[Charlotte Lewis]

[For Ferris Felwinter]

Over the last few months, Ferris and Charlotte had gotten to know each other better. She still wouldn't really consider themselves friends, but they were definitely no longer strangers. They had grabbed coffee once or twice and had exchanged numbers. They hadn't texted each other yet, but a few days ago, Charlotte had changed that by asking if he was interested in going to see a local band play in a pub downtown. She didn't know what to expect from the band. The poster had said they played rock music, inspired by the '90s and '00s, and that was good enough for the blonde.

The evening of the concert had arrived, and Charlotte had put on an outfit she thought would be fitting for the weather and the event. She arrived a little earlier than expected, and headed inside after a mandatory cigarette to order a beer and secure a space in the crowd. She wasn't in the front of the stage, but also not too far to the back. She was, however, standing to the side a bit so she could slip in and out the crowd if she wanted a drink or needed to use the toilet. The young woman made sure her phone was on, and would vibrate if Ferris would text or call in case he wasn't able to find her.

She took a sip of the beer and glanced at the equipment and instruments on the stage. They looked pretty good for a local band, so she wondered if they were more successful than she thought. She simply hadn't heard about them before, which was odd given that she worked in a record store, but maybe 'local' didn't truly mean local. Perhaps they were from a nearby town. It didn't matter much.

[Ferris Felwinter]

As much as they talked about music, Ferris was surprised by the text from Charlotte. He had maybe expected her to ask about coffee again. Or for them to use it to explain why they were late or honestly, he really wasn't sure, but it wasn't inviting him to listen to a local rock band.

Her inviting him to listen to a local rock band was a much better use. He'd told her he'd have to see about schedules, with his kids, but he had managed it. Darcy had work, and thankfully, El was old enough and didn't mind having to keep tabs on her younger siblings on occasion. Though Ferris was pretty sure they were still riding the high of her getting all the things she wanted for her school dance. Who knew some hair dye went such a long way.

Ferris was in his usual flannel long sleeve (blue today, with a built-in hood more for looks than use), white T-shirt and jeans. He'd never been to this particular pub, but it had a very traditional vibe to it. Dark interior, Irish American fair and drinks, some stained-glass decor, neon signs, and a floor he had no desire to think about when it was last mopped. He walked in just a bit before the show was about to start, looking up the stage set up. It was a bit more crowded than he might have guessed for a local group, but as he moved around some of the tables to the bar to order a drink, he realized some of it was locals and some were probably friends and family of the group. Still, it was a nice enough turn out to make him have to study the crowd for his...well, friend seemed more serious than what they were, but...friend.

He ordered an Irish cream ale off tap and pulled out his phone to text Charlotte when he thought he caught her blonde hair in the crowd. Ferris would toss her a wave if she happened to look his way, but otherwise he would wait until he got his drink and paid before seeking her out as the band stepped on stage to test mics and tune guitars.

[Charlotte Lewis]

The room started to fill more and more, and she too was surprised by the turnout. Nervous wasn't exactly the right word, but Charlotte was becoming a bit worried that she wouldn't find Ferris in the crowd if even more people decided to enter. She looked back at the entrance and let her gaze slide over the room, trying to see if the man had arrived yet. Luckily for her, or them, she saw a familiar face wave at her, which she interpreted as a "I'm stuck here in the crowd". For that reason, the blonde started to make her way through the crowd until she arrived at the bar, where Ferris was.

"Hi!" she said cheerfully, moving it to press her cheek to his. I describe it like this instead of a kiss, because when you think about it, people just press their cheeks to the other's cheek and make a kissy sound, but you don't really kiss someone on the cheek, right? It was something Charlotte thought about a lot as well. Greeting people was such a common thing, but if you stopped and thought about it, a lot of those greetings were really awkward. And maybe this one was as well, because she suddenly realised she had never greeted Ferris like this. She kissed her friends on the cheek when they met up at a bar, so is was a force of habit. She quickly tried to forget about it by downing the remainder of her beer and ordering a new one, just as the band was stepping onto the stage to test their equipment. "What's that?" Charlotte asked, nodding at the Irish cream ale. Perhaps she was dumb, but she had only ever heard of Guiness and didn't make the connection that this could be similar to it. She wasn't a big beer connoisseur. She liked wine and cocktails.

