( open ) the all-purpose galen log 2: the reckoning

[gleans]

WHO: Galen Howard and YOU!
WHAT: Hanging around House 20 and hunting for books.
WHEN: Day 56!
WHERE: House 20, and the library.

Thankfully, after a long night of staying up with a drunk Kenzi, both Galen and Jesse manage to sleep in, the next morning. And it's a slow day, to boot -- he reads a bit, warms up his voice, spends a little time on the couch with his guitar when Jesse goes out.

And that's where he is now: Galen is stretched out on the couch with his feet propped up, his notebook wedged between his leg and the cushion, focused on working through a particularly frustrating chord progression. Between strums - which aren't bad at all, until he gets to the tricky bit -, he's muttering to himself.

"Christ, I need a fucking capo."

--

Later that day, Galen puts away the guitar and heads out to the library. Mainly, he's looking for books that might help in his attempts to learn Russian from Kenzi, but at this point, he'll take anything. In fact, once he's satisfied with a small armful of basic Russian lesson books (and a small book of Russian poems, because if there's one thing he can connect with, it's the rhythm of a language), he's nearly nested himself in the fiction section, looking for anything that might be of interest.

He's on the lookout - or listen-out, really - for anyone else who might be in here, glancing up at creaks in the floorboards and cutting off his own quiet humming. Ever since that gunshot earlier, he's a little nervous.

Comments

[gleans]

Hey, at least he strums a little more lightly when he catches the glare, smiling sheepishly at her when she returns. He just avoids the tricky chord altogether and starts playing a different song.

"Sorry," he says as gravely as possible. At least he's not obnoxiously loud when he sings, but: "Looks like you've got a hangover, whoa-ohhhh! You've been drinkin' too much fo shoooo!"

He's seriously bracing for impact.

"You shoulda had some water, whoa-oohhh --!"

[onteamdyson]

If looks could kill, Galen would be on fire with his face melted off and a billion knives sticking out of his chest while a bear busts through the door to bite off his head. Except she can't keep it up and she pulls her hood up, turning away and curling up in the chair so he can't see her smiling. Don't laugh. Do not laugh! Son of a bitch.

"This would be the part where I do a highly-experimental, sledgehammer drum solo on your face, but that would mean I have to get up. You're lucky, Howard. This time." It's not that foreboding and intimidating when you're trying not to giggle like a dumbass, Kenzi. Stupid Galen! Stupid motherfucking headache! "Feels like I got hit by the cheap vodka truck, rolled over the side of a mountain, and slept it off in a ditch."

[gleans]

Galen grins, feeling successful in his attempt to make Kenzi smile, and stops with the guitar playing. He sets the instrument down over his legs, tapping idly at the head to the song's rhythm.

"No kidding. How much did you guys drink? You were totally plastered last night." And how much do you remember? That's something he's really wondering.

[onteamdyson]

"Uuuugh, I know. I barely even remember how I got home. Just gonna assume that I walked..." You know, because that is the only available option. Unless you're Anna. "We for sure had a bottle each, but he wasn't drinking vodka. I was doomed the second we switched to beer."

Girl is tiny, but she can drink. Comes with the territory when you're possibly a bit of an alcoholic. Shhh, shh it's fine. She rests her head against her arm and keeps her eyes shut. She remembers a few things about last night, but it's not like she plans on bringing certain parts of it up.

"... You called me a goof." That's safe enough to mention. It does stand out because it was pretty fucking hilarious and she felt a sense of pride while lying on the floor like a loser. Actually, she's pretty sure he used a possessive determiner there and now she regrets bringing it up because it's just making her think of-- "Your Russian's getting better, Koschei."

[gleans]

Galen smiles a bit, still tapping at the guitar head. How Kenzi can hold that much booze, he'll never know -- he can barely stand the fucking taste, himself. But he nods -- and his smile widens at the mention of the Russian. He doesn't really want to talk about what happend before that, either. Not right this second, at least.

"Ehhh, I have a good teacher. Ida Straum, man." Another grin, hoping she remembers. "What'd you just call me?"

[onteamdyson]

Hells yeah! She remembers and she smiles brightly. That had been a really, really good day. One of the best days, actually. "We should go visit her. It's getting warmer, we can find flowers or something."

Her smile gets a little mischievous as she sets her glass of water on the coffee table and sits with her knees close to her chest and the hoodie pulled over her legs. Toasty warm. At least she pushes the hood back and finally faces him. "Koschei. He's this immortal douchebag that harasses badass warrior chicks with his cheap-ass magic powers."

[gleans]

Galen's pretty sure that the hoodie she's wearing is his (or his-and-Jesse's), but he doesn't mind. Of course, it just makes him think of what happened last night, again - especially his use of our - but -- it's whatever, right? That kind of thing happens to people who spend a lot of time together. They just sort of adopt each other. He's been on different tours long enough to figure that out.

