2019-06-11 - Breakfast And Bears

Tobin snet Rafael a text, asking if he wanted to meet up for that coffee that they'd meant to get. He chooses the Grizzly Den Diner since the coffee shop is under renovation, which is not known for its service, but the coffee and the food is pretty good. He sends over the address, and finds a booth to settle into and wait, a cup of coffee in front of him.

Raf actually responds to the text fairly quickly, and agreement to meet there. When he does show up it's with that umbrella of his perched on his shoulder, and an light jacket against the Pacific Northwest rainfall he's going to take a while to get used to. Other than that it's jeans and a button up shirt in forest green left untucked. He shakes off the umbrella as he steps inside, an eyebrow lifting at the decor along with an amused grin. His eyes find Tobin though as he heads over to the booth to slide in. "Hey there."

The rain is a near constant thing, nice days being few and far between. Fortunately, Tobin's never much minded the rain. He doesn't have an umbrella, so the shoulders of his hoodie are still a bit damp, a dark brick red over a plain blue shirt beneath, jeans, hiking boots. The logo for the Gray Harbor Boat Tours is on the front of the shirt. He might have been working earlier during the day. "Hey," he says with a grin when Raf slides in, glancing around. "The service is crap, but the coffee and the food is pretty good. Don't mind the bears." He smiles a little lopsidedly.

"I'm from New York, crap service is something I can deal with. I'm pretty sure if the cook doesn't smell like an ashtray I'm going to feel out of place." Raf quips as he sets his umbrella out of the way where it can dry off. He looks around at the bears with another shake of his head, but still grinning. "It's got.. personality." He sounds like the jury is still out on whether that's a good thing or not.

"It definitely has that," Tobin smiles a little bit crookedly. "Welcome to Gray Harbor." He picks up a menu and glances at it, but he already knows what he wants. He practically grew up in this weird little diner. Still, he glances at it, as though at some point in the last decade it had changed without him noticing it. "So how goes the settling in?"

"Oddly." Raf says with a tone of confusion. "Think I found a place. Was out of my price range, and then I get contactd by my brother, who wants to.. move in with me. Should be able to afford it with what he can help with." He shakes his head, brows scrunching together. "Didn't quite expect that conversation, but there it is." He picks up the menu to give it a bit of a scan. Though it's a diner, even having not seen it before, the menu is fairly predictable.

Tobin doesn't seem surprised by the oddly bit, because, well, it's Gray Harbor, but the reason why has him smiling just a little bit curiously. "So your brother wants to come out here, too? Does he.. have abilities too?" He leans back in his seat a bit, closing the menu and setting it off to one side. He pours another creamer into his coffee and takes a sip from it.

"No clue. But I can guess why he's coming out here." Raf shakes his head again and sets aside the menu, already having picked out someting. "But enough about my wayward litte brother for now." He folds his arms on the edge of the table, grinning towards Tobin. "How've you been since the last time we had coffee?"

Tobin looks curious, but when Raf seems to want to move past the topic, he doesn't press for more, instead nodding and fiddling a bit with his spoon. He laughs just a bit at the question and glances up, "Pretty good, I guess. Met my best friend's on-again-off-again-on-again girlfriend, and somehow got roped into not only hosting a formal birthday party for him, but agreeing to wear a tux for it." He rolls his eyes just a little and shakes his head.

"Is there even a place to rent a tux in town?" Raf raises a brow. "Or is this a trip into the city to get a tux sort of thing? I'm just going to not even say anything about a formal birthday party." He winces slightly. "No offense if it's his thing, but I think I'd rather get shot out of a cannon." Finally, the waitress decides to stop by, "Coffee, and cream chipped beef, two eggs on the side over easy."

"It's mostly Vivian's idea," Tobin says with a chuckle. "It's going to be a dinner cruise on the bigger of the two boats, with dinner and dancing and the whole thing. She's going to have it catered and all that. It's fine with me. I actually own one, since I tend to have a bunch of formal events to either host or be at in one capacity or another." He glances up when the server returns and asks for a waffle with strawberries and whipped cream.

"Trouble with having a significant other, they plan things for you." Raf jokes lightly as he leans back in his seat. "Pretty fancy, didn't know you hosted events on your boats, too. That must bring in some nice clients. Any bridezilla stories? I always enjoy hearing those." He only half sounds like he's joking. "Don't enjoy being in them, but they're always fun to hear about."

