2020-04-26 - Tethers

The text message came earlier in the day, asking Elias if he had plans and asking if he'd like to go out for a bit of a night on the town at the Firefly. Dante's already there, at a high top table, a drink in front of him. The dance floor is a bit quiet right now, but it's early still. He's dressed for the warmer weather - and for him that means cheerier colours. Tonight's suit is a teal three-piece with a soft sheen, and a white button-up and a black pocket square. He's watching the crowd with one eye and his phone with the other.

Elias had texted that no, he had no plans for the evening and that he'd meet him at Firefly at the appointed time.

He wanders in through the doors in a pair of blue jeans, a white button down shirt, and a rust colored vest that matches the similarly colored suede oxfords on his feet. The shirt sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, and his hair is a little shorter than usual, likely cut recently. One wrist bears a series of leather bands around it. He makes his way over toward the high top table, briefly greeting those he knows in passing.

"Hello, dear," says Dante. He slides his phone away when Elias approaches. Then he hops off the stool and leans in to give him a peck on the lips. "I'm sorry I've been absent. But I got sick and then I was deep in trying to bang out something resembling a draft of a new novel. You still in editing with yours?"

"Hello," Elias says, giving Dante's bicep a little squeeze when he pecks him on the lips, and then settles onto a stool next to him, folding his arms on the surface of the table. "I'm sorry to hear that you were sick," Elias says, and then opens his mouth to say something more, but closes it again, looking thoughtful. Instead, he settles on, "How is the draft going?" He doesn't immediately answer the question of his own.

Dante flags down a server and motions to Elias, by way of helping him get a drink. "Spits and spurts," he says with a bit of a sigh. "But still, some forward motion is better than none. And I've made enough progress that my publisher has gotten off my back about the nonfiction title." Then he looks Elias in the eye and asks, "How are you?"

"Rum and coke," Elias orders when the server asks him what he'd like, and then his attention shifts back to Dante, nodding at the progress on the book. "Forward progress is good," he agrees and then says, "And good that they are not on your back so much about the other book. It sounds like things are.. progressing." He leans against his folded arms and looks back, seeming to weigh his answer before giving it. "I'm fine, I suppose. Work, Warlockry, the usual. Waiting to hear from Sparrow on when we're going to begin her experimentation."

"Ah yes, Doctor Bird and her research team," Dante grins. "Apparently I'm her resident killjoy. The one who picks apart the theories." He sips from his gin and tonic. His hand rests on the bartop and there are scratches on his hand and wrist. They don't look like people scratches - much more like animal.

"She mentioned that she was running her thoughts by you, and that you'd provided valuable feedback," Elias says, his eyes drifting down to note the scratches there, and he studies them for a moment before asking, "More Dreams?"

"Hmm? Oh," Dante looks down at his hand and then turns it over. "No, no. Cris got me a cat. A little bald one. A sphynx. Who he declared is named Diva. She needs to wear little sweaters. And apparently that means I'm Full Gay now." He chuckles and shakes his head. "I'm trying to train her to not dig her little talons in. Mixed results."

Elias's lips tic a little bit in amusement and he says, "That's the measure, hm? Little bald cats in sweaters?" That seems to entertain him just a little bit. He thanks the server when his drink arrives and lifts it to take a sip from it. "She's a cat. She will never not dig her little talons in. That's her nature and part of the contract one engages in when agreeing to be owned by a cat."

"Or small dogs with rhinestone collars. One of the two," Dante grins, sips from his drink. "It's been a challenge so far. She enjoys walking across both my keyboards." One of those being his piano. "But he was smart to get me something that doesn't shed." Because he'd spend every waking moment going at everything with a lint brush otherwise.

Elias can't help shaking his head a little bit at the mental image of Dante with a small dog with a rhinestone collar. "I suppose then I'm not Full Gay yet. No small animals with sweaters or rhinestones." He studies Dante from where he sits, and looks a little bit thoughtful, considering. Finally he says, "I like that he's thoughtful that way, about you."

