2021-02-18 - On Writing

Xavier has had sometime to get himself comfortable at the bookstore. He is eager to help out with whatever needs to be done, especially stocking the shelves. It's been the best way for him to learn where everything goes and will help him better assist customers. The fact that he has found a spare hour or so to write has been a godsend. The ability to jot down ideas or type up something that's been brewing in his head when it hits him has actually gotten him some where. A forming of an outline, and a hint of a chapter, which is more than he's written in years. Today he has on a grey sweater-vest over a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of dress pants. It seems it's hard to beat the business casual he's been wearing for years out of him. Right now it's slow enough in the store that he can do some writing and has his laptop on the counter, quietly typing away, but keeping his eyes open for any customers.

Elias has been in and out of the store. When he's present he's either working or he's lounging up in the lounge upstairs, or he's writing, himself. He's been largely quiet, though he will chat with Xavier about this or that from time to time. For most who have known him in the past, it's a big change from the gregarious and even nosy person that he used to be. But to Xavier, this is the only Elias that he's met, the quiet polite author who largely keeps to himself.

He comes in, dressed in a pair of comfortable jeans and black suede oxfords, a dark chocolate brown sweater on beneath his black peacoat, which he sheds once he's inside. There's a quick check of the computer systems, a glance for any notes left for him, and then a quiet, "Afternoon," in greeting to Xavier.

Xavier doesn't seem to mind the level of social interaction with Elias, it's not that he's shy he is enjoying that he isn't getting probing questions like other people tend to ask him. He comes in, he works, they have pleasant small talk and go about their day. He wishes more people were like that, or perhaps he needs to find more friends that are not directly associated with his aunt. When Elias walks in Xavier automatically looks up from his laptop and smiles. "Thank you for... oh hello Elias." He says brightly, giving into the Pavlovian response of greeting someone when the door opens. He waits for him to take his coat off and check on some things before he responds. "How are you?"

Elias smiles to Xavier at the automatic response, chuckling just a little bit. He never told him that he needed to greet everyone who came in the door, but he doesn't seem to mind that he does it, either. He settles himself in a lean against the counter -- nearby, but not in Xavier's personal space as he works and says, "I'm okay. Quiet day. Decided to come in and see how things were going." Which usually means that the emptiness of the house has started to get to him and he needed to go somewhere, but the only place he really feels safe going anymore is the bookstore, and so that's why he's here. "How is your writing coming?"

"It's about the same here, nice and quiet." Xavier says as he reaches down to save his work and slowly close his laptop. Despite the permission he still feels weird writing in front of his boss, but he's slowly becoming less rigid as the days progress. When asked about his writing, he gestures toward his laptop and lightly taps it. "Well, actually." He smiles. "I actually found inspiration for the first time in years, so I get little bursts of creativity but I'm not forcing it like I used to. When the well dries up I stop, and focus on something else. Like restocking, or a jog if I am at home. How about you?"

Elias raises a brow a little when Xavier closes up the laptop and says, "You didn't have to stop. I didn't mean to interrupt you." Though he does smile when Xavier says that he's managed to find some inspiration. He gives a small nod of his head to the explanation and says, "You can go back to writing. I just.." He looks around, as though trying to decide exactly what he did come in for. And then he trails off, not entirely sure what he came there to do, exactly. "The writing? It's coming along. Slowly but surely."

Xavier smiles and shakes his head. "It's an old habit. My mother hated it when we would have our phones or computers out when she was talking to us. You're not interrupting I just try to give my attention to someone when I'm talking to them." He tilts his head when Elias trails off and doesn't really seem to have a purpose to come here. Maybe he's lonely? Looking around and out toward the street he gestures up to the lounge. "Well it's a slow, and I'm sure my boss wouldn't mind if we did hung out in the lounge and both wrote while having casual conversations right? It would help pass the time until the old slave driver will let me leave." He smirks as he reaches for his laptop.

"I don't think anyone's ever compared me to their mother before," Elias muses, the faintest hint of humor touching his expression as he pulls away from the counter. Though at the suggestion of heading up to the lounge to write, Elias nods. "I'm pretty sure your boss wouldn't mind. So long as you stay chained to the store and don't try to make a break for it until closing time." But he's moving toward the stairs to head up toward the lounge, bag slung over his shoulder. He takes up a corner of the couch and pulls out his laptop.

