2021-12-19 - Not the Beach Holiday You're Thinking Of

It's not exactly filled with Christmas cheer, this night on the Harbor. A gray drizzle falls from the sky, and the wind coming off the water is near freezing. Despite that, the Two If By Sea is fairly busy - it's one of the more friendly bars in town, and there's certainly a nice view out the windows over the dark water. Tinned Christmas carols are playing over the speakers, and the bar is crowded. Alexander has chosen a table instead. He's got his back to the wall in his chair, glancing up any time someone enters or leaves -- but most of his attention is on his phone. There's a bottle of cheap beer, and a large basket of loaded tater tots in front of him, but he doesn't seem to have any company, at the moment.

Benedict steps in, pausing inside to adjust to the armer temperature and the lack of drizzle. He doesn't linger long, however, heading up to the bar to order something to drink and a snack. The beer is served in one of those silver mugs, because of course he's in the mug club. It was one of the first things he joined when he came back to town. While he waits on his order, he's busy exchanging light flirtations with the bartender.

One who hasn't felt much Christmas cheer this year is Jonathan. But he still makes his way into the bar, stopping just inside the door for a few moments to look around rather carefully. He then moves a bit further inside, shaking his head at himself while glancing to the phone in his hand as well. His steps take him over to the bar as well, so he can order himself something to drink.

Alexander glances up at the openings of the door. Most of those, he assesses and dismisses in a moment. But two he recognizes. He doesn't immediately try to speak to either man, but tracks their progress to the bar. Which is hopping, but managing to serve things pretty quickly, so Benedict's silver mug comes out fast, and Jonathan's order is taken, before a tray of mugs is dispatched past them to a rowdy group of sailors sitting at one of the larger booths. The men cheer as the beers are delivered. Alexander looks in that direction, briefly, before looking back to Benedict and Jonathan. There's a tentative raise of one hand in greeting should either look in his direction.

Benedict's eyes are drawn to the cheering for beer, and then on the way back to the bartender they notice Alexander. There's an answering wave, and then he indicates to the bar staff that he's headed over that way with his mug. His food can follow. "Fancy meeting you here." He says to Alexander with a grin, by way of greeting.

Jonathan's order seems to be both beer, some kind of amber ale from the look of it, but also a small shot of scotch. Smiling as he gets his drinks, he turns to look around, an amused grin as he watches the sailors cheering. That's when he sees the greeting from Alexander, and he raises the hand holding the ale to return the greeting, stepping over in that direction now. "Hello," he offers as he gets close enough.

Did someone order Holiday Cheer? Because Bennie is here to serve it up complete in a glittering Mrs. Claus outfit (which is really just a thrifted dress she's added white faux fur trim to) and a requisite hat with a white pom pom at its pointed tip. She strolls out of the back with a beaming smile plastered to her face and a basket hung on the crook of her arm, handing out candy canes to everyone she passes. It doesn't take her long to spy HER ABSOLUTE BESTIE IN THE WORLD and zero in on Alexanders table, dropping down into a chair with boneless grace, i.e. a flop with a plume of glitter like a shiny A-bomb.

Alexander brightens as Benedict and Jonathan notice his hand and start to make their way over to the table. He offers a quick smile. "Benedict. Hi. How are you?" And then Jonathan arrives, and he bobs his head to him. "Jonathan, hello. Join me. If you want?" His eyes flick from one to the other. "Have you met? Jonathan Wallgren. Benedict Add--" and then there's a Bennie and Alexander's face just lights up completely. "Bennie. You are very glittery." He sounds approving.

"I'm good. Arm still hurts a bit. You?" Benedict returns, placing his mug down so he ca offer out a hand as introductions are made. "Pleasure to meet you. Name sounds familiar..." There's a pause, as he thinks it over. "You're the local boy that went to the NHL, right?" He finally decides. And then suddenly Mrs. Claus has shown up with candy canes, and Alexander seems pleased to see her. Thrilled in fact. "Why Alexander I've never seen you so beaming. I take it this is someone special?" And then he takes a candy cane and stirs his beer with it, to see what flavor that creates.

"Sure," Jonathan replies to Alexander, nodding to Benedict as well. "That would be me, yes. A pleasure to meet you as well." While he hasn't quite managed to seat himself before Mrs. Clause seats herself with that plume of glitter, he brings his hands between his drinks and the glitter, just in casse. "Someone looks to have the Christmas cheer," he offers a bit lightly, dropping down in his seat now.

