Callie, Kyle, & Wade | Friday Afternoon (backdated)

[x-deadpool.livejournal.com]

Wade assembles his planning committee for what he hopes will be his Halloween party of awesomeness. Plans are made.


Wade decided what he really needed was a map of the grounds. He wasn't sure they had anything like that, but he figured if they did, Kyle would know. Until he found out for sure, though, he was going to operate under the assumption that he'd have to map things out for himself. To that end, he'd specified meeting at the boathouse because it had a lot of art supplies and things just sort of laying around. Those, Wade knew, would prove useful.

Mostly, though, he just wanted a lot of pumpkins. And a tractor. There would probably need to be some hay involved.

"Yo, you demanded pow-wowing?" Kyle asked, as he came into the room. "Dude, are we having a coloring party? Because damn, I know I'm too old for that but those are fun."

"This, young Kyle, is a planning session. A planning session during which we will devise the most amazing hayride that has ever been ridden," Wade said, gesturing toward the wall that had been covered in that paint that turned it into a really large chalkboard. "This is our brainstorming area. But we have to remember to write stuff down and erase it so we don't spoil the surprise. Also, have some food. Because I was hungry and I think better when I'm not hungry."

Callie knocked on the open door, peering in to try and locate the owners of the two male voices. "Someone needs plants grown?" She crossed the threshold, notebook in hand, and let out a sigh of relief when she saw Kyle. Agreeing to meet a perfect stranger in a somewhat isolated building pretty much screamed slasher movie, she had realized after arriving at the mansion, but she was pretty sure that Kyle wasn't going to hang out with someone who would lure them all to a bloody, gory, ending. Hopefully. "What's the word, hummingbird?"

"Hummingbird?" Kyle made a buzzing noise and spun around a few times, laughing. "Am I the hummingbird, or is it Wade, because I'm pretty sure neither of us is a tiny feathery bird." He scratched his head and got comfortable sitting on one of the big reinforced art tables. "Course, we could be morning glories, which eh, not sure if that's better. Cool flower, or Oasis album..."

"An awesome, beautiful flower, you mean?" Callie followed suit, pulling up a chair across from Kyle and dropping her bag on the ground. "It's a psychedelic you know. You process it the right way and drink it with alcohol and voila! Or you can make wine with it. The chemical properties of many ordinary flora are quite fascinating," she concluded with a nod, then as an afterthought added, "Oh. I'm Callie by the way."

Offering the latest edition to their planning session a finger wave, Wade said, "I'm Wade. I need pumpkins for Halloween and Kyle says you might be able to help me with that, which would be amazing. My end goal is a hayride to end all hayrides with its complete and utter awesomeness and I feel like pumpkins would definitely help with that. Also, I find it impressive that you know how to make morning glories into what probably amounts to illegal drugs, but let's keep that away from the hayride, since I'd like to not get yelled at for being irresponsible."

"Ditto. Because dude, in theory I'm supposed to be an adult or something." Kyle hopped up to sit on a table, legs crossed. "So, scary hayride or not scary hayride with a bunch of like apple cider and marshmallows and stuff? Because I'm up for either one but I'm no artist. You'll need like art people for scary stuff maybe."

"I'm thinking not so scary - just surprising. The half-pint's gonna be along for the ride, I think, and I know she's invulnerable and all, but still. No scaring the half-pint. Do you think we can have corn dogs?"

Callie stared quizzically down at the notes she had been taking. "Aren't corn dogs more of a summer at the fair item," she asked, her gaze altering between the two men. "I can do pumpkins, no problem, sure. Decorative on their own and ones for Jack-o-Lanterning. Ooh! What about corn? The ones that are all those lovely colors. You can't have autumn without corn."

"Good plan," Wade said, nodding seriously. "I don't know about the corn dogs. They might be too summery - but hey, corn? Corn dogs... nevermind," he waved the question of the corn dogs away. "How do you feel about gourds? I'm in favor of corn - oh. Oh, like a corn maze? Can you do that with different colored corns?"

"Dude, like, half-mention corn dogs to Jan and she'll probably make eleven billion." Kyle pulled one leg up and scratched at his knee with the claws of the raised foot. "We're gonna need some kind of wagon thing too if you want a real hayride and I don't have that. But a walking maze, that wouldn't need a wagon, but it might need a lot more room than we've got." He scratched idly as he thought about it.

"Jan... Jan... I think she nailed me with some Easter candy," Wade said, pointing at his forehead. "Does she do that at Halloween, too? Would she chuck corn dogs at people? That'd kind of be funny." Moving back to the wall, he picked up a piece of chalk and wrote 'wagon.' Tipping his head to the side, he considered that for a moment, then nodded and wrote 'tractor' next to it. "Lady person," he said, turning back to Callie. "If you were going to grow a maze of corn, where would you do it?"

Callie tapped her pen against the table, her brow knit in concentration. Wade and Kyle, it seemed, were speaking their own language, which used English words and grammar, but was nigh impossible to follow. The volley of words and ideas was difficult enough to process without having to answer any questions directed at her. "Well we have the room for a corn maze here," she replied carefully after several seconds. "But that requires basically tearing up the landscape. You probably need like a vacant field for a proper corn maze. Like a farm, or a plot of land, because it has to be big."

Kyle grunted. "Yeah, I can't tear up too much. A lot of those trees keep people from spying on us, and well..." He made a gesture in the direction of the mansion. "You know, secret basement lab, big illegal plane, superheros."

"Not to mention that I would be very, very annoyed after all the work we put into it."

Wade waved his hand a little, scribbling things on the chalkboard with abandon for a moment before pausing and stepping back to look. "Okay, so we need a big field type thing for the corn maze. Awesome. The pumpkins are a go. I found this place online last night that sells pre-dried gourds by the pound. How do we feel about apples? Specifically dunking for apples? And if the kids are going to be there, we'll need something for the adults to do, too. I'll ask somebody about the place big enough for the corn. Somebody's bound to know something."

"Apples are easy. Costco sells 'em by the box. Yvette goes through apples like crazy." Kyle offered. "Might be worth getting some music and, uh, well, I wouldn't turn down an open bar, or even a cash bar, but I got no idea how you do that kinda thing."

"Cash bar," Wade said, pointing a finger at the younger man. "But definitely music. And food. Actual food... that's spooky?" He considered that for a moment, then shrugged. Food wasn't the important thing at the moment. Orchestrating the event was important, but more specifically, finding a place for the event. He deal with that. "So we have a plan - we need a date. Halloween is actually on a Monday this year, which seems kind of lame to me, but it's not like I can do anything about that. So! Do we want the party on the Friday or the Saturday before Halloween?"

"Saturday. People got classes on Friday, and we're gonna need a day to clean up and stuff too. Also you know, you and me might not get hangovers but near everyone else does." Kyle suggested. "Dude, like spooky food like peeled grapes and stuff, or like spooky food like meatloaf that looks like brains? Because peeled grapes never fooled me. They smelled like grapes, even when I was a little kid."

"The meatloaf thing," Wade said, grinning as he marked down 'Saturday' on the chalkboard for the day of the party. "But we've got vegetarians now and stuff, so the grapes'll probably feature, too." Turning, he tipped an imaginary hat at Callie where she was sitting with her book. "Thanks for coming by and agreeing to help. This is gonna be awesome thanks to you. Just let me know what you need and when you seen it - I'll get it for you. You two better pick some awesome costumes, by the way. I expect you both to be there."

"Saturday. October 29th. Got it," Callie said, rising. "I will see you gentlemen then. But now, if you'll excuse me, I need to see a man about some pumpkins."