2021-04-03 - One Cream, Two Sugars

It's a somewhat lonely night at the Gri--err, Black Bear Diner. Not that this place has seen all that much action as of late in the first place. When was the last time you were here, or you heard anyone talking about going there? Probably not for a hot minute or so.

The only real sign of life, aside from the occasional clanging around of dishes being done in the back, is Alison draped over the table of a booth, hair splayed all over the place. She's got a deathly bored expression on her face, finger occasionally poking at the screen of her phone. The phone doesn't seem to be doing much to alleviate her boredom either. Doesn't stop the scrolling, though!

One guy who's kind of becoming a regular these days is Ravn Abildgaard who turns up every so often to ask for one of those fantastic brie with pear and serrano ham that Gina Castro introduced him to, and a fish burger to go. It's anyone's guess what he wants with the dead fish but given that there are often cat hair on his shirt, one could probably venture a guess. The female in his life is a small, black cat who regularly snubs him in favour of -- Gina Castro again. Maybe that's the reason he enjoys arguing with the diner owner as much as he does.

The Dane slinks in tonight wearing a slightly tired expression and something as unusual -- for him -- as a splash of colour; the usual black turtleneck has been replaced by a black shirt with a tie-dye starburst motif in blue, red, and purple. "Hello," he greets the incarnation of red-head boredom behind the counter. "Quiet night, is it?"

Alison can't help but softly grunt as she hears the diner's front door swing open over the rock music that she'd plugged in. Nobody else is on tonight, for good reason apparently, so it's the redhead's choice in that regard. The waitress pushes herself up off the tabletop, peering towards Ravn as he makes his way in. Her eyes briefly dart downwards - an interesting fashion choice for most, Mr. Black Turtleneck over here especially so - then back up to meet his face.

"Something like that, I guess. It feels like nobody's been in for hours, then you look at the clock, and it's only been fifteen minutes." She shrugs, setting her phone down behind her on a shelf. "Usually you go through a stretch of bad weather and business picks up, but the fog clearing up doesn't seem to have done the trick."

Ravn claims one of the stools by the counter rather than settling into a booth. He usually does; booth kind of signals that his is a private party, and the Dane does seem to enjoy falling into whatever casual chitchat might be going on in and around the serving area. Depending on the subject he doesn't always contribute much -- popular TV and politics, for example, are topics that he tends to avoid. Sports, likewise -- but then, the man is European, they obsess about things like soccer over there. Does a Danish baseball league even exist?

"I get the feeling that a lot of people might be busy counting their fingers and children and cats, making sure that everything is still where it should be, after a week of fog like that," he replies with a small, wry smile. "Most people I've talked to were pretty spooked by it. I have this one guy downtown who keeps telling me that mermaids lurk in the mist, luring people to sea to eat them. I want to say that he's crazy but, eh, Gray Harbor."

Alison makes her way over to the soda fountain, kneeling behind the counter briefly to fetch a glass, then starts filling it with some mysterious brown liquid. A blink or two, and the redhead's looking back towards Ravn. "Something to drink?" One might get the impression that she's slightly out of it.

"Maybe.. a couple people have mentioned weird dreams, but.." She finishes filling her drink, takes a sip, and then sets it down behind her on the aforementioned shelf of phone holding. "I kind of feel like I've been stuck on autopilot for the last.." Freckled face goes blank for a moment, and then it's paired with a shrug. "While? And then the fog cleared out. I'unno. I sure don't remember anything weird lately, at least, and it's not like there's ever any shortage of weird stuff going on around here."

She takes another sip, then adds. "I think I'd remember seeing mermaids, anyways."

"Well, if a homeless guy wanders in here sometime yelling about carnivorous mermaids demanding he turn vegan, his name is Denny and barring the shouting he's harmless." Ravn glances at the soda fountain for a moment, and then shakes his head. "Think I'll go with whatever sandwich you or the chef recommends, and a cup of coffee -- black, no frills."

He rests an elbow on the count and gives Alison a second glance-over. "You know, I've been in town since last fall and I'm a little... You get used to it? I've been stabbed, shot, burned -- haunted, turned into a merman, fought off zombie hordes, talked to whatever passes for Aztec and Slavic gods around here. If you'd told me any of those things when I got here I would have laughed in your face. Now there's a guy telling me he needs a place to stay that isn't the boardwalk because flesh eating sirens call him to come join them, and I'm just -- right, then, I suppose no one's using the backroom right now, put your sleeping bag in. Are you all right? For Gray Harbor values of all right? A quiet stretch of time sounds nice after a fashion."

