2019-07-18 - Problems, Meet Solutions

Ignacio promised Julia a beer and a lunch. He also promised himself that he wouldn't dreank so much as he did the night previous and well... things don't always go as planned in Gray Harbor. Scratch that, things never go as planned in Gray Harbor.

Better.

For Julia though? He's keeping his word and forced his broken skinny ass into the shower and out the door to be here. He's reviewing their text conversation as a refresher because, well he was honest, the day after he didn't even know they had a conversation til he checked his phone. No one's perfect. He's workin on soe things like everyone else and that thing? That thing is lunch. Eyes lift from the phone following people as they come in while he holds the table.

Julia arrives, and it seems she's off today. But it's some kind of semi-formal occasion because she looks like she just came from a funeral. Literally. She's in a black dress with lace at the top covering her shoulders and arms just past her elbows, her only ornamentation a crucifix. She's clear-eyed, however, if solemn. "Nacio. Hey." She moves to take a seat at the table. "Sorry to be over-dressed. Had a thing." For once, her lipstick isn't even scarlet. She peers at him. "You okay?"

Ignacio rubs a hand over his face and warms a faint, tired smile to her. "Eh, life's a lil crazy as hell right now. Fuckin nightmares, ghosts, shit actin up, and me kinda making life hell for a couple friend of mine..." He looks around and back chortling, "It's Tuesday." His eyes, while a bit glassy, cruise over her taking in the details and his head tilts, "This don't look lie the best mornin for you. are /you/ alright?"

Julia smiles at him in weary sympathy; she slips into Spanish like it's a comfy old chair. "One of my aunts died. Car accident. It's not what I want to tell you about though. This is just...Tuesday. Like you said." Taking a swallow of her beer, she still looks concerned. "But do you want to go first? I mean, you look kind of a wreck. Maybe I can help. Or should I go first so you'll understand how I can help?"

Ignacio considers how much he's going to put on her. The Spanish is a relief. It's what he speaks at home, what he is comfortable with, and seems to be navigating her dialect of it comprehensivly even if his is still more blunt and direct. His lower eyelids squint up and he considers this for a long moment taking the time to order drinks and appetizers. "I was in... that haunted house where that girl was found. Half that cooking class was there actually. We barely got that kid out before everything got ugly and went sideways. Now... whatever the fuck that was? It's...fuckin haunting me and taking great amusement in telling me it's gonna kill teh remainder of the few friends I have for pissing it off." He pauses and shakes his ead, "Not somethin I ever look forward to goin through again so. Yeah. Sorta slept like shit in short."

His brow furrows and offers with a heartfelt wince, "My condolences on your aunt. You wanna talk about that? Absolutely. I mean go for it." There's a pause and he looks to teh door and then ceilingward for a moment before looking back to her, "Hey, lemme know when things are. You want I can cover for you at the restaurant, or help get you guys a shit ton of food. You should be able to take this time to worry about you and family, ya know?"

Julia's gaze narrows when she hears about the ghost. "Don't listen to it. What it's doing, it's doing so that you'll be sad and afraid, and it'll take that sadness and fear and feed off of it. So no matter what it tells you, don't give in." Agan, she waves off talking about her family. "My aunt married up, and sort of dropped out of contact with our side of the family." Another drought of beer, and she puts her hands on the table. Studying them. Then she looks up at him and takes a deep breath.

"Ignacio, I like you. I mean, you're a friend kind of out of nowhere, definitely that. But any time I think there are possibilities for anything more, um, complicated? It gets complicated. See, people want to know about how I grew up and when I tell them, they freak out and don't want to be around me anymore." A pause. "I'm starting this wrong. Okay." Another deep breath, fingers curling around her beer bottle.

"When I was a little girl, I would hear things. See things. Bad shadows. Nasty whispers. And I wasn't smart enough not to realize none of the adults would believe me. So by the time I was eleven, I was diagnosed as schizophrenic and sent upstate."

