2019-11-05 - Book Club, Date, Same Thing!

James arrives at nearly a run, panting a bit- and look, it's only like 3 minutes before the time they agreed to meet! He's basically super early, which is awesome. Less awesome is the rain- maybe you should have checked the weather before choosing a stand along the boardwalk, James. Still, he's got his umbrella, and when she gets here he can be all gallant and offer her his umbrella (why she is not carrying an umbrella in this mental exercise of his is, currently, unexplained). He even wore his freshly cleaned jeans and his finest hoodie. He turns around, awash in these thoughts (and in rain, because of course it's raining, you dork, you couldn't have picked someplace indoors?), when he spots Diana. Who, unbeknownst to him, has been waiting there for about 30 minutes now, and is probably soaked and miserable. "... h-hey, you. You, ah, haven't been waiting long, have you?"

Diana is neither soaked, nor miserable. At least, not yet. She doesn't even look wet at all, but that's likely due to the multicolored umbrella near her feet on the ground, and the thirty-two minutes she got here before him. Still, she doesn't even look bored! She has a notebook out and is jotting things without looking about when she hears his voice, momentarily startling before slipping her notebook away and rising to greet him. "Nope!" she lies(?), and is wearing well-sewn high-waisted black pants and a sweater with a dog in a sailor-style outfit on it, much like this: https://www.talbots.com/new-arrivals/frenchie-dog-sweater/P193121404.html "You're right on time," she says with a smile, and it rises even higher a moment later. She doesn't sit yet, standing awkwardly for a moment, and then she notes with a chin-jerk to the door, "We sure picked a nice day for get-outs, don't you think?" Her tone is teasing rather than serious.

James looks quite relieved as his worst assumptions are wrong, for once, and he blinks at the Sailor Dog on the sweater. "Wow.", he says, and he smiles. "You look great!" And then there's that awkward moment of silence, and he opens his mouth to say something else just as she mentions the weather, and he stumbles over his words. "So you wanna si-oh yeah, yeah. Well. I mean. I should have checked the weather I guess.", he says, ducking his head a bit, but her teasing tone does draw a quiet smile from him. "I mean, you brought it on yourself, buying my book like that."

"You also look great," Diana says softly, still smiling, and then gives a gentle laugh at his final words. "To be fair, there's no way to prove it wasn't caused by the Kindle transfer on YOUR end, buying my book and all. I suppose we'll just have to agree to disagree, on that one." She grins, and then seats herself quickly and more than a little nervously. "I read it, you know," she says, leaning in. "Yours, I mean. Well, of course I mean yours. I mean, I read mine, too, before and after all the editing, because of course you have to-- anyway, I really liked it." Pause. "Yours, I mean. Still." Talk about burying the lede.

James chuckles at Diana's first words, putting his umbrella away as he gets under the awning and moving to sit- at least, until she mentions having read his novel. "... you read it? Already?", he blurts out, and looks to her, eyes wide. "And you still agreed to meet up?" Yeah, this is clearly a trap. Any second a bunch of frog-people dressed as clowns will burst out from beneath him and drag him to his doom.

"I read fast," Diana says with a shrug and an apologetic look, scrunched up nose and all. "And yes, of course I did. You-- you said you're working on a sequel, right? Or is it a whole new novel entirely you're working on? Cuz I think it has sequel potential. I thought the bit after the, er, bits with Betsy Ross-- like right after? The speech from the middle goblin? I thought it was really clever. Ooh! And I really felt bad for the 'runty' goblin when he had that heart to heart with Betsy, around the next to last chapter? I really like their banter. It's good stuff."

For a moment, James' face is almost as red as his beard. Especially when she mentions the, er, bits with Betsy Ross in his novel. He hangs his head as he sits down. "You don't have to be nice, it's terrible. I mean I think you're probably my second sale. Total." He looks up, smiling sheepishly. "But, y'know. Thanks for being nice about it anyway."

Diana tilts her head as she watches him thoughtfully, not commenting at all or making any move to cut in. At the thanks, though, she shakes her head. Her smile fades, and she says quite seriously, "I'm not just being nice about it. I'm not going to claim every word was solid gold-- that's too much to ask for from anyone, let alone someone who's written their first novel. But I've seen second or third or fifty-fourth novels that didn't have the potential for the clever, fun moments in your book. The worst thing a novel can be isn't imperfect-- it's boring. And yours was anything but." She folds her hands in front of her, going quiet again and watching him.

