2020-01-06 - Sweet Silver Lining

Katy was in a fantastic mood the next day, having woken up next to the love of her life. As previously planned, a trip to the Boardwalk and the Sweet Retreat was in order. Walking into the diner hand in hand made Katy feel like she was 17 again. “Why does this feel like a dream?” she asks happily as they looked for a place to sit. “Counter or booth?”

Stefhan had been to various places here and there so far in this small city, but this one is one he hasn't visited. The smell of 'sweet' stuff and junk foods is almost a bit overwhelming but he quickly gets used to it. "How quaint." he comments though after noting the 50s style decor. For now, he doesn't think of anything to order but he glances around a bit. Noting someone familiar, he offers a wave in Katy's direction but, unless returned, he doesn't seem to do anything to draw her attention away too badly.

"Because it reminds you of the day when we first met?" Jonathan replies, smiling quite broadly as he looks around. "That's why you wanted us to come here, right?" He smiles as he looks around. "Hmmm... The counter for now, perhaps?" Starting to lead the way over there. He sees Stefhan, offering the man a nod, but since he doesn't know him, that's all.

Katy waves back at Stefhan as she and Jonathan make their way to the counter. “A client of mine,” she explains for Jonathan’s benefit. As they settled at the counter, she says, “Yeah, that’s exactly why I wanted to come here. I got really nostalgic. Some of our best memories are from the Boardwalk as a whole.”

Stefhan looks over at a few other nostalgic items and looks like he is pondering something. Then, asking one of the waitresses out of curiousity, he states, "I assume Coca-Cola from the 50s was the same as it is now, yes?" Rhetorical question perhaps?

Jonathan smiles, "Our best memories so far," he replies, with a smile. "There are still great memories to come." He nods again as he looks over to Stefhan. "One of your clients? It's clear he knows good people when he sees them, then."

“I do my best,” Katy replies modestly, “I would rather earn my way than to lean too heavily on my last name. I’ve worked hard to be the best I can be at what I do. Web design is part coding, part art in a sense. Color theory, palettes and color schemes, layouts...it really appeals to both my creative and intellectual sides.” She affectionately runs Jonathan’s shoulder before she orders a caramel milkshake.

Stefhan continues on with a casual chat with the waitress, the topic of conversation being mainly about coca-cola and some past trends. But, after a few moments, he slowly begins to make his way to the exit, the pace still casual it seems.

"See, it's a similar thing to you as hockey is to me. Something that helps the creative side to utilize it to accomplish certain tasks." Jonathan replies, smiling as he orders himself a chocolate milkshake. He looks to Stefhan again, offering the man a smile and a nod. "A lovely day to visit here, don't you agree?" he offers to the man.

Katy smiles at Jonathan as a caramel milkshake arrives in front of her. “It has really warm friendly feeling here, beats the winter blahs outside,” Katy chimes in before she sips on her milkshake.

“Do you remember the one time I was able to drive out and see you for your birthday? It was for one of your first NHL games. I was so excited for you,” she reminded Jonathan, “So what do you want to do this year?”

Stefhan turns over toward the gentleman as he asks a good conversational question, "Why yes, it seems to be." The smile is returned and he says, "I admit, normally I spend my time in the coffee shop or my business but this place is rather, intriguing. I wouldn't figure it's my favorite decade but, they celebrate it well it seems."

Jonathan smiles as he hears that, nodding a bit. "They celebrate it very well. It sort of almost feels like you've stepped back in time. I mean, I know it's not really stepping back in time, but it almost feels like it." Smiling at Katy he nods, "I remember that time, the other guys on the team was wondering why I was so full of energy." There's a brief pause at the part about what he wants to do for his birthday this year. "Hmmm... I... Well, to be honest, I don't really know..."

Katy looks over at Stefhan and adds, "This is my favorite place in the entire Boardwalk. It has such a great vibe." She turns back to Jonathan and says, "I guess that means your girl gets to make sure you have a great birthday, just like all the birthdays I've had here that I got to share with you." She squeezes his arm affectionately before continuing to sip on her milkshake.

Stefhan smiles a little as he watches the couple. "It does seem to have a certain charm. I doubt it would have much of a need for computers, so, it's good to see things from a less modern perspective." Hearing the word team he asks, likely just out of starting conversation, "Into sports?"

"That sounds like it will be interesting," Jonathan replies with a grin to Katy, before nodding a bit at Stefhan's words. "Quite interesting to see it from that perspective, that's true." For the question about being into sports, he grins. "That's one way of putting it. Used to play professionally for a short time." He doesn't say anything about why it was only for a short while.

Katy instinctively reaches for Jonathan's shoulder to squeeze it in a silent gesture of support as soon as she hears him speak about his short professional career. She then casually asks, "Hey, babe, you feel like something to eat before the ice cream? I was thinking nachos or something. Fries maybe?" She turns to Stefhan and says, "You could say he's into sports."

