2019-09-22 - Cocktail Confessional

Kelsey was a terrible patient. She should be at home, on 'bed rest' or something because of this stupid arm. But she was so tired of bed rest and, as much as she adored Wishbone, she needed some air away from the adorable little guy. So she texted Dante to see if he was free and they made plans to meet up at Firefly for a drink and to catch up.

Kelsey had claimed a seat at the bar while she waited for him. It was later afternoon,early evening and the club wasn't too crowded just yet. Her hair was damp and down - having showered before coming out. As best she could with the sling in the way and use of one arm. Her attire was a pair of jeans and a black AC/DC shirt a couple sizes too big which meant one side kept slipping down her shoulder but Kelsey didn't care. It was the easiest thing to put on. She was nursing a bottle of water at the moment, waiting for Dante before she started on the alcohol.

Which she probably shouldn't be mixing with her pain meds but, whatever.

Dante is a guy who puts on a suit to go grocery shopping, so it's no surprise that he's polished himself up nicely for going to an actual club. Even if it's just a drink with a friend in the late afternoon. Today's offering is a teal blue three piece with faint silver undertones, and a white button up with black graphic buttons. He steps in, taking a moment to locate her, then striding across the club. "Hello my dear. How are you feeling?"

The problem with knowing two british guys is that sometimes they sound vaguely familiar. Shut up. It's true! At least when you're not looking at them. It's probably the medication. But the fact that Dante called her my dear has Kelsey knowing for a fact when she turns her head she isn't going to see Garrett. Giving the writer a quick once over- she offers up a bit of a smile. "I've been a helluva a lot better. But at least my house isn't haunted." She winked, taking a pull from her bottle. "Jeeze, I haven't seen you in forever. One of these days I won't be sporting injuries when we talk." She laughed.

"I look forward to that day," says Dante. He starts to sit, then pauses. "Can I get you a drink? Or are you on the fun painkillers and you don't require an additional substance?" And then, "How's the animal?"

"Sure you can buy me a drink. One won't kill me." Kelsey grinned. "Though I will say, the painkillers do provide a nice mellow. Normally." Shifting a little to relax against the bar. "Or me something that sounds fancy." Because Dante definitely had to know more about drinks and stuff than Kelsey cared to learn. "Wishbone's doing just fine. Totally bummed I can't run around and play with him right now. But Garrett's been helping me out with him and stuff." A beat of pause. "He's my neighbor."

"How about a Manhattan? This isn't a cocktail bar, so chances are it won't be as liquor-heavy as I prefer it, myself, which might mean it's a good introduction if you haven't had one before. As for me, I tend to play it safe at places like this, and have something straight, or what I'll go for in this case, which is a gin and tonic." Then, "I haven't met any of my neighbours yet. Though I'd like to change that." He is, after all, something of a people person.

"Y'know, I don't think that I've ever had one honestly. So yeah, let's do it." Kelsey agreed. "I've never been much of a gin person myself." She drummed her fingers idly against the bar top. "I only know 'im cause we happened to cross paths walking in the forest one day." She mused. "He's the only neighbor I know. How's your place workin' out?"

"It's quite posh and none fo the furniture is mine, but it has a large closet, so there's that." Dante grins and then leans over the bar to put in their drink order. That might just be a flirty look for the drinkmaker, or maybe that's just how he naturally is. Hard to tell. "No ghosts have bothered me. The supernatural tends to run in fear from me. Perhaps that's my superpower?"

"Well yeah, a big closet's important. Can't go folding all your suits. The ironing would be a nightmare." Kelsey chuckled. She watched the drinkmaker for a moment, curious to see how a manhattan was made - continuing to listen attentively though. "And here I was hopin' you'd have made Casper your best buddy by now." A smirk was on the woman's lips when she turned back to Dante. "Not a bad superpower to have. I wish I had that superpower sometimes. Or maybe just a big red 'Nope' button for when I'm not in the mood."

The drink is not expertly made, but it's competent, and delivered in good time. Dante waits until they've both got one in their hands before he says, "So, are you going to tell me what happened with that?" He picks up his drink and motions to her arm.

