2019-11-03 - Catching up with candy

Dahlia felt like she'd been put through the ringer. First it was getting off the Cocaine and then immediately she had gotten hit with the flu. Which in turn led to Declan getting it. Which meant the Hopper household had been something of a miserable mess for the past couple of weeks. Finally though, finally, Dahlia was over it and feeling better. Which of course meant it was long over due for a hangout with her best friend. Especially after he'd mentioned that Stefano had left town. Dahlia needed more details on that because she was pretty sure she was nearly half asleep from some kind of cold medicine when that discussion happened. She'd texted Justin that she was coming by and bringing snacks. He just had to provide the movies, music, or whatever he wanted to do to hang out. She'd also brought her bathing suit just in case the hot tub came up.

"Honey, I'm homeeee!" Dahlia called out as she entered the house. Gosh it felt good to not feel like shit and have all her wits about her. Her attire was simple,a pair of comfy cloth shorts and a thin long sleeved white shirt.

The house is quiet, even moreso than usual. Things are very still when Dahlia arrives, with Justin working in his office, and Caleb asleep near his feet, the pup having grown significantly over the past month or so. When he hears her, he glances up and says, "Be there in a sec. Let me just shut all this down." It takes only a minute or so for him to set aside what he is working on and come out of the office. Caleb yawns and remains sleeping in there for the time being, having situated himself half in a sunbeam and enjoying the warmth not unlike a cat.

Justin is in a pair of jeans and a plain grey t-shirt with white socks on as he comes padding out of the office to meet her. He smiles, and goes to give her a hug in greeting. "Hey stranger," he says quietly. "How are you and Declan feeling?" He'd pretty much left them be while they were sick, only bringing something by if they'd needed it but othrewise he'd been here, working, per usual.

Dahlia returned the hug tightly, kissing his cheek. "Better. Well, I'm totally better. He's still recuperating from the ass kicking that flu gives." She mused, giving him one more hug before letting him go. "More importantly, how are you doing?" She studies Justin for a beat before moving to set the bags of snacks - chips and a cookies, and some candy because it's all on sale now that Halloween is officially over, even if the Masquerade stuff is not. "I've missed you, we'll definitely be doing more now that I'm not a dead woman walking."

Justin smiles and shrugs his shoulders a little bit, "I'm okay." And he does seem to actually be okay, perhaps not as cheerful as he had been during the months that Stefano had been there, but no worse for wear either. Stefano's room was still set aside, a few things still in it, with that vague sense that he might or might not return. But he hadn't been around for a couple of weeks, and with Dahlia having been gone as well, the house definitely had that feeling of being.. emptier. He leans over to peer into the bag of snacks to see what she'd brought and then smiles over toward her. "I've missed you, too. But I'm glad that you and Declan managed to recover together and that you are no longer dead woman walking."

Dahlia eyed him a moment longer. "Did he say anything? About how long he'd be gone?" Or if he'd be back...though Dahlia didn't want to vocalize that question. She settled on the couch and gave him a gentle tug to sit with her. "Yeah it was nightmarish. Literally." Her nose wrinkled. "But it'll be okay. I'm going to be back to working after this Masquerade stuff ends. And I'm likely going to be back here too. " She shrugged, relaxing into the couch. "I mean, Declan and I haven't really talked about it, but I think we both need some space once he's back to feeling 100 too." She mused.

She jumps right in to the questions, and Justin can't help a little half-smile at that. Cutting right to the chase, it seems. "He has an opportunity back in New York, and it could be really good for him. I think he'll take it. And I don't blame him. This place.. it's not for everyone." He allows himself to be tugged and he settles onto the couch next to her, letting an arm drape around her shoulders, the hug perhaps more for his benefit than hers at this point. "You feeling up to going back to work?" he asks, studying her. That's where all the trouble with the cocaine started, after all. "And.. are you sure? I mean.. you two looked pretty cozy there in his place -- like you fit."

Of course she did, Dahlia usually did hate beating around the bush...when she wasn't the one under questioning. She curled up to Justin, listening quietly. "Yeah...it isn't...for everyone." She agreed with a sigh. "Hard to tell though...once you're in this town it's difficult to get out. Maybe he'll end up coming back." She leaned her head on his shoulder and tilted upward slightly to look at him. "I need to. I'll be better now, I'm sure. I might have to talk out a few things with the bosses but. I won't let myself spiral." Hopefully. Dahlia was trying to stay optimistic at least. "I don't know...I like him...a lot. But I think we need some breathing room and...for me to prove to myself that I'll be alright handling my own shit and stuff for a while before either of us talks about moving in together like that. At least, that's how I feel. He could feel totally different...likely something that we'll have to talk about at some point."

