended up doing both, he raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, I got the impression you needed it," he remarked, that having been the whole reason he had offered help in the first place. He had been seriously regretting offering said help, but now it seemed she had finally come around.

"Didn't think that was so hard," he grumbled, before nodding and saying louder, "Sure, milk comin' righ' up." Easily reaching up to the shelf, he took down a milk carton and held it out to her. "People normally say 'thank you,' but considering how hard it was t' get you t' even ask for th' help in th' first place, I'm not 'spectin' that. But you're welcome anyway."

–

Honestly, Gwen had thought this event was one of the best ones the committee could think up. Not only was it a fun way to meet new people, but the codenames and clues were great conversation starters! ‘Way better than flashcards, anyway,’ she thought to herself, flashing back to the horror of Javi pulling them out at the New Years party. Truly a nightmare.

But today wasn’t about Javi! Today was all about making new friends with this handsome, large, muscular man with an attractive accent! “Oooh, you grew up on a farm? That’s so neat! What was that like? Was it a cattle farm or did you grow crops? Or maybe both? I’ll be honest, I don’t know much about how farms work!” She admitted with a laugh. “I grew up near rural areas but always lived in downtown, or in a city.” 

She shook her head. “I thought it was very clever! It was a good way to introduce yourself and it plays off of your name! I don’t think you can get more clever than that.” As they approached the zoo, they were able to bypass the ticket line, as the activity had given them free tickets. “Exactly!” She chirped as they made their way through the entrance. Near the front was a large map on a wooden stand, as well as signs pointing in various directions of the different animals. “So! Where would like to go first?”

//

Maybe it was because Colt had not thought much of the family farm himself--hence why he had left--but he had assumed that other people would not be interested in hearing about it, so he was pleasantly surprised that she did. "Both actually, yeah. We sold mostly crops, but we had our share o' livestock too. Glad t' hear you're interested in hearin' 'bout th' farm, 'cause I gotta be honest, I always thought it wasn't all that interestin' myself." 

He was flattered that she liked his codename too. Maybe he was overestimating how much he felt like he stood out in town. Colt had always felt like the dumb country boy in the city, but it seemed like people in Redwood Hollow might not think quite the same. “Thanks. I guess it jus' thought it wasn't as zippy as yours an' all th' other ones. But maybe I'm sellin' myself short."

Getting to walk right into the zoo was nice, but being confronted with such a choice of exhibits to see had Colt feeling a little overwhelmed. "You don' wanna pick? Hmm, ok. I guess..." He scratched his head as he looked over the map. "How 'bout th' monkeys? Can't go wrong wit' those!"

“So what do you recommend to encourage affection?” Lady wasn’t one to ask for advice in the romantic department, but it really got on her nerves that she couldn’t woo Oz the way she wanted. It was as if there was something holding her back, and she couldn’t tell if it was the uniform or something else.

@happieststarters​

//

"Huh?" Colt blinked at her, trying not only to process the question but the fact that she was even asking him. Did he really look like someone who was good at dispensing advice like that? He did not want to be rude, but he was not really sure what to tell her either. Scratching the back of his neck, he said, "Gee ma'am, I don' rightly know. I ain't really an expert in that area, an' I'd hate t' tell you th' wrong thing. I'm guessin' you're askin’ for somethin' more'n jus' givin' flowers or candy, righ'?"