"What better way to spread the love of your Christmas present than shedding it on every possible surface!" Bennie says matter of factly as she hangs a candy cane on the lip of Alexander's bottle and hands one to Benedict and slides one in front of Jonathan. No doubt all three will be finding glittering specks on their person just by sharing the same air as her. "Well I should hope so!" She responds to Benedict before Alexander himself can. "He's my murder brother." Now that she's sitting down, a glass of eggnog is delivered from one of the waitstaff as if summoned by magic.

"I'm fine. I'm glad you're healing, though," Alexander tells Benedict. "Yes," he says, to someone special, then nods to agree with Bennie's designation. He takes the candy cane and unwraps it neatly to bare the tip of the candy cane, which he licks briefly. "Benedict Addington," he finishes introductions. "He's the District Attorney Investigator," he adds. "And this is Bennie Oaks. She's an EMT and made of sunshine and steel." To Bennie and Jonathan, he says, "My office shot Benedict. And Ravn. But they're both mostly fine." A wave of the candy cane at Benedict, Exhibit A for Fineness.

"A pleasure to meet you as well." Benedict tells Bennie, looking between her and Alexander. "Murder siblings, though? This is a story that begs to be told." He sips at his beer, tasting the added candy cane flavor. Hmmm, not bad, his expression says. "Yep. Mostly fine. I bounce back quickly from most things, fortunately."

"Murder brother, huh?" Jonathan sounds a bit amused as he grins, before he takes a sip from the whisky glass. "Ah good," he says, mostly to himself, before he blinks at Alexander's words. "Wait... Your office shot them? As in the room itself?"

Bennie sips at her eggnog, licking foam from her lip. "Swell to meetcha! Oh, it's nothing glamorous and anything, we're just soul mates of the homicidal persuasion. Investigating it, mind you, not committing it." She gets an over-serious furrow of her brow and a firm nod to Benedict because of his lawful profession. "And I'm ninety-nine percent sure the office is haunted? So it would make sense that it would want to entrap souls forever in its film noir glory. Glad you guys aren't dead though!"

"Bennie is smart and knows a lot about bodies; she's a useful investigative partner," Alexander says, with a firm nod. Like he's giving a Yelp review for murder siblings: 5 stars, would autopsy again. "And...yeah. It seems to be an intermittent portal to the 1930s, or a Dream version of it." He nibbles the end of his candy cane, then says, "What's up with everyone else? Are you enjoying Christmas? Christmas is wonderful."

"Oh, well, that makes a lot of sense." Benedict seems almost...suprised...at how normal the story is. "Suprisingly so for Gray Harbor and something called murder siblings." He laughs then, agreeing with Bennie "Yeah I'm pretty thrilled not to be dead too!"

Jonathan chuckles. "If it's the real 30s, maybe a visit there sounds okay. If it's a Dream, well..." He shrugs a little bit, before he drains the rest of the whisky. "To be honest, there's too many memories to really enjoy Christmas at the moment," he replies, shrugging a little.

"Oh, you know me." Bennie replies to Alexander's question with her smile popping back up, even if it's not quite as glorious as it was before. "Alright! Enough lollygagging. I have more candy canes to deliver and wrapping to do, and a I'm pretty sure I drunkenly ordered a live reindeer that I need to see if I can cancel but so far customer service has been zero help. Incoming!" She warns Alexander because she fully intends to smooch the touch-averse investigator on the forehead as she parts.

"It's a Dream," Alexander says, with a sigh. He studies Jonathan with interest. "What sort of memories?" The fact that this is probably a breathtakingly rude question doesn't seem to occur to him. Or, if it does, curiosity is stronger. It also means that he's not quite prepared when Bennie leans in for a forehead smooch; the investigator goes the kind of frozen that suggests panic - but hey, he doesn't scream or hit anyone, and gets smooched. "...bye Bennie. Don't order reindeer. This isn't a good climate for them," he murmurs as she goes. His brow furrowing a bit as he watches her go.

Benedict blinks as Bennie announces she's taking off in the same sudden vein she arrived in. "Is she always like that?" He asks Alexander after watching her depart, amusement in his tone. "I can see why she does well as an EMT. Endless energy." And the his food is arriving, and he falls quiet to grapple with it.

"Well, reindeer meat is rather good, but you don't need a live one for that," Jonathan replies, before he grimaces at Alexander's question. "Happier times, when the future looked brighter," he offers, thoughtfully, before he nods at Benedict's words, thoughtfully.

