2020-02-07 - Pizza and a Welcome

It's a late evening at the Pizza Kitchen. There are a few customers sitting about here and there, but with the winter cold failing to abate despite it now being February (six more weeks of spring, thanks for nothing, groundhog).

One of the customers haunting tables is a redhead on the short side, clad in her usual outfit of a t-shirt, jeans, and a boofy jacket. Usual for the wintertime, anyways. Definitely called for given that it's snowing yet again. The redhead is working on a small pizza by herself, which appears to be nearly covered in pineapple. There's a coke on the table as well, but she doesn't appear to be paying it, or anything else near by. Alison's just staring off into the distance as she munches away on a slice, seemingly deep in thought.

"No, you can't come inside okay? You have to wait out here..." Tara, a mouse blonde woman in a drab green jacket, wool cap, and jeans, says as she pushes inside, pauses and looks back out on the sidewalk, "No, stop it.. you can't have pizza.." She's never really harsh, just firm, and after a moment, smiles as she slips inside out of the cold.

"Hey!" To the counter clerk, "Can I get a small pizza with no sauce and feta cheese?" Grinning brightly, rubbing her hands together to warm them up, "And a bottle of water please, thank you!"

She heads away and nearly walks right past Ali's table, but pulls up short... and backs up a few steps, "Hey." Waving with one hand and sliding bangs behind her ear where they dangle out from her woolie, "You want to talk about it?"

Alison 's eyes go to the door without turning her head at the sound of the particular tone of someone talking to their dog. Probably that, anyways, but a moment later her blue eyes return to focusing on infinity, her gaze just drifting off into nothing.

Being directly addressed by Tara after she just walked right by does get Alison's attention, though. It catches her a little off guard, her eyes shifting to meet the woman's, regarding her for a moment before speaking. "Hi." A beat. "..talk about what? If you're trying to sell something, you've got the wrong girl."

There isnt a dog out there!

That would be really cruel...

Tara shrugs her shoulders up real high at Alison's question, "I don't know. Whatever it is you need to talk about? I'm guess your bad taste in pizza toppings, but it looks more serious business than that." She doesn't wait for an invitation, she just sits down across from Ali. The water bottle she purchased acts as a perch for her left hand where it sits against the table, "No, I don't work here." About selling something, smiling across her whole face, "You just look like you don't want to be alone."

Alison rolls her eyes at the remark about pizza toppings, then lets loose a long sigh. "Nobody ever used to give me shit about pineapple until a few years ago.. it's good, you know? The salty with the sweet? It's kind of the same thing as chicago mix popcorn, with the caramel corn and the cheese popcorn.." She gives a shrug of her own, setting the slice back down with the rest of her pizza.

"Dunno if I really need to talk about it? It's not really one specific thing.. rethinking why I moved here, how I live my life.. you know, the basics." Another shrug, then she grabs her coke and takes a sip from it. She doesn't quite have the happiest expression in town, especially when compared to that of the smile plastered onto Tara.

Tara looks down at the pizza in question thoughtfully, "Like chocolate covered pretzels." All very musing! The simple things. She grins at Ali and shrugs, "There's plentybof shit to grt upset about in life, but pizza toppings kind of seems low rung. You can eat whatever you want, I'm sure it's the very best. I'll stick to not messing up a perfectly good pizza with fruit!" Rocking her bottle back and forth slowly with her hand, smiling across the table.

Watching the redhead with kind of buggy staring eyes that carry her smile just as easily as her lips do, "You don't need to, but you did." She point out, point the bottom ot her bottle across the table, kind of. "...Not completely, but kind of. I wont be nosey or anything, though. You just seem sad.. and there's no reason to be sad if you're alive." She twists the cap off her bottle and bring it up for a drink.

"Want to hear a joke?" Wiping a little dribble of water from her chin with two fingers.

A shrug at the comparison. "Maybe? I've always preferred the soft mall pretzels, though. Don't know why they're even called the same thing. Tomatoes are fruit, though, so does.. oh wait, you got yours without sauce, didn't you." The redhead smirks slightly. "Usually that leaves 'em stumped."

Alison picks her slice back up, taking a bite from it, not bothering to finish chewing it before speaking again. "Town like this, there's plenty to be in a shitty mood about. Let me guess, you just moved here?" Munch munch munch. "A joke? Sure."