"Yeah, weddings, dinner cruises, anniversaries, birthdays, graduations, charity events," Tobin says. "It's not a big town but there are some events here, and then there are those who come in from out of town and want to have their weddings or whatever here, or just do some sort of a retreat out in the grey drizzly rainy PNW." He smiles and shrugs his shoulders, "It brings in decent money that helps get us through the winter. But yeah, we've had some bridezillas. Watched one push her maid of honor overboard once. To be fair, she deserved it. Thankfully, we were still docked at the time."

"Nice. Maid overboard. Can't say I've experienced that. Did see a bride bolt from the altar once and the best man chased after her. They left together." Raf grins slightly. "I've done the wedding thing, some brides still like an actual person to play them down the aisle." He shakes his head. "Doing live music for the reception is a whole lot worse. Did that a few times with some guys I know. But.." He gives an exagerrated shudder. Though he smiles cheerily as his coffee arrives, picking it up to take a sip.

"That's the only time anyone's ever gone overboard at a wedding, though there have been some close calls with drunken receptions, and with college kids and high school kids on graduation cruises, or party cruises," Tobin says. "Haven't lost a tourist yet, though." He smiles a bit faintly, a sudden memory crossing his mine which dulls the smile, but he shakes it off after a moment. "Why is the reception worse? I mean, other than I guess you have to play a lot longer.."

"There's that. You can't take requests like a DJ can, then set has to be in place before you go on unless you magically know a random song someone wants. They don't always understand that. Then there's getting hit on by the drunk aunt. The money's good, but the headache isn't always worth it." Raf sips at his coffee. He notes the faded smile from Tobin, but doesn't go after it, not this early in knowing the guy.

"Yeah, I could see that." Tobin smiles sympathetically at the getting hit on by the drunk aunt. "Yeah, there's always that, too." He taps his fingertips lightly on the table and then asks, "What was the craziest thing that has ever happened on one of your jobs?" He studies Rafael curiously as he takes another sip from his mug of coffee.

"Craziest?" Raf arches a brow, then humms under his breath as he gives it a thought. "So me and this one guy I know, we partnered up to do some gigs at live music nights. Helps pay the bills.. anyway. So we're doing our thing, halfway through our set and then the police just come barging in, shut down the whole bar right on peak Friday night. Turns out the mod owned the place and ran guns out of it." He snorts. "Someone didn't realize the live music doesn't actually work for the bar, so we ended up detained along with the rest of the bar staff, most of who had no clue. Never got paid, either."

Tobin winces and says, "Whoah, no shit? That's crazy. I mean, we have some crime around here but it's not like.. well, I guess it's nothing like big city crime sort of stuff. And you didn't even get paid. That's like adding insult to injury." He shakes his head, "Nothing like that's ever happened on one of my tours, fortunately."

Rafael snorts. "Yeah, after that we learned to ask for half before we started playing." He sips his coffee, supressing a bit of a smile that tries to worm its way through. "You kidding? Small little harbor town like this? Perfect for smuggling things in." He laughs and looks around at the diner. "Like bad bear kitsch from Canada. No way someone paid for all this."

Tobin laughs, glancing around at the decor and says, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that this place has cornered the market on cheezy bear paraphernalia from north of the border." He says, "I guess there could be smuggling. I mean, I'm sure there's something. There's always something right?" But Tobin is very much not involved in that side of Gray Harbor, and so he remains blissfully ignorant of most of what goes on in that arena. "But yeah, always get a deposit. Always."

"Well, you know. They don't trust us as much as we don't trust them. We were trying to build some good faith by not asking for a deposit. Bit us in the ass." Raf shrugs as if it's not that big a deal. "Honestly, the night in the station was more of an inconvenience than not getting the money. They never have good coffee. Never." He gives a mock wince, lifting up his coffee. "This is actually good though. Tastes of more than burnt water."

"You been at the station enough times to know that they never have good coffee? You'd think that the cops would have the good coffee, of all places," Tobin says with a little flicker of amusement in his tone. He glances up and thanks the server as she comes by and sets down their food without a word and wanders off again. "Yeah, I like it here, even with all the bears. Espresso Yourself had good coffee, too, but I think it got bought out and is being renovated at the moment with a new name."

"They don't drink the coffee there, they go to the coffee place across the street, of course." Raf doesn't comment on being down at the station enough times to know what the coffee is like, instead just giving a shrug. "Oo, yeah, that needs a new name. I couldn't go there on principle." He picks up his fork and starts to dig into his food, giving an appreciative nod after the first bite.