[Ferris Felwinter]

Ferris wasn't stuck. Or at least, he hadn't tried to get away from the bar yet. But he appreciated that Charlotte caught his wave and made her way to him. The bartender had poured a very full glass, and he wasn't looking to waste it being shouldered into accidentally by a stranger. He took a drink, savoring it for a moment, debating how much he liked it and where it ranked generally in his list of beers he enjoyed. Certainly, up there, but he usually preferred darker beers. It was smooth though.

He opened his mouth to return a hello of his own and was entirely taken aback by Charlotte's very French Canadian, European style greeting. He froze, one hand around his glass on the bar top, expression bewildered, other hand awkwardly stuck at his side. He swallowed as she brushed her cheeks against his and pulled away, catching the young woman's eyes with an awkward smile that very clearly read as 'let's never talk about this.' Ferris cleared his throat loudly, though much of the sound was swallowed by the general hubbub of the crowded bar. Hopefully, from how Charlotte downed her drink, she agreed with him.

He had an aunt from Montreal that greeted everyone like that, but he'd only met her a few times. And Darcy...well, sure, she was Swiss, but she hardly greeted anyone except him with a kiss on the cheek and even then, that was a more romantic/sexy sort of thing because they were married. He wasn't sure the last time a woman he wasn't married to even pretended to kiss him.

"Irish cream ale," he said quickly. "You like beer? If not then...light beers more likely you might but..." he shrugged. He wasn't trying to tell her what to drink, he just sorely needed something to distract from what had just happened. "Bigger crowd than I thought. Hopefully they live up to it?"

[Charlotte Lewis]

The kiss on the cheek was even more awkward than she had imagined while leaning in, but luckily Ferris wanted to talk about it just as little as she did. Instead, he responded to her tactful question to change the focus. "Not much of a beer girl, nah", she said with a little chuckle. "But I mean, it doesn't look too bad, so enjoy."

Then the conversation shifted to the topic of the crowd. Charlotte looked around and nodded while still looking at the amount of people in the room. "Yeah", she agreed. "I'm a bit surprised, but hopefully they live up to the expectations." The blonde ordered another drink and turned back towards Ferris. "How's the wife?" she asked. He had mentioned her briefly, and she thought it would be nice to ask about her.

[Ferris Felwinter]

He wasn't surprised to hear she wasn't that into beer. He knew plenty of women that were, but even more seemed to find the drink rather...boring. Ferris was pretty sure that was why he liked it so much. Beer was easy. Simple. It didn't require him to think much about it, it didn't demand his attention. It wasn't exciting because he preferred his attention elsewhere. On the hockey game or the life performance, or whoever he was talking to.

Maybe his drink choice made him a bit boring in turn. Ferris had never thought about it that hard.

He took another sip and nodded. It indeed 'wasn't too bad' so he was content to drink it and honestly, he would enjoy it too. He didn't drink all that much. Not because he wasn't a fan of alcohol, but he didn't like putting that pressure on his wife. If she was drinking, he was sober. If she was sober...he usually was too unless they weren't out together, like tonight.

Ferris returned a nod. The few warm up rifts at least proved the musicians understood their instruments. Not that it was anything to judge how well versed they were, but there were no microphone chirps and the drummer had an easy manner about him.

"Graciously holding down the fort in my stead," he said after another swallow as they waited for Charlotte's drink. "With me taking a couple weeks off before, we'd spent a lot of time together. Now we're both trying to give each other some breaks from the kids." Since she had also taken some of that time off. He hadn't exactly told Charlotte what was going on with him, but...he wasn't sure his 'music buddy' would even want to know. "How about you and...the spaniel?" He had been trying to recall her dog's name but lost it so he settled.