James blinks as she talks, slowly turning to watch her, his expression going from confusion and resignation to... well, it's not an easy expression to figure out. But, by the end, he's at least got a little smile hidden away under the beard. "You've got absolutely terrible tastes in literature.", he finally says, and gives a soft, shy chuckle, looking away. "But I'm gonna choose to be happy about that." He clears his throat awkwardly. "So. I probably should have asked if you liked fish, huh?" At that point, his phone buzzes, and he gives her an apologetic look. "Sorry, lemme put it in silent. And then he sees who the message is from, and he mutters, "Really, now?" Again he looks up. "Fuck. I'm so sorry. Let me just reply back and I'll turn it off, okay?" And then he quickly fires off a response. Another message comes in quickly, and again, quickly tapped response. And then, as promised, he turns the phone off completely. "There. Won't happen again."

"That's as may be, but I'm certain I only like the good stuff." Right as his phone buzzes Diana deadpans, "Actually, I'm allergic to fish. I just thought I'd meet you here and make you feel bad about excluding me from food choices. ...is it working?" She quiets as he moves to reply, and then she shakes her head, assuring him once it's off, "Honestly, I forgot to turn mine off as well, so who knows WHAT will happen next. That said-- if that was important, I won't hold it against you if you have to go. We can do this tomorrow or, you know, whenever our vast and overwhelming schedules manage to leave us any time." She smiles, and certainly appears to be sincere about that, if teasing about schedules.

James smiles sheepishly, and shakes his head. "No, no, was just a friend who was worried about his girlfriend, was asking me to watch the pawn shop tomorrow while he looks for her- I'm sure it's fine, Lilith's a terrifying force of nature.", he explains, and then his smile widens. "Like I said before. Wouldn't miss this for anything, right?" He then blinks. "Wait. Were you serious about the fish thing? I know some burger places too." James: classy af.

Diana can't help but laugh at his question about 'the fish thing.' "So it was working!" she says, pointing a finger. "...but no, not serious. Fish is fine! Burgers, also fine. I'm not too much of a picky eater, personally. Not actually even allergic to any foods. There we go, now you know my book, my number, and my allergies. I await having my identity stolen any minute now." She grins. "As for your friend's gal, I do hope she's okay," she says, expression growing at least a bit more serious. "How long's she been gone, do you know?" She pauses, and then adds, "And belatedly I wouldn't miss this for anything, either. So. You know." She glances down at her folded hands, smiling.

James relaxes as she assures him fish is fine. "Oh, good. Because the fish and chips here are standout. It's always the little places like this, y'know?" His smile softens as she asks after Lilith. "Since yesterday, so, not too long. But, trust me, she's fine. I've known that girl since I was a teenager and she was a tomboy brat. She was unstoppable back then and she's only gotten more so now. Byron probably just did something to piss her off and she's gone to spend his money somewhere in retaliation.", he replies, and then blinks. "Oh, god. My friends are a soap opera." And then she has to go and agree with him on the whole 'not missing it' thing, and follow it up with that adorable smile and look down, and that's all forgotten as his brain quietly reboots. Once his mess of an OS has booted up again, it latches on to the last thing he can remember. "Hey, I wouldn't steal your identity. Not on the first date, anyway. I'm just old fashioned that way." He probably doesn't even realize he dropped the d-word in there.

As he says the fish and chips are standout, Diana perks up even further, looking over at him again. "Good. Since you've decided I have no literary taste, I'm afraid I'm going to be critiquing your literal tastes, so there." Blink. "In the food. That you picked. Oh my god. That's not-- anyway." She exhales firmly, glancing away in seeming frustration. "Anyway, um." She listens as he talks about Lilith, and then nods her head. "That doesn't really sound soap-opera-y enough, if you ask me. Where are the twins and the 'other man's babies' and the abductions in the name of love? I ask you." She tsks softly, and then her lips split into a wide grin at the mention of first dates. Oh yeah, she caught that one. "I dunno. If you ask me, waiting to steal a person's identity until future dates... that's just cruel. I mean, obviously it ups the chances of learning more important information about your victim, but still! That's just bloodless."

James says, "What can I say, I'm a cruel, evil man.", James quips cheerfully. "And, hey, I may be a hack writer but when it comes to street-food delights, I rank easily in the top thousand or so experts in the field." He stands up. "Mind if I go order?""

"Well, you're doing better than me. I'm upper ten-thousand, at best." Diana then adds, "And no, of course not! I'll do the same." She gets up as well, smoothing out her sweater. "You'll have to tell me what's good here, though. Without your guidance, I'll just say 'fish and chips' and hope they can work out the rest on their own."