Justin smiles and shrugs his shoulders slightly, "I'm not holding my breath, Dahl. You know how these things go for me. I get involved, and it lasts for a little while, and then something happens and they come to their senses and then they're gone. It was fun while it lasted. I liked having him here, and here in the house. I thought maybe things might work out for longer this time. That they didn't is.. well.. pretty much par for the course." It's easier not to hold out hope for these sorts of things. Not once in the history of his previous relationships have they ever come back once they've moved on. Only he and Hyacinth seem to fall in and out of what passes for a strange sort of relationship between them off and on over the years. But then, that's because it's more of an arrangement of convenience than anything their actual hearts are involved in. "Well, you know I'm behind you 100%% no matter what you do, and I'll be here for support if you need it." He smiles then, tilting his head a bit to the side as she talks about she and Declan. "Well, for what it's worth, I really like him, and I think the two of you are good for each other, no matter what you decide."

"I know it is and I hate it. You're a good guy, a great one in fact. You deserve to have someone who recognizes that and appreciates you." Dahlia gave him a little squeeze as Justin talked about this kind of thing being par for the course. "It'll happen. I'm sure it will, probably when you least expect it." Offering up a smile. "I'm glad you like him and to hear you say that. It means a lot. I'm going to just keep my head down, focus on work and my sewing, and on him. " She leaned over to grab the mixed bag of candy and opened it up, snagging a mini kitkat and offering the bag to Justin. "I think I'm finally getting over Javier. On some levels. Like...I'm confident there's a middle ground somewhere where we can have conversations and it not be awkward or painful or anything."

"I'm alright alone," Justin says and then nods toward the office. "Besides, I've got Caleb to keep me company, so I'm not entirely on my own." To say that it doesn't sting a little would be lying, but at the same time, he did come to Gray Harbor to get away from the clamor of people. That it worked a little better than anticipated wasn't entirely an unforeseen conclusion. "Sounds like a good plan for a while. Hopefully things will settle for the both of you and you can enjoy some time that doesn't involve recovering." Though when she mentions Javier, he raises a brow a little and asks, "Is that what you want? To continue to have some sort of.. friendship with the guy?" There's no judgment in it, just curiosity.

"I am glad that you have Caleb around at least. He is adorable. But..." Dahlia shook her head. "Well we can't predict the future and all. But I've got positive feelings that someone'll come along." She murmured, looking back down at her kitkat as she opened it up. "I agree. Maybe I'll convince him that we can go out of town for a couple days. Take him to see the Red Woods in Cali or something." She took a bite of the crispy candy and shrugged. Swallowing, "Honestly? I don't know. I do know that I want to be able to sit down and have at least one conversation to give some kind of...closure or clearing of the air. And we're both shit at those kind of talks but I'm willing to try. Because I know there's no future for us, from where I stand and look at things right now. It's just not in the cards. So I think it's only fair that we figure out where we stand."

Justin chuckles at her a little bit and says, "Well, I will just presume that you've inherited some precognitive abilities from being back in Gray Harbor and we'll see if you're right." He does reach into the bag when he offers it to her and grabs a reese's peanut butter cup, unwrapping it and popping it into his mouth. "That sounds like fun. Drive along the coast or something, or head out to Crater Lake which is pretty spectacular." He reaches into the bag again to come out with a fun sized Snickers. "Sounds like a good idea, at least so that you both are on the same page going forward."

"Exactly. Maybe we can even rent one of those nice cars that can do the top down thing, That would be neat. I'll talk to him about it for sure." Dahlia grinned at the idea, grabbing a little 3 Muskateers square out of the bag as she finished off her Kit Kat. "Take lots of pictures and all that. And, yeah. At least on the same page. We'll see if I can wrangle him for a conversation soon. " She nodded. "Speaking of abilities...how are yours coming along? Have you practiced any more with them? Learned anything new?"

Justin grins, "That definitely sounds like fun. I think that will be my mid-life crisis car -- a convertible. Then I can go bald. Have you ever noticed that? Most guys who own convertibles are bald? Do you think it's the wind that strips their hair, or that they're just compensating?" He flashes her a grin, clearly not being very serious. "A little bit," he says a bit more seriously when she asks about his abilities. "I've been getting better at picking up other people's emotions, and I can move things that are a little bigger. I think mine are going to be kind of like Stefano said.. I can do a little bit of a lot of things. I'm still getting used to how it all works. What about you?"

Dahlia laughed at the mental image of Justin being bald and driving a convertible. "I've never really paid attention but, you know I won't be able to unsee it now." She grinned back. "Definitely cooler if the wind just takes it away but likely not the wind." She giggled again and sighed. "Not really. When I was coming clean to Declan I...did something I think? Unintentionally. He really didn't like it. And then with getting clean and then getting sick I haven't much had the time to try and figure out what I might have...or be able to do. I might try and practice some here. With you probably. I think it's not something I can really talk to Declan about. Not right now at least."

Justin grins when she laughs and he pops the bite sized Snickers into his mouth. After he finishes it, he plants a kiss against her temple and says "Okay if I keep eating chocolate, I need something to drink. What do you want?" He then pulls himself up from the couch and wanders into the kitchen to get drinks for both of them and bring them back. On his way back he furrows his brow a little and asks "What'd you do? Do you even know?" He seems curious as he settles back down into his seat, handing her whatever it was that she wanted before saying, "We can definitely practice and see what happens. I've been mostly trying it out on my own, just sort of going with what I can sense and.. seeing where it goes."