Kelsey studies the drink for a beat. "You want the truth? or the cover story?" Quirking a brow towards him before taking a careful sip. "Hm - not too bad at all." Another, longer sip taken and then the glass is set down. Focusing on Dante again, and trying to decide if she might need a little more liquid courage before retelling the real story if that's what he wants.

Dante sips his own drink. "Which is the better story?" he asks with a little tug at the corner of his lips. "I'm guessing it's the one that will make me question the very nature of my reality?"

"Always." Kelsey agreed, taking another drink and casting a look around. Not many patrons and the bartender really wasn't paying attention. She lowered her voice a little none the less. "Garrett and I were gonna camp out in the Forest. Explore some. See if we could find any neat spots and stuff." She exhaled softly. "I don't wanna get into the ENTIRE story here...but uh. We were forced into running into this wooden building....but the inside was a run down factory? And there were...challenges..." She shuddered at the thought. One more long drink. "This happened on the first one. Two huge rollers with spikes. Like some kinda meat grinder...I got caught up in it. Pretty sure it's just a miracle I managed to get out and that my arm didn't completely get torn off. Or that I didn't die from blood loss." Her arm definitely looked like it belonged on Frankenstien's monster underneath the bandages. But people kept telling her it would heal up okay in the end.

"Good lord. That sounds like something out of a slasher film." Dante looks at her arm, then up at her, then takes a healthy sip of his drink. "And your friend?" Despite the fact that he's openly admitted that he hasn't seen any incontrovertible proof of the supernatural, he seems to be listening with an open mind, and no trace that he doesn't believe her.

"Yeah. Pretty much. Like SAW - Extreme Edition." Kelsey finished off the drink and waved to the bartender. "Whiskey straight please." Drown the memories of the not-Dream experience those few years ago before they could drown her. "Anyway." She sighed. "Garrett's okay. His camping gear got totally destroyed but he's good. Shaken, and a fucking saint for not just leaving me there - and still coming around to check on me. I guess I just got the habit a ripping band-aids off when people hang around me hm?"

"So much for one drink, ay?" says Dante a moment before he takes a healthy swallow that almost finishes off his own drink. "Sounds like a good chap." He motions for the bartender to mix another for him as well.

"And he's british too. I'm surprised you guys haven't crossed paths yet." Kelsey laughed. "So much for one drink, yah." She murmured and then thanked the bartender when he came around with their refills. "There was also a bridge...one of those rickety things, like you see in the cartoons or movies? Over a ravine and it looks like they'll snap in half - cept this one was over a bottomless pit and the poor bastard had to carry me on his back across it. I really thought we were gonna go over the edge." But they didn't, and that was a relief!

"That...sounds like the sort of terrible ordeal that video games have prepared a generation for." That might sound kind of funny, but Dante actually murmurs it a bit darkly. "It sounds like you were both incredibly lucky."

"And it confirmed. Somethings for me." Kelsey said it almost to herself. Something to look into further once she had use of both her arms. Drawing in a breath. "Yeah, really fuckin' lucky." Downing half of her whiskey. Definitely starting to feel it. "But, uh, anyway. How'd you find out? About the ghost stuff."

"Ah, well," Dante struggles to 'but, anyway' the whole story of 'I escaped a SAW-style factory by crossing a footbridge over a bottomless abyss,' "There was apparently a ruckus in the lobby of the building I'm living in. Further conversations with Mr. Thorne led to discussions of a malevolent spirit killing people with Addington blood."

Kelsey totally isn't drunk enough. They can revisit it later maybe. Her brows raised. "That sounds pretty scary if you're unlucky 'noguh to be an Addington." She leaned her good arm on the bar, resting her head in her hand. Not even batting an eyelash at the idea of malevolent spirits. "I'm impressed you haven't just like, decided to move out of crazy town and chill in Seattle instead."

Dante shifts a bit uncomfortably, then swallows the rest of his first drink, just in time for the second to arrive. "If I'm being perfectly honest..." he purses his lips, "...I came here not because this place had the most colourful stories. If I wanted that, there are any number of quirky small towns with crazy stories I could visit. No, I came here because there was a high concentration of stories that couldn't be easily discounted."