James looks surprised as she joins him, but it's a pleasant surprise. He ducks his head a bit at her words, grinning back at her. "Actually, I was gonna say, fish and chips is exactly what you order. I mean, unless you want the fish tacos? Or the lobster po' boys, I think they've got those. That's basically their whole menu. This is one of those places that picked a couple of things, and then pretty much perfected them. It's all amazing. But the fish and chips is where you gotta start, to really appreciate it, y'know?" He's cheerful, excited- a far cry from the morose, withdrawn little dude from the other night.

Diana beams over at him, though she frowns exaggeratedly at the mention of the other items they make here. "Fish tacos? Oh no. No no no. I'm not falling into THAT trap. Fish tacos are how you punish the unwary, I'm pretty sure. It's a food item straight from Satan's jaw to your table. Or, you know, something like that." She laughs, then leans in conspiratorially. "I've never actually had one. But I'm pretty sure they're Bad and Wrong. Anyway, I'm definitely going for the fish and chips. Gotta start from there and work your way up, for sure!"

James raises a brow as she rails against the fish tacos... right in front of the counter to order. He looks up at the cashier/fry cook who is likely giving them both a very dubious look. He smiles sheepishly up at them. "Forgive her, she knows not what she says. Can we have two orders of fish and chips?" As the person heads off to prepare their food, he turns back to Diana. "No, see, the fish tacos here are legit. Just the right kind of flaky and soft and mild but then carrying this, like, wave of seasonings that just burst bright with a spray of lemon on top and, mmm!" He makes a chef-kiss motion. "Look, I haven't steered you wrong yet, right?"

Diana clears her throat, finally catching the cashier's look, and tries a nervous smile out on them. "It's true. I mostly have no idea what I'm saying at any given time." Surely THAT will make her seem more normal! When he praises the fish tacos, she nods and says, "Well, that's a point. You voted for ice cream, and a vote for ice cream is a vote for freedom. So, you know. Next time we come here, I'll try the the fish tacos. Promise."

'Next time'. 'We'. Not words James is used to hearing on dates, usually it's more like 'ew' and 'calling the police'. This, though, this is good. And that's going to drive him mad with worry later, but at the moment, it's just... nice. "... I'll hold you to that.", he replies with a soft smile, and then looks away, at the menu, at the fry cook inside finishing up their orders. Think of a conversational topic, James. OK, giant supernatural frogs in the pond- no, not that. The woman with the face made of eyes at Safeway- dammit, no, James, pick a non-creepy topic. Aha! "So, uh, where were you before you came to this sleepy little hole in the fabric of reality?"

"You'd better." Diana smiles back at him, and then he looks away, so she looks away. Yep. That sure is a counter. Oops, found a spot! And that there's a ketchup bottle, yep. She's busy cataloguing all these things, surely. When he asks his question, though, she smiles and glances in his direction. "All over, kind of. I made a lot of shorter stops in a lot of places-- Centralia, Roswell, a lot of small towns with big hauntings, too-- like Echo, Wyoming. But the last place I really settled was Rancho Santa Fe, before here. Not sure if I'm settled here, but it's hard to picture leaving anytime soon-- there's too much going on with this place to just move on without trying to figure it out. Um." She clears her throat. "Sorry, I get too excited. What about you? What brought you to scenic Gray Harbor?"

"Me? Well, I'm a local. Or was, I guess. I grew up around here, but, well 15 years ago my parents... they died. My uncle got the house because I was just a teenager, and then he helpfully shipped me off to some distant relatives in NYC. And that's pretty much where I'd stayed until my uncle died a few weeks ago, left me the old house in the will. I... figured I'd just come back, find a real estate agent, get the house sold, and then I'd go back." He pauses, then sighs. "Now it feels like I won't be going anywhere else for a while." He glances back at her, then quickly away. "I mean. It's not all bad. This is nice, for example."

"I'm sorry to hear about your parents-- and what happened with your uncle. That... that would be rough to deal with, at best." Still, Diana can't help but smile at his last words. "It is. Er, nice, I mean, not 'all bad.'" She pauses, then asks carefully, "Not that I'm interested in your leaving Gray Harbor, mind, but... why do you get the feeling like you won't be going anywhere else? Is... everything okay?"

