2021-01-30 - Rek-ounting a Story

Do people even come to this place? It had such a janky, jarring name. Probably some language barrier, Rekani had figured, as he held the door open for Kip to go in ahead of him. But, as this was a small town, options for variety were limited. And he'd already almost run that taco truck out of stock in the stress eating binge after the the fortune teller.

"I'm telling you, girl, like, looking back on it? It was creepy as fuck. Like, sh knew my name, which, I know, it's not like people don't know me around here. But then all the shit she said?" He takes a final hit from a new looking box-mod vape, breathing the vapor back out into the cold air of the day before he would follow his lady inside.

"Like, sure, we go shot up and creeped on in another dimension, but she was just sitting in the damn park."

Kip couldn't recall if she'd been to this place before, but Thai food wasn't too bad the couple of times she had eaten it. She was listening intently to Rekani's story of the fortune teller in the park. "That is very creepy." She frowned a touch, glancing back towards him before claiming one of the booths to settle in. "Remind me what she said again? I mean - do you know what she is referencing? Or a possibility of it?" She was trying not to go into full 'investigator' mode as it were - but it wasn't an easy feat. She was itching for something, anything. Most people would probably consider it a blessing to be left alone by the Veil as much as she had but Kip? Would rather have the danger.

“Ok, so...” the precursor to story, as Rekani moves over to slip into one of the booths, “She had all these cool cards, that had like... Spanish, but not Spanish? Like it was close, but not right.” He was pulling out a menu and opening it, as food was always the main concern of his.

“First one she pulls for me is the Pope, but she’s like: It could also mean Heiroglyphic Elephant. Which didn’t make shit for sense to me, and could have been kinda offensive?” Rekani makes a hand motion down toward himself, as if having to remind people he was fat. “But then she explains its cause I’d have to do this trial by fire to join a commune, and it may have already happened and I was like, well, getting shot it is just like fire. Like, they fired at me, so maybe it was when I had my first Dream here and met August and Aidan and became friends.”

"Heiroglyphic...Elephant?" Kip looks perplexed at this, looking down towards her menu as well. Trying to decide what to get. "Sounds weird? And confusing. Though I've never put much stock in fortune telling. I mean - sure. Ghosts, telekinesis, throwing fire, whatever. But seeing into the future or the past? Not something I have ever bought into." Even if she has a mental note to keep an eye out for this supposed teller of fortunes. "Possible. It sounds like it could be fitting? The first Dream is sort of like the initiation into the town and getting the others to talk to you about it all, yes?" She sets the menu down once she's decided what to get. "Hopefully that is all it means and not that there is something worse on the horizon." A beat of pause. "If there's any stock in what she said."

“I mean, a small town is kinda like a commune,” A hilarious statement, given Gray Harbor’s small town feel, but actual size being larger. It was all relative to Rekani who’d only ever lived in large cities. “But then she pulls three cups. I mean, like, the card had three cups,” Obviously, he had to stop to correct, as sometimes he wasn’t the best storyteller, but the emphasis and personality was there, “And she talks about how it’s all like connected and like other people are my guides as much as I guide them, and I’m like... It was like that circus tent. Like sure, I open the door to get there, but other people gotta tell me what’s up, yaknow?”

"Circus tent? She was in a circus tent?" Kip tilted her head and chuckled. "I am not sure it is like a commune but it still could represent the city itself yes. Or those of us privy to the power and truth at least." A light shrug of her shoulders as she pondered on this. "I don't know...it sounds like she could just be a very observant person. Well trained too - knowing what to ask or key phrases to say. Because it is like...generic sounding? But could be applied to many people different ways." Kip made a thoughtful noise. "Is she still there? Perhaps I will get a reading done and see what she comes up with."

"No, no, the circus tent was something different," Rekani explains, then looks thoughtful, "Shit, did I not tell you about that?" He mulls that over for a moment, then shakes his head. He sets his own menu down as well, explaining while they wait.

"Ok, so like, I was really high," a hallmark of any Rekani story, "And I got this invitation to go to the park, right?" Another thought, "Oh I guess she was at the park, too..." He notes quietly as the connection dawns on him. Another head shake, a dismissive wave of his hand, "Anyways, I show up and Rosencrantz is there, and Mr. C, and some other in-the-know people. They got invited too. Rosencrantz and me, we know like that," he snaps his fingers, "One of those holes was nearby, so we pull it open and head through..." At this point his words slow as he realizes belatedly he was telling a story of heading into the Veil without his very-interested-in-the-Veil girlfriend. His lips pull back into a nervous smile/grimace, trying to look innocentt and apologetic at once.