Xavier shakes his head. "You're not snooty enough to be my mother... or French enough. She has this way of looking at you with pure disdain and yet she smiles." Xavier shivers off a memory but smiles as Elias agrees to hang out and write. "I'll be right behind you." He grabs his things and makes sure that everything at the counter is secure before he trots upstairs. He'll take another piece of furniture and settles in, opening his laptop but not starting yet. "Oh uhm. You mentioned wanting to see my previous books? I have a few spare copies. I'd rather not sell them, I'd like to have a good impression on my new neighbors." He says as he leans down to fish around in his bag.

Elias glances up from where he's settled with his laptop, having opened it up and powered it on, but not yet having actually done anything with it beyond that. He tilts his head a little when Xavier mentions his previous books. "I was just going to look them up and purchase a copy online," he says, glancing at the computer and then over to Xavier again. "I wouldn't expect you to give me copies."

Xavier shakes his head as he pulls out a pair of paperback books with bland covers on them. "Please, you don't have to do that. I would hate for that publisher to get anymore money out of my friends." He replies with a smirk as he sets them on a nearby table. "Besides, my aunt apparently bought more copies than she needed, and they're not worth the paper they're printed on." He laughs trying to downplay the books. One is called the The Sect of Darkness and the other The Sect of Dreams written by Tristan Levesque.

Elias sets his laptop to the side eand raches out to pick up the paperbacks, first one, and then the other, reading over the back covers and taking a look inside the first few pages. "I will return them to you when I'm finished, so that you can keep on passing them on to others without giving your publisher the time of day." He smiles a little bit and runs his fingertip over the name. "Tristan Levesque," he says outloud. "I like it." He then sets them down and says, "I write under the name Noah Silas." His name is fairly well known, well, Noah Silas is fairly well known even if Elias Weber is not.

Xavier feels nervous when Elias takes the books, honestly he should have burned them, but he is curious and he really wanted to prove that they're terrible. "That sounds like a good idea. I liked the name, though if you translate it right, it means sad priest." He laughs, but when Elias drops that name he blinks a few times. "I'm sorry what?" The hen really looks nervous about the books in his hand. "No I've read your stuff and I like it a lot and.." He casually reaches over to try and take the books back.

Elias casually draws the books further away and closer to himself when Xavier reaches out to reclaim them with a shake of his head. "No," he says, "I'm going to read them. Then, I'm going to read what you've been working on there.. so I can see the difference between what you write under duress versus what you write when you're allowed to just write for yourself. I'm interested in seeing the contrast." He gives Xavier a little smile and then says, "I mostly keep that to myself, that I write as Noah. But there are a few in town that know at this point, and I don't mind you knowing."

Xavier sighs as Elias holds onto the books and nods his head. "Uhm, yes good." His brain might be breaking a little bit trying to find some way to maybe sneak into his house and burn the books but his shoulders slump in resignation. "I really hope there is one." He replies with a nervous smile, and opens his laptop back up to quickly type on it. Maybe he should start over, no pressure right? "I don't have any reason to tell anyone." He says, clearing his throat again and nibbling on his lip. "Is that what you're working on now? Another book in your series?"

Elias tucks the books off to one side, nearby but not within reach of Xavier. Then he looks down at his laptop again and considers the question. "No, I think the last one wrapped things well enough that it serves as an ending to the series with enough potential that if I wanted to do a second run I could at some point. But right now, I think Shattered Reflections are over. They published the last book earlier this year while I was gone." His lips press together for a moment and then he shakes himself out of it. "I'm working on something else, now."

Xavier feels a touch of dread in his stomach when those books are moved out of sight, but he pushes it away. He's good at shoving feelings in boxes, it's his super power. "Ah, I don't think I've had a chance to read the last one yet, I was busy..." He trails off, fleeing sounds bad. "Moving across the country. I'll have to grab it and see where it all ends up." He quietly types on his laptop before he nods. "If you need any one to bounce ideas off of, I can help. Writing something new has always been difficult for me. I think that's why this book has taken as long as it has." He leans back looking at what he just wrote and promptly deletes it. "Where did you go? Was it an extended vacation?"