Ignacio tilts his head to listen and arches an eyebrow when she stops herself a faint, half-grin warms his tired expression< "Hey, take your time with it. I ain't goin anywhere." Looking around he points with his bottle, "Like seriously it'll take me a half an hour to get from here to there. You got time for a nap and a dress rehearsal. It's all good."

The banter aside he stays put and listens curious, and one eyebrow arches. "Before eight years ago? I'd ahve questioned that." His lips press together and he takes a deep breath watching her usually so damn confident, and now fearful and brave with the truth. He goes to talk but pauses nodding offering, "I believe you. When... When I went through teh first time? It was... really...really bad. The details aren't important. I mean" his hand gestures out withthe obvious in a wave, "clearly you get the scope of 'is bad' but tI woke up I was in teh hospital. They had to put me all sorts of back together and when they asked me what happened? I tried to tell them. And all of em it was Ignacio you lie, enough withthe stories! Was it the drugs? Why are you doing these things? And I really wasn't then and when I tries to tell them no I wasn't high, we weren't drinking? Eeeh."

Waveing his hand dismissivly he takes a deep breath and assures, "I don't bother telling people the truth generally because I learned teh hard way they don't want to hear it. So ... yeah, trust me, I believe ya." There's a reflexive wince he's too damn tired to hide but the math catches up to him furrowing his brow, "They made you miss your fifteenth birthday because of that didn't they?"

Julia nods slowly. "There's more. I went to sleep in my own bed and walk up in the asylum. Everything about it was presented as on board to my parents, to the doctors, but that place? It wasn't. It was hell. If you asked me who treated me, how I spent most of my days, specifics about my treatment - I couldn't tell you. You won't find any of the usual documentation that you'd find for a treatment facility. The staff there were monsters. They would torture us. Keep is in despair in as many ways as possible. I remember some things...they set my brain on fire. They electrocuted me, kept me drugged, for years. If it wasn't for two other girls there, I don't know how I would have made it." Her smile is tight.

"The thing is, those dark men or spirits, the ones who feed off negative emotions? Some people, they think they can bargain with they serve them. Find others for them to feed on so they won't be fed on themselves. Those are the creatures and the people we're dealing with."

Ignacio has totally lost track that he was on his way to take a drink, paused, and has been staring, eyebrows going up, for almost a total minute. "Mother of God yoooooou are saying there's people on teh outside..." He looks around adn leans forward making sure to keep quiet, Spanish or not. "They're expierementing on people.... The fuck they doo go tripping balls and watch teh Jacket in reverse too many times? Christ!" Yeah, that's a mind blower that he takes a moment to process.

He's not a great number of things, but he is attentive to fdetails. "This... place is where you were sayin you might gotta go for answers." That's a very heavy look given to her. Finally, his hand lifts and he rests it on her forearm, "They still got patient people projects there don't they?" Woooooow, just...wow. His eyes squeeze closed and he goes to speak. He stops. He tries again, and stops. Shit, how to phrase this.

"Friends of mine... got stuck on the other side. We didn't see them again. One died and the other?" His molars tightene together before going slack, "The other we dunno. May never know but... I get needing to help and not leave someone left behind. Jsut-" God blessed words are hard today, "Figure out a plan and if you need nelp with it? Well I meant it. I'll help you however I can help ya. I don't want to see you get hurt and I'm putting money your sister is in agreement."

Julia shakes her head. "My sister thinks I went upstate for treatment and that's that. My family won't hear about anything that actually happened there. Trust me, it's why I ended up in San Francisco with my dad. The only reason I came back was because my mother had a stroke and someone needed to keep the family business afloat. I'm sure there are alot of places that are feeding those things, arranged by human beings who don't want to be food themselves. I want to figure out how to beat them. Those beings, those creatures, the shadows. Figure out how to starve them, or even destroy them."

There is always the distinct possibility that she is totally out of touch with functioning reality. Taht variable is there, however in contrast to this Ignacio can also argue: Yeah, so are the Dark Men which means... yeah this is chillingly fucking real. This is happening. Fan-fukkity-tastic.