There's a nod in response from the waitress. To both the mermaid thing and the request for coffee, probably? A mug is filled and provided, no frippery in the way of caramel creamer or maple sugar either. "Christ, sounds like you've been busy. Worst I've had around here is one of these guys wake up and give me the claws." She gestures vaguely towards the front door, where there's not a whole lot aside from the large stuffed bear commonly used as a coat rack.

She punches a few things into the order terminal, then shifts her attention back to Ravn. "Don't think I've run into him, no. I have heard to stay away from underneath the boardwalk, though, but that was something to do with a homeless camp and a fire or something?" More shrugging. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just kinda feel like I'm waking up after being asleep for a while? But I've been here."

"Yeah. Some of the homeless guys are a little -- " Ravn trails off, searching for words. He accepts the coffee cup and curls gloved fingers around it. "How to put that without sounding like an asshole... How about, I'm going to be working with the ones who want me to, and it may not be a bad thing with some of them that I happen to be six foot three and male. Most of them are just ordinary guys down on their luck but some of them do have -- problems. The Veil's pulled a lot of those folks in because they are -- like us, they see things, but they're down there because unlike us, they're either down on their luck or not quite capable of handling it as well. You know the saying -- rich people are eccentric, poor people are lunatics."

He glances at the bears. He glances at their claws. He shudders. "I don't think I want to see those guys come awake. Not going to lie, that sounds terrifying. Could you distract them with food at least?"

"Eh, yeah. That's just the way it is though. People don't have enough to get by, nobody in charge of things seems interested in helping people who've got brain problems in the way that matters--" She lifts a hand, rubbing thumb, index, and middle fingers together in a gesture that most Americans, at least, would probably recognize as signifying money. "--and the town's got some pretty big cracks to fall through."

Alison takes another sip from her drink, then continues. "The height will probably help with most, I imagine. I think the guy that runs the sweets shop around there probably has a few inches on you, but he seems more like the type to cause trouble rather than try to help with it."

"Mmm, they're not so bad, usually. First time I saw them wake up though was pretty fucking scary. Kind of didn't feel real, but then suddenly I was at home and my shoulder was all sliced open. No idea how it actually happened. Dunno about food, but the one by the door usually just wants one cream and three sugar in his coffee." There's no change in expression on her face that might suggest that she's joking about this.

Ravn glances at the bear by the door and very obviously makes a mental note. One cream, three sugars. Just in case some crazy dream some day puts him in a waitress' apron here. You never know. But customers like that? Good to know how to keep them happy.

"Pretty sure Kailey's bloke has more than just a few inches on me, he's a veritable giant." He looks back at Alison and nods. "It's like that anywhere I've been -- the US or elsewhere. You have two guys hearing voices and seeing things -- one of them is going to receive the therapy and medication he may need, the other's going to end up under the boardwalk panhandling and harassing the tourists. Also a matter of how good they are at asking for help, and at taking it."

He sips his coffee with visible appreciation before adding, "I saw a wolverine in the woods some time back. August Røn saw it as well so I think it was actually real -- also because all it did was look at us like we were in its way and then shuffle off like we didn't matter. Only other time I've seen one of those was in the north of Sweden where some crazy local person had one leashed as a guard dog." He pronounces the forester's name in a one-syllable vowel kind of way unique to the Scandinavian tongues.

The waitress is about to say something, when there's a ding from the passthrough window. Alison turns, picks up the plate, and places it in front of Ravn along with some cutlery. The sandwich, which wasn't specifically requested, ended up being a monte cristo. Not quite the brie and pear, serrano ham sandwich that Gina might have suggested, but it's kind of in the same department? Oh, and there's a pile of french fries with it as well, because, well, America.

She scoops her drink back up, taking a sip from it, before speaking. "Are we talking the guy from the comic book movies? I thought the actual animal was a small little thing like a skunk." A look of.. something, passes over her face for a moment. "August went into the woods with you? I'd think he'd know better than to go wandering around there without a good reason. And surely someone's warned you by now as well?"

"Big skunk. Rather big skunk at that -- they're the size of big dogs but on very short legs." Ravn grins slightly. "Definitely not the comic book character though. Although now I kind of want to see what he'd make of the Veil. Probably ribbons."

He picks up his cutlery with a smile. The man does appreciate good food -- he tends to leave most of it shuffled around on the plate, but this seems to be more a bad habit of not eating very much on the whole, than of not appreciating what he does eat. It's probably a contributing factor to why he's on the thin side, too. "This looks quite good -- not sure I've had this combination before."