Alexander nods. "She's usually like that. Sunshine and steel. Lots of energy. She's a good person." He's been mostly ignoring his food, but now he picks up a fork and starts stabbing tots, eating them in neat, mechanical little bites. His eyes flick back to Jonathan. "I don't think I've ever had reindeer meat. What's it taste like?" The rest, though, just gets an awkwardly sympathetic sort of frown. He opens his mouth. Then closes it.

"I assume it tastes something like venison, maybe?" Benedict muses, and then lapses back into eating and drinking. His eyes are on Jonathan, though. Apparently he's also very curious what the true answer to the reindeer meat question is.

Jonathan nods a bit again. "A bit similar, yes," he replies to Benedict. "I've never really been that good at describing tastes. I'm better at preparing the food so people can try for themselves, usually." He takes a long sip from his ale.

"Jonathan is a good cook," Alexander tells Benedict, with a nod. "He, uh, he and one of your family members invited Isabella and me to dinner, once." He doesn't quite meet Jonathan's eyes, and quickly clears his throat. "The food was good. Um. Do either of you have plans for Christmas?"

"Any particular family member of mine?" Benedict asks with a grin, looking between the two other men. Obviously there's something there, since the family member wasn't named. He takes a sip of his beer, before waggling his hand. "Well, there will be the family Christmas at some point I'm sure. But other than that, no. Maybe stop by my parents at some point."

Nodding a little as he hears Alexander speak about the dinner invitation, Jonathan glances around the room briefly, as if to hide his expression briefly. He nods a little at Benedict's question. "One particular, yes." He doesn't mention any name, though. Looking to Alexander again as he hears the question about Christmas plans. "I don't know. I mean, my parents will probably insist I visit at least a few times, but aside from that? No ide, really."

"Katherine," Alexander supplies, because tact is something that happens to other people. "And I punched Patrick. But he was being an asshole." Still, there's something brief and sad that flits across his features before he takes a bite out of the candy cane. He nods, thoughtfully, to the mention of various family commitments. "I'll probably have Christmas lunch with my parents, as well. I hope it's nice. For both of you."

"Katherine." Benedict frowns thoughtfully. "I don't think I know her." Not that he knows every member of his entire extended family, but most of the locals. "Dare I ask what cousin Patrick did, Alexander?" There's a smile then, when the other man talks about having lunch with his parents. "I'm sure it will be. Hopefully yours is too."

Jonathan takes a long sip from his ale as he listens for now, nodding a little at the mention of the punching. "I'm sure we'll all get through it," he offers, with a smile.

Alexander huffs out a burst of air. His shoulders hunch a little. "He hugged me." He's aware that does not sound like a punching offense, hence the squirming in his chair. He stabs one of the tots and munches it. When it's gone, he says, "Anyway. I'm not gonna punch anyone here, tonight," he assures them both. "It's a good night."

"Well. Ok. No hugs. Got it." Benedict can't deny that's definitely not the answer he was expecting, but he gives Alexander a reassuring smile. "Exactly. Nobody's gonna punch anybody." Famous last words in Gray Harbor, maybe. "And we're going to have a great time drinking."

Jonathan offers a hint of a smile at Alexander's words, before he raises his glass as he hears Benedict's words. "I'll drink to that," he offers, before grinning a little wider. "Just three men and their drinks, right?"

"No hugs," Alexander agrees, his voice firm. He blinks at the drinking, stares at his beer bottle like he forgot that it was there. He picks it up, and returns Jonathan's salute with one of his own. "Three men, having a great time drinking." One of those smiles flashes out, looking pleased. He even takes a drink.

And it is a merry enough night, despite how loud that table of sailors is. Apparently everyone is having a Good Night Drinking.

"I'll definitely drink to three men and their drinks." Benedict agrees, raising his silver cup to join the salute. He can tune out the sailors. I mean, who hasn't gone out with a group of friends and been rowdy obnoxious assholes. He's a fighter pilot. Of course he has.

Jonathan has had his share of those trips out with a group of friends when he played hockey, so the only thing he does while looking towards the sailors is to smile a bit, before he looks back to the other two again. "So, aside from a bloodthirsty office, how have you two been?"