"I can see how that would take up a lot of one's time," Elias says with a nod when Xavier mentions that he was moving across country. Then he smiles a little bit and dips his head, "I'd like that. Perhaps I'll have you read what I've written so far and give me your thoughts on it." He watches as Xavier deletes what he'd just written. "Don't delete it. Just leave it tehre and continue on. Leave every word that you manage to get down. Only go back and edit once you've gotten all the words out that are going to come." Though when asked where he went, Elias withdraws a little, dark eyes flickering down to the laptop in front of him. "Out of town," he says quietly, "To do some research that ended up.. taking a lot longer than planned."

"I took my time getting out here and stopped a few places on the way. It was refreshing but honestly I didn't feel right until I reached my aunts place. She's always been welcoming and understanding and probably my only family member not labeling me as a black sheep. Probably because she is one too." He chuckles to himself before he nods his head. "Okay, yeah we can do that, do you want to send me the file or just switch laptops?" He notices the change in Elias and furrows his brows. As much as he wants to pry, his tone suggests it is not a topic he wants to talk about. "I am sorry to hear that."

"My entire family are a bit on the black sheep side. There's a reason that we're known as the Weber witches, and not just because we have those among us who follow more pagan traditions and came here eventually from Salem after leaving to avoid the witch trials. We're all .. unusual, in our own ways -- not the norm of what mainstream society expects or accepts at times," Elias muses as he considers his own family. "Most of them are out of town, now, though. The house usually has family coming and going a lot. But it's very quiet lately." He then shakes his head and smiles faintly. "The moment that you get overconfident and think that you have everything under control is the moment that the world reminds you that you very much do not." Though he says, "I'll send you the file. I trust that you won't share it with anyone else." He pauses. "I know where you work."

Xavier listens intently as Elias talks about his family. "Really? That sounds very interesting. Though if you're all black sheep together it has to be more fun." Hearing about the empty house, the aimless draw to the bookstore all makes sense, however he doesn't dare call him out on it. "My family is all about appearances. As long as everyone thought that we're having a better life than they are, it's all that mattered, never mind how everything was at home. I felt myself going down a similar path and that's one of the reasons I came out here." Elias' words of wisdom strike a cord and Xavier huffs out a bitter laugh. "Tell me about it." Still he nods his head as he opens his email and saves what he's working on to send over. "Oh well I definitely can't send it out then, my boss would be very upset if someone came to kill me in the middle of my shift because I gave away your writing." He says with a wry smile.

"It does make it slightly easier to have fellow black sheep around for congregating purposes," Elias says with a wry bit of a smile. He then sends the file that he's been working on over to Xavier, and there's a soft ping as it arrives in his email. "Our family is about appearances insofar as we like our reputation as weirdos and oddballs in a town where strange things happen. It's a comfortable and familiar blanket." He smiles a little wryly then and says, "Indeed. Being lit on fire in a bookstore seems like it would be hazardous to your health as well as the good of the business. I recommend against it."

"I do enjoy my time with my aunt, she's quirky, but doesn't care. No wonder she fits in well here." Xavier responds with a smile as he clicks through a few files on his desktop. Normally he has a mouse on him, but he didn't grab it this morning. "Damn, where did it... ah there it is, this is the right file." He quickly sends it over and once his pc dings he'll grab the file and open it up. "No I would like to not be set on fire in a bookstore. I think that's how most of my nightmares start." He laughs nervously as he leans back and carefully scans over the document. He gets to read a properly published authors work before anyone else, and he's trying to keep his cool.

"Your aunt sounds like an interesting woman," Elias smiles and says, "Perhaps I'll have to meet her sometime." He receives the file from Xavier and opens it up, glancing over the first few lines before he leans down, unlaces his boots, and slides his feet out of them so that he can sit cross-legged in the corner of the couch. He adjusts his glasses on his nose just a little bit and chuckles, "Don't worry. I really doubt there's anything that could do that would make me light you on fire."

Elias' own writing is something along the same lines as his urban fantasy series, but this is something a little different. This one is the story of a lone fae boy, orphaned and left to grow up as an outsider in a mortal world; one who travels through dreams and nightmares and tries to help people by battling their inner demons.