"I guess, technically, you're right about tomatoes.. but I di- exactly." Tara says with a big grin, pointing across the table at Ali, "I hope they put extra olive oil, but it will be good anyways.. feta has a nice sour taste that accentuates the dough. Especially in a brick oven." As if nothing at all can crack her mood, she uncaps her bottle again to take a smaller sip than the previous.

"Town like what?" Glancing around, ducking her head towards her knuckle brushing across her chin to prevent the spill of more dribbling water molecules! "I've been to a lot of towns and I found that there's a reason to be in a shitty mood everywhere, if you look for things to be in a shitty mood about... I decided not to do that anymore." Twisting the cap back on her bottle, setting it within reach but out of her way.

"Okay, so.. The lord said unto John, ''Come forth and receive eternal life..''.." Her grin grows conspiratory, leaning in across the table where her arms are folded enough to balance her chest, "But John came in fifth and only won a toaster."

"This place is usually pretty good about getting pizza right. You could always ask? There was another place when I first moved here and.. it always seemed to be wrong. They closed a while ago." Another shrug. "Feta on a pizza seems weird, but then again, no sauce either.. different tastes, though." She lifts her drink into a pantomime of glasses clinking together, then sets it back down.

"You must be new around here, then. Weird shit happens here, weird people live here.. people just disappear without a trace." A shake of the head, Alison's red hair dancing around over her shoulders. "Moments of good stuff now and again, but nothing gold can stay, mm?"

She smirks a bit at the joke. Or at least the wordplay. "Is that a bible joke, or something? Not too many religious types around here."

"See? There you go, already finding something good!" Tara's grin never even flinches on her face, "You have a place that does great pizza." Motioning around with her hands moving in a small, inclusive, circle. "It's like mecca, with carbs." Also water, which she lifts to inviso click against Ali's drink and then sips.

"Sure, I'm new, but people are weird everywhere. I'm kind of weird, at least that's what people tell me, and people disappear too. It's not special, it's consolidated." Tapping her fingers down against the top of the table, "Here.. maybe not ''here here'', this is a pizza joint, but Gray Harbor.. maybe.. I don't know, I just got here."

"Here here and here."

She bobs her head a few times, slowly, glancing back at the counter, "Uhh, kind of religious I guess, but I'm not really. I'm not not, I'm just not really."

Alison smirks at the.. enthusiasm? Exuberance? Misplaced optimism? Something. "I don't know about great. They don't look at me funny when I order one with pineapple, though."

"Yeah, I get that, but, like.. it's ESPECIALLY weird here. Like.. hold on." The redhead turns to face the kitchen. "Hey, did you guys ever hear from Dave?" A voice from the kitchen a moment later. "Nope. Asshole didn't even pick up his last check. 600 bucks! Oh, pizza's ready!" Alison gestures back towards the kitchen while looking back at Tara. "See? Couple girls over at the Grizzly too, people just.. fucking go missing. And it's not like there's that many people in town either. Stick around long enough, you'll see it too."

"Yes but no? Not not? Kinda sounds like you're not sure."

Tara turns around in her seat to look in the direction Ali is shouting, lips quirking off to the side, then the other side, then back around to the redhead with a finger held up. "Hold that thought!" Bouncing out of her seat to go pick up her pizza slice, no sauce with feta cheese! "It smells great, thank you." Grinning, sniffing the slice on the paper plate while returning to Alison's table.

Once she's seated, pizza in both hands for a bigger than absolutley necessary bite. "It sucks that people disappear, but people always disappear. My fiance disappeared, which is why I'm here." She explains with a shrug and a glance down at her pizza. "I mean, he wasn't my fiance, fiance.. we sort of seperated, but he still left kind of abruptly."

She's thoughtful a moment, whether about previous or current statement, however? She shifts between them haphazardly, "I'm not sure. There's only one way to be sure if religion is real and not a lot of people come back from that." Pause, pizza up at her mouth without taking a bite, "And the ones who do, don't really know shit anyways."

"Huh. Really. Usually it's the other way around." More chewing on her pizza. "..sorry to hear that, I guess? Unless you're looking for revenge. Usually when people go hunting for their ex, it's not for the best reasons." Tara's oversized bite puts a slight smirk on the redhead's face, but only for a moment.

