Who: Jonathon Black & Eliot Waugh Where: Madison Valley Coffee and Tea Co. When: Friday - May 12th (Backdated) What: Meeting for coffee & Jonathon seeking some info Status: Completed via Gdoc Warnings: Some language, but otherwise tame
Jonathan had spent the morning practicing on one of his guitars. He still didn’t know how they had magically appeared in his room, but he was forever grateful. That reminded him that he had to give Claudia’s back that she had so generously let him borrow for the music and art festival and beyond. He’d really not expected that given he was so new when he’d made the request. That would have to wait until Monday since he had no idea where she lived and had only been to the museum to see her.
At present he gathered up his wallet and keys then left the house. He’d left a little early to make a quick stop then headed for the coffee and tea shop where he would meet with Eliot. They could have had coffee at the house, but not for the conversation he wanted to have. Jonathan ordered his coffee then sat at one of the tables. It was still a little before two, so there was a little time to take a quick peek at his phone while he waited.
Given the varied schedules of the folks in the Magicians house, Eliot didn’t often see any of his housemates more than in passing, so it didn’t strike him as odd that Jonathon asked him to meet for coffee outside of the house. He’d gotten out of bed late, having worked last night and not gotten home until nearly dawn, so he it was exactly two when he pushed through the door. He gave a wave as soon as he met the other man’s eyes and stepped up to the counter to order a highly caffeinated drink for himself.
A few minutes later, he took the seat across from Jonathon and offered a tired smile. “Sorry for being a little late, my schedule is insane. How’s everything going?”
He waved back then slipped his phone back into his pocket. He wasn’t one of those people who was on his phone while with others. As if there was anything on it that couldn’t wait. It was rude and was a pet peeve of his. If you’re more interested in being on your phone, then he was going to leave.
“It’s okay,” he said with a wave of his hand, “I know you worked last night.” Bartender hours definitely weren’t appealing to him. At least not the late night ones. “Good for the most part. Settling in a bit and I’m working. I won’t starve and I can pay bills now.” Jonathon took a sip of coffee. He wasn’t going to jump right into why he’d asked to speak to Eliot. The man needed at least some caffeine in his system. The truth was the more he thought about why he wanted to talk to Eliot the more he wasn’t so sure if it was a good idea.
“I’ve done more exploring, met some people and all that. My guitars magically showed up.” That made him genuinely smile. “I don’t know how, but I’m not going to question it. I’ve seen enough weird stuff to know sometimes things just happen. How are things in your world?”
“Yeah, you’ll learn not to question much of anything around here,” Eliot said. “And you’ll also learn that just when you think you have things figured out, the dome will throw a curve ball.” Yes, he could occasionally use sports metaphors, even if he wasn’t a huge athletic fan. “Random presents from home are among the nicer surprises we get.”
Sometimes you spent a week living as a Puritan. Or you got stuck in an alternate version of the town that was bleak and depressing and dangerous for a year. Neither were things Eliot wanted to talk about. “I’m doing okay,” he said. “Still missing Margo.” There was always a chance she’d return though, either with or without memories of being here. He wouldn’t care either way.
“Where did you end up getting a job?” he asked.
"Maybe there needs to be some questioning instead of just accepting everything that happens. Or questioning why we're all even here." Jonathon wasn't some big rebel or one to lead a revolt of anything, but he didn't believe in speaking his mind and asking questions. But here in Madison Valley, who would one even question? Who or what had the power to pull people from all over the world? "My best guess is that it's all some fucked up experiment, but by who or what I couldn't tell you." Otherwise why weren't they allowed to leave unless "they" saw or thought it was time for you to leave.
"I'd rather see my family and friends than have my guitars. If given a choice." Which they weren't. He drank more coffee, his thoughts pondering more of the mystery of Madison than why he'd wanted to meet for coffee. "Hmm? Oh, I perform at Electric Lady Night Club and work at Crawdaddy Music. So far things are going well at both places."
Jonathon took another sip of coffee then cleared his throat. "I'm sure you're busy, so I won't keep you too long. I asked to talk to you because I was hoping you could give me some insight or advice on Quentin. I'm having a hard time figuring him out. We haven't talked in almost two weeks. Which is funny considering we live in the same house. Anyway, he's nice from what I've gathered, but he seems to run a little...hot/cold." He made a face. No, that wasn't quite what he meant, but wasn't sure how else to word it. "I don't want to be nosy or anything, but I know you've known him since Brakebills. I thought we were becoming friends and then...nothing really." Jonathon shrugged a little.
