2019-07-27 - So About that Charity Dinner

Almost a week had passed since the strange-fated charity dinner, and life had gone on, though in the following days, things had gotten frustratingly unlucky for everyone in Gray Harbor. Justin, too, had been dealing with a series of frustrations -- from bugs appearing in code that he'd known he'd already gotten working correctly, to a fender-bender downtown. Frustrations had been piling up, but for once, it was a nice, and thus-far quiet evening. When he arrived, Justin lead Stefano out back to the patio, where the air was warm and the sky was clear -- for once not pouring or grey or drizzling. Drinks provided, if desired.

Justin sprawls in one of the comfortable patio chairs by the table with the umbrella, setting his glass down on it. "Sorry," he starts off with, "About the dinner. I had hoped the worst part of it would be any boring speeches not.. well.. that."

Stefano has a glass with a few ounces of scotch in it and makes himself comfortable in another of the chairs. "That's not the kind of thing you can plan or predict. Or if it is, I've never heard about it. It did liven things up though and made me enjoy the desert more than I would have. Was that the second time it's happened to you?"

Justin nods, "The second time since I moved back.. though I am pretty sure.. something like it has happened in the past, when I was here in the summers. I'm remembering it a bit more.. the longer that I've been back here. It's weird." He chuckles, "The desserts were pretty good."

"I'd have been more surprised if it had never happened to you before since you'd spend months here." Stefano tells Justin. "Just how much do you know about what happened? And about this area in general? Have you compared notes with Dahlia and the others?"

"I also spent most of my time in LA," Justin says, "And when I was there, I didn't really remember the weirdness, not the way I do now that I'm back." He glances down at the liquid in his glass, then shakes his head. "Dahlia and I briefly talked about.. strange feelings, but that's the first time we've ever experienced something like that where we were both there. And she's been dealing with some stuff. She hasn't even been home much lately to talk about it." He takes a deep breath and says "Hyacinth and I, though.. remember when she mentioned about the work being done on the ballroom at the museum? Because we saw something happen in the ballroom one night. I'm pretty sure there's nothing in there to clean up.. but what we saw was pretty unsettling."

Stefano makes an encouraging 'go on' noise and looks expectant.

"I went to talk to her after work, and we were on our way out from her office when the power went out. There were a few other people in the museum, so we were making our way together to head to the front door when suddenly there was light and music coming from the ballroom," Justin says, making a kind of gesture with one hand, "So we went to go take a look. Mainly because Hyacinth was pissed that people were fucking around in there and messing with the piano instead of leaving. When we opened the door, there was a full on party going on inside, people dancing.. and Byron started freaking out, and we couldn't figure out why. Until suddenly everyone inside was dead, and not in like a Vampire Lestat sort of way, but more a Walking Dead sort of way.. and we all got the Hell out of there."

"Good decision. If you die in a dream, you just wake up. If you die on the other side, you die for real. We were in real danger that night. Did Hyacinth have any effects from what happened?" Stefano asks.

Justin shakes his head, "Not that I'm aware of. I texted her, and while she was incredibly put out, she didn't seem to be suffering any side-effects from whatever happened in there." He says, "So.. you're saying if the fish hook guy had caught us, we could have actually died?"

Stefano takes a drink then nods seriously. "Yeah. I haven't seen it myself but that's what I'm told. Someone I trust completely did see it so I have no reason to think otherwise. What's surprising is there aren't more unexplained disappearances around here than I've heard about."

"I don't know.. if people don't remember clearly once they leave.. it could be that there are more, they just.. aren't recorded? Or are attributed to something else, maybe?" Justin considers, glancing up and over toward Stefano, then, looking a bit puzzled. "How come you know so much about this? Does this happen in New York, too?"

"Except those who stay here would know and they'd be documented in news and police reports." Stefano points out then shakes his head. "Rarely. Gray Harbor is a thin spot. New York isn't. But my family was originally from Palermo and we lived there for centuries. Palermo is just like Gray Harbor. My grandfather taught me about all this since we both have the gifts. Like Vyv, though different."

Justin takes another sip of his drink and then pauses, and finishes it off before setting the glass to the side, taking a moment to let that sink in. "So there are other places like this, where this weird stuff happens." He shakes his head, "I never experienced anything like this in LA, except maybe on a bad trip or two." He studies Stefano then, "So you can.. levitate things .. with your mind?" Because that's what he could tell Vyv was doing, "And.. Hyacinth.. she can electrocute things.. which suddenly makes her way more terrifying than before." He smiles a little faintly at that, not at all terrified of Hyacinth.