"Oh I am sure she'll find an excuse to come in here one day just to 'bring me something I forgot' so she can meet you. I told her I needed time to assure you that I am not at all weird before she disproves that illusion." Xavier smirks as he watches Elias get comfortable. He leaves his shoes on, but he settles into the chair a bit as his eyes dance over the screen. It is different from what he's used to from him, but he already likes it. There is something about the Fae orphan that speaks to him. "Oh I'm glad, I would rather not be set on fire, this sweater was expensive." He smirks as he lets himself get absorbed in the story, and forgetting for the moment that he's supposed to be critiquing it.

The story he thinks he sent has to do with the cult in his first two books, which he realizes might be confusing with out reading the first two books. "Oh uhm, if the story is confusing let me know, it's pulling a lot from the first two books. The sect is supposed to be disbanded but you know how those pesky cults go." He smirks.

"I haven't found you weird at all," Elias points out with a small smile, though his attention shifts back to the story in front of him as he begins to read it, chuckling only a little and glancing over when Xavier says he'd rather his sweater not be set on fire. "Duly noted," he murmurs. When Xavier starts to explain the story his brow furrows a little bit, as he tries to reconcile the explanation that Xavier is giving him with what he's reading. "Is it.. members of the sect, then, that Charlotte is sneaking off to go meet in the maze?" he asks, one brow lifting as he shoots that questioning glance to Xavier, trying to figure out where the cult fits in.

"Oh then I guess I am doing a great acting job." Xavier smirks as he responds between paragraphs. He feels sad for the little orphan fae but holds that thought in for now. "Yes thank you, I would hate for us to get off on the wrong foot because we had a misunderstanding about lighting each other on fire." When Elias brings up Charlotte he looks very confused, and when the maze is brought up he sits up strait and leans forward. "Oh shit, that was the wrong file please delete it.. I'll send the right one over." He is frantically trying to find the right file. Damn him and his lazy file naming conventions. "That was... something stupid just ignore it. Or delete it, from your brain." His face is slowly turning red.

Elias watches the transformation come over Xavier's expression with a bit of a curious one of his own. He glances back down to the file that he had read and asks, "Why? I think it's an interesting start. I'm already intrigued to learn about the woman in the hall, who these mysterious people Charlotte is meeting with, and whether Dorian and Rhys are going to reprise that moment of passion in the library." He glances down at his laptop once more and says, "I'll delete it if you'd prefer, but.. I think you should write this story."

Xavier continues clicking away on his laptop as Elias talks about his story and he furrows his brows. "It's.. drivel, just romantic useless words that I wrote as an exercise I.." He sighs giving up on finding the file he saved earlier and looking across at Elias. "You really want to know what happens next? Not that I have that written out but isn't that the whole point of writing? To keep the reader interested enough to turn the page?" He's sunk down in the chair now, trying to hide from Elias behind his laptop screen. "You don't have to delete it..."

"I'll certainly read anything else you'd like me to read," Elias says, as Xavier continues to click about to try to find the file he meant to send. "But, yes, I'd like to know what happens next in this story, as well. If it's a story that you'd like to tell." He then looks back toward the laptop screen and says, "Of course, I've written plenty of things as exercises as well that I've never done anything with -- so I can understand if it's something you were just messing around with. I do think it's a good beginning, though."

Xavier slowly peeks over the top of the laptop and quirks his brow. "I didn't think anyone would want to read something like that. The publishers told me that only house wives read books like that and that it wasn't very profitable so I didn't write about them." Though an actual author that he's read says it's a good story and he slowly nods his head. "Okay yeah, maybe I'll see where that book takes me. I just need to work up an outline so I know where I'm going with it. I like this story you sent me, I can feel the isolation that the orphan feels, you're really good at conveying that. Do you know where he's going yet?"

"You had a really shitty publisher," Elias points out. "Does your publisher realize how many housewives there are out there? Why would they disparage an entire market with the time and interest to read the material? Even if that were your entire audience, it's a significant audience." He shakes his head slowly, "But publishing bullshit aside -- I just like the story and would like to know what happens." His lips quirk a little bit in a smile. He dips his head when Xavier says that he likes the story about the orphan. "Thank you." Though when asked if he knows where he's going, he shakes his head. "I'm not certain. I rarely do.. know where my stories are going when I start writing them. I just write and see where they end up. Then, I go back and edit them and change what doesn't work. But mostly, I just let them flow where they will."