Eliot knew that there were a number of people, many of whom were far more intelligent than he, who had been questioning things for nearly a decade and, thus far, had come up with no answers. He didn’t see the point in retreading the same ground.
It was good to hear that Jonathon’s jobs were going well and he made a mental note to try and catch his performance some night when he wasn’t working.
The questions about Quentin caught Eliot by surprise and he took a slow sip of his drink to buy himself a few moments to formulate his thoughts on how to reply. He loved Quentin despite being well aware that the other man could be as much of an enigma as this damn town. “That’s… not an easy question to answer,” he finally said. “Q is… complicated. He’s been through a lot, even before Brakebills and, well, I’m sure you’ve heard plenty of rumors about some of the things that we got into there.” Eliot wasn’t sure how much of their Fillorian exploits was known by the general populace.
“Some of it is pretty personal and it’s not my place to share,” he said. “Let’s just say that Quentin doesn’t have a lot of faith in himself. And that extends to relationships.”
Everyone was complicated, weren't they? He heard it often enough to believe it. Obviously it wasn't an easy question to answer given that Eliot didn't say a whole lot. "As I said before, I'm not the kind who believes everything that floats around the rumor mill. Especially in school." Young twenty somethings exaggerating and embellishing was fairly normal.
"That's fair." It was up to an individual when or if they shared personal things about themselves or anything else for that matter. Jonathon drank down more coffee and nodded. "I don't think I know him well enough to say if that's true or not, but you know him better than me, so I'll take that into account. Relationships encompass many things. I get the impression Quentin is a bit on the shy side. That's really all I get. Well, he's nice I think."
Jonathon finished off his coffee. "Thank you for taking the time to talk with me, Eliot.”
Shy was one word for it. Possibly an understatement though Eliot wasn’t sure what would be a better word. Unlike himself and Margo, he was pretty sure that Quentin would be happy to be invisible though.
“Of course,” he said. He paused for a moment before continuing. “Are you asking for a particular reason?” Eliot thought some of the network conversations he’d seen between them were a little flirtatious and was curious if Jonathon was interested in dating Quentin.
“Yeah, there is. I’m trying to figure out why he’s being the way he is. We were talking a lot when I first got here then it kind of slowed down. Then Margo disappeared. I get he needed time to deal with that. We were supposed to meet for tacos then he canceled saying he needed to go be with you. That was shortly after Margo disappeared. We said we would reschedule it, but then when I asked him to go out to lunch he completely ignored it and never said a word about it. So I was like, okay.” He didn’t understand, but what could he do? “Then I asked him if he wanted to go to the bonfire and he said yes. Fifteen minutes later he says no, he’s not going and giving excuses. And now he hasn’t talked to me for almost two weeks. So here we are. I don’t do well with the whole hot/cold thing. I’m honest and tell it like it is. I feel like there’s other stuff there and I thought maybe you could shed some light on him..”
He shrugged. “I just thought since you know him better you might be able to help. Is he dating anyone? Maybe he’s got a jealous girlfriend or boyfriend.” Jonathon tried to remember if Quentin had mentioned that, but couldn’t recall.
“That’s just Quentin,” Eliot said. “I spent a whole lifetime with the guy in another universe. You’re going to drive yourself crazy if you try and figure out what makes him tick.”
He shook his head in response to the dating question. “As far as I know, he isn’t seeing anyone.” There was always a chance that Quentin wouldn’t mention it to him, given their own history, but he liked to think they moved past that. “I would say not to take it personally though.” With their opposite schedules, he hadn’t spent much time with his friend lately and he realized he needed to rectify that.
Jonathon tilted his head to the side taking in Eliot and what he said. That made things make more sense. “I tend to take it personally when someone does the hot/cold thing to me. Your mileage may vary.” He turned and took his jacket off the back of the chair and pulled it on. “Thanks again for taking the time to talk to me.” He stood and took his wallet out and [ut some money on the table for a tip, “I’ll see you around.”