2019-12-13 - Cold Pizza

And so James and Diana left the auction at last, after smoothly deceiving their friends regarding their supposed sudden ravenous hunger. James was definitely a little frazzled on the way out- all that Glimmer usage around them had quite a different effect on him than it did on Diana, it seems, and he's a little twitchy, even jumping a little at a car backfiring a block over. His movements are still stiff, as they have been since he first arrived, and on the way to the nearby pizza place, he would have taken out his little weed vape pen (because he's a gentleman and not going to stink up Diana's adorably ugly sweater with weed stench) and, after a quick check with Diana to make sure she's alright with it, he'd have taken a nice long hit, letting the THC blunt a few edges in his brain so he can relax and not look like he's a lunatic while walking with her. Once they've got their slices and are sitting down at a miraculously empty booth, he slumps a little onto the table and glances at Diana. "Sorry about that. Just... needed to get out of there, y'know?"

Diana is quiet on the walk, watching him with some concern-- especially at the jump. She holds his hand if he seems to be amenable to it, squeezing it reassuringly here and there. She doesn't seem to mind the weed vape pen, telling him to go right ahead, and a few moments after he exhales, she kisses his cheek. The pizza now in front of them, she watches him with sympathy, and gives him a soft smile at his apology. "Of course. When ya gotta go, you gotta go. ...how are you feeling now? Any better?"

James nods, echoing her smile, if a bit more faintly. "Yeah, yeah, that was just... a lot.", he says, and reaches for the parmesan shaker to start adorning his mushroom pepperoni slices. "Y'gotta understand... I don't, um, I mean- every time I've dealt with... that... with people who have the shine like that, using their crazy-ass powers, it's been with my life in mortal danger. Like getting attacked by giant fuck-of insects and then an even more giant fuck-off frog at the Pond like the very night I first arrived. And then nearly getting run off the road with this girl after one of the halloween festivals by this like... fuck, I barely remember all the details, don't wanna think about them too much, I think Slenderman helped us escape or some shit.. And, like... last night. My old friends asked me to help with this whole... well, I'll explain it later, but I almost got killed by a cherry bomb thrown by a giant sentient piece of fruitcake and how is this my life??", he finally finishes, letting his head bang lightly down on the table.

Diana listens with what seems to be sympathy, placing one of her hands on top of one of his. She winces as his head bangs on the table, squeezing his hand, and is silent for a moment. "I was in Hogwarts once. Nothing as awful as any of what you've experienced, though. I mean... I never had powers to go haywire growing up, I didn't live in a place where the Veil was thin, and it's all been sort of... more academic and exciting than traumatizing. Seeing things from your perspective, of course you'd be worried and even afraid at seeing something like tonight. I don't think you have anything to apologize for, or to explain. Not everyone has the same... I don't know, lived experience, so the same thing can have wildly different results." She leans over into his space, brushing a hand along the back of his head, ruffling his hair slowly. "Life is weird, James, no question. Especially here. I want you to know that-- I mean, I hope you stay, obviously. But I wouldn't hold it against you if you felt you needed to return to New York. There wouldn't be any hard feelings, but-- but I do hope you'll stay, and see all the crazy weirdness that this sort of place can throw at you-- good and bad."

James looks up as Diana speaks, listening to her- a little confused at first, but then nodding gently, before closing his eyes as she ruffles his hair, leaning into the touch like shaggy dog getting petted. "I couldn't go back even if I wanted to. The things it would do to my memory- I've already spent most of my adult life thinking I'd had a psychotic break as a child. After everything that's happened... I'd actually go mad from thinking I was insane." He pauses. "... but, even if I could leave? I... I kinda like weird with you better than normal without you.", he says, looking to met her eyes, a bit shyly, but he's trying.

Diana lets him meet her eyes, and then leans in to kiss his nose softly before pulling away. "Just don't let yourself be driven mad by the goings-on here on my account," she says, teasing but also definitely not teasing. She hasn't really moved her hand away from his hair, and she moves closer to herself, touching his cheek lightly before letting go. Still, she keeps meeting his eyes, even if a little shyly herself, by the end. She pauses, then says softly, "Glad you're staying, though. Really glad."