James shrugs. "Nah, it's really not. This town... it's bringing up a lot of old memories. And a lot of new weirdness. And I was kinda freaked out at first but now it's starting to feel familiar, like it used to be like this before and I'd just forgotten how weird it was and I'm... getting used to it, almost. Which is terrifying." It's about then that their food is delivered, and James smiles up at the cashier, digging out his wallet. He glances to Diana. "You, ah, mind if I pay? I don't mind splitting if you'd be more comfortable with that."

Diana is frowning as their food arrives, though she does remember to murmur a thanks, albeit a distracted one. She's making a GREAT first impression on that poor cashier. Still, she can't help but get a soft smile as he offers to pay. "You know... normally I'd want to insist on a split, but. If you don't mind splitting, then I don't feel like I have to split it. Makes it easier." She pauses, then impulsively bumps his shoulder with hers. Bump. "Also thanks."

James blushes faintly at that bump, but smiles over at her as they walk back to their seats under the awning as the rain continues to fall. "Well, you did read my book, so I felt the need to make up for that a little, y'know?", he replies. "Anyway. It's a long story. But this place... I dunno. I feel like it keeps bringing people back, even when they thought they'd left. Which, y'know, I was born here, so, that's kinda ok, I guess. But... that's why I was a little worried before. Like, I don't wanna come off as, like, assuming you can't take care of yourself. I'm pretty sure you can take care of yourself a hell of a lot better than I can take care of myself. I just... I'd be sad if something happened to you while you're digging around and I could have maybe helped. Somehow. Y'know?"

Diana opens her mouth to protest about his book, but instead simply shakes her head, listening to the rest of what he has to say without any attempt at interruption. She takes her seat, setting her food down, but doesn't immediately dig in. Instead, she listens, and then hesitates for several moments before saying, "You're not coming off wrong at all. I know bad things can happen to people when they poke in things that aren't their business. And, admittedly, my ju jitsu is rusty..." A faint smile. "...but someone has to discover these things. Someone has to document. And I couldn't live my life, knowing what little I know so far, without trying to find out more. There's so much out there still to be discovered, still to be learned, and-- and I guess part of me hopes--" She looks downward, fork picking at the edges of her food. "I just want people to take it seriously. It's real, and it's out there, and the people who see it aren't crazy. Sometimes what they've seen has driven them crazy, but-- but it's real. I guess that's all." She shrugs.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm in that 'driven them crazy' camp. Today's a good day, though.", James replies, then nudges her shoulder with his. "The company helps." He straightens again, and smiles. "Speaking of which. I did take a look at your book. It's got a lot of info. Like, a lot. But.." He pauses, considering his thoughts. "See, you wanna convince people- well, people crave a story. That's how information sticks, that's how knowledge passes on. Y'gotta have a story to tell, right? Maybe... maybe I can help with that?"

Diana can't help but smile at the nudge to her shoulder, and returns it with one of her own. "It does. And I'm sorry-- if. You know. If it's made you feel like you're crazy. I felt the same way for awhile. Now I'm sure of who I am and what I know, but-- the denial's the worst of it, if you ask me." She shakes her head, and then blinks in surprise as he mentions her book. She tilts her head at the 'but,' although she makes no move to interrupt. Instead, she listens-- and his offer at the end makes her blink again-- before a broad smile rises to her lips. "Seriously?" she asks, tone hopeful but wary. "Cuz, you know. I know you're working on your sequel and everything. I-- I know you think your book's not worth a lump, but it is. I couldn't accept your help if it'd mean never getting to read about the adventures of three goblins in a trenchcoat-- or whatever you come up with next." She straightens. "But if it wouldn't..." Her voice trails off.

James grins at that, looking down a moment. "Well. I mean. Who am I to deny a fan, huh?", he says, quietly, and looks back at her. "I mean, I've got nothing but time, and... I think it'd be cool, y'know? You. And me. Together.", he says, and then blinks, quickly adding, "Y'know, working. And writing. And investigating and stuff. It could be fun, right?"

Diana just smiles to every bit of that, and then she nods her head. "It could definitely be fun. I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship-- as a wise man once said." She winks. "And yeah, I hear you. Lots of time, nothing to do with it but explore! I'm definitely up for it, if you are." She grins, finally taking a bite of her fish-- and then pauses, her eyes widening, before she gives a very approving nod, mouth full of deliciousness.

James smiles a bit shyly, but nods at her. "Deal." And then he watches her as she takes a bit of her food, and the way she reacts to it, and his smile widens. "Definitely a deal.", he murmurs, more to himself than anything, and digs into his own food, in a wonderful mood for probably the first time since he got to town.