Re: [Webster's Vinyl: Holly & Dietre]
Holly had been making money off reading people, in one way or another, since he was eight years old. He noticed the tensing, but he wasn't offended by it. This strange town probably made for tense people. Where he came from, there wasn't any of this weird stuff. Okay, Gramps was always weird, but Gramps had lived a few counties over. Repose had been as dull as late night infomercials, but that wasn't the case in this Repose, and, sure, being tense? Not such a surprise. As for trusting people? Holly made every effort not to, so, he got that too.
"Yeah, sure," he said of trying the record. He reached his hand out for the sleeve, and, assuming Dietre handed it over, he started teeing it up on the turntable. "This is good. Ink Spots are awesome. They did some stuff with Ella Fitzgerald that I really dig. Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall. Check it sometime," he suggested, glancing over in time to see the flash of recognition on Dietre's face. He assumed the guy was going to mention the forums? But..., "yeah, I'm Noah's friend," he said, no affect, no reaction to being referred to as a friend, and he hadn't realized that Dietre and Noah knew each other, like, well.
But, right? That look over? Okay, so Holly had a tendency to be jealous, but that was definitely, like, scrutinizing, and not because Dietre was checking him out. This was absolutely about Noah, since, you know, it was followed by that comment about Noah talking about him. It was assessing, right? Holly just looked back, and he deadpanned: "Yeah?" He asked it throwaway, like it was casual, and he wondered how the Dietre back home would react to knowing he had apparently befriended Noah over here.
Look, that Dietre? Had been happy as a clam, and no one who was nice and happy did well with Noah. Not back home.