James blushes noticeably at the kiss to his nose, and he smiles, still leaning into her hand. "Bah. I'm already a little mad and you still like me. I'll be fine.", he half-teases back. When she lets him go, touches his cheek, he takes in a slow breath, relaxing further. "Hey, I'm not going to abandon my co-author just when we're starting on our future bestseller, am I?" His smile fades a little at the edges. "I just hope we survive long enough to get to some of those good things you keep talking about."

Diana smiles warmly at him, and she looks actually delighted by the claim that he'll be fine. She bites at her lower lip as he continues to talk, looking pleased. Still, she looks sympathetic, her own smile fading a little when his does. She squeezes his hand. "Some of it's perspective. And I mean on both our parts, certainly. I thought tonight was a mostly good event, given givens. Even might've won something I bid on, depending on if anyone outbids me. But... I mean, my point is, once weird becomes normal, some of it's going to look different to the both of us, surely. I'll see more rotten things, and maybe you'll end up fighting paper cut-outs in Hogwarts. It's bound to happen eventually!"

"So long as it's not in jello, I'll deal with the cut outs.", James says, shivering a little, before finally turning his attention to the pizza. He leans down to grab it, but winces suddenly as his wounds pull a little. "Mmf." He adjusts himself a bit, then picks up a slice and takes a bite. "Mmf. I want to tell you about last night but.. I actually meant to mention this before- Was at the bookstore, picking up some stuff for research, and I met this guy- Alexander. He's Isabella's... boyfriend, I think? He's a local like me- and he's a paranormal investigator too. I mentioned you were one, and that you'd been over there for the whole Heaven's Gate thing, and he perked up, apparently something he's looking into might be related to that. He gave me his number, I was thinking maybe I could give it to you too? You could compare notes?"

Diana kisses his shoulder after he winces, like she's going to make it all better then and there. She gives him a small smile, though she tilts her head with interest at mention of Alexander and what he had to say. "Alexander, you say?" she asks, pausing, to pull out her little pocket notebook and thumb through several of the pages. "Ooh. I mean, this is a longshot, but you didn't happen to get his last name, did you? There was an Alexander involved in the banishing of Billy the Ghoul, is why I ask-- and... also an Isabella, as it turns out... and an Isabella was also at the Paranormal Society meeting. And... thank you. I really appreciate the heads up and your mentioning me to him. I would love to get that number from you, of course! Could even meet with him together, if we sync up on a day he's able to talk." She puts another kiss on his shoulder, apropos of nothing.

James smiles a little sheepishly at the little shoulder-kisses, but he clearly likes them, each one just sending another wave of relaxation through him. He takes another couple of bites of his pizza, those weed munchies starting to hit, as she looks through her notebook. Eyebrows raise a little as she explains both Alexander and Isabella were part of the whole Billy the Ghoul thing... and then they lower because especially after what he saw last night, of course she was involved in that. He smiles again. "Oh yeah. It was Clayton. Alexander Clayton. And I'm betting the Isabella from your notes is the same one you just met. After what I saw last night with her and the others... Well, hell. I think you're going to want to get most of my old childhood buddies better, honestly."

Diana finally starts to nibble at her own pizza, albeit distractedly. She has notes to look through, after all! She blinks, twice, at hearing the last name. "Yeah, that's the same one as with the Billy the Ghoul bit. Also, I think that just jogged my memory about--" She pauses, flipping through her notebook again. "Aha! Yes, you remember that guy we ran into at that bookstore-- Memento Mori? His name was Aidan, and anyway, you remember he's the one that was looking to get a ghost banished. And... he said an Alexander Clayton had been helping him look into hospital records, but I hadn't followed up on that, yet." She thwaps her forehead lightly. "Scatterbrained. Anyway... sounds like he's definitely someone we should talk to!" She smiles warmly at him. "At any rate, I'd love to get to know your friends, honestly. Job or no."

James gives her a little wink. "See? Getting to know me is already starting to pay off!", he teases, then leans forward onto the table, still smiling. "But, seriously, I'm glad I can help connect you with the people you're looking for." He pauses, gathering his thoughts a moment. "Back there, at the, uhm... jello... thing. When shit started getting crazy, even though I was starting to freak out, I saw you, you know. The look in your eyes. You were like a kid in a candy store. I... can't even remember the last time I looked at anything with that kind of wonder.", he lies, because he's looked at her more than once with that exact same expression. "You looked so... happy. So, I'm glad I can help you get closer to some answers about all of this. I... I wanna see that face again."