Alexander doesn't seem as easy with the loud sailors, giving them the occasional look. But they're there, and he's here, so he doesn't spend a lot of time on paranoia. He sips his beer and considers Jonathan's question. "Okay. I still don't know what happened during the missing time. It bothers me. And I lost my boots. I liked my boots. But the trail is cold, and I can't...the people I've tried to approach either also don't remember that time, or they don't stand out, so they don't know why I'm asking."

"Oh, you know, as well as can be expected. Haven't lost my mind yet, so that's something." Benedict grins, making as light of things as he can. "And honestly, Alexander, if the worst thing that happened was lost boots...I have a friend who apparently purchased a house but can't find all the paperwork for it."

Jonathan nods at the mention of the missing time. "I don't really know what I did during that time. Knowing me, probably very little," he replies after a few moments, before he grins at Benedict's words, before he takes another long sip of ale. "Interesting situation," he offers.

"They were very good boots," Alexander says, with a frown that does seem a bit excessive for a pair of boots. Then again, it's Alexander. He probably throws a temper tantrum when he misplaces his toothbrush. He takes another swig of beer, then frowns at Jonathan. "Did you leave any evidence? People have been doing things that are slightly uncharacteristic, but not completely. It's odd." A flick of the eyes to Benedict. "...you still remember that time, right? Do you remember anything odd happening in those three months? ...maybe we should check the case files."

"It's probably wise to check." Benedict agrees with a thoughtful nod. "You never know. But yes, I remember. And no, nothing odd. I just...lived my life for three months. Nothing unusual at all. Work, drill, CAP. It was actually really...well, boring isn't the word. But routine. Very routine."

"Nothing that I've seen so far," Jonathan replies. "Just feel like it's been rather... uneventful." He drinks up the rest of his ale, before he offers a grin at Benedict. "Isn't Boring a place in Oregon, or something?"

Alexander hums. It's not a toneless hum; those versed in such music might recognize part of the melody of Enter Sandman as he thinks. "It bothers me. The missing time. Even if nothing happened." A longer pause. "Especially if nothing happened. It doesn't make sense for our memories to be gone if nothing happened. And even things over there make a kind of sense."

"It is a little odd, yes. Especially since time definitely passed normally everywhere else." Benedict muses. "And yes, I think it might well be. I don't know, I haven't spent much time in Oregon to eb honest." There's a pause as he drinks. "But where would all those memories have just gone?"

Jonathan sighs, "At least the slast time I lost my memories, I know the reason for it," Jonathan says, thoughtfully. He looks about to make another comment, but then his phone buzzes. Looking at it, he sighs. "I should be going. Promised my father to help him with something. But it was nice speaking with you two, and if we don't meet before then, a merry christmas to you."

"I don't know," Alexander mutters. "I don't know." He shakes his head, takes another swallow. Then Jonathan is speaking and his mouth is opening to ask a nosy question--but no, the other man is leaving, so he smiles instead. "Merry Christmas. Don't die, Jonathan." A lift of his bottle to him.

"Great meeting you, Jonathan. Don't die." Benedict echoes Alexander with a grin. Apparently it's a meme or something. He lifts his glass to toast the man a safe departure.

Jonathan offers a brief grin to the two others as he gets to his feet, and a half-salute. "I'll try not to," he promises, before he leaves.

Alexander watches Jonathan leave much the same way he did Bennie, as if checking to make sure that they get where they're heading towards. "Mm. He's nice," he says, after a moment. "Seems sad. I guess a lot of people are. But still." He takes another swig of the bottle, mostly emptying it, before turning his attention to Benedict. "...how are you handling things? Really. Things are weird."

"Yeah, seems like a good guy." Benedict agrees, before Alexander asks that question. "Really?" He gazes down into what little is left of his drink. "Good days and bad days, I guess. Sometimes it seems exciting and like I'm finally in on the real story of this place I've so much emotional investment in. Other times I mostly worry about different things that could happen and how I definitely can't mention or even hint at this or both my careers are over."

"Really." And Alexander goes quiet to watch Benedict as he talks. He polishes off another couple of tots, and nods, quietly. "Knowing the truth is good. But it's dangerous. And frustrating. To know how things are, and know you won't be believed." He bites his lower lip, worries at it lightly. "I'm sorry. Would you like it to go away? If it could, I mean."

"Wow. Tough question." Benedict finishes what's left of his drink before trying to even address that. "I...don't think so. Or maybe just back to how it was, where I was in on the secret and remembered stuff correctly but wasn't, you know, Talented." There's a pause. "On the other hand, potentially being a Jedi Knight is really cool. That's hard to argue with. I just...this isn't what I imagined having magic powers would be like as a kid, you know?"