Stefhan adds, "Well, it's good to be into athletics. Dancing was as far as I got with such things, though I never really thought I was good at that. It's still grand to have physical skills. No reason to quit."

Jonathan smiles at Katy's squeeze to his shoulder. "Hmmm...? Wait, they have poutine here, don't they? Tried that once in Canada. Good stuff." It's offered a bit quietly, before he nods at Stefhan. "I would keep on playing if it wasn't for injury trouble keeping me from continuing. I might play some recreationally, though. And I'd love to go into coaching or something."

"All right then, I think I'll just have regular fries or something. Do you still like lemon sorbet? Or strawberry ice cream?" she asks with a grin, recalling their first meeting. Then she casually volunteers, "I used to dance back in Washington, but I quit when I was 14. They kept telling me I was too chubby to get anywhere with it. And...I was going through some stuff back then." She shrugs. "I might try to get back into at some point."

Stefhan shrugs and tells her, "You should pick it back up. It's a ton of fun." But hearing Jonathan's bad luck he frowns, "So sorry to hear that, truly am. If it makes you feel better I doubt I had the ability to play sports to begin with." But, he starts to go back toward the exit, "Thank you, for the lovely chat but, I am afraid that I need to go attend to some duties. Have a good evening." Assuming it is evening anyway.

Jonathan smiles, "The lemon sorbet sounds wonderful." For the part about the dancing, he nods, "You really should try getting back into it." It's offered with a smile, before he nods at Stefhan. "Thank you," he offers, before he adds, "Take care." Turning back to Katy again, he smiles.

"Well...I'm not about to go back to the classical training...but I was thinking it would be fun to learn ballroom dancing, together," Katy suggests as she orders the food and the ice cream, his a scoop of lemon sorbet and hers a scoop of cookies and cream.

Jonathan pauses as he hears that. "Wai..." he begins, trailing off. "It's not that different from learning to play a sport, is it?" That offered after a few more moments of pause.

"I wanna do everything together with you, sweetheart," Katy says sweetly, "Besides, it's just training your body to move a certain way, the only thing you're not used to is that it's set to some music. With enough training, I think you'd be great at it."

Jonathan smiles as he hears that, "I know, it just took me a bit by surprise." He pauses momentarily, before he smiles as he glances around. "That, and I'm a bit afraid that I'd step on your toes or something like that," he admits, a bit more quietly.

"You know, research shows that dance training has neurological benefits for those recovering from brain injury, they help rewire the brain after serious injury. I can't remember the details, it's been a while since I was shown the research but it's interesting stuff." Katy picks up a fry from the plate set in front of her and dips it in her ice cream before putting it in her mouth. "Besides, it'll be fun to learn something together."

Jonathan pauses as he hears that. "That sounds like it might be worth trying..." He looks a bit thoughtful for a few moments, starting to eat some of the poutine. "You know, when I first heard about this, I thought it just sounded crazy. But then someone made me try it, and it's quite tasty. Perhaps not the most healthy, but still..." He pauses for a few moments as he considers something. "Maybe you should wear shoes with extra solid toes, just in case?" It's offered a bit lightly, though.

Katy continues to eat ice cream dipped fries as they speak. "I think I'll take my chances." She grins. "Honestly, I think you'll be okay. Just give it a shot with me once and if you don't want to do it again, you don't have to. There's a studio in Hoquiam I've been wanting to check out." She looks at his food and says, "No thank you. I'll pass." She stuffs another ice cream dipped fry in her mouth.

Reaching for her hand, Jonathan smiles. "I promise I will go there with you," he replies, as he watches her. After a few moments, he's unable to hold back a grin. "You'll pass on poutine, but dip your fries in ice cream?" He sounds a bit amused as he says this.

"I prefer the salty-sweet combo, I don't really like to load up on grease," she points out wth a smirk. She looks to Jonathan, thoughtful, as though she was trying to figure something out. Her expression turns playful as she says in a playfully teasing tone, "I think I know what I can do for your birthday."

Jonathan smiles, "I'll keep that in mind." That to the part about the salty-sweet combo. At the part about his birthday, and that teasing tone, he raises an eyebrow. "Oh? What's that?" It's asked a bit quietly as his expression turns a bit curious.

Katy grins as she gets the intended reaction to her statement about his birthday. "Well, see I don't know I should tell you now or keep it a surprise until your birthday," she continues to tease, though inside, she can barely contain her own excitement.

Jonathan grumbles. "Now you've made me curious, so you'll need to tell me," he replies, although it's a bit lightly.

"Can I ask you something serious before I tell you, though?" she asks quietly, her tone doing a complete 180 from playful and teasing, to serious with a hint of anxiety.

Now that change makes Jonathan pause for a few moments. He glances around rather quickly, then looks back to Katy. "Of course," he replies, his full attention on her now.

"I've been holding on to so much for years...feeling like I did the right thing by letting you go when all I wanted to was hold on for dear life. I...what does us going too fast look like for you?"

