Lighthouse Cottage - Friday Evening

[the_best_sister]

Outside on the picket fence of the Lighthouse Cottage, a simple sign was tacked up:

Allen Wrench Party

Come inside and help with IKEA construction.
Free booze!
Free food!
Way too friendly dog!

Inside, the promise was kept. If your idea of food and booze was stacks of pizza boxes and mostly cheap beer and hard liquor.

Yelena had spent most of the week fixing up the place, but the IKEA shipment had only arrived yesterday, so the furniture was still a work in progress. The walls and ceilings were freshly painted white, but the carpet, drapes, and lighting in the two-bedroom cottage were a riot of mismatched colors. It was like someone had thrown a Jackson Pollock painting into a blender with that psychedelic boat trip from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

And right in the middle of this chaotic, colorful mess was Yelena, sitting cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by half-assembled IKEA furniture and discarded instructions. She’d been at it all day, and it showed. She’d given up on any hope of a put-together look, dressed only in a tank top and athletic shorts, her hair a tangled mess falling into her face.

The living room was mostly done, there was a dining room table standing on its own four legs, and one bed was finally put together in the bedroom. But there were still stacks of flat-pack boxes waiting to test her patience. At this point, it was just about survival.

And maybe, bribing people with enough booze to help finish the rest…

[Open to all. Up early because I might have a hectic morning. ]

Comments

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[the_best_sister]

Logan can judge all he wants. We've seen him in that yellow outfit now.

"Do you want a beer or a whiskey before I start making you work?" Yelena asked.

What? Like Logan would prefer a cheerful greeting?

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[theworst_verine]

He made the yellow work!

"A beer," Logan settled on, almost soothed by how blunt it was. "I hope you don't expect much."

Though, based on the decor... she didn't.

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[the_best_sister]

"The fact that you showed up at all is already a miracle," Yelena teased, grabbing a beer from the fridge and using the edge of the counter to pop off the cap. "If I can get you to assemble even one chair, I’ll call the Vatican myself and start your sainthood process."

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[theworst_verine]

"I'm not Catholic." Was he any religion? Eh. Probably not anymore.

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[the_best_sister]

"I'm an atheist so I doubt he'll take my call anyway," Yelena said with a snort of amusement and handed Logan the beer.

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[theworst_verine]

"Thanks." Did he make any move to get to work? Naaaah. Don't be silly. "Nice place."

He did not manage to make that sound like a compliment.

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[the_best_sister]

"Wow, Logan, you're really bringing the warmth today," Yelena said with a snort of amusement. "I’ll be sure to add 'nice place' to the Yelp review. 'Annoying woman. Gave me free beer but expected me to work for it. Nice place.'"

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[theworst_verine]

"It's colorful," he suggested this time. With a little more sarcasm behind it.

Beeeestieeeees.

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[the_best_sister]

"Ooo. Don't strain yourself," Yelena cautioned. "You might pull a muscle forcing yourself to be nice."

Beeeestieeeees.

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[theworst_verine]

"You wanted me here," Logan pointed out like it was clearly her fault for believing in him.

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[the_best_sister]

"Yes and you have already provided me with so much amusement," She teased.

Look, she wasn't lying.

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[theworst_verine]

Logan flipped her off for that. "Which thing need the least amount of work?"

He'd do that one. And judge the try-hard over there with the tool kit.

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[the_best_sister]

Beeeesssstieeeees.

"Probably one of the dining room chairs," Yelena said cheerfully returning the gesture. "Or you can just eat pizza and drink beer, I don't care."

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[theworst_verine]

"Pizza and beer it is." He'd end up attempting a chair, don't let him fool you.

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[the_best_sister]

"Help yourself," Yelena said and slid a box of pizza in front of him.

It was Hawaiian.

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[theworst_verine]

"Did you put pineapple on this?" Sure, it technically came from Canada. But he didn't claim it!

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[the_best_sister]

"Well I didn't personally put it on there," Yelena said with a smirk. "But someone told me it was good and I should try it. So you should too."

Could be worse, Logan. It could be black olives and pineapple with a burnt crust.

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[theworst_verine]

Hey, that... did not grow on you. In fact, it filled Logan with so much annoyance to even think about!

"I'm good without the pineapple." Did your dog like pineapple, Yelena? Because that was going to be a thing. "At least it's not burned."

Wade.

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[the_best_sister]

"Fine," Yelena said with an eyeroll and pulled out a different pizza. "This one is a meat lovers and has a lot of meat. Obviously. Is this your speed?"

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[theworst_verine]

"As a matter of fact, yes."

Did you understand how much he had to bulk for this role, Yelena? Just so much protein for all that muscle mass.

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[the_best_sister]

He bulked up for that? Didn't they just paste King's Hawaiian rolls on his abdomen and use CGI to make it look natural?

"How am I not surprised?" Yelena teased, and started pouring a hefty amount of whiskey into a cup for him. "Now what are the magic words for the whiskey?"

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[theworst_verine]

If only! Oh, if only...

"The magic word?" Their friendship was a thing of legends. "Am I a five year old?"

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[the_best_sister]

“Well you’re acting like a baby right now,” Yelena joked. “Come on Logan. What are the two words that get you the booze. I’ll give you a hint: one of them rhymes with ‘duck’.”

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[theworst_verine]

"Fuck off." Which a five year old should not be saying. So, there was that.

Re: Mingle and Make Furniture

[the_best_sister]

“There we go!” Yelena said with a laugh and handed Logan the Whiskey.

She then paused for a second and put her hand on his shoulder. “I do appreciate you coming,” she said sincerely.