Alexander's smile flickers back into being, briefly, at the mention of Jedi. "Did you imagine having magic powers as a kid?" he asks. Then, after a moment, an additional question, "Have you tried to move anything else? Or tried to do anything else?"

"Well, I mean, games you played on the playground and such. That definitely counts. And stuff like playing Captain America, yeah. And yes, Jedi the first time I watched Star Wars." Benedict answers, before shaking his head. "No. I was going to go home and drink and try and move bottles with my mind but that's not what ended up happening that night. And I just...I don't know. After the way it ended, I'm not necessarily in a hurry to lose all my food again."

Alexander thinks about that. "Yeah. You pushed yourself hard. I'm not a psychokinetic, at all, but I know weight and control are both issues. If you start small, you shouldn't trigger backlash. Not as much, anyway." He clears his throat. "If you want to. You don't have to. Patrick thought that if you never used your abilities at all, that the Dark Men wouldn't bother you, and you wouldn't get Lost."

Benedict considers. "Any idea whether he was right?" He asks finally. "Although, I mean...it seems kinda...I dont't know. I'm not in the habit of hiding from things or avoiding enemies. And if getting Lost is what you call things like the park the other day? Apparently I was doing that even before I ever used an ability."

"I don't think he was," Alexander says, sadly. "Not...not if you stay in Gray Harbor, at least. If you go away...go to one of the places that aren't thin, and then don't draw attention? Yes, maybe. But Gray Harbor doesn't let people go easily. I think maybe it holds on to Addingtons and Baxters even more than most." He finishes the very last swallow of his beer. "But it's true that the more you use it, the more you're targeted. It's hard to find a balance. What's worth using your abilities, when you know that you're gonna get attacked by mind-controlling elves. That sort of thing."

"I mean, honestly, guns seem to work pretty well." Benedict points out thoughtfully. "Maybe hokey religions and ancient weapons really are no match for a good blaster at your side?" He sounds almost disappointed. "Yeah, the more I hear about all that the more I feel lucky I was even able to go the Academy and have an active duty career at all. I can live with being called back."

"Sometimes. Sometimes they don't," Alexander says, with a shrug. "It's...every time you get Lost, it has its own rules. Most times, the rules make sense within the Dream, but they aren't transitive. Something that works in one Dream might be useless in the next. But the office seems to work mostly by real world rules. Mostly." A look of wistfulness is there, for just a moment as Benedict talks about his career. "Just remember. You can leave. I think the town might try to convince you not to. But if you have to, don't listen to it. Go as far away as you can manage."

"Ok. So sometimes it won't work. Got it." Benedict is taking mental notes. There's a shake of his head, then, at the latter words. "No, I can't. You know that Alexander. What kind of man would I be if, now that I know that actually there's something really nasty out there that apparently preys on people with Talents, which includes most of my family and a lot of the town I grew up in, and several of my freinds, I ran off and left them to sort it out on their own? That would literally be the antithesis of what my life has stood for."

"You'd be an uncommonly smart man," Alexander mutters. He ducks his head through the rest, and lets out an exasperated sigh. "Instead, you're a good one." A crooked little smile. "Okay. I can't ever get people to do the smart thing. But just...be careful? And if you want to practice your abilities, and you need a partner, you have my number. I don't mind if you throw things at me with your mind."

"I'm smart enough." Benedict shrugs. "But I'd rather be stubborn and loyal and brave than smart, I think." There's an answering smile. "I appreciate you trying. But you never leave a man behind. That's just how it is. So unless I could figure out a way to get my family, you, Tanasha...there's a list, all out with me? Not going." There's a nod of appreciation then. "If I decide to do that, I'll definitely call you. I appreciate it. A lot."

Alexander makes a wordless noise; half of appreciation and half of exasperation. "You can't save everyone, Benedict." Then he sighs, and rubs at his face. "But I guess it's important to try. Okay, I should go home. It's a bit of a walk." He stands up, gathers up his trash. "Don't die, Benedict. And Merry Christmas." Then he's threading his way through the crowd, careful not to touch anyone, not even a brush against one of the drunker patrons, on his way outside.

"Don't die, Alexander. And Merry Christmas." Benedict watches his friend until he's vanished outside, and then turns his gaze back to the bar. Time for another drink.