hc (nothingends) wrote in repose, @ 2020-02-11 15:22:00 |
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Hugh wasn’t a friend she’d expected to make. The man was certainly friendly and disarming enough in his own uniquely charming manner. If they’d met a year ago in a dark club Dante wouldn’t have denied the fact that she would have slept with him. Hell, she would have slept with him in the current day too but their interactions had largely been digital until fairly recently, and the news of him drinking by himself in his bedroom while moping? While she got it, that probably meant he wasn’t one of the best people for her to try to sleep with. Crying alone while drinking meant problems and making shit complicated when someone already had problems? That was drama that no one would need. Regardless of how much Hugh claimed to passively enjoy it. That was why after parking Dart appropriately Dante would exit the vehicle and head for the door with a nice bottle of red in hand. It wouldn’t matter if Hugh had told her not to worry about bringing anything, she’d still bring it. Between her parents and extended family it had been firmly ingrained that you didn’t show up on someone’s doorstep without a gift in hand and Dante always made good on that teaching. A glance would be taken around for a doorbell or a knocker or whatever the hell there might be before she’d use the best method to announce her arrival. If today would be for elaborate family diagrams, outlining the rules and expectations of their virgin club goers or something else she wasn’t sure but… Something about doing this? Something this simple? This normal? It was…. It was…. Nice. Heart ran for the door even before the bell rang, and Hugh wiped his hands on a towel and headed for the door. He was beginning to get used to having people over again. And maybe he hadn't had anyone but himself to blame when he hadn't invited people over before. No, truthfully, he hadn't had anyone but himself to blame. Hannah had always come when he'd asked, but then that had been somewhat complicated hadn't it? But now he could ask people over, and they would come, and unlike in Seattle, he had space to really entertain, and it was nice. And Dante reminded him of a lot of the friends he used to have in Seattle. And yes, maybe some of those friends hadn't turned out to be really strong actual friends. When he'd been arrested, and things had gotten difficult many of them had largely disappeared, but when things had been normal - before - there had been people he could call to go clubbing, or see a film, or do things with. The only reason he would spend a night alone was because he wanted to, and he wasn't there yet here. But it was getting better. And Dante was definitely a part of that. He opened the door to greet her with a smile, and Heart rushed forward to greet her with a wagging tail, and Hugh had to reach for the Lab's collar to pull her back. "Welcome," he told her, - Dante would get a hug as soon as she was properly inside and Heart properly kept inside by a closed door again. "Come on in, I put some nachos in the oven just a minute ago, but they'll be ready soon I think, Dante loved animals and her first instinct was to coo at Heart and reach to pet the dog but noting Hugh’s movement to restrain the pup she would pause. Hugh knew to handle his own dog and she’d respect that. “Thank fuck you don’t live in a mansion like Chris.” Would be offered as soon as she was through the door and hugging him back. “She nearly gave me a fucking heart attack when I rolled up on her place out here.” At the mention of nachos she couldn’t help but quirk an eyebrow at him. Admittedly the look was one that held a mild amusement at the food selection but nothing else would be said or done. Instead Dante would move into the house in order to free up the doorway and pause so that Hugh could direct them appropriately. “And for the host of our night.” Would be declared as she’d offer the bottle of wine over to Hugh. She’d made a guess on his preferences from what she’d witnessed him drinking through the various holidays as of late. “Are we starting with club baby rules and regulations, playlist crafting or a diagram of your family tree first tonight? Cause we got one hell of night ahead if we’re covering all those things in one night.” Dante’s tone was one of jest. "You good with dogs? I promise she's friendly," Hugh said, as he closed the door behind her, waiting to release Heart until he was certain Dante was cool with it. "This is Heart," he added. "There are two cats around here; You might see Cinnamon, but Espresso decided as soon as he moved in here that he would be seen by any company almost never and he rarely makes an appearance, but…" he grinned and shrugged. "I don't want to know what Chris' mansion looks like if this is 'not a mansion'," he added, as he took the bottle of wine, and his eyes lit up. "You didn't have to, but thank you, this looks incredible Dante!" He nodded towards the open great room and through it to the kitchen where he had fresh guacamole that he was making on the counter and had already opened some homemade salsa. "I got this craving for nachos the way my mom used to do them," he shrugged. "Which basically became this rabbit hole I went down and originally I was just going to make pasta - which," he looked at the wine somewhat ruefully. "Would have gone a lot better with that bottle of delight you just brought me." But the question of what to do with the evening was a good one. They'd thrown out multiple activities, some of which were perhaps more important to cover immediately than