"Yeah, that's pretty much my view on it. There's no proof either way. If there WAS somebody upstairs, then why does so much bad shit happen to good people? Serial killers, shit like that. But we can't know for sure." Alison gnaws on the pizza bone (the crust) on her slice, then closes the lid on the box of the rest of the pizza.

"No, not revenge." Tara shakes her head emphatically at the implication, "I'm not a vengeful person, I'm sure he had his reasons.. I can't imagine what they ''are'', but whatever right?" She isn't smiling as much, but she always kind of has a lowkey smile, even when speaking about things that people shouldn't smile about. "Really I just want to see if he's okay, maybe. I don't know. I didn't think it through completely when I started driving." The rest of her bites are little nibbles, mostly at places with more cheese than not.

"I always found that methodology of counter convertion a little humorous.. Like we're more than willing to blame a higher power for all the bad shit that happens, but less inclined to attribute good things to that same being. It seems kind of hypocritical... but so very distinctly human. I'm a Buddhist though." Wiping at the corners of her mouth with a napkin held in both hands, "Not a very good one, but I try.. more than anything, I just think good stuff happens and bad stuff happens and it's on us to weigh the scales. I, personally, chose to see the bright side.. Even if the lights are off, the room isn't completely dark or we would just be asleep."

"Uh huh. I didn't really mean it for you exactly. Not with that big ol' grin on your face most the time. But yeah.. sometimes things with other people just kinda don't work out the way you want them to." Alison reaches over to her shoulder, scratching her skin through her shirt. "Fair enough. I had an even worse reason for moving here. Had a dream about it and next thing I knew, I was at the U-Haul place."

She shrugs at the counterpoint. "I mean, they tell us that God or whoever's all powerful, right? If that was true, then we should all be living in paradise. Is that what Buddhism believes in, paradise? I'm no expert on that kinda stuff."

"Oh." Tara taps her crust against the side of her paper plate, periodically sucking on the extra olive oil coated crust rather than eating it, but just as frequently using it to point across the table at Alison, "Well, my fiance... I guess he's my ex fiance now... he's from here." She muses, shrugging, and looking down at her plate. "I'm curious why he left, sure, but I think he had left long before he left. I kind of got weird." Her lips quirk to the side rather than smile, but she doesn't frown, "I didn't really think I was weird, but that's what my parents said. They sure seem to think it's my fault!" Back to grinning immediately.

"No, we believe everything comes in cycles and a persons karma dictates their next incarnation. I don't know about all that, but it sure encourages altruism for the sake of altruism, since Karma is more aobut the spirit of an action than the action itself." The crust twists between her lips a second, then she tosses it down on the plate and wipes off her fingers in a napkin, "The difference between changing someones tire to get them out of a parking space or because they had a flat tire and you had a jack.."

"As far as higher powers and evil on earth.. I think it's all a test. If the test was easy, everyone would pass. I mean, pain is perspective. If a person's never been really sick, stubbing their toe might be the worst thing that's ever happened to them.. so this horrible event isn't any more horrible because people don't think linear or subjectively. They think selfish and objectively."

The statement that Tara's fiance was born in Grey Harbor, or lived in town for a while, gives Alison a bit of pause. "Huh. Well. I hear that people don't usually come back if they leave, unless they just.. can't come back. Met someone a few nights ago down in the trailer park, grew up here but got hauled off "up state" for years, now they're back. So it doesn't NOT happen, I guess?" Another shrug. When she says "up state", she does the little air quotes thing with her fingers. "..you HAVE tried messaging him on Friendbook or something, right?" That smirk of hers appears back on the redhead's lips.

"So what's the highest level of karma, then? Is there any escape of you're good enough of a person, or you just take turns between being a rich white person, some poor kid in Africa, an ant? A goose?"

"I found it kind of odd that he left all his stuff in the house, wallet, keys, car, clothes... really nobody even remembered him leaving. I just figured he had somewhere to be." Tara really must sound absolutely batshit with how easily she explains away the absurd realities of this twisted world, "I think I was just looking for an excuse to come to Gray Harbor, though. I've had a weird fasination with it for months." All things under the sun or whatever.

"Oh, sweet! I'm glad they were able to come home. Does ''up state'' mean, like, Seattle? I've been to Seattle for work, I rather kind of liked it. Once you get past all the rain."