Kip is listening closely as Rekani starts to elaborate on the circus tent situation. She frowns ever so slightly at the notion that he went Veil exploring without her, but the expression fades and she gives a dismissive wave of her hand. There was still that time she and Ari went in alone and nearly died so she can't be too upset. "No, you have not told me this story. Go on." She gives him a reassuring smile that she is not mad. For the moment. "I am curious to hear how this circus thing went."

“Well, so like, we go in and we gotta feed the invites to those talking box,” Rekani begins again, looking still a little wary, but his enthusiasm about the story eventually quashing it, “...which was wild as hell. Like, massive tongue. I told him he had to be super popular with the lady furniture, it seemed to like that.”

He pauses to order some drunken noodles and a starter of some Larb Gai. Well, after Kip would order of course. Total gentleman.

“And we go in and there’s this lady with this weird head that looked like Marshmello.” A reference Kip may or may not get, though she spent time around Rekani. “I think she called herself like the Reccesionist? Receptionist?” He waves a hand like that wasn’t the important part of the story, “And she took us through all these exhibits of stuff she changed in the real world to make people’s memories tucked up. This whole time, me and Rosencrantz are like... feeling something. Like this big something, and it was just us, so we thought it was connected to our powers cause we’re basically the same. And then we got to the end and could trade a sock for a new golem. Kinda anti-climactic, really. But it seemed important to the other people.”

Kip orders the Tom yum soup, continuing to stay quiet but attentive - truly interested in his tale. Her brow quirked a touch. "Do you mean Revisionist?" It sounded more right when connected to the rest of the stuff she mentioned. "So she just...happily showed you all this stuff to show off what she'd done...and then let you get a souvenir at the end of it?" Kip looked a little skeptical, because that just seemed...too easy? "What sort of golem is it? Did you get one?..Did you have an old golem?" She tapped her chin lightly. "Did you and Rosencrantz ever figure out what the big feeling was?"

Rekani’s face lifts, a grin spreading across his face as he wags a pointed finger at Kip, “That was it. Revisionist.” He sips the soda he ordered, then settles back, arms spread across the back side of the booth. He’d always been a beefy boy, but he’d continued to work out, and there was definitely some more tone visible nowadays.

“And yeah, yaknow, I just never... had a reason... to use it.” There was a hang up there, like he wasn’t sure why he never used it, but that was the fact of the matter. “You remember that hood... shit, that’s right, you weren’t there. Know how we keep gettin into dance battles at Firefly? Well there was this thrown-down, and I got in tight with my boy J Swiss. His boy Cheddar is this big fuckin’ beefcake, like Hulk size. He said if I ever needed some backup, just call him up on the other side.” He makes an over there kind of wave, probably meaning in the Veil or Dreaming, “But Revisionist lady, she let us trade a sock for a new one. So if Cheddar’s busy, I can just kinda dump out my pack and make one out of snacks.” He waits a beat, then realizes how that sounds, “Stuff’s weird over there.”

"The dance battles, with the colorful drinks - yes I remember those." Kip relaxed against the table lightly, a fleeting look of disappointment on her features before shaking it off and refocusing and chuckled. "They sound exciting. This J Swiss and Cheddar. Maybe I will see them one day if we are in a pickle." There's an instinctive glance towards his snack pack of holding and then looked back up. "A back up helper made of snacks? Handy. But also - yes very strange." Kip agreed with another chuckle. "Stuff is always going to be weird over there I imagine. I need to stop being such a recluse - too much research, not enough action." Though the last Dream she'd been in had nearly deafened her but she was all good now, right? Clearly that meant it was definitely time to try and dive back in.

“I mean...” Seems the mention of Kip in the action has a way of muting Rekani’s mood as well, unable to hold back that bit of chauvinism that makes him worry about her safety. “I...uh...” Don’t want you going? Don’t want to be in a pickle? Want you safe and away from deafening Dreams? “Yeah, it’s weird.” Good job, Rekani. Change the subject, you dunce.

“So anyways, the last card she pulls was the really weird one, cuz like it was six cups? And she was all talking about how I’m gonna be looking back and regretting maybe? And how it could be something about wasting youth?” He shakes his head, looking across at Kip, “I dunno, it was just all weird and creepy strung together... You could be right, she could have just been usin’ some weird mind-fu like Nova does.”

Kip offers up an apologetic smile. "Sorry." Thankfully, the food comes out around this time and she quickly tucks in to stall for a few extra seconds. "I just...am not built for sitting around reading books and reviewing video tapes. " She waved her hand a bit as if dismissing the subject as well and for him to go on with his story while she ate her soup.