"I told you it would," Diana teases, as far as knowing him paying off. She smiles warmly at him, and it especially grows in warmth as he talks about wanting to see her like that again. She blushes pretty heavily, briefly lowering her eyes, though she looks directly at him again when she says, "You make me make that face too, you know." She wraps an arm around him, setting her notebook aside. "You're gonna see that face a lot." A pause. "Like now." And then she says nothing else, because she's leaning in to try and put the SMOOCH on him without further ado.

James was not expecting the SMOOCH. But her words before it (and the setting aside of the notebook!) do sort of set the scene, so that when she leans in, he only freezes for a bare moment, a fraction of a second that ends the moment their lips touch. His eyes close and he inhales, deeply, his own arm sliding around her as she pulls closer and yes it hurts but that can freakin' wait because goshdarnit Diana is kissing him and he is going to enjoy every nanosecond of it before she realizes her mistake. The kiss is, of course, tenderly returned after that initial moment- slow, tentative, almost cautious, as if still not quite daring to believe this is happening- I mean, maybe she just slipped and fell onto his lips. With her lips. Mmm, lips. His emotions just flow from him, intense enough that she just might pick up on them, a wave of warmth and joy and fear and hope all rolled up into something that the usual words fail to properly encapsulate.

Whether she made a mistake remains to be seen, but she certainly seems to have no intention of pulling away, at least. It's a gentle kiss for sure, as though she's also feeling her way through things and afraid to move too quickly. Her hand returns to his cheek, though, as the kiss lingers, thumb brushing over his skin. She sighs softly against him as she does pick up on his emotions, and he can probably pick up every emotion she's feeling in return-- hers are much the same, though there's no hint of fear, and probably a lot more hope. Certainly there's no lack of warmth.

It's the lack of fear from her that scares James the most, of course- so much hope, on a fuck-up like him. But even as that thought hits him, threatening to drag him down with it, he rejects it. The fear is still there but she's worth pushing through it, goddamit. The sigh pulls him away from those thoughts entirely, and he finally, reluctantly, breaks the kiss- but he does not pull away, just holding her close and blushing fiercely as he meets her eyes. "... so... I think this is the part where I ask if you wanna go steady with me."

Diana is blushing as well, cheeks a bright red, and she meets his gaze warmly. She presses her forehead to his, making their gaze a Cyclopian sort of thing up close like that, and only pulls away at his 'question,'-- and even then, only a little. She gives a sudden, surprised laugh, and then leans in again, forehead meeting his once more. "I think I'd like that very much," she says with a smile, and plants a soft kiss on his nose. "In fact..." she says, then pauses before teasing, "I'd have said yes a lot sooner, if you'd asked." She grins.

James gives her a rueful little smile at her last words. "Look, until like a minute ago I was still fifty-fifty on whether you even liked me.", he replies back, only half-joking. "Now I'd say it's more of a sixty-fourty in favor." His smile softens, fingertips reaching up to gently brush through her hair. "Sorry I kept you waiting. Let me make it up to you?"

"I like you," Diana says with a grin to his joking, "...just so you know the score." She leans her head closer to his fingertips, giving him a soft smile right back. At his question, she makes quite a show of thinking it over, saying, "I dunnooooo. I mean, gosh, I was just so wounded by the wait." She grins again, and then says more seriously, "...of course I'd let you."

"I like you too, Diana. Just in case that wasn't clear.", James admits, then laughs at her last words, softly. "Then I guess I have my work cut out for me.", he admits, then leans in a little more. "Pizza's getting cold.", he murmurs. "Oh well." And then he leans in to kiss her once more, slow and tender, not caring if maybe they're getting a few looks from the other patrons by this point.

With a warm smile, Diana leans in to meet him halfway, not appearing to worry about the pizza OR the looks. Or, you know, anything, at the moment. She definitely does care about that kiss, though, returning it in kind with her hand moving to rest on his shoulder, this time. Their pizza will be SO COLD. Thankfully, cold pizza is usually just fine.