Arms cross on the table and his tongue traces his lower lip, "Yeah... that's problematic." His finger taps against the bottle and he asks, "Soooo whaddo we do? Where do we start? Good plan needs a walk through so it doesn't happen again. Also? It'll sound weird but have a second phone on ya. I saw it in a cop shopw. Can't remember if it was the Departed or not but they had the phone that was found but the second phone for GPS on it. Pretty good movie." He pauses shaking his head, "I can't remember if that happened in there or not but it was still a great film. If you go you should have someone keeping track of ya in case someone gets stupid so that? We should definiately work on that."

It's totally true. She could be an actual, genuine schizophrenic. "There's a whole lot of places to start. I have a small clue about where I was. The asylum had a cemetary on the propery, and I remember one of the names on it. That man might be in the system, or even a history book. We could look into what we can do - the fact that we can do it is one of the reasons they like to come after people like us in particular. Apparently we're the difference between filet mignon and chuck. We can try and research the Dark Men, see if there are any references in history or myth, and try to figure out how to defend against them, or better, how to fight them." Julia looks at him earnestly. "We're going to do this, right?"

Ignacio swirls his beer and says, "Find a grave." Come again Ignacio? His hand lifts with an apologetic look and he rewinds that one, "The website. Kinda like that ancestry research site but it networks burial sites. It could be a reach, but also something that might be easily overlooked thanks to the sprawling wonders of posthumous social media." Considerably less offensive sounding response. He warms a half-smile at the 'we' as she accepts the offer of help in this seriously. His hand reaches out to wrap around her fingers in a brief squeeze of assurance. "I can't run, but I can definitely help you look up shit. If being remote for a while taught me anything it was how to be resourceful. I might not be the world's greatest answer fingers but I'm a social media ninja. I can find the guy who does, and..." He pauses with a slow nod arching an eyebrow, "Eh, maybe that's my gift to the world? Not knowing shit but networking enough to find the people who do. Yeah." He drinks his beer with a small, but casual nod. "Yeah, we're gonna do this an, importantly, we're gonna do this in a way you don't get stuck.So, for what it's worth because I watch too many damn movies? We'll start with I promise to believe you, a'ight?"

"You're assuming that anything currently on the internet about this is going to be accurate. Or even true. But it is a start, and maybe it can lead us somewhere." The squeeze to her fingers earns him a furtive smile. "It seems like you know plenty of shit. It's all just steps along the way." She leans back in her chair. "But thank you for believing me."

Ignacio pauses and while it takes him a moment longer than he'd like he seizes the opportunity to give Julia a look of surprise like that news snuck up on him. Not his best deadpan but he manages not to smile, "Wait, stuff on the internet isn't true? ...I'm going to have to cancel my subscription." He sighs, "Unacceptable." Looking up he adds actually serious, "Well we can see what it says and check it from a couple resources and seeee what we can see. Also I know a researcher who can give us some tips on how to go about it so we can use it for possible leads even if we don't accept it as blind fact. A start is better than absolutely no start. "

Julia snorts a little at his 'shock', but after a moment, her expression becomes more solemn. "There's something else I want to try. Something I read about. Sometimes people who can't remember things, they've had some success with hypnosis. I mean, it's all there, and they just can't get to it. I could try that." Julia worries the corner of her mouth for a moment before admitting, "I don't really trust psychiatrists. I mean...look what happened. But it needs to be someone who actually knows how to do something like that, not just read a book from the self-help section at the bookstore. And the things I might remember - that's what I was talking about. It's going to be horrible. But it might also help us figure things out."

A lopsided grin slowly surfaces on Ignacio's face when Julia snorts with amusement. Tiny victory. Total win. He looks around as if considering the room and hrmmms. "Okay," His fingers lift in the unspoken gesture of hang on, hear me out! "Find the nearest goth girl." He turns to look back to Julia and immediately starts in with his defensive argument, "Not to be... groupist?! Whatever? But one in five will have a lead on stuff like hypnotism, tarot cards, 10 things to do with your aura without really trying, and vegetarianism and other culty stuff. SO like stuff that doesn't involve a shrink?" He pauses and tries to find a word for it only to come up with "Pre-shrunk." No. No, Nacio that ... no. "Really though they might be a solid group for that or someone all the fuck up into yoga and unlocking your mind stone." Chakra, Nacio, life isn't a comic book.