"I did, and I also think my father had a lot of influence over them? Let me write the first book out of guilt for divorcing my mother. Not that he said that but it was obvious. I remember having a conversation with them one day, and they would agree with me, then they would change their minds the next day. That's one of the main reasons I want to self-publish it, that way I know that decisions that are made about it are my own." Xavier says with a nod and it's probably the first confident thing he's said in a few minutes. "Oh that's a different way of doing it, I should try that. Just vomit words on the page and see what happens when I'm done."

Elias shrugs his shoulders, "I know some writers who like to plan, and outline, and have a trajectory. It helps keep them on track and keeps the story from getting out of hand. They use it for pacing and to hit certain plot points. I have trouble with that, though. It's just not my particular style and never has been. My advice is try various methods. Write things a few different ways and see which way works best for /you/." He rests his elbow on the arm of the couch and props his chin on his hand, studying Xavier. "You've already broken free of everyone else's restrictions. Break free of your own, as well. Allow yourself to try a bunch of different things until you find the one that you're most comfortable with."

Xavier sucks it all in like a sponge and it takes everything in him not to make little notes about everything Elias is saying. "No that makes sense right? I didn't think that I was the one holding myself back, it's just the voices of other people I am hearing in my head, but it's just my own brain wanting to play it safe." He fixes his posture and looks down at his screen. "I shouldn't be bothering you with all of this, but your insight is priceless. Thank you. I should at the very least bring you a baked good."

Elias shakes his head a little bit at Xavier and says, "Honestly.. I should thank you. I .. needed this. I was going a little stir crazy in my own head sitting alone in that house. And this town.. everyone in it.. I'm not ready to get back out into it. I'm not sure if or when I will be. Having someone to talk to who isn't from that time in my life is nice." He smiles somewhat gratefully to Xavier. "You really don't owe me anything. I'm the one who is distracting you from your job and making you hang out and entertain me." Not that there have been any customers at all since they've been up here.

Xavier looks a little confused until he explains himself. "Oh, well I guess I didn't see it that way. I suppose there is a bonus to knowing absolutely nothing about the people here and what they do or what they did." He leans against his chair and smiles. "But any time you want to distract me from work and talk about random things I am more than happy to do so. My boss is a slave driver after all and I need all the breaks I can get." The job itself is less stressful than he's used to so he is more than happy to have down time like this. "You're easy to talk to as well, so no need to thank me."

Elias's lips twitch a little in a bit of a smile, "Your boss sounds awful. Why do you put up with him? Maybe you should just quit, become a full time writer." He smiles and closes his laptop, apparently done feigning that he's going to get any work done at all at this point. He closes it and sets the books from Xavier on top of it.

Xavier laughs. "One day I will, but for now I have to pay bills. When that day comes I'm going to walk in and burn my apron." He smirks as he brings the whole conversation right back to fire. He also closes his lap top and sets it aside as well, because he has a lot to think about with his writing going forward. He eyes the books one more time but decides against stealing them away and bolting out of the store. He is curious to see how Elias likes them. "If you want to talk outside of work I would be okay with that too."

Elias notices Xavier glancing back toward the books again and he lifts them, setting them on the coffee table between them. It's a silent offer. If Xavier really doesn't want him to read them and takes them back, he won't fight him on it. He already got to read part of Xavier's new work, and that seems to have pleased him. His smile turns a touch wry when Xavier says they could talk outside of work. "You aren't terribly sick of me already? My bothering you during work hours and all?"

Xavier gives the books one last hard look before he pushes them toward Elias. "I said I'd let you read them and hopefully I've grown as a writer since then. Just don't ask me to sign them, it brings the book value down." He teases and it occurs to him that outside of his family, he's never signed one before. "It's hard to get sick of someone who wants to talk about my hobbies, and I want to be around people who would encourage said hobbies. So far I have two, which is more than I had back home so I am counting that as a win."