"Mmm." Kelsey emitted a thoughtful noise. "So you knew weird shit was gonna happen? Just not what kinda weird shit?" Like telekinetics and malevolent spirits abounding. "Just for your writing?"

Dante shifts a bit awkwardly and rubs his thumb over his bottom lip. "Not exactly." He pauses, long enough that it might seem like he's going to say nothing else at all. But then, "I saw something once. In New England. People have asked me a few times since I came here if I have ever witnessed anything, but that's not precisely true. It just...it can be problematic if people who read my work think I believe my own tall tales."

"What'd ya see?" She asked, tilting her head forward just a little bit - in case he wanted to talk lower. "So what if they do? I'm sure half your fanbase believes in it. Even if most of it's wrong." Though, what does Kelsey know? She can open portals to another world and throw things with her mind. Maybe anything's possible.

"I already get some...interesting people at the signings for my books. If I seemed to be someone who actually believes in the supernatural..." Dante takes a breath. His jaw clenches. He clearly doesn't like recalling this particular memory. "I was staying at a bed and breakfast for a little author festival in New England when my Dark Heart of New England came out. I saw...a shadow. But it was more solid than that."

Kelsey peered at Dante for a moment, those dark blue eyes intent, even if muddled ever so slightly by the alcohol. "Humanoid?" She asked softly. "And...where did you see it? In your room or something?"

"In my room, yes. At first I thought it was just a trick of the light. But then...it approached me." Dante isn't looking at her. Instead he's got a thousand-yard stare, and the drink is going quite often to his mouth.

For a minute, Kelsey debated on pressing further or holding off. Because she knew the difficulty of recalling these kind of memories. If she wasn't already a little buzzed, she may have dropped it. But, too late to stop now! "Did it speak to you? Do somethin'?"

Dante swallows, and not the drink. "It came up to me. And when it got closer, that's when I knew I wasn't imagining it. Not unless someone had slipped something into my drink." He smiles humourlessly. "It didn't speak, or solidify, but it looked like...a three dimensional silhouette of a person. It seemed to have..." he pauses, "...mass."

Kelsey can feel her heartbeat increase a tick. What he was describing...it's everything she imagined one of the so called Dark Men to look like. Did he see a Dark Man? Or was it just a manifestation of the Veil? Or something else entirely? So many questions. So many theories. "..Did you feel a pull? To come here? Or was it mostly just the stories?"

"I felt...compelled..." which is Dante not giving a direct answer, "...to see if my experience was isolated. I admit, I decided I'd rather it be real than to imagine my mental health was degrading. Which is the only other logical explanation for what I saw."

Kelsey nodded. "My first time..." It sounded so corny. "...I didn't believe it happened. It was during my-I was. Under a lotta stress. And I...flung someone against a wall. Across a room." She admitted quietly. He shared. So she would share a little more. "I didn't try to revisit it till I was moved here...Some days it's still hard to believe."

Dante leans a bit heavily on the bar and stares down into his drink. He moves it slightly, ice cubes bouncing off each other. "In all my years researching, plumbing the depths of strange things...I never thought I'd see something like that. I admit I've been equal parts fascinated and terrified since." And then, "...telekinesis?"

Kelsey nodded. "It's terrifying." And honestly, after her Dream experience with Garrett- Kelsey was starting to question if her 'real' experience had been real at all. Maybe that had been a Dream too...a slight shake of her head. Nope. She wasn't going down that road. Not tonight. "Mm...yeah. Like when I floated those spoons to the chinese noodles." The last time they saw each other in fact! "...except on a way bigger scale."

Down goes another big mouthful of gin and tonic. He flags down the bartender again. "Whiskey, please. Just blend is fine. Straight up, a double." Then he looks over at Kelsey, as the bartender moves off. "So that's why I'm still here. I'm trapped between being afraid and being unable to look away."

