Re: [Tandy & Holly: the good diner]
"I just am." Holly lifted a shoulder. He didn't have a plan for everything, but he deliberately tried to maintain his chill. He'd learned really young that he could maintain his chill through everything, if he just tried hard enough. Okay, so maybe that created a kinda unhealthy coping mechanism, but he did cope. He'd made it through a really shitty childhood, and he made it through this facility thing and this changing realities thing. "You like rationales. I like just coping, and that works by me." Holly didn't actually look for rationales. He didn't try to poke apart the knots. He just pushed stuff down.
Tandy here seemed like the sort of person to keep a notebook. She had this weird issue with technology and the man. I mean, Holly didn't trust the man either, but he wasn't willing to give up technology. Anyway, he was pretty sure they could find him anywhere, even if he didn't use the internet. Plus, there was the matter of money, of earning money, so, right, technology got to stay. "I'm not sure it's bleak, but the girl version of you was majorly distrusting in my short association with her."
But, yeah, money down, and he slid out of the booth. "You don't need to pay me back. Like I said, I'm just paying it forward." It wasn't a very Holly thing to do, but he had a moment where he considered what his life would've been without Noah's credit card, you know, early on, and, yeah, so he felt momentarily giving. He stood there, waiting to see what else Tandy said, and he dragged a hand through his long hair. "Yeah. It's cool you're here too," he said honestly. "So, maybe we can get together with Travis and Noah at some point, right?" It sounded safe enough in that moment.
"I'm at the music store most nights, if you need anything," he added, and he stopped for a second to talk to the waitress about his mom. He really needed to go see his mom. Anyway, after that? He lifted a hand to Tandy in farewell and good luck, and then he bailed, hoping to avoid questions about Bea between the booth and the door.