[GFP] Not a good morning

[kevin]

Time: Day 5, Early morning
Weather: Rain
Warnings: A drunkard and a little girl with a hell hound
Characters: Kevin Ashcroft, Paige O’Brian [Open]

The night at the Galaxy of Terror didn’t go the way Kevin had hoped, but lately nothing seemed to bother him much. He just stole few drinks before he left and spent all night at the park, drinking alone. The rain was quite unpleasant, but he didn’t feel like going back to the hotel, so he just ignored it.
He managed to finish two bottles of vodka before falling asleep near some bushes after wandering around the park for some time.

[Paige O'Brian]

Rain, rain, rain!
In the steadily growing list of things Paige loved about moving to Greenvale, rain was definitely up the top. No school, and so many places to explore! She couldn't see why everybody in the world didn't just move here. Even adults would be happy, not needing to go to work! And it rained so often, too! It was great!

The young girl walked the nearly deserted streets, one of the few people in town to actually own a raincoat- a plastic yellow one that was a bit too small for her now, but her Dad had insisted he hadn't seen them selling new ones anywhere.
As she walked, she awkwardly juggled a small umbrella in one hand and a dog leash in the other, dragging a grumbling Batdog behind her.

The night before had required quite a lot of explaining to her Dad, and after talking it over they agreed they could keep the dog Just For Now, while they waited to see what the police planned to do with it. Dad had originally insisted that the dog stay with him while they kept it, but he decided it was for the best to let Paige take it for a walk to let out some energy after they saw the state of their fence the next morning. ("But he- he's not even that big! I don't see how-")

As the pair approached the park, Paige had to practically carry the poor thing (whose paw, while a lot better now, still hurt it every now and then) over to the grass.
"C'mon lazy! You were all happy about going out a minute ago! Dogs are supposed to like parks!"

As they approached a row of bushes, the dog suddenly perked up, ears standing upright and edging anxiously to one bush in particular.
Paige eyed the bush warily. She'd had enough of finding things in bushes to last her for a while, thank you. But Batdog was instant.

"Alright, alright!" Paige reached down and grabbed a stick near her gumboots. The dog whined as she paused nervously, stick held above the bush, before poking it, hard, between the leaves.

[kevin]

Kevin was sleeping peacefully, when he felt a hard hit in his back, his first reaction was to quickly get off the ground, swearing loudly.

“What the hell was that for?!”- He glared at his attacker, but his angry expression soon changed into a confused one, as he realized that the “attacker” was just a little girl. What was she doing here so early anyway; didn’t kids go to school or something?

Kevin started to get rid of the leaves stuck in his hair with a disgusted look on his face; he really needed a shower, or maybe five of them in a row. Those two bottles of vodka from the other night weren’t making things better either, his head hurt like hell and he was sure he looked terrible, which made him feel even worse. Sleeping on the ground in a park was one thing, but he hated looking unattractive around other people. “Oh well, no one else seems to be around anyway…”

He looked back at the girl, yawning lazily.
“You don’t happen to have something to drink, now do you? “

[Paige O'Brian]

Paige stared in amazement as a man disentangled himself from the bush, looking a little like one of her old dolls did when she pulled it out from under the sofa after several years of neglect. And she was sure her Dad wouldn't be happy if he'd heard some of what the weird guy had said.

But a grown-up in a bush was boring! Now she was disappointed he wasn't another bone- she could've shown it off to Emily and help out more!

As Batdog began enthusiastically sniffing the stranger's pants, Paige pouted, crossing her arms as best she could with both hands full, "And you smell bad!" she huffed, ignoring his question.

As she took him in, narrowing her eyes suspiciously (only suspicious people would be sleeping in bushes!) she noticed his hair.
It was blue. Really, really blue- like she'd see in those weird cartoons with the bad lip-syncing!
She pointed an accusing finger at him, "And your hair's weird! I bet you're some sort of evil robot or something!"