Then he glances at the bears again -- the one cream, two sugars bear in particular. "I did get warned to stay out of the woods around the old lumber mill in specific. And be careful with the pond. Although -- I did go into the mill the other day. Not willingly -- one of those experiences where you blink and then you're suddenly somewhere else. Apparently most of the ghosts there are -- gone, now. And some of the Veil powers are not exactly thrilled about it -- we got yelled at by one of them over it. I mean, of all the crazy things." Beat. "And then a half-elk, half-fish creature fell on the police captain and nearly turned him into a pancake." Gray Harbor, don't ever stop being you.

"Huh. Doesn't sound fun to be on the receiving end of, either way." The waitress picks up a glass from under the counter and sets about polishing it with a rag. There's the whole story about the diner having bad service, sure, even if Alison doesn't quite subscribe to that philosophy, but Gina's number one rule is essentially cleanliness. And sparking clean dishes are a good step towards that. "Monte cristo's popular now and again, seems to come in waves. It's one of those things that are a pain in the butt to make at home, but the diner's got the deep fryer right there anyways. I'd usually suggest a burger when someone doesn't know what they want, but you don't quite seem like the a burger kind of guy."

"If you go out a ways, it's fine - national park land, sure. But around here, near the sawmill, out by the trailer park? I've never stepped into either, but I've been warned off of them enough times to know better. Had a friend go missing for months, she woke up in a shallow grave.. poor girl looked like she hadn't eaten all that time." The.. rather explicit mention of the Veil, and the beings around it, catch the waitress a little off guard. She'd heard roundabout references and suggestions thereof before, sure, but to put a name to it all is quite another thing. And that thing's probably going to take her a little while to process.

"Police captain.. Ruiz, right? Shit, is he okay?"

Maybe no one remembered to give Ravn the 'keep things hush' memo in all of his six or seven months in town. Maybe he's just stubborn about it. He nibbles on a fry while studying Alison's features as she speaks. "I've spent the winter in the trailer park. Never saw anything there -- that's not true, never saw anything come out of the woods near there. I did notice the bloody ghost in the next trailer over, but he's kind of an ass. But, yeah -- might be part of the reason I haven't had much trouble is that I do in fact not run around that part of the woods on my own unless the powers that be deliberately plonks me there without asking first."

"I believe that barring his pride, maybe, de la Vega escaped unharmed. Considering that both of them fell on top of me, I'm not one to chide him for clumsiness, though." Ravn smiles wryly and picks up another fry. "It was a strange experience. One of the -- bigshots on the other side, the Exorcist, yelled at us. About the ghosts of dead Baxters going missing. Told us to find them, didn't say anything about how or where. Couple of local teenage girls were doing some kind of -- strange, pagan ritual. Gray Harbor at its finest, mind boggling and frustrating, and rather terrifying."

Copper blond eyebrows shoot up at the mention of a girl waking up in her own grave. "Your friend's experience sounds -- highly traumatic. Is she all right? Sounds like something that'd take a fair bit of therapy to get over, to be honest."

"Mmm. I missed the ghost - used to have this weird guy down the lane scream at me. Could never understand that he was saying, definitely wasn't english.. something about my hair, I think. 'The devil' popped up a few times." She gives her eyes a roll at that. It's a recurring story, with different players involved.

"Exorcist, huh. And lemmie guess, Itzhak was there too? He usually has a nose for trouble.." Alison can't help but smirk slightly at her own dumb little pun. "I think that sort of thing's a little out of my pay grade. Itz's warned me about bigger things at play, but it's never really been anything that I've had to deal with? Maybe 'they' aren't really all that interested in a waitress..?" She doesn't really sound like she believes that.

"Glad he's okay, anyways." A beat, a few blinks, and then about her friend. "She wasn't all right. And then she was. And then she was gone again and hasn't been back. It feels different this time, though.. like the others, they just.. leave, don't tell anybody, you know?" Alison's shoulders droop slightly as she sighs. "It'd be more worrying with Gigi if I hadn't seen the same thing a dozen times before. She had reasons to stick around back then. But after she came back, things were different, others had left.."

"But of course he was. Rosencrantz doesn't miss out on chaos unless it runs faster than he does." Ravn can't help laugh. Then he shakes his head. "I'm not sure what their criteria for 'interesting' are. They left me alone at first, pretty much. Now they sure don't -- but most of my experiences are more weird than outright horrible. I have seen a lot of dream activity since I got back from Denmark -- and I honestly don't know why, because I'm not exactly a key figure in society, either. I'm a guy who lives in a trailer and does a bit of tutoring -- you'd think they'd home in on the people who actually call the shots around here. I'm not exactly a flaming beacon in the night as far as the shine goes."