At the last, Tara laughs and shrugs, "Technically you can transcend into a higher state of being once you've reached nirvana, but that's kind of like finding the perfect egg carton without changing out a few duds.. Someone knows a guy who knows a dog who knows a guy who reached nirvana once... I mean it's religion dude, it's more of a guideline than a rule."

Alison 's smirk fades into a look of slight concern. "..doesn't sound great. But hey, maybe something came up?" Probably not, given that he ditched EVERYTHING, but surely Tara knows that. Right? Yes. Of course she does.

"No idea where "up state" is, exactly. Seattle's more.. sideways from here, I guess? We're pretty much just to the west. Mostly?" Another shrug. "I grew up there, lived there until about.. six months ago now, I guess? Shit, has it really been that long." The redhead slumps down in her seat some, finding her shoulder quite itchy again. Scratch scratch.

"Yeah, I guess so. Most religions seem to say no sleeping around, and what's the fun in that? General rules, sure, don't kill people, don't.." She's lost for words for a moment, looking down as she looks for another example, then looks back up at Tara. "I dunno, don't be a dick, but all the specifics about who you can have sex with just rubs me the wrong way."

"Yeah." Tara has to gloss over certain irregularities, maybe, but she's just strange enough to take even that oddity with a grain of salt without frowning. "I've been talking to shit that wasn't there since I was old enough to talk, so I guess I just figure it's one more thing, right?" She uncaps her water and finishes it in several long swallows and lays it down on the paper plate. "I really wish they used biodegradable plates and reusable drinking containers..." Absent musing.

Unnecessary observations asked by no one.

"Sex is sex. Most rules against it are based on dictrine written back when women were considered property.. even the bible.." Raising a hand to motion across the table, "I don't know, there's like more passages about not wearing wool than not having sex with who you want.... except animals and kids. It's pretty particular about that." Face scrunching up a little, head shaking rapidly.

"I went to an all girls catholic school, though. Gender and sexuality is fluid and kind of abstract these days. A good friend of mine growing up once said; Everyone is basically pan."

The mention of talking to things that aren't there quickly makes Alison wonder if maybe Tara's one of the 'weird people' that Ali had mentioned earlier. But hell if that'd make someone one of the weirder ones overall. Regardless, neither that nor the mention of biodegradable plates get any sort of reaction from the redhead besides in her own head.

"Yeah, that's another one of those weird contradictions.. you go into a Baptist church, you'll get screamed at for a few hours about how you're going to hell, and that's even before they find out that you're gay. And somehow the whole thing about mixing fabrics never comes up. The animals and kids thing definitely makes sense though, I'll give them that." Mention of the all girls Catholic school makes Alison grin widely. "I doubt that the teachers -- nuns? didn't quite see it the same way. I mean, I agree with all that, sure. Didn't stop my first girlfriend from from doing a few Hail Marys before going down on me, though."

Tara, not being a mind reader, doesn't even notice.

She's still fussing about the plastic bottle and paper plate. Frowning in a way that's sad, but kind of intentionally thoughtful sad. Like she's trying to decide how to proceed on a decision that's there, but hasn't quite formed into real choices just yet.

"They had all the answers, the sisters." Tara glances up sharply, smile back in place as she's given something else to think about besides what to do with her rubbish. "Hah.. Hail Mary, full of quim... hallowed by they snatch?" Smarmy little minx. She shrugs indifferently, "I only ever kissed one girl, but it wasn't because I was 'not' interested, I was just 'more' interested in other things. Like school.. and doing all the shit that I was told adults are suppose to do after school." She muses, mouth turning into an introspective twist.

"Ah well. Good on you, anyways."

Okay, that makes her laugh. Alison's usual soft voice breaks as she laughs at the twisted line. Not that she really remembers the words, but is pretty damn sure that they weren't saying a damn thing about pussy. "I wish that's how it went. I'd join THAT church in a heartbeat."

"I don't think I even kissed my first girl until a few years after high school, decided that guys were assholes. Been a while since I've been with a dude, but it's not out of the question." Shoulder's suddenly itchy again, it seems. Scratch scratch scratch.

"I should probably get headed out, I've got work in a little bit." A beat or two, the woman looking down at her pizza box, then back up at Tara. "Can I borrow your phone for a minute?"

