2020-03-07 - The Sparklies

Kip had decided she'd had enough of bars and alcohol to last her at least until St. Patrick's Day. So tonight she was snagging greasy, delicious, diner food for dinner. She has one of her earbuds in, listening to something and is idly flipping through some kind of book that has a lot of pictures to go along with a lot of tiny text between bites of her meal. Her attire is simple, maybe a little light for the weather - a pair of white jeans with a gray long sleeved shirt and matching fur-lined boots. Her brown hair is pulled back in to a loose ponytail.

Tyler wanders into the diner and makes his way to a stool at the counter near Kip. He's wearing a pair of khaki cargo pants and a tight blue Tshirt with the Gray Harbor Fire Department logo over his heart. He takes off his department jacket, tossing it onto the stool beside him. With a little sigh, he glances at the book of pictures Kip is looking at, curious.

Kip catches the movement out of the corner of her eyes and looks up from her book. Tyler is given a brief once over before a polite smile is offered. "Good evening." The Russian accent very obvious even with those two little words. She notices him looking at the book and closes it so she can show him the cover. A book about various kinds of popular folk legends from all over the world. "You are a firefighter?" Quirking a brow and nodding towards his jacket.

Tyler smirks, a boyish smile that's almost ridiculous in it's charm. "I am, yeah." He tilts his head as he reads the title of the cover, not terribly fast if she would notice. "Legends, huh? For school? Are you like, an exchange student?" He looks up from the book to her. "France?"

"A very noble profession. " Kip smiles but when he asks about her being a student? She stares at him for a long moment and then laughs. Not in an unkind way, more in a surprised sort. "Oh no. I am much past any kind of school age." She waves her hand a bit. "I am from Russia. I recently moved here to study some things though, yes. Just not for a schooling." She shifts a bit in her seat. "And I have always been interested in folktales. After all, all stories have some truths to them."

Tyler laughs, "Noble is a kind way to put it. It's okay," he offers with a shrug. "Sorry. I'm terrible with ages and accents, I guess," he says with a chuckle. "You think the folktales are somehow related to the weird stuff that happens here," he asks, but it's more of a statement really.

Kip ponders for a moment before shaking her head. "I have never read any folktales that are like the things I have seen in this town already." She decides on before eating a french fry. "What kind of things have you seen? Experienced?" Since clearly he had to have had some kind of encounter right? To be so matter of fact?

Tyler smiles, gently tapping her shoulder, "You have the sparklies." He touches his own large chest then, "I have the sparklies." He shrugs, "I've seen a lot of stuff. I think all of us with the sparklies have. No Cinderellas or faeries though. Is that why you came here to the States? To figure out what's going on here?"

"The sparklies." Kip sounds a little amused by this name. "An interesting descriptor. But true, nonetheless, I suppose. It feels like a fair bit of the people in this town do." She shrugged. "I have passed through before. It is similar to a few places I have experienced in Russia. But more concentrated." She explained. "But also more stable. So yes. Essentially. Research and perhaps find some answers."

Tyler nods, "Cool. So, what have you found?" Tyler is sitting on a stool, his coat on the stool next to him, at the counter. Another stool away from him is Kip. "Have you seen the Shadow People yet? Here or in Russia? I'm curious if they're different there than here? Like, do you think the stuff here is the same stuff as there?"

"Nothing particularly concrete. I have only been here a few weeks." Kip shrugged. "I have not quite...seen? But I have felt. The strongest I felt it was when I was visiting Chernobyl. A very bad place to go indeed, but...fascinating. And...so much potential for activity..." Her thoughts seemed to wander a moment before she snapped back in to reality. "I have not seen any shadowy people here though. Only weird dancing robots....very weird. If I had to guess? It is probably all the same. Or of the same nature at least." She was sitting at a table near the counter, facing Tyler.

Elias comes in through the front door of the diner, wrapped in a warm wool pea coat with a dark red scarf around his neck, black skinny jeans and black combat boots. The sleeves of his sweater that can be seen poking at the cuffs of his jacket are a dark blood red. His hair is a little wild from the weather outside but his smile is easy and warm as he makes his way up toward the counter. "Coffee, I beg of you," he says to the server behind the counter who just rolls her eyes at him but nods. Then he glances over at Kip and says, "Can one actually visit Chernobyl? I thought it was still going to be radiocative for another hundred years or something?" Then he sees Tyler and says, "Hey, you."