"Chakra, Star-Lord. You mean chakra." Julia finishes her beer with a grin. "I don't think I want rando-goth girl playing dominoes with my brain. A professional would be best. Though if I can, I'd like someone else there." She looks at him pointedly. "So I feel safe."

Ignacio tilts his head to the side with the faint grin hanging, "TO be fair," He looks a bit proud of himself, "I said they'd know a likely professional, not be one and... yeah. I mean if you're cool with me being there cause that shit can get personal? Count me in as back up." He waits for the loaded waffle fries to show up aaaaaaand perfection. "I'm also gonna guess askin your parents is kinda right out, but you have access to your personal records? Medical stuff and that?"

"Been there, done that." Julia says with regret. "The relevant records are lost in the system. It's all part of how I can't remember where we were, or who the doctors were, I don't know if it's something ghosty supernatural or a regular conspiracy to keep the asylum afloat and continuing to feed the Dark Men, or maybe a bit of both."

Ignacio considers this and picks up a potato with bacon and chives and goodness on it and holds it out for her. "Well, I say first I need to get caught up on who these boogymen are. And second? compile what you have and know and we make a copy of it somewhere that's like... stored in like Google Docs or something where they have their own security but we don't have to worry about physical copies being destroyed being end of the line." He pauses and watches her, "I'm not a programmer I just wanted a lot of tv over three years."

Julia eyes the potato skin, and then him, and then the potato skin again. She delicately plcks it from his fingers and has a nibble. "Let me start with the easy stuff. They're not really men. It's just easier to call them that. They're like these spirits? Not of dead people. Just beings. And they feed on sadness and misery and fear and despair."

Ignacio moves the potato. Then moves it again. Look it's a tiny airplane of- oh she grabbed it. Less funny but a lot smarter. This...is why she's the boss lady and he's her line cook. He considers what he's learning here and gives her a doubtful look, "If we call them boogiebeings, while more accurate and PC, makes them sound like they've got bell bottoms and platform shoes of doom. So... these..." He pauses and asks quizzically, "Dementors? Kinda. Like real ones if you think about it. Ghost of lack of Christmas present." Though that thought is occurring to him giving bad ideas speed, "You know if they feed on sadness I think making fun of them is really in our benefit. See? This is why you need me around. I'm hilarious. Let mi mama tell you." There's that sage nod as if he's going this as a tactical favor and not because he's an overgrown manchild at heart. "So they make us afraid, bad dreams, and feast on that like it's Taco Tuesday. Right. Well they're doing a damn good job so far. Damn well woke up with a fuckin heart attack the other night. Soooo we know what works on them if anything?"

"We don't." Okay. Julia picks up a potato skin, and tries to nudge it into his hand. But assuming she gets it there, she has further plans for it. "The people who help them do it so they won't be used up themselves. I don't know if it's happiness that wards them off, or not feeling anything. But yeah, Dementors."

Nacio is game. He takes the potato from her, curious. "K, so Dementors. Feeling of people feeling miserable so if we can manage that it can maybe help, and if not? Eh, is a hell of a good time." He considers with a less cavalier tone, "I think enough people been through enough. Sometimes even if it doesn't keep them warded off, it still helps. Somethin else to focus on. I dunno."

Julia's fingers wrap around his wrist, and she starts to guide the potato skin toward his mouth, only to swoop it around and bring it to her mouth. And taking a bite, she lets go of his wrist, and looks terribly pleased with herelf. "Like I said, I don't know if the key is happiness or laughter, or being in some kind of zen state they can't feed off of. And they have allies to help them extract pain from other people. Didn't I already tell you this? I might need another beer."