Alison laugh making Tara laugh because there's something intrensically funny about someone finding something you say humorous. Her own is more of a whimsy pleased sound than actual gut rumbling and it dies down as Ali's does, leaving behind a big grin in its place like she'd just taken home first prize at a science fare. "See? I told you Gray Harbor wasn't all that bad." Justting her tennis shoe out to lightly tap her toes against the redheads foot.

"Relationships were never really big ticket items at the Lambert house." She says with a shrug that does nothing to deminish her grinning.

"Oh, sure.. did you forget yours or something?" She lifts her hip up to fish around in her front pocket and comes out with an old flip phone that she holds out to Ali, "I'll probably need to get a job eventually, I guess... I don't suppose they're hiring wherever you work?"

"One thing it has going for it, at least, is that there's a kind of weird amount of people who are.. flexible, let's say, when it comes to orientation. At least for such a small town." She swats her foot back against Tara's with a little giggle.

Alison blinks a couple times at the appearance of the flip phone of all things. "Oh, cool, I didn't think that they even made these anymore!" She'll take it, though, thumbing around at the buttons. There's some frustration evident in her furrowed eyebrows as she struggles slightly, never putting the phone to her ear. "Uh, yeah, something like that." But then there's the sound of a ringtone decidedly coming NOT from the flip phone in her hands, at which point she stabs the end call button with her thumb, the grin back on her face. "Thanks." She hands it back over, grabbing her pizza box and standing up.

"I'm a waitress over at the Grizzly Den diner. Gina's usually hiring, pretty decent place to work.. pays pretty well. If you're scared of bears, might not recommend it, but otherwise, if you can sling a few plates of hash browns.. not for everyone though." Pulling her bag back over her shoulder, boofy coat and all. "Alright, time to get out of here. Uh. That phone does get text messages, right?"

A perfect chance for footsy beneath the table is dashed.

Tara smirks at Alison's astonishment upon seeing her flip phone, "Don't judge me alright? Dad cut me off from the dollars.. it's all I could aford." She doesn't look at all broken up by it, "But I don't have social media anymore anyways, so I didn't really need anything fancy, what are you doing?" Furrowing her brow at the redhead fumbling around with the phone until she hears the ringtone singing from the other womans pocket, "Oh for Petes sake.." Rolling her eyes with her hand out to accept the returned phone. "Did you program yours in?"

Clicking it closed with her index finger closing in around the front face as she slips it back into her pocket. "Cool.. you think maybe you could see if she's hiring for me? Or just text me when she's in... I certainly don't have any problem with asking myself." Another eye roll, "Yes, it gets text message. It's basically the only thing that's free."

She too stands, but lacking a bag or purse, she grabs up her trash instead. Still trying to decide what to do with it... so she folds it all up and puts it in the pocket of her coat. "OH! What's your name, anyways? I'm Tara..." Holding out her hand with a big cheesy grin.

"Hey, no judgement, it's just not something you see every day, unless someone's still carrying one around for hipster cred." Alison grins slyly as she's asked what she's doing, but doesn't stop until she hands the phone back. "I sure did."

"Yeah, I'll ask and let you know. I could even put in a good word for you if you want? Gina's hours are kinda weird. I'll shoot you a text." The question of her name makes the redhead blink, then laugh again. "Shit. My bad. I'm Alison." She extends her hand to meet Tara's, giving it a soft squeeze, a grin on her face to match Tara's own. "See you around."

"Thanks!" Tara brightens immediately, tucking hair behind her ear as she walks along beside Alison towards the door.. since there's only the one way out. "You should have saved your goodbye for the sidewalk." She says with a giggle, tongue sticking out at the redhead playfully. The shops door is pulled open to allow the other woman escape, then the blonde follows back out into the cold still carting around her trash.

"Yeah, not if I see you first." Which could be super creepy out of context. Tara blows into her ungloved palms, rubbing them together to warm them up as the cold immediately saps any warmth from her bones. Even still, she's met a new friend and smiling regardless. "Alright..." Even before Ali is really out of earshot, "I told you you couldn't go in there and I meant, it, but I brought you something.." The paper plate and bottle are held out towards something around the corner of the pizza joint, "Whoa, slow the hell down... you'll give yourself a tu-" Trailing off as she disappears into the abyss of a cold Feb snow.