"What's Chernobyl?" asks Tyler before Elias steps in. He smiles widely, and looks at the other man. "Hey YOU," he notes. "How the heck have you been?" He thumbs a gesture at Kip, "This is my new friend. She's from Russia. She's..." And then his brow furrows a little, and he turns to look at the woman. "She's um... I'm sorry, I don't... What was your name?"

Kip turned her attention towards Elias, offering him a bright smile as well. "No, you cannot visit Chernobyl itself. Far too dangerous. But the city it belonged to-Pripyat-yes. There are tours, and then of course people do documentaries and such there." She explained. "I was fascinated but also the hairs on the back of my neck and arms stood straight up. Bad energies at work." There's a soft chuckle. "My name is Kapitsa. Kip if you'd rather." She studies Tyler a beat and then - "Chernobyl was a nuclear power plant where a reactor exploded. The entire town is uninhabitable."

Elias slips a hand along Tyler's shoulder and gives it a small squeeze before sliding onto the stool next to him, the one that doesn't have his jacket on it, of course. "Been well," he says as he makes himself comfortable and looks grateful as the coffee is set down in front of him. He adds some cream and wraps both hands around the mug to warm them up before taking a sip. "Nice to meet you, Kapitsa," Elias says to her after he sips from his coffee and nods, "I thought the whole town was still radioactive. I'd be a little bit nervous about visiting it. Is it.. safe? To go on those tours?" He looks a little skeptical.

Tyler smiles warmly at Elias when he touches his shoulder, then looks back to Kip, "Kip it is then." Offering her a grin, he asks, "You just took a tour of a nuclear reactor wasteland? That's insane." To Elias, "I certainly wouldn't go. I'm sure the Russians say it's safe. But, I mean, they'd say anything, wouldn't they?"

"Nice to meet you both as well. What were your names?" Kip asks of them and then shrugged. "it is safe, more or less. It is only certain buildings that they have cleared for touring. And the tours are very strict about keeping count of everyone. But," A smirk quirked on her lips. "What is life without a little danger anyway?" She relaxed back in her seat. "It is just as creepy as you are imagining it is."

"Elias," he introduces himself to Kip when she asks their names, letting Tyler introduce himself. He smiles a bit wryly at her and says, "True enough. Though I find that there's ample danger to be found right here at home without having to go looking for it in other countries." He then looks over the menu and puts in an order for a bowl of soup -- clearly seeking a bit of warmth from the chill outside.

Tyler grins, "Sorry. I'm Tyler. And my life's filled with enough danger already. I don't need cancer, too." Looking at Elias, he notes, "She's interested in learning more about what's going on here. Maybe you can help?" To Kip, "Eli is kind of well-versed in figuring all this stuff out. He's Dreamy."

"Elias! I heard of you. A purple haired man was looking for you." Grant, though Kip didn't remember his name. "When I was at your bookshop the other day. A very nice shop it is - lots of variety." She gave a bright smile and another chuckle. "I am glad I got to meet you face to face. Nice to meet you both really." About that time her phone chimed and she glanced at it - eyes wide. "I enjoy meeting new people. Unfortunately, it seems as if work calls." She scrawls her number on a corner of paper of a little notebook she had out and hands to Elias.

"I would like to talk to you some about this place some time. If you wouldn't mind. Just call me whenever you are free. I hope to see you both around." Kip offered as she gathered her things . "Have a good evening." And then started to head out.

"A purple haired man was looking for me," Elias muses, not entirely certain who that might be off the top of his head, since he doesn't know any purple haired men that he can think of. "Well, if he was at the shop, then he's likely to find me there eventually." He chuckles. "Nice to meet you, as well." He takes the number that she passes on and says, "Certainly. Take care, Kip. I'm sure we'll talk soon." Then he turns his attention to Tyler and says, "Dreamy, huh?"

Tyler gives Kip a little wave, "Take it easy, Kippers." He glances at Elias, and he rolls his eyes just a little, "Don't let it go to your head." He lifts his Diet Coke and takes a long drink of it. "Look at you. Scoring digits from a beautiful foreign woman. Bein' sought after by a man with purple hair." He laughs as he sits his glass down. "You're very popular. I've missed that."

"Digits from a woman who wants to learn about the weird of Gray Harbor," Elias points out and chuckles, "And I've no idea what the purple haired guy wants or who he might be, for that matter." But he just shakes his head a little and leans in against Tyler's shoulder. He tucks the slip of paper with Kip's number into his wallet and then says, "You've missed people wanting to ask me questions? You should come by the shop more often. People ask me questions there all day."