Dahlia laughed again as she watched him stand up. "I should just stick to like water or something. Trying to make sure I stay hydrated. Don't want that stupid flu trying to attack me again." She ate her other piece of candy and reached for the chip bag. When he sits back down, shes' stretched out some so she lays her feet across his lap, accepting the water. "I don't know at all what I did. I remember I was feeling really terrible about myself. And he started like...freaking out a little?" She half asked. "Like....asking if there was something I wanted to tell him? And to not 'do that again'...but I didn't know what 'that' was. He realized I really was confused though and let it go." She munched down on a couple chips. "Practice though, yes. In our future. ALSO, those scripts. That one script. I liked it. We should do a couple proper read through things to try it out before giving your mom an answer."

Justin gives her feet a pat when they settle across his lap. He has a 20oz of Coke for himself, a bottle of water for her. He nods when she explains what happened and then shakes his head, "I don't know. Aside from asking him what happened, not sure how to tell what it was that you did." He takes in a breath and lets it out slowly, "But yes, practice... and maybe we can figure it out on our own." He reaches into the chip bag to steal one before saying, "Oh.. the scripts." Then he's sliding out from under her feet again to go back into his office. When he returns, it's with a big manilla envelope with a script inside. This, he hands to her and says, "Here ya go. You should read it over and let me know what you think." He settles once more, replacing her feet now that he's done running around.

The chip bag is stolen and Dahlia takes another drink of water. "Yeah, maybe we will! We'll see." She agreed. She lifts her feet so he could stand again, munching down on a few more chips before he returned. She traded chip bag for manila envelope, opening it up. "I remember you told me a bit about it and I liked what I heard." She mused, idly wiping her fingers on her shorts before pulling the script out of the envelope. "What were our characters again?" She asked, setting the script on top of the manila envelope on her lap and starting to carefully flip through it. It had felt like an eternity since she'd seen a script in the flesh, or touched one, but she was trying to keep her excitement at bay, as it were. as she skimmed over the first initial pages.

"The two main characters. Yours is the woman whose best friend jumps off the bridge, which starts the whole mystery as to why she suddenly went nuts and jumped off the bridge. Mine's the cop who is trying to solve the case. They end up trying to solve it together," Justin says as he watches her take out the script, stealing a chip from the bag after she hands it to him. "Turns out this guy is planting subconscious triggers in his victims, then using this song to set them off. They go nuts, based on their phobias, then try to kill themselves. It's pretty good, actually."

"That does sound pretty good." Dahlia agreed, looking up at him and then back to the script. "I'm definitely willing to do some line running. See how we feel about it in practice. It's been so long since I've done like a legitimate reading or try out." She mused, skimming through another page or two before closing it. "It could be a lot of fun, and the premise is pretty unique l I think."

"Yeah, it's not something that I've seen done before, so I think it could be fun to do as a project. And they're talking about filming up here in the PNW, rather than down in L.A. so it could be we could do it right from here without having to travel much," Justin says. "Which would be fine by me. If I don't have to fly down to LA, that'll suit me just fine."

"That suits me too. Minimal travel would be preferable for me, but it's not a hard pass or anything." Dahlia agreed. "Next time you talk to your mom tell her I said hi and that I'm interested. Even if it's like a...one last hoorah thing you know? It'll be fun."

"You're too young for one last hoorah, and you know that if we do this, she's just going to try to wrangle us into more," Justin grins over at her. "So be prepared for that eventuality." He leans over and gives her shoulder a little nudge before taking a sip of his drink. "But I will tell her hi and that you're interested, and that we're going to do some readings and see how it feels, and we'll give her the final answer in a week or so." He then asks, "So, have you been doing any of the Masquerade stuff in town? I've never actually been here during Halloween."

"Fair enough." Dahlia flashed him a grin and wiggled her toes a bit. "I haven't. Just been feeling too awful. But I know this is the first year they're doing anything like this. Byron put it all together. It seems like fun. Declan and I talked about doing some stuff but then, well, the flu." She mused. "How about you? Did you get out and do anything? Maybe we can figure up some kind of masks deal and even just walk around some during one of the festivities."

Justin shakes his head and says, "No, I haven't gone to anything. I haven't really been feeling all that festive." It's the first he's admitted to feeling a little down about the whole situation. "But it might be fun to dress up and do something. I'm not even sure what events there are left at this point. I suppose I could hop online and check the town website."

Dahlia nodded, offering up a smile to him again. "I don't know either but, heck, you know I'd be happy to play dress up and just watch some scary movies you know?" She moved so she she could sit upright now, leaning into him. "If they've got something going on - might be fun to check out but otherwise? Ain't nothing wrong with staying in and having some kind of dress up movie night thing. "