"Cris might seem pretty rough on the surface, but he's actually quite thoughtful," says Dante, his lips twitching ever so slightly. "But," he pats his hand on the tabletop. "I didn't ask you here to talk about Cristobal. I wanted to see how you are. And I wanted to get your thoughts on something." He bites the edge of his lips. "An opportunity has come up. It's got me thinking about setting down roots a bit deeper."

"There's more to him than is on the surface," Elias says in agreement, but then he leaves that conversation for the time being, since Dante says he wanted to see how he was. "What did you want my thoughts on?" he asks, curiosity piqued, and not seeming to let the conversation be turned to him for very long. "What sort of opportunity?" He takes another sip of his drink, and dark eyes study Dante's over the edge of his glass, waiting for more.

"I'm thinking, fairly strongly...of investing in a restaurant and piano bar to open in the casino. Somewhere nice to have a proper cocktail. The place had another investor, but he's not..." Dante motions to himself vaguely, perhaps to indicate Glimmer, "...and he's been spooked off. Leaving an open investment opportunity."

Elias lifts his brows just a little bit as Dante begins to outline his idea and a smile spreads across his lips. "I think that sounds like an excellent idea, and I could definitely see you sitting and playing piano in a little piano bar that serves top shelf cocktails, with a rich, elegant atmosphere." He nods then, "You should do it," with certainty. "If setting down roots here is something that you've decided that you want to do."

Dante looks pleased that Elias thinks it's a good idea. "I half expected you to try and talk me out of it. I know Gray Harbor isn't an investment mecca, but I think there's a good business case for it. Even if the casino owner dreams of drawing in tourits doesn't materialize. People round here deserve a nice date night spot." He glances around the Firefly. "No offense to this place."

Elias's brows knit just slightly as he asks, "Why would you expect me to talk you out of it? I think it's something that would suit you wherever you might decide to do it. There's an opportunity. There's an investor already in the casino itself who is likely to keep it afloat. And I think it would be a nice addition to the area."

"Well, the same sort of..." Dante clears his throat, "...things my financial planner pointed out when I floated the idea. The fact that the town is a bit economically depressed without a lot of disposable income for a high-end eatery. And the fact that we're not a tourist mecca. But my answer to that is there's a way to keep things classy without an exclusive big-city price tag." He shrugs, "I dunno. You seem the pragmatic, head-on-your-shoulders type and this requires me to be pretty optimistic and ignore or downplay a few basic facts."

"I suppose," Elias says as Dante outlines the concerns of his financial planner. "But, I'm also not a financial wizard. I use my family's accountant and I have an office manager at the shop who handles most of the finances, so honestly, I'm probably a shit judge of what one should do business-wise. I know books, and how to keep the shop running day to day, and how write, and that's about where my business acumen ends." He then lifts a finger and says "I'm also the one who plans to do drugs and see if I can force my way into the Dreams where terrible creatures want to eat me. I may not be the very best judge of what is best to do and not to do."

Dante chuckles, with a glimmer in his eyes. "Mhmm, you have a point. Well I appreciate you being my enabler, in that case." He lifts his drink in a cheers motion towards Elias. "And I swear I don't just want somewhere to play the piano in public. I might indulge myself on occasion but in general I'd want to hire proper musicians."

"What other reason is there to own a piano bar if not to play the piano in public indulgently?" Elias asks, looking as though /not/ wanting to do so might be an affront. "That's almost as bad as owning a book store to /not/ lay around in the lounge reading whatever you want to for free." He lifts his drink in cheers to Dante and then takes a sip.

"The one thing my planner does agree on is that it's a good idea to diversify my portfolio. I haven't any property in my name since the divorce. It's all stock and whatnot. So having a business interest in a large project isn't a terrible idea." It seems Dante is talking himself into it with Elias' help. He thinks for a moment, then flags down the server. He leans in the whisper the order, so it's not immediately obvious what that was all about, until she returns a few moments later with a bottle of prosecco and two champagne flutes. "Cheers, darling," he says to the server. "Well. I suppose we should celebrate, as now I'm set on this potentially ill-advised business venture."