Tyler smiles widely, looking at Elias with the soft eyes of a boy who was just reunited with his lost puppy. "I got no digits and no purple hair, so you're doing better than me. And yeah, kind of. I've missed you and the strange little world that seems to gravitate to you. I'm sorry I've been kind of out of touch lately. I've been working a lot, and, you know..." He shrugs, "I kind of figured you'd want some time for your boyfriend. I hope that's still a good thing?"

"You can have the digits if you want. You met her first, after all," Elias offers with a little amused smile. "Pretty sure she knows where to find me if she wants to come ask me about weird things." He then shakes his head and says, "You have to work. Can't really fault you for that. But.. you don't have to stay away because of Dante. He's seeing others, too, you know. We're not around each other every day of the week." He leans over then and rests his chin on Tyler's shoulder. "It is still a good thing, yes. But that doesn't mean that I don't want to spend time with you."

Tyler laughs and rolls those eyes again, "She's not really my type." Looking back at Elias, he speaks honestly, "I'm glad things are still going well with you two. I like seeing you happy. You have this whole thing, you know? With everybody seeing others, and it all being fine... I don't really get it. It's not a bad thing, it's just not something I've ever really thought about or seen or done before or whatever. I'll figure it out and get it right at some point." He grins, "Are you well? What's new?"

Elias leans against the counter then, folding his arms on it as he waits for his soup to arrive and smiles a little over at Tyler. "I don't know," Elias says, "I guess part of it is that -- I want people to be happy, and I don't want to tie anyone down and ask them to be unhappy, or to give up something that makes them happy, in the interest of just being with me. If I asked him to just be with me, and it made him resentful because he had to give something up that meant something to him, I'd feel shit about that. And honestly, as long as I know that he wants to be with me, I'm happy with that. If he wants to see others to, it doesn't hurt what we have." He reaches out and rests a hand on Tyler's knee and says, "I'm not sure what you mean about getting it right." Though he nods and says, "I'm good. Almost done with the book that I was finishing. Then I have a bit of a break before considering my next project."

"You know what I mean," Tyler responds. "Doing the right thing by you. About us. Or not us. Or whatever." He shrugs a little, and lays his own hand on Elias' hand. "I'm a little slow sometimes. I don't mean that in that way you hate how I talk about myself. I just mean I had to wrap my head around stuff and that meant taking a little time is all. I really have missed you, though." He grins about the book, "Yeah? The one with the character in it that was like me? That's cool. I'm excited to read it. Or maybe I'm nervous to read it. I've never been in a book before."

Elias nods to Tyler and smiles a little wryly, then nods, when he mentions the way that he hates when Tyler talks down about himself. "I've missed you, too," he admits. "Do you have to work tonight? Or do you have plans after this?" He nods, indicating the cafe, not sure what Tyler was doing with his day one way or the other and not meaning to assume. Then he shakes his head and says "No, that's the new one. That one is one I'm working on after this series is done. Though, once I finish that one I'll let you read it before I send it to the editors, so you can see it first."

Tyler grins, "I'm not a fast reader, so don't wait on me to finish it, but I'd like that." He notes his outfit, the khakis and the department shirt, "Just got off, actually." He smiles, "What do you want to do?" He looks off toward the kitchen, then back at Elias. "Should we get your food to go?"

"Oh, I won't wait for you to finish it, but I'd still give you a copy first, and you could read it at your own pace," Elias smiles. He remembers watching Tyler reading his book here in the cafe the last time that he'd come in. Then he nods and says, "Yeah, I'll get it to go." He motions to the server who nods and changes the order. The kitchen puts it in a to-go bowl easy enough, and then he's paying off his tab. As for what he wants to do, "I don't know. Just spend some time with you? We haven't in a while."

Tyler tosses a couple bucks onto the counter for his own meal, and he hops off the stool, pulling his coat on. "Wait. You? Not knowing something?" He smiles widely, teasing him, holding his fingers up like a frame to take in Elias' face. "I want to remember this moment. It may never happen again." He laughs, and then shrugs, "Let's get outta here, Eli."

"There are many, many things that I don't know," Elias says with a laugh and a shake of his head as Tyler takes his photograph with his fingers. With their bills paid and his soup in a bowl in a big and sealed up so that it won't spill, he heads out into the chill of the outside once more.