He scoffs a little over-dramatically, but it's all play. "Uh, wow, rude. Mine are at least, like -- moderately priced."

[onteamdyson]

Hey, it was warm and she grabbed it. That is usually how she makes her fashion decisions lately. Hoodie theft is nothing new and just because-- augh. Never mind. Kenzi is seriously starting to get sick of this elephant in the freakin' room.

"Wasn't talking about your sleep thing, dude." What even is she talking about anymore. This is stupid. She closes her eyes, rubbing them until they hurt, and still doesn't open them when she pulls her hands away. "Just for the record? I can tell the difference. You're not-- ... you guys aren't even close to the same. You're legit the most opposite two people could ever be so don't think I don't know that." She sighs, "Just wanted you to know that wasn't why."

Hoodie town suddenly got a lot less comfortable and the floor suddenly got a lot more interesting. "I'm getting really tired of losing people, you know? So can we just forget my drunk-ass shenanigans and still be cool?"

[gleans]

For a second, he actually doesn't know what she's talking about. He thinks she's talking about him and Jesse -- but then it clicks, and his stomach sinks a little. Not because he was hoping that what she said had been the case, but because he feels bad for her. He likes her a lot, too.

He shifts uncomfortably, but smiles, even rolls his eyes a little. "Kenzi. I know. It's fine." He shifts on the couch, puts his feet on the floor, making enough room for her, if she should want to move. "We're cool."

[onteamdyson]

He knows. It's fine. It's not weird and it's not like it even has to be an issue, right? You can care about someone with everything you have and not have it be weird. She feels that way about a lot of people back home, she just... never drunkenly tried to makeout with any of them. Not that she didn't totally want to since that day in the cemetery-- she just never would have done that if she hadn't been drunk as all hell.

She does move to sit on the couch, but stays curled up in the corner with her legs under her and her head on the arm rest, not touching Galen at all. Going to have to be a lot more careful around them from now on. She'd do anything for Galen and Jesse, and that includes leaving if they somehow ended up not being cool.

"Play something slow? I don't think my head could take it if you suddenly turned into Johnny Ramone right now."

[gleans]

Hmm. The first slow thing to come to mind is Cemetery, an older Counter Curse song that, instrumentally, doesn't sound all that sad, despite being about visiting his mom's grave in his late teens. So he doesn't sing, just plays it and watches Kenzi for a moment.

"Have some more water, dude. Do we have anything you can take for your head?"

[onteamdyson]

It's good. It works. She closes her eyes again, obviously content despite the throbbing and the sick feeling in her stomach. It's soothing. Kenzi's starting to think she would definitely be a TCC fan if she'd gotten the chance to hear them before getting sucked into this hell. Its been almost two months now, frig, Bo's probably gone all mental without her... or just moved on by now.

"Probs in the kitchen. The pharmacy was pretty bare last time I checked. Bruce might have shit but it's fine, I'm just gonna deal with it." Just gonna suffer through because she thinks she deserves it. Better to focus on this than the hollow in her chest or the pain in her arm. Hangovers are normal. She misses normal. "How's it hanging in Squishyville? Anything new and exciting and preferably not dangeriffic happen while I was passed the shiz out?"

[gleans]

"Uh, not really." He starts to put the guitar aside and stand up from the couch, just to check and see if they do have anything for her head. As much as she brought it on herself, he doesn't want to see Kenzi suffer through a hangover.

He wanders into the kitchen. "Went to bed right after, and I talked to Ned earlier, that's about it."

[onteamdyson]

"Galen, don't--" But he's already in the kitchen. Whatevs. Doesn't mean he'll find anything! Doesn't mean she has to take it. So there.

"How's he doing, anyway? Is he adjusting to life in the cuckoo's nest? ... I didn't actually wake him up for pie, did I? Bad Kenzi. Friends before desserts!" She really likes Ned. He seems hella nice and maybe kinda shy and possibly a little scared of her in-your-face attitude. She's glad Galen's around because the two would probably really get along and he is way less likely to scare the poor guy off.

[gleans]

"Nah, he's fine. He actually seems like he's doing pretty well." He won't mention the bringing people back to life thing, since it's not his business. Besides, if he knows Kenzi, he knows she'll find out on her own, one way or another. "Y'know, considering.

"Aaand for the record, turns out Jess and I are pros at putting drunks to bed." He looks into the living room and grins.

[onteamdyson]

She cracks an eye open and sticks out her tongue. "You guys aren't pros at shit! I'm just pro at sleeping after hitting the bottle harder than a single mom with triplets under the age of three." Also her drunkself couldn't figure out how to untangle herself from the blankets after getting tucked in.

But she owes those guys a lot. Not just for last night, but for taking care of her the first time Party was gone and Jesse keeping her together when Galen was missing and Phil was dead and Galen constantly dealing with her fucked up arm. They really are a team. It's a support system she can't afford to lose. She probably wouldn't make it without them.

"...Semi-pro." That's all he gets. That and a small smirk.