Stefano nods. "Small stuff. I can do some things Hyacinth can but I can't do electricity. I can set things on fire though but my strength is healing. The abilities we have come in basically three flavors. Many are stronger in one than others. How about you? It's unusual for those with no talent to be pulled over though it does happen. Not twice in a week though."

Justin considers this information, and turns it over in his head a bit. "I can't do anything like that. Honestly, there's nothing special about me, at all. I get weird feelings from time to time.. like the hairs raising on the back of my neck when Hyacinth zapped that thing, or the knives started flying through the air but.. I've never really thought about it." Mostly, he has just been a passenger to the weird, entirely unaware of his own innate ability.

"Weird feelings." Stefano repeats with a sage nod. "Yes, someone with the talent can detect others who use it. You might not have it strongly but that doesn't mean you can't. Like any other skill, you can get better at it. Assuming you want to. Using them aren't necessarily safe."

"So you're saying that I have.. talents.. and don't know it?" Justin asks, tapping his fingertips on the arm of his chair. "How did you figure out what you could do? I mean, did you just wake up one day and figure out you could heal people? And.. not safe.. how?" he adds, cautiously.

"It was my grandfather. He was watching for anyone in the family who could do things." Stefano answers. "I could fix tears and things in my stuffed animals and he noticed. After that, he started teaching me. But as useful as it is, it's definitely a mixed blessing. There are... things out there. Those shadows might have been some of them, it's hard to say. They're dark and cold and get off on terror and despair. They can be found on the other side but they can take over people on this side and we're a banquet to them."

It's a lot for Justin to take in, and while part of him has always known about the strangeness of Gray Harbor, and part of him has been remembering more of what was lost the longer that he remains, these abilities are new to him, a thing he's never heard of before, or witnessed. There's clearly some processing going on there, and he's quiet, thoughtful, as he listens, staring at some point midway across the lawn. "So those dark things, like to mess with people who have abilities, and using them lets them know that we're.. especially tasty snackfoods?"

"Like a bottle of vodka shouting 'Hey, I'm 150 proof!' in the middle of an AA meeting." Stefano agrees. "If you ever get a strange feeling around someone, the opposite of what you feel around one of us, get the hell away. They belong to them. I've never seen one myself. They're rare. But in place like this, they're more common. Much more so than in New York or LA."

Justin chuckles a little bit at that and says, "Got it." Then he nods once more, "Alright. Well, I'm not sure if I'd know exactly what the opposite of what I feel around everyone is, since everyone feels a little different. But, hopefully I'll figure that out.. before it's a problem." He frowns slightly, momentarily, at that, and then seems to shake it off, thinking about something else. "Have you noticed feeling.. off.. lately? A few days ago I woke up in the middle of the night feeling.. just.. this ominous forboding.. and ever since then, all kinds of frustrating bad luck type things have been going on."

"You'll know." Stefano assures Justin. "They're cold and dark and feed on fear and pain." At the question, he nods. "Yeah, I've noticed. A flat tire. Traffic jams. Things breaking or getting dropped. I've heard others complaining about it too. It can't be coincidence."

"Do you think it has anything to do with these dark things?" Justin asks curiously. "They're just trying to make everyone generally miserable now?" He gets up and goes to get the bottle of scotch and then returns, pouring a little bit more into his glass and offering the bottle toward Stefano.

Stefano takes the bottle and tops off his drink. "I don't know. It seems kind of low key for them. My grandfather never mentioned them being able to do something like that on this side. On the other, sure. But they're stuck over there and can only affect this side with their followers.

Stefano adds "That I know of."

Justin nods and then settles back in his seat, rubbing a bit at his temples with the thumb and forefinger of one hand, shaking his head slightly. "So much for escaping to something quieter and a little more peaceful." He then lets his hand drop and smiles a bit faintly. "I guess it's fortunate that I ran into you -- for multiple reasons."

"None of the others have ever said anything?" Stefano asks. "Obviously, Hyacinth and Vyv know what they're doing. After what happened, they'd probably have said something at some point. Or you'd have asked them."

"Not before, no, but then, I've never seen them do oanything before, and I'd never met Vyv before. Hyacinth's never said anything, even after the whole undead in the ballroom incident. I mean, about the strangeness, sure, about the seeing things -- but not about abilities, or the shadoow things that want to eat us," Justin says. "But yes, I would have asked, now.."