"Well, then, here's to diversification, and potentially ill-advised adventures," Elias says, taking one of the champagne flutes and lifting it to clink against Dante's. He then drinks the toast before setting the glass down on the table next to his rum and coke. "I'm considering turning the shop over to one of my cousins. If I'm going to be making these forays into the Veil and trips into the Dream, I want someone to actually take over the responsibility of the family business who is going to consistently be there."

"Really?" asks Dante with his customary sing-song lilt. "Not enjoying running the shop, or just more interested in poking around the Veil whilst on drugs?" He lifts the glass up to his lips after toasting, sipping it since his G&T is now nothing more than a few bitter ice cubes.

"More that I think it's probably the responsible thing to do, given that my interest in understanding the Veil and the Dreams outweighs the liklihood of my remaining safe enough to reliably maintain the business," Elias says, looking thoughtful as he taps the edge of his glass with one fingertip. He then lifts it and takes another sip.

"Well, that's a rather morbid way to look at it," says Dante as he reaches across the table to try and catch one of Elias' hands. "What do you think of her theories, mhmm? About lucid dreaming? I'm not certain our rules are going to apply, but it's worth a shot."

Elias lets Dante catch his hand and when he glances over at him, his expression is serious, "I've no doubt that what we're going to do is going to attract attention, and I have the feeling that the more I try to toy with this directly, the less likely my luck is going to hold out. It's less.. morbid, and more realistic, I think. That pragmatism that you speak of." He brushes his thumb lightly against Dante's hand. "Well there are two parts of lucid dreaming. The first is being aware that you are dreaming. When in a Dream, you are already aware that you are in it, and you are not, actually, Dreaming, but are physically present. So it doesn't apply. The second part is being able to control the dream. This works in one's own mind because it is, in fact, one's own mind. I'm not sure that the Dream operates in the same way. I think achieving some control may be possible with the use of Glimmer, but I'd be very doubtful that lucid dreaming techniques would be enough to gain control, not without some very, very powerful mental abilities."

"I tend to agree," says Dante. "But the only thing is, the Dreams do obviously feed off our mental state in some fashion. And can even play with memories. My first Dream here looked very much like something out of one of my novels." He lifts a shoulder. "So it's possible that an altered mental state would affect the Dream in some fashion. But I don't think in the manner of a lucid dream."

"Certainly, but we don't know how Dreams react to those mental states yet. We can certainly experiment with it, but we can't make too many assumptions. If they're controlled by a sentient presence, then perhaps they're merely tailored by that presence to affect us in ways that they can detect we will react to. Or perhaps it's more akin to a chemical reaction. The Dream isn't so much aware as it is simply reacting to stimuli without any particular sentience behind it. It's impossible to know at this point," Elias says thoughtfully as he gestures a little bit with his drink. "So, one can only experiment and see what one can learn, to try to form a hypothesis."

"Mhmm. I'd been thinking the same thing," says Dante. "I've...sort of been approaching it as how would I write this entity if it were one of my books? I've played a lot with themes of an unknowable something else in the shadows. Which...does make me wonder if I've had other brushes with the Veil I just can't bloody remember." The thought of which clearly irritates and unnerves him. "I rather hope it's reactive rather than intelligent. Because if it's intelligent, then all this fucking about only gives it more fodder. But it's possible it's a combination as well."

"I remember that we talked about that a bit when you first came to Gray Harbor," Elias nods, remembering talking to him about what he'd experienced in New England. "I wouldn't be surprised at all if you didn't have other brushes when you were in other thin spots conducting research or getting inspiration for stories." He nods then and says, "I have no idea. But knowing one way or another would be.. something.. another piece of the puzzle."

"Despite everything I know about this place," says Dante with a bit of a sigh, "...I can't look away. You can't, either. No one I've met can. It's like scratching away at an itch and getting scratched again. And then poking at that until it becomes a wound. We can't help ourselves."

"And down, and down we go, into the spiral of madness," Elias says with a small smile as he lifts his glass to his lips once more and finishes off the flute, setting it aside. He then folds his arms on the table in front of himself again. His expression turns a bit introspective again as he toys with the rum and coke that he hadn't finished, and lifts that as well before asking, "This.. between us.. are you still interested in me, Dante? Be honest."