"Wasting youth?" Kip raised a brow. "You have traveled all over, no? Had lots of experiences...I do not see how that is wasted youth. And you still have plenty of years before your 'youth' days are passing." She flashes a smile. "I will keep my eye out for this fortune teller then. See if I can get a reading done. Seeing it in person may help determine if she is legitimate or not. Even if she is from the other side - she could still be putting on a ruse."

Rekani was quick to tuck into both his dishes, making a warning gesture of an open mouth behind a fist, as the Larb Gai was surprisingly spicy. “Look, I know you are, it ain’t gonna make me worry about you less. Like that bad one? Then Nova right after? You’re important. Yaknow...” The last part was almost added as a pout, like he was a little too proud to say something that weak and mushy.

“And I mean, yeah? I have... Yeah!” He seems to gain confidence even as he says it, “That’s like... projection. She was probably old and haggard and wanted to make me worry!” He points a fork at Kip between bites, “See, this is why I love you. You’re always gonna figure it out.” He tosses his head back and forth, “We can head over there and see. That taco truck was fire. It’s so fuckin’ nice to not have to get shitty German sauerkraut tacos.”

"I know it won't, but I worry about you too." Kip grinned a touch at his pout. "You are important as well, mister." Reaching over to lightly poke at his hand. "Do you want to try some of the soup? It's very good." She pushes the bowl lightly is way if he wants to try it. "Precisely. She is stuck in a circus telling fortunes or something while you have gotten to see the world." Kip nods matter of factly. A very faint touch of color on her cheeks at his 'I love you'. Even after all this time it still makes her flush -though that's probably a good thing, right?

"Ohh a non-German taco truck? I like the sound of that. And not having to go to Seattle for it?" Kip nods her agreement. "I would be fine going to look and see! Will be nice to hang out around town for a little bit anyways."

Rekani does try the soup, and offers his plate in return, and the Larb Gai was of course available to share at her own risk. He grins warmly when she blushes, still visibly in love with being able to get those sorts of reactions out of her.

“Nah, I’m nothin to worry about. I got my homies, I got my new secret weapon.” There’s plenty of over-animated eyebrow waggling, just to sell the bit, “I’ll be fine. And yaknow, it’s not like I complain about an hour drive with you for tacos.” An hour drive that should take two, but she never complained too loudly about his speed, so that was just how it was. “Hopefully it’ll warm up early this year, maybe we can do that other box?” He asks with a single brow cocked in provoking inquiry

Kip was a daring person and so tried some of the drunken noodles first and then a tiny bit of the Larb Gai. Which still had her quickly reaching for her water. She liked spicy food but not that spicy. After all, Russian food was pretty bland compared to a lot of other cultures. So spicy to her was still not on par with what Rekani considered spicy. And if he thought it was hot, she probably should have left it alone. Ohhh wellll.

Kip laughed, relaxing back in her seat after taking another sip of water. "Even with back up - I am allowed to worry." A light tease in her tone. "True, I always enjoy our drives. But if they are as...fire...as you say they are at this one. It is worth checking out." She rarely, if ever, had any complaints about his driving. She liked the fast pace of it. A devilish grin is given his way. "Maybe. Though, you know I could always wear it for a night in too if it stays chilly." Giving him a slow little look over before winking and tucking back into her soup.

There’s a sound as Rekani returns that slow, warm look, like he were having to grunt in pain to resist an urge, “You make an offer like that, it ain’t gonna stay chilly.” His brows lift in challenge, his eyes going down, then up the object of his affection.

“But nah,” He lets out in a sigh, which would end up being a ruse as he wistfully jokes, “You wear that for a night in, you ain’t wearin’ it for long,” he states with breezy certainty, his voice turning mischievous, hinting, “I’d rather get to parade you around Seattle in that dress. Show off the sexy Russian thang I have, that they can’t get none of.”

A smirk graced Kip's lips ever so slightly. "Maybe even do more than show me off, hmm?" Teasing, maybe a little challenge of her own as her foot reaches over to affectionately nudge against his. "I have some other ideas for a night in anyhow." Vague, but that look of mischief was still there. "You have bought me quite a few things we haven't gotten to properly enjoy, no?" Spoken with a deceptively innocent tone. Setting her mostly finished soup aside with plans to ask for a to-go box the next time the server came around.

Sometimes, Rekani got a little jealous of his sister, for her wide breath of powers that could skim and glean emotions from others without a second thought. She always seemed to know the right things to say, and picked up on the littlest meanings that others voiced. Rekani didn’t like to admit that at times, he could be a little dense, not pick up on subtleties, and just generally barrel through without realizing things that he had missed.

This was not one of those times. His hand shoots up, index finger extended.

“Check, please!”