"She might not know. It's not like there are books on this. I wouldn't know anything about this except for my grandfather. But not knowing is definitely dangerous. You should warn her." Stefano suggests. "Talk to everyone who was there but especially those two."

Justin nods and says, "Yeah, I will definitely have to talk to her about it, and likely Vyv as well. I don't know much of anything about him other than that he recently came to town and opened the Patisserie." He takes in a deep slow breath and then lets it out again in a whoosh.

"From what was said, that wasn't Dahlia's first experience either. Which means she's probably like you. Anyone can get drawn to the other side but it's a lot more likely for those like us." Stefano's silent a moment then asks "Have any questions? If not, let's do something totally unrelated and forget about it for a while."

Justin nods and says, "I'm going to talk to her about it whenever she's home next." He shakes his head slowly when Stefano asks if he has any questions, and finally says, "I'm sure I will. Right now.. I'm just trying to absorb it all." Though at the prospect of doing something else, he says, "That.. sounds like a good idea. We could swim." He nods toward the pool, "Or go out? Or .." he considers the options for a Sunday evening.

Stefano glances over toward the pool. "I didn't bring a swim suit." he points out. "Do I need a swim suit?" he asks with a bit of a grin. "When is Dahlia going to be home next? Wouldn't want to embarrass her."

"You don't need one," Justin says, "Unless you want one." He then shakes his head, "Probably not until tomorrow. I think she's dancing at the new strip club that opened tonight so I suspect she won't be home tonight. Not that I think she'd be embarassed or care. Possibly appreciative of the view."

"Then we don't need them." Stefano decides. "So we've got scotch and a pool. All we need is pizza and we'll have everything we need for a pleasant evening. What do you like on yours?"

"Anything but anchovies, and I usually go heaver on the veggies, lighter on the meat," Justin says as he pulls out his phone and opens up the app to order pizza. "Got a preference?" He begins to tap in an order.

"Half pepperoni then? And half mushroom and onion?" Stefano suggests. "I can live without a lot of the usual meats but I love pepperoni. Let me know where you're ordering from. I'm trying to find the best places for delivery."

"Pepperoni's good," Justin says with a grin. "I just don't like the all-meat ones. Too heavy, too greasy, but pepperoni and mushroom is one of my favorites. Ham and green pepper, too." He puts in the half pepperoni, half mushroom and onion, and then gives Stefano the name of the place before setting the phone on the table. "Should be about 30 minutes. I'll grab it when it gets here."

"Pepperoni and mushroom would have worked." Stefano says once Justin's off the phone. "But that's fine too. I can do without ham though." He takes a sip from his scotch before continuing. "I googled you the other day. No girlfriend that I could find. Or boyfriend."

"Well, next time, pepperoni and mushroom, then," Justin says with a grin. He raises a brow and then laughs when Stefano says he googled him. "You didn't believe me when I said I wasn't seeing anyone?" He doesn't seem offended, just amused. "What about you? Any guys back in New York who might turn up in Gray Harbor looking for you?"

"I believed you. I was more curious about past ones but you seemed to be discrete." When the question is turned back on him, Stefano grins. "No one serious in a few years so no one likely to show up here reciting poetry about how he can't live without me."

There are quite a few pictures of past ones, and potential ones, speculations about any number of men and women, but actual factual information? That much is true. Justin doesn't actually discuss his relationships with the media and doesn't tend to address speculation. But there's plenty of photos of him with both men and women around LA and at various events foreign and domestic. He smiles a little bit and says, "What were you looking for?" Idly curious. "Well, that's fortunate. Stalkers are all fun and games until iambic pentameter gets involved."

Stefano shrugs a shoulder. "Nothing in particular; just whatever info there was. BUt while there were lots of different people, there was very little actual info. I never spent any time with someone the press actually writes about so I was curious."

"I try not to read much about myself. I used to, when I was younger, and it used to just make me angry. I'd get pissed about every inaccuracy and rumor and stuff that I didn't do, the bad stuff and the good stuff," Justin says, grinning a little bit. "Now I kind of ignore it unless someone from my staff tells me I need to address something. My blood pressure is better for it."

"From a couple of the things I read, probably a good decision." Stefano agrees then stands up. "I wouldn't mind a quick swim before the pizza gets here. Where can I find a towel?"