Dante furrows his brow and watches Elias as his body language becomes more protected. He is quite a moment, then, "I am. Are you still interested in me?"

"I am," Elias answers, long fingertips brushing the edge of his glass, making small patterns in the condensation. "There's just, cats with sweaters, and my not knowing you were sick, and .. " he trails off a little bit. "I just wanted to check in with you, the way that you did with me, remember? To see if this was still something you wanted, or if anything was changing."

"The cat happened very recently. A day and a half ago. And if you hadn't seen the scratches, I was planning on mentioning her tonight." Dante sits back in his chair. "And the man who gave me said cat has at least two other lovers, so if you're worried about the risk of monogramy, you needn't." He toys with the stem of his glass, but doesn't pick it up. "As for being sick, I'm sorry for that. It was just a head cold. And I'm still learning to navigate this whole situation of being involved with more than one person."

"The last person I was in an open relationship with didn't even tell me that she was engaged before springing it on me, and not even to me directly, in a public place," Elias points out with a faint smile. "Surprise monogamy would not be a first for me."

"I wouldn't do that to you, Elias," says Dante with a sigh. "Trust me when I say there's no danger of Cris and I going exclusive. We wouldn't work that way. Besides, he thinks you're good for me. But..." he shifts, purses his lips, "I want to be good for you. And if I'm keeping you from anything, if you're not happy..." he trails off. Then, "Look. I know you've other lovers. You've your writing, and your shop. So when I don't hear from you in a bit I haven't been thinking it's been a cause for concern. I admit I haven't found a balance between giving you the attention you deserve and leaving room in your life for everything else you've got going on."

"I know," Elias says quietly and reaches for Dante's hand once more to lightly take it and give it a gentle squeeze. "I know you wouldn't do /that/ to me in particular. I just meant, we all have our baggage. And mine is.. occasionally needing reassurance that I'm still wanted, particularly after Frankie, and perhaps in part because I haven't been seeing anyone in some time." He lifts a shoulder and smiles, "I'm not given to insecurities, usually. It's probably spending too much time in my head lately, that's all. It's been to quiet outside of it, and too noisy inside of it. I'm sorry."

"I on the other hand, am given to boatloads of insecurities," says Dante wryly, with a twitch of his lips. "Hence all the times I've checked in with you before now. So," he squeezes his hand gently. "What I've learned is, I was checking in with you too frequently before, which was annoying. And since then, I haven't checked in with you enough, which has been worrying you. So clearly I've got to try the brilliant strategy of doing something in between too much and not enough." He says all this with a twinkle in his eye and wry amusement in his tone. "How about this? I'll do my best to do better at reaching out. But you've got to reach out to me as well, yes? Even if it's justa text to tell me how your day is. And I'll do the same."

Elias smiles a little wryly at that and chuckles, "I am truly /not/ trying to put you in a situation where you can't win. That wasn't my intention at all." He shakes his head just a little bit. "Honestly, I've just been feeling everyone drifting away and it's been leaving me feeling.. unusually adrift, which is not a feeling that I'm used to feeling, to be honest. It's.. strange, and I'm fairly certain that I don't like it." He rubs his face just a bit. "Add that in with this intent to start meddling in things that I probably oughtn't and I've been wondering if that isn't for the best. But it's not what I /want/, per se." He nods, then, and says, "I will do the same."

"If that's the way you're feeling, I don't think you should give up your shop. Not yet, anyway." Dante pulls the hand he's holding to his mouth for a gentle kiss. "See if this feeling passes, all right?" Then he drains what bubbly is left in his glass, then stands and tugs his hand. "Come on. Dancing time. Let's get you cheered up and re-tethered, ay?"

Elias gives Dante's hand a small squeeze and then he nods, allowing himself to be drawn from the table after taking another swallow from his rum and coke, seeming more than willing to be led just about anywhere that the man wants to take him. "Let's," he agrees, following Dante out into the crowd, and sliding in close to the man once they find themselves a spot among the other dancers, "Thank you.. for tonight." And then he lets whatever tension he'd been carrying with him go for the time being, to just enjoy being with Dante, and the dance.