Elias nods when Xavier seems to resolve that he can reed the books, though he leaves them where they are. He'll pick them up when he gets up from the couch. "I'll keep it in mind that these are early works and that you've been writing more since then." He tilts his head a little to the side, regarding Xavier thoughtfully and says, "You'll find more than two soon enough. I'm sure of that. But, I'm always happy to talk about your hobbies. And to share writing with you, if you continue to want to share yours with me as well. It's nice to have someone to read my work and critique it again."

Xavier nods his head. "Most everyone wanted to talk about sports, it felt like the only acceptable hobby aside from buying more things. I'm looking forward to having the conversation I used to have back in college, only with people who have actual knowledge instead of teenagers trying to one up each other." He laughs lightly as he looks down toward the door just to check if anyone came by. "I'd be more than happy to share my work, it would be good for encouragement to keep me going. I feel you'd be honest to, if it starts going some where weird."

Elias smiles a little wryly and says, "I'm not much good talking about sports. I've only a very vague passing interest in them from time to time." He glances in the direction of the door, but it remains quiet, the bell not having rung to alert them to someone's presence. He pulls off his glasses for a moment, setting them to one side as he rubs at his face with both hands before slipping them back on. "Oh, I'll be honest with you. And I expect that you will do the same."

"I learned to say enough that I could pretend to know what's going on. It passed the time in a very dull office." Xavier shrugs. "I will say that attending an event in a stadium is more exciting than watching it on television." He says thoughtfully before he watches Elias. "Oh yes of course. I mean I don't want to be harsh, but I will tell you if something feels off or weird, and of course keep it to myself."

Elias nods to that and says, "I think I'd enjoy seeing a game in person more than talking about it or watching it on television." Not that he's ever attended a game of anything in person to know that for certain, though. He smiles a little bit and dips his head, "Of course. We'll keep the secrets of one another's literary faux pas to ourselves." He chuckles a little amused at the sound of that.

"I'd invite you to one, but I really have no interest in going." Xavier smirks as he finally kicks his own shoes off and sits cross legged in his chair. "A society of literary faux pas, I like it. Not that anyone is going to hear the name of the society, but I like to name things. How do you come up with yours? I end up studying meanings and origins of names for hours before I settle on one. You can tell how unimportant a character is in my story by how plain their name is."

"They just come to me. I start writing them and they have a name. Sometimes if I don't like it after writing it a few times I might change it," Elias says as he considers that question. "But I never look them up as to what they mean. They're just whoever they sound liek they are in my head." He smiles a little wryly. "I am probably the worst author out there. I don't do anything that you learn to do in workshops. I don't plan. I don't outline. I don't do extensive research or instill every character name with deep meaning. I just.. write, and whatever pops into my head is what I use. I couldn't tell you what the names of any of my characters mean. I'd have to go look them up. It'd be as much a surprise to me as anyone."

"Actually that's probably what I need. I've been to several workshops and researched things to death and it's likely what holds me back. Maybe you'll have to be a slave master and get me to work instead of trying to over complicate everything. I think we'll work together just fine. " Again he resists taking notes like he's sitting in a writing workshop. "It's probably one of the things holding me back, I feel like I have to get every part of it right before I put it on paper. If I take a looser option I might actually get something proper on paper."

"I don't think I would make a particularly good slave master," Elias observes with a faintly amused smile. "Perhaps an enabler, an encourager, or even at one point in time, a cheerleader. Though I'm not sure I've that in me anymore." He smiles. "But yes, I think that we'll work together just fine, as well." He can almost sense Xavier's instinct to write everything down. "Less writing things down, more trusting your instincts," he offers.

"Oh I don't know, you keep me pretty occupied here you kind of are like a slave driver." Leaning back in his chair he shakes his head. "You don't have to be any of that, just a reader is fine. We do work well together so I'm happy to keep it at that." He nods, though frowns as he is called out. "I wasn't going to write it down." He murmurs. "Should we order pizza?"

Elias raises a brow and says, "I keep you that busy, huh? Toiling away in the book mines?" He smiles a little faintly though as Xavier continues on, and he regards him curiously, as though not entirely certain how to interpret what he says. There's a slight furrow to his brow when he frowns as well and he sighs. "I'm sorry." He waves a hand. "Forget I said anything." And with that, he begins to unfold himself from his seat. "Pizza sounds good. What do you like on it?" He pulls his phone from his pocket and begins to flip through it.