Ignacio bites the potato with wry grin and dubious look. He munches the proffered potato which she scams half of. There's amusement there i that hangover that's being nursed back to full power. "Yooooou love living dangerously. What if I had cooties?" He considers, eyes rolling to the ceiling in thought and fixing their attention there considering possibilities before returning to her in a sidelong glance, "Well why not try both? And you did. People so afraid of the thing they don't understand they feed it to be spared." Hey, lookie there he is paying all sorts of attention. "Historically that's never gone the way they think it will."

"Latino guys don't have cooties." she says with an air of authority. "Only suave" She can't keep a straight face at that, letting out a giggle before sobering up and signalling to have a second bottle brought over. "Yeah, eventually it's going to get them too, but it doesn't stop them from hurting other people in the meantime. I want to go for what I know how to stop. Like the asylum. I want it torn down to the foundations, you know?"

Ignacio grins broadly in that lopsided manner he does and even has to laugh at that one. "You counting me? That's so excellent." He's charmed by this, truly and tries SUPER HARD to be humble and it's... not happening. it'd help if he could hold a serious expression, but it's Ignacio. "The Boogiebeings are going to get cooties?" He pauses and catches on, "Get them... the insane fuckers. Got it." He listens though, about her plans and takes his beer from the bartender and and clinks it against hers, "To tabula rasa. Bringing what is profane to the ground so those affected can start over. Seems legit to me. " He pauses watching her finally saying, "You look better. Talking about it. I mean like this I mean... just... driven, like you got your teeth ready to bite back. It's good. Real good. Brave as hell and," His head tilts to the side failing to find a better way to explain it, "Suits you." It's good that you're takin it back.

"I was never a victim. Always a survivor. But it doesn't hurt to have people in my corner. People who get me. "And do I count you as what, Latino? Hell yeah, I do de Santos." She nods then, hands going to rest on the table as the second beer is brought. "Thank you for doing this for me. We need to find more. More who want to do this. But there's more." She holds out her hand, palm down, over the bottle top without actually touching it, and the bottle cap proceeds to twist, all by its lonesome. It's got some serious torque.

Ignacio considers his words carefully and admits, "I'm not-" He pauses finding his words for that thought. "I don't want to make the same mistake twice. LAst time I wasn't able to do something when... someone needed something to be done. Don't wanna leave someone hangin like that, and you, bonita?" A nod follows, "You've had my back. So a know. We're doin this because I have noooooo idea how you've done all this by yourself. On /one/ condition though?" Eyebrow arches holding out on the stipulation, "You let Tobin, Raf and I throw you a quinceanera /observed/...and possibly slightly past the expiration date."

Julia puts her elbow on the table, and rests her chin in her palm. "You gonna dance with me if I do, Nacho?"

Ignacio considers the answer, half grin hanging there and he looks torn on that but finally nods, "Yeees. If it comes to that? I'd be happy to on the warning I ain't at all as good as I used to, but how can I tell you no? It's your birthday."For that she gets a wink and he drinks his beer. Looking at hers and then her again with a chuckle he asks quietly, "How'd you do that, with the cap? That's a hell of a thing. Most I ever managed was to light someone's cigarette and make a whole lot a whole lot worse. How'd you learn to do that?"

"You can still move your hips, can't you?" she challenges, but perhaps thankfully the question is rhetorical. To his question, Julia simply shrugs. "I've been this way since I was very small. From the time I was eight years old. Maybe it's because it's been in me so long, or because of what I've gone through. I don't know how or why I can do what I do, I just can. And people like us, we're like the Godiva chocolate to them."

Ignacio answer s as glibly with an objective tone, "Well Rafael's not said he's going to take me out around back and shoot me like a racehorse yet so I think we're still good. However," He shakes his head, "Kids shouldn't be drinking Corona at 8. You gotta ease into it." Yup. Still a smart ass. He considers though, "We know anyone aside from my brother in the music scene around here? How's that been?" Sure there's a hospital to find, but destressors are important and come with a DJ in 5% of all cases!

She makes a little wiggle-waggle with her hand. "A good friend of mine works at the Firefly Club. I'm certain she has a line on any decent DJs in town." Julia notes, "I can't wait to hear Rafael sometime, though. Think I could talk him into performing at the Hispanic Festival in a few weeks?"