[kevin]

“Can’t argue with that” He looked at his own clothes, which were covered in leaves and dirt and sighted quietly, next time, he should probably try to find a better place to sleep, with a bathroom near it.

The girl seemed quite straight forward, which made him smile a bit, it was a shame so many adults lacked this quality.

“And I’m far too good looking to be an evil robot. A sexy android-maybe, but definitely not an evil robot.” He pouted, crossing his arms.”And what are you doing here anyway? Don’t you have to be in school at this time?”
He sat down on the nearest bench, unsuccessfully trying to fix his hair.

[Paige O'Brian]

"I bet you put fluffy animals in evil machines!" Paige countered. Nevermind blue was the colour of the good guy in those games. This was clearly an evil-doer before her, "And you look dumb!"

As he sat down, Batdog took to pawing at the weirdo's shirt, splattering muddy paw prints and adding to the mess.
Paige poked her tongue at him, "It's raining, stupid! Shouldn't you be inside like the other grown-ups?"

[kevin]

Kevin shrugged, giving up on the task of trying getting his hair fixed.
” I’m not afraid of a little rain, I’ve spent a whole night here and as you can see, I’m fine. “ He smirked.
“ Well, apart from dirt, leaves and a terrible headache” he thought to himself.

“Anyway, it’s just something parents used to scare their kids with, so they wouldn’t wander off somewhere, and now those kids who became grownups, are scaring their own kids. Didn’t your parents warn you not to go out in rain too?”

[Paige O'Brian]

Paige shrugged, "That's what I said. It's a stupid rule, but I don't care if it means I get the day off."

She frowned, and tugged on the dog's leash, who was now trying to lick the man's face, "He'll probably make you sick," She muttered, but loud enough for him to hear, "My Dad thinks I should stay inside, since everyone else does, but since nothing ever happens..." She shrugged again, "Why should I stay inside when this is the perfect time to investigate?"

She looked him over again, looking thoughtful, "You're still a weirdo, Blue, but at least you're not a scardey-cat! That's good!" She nodded, looking pleased, "I guess you're not so bad."

[kevin]

“Glad you approve.” Kevin smiled at her kindly. She was ok, for a kid.

Kevin was never good at communicating with children, he wasn’t sure of what to talk about with them about, but he kind of knew what he shouldn’t talk about around them, which counted for something, or so he thought.

Kevin gently patted the dog on his head, looking up at the girl. “And what you and your sidekick are investigating here? One of your toys got lost or something?”

[Paige O'Brian]

Paige hummed, head titled to the side, "Okay, I guess I can tell you." she added brightly, before leaning forward with her hands cupped around her mouth.

"We're looking for spooks!" The young girl whispered excitedly, "I've been investigating this story at school about a ghost! It's very serious business. We even found a bone last night!"

She pointed to the dog, who was gratefully leaning into Blue's hand, "And I bet he can lead us to the rest of 'em! I'm hoping to take him to the junkyard later- there's always weird things there!"

[kevin]

“Oh. That’s interesting.” Kevin looked back at the girl, smiling bit. “Thought, I don’t think you should go to the junkyard alone, even an experienced ghost hunter needs someone to watch his back, you know.” He said with a serious expression on his face. Actually, he wouldn’t mind a little “ghost hunt” in junkyard, considering he could grab some spare parts for a surprise he was planning for the FBI agent. Plus, it would probably bother him later, if he left a little girl to wander around on her own on a day like this. But, before that, he really needed to take a shower, change his clothes and find something to eat. “Tell you what, I really need to go now, but we can investigate the junkyard together later, if you like.”

[Paige O'Brian]

Paige's face lit up with excitement, "Oh sure! More heads are always better when investigating!"
She gave the dog's leash a slight wriggle, coaxing it away from muddying the man's shirt any further, "C'mon you! I guess I'm 'sposed to keep Batdog walking anyway, or he'll get all jumpy again. But you'd better show up later, Blue! We have a promise!"
She grinned at the man, holding out her free hand in for a handshake, just like she always saw her Dad do when he wanted to seal a deal, "Alright then?"