He nibbles on another fry. "Do you think your friend simply -- got smart and left? Smarter than most of us, I mean? People kept telling me to leave, I've already told some newer people to leave, no one ever seems to actually leave."

"Of course he was there." She can't help but snicker back at that. "Maybe it takes a little while for them to catch on when people show up here? The town seemed pretty normal for the first few months that I was here.. and then Halloween hit and it all kind of started going downhill from there."

Alison ponders for a bit at the suggestion that her friend simply left town. "I mean.. she'd been staying in the trailer park to look after her step-sister. Abusive parents, that kinda thing. So it was really weird when she disappeared the first time.. and then she woke up, and they'd taken off somewhere. So I guess she didn't really have any reason to stay, really. But leaving town entirely seems pretty off. I'd have liked a text or something at least?" Another shrug. "But like I said, not the first person who's straight up disappeared around here. I think it's just kinda one of those Gray Harbor things."

"I went home over Christmas. To Denmark, that is -- to see how I'd feel about this place when I wasn't here." Ravn picks at his sandwich; he really is a finicky eater. "And I very much felt like I belonged here, so I came back. Somebody asked me why. Asked me if I had not considered exactly that -- that some day, I'd end up dead or disappeared here. I told them -- yeah. I know. Some day you go in, and you don't come back. But in the meantime, I get to stay in the only place on the planet I've ever felt that I actually had some kind of purpose. So on some level, it's a price I've accepted that I will have to pay some day."

He looks back at Alison. "I'm sorry for your loss, though. Even if your friend did just take off to San Diego and didn't want to leave her number, that still sucks. Losing people hurts."

"Yeah, there's.. it's like a magnetic pull. I started seeing the place in my dreams, even though I'd never been here before. Granted, Seattle's not exactly far, but I can't explain why I came here other than it was some dumb little nugget that popped into my head one day. On one level, there's nothing really keeping me here, considering the weird crap that goes on.. but I don't want to leave, either?" She shrugs, slumping backwards against the wall behind the countertop.

"I hope she just left. Best possible case, really, given the other options."

"Given how this place tends to give you all the reasons to come here and never leave, I can understand why someone might need a completely clean break. Almost like leaving an abusive partner, except that in this case, Gray Harbor is the abusive partner." Ravn nods. "The town does lure you in. I spent thirty years getting here, but now that I am here? I know that this is where I was going all along. Everything that came before was just -- getting me to take off from home, and head this way."

The copper blond sips his coffee and chuckles lightly. "It's a bit funny if you think about it. I grew up very privileged, and I left it all behind so I could go here and live in a trailer park. But I am happy here, in some strange way. Even when it's all really quite god-awful, the people here are -- better. Just take you and I -- you don't know me from Adam and I don't know you from Eve, but we have all of that in common. On some level, we're already past finding common ground and well into 'well, we're in this mess together'. That is... unique to this place."

Alison blinks a couple times at the comparison of the town. I mean.. possibly? But.. I mean.. Eugh. Her face falls for a moment as she ponders it..

"Didn't you have.. a boat, or something? For some reason I'd lumped you into 'boat people' in my head. Seems like most boats would be better than the trailer park, unless it sunk or something?" The waitress's eyebrow quirks for a moment before falling back into place. "But yeah, it's.. there's something about the place. That's all I know, really." She's on the verge of saying something else, when a few people walk into the diner in quick succession. "Mmm. I think I'm gonna be busy for a bit. Holler if you need something?"

"I do have a boat but the Vagabond is not sturdy enough to spend the winter months in the water," Ravn says good-naturedly. "Hence, I had to find somewhere else to stay for four months. All I need is a bed and a coffee maker, and somewhere to stash the tuna cans for my cat."

He watches as Alison turns to do her actual job -- so rude of people, really, walking in and being customers! -- and seems to rather enjoy his sandwich, even if he is the kind of man who is more prone to picking it apart than actually eating a lot of it. He eyes the bears on occasion, almost speculatively -- and why not? In this very diner alone, he's seen far more bizarre things than bears asking for cream and sugar. He's seen his dead ex-fiancee killed right here -- just next to where he's setting.

It's Gray Harbor. You either learn to live that sort of thing down or you make like a rare, sensible person and get the hell out.