"Us going too fast? As in 'so fast it's bad'?" Jonathan considers that question for a few moments, expression a bit thoughtful. "I think that would be anything that would cause you to end up getting hurt." A brief pause, before he adds, "That is why I didn't do anything when you... let me go. I want you to be happy."

"I didn't want to hold you back. I know how badly you wanted it. I would have just been a distraction for you, especially with the distance. Letting you go was the hardest thing to do," Katy confesses quietly, then she sighs. "And then there's the other problem...the Glimmer problem."

Jonathan pauses as he listens to this. "So that's why...?" He goes quiet again, before he lets out a bit of a breath. "Does that mean we both let the other go because we were being unselfish?" Another pause as she speaks about the Glimmer problem. "When did you... When did you start experiencing the glimmer? Was it during some troublesome times?" Sounds like he knows a bit of such things happening during troublesome times.

"It was a rough time for me, emotionally. I was angry, frustrated, feeling pulled in two separate directions. You know, with my parents being divorced and everything. My Dad never wanted me to go to Gray Harbor, he wanted me as far away from the Addington family, the town, all of it. But I never felt like I belonged with my Mom and her new family. And then...I just...I lost it. And, my bedroom window exploded. So when I finally told my Dad, he sent me to Gray Harbor to talk to my grandmother, my Aunt Margaret as she likes to called, and that's how I started to learn about Glimmer. That's the only reason I've really ever been allowed to get to know the rest of my family, because I was here learning about Glimmer and the Veil. But now I'm looking to learn more. I've been good about handling my triggers lately...but...I don't know..." She'd never explained this to Jonathan before, mostly because she had been afraid of how he would react. She had never actually known whether he himself was Glimmer capable.

"For me, it wasn't really there until I was recovering from that last concussion," Jonathan replies. "I'm not entirely sure what I can do with it yet, though. Been focusing mostly on not spending every other day curled up in a dark room whimpering because of brain wanting to split my skull in two. I should find out more about it now that I'm less likely to get those headaches." He goes silent again, as he watches her.

"You never told me..." she murmurs then she stops herself, considering she'd kept her Glimmer a secret for far longer. "I felt something faint from you before...I just never knew how to bring it up." She chuckles faintly. "In any case, I'm...I'm terrified because I know about the Bad Stuff that can happen. I thought I would be a danger to you. And now that you're dealing with it too...my Uncle Pat always says just to ignore it, don't use it, don't even think about it. But...if I don't know how it works, I can't control it. That's why I kept coming back, even after you went chasing your hockey dreams, to learn about Glimmer and the Veil.."

Jonathan nods as he hears that. "One more thing we will have to go through," he offers, a bit quietly as he smmiles at her. "While it can be a risk, I'm willing to take that risk. After all, nothing good comes without risk." A few thoughtful moments longer, before he adds, "And it's always harder to ignore something if people tell you to ignore it, right?"

"I don't want you to be in danger because of me," she says in a tiny voice, as she finishes off the rest of her ice cream. She looks down at her half eaten fries. "You don't even understand how dangerous all that stuff is, Jon." She pauses before saying, "Are you really serious about taking that risk?"

"I know that some things are worth the risk," comes Jonathan's reply as he reaches out for one of her hands again, taking it in both of his. "And I know that to me, you are worth that. I realize that there are dangers with these things, but at times it feels like there are dangers to everything here in this city." He squeezes her hand gently, as he adds, "So know that I accept the risk freely."

Katy wraps her arms around him to hold him in a hug, trying to use him as her focus to center herself once more. "So I got an email this morning while you were getting ready about an empty apartment one floor below my Uncle's place...one that's available and already paid for by my grandmother. It was offered to me...and I get the keys in a few days. I don't know about moving in together, but I'm going to give you a key for your birthday."

Jonathan smiles, hugging her in return. As he hears that news, he smiles, "That is good news. And I promise I'll make sure I can stay whenever you want me to." A brief grin is offered, before he adds, "I'll even promise to do the cooking whenever you want me to. I picked up some skills when it comes to that during my hockey career."

Katy can't help but chuckle at the idea of Jonathan cooking for her. "It sounds like you have a deal!" she quips playfully. "I think I'm done here," she says, looking at the mostly eaten fries on her plate. "What do you want to do this morning? Go for a walk?"

Taking a few moments to finish his meal, Jonathan grins. "Good deal," he offers, before he nods at the talk about being done with the food. "Going for a walk sounds good. Anyplace in particular you want to go?" A brief glance around the room again, before he looks back to her.

"Hmmmm, maybe just a walk along the Boardwalk for now, Love," Katy says with a smile as she takes one last sip from her milkshake.

"The Boardwalk sounds like a good place for a walk," Jonathan agrees, before he smiles. "Both the Boardwalk and the beach are good places both for walks and running." He finishes off his own milkshake with a smile.