"I think it's becoming a Java Jive, which I'm not sure is better," Tobin laughs. He grabs one of the strawberries off the top of his waffle and pops it and a dollop of whipped cream into his mouth with a sigh of contentment. "So good." The cream is fresh, the fruit sweet, and the waffle is golden and perfectly cooked. Happiness. "Most places around here have names like that, though. You won't be able to go to many if you're too picky." He grins. "Been to the Pourhouse yet?"

"It's a good song." Raf hums a few bars of it between bites of sauce and egg soaked bread. He shakes his head. "No, I, uh.. Don't like going to restaraunts alone and I don't really know a whole lot of people around town yet. Just you, really. And I guess the realtor, but that's a weird conversation. Hey, now that we found a place for me to live, let's hang out."

Tobin grins and says, "I mean, realtors are people too, and probably like having friends. Don't see any reason why you couldn't be friends with your realtor?" He wraps both hands around his coffee mug and taps the edge of it with his thumbs thoughtfully, "Well, if you're not tired of getting beverages with me by the time today is over, maybe we could go grab a drink there sometime."

"Happily, but it might be coke for me." Raf says with a grin even as he shakes his head. "I don't drink." Which he follows up with a sip of coffee. Then seems to realize the oddity of that, "Well, not alcohol anyway." He looks at Tobin then offers a brief explaination of. "Stupid youth filled with stupid choices. Better if I don't tempt it." His following smile is a bit fainter, as he pops another bite of his meal into his mouth.

"Oh, no worries. I mean, we don't have to go to a bar, either. It's just another place in town is all," Tobin says, quickly setting aside that idea and poking at his waffle before cutting off another bite with his fork. "There are plenty of other non-bar places to go. I mean, not a lot of places, but it's not a very big town." He then puts some waffle in his mouth to make himself stop talking.

"I can be in a bar. And look at it this way, at least there's always someone good to drive." Raf smirks, setting his fork down on the plate. "I just, uh, I mean I'm glad to have a chance to spend more time with you." He puffs out his cheeks and shakes his head. "If it's not obvious I haven't done the.. uh.." He falters on the right word. "In a while."

"I haven't been drunk in a really long time," Tobin admits with a chuckle. "I'm more of a one or two drinks max with dinner sort of guy. Plus, it's not a great idea to cruise around the harbor with a hangover. You hear boat horns go off with a hangover? Seagulls?" He shakes his head, "Bad scene," grinning a little bit. Then after a brief pause he says, "Yeah, me too. I mean, about spending more time. And also.. not having done this in a while either."

"Seagulls with a hangover.. yeah.. I've done that. Sirens are a bit much, too. Not something I miss." Raf watches Tobin for a moment then nods with his smile brightening a little. "Well good, we can be in the same delightfully awkward boat for a few weeks." He looks out the window at the rain for a few moments. "And it's definitely nice having someone in town to spend time with."

"Yeah, sirens would suck, too," Tobin says with a chuckle. "I remember once or twice in high school having to do an early morning tour on a Saturday after drinking all night. I'm pretty sure that Geoff would blow the horn just to watch me turn green." He grins a little bit at the memory despite it. Then he looks back over at Rafael and says, "As long as you don't mind sharing that boat, I don't mind." After a moment he says, "Some of my friends want to meet you, too. I'll introduce you sometime, if you feel up to it."

"Oh, are we at the introducing to friends stage?" Raf teases lightly, seemingly amused as he even laughs a bit as he smiles over the rim of his coffee cup. "Can't hurt to know a few more people. And I guess you'll meet Iggy soon enough, once he actually decides to show up." He rolls his eyes slightly, but the tone of fondness in his voice is obvious.

"Uhm, I don't know.. maybe? Or not?" Tobin says somewhat hesitantly at the teasing. "I don't know. I told them not until we'd at least had coffee, anyway." He then asks, "Iggy is your brother? The one that's coming out here? And really? Iggy? Like Iggy Pop?" He glances over at Raf curiously.

"Ignacio. As far as I know I'm the only one allowed to call him Iggy. All I could manage when I was a kid, so.." Raf shrugs. "You'll have to ask him what you can call him." He laughs softly and nods. "Well, we've had the coffee so I guess we can do the friend meeting thing. I'd introduce you to some of mine, but, alas." He raises a hand and shrugs.

"Ah," Tobin says, the nickname making sense. "I guess I'll find out when he gets here, then. Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to have had siblings, but then, with my mom taking in half the neighborhood kids all the time, it was kind of like I just had a big extended family of unrelated siblings." He grins a little half-grin. "Yeah, I was just thinking, you know, being new in town and all, it'd just be nice to know more than just me. I mean, as fascinating and entertaining as I am." He smiles a bit wryly.