"Wanna know my secret?" Kelsey leans in a little further, like she's going to reveal something groundbreaking. "I take in all the weird shit I see, and then let out all my confusion, frustrations, and fears on the punching bag." She pulls back a bit. "It's pretty fuckin' effective." Finishing off her whiskey and reluctantly pushing the glass away without asking for a refill. She really shouldn't keep on with the pain meds and all. "It's scary, yeah...some days I thnk I'm going insane but...shit Dante. The other side...it's beautiful. Twisted, but beautiful. When it isn't tryna kill you."

Dante exhales a breath with a half-laugh. "I did just check out the local boxing gym yesterday. Perhaps that was a response to this place. A desire to exercise a modicum of control." He tugs at the collar of his shirt, then fingers the first few loose. "I've always found some beauty in the macabre. That's why I write what I do."

"Kelly's yeah? That's where I go. When I'm all healed up - maybe we can go a round or two." Kelsey offered with a wry smile. "And when I'm all healed up...the offer still stands. If you wanna see it...cause like no one's ever really ready for it yeah? But if you wanna see it...I'll show it to ya." Because of course her abuse of powers and the Dream-consequence was not going to hinder her any. That was only a thing for sane people.

"Mhmm," intones Dante by way of confirming the name of the boxing gym. "The Bayside has a wonderful gym, but it's the kind of equipment meant to use with headphones on and head down. And...well, I do love to socialize." He chuckles and tugs his drink towards him as it's delivered. As for her offer? "Ask me again when you've healed, and perhaps then I'll know whether or not I'm ready."

"Socializing is good. I need to start doin' it more." Kelsey mused and tapped lightly on the table. "I'll do that. Try not to have any crazy stuff go on in the meantime yeah? And if...well. If it does happen...try not to be alone." Because being alone and going through that kind of experience was the worst.

"Part of me thinks that I should just...get in the car tonight and never return. But I don't think I could." Dante tosses back a bit too much of his whiskey and coughs a little. Then he flashes a smile at her, that is clearly a bit overcompensting. "I fear I've turned into rubbish company."

Kelsey gave him a bit of a grin. "I've had that thought about a million, hudred times. But it's always that. Justa thought." She inhales slowly, lifting her head finally off her hand and blinking a little. Letting the dizzying sort of effect wear off. "Nah, you're good. 'Least I can converse with you. Wishbone's a great listener. Terrible talker." If only because she just didn't possess the Mental Prowess to have such conversations with animals!

Dante scoffs softly. "Dogs talking. Somehow I don't think that's the strangest thing that could happen in this place." He starts to regain a bit of his bravado. The smile is more genuine, a bit easier. He looks around as the activity starts to pick up in the bar proper.

"Sure isn't." Kelsey grinned briefly. Glancing around a bit at the growing buzz of activity. "Well, seems like it might be about time to get outta here hm? Unless you wanna show me some a your dance moves." Teasing him a little bit.

"I am a man of many talents, my dear. But dancing is not one of them. Although in a place like this, it's not really about the talent, is it?" Dante chuckles, then motions to the bartender that they'd like to settle up. "Can I be terribly old fashioned and walk you to your next destination?"

Kelsey chuckled at that. "I do think talent's the least a their concerns." She agreed and nodded, glancing towards the door. "I s'pose you can. I took an Uber over here. At least she wasn't driving while on painkillers!...Anymore. Whatever. "Think you can make it all the way over to Elm from here, Old Man?" Giving him another grin.

"Old? How dare you. That's almost egregious enough for me to make you pay for your own drinks." But there's a twinkle in Dante's eyes. He pulls out a card and settles up with a generous tip, before he slides off his stool. "Considering I don't have a good concept of how far that is from here, I'll say yes and try to follow through with a maximum amount of confidence."

Kelsey laid her good hand over her chest. "Make a poor ole crippled pay for her drinks?" Feigning exasperation. Then she chuckles and carefully manuevers off her stool. Lucky for her, she's all leg. "Well, just to make it fun - I won't even tell you how far it is." She nodded, not that it was actually that far. Since Maple connected to Elm...but she was on the end near the trailer park. He may end up regretting the offer of a walk! Only time would tell.

"At home, I would never drive as much as I do here. I don't understand why people do it. I mean...you have to be so careful about how much you're drinking if you're driving. I prefer to not have to worry about it." Dante makes sure his glass is empty before he starts for the door. "Ah, you know you're getting old when you leave the club just when the party is getting started."