Ignacio snappoints and grins as if all the world's problems just got solved. "So that's a DJ taken care of and? Yeah, I think if you and I ask really nicely and you threaten Raf with angry Spanish? Yeah he'll play the festival." Shifting in his chair there's more animation moving through him finding words for it to confide, "Honestly? I think this'll be pretty great for him. Like... just because our pops is an asshole doesn't mean it's a reason to walk away from everything ya know?"

"I can do 'that." Julia says with confidence, but the last thing he says catches her attention. "Your dad is an asshole...because your brother is gay?" This doesn't surprise her in the slightest. "Hopefully your mama is alot better about it. Mothers tend to be more tolerant for their children. And Rafael can have you, and the family he makes."

Ignacio smirks to Julia. Yes she's got that one in one, but ultimately the fight there is gone. He confides casually, and a bit proud of himself, "Yeaaaah it's why even when I got healthy enough to work again I told him naw. I'm not running the restaurant with em. He told me to start acting like an adult. I told him to start acting like a father first. So I'm here." He looks around and chuckles, "Maybe I'll keep writing. I dunno. Seems t'be going well so far but, I mean I liked doing it. I was looking forward to havin the place with em cause we always got along but... some shit I can't abide, ya know? I'll choose mi hermao eeeeeevery fuckin time. Can't wait for you to hear him play... be good for him I think." With a fond amusement he adds, "And I'll have to introduce you cause he's shy as hell. It's fantastic."

"I've met him, remember?" Julia points out. "He seemed okay. Didn't have much use for me." She's grinning and doesn't seem to mind. "It's so weird. When I first got out, and while I was in San Francisco, I didn't really have a...circle? Of friends. Just individuals. Maybe this time will be different." She gives him a sly look. "You better have a tux for my quinces, Nacho."

"If he didn't put you to work that means he likes you." This assessment seems to amuse the man yea mightily. Then there's the tux request and the faint flinch with the lopsided grin, "Well I'd be a shit host and a shittier friend if I said no, sooooo yeah a'ight, birthday girl. We'll look into it." He doesn't even object to being called a snackfood but squints a look back, "Funny thing about a circle of friends; it doesn't have to be a big circle, only the right circle. And it's hard trusting people but, we gotta let them surprise us sometimes. People got this amazing ability to come through sometimes. It's the craziest damned thing. I have every faith it'll be different. You got a talent for motivating people."

"Mine could still use some widening. And not all of my circles intersect. I want to do more dinners with people, maybe you could see how I fit along with your other friends? The girl with the terrific hair, and the man with the nose. They were both at my class the other night. For a start. We've got Elise and Graham, too. And I need to introduce you to Hannah." Julia looks at her fingers like she's counting friends. "Byron's gone bougie, and I'm almost certain Vyv was born that way. Erin's good, but right now she's having a rough go of it."

Ignacio grins in lopsided, easy fashion and nods, "Then we'll do that. It'll be fun." Eyebrow goes up as the list gets shared with that, "well then we'll have to make this happen. Also? Graham's hilarious. I mean I'm sure he's up to somethin but so are about twenty percent of the people I know. " He thinks back to the other night at cooking, "So the guy that cut his hand? That's Cole. I dunno much about him but I do know he's all in with helping kids in trouble. The chica with the badass hair? That's Finch. Kinda shy, super cool. The nose is Itzhak. Just call him the Schnoz. You'll make a friend for life. He's like the Bruce Banner of cars: His secret is he's always crabby. It's not you. The guy that looks like he's about ready to say Fuck this shit I'm retiring to Manitoba is August. I work for him in the mornings. You both share a very similar drive takin care of stuff. I think you'd get on alright really."

"Can't wait to meet 'em." Julia says, lifting her beer bottle in salute. "Is it cliche if I say that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship?"

"Not even in the slightest. So... let's talk birthday menu." because in a world of things going to shit they can make something a little better. Ignacio tinks the neck of his bottle to hers.