"It's like having an annoying roommate you don't get to pick. Sometimes. Other times you get along. I mean, it's standard family." Raf tilts his head to the side. "We were best friends growing up, been a few years since we've lived together though." He sighs and looks at Tobin. "You'll probably like him, most people do." He nods. "Yeah, definitely would be nice to know a few people, despite me perfectly enjoying coffee with you."

"When I was a kid, most of the kids came over to hang out at my house because my mom kind of took care of everyone. She was the sort that baked everybody cookies, listened to their problems, gave advice, bandaged knees, that sort of thing. A lot my friends didn't have real good family lives growing up, so they kind of all ended up sort of surrogate siblings, even if they all had their own places," Tobin says, settling back into the booth a little bit as he cuts off another bit of waffle. "Well, I look forward to meeting him, whenever he gets here. Bring him by any time."

"Well, maybe you can meet him and check out my new place all in one go. I'll order pizza." Raf smirks as he picks his fork back up. "I think I would have liked that. I usually hid at my friend's houses. My dad was.. is the super strict sort, so any chance I had to get out from under his attention I took. Mom is great.. but.." He shakes his head.

"Yeah, sounds like Byron. He pretty much stayed at anyone's house that he could other than his folks' growing up," Tobin says as he takes another bite of his waffle, quiet for a short while as he chews. "And sure, I'd like that. I'll bring something over, a fitting Gray Harbor housewarming present of some kind." He looks thoughtful, "Now I just need to figure out what that is."

"As long as it's not bear themed." Raf peers sideways at a bear picture hanging on the wall. "I'll give myself nightmares." He chuckles softly. "Unless it's a really cool bear thing and then maybe I'll make and exception."

Tobin glances over at the bears on the walls and laughs, "I think I can probably refrain from a bear theme. After all, I've already subjected you to this place. There is a point at which we will reach bear overkill. And there really only is one diner in town, so I think you can probably get all the bear you could ever need right here."

"Unless it's a bearskin rug to put in front of the fire place because that sounds.. no. That sounds horrible. And do you vaccuum those? It doesn't seem like it, but then how do you clean it? No. Terrible idea." Raf shakes his head emphatically as he changes his mind on that particular item. "I'm sure you'll think of something."

Tobin pauses for a moment and looks puzzled, "You know, I have no idea. The thought of not cleaning it is gross. But the only thing that comes to mind is those cartoons where old ladies take rugs out and beat them until all the dust flies out, and that.. doesn't seem sanitary either." He gives a bit of a shudder. "No bearskin rugs. I'll think of something that doesn't require complicated logistics to clean."

"Except you can clean rugs that way. It was a mom punishment. Her mother did it to her, so she did it to us." Raf shrugs. "Then she'd have us vaccuum them when we brought them in anyway. Something about building character blah bblah blah.. I don't know I wasn't usually paying attention."

"Seriously?" Tobin asks, chuckling just a little bit. "I don't know -- we always just vacuumed ours. And used carpet cleaner on them if they needed it. But then, I'm not sure how carpet cleaner would work with animal fur. That seems like it'd be a bad scene." He grins then and finishes off the remainder of his waffle.

"Maybe you shampoo it." Raf offers half jokingly. "I think I'm done trying to wrap my head around it." He finishes off the last few bites of his meal and leans back. "I'm really going to give myself a nightmare about having to clean a room sized bear skin rug or something." He grimaces at the thought. He looks towards the rather unfriendly staff, then back to Tobin. "We should probably get the check. I have to go meet up with the realtor at this place I might be getting."

Tobin laughs and says, "Don't joke too much about that, or you could end up fighting a giant smelly room sized bear skin rug." He's only half-joking about that, too. Glancing over toward the wait staff, he nods and says, "I'll take care of it. I did invite you out, after all. You can get the pizza when I come check out your place. Thanks, for coming out with me. It was nice to see you again. And good luck with the place." He then slips out of his seat, not so fast that Raf can't respond, but after, and heads up to the register to ask for the check, since he knows full well if he just waits for it, it could be a while getting there.

Before Tobin can completely slip away, Raf reaches out to take his hand, holding hi from running off to the register just yet. He slides out of the booth and gives him a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks for breakfast." Only then does he let Tobin go, and reaches back into the booth to collect his things.

Tobin is caught, and he pauses, looking back to Raf for a moment just in time to receive that peck to the cheek. "You're welcome," he manages, and can't help the little grin that lingers as he heads up to the register.