"Guess that makes sense. I like walking really, but sometimes driving is just easier." Kelsey followed him back out into the fading light of dusk. "Or when you know there's a better party to go to." She giggled. A terrible flirting attempt - thank you buzz! She breathed in the night air deeply. "It's a lot easier to walk to places here though honestly. Than other places I've lived. Hard to get out of the habit though."

"To be fair, I grew up in a small village, then I was in Central London. Then I was at boarding school. Cars didn't figure heavily into my daily life." Dante walks with her out of the club, into the warm summer air that hangs with the fog of the smokers who stepped outside for a puff. He goes quiet for a moment, then asks, "Are there any parts of town I should avoid?" And he doesn't mean for crime.

"Makes sense." As he explains the lack of cars in his life. Then he asks about places to avoid and she sighs. The whole damn town wasn't a really good answer. So she shrugs her good arm's shoulder. "The Saw Mill in the forest...most of the forest in generally really. If you wanna go, don't go alone. Just in case." Because the forest was pretty. It really was!It was just also kind of dangerous if you weren't paying attention. "That's...really the only places I know though..."

"Why do you stay here? And why did you come here to begin with?" Dante tucks his hands into his pockets as they walk. His tone is thoughtful and a little tense.

Kelsey shrugged again. "I don't got anywhere else to go. Have a feeling if I left, I'd just want to come back." Kelsey is quiet though, on answering why she came here. Trying to decide how best to answer. "A therapist recommended it to me. If you wanna know more...you just gotta Google Kelsey Wade and Haunted House I think. Should tell you whatever else you may wanna know." Because she sure wasn't going to get into it. Still not drunk enough.

"As someone who has a fair bit of his life story online, I would never Google someone. I'd rather they tell me if they wanted to, and felt comfortable doing so." Dante then chuckles. "Though if you'd like to see a picture of my ass, I believe there's a photo out there. From a party when I signed my first book deal."

Kelsey smiled a touch. "Well, that's good to know. There's probably all sorts of wild things out there. I haven't actually tried to search it myself any time recently." She chuckled with him. "I dunno. The real thing is probably better than a picture." Giving him a playful little nudge and sighed. "I might tell you. One day. It's not easy to talk about. And I'm not nearly drunk enough to want to get into detail."

"Oh I don't know. It was my twenty five year old ass," says Dante with a drawl. And as for the traumatic incident? "Fair enough. We've all got our damage. More here than elsewhere, it seems. But I've also felt a starting kinship with people in a way I haven't in a long while. A sort of...base understanding."

"Ain't that the truth. Everyone here...seems like they've been touched in some way or other - either by the supernatural stuff. Or just life being a dick." Kelsey agreed, turning slightly to alter than course more in the proper direction of Elm. Listening quietly. "That's a good thing yeah? A common ground. Even if it's not so great of one. "

"A dark form of solidarty I suppose," muses Dante. "Perhaps that's why people stick around. It may be dark, and it may be terrifying, but at least no one's alone?" His eyebrows arch.

"That sounds pretty on the nose." She agreed. "We're all in it together. Whether we like it or not." The walked for a little longer before Kelsey pointed up to the street sign. "Here we are! And now we just walk all the way down to number 7. Almost to the trailer park."

"Somehow I feel like, with my Oxford education, my three piece suit and my tenuous connection to royalty, either I'd burst into flames or the trailer park would if us two incongruous elements should ever happen to meet." Dante grins, then, "Ah, which sounds horribly snobbish, doesn't it? Poor attempt at a joke."

Kelsey grinned. "I'd be a shame if you, or the trailer park burst into flames...but I'd be pretty damn impressed either way. Never seen spontaeous combustion up close and personal before." Hard to tell if she was joking or not. Soon enough they would reach Number 7. "Thanks for the drinks again Dante. And the walk. We'll have to try and get together again sometime sooner. Maybe I'll have to check out your place. Try an' find Casper."

"If nothing else, the view is lovely," says Dante. He stops and inclines his head. "Get well soon. Thank you for the company, and your candor. Sleep well."