others, so prioritize. "I feel like we start with the baby rules - because after all, if we're taking Audrey, and Alex - right? - clubbing, we should probably have that figured out before we do. Then from there, I'm up for either depending on what we feel like. My family tree might not be that complicated or take that much time, really…" “I love dogs.” Dante couldn’t help the large, bright grin that immediately broke across her face at the question. “We could never get one growing up ‘cause my dad is allergic.” This bit of info was popped off without much of a thought. The quip about mansions earned a soft laugh. What was it with everyone she knew living in mansions and being super fucking rich? Her intent had been a joke but considering she’d seen multiple Houses that Chris lived in paired with the sheer hulking massiveness of the place she’d rolled up on… There was a reason why she’d installed an entire intercom system into their house for her Christmas present to Chris. They fucking needed it. “I installed an intercom system just so they could find each other in their mansion.” If that didn’t give the man next to her a clue, nothing would. Hugh’s commentary about cravings and pairings Dante smirked. “Wine goes great with nachos, don’t let anyone tell you different.” Assuming it was the right wine, which this one… it wouldn’t go poorly but it certainly wouldn’t be the best, and hell, the bottle was a gift to Hugh. He could drink it with whatever the fuck he wanted. “And you’re welcome. My abuela would cuff my ears if I didn’t bring the host something.” Her words were good humored but held just enough seriousness to them for it to be easy to decipher what she’d said wasn’t really a joke at all. When he launched into organizing their plans for the evening Dante nodded along. Setting up the rules and regs for the kiddos was gonna be important. “Audrey and whoever her friends are, she didn’t give me names.” There was a passive shrug given, she probably should have asked but they still had time to figure shit out so it wasn’t a loss. “But that doesn’t sound like the best place to start. So we got the basics of don’t accept drinks from strangers, don’t leave you drink unattended, use a buddy system if you’re worried.” Her brain went into ticking things off absently as Dante would let Hugh lead the way. Hugh laughed at this piece of information. He hadn't been to Chris' house, but it did paint a picture. Granted between the three levels in this one - if he had multiple people living in it, an intercom system wouldn't be the worst ever. You could yell from one end to the other - not impossible - but intercom seemed better. "You're welcome to come visit Heart anytime you like," he told her, watching Heart sniff out the visitor. "She loves visitors as much as I do. We are both social creatures." And they'd both been holed up in the mansion alone for too long, the blame of which had to rest entirely upon Hugh's own head. But he was done with that and had no intention of ever returning to that sort of life. He'd done it - and pulling inward like he had might have felt like the right decision at the time - but he wasn't certain it had helped as much as he had thought that it might. It'd just been avoiding, and he'd both drank more and smoked more and generally treated himself worse than he should have. "Your Abuela and my mother might get along well," he nodded, cause he hadn't shown up at her house either time without something with him. "And we could drink wine with nachos, but I've got a whole stocked bar cart, so I say we save the wine for pasta - which we will definitely, absolutely do the next time you come over, and we pick something better suited for cheese and chips." He checked the oven, pulled them out - chips and fancy cheese with toppings about as gourmet as it was possible for Nachos to be, considering they were still very definitely at their heart nachos. "Should we do some sort of buddy system to begin with you think?" he nodded to her ideas, reaching for plates for both of them. "I mean I suppose if Audrey's got several friends and they're all new to going out to clubs maybe that doesn't work, but I'm just thinking we could keep an eye out. I guess we can do that anyway. It wouldn't be exactly like a typical clubbing because he would be keeping an eye out - he already knew that. Audren struck him as someone who was fairly quiet, not someone who had a lot of experience with large parties and groups of people. "But generally, yeah, we need to cover those things and maybe also do a check in with alcohol in general if they're drinking? Like, if you don't know your limits - drink slow so you don't end up blacked out - that kind of thing?" Dante would carefully, slowly, crouch down to meet Heart on her level. Even with all the doggie nudging and tap dancing against her it got Dante managed not to lose her balance and seemed even more charmed by the pup’s exuberance more than anything else with a plethora of petting offered freely. “Careful, I don’t think you get how much I love dogs.” Honestly, if she had the time to have one of her own? She would. However, being at the shop about twelve hours a day was barely fair to herself, it sure as hell wasn't fair to a pet. Yet relocation - keeping mind of where Heart was bouncing around as to not step on the pup - was easy, and fingers trailed low to scritch at a scruff of fur or head as Heart might offer. Dante didn’t want to come off as too excited about the dog and make Hugh feel left out… Even if she’d love to offer to take heart for runs if Hugh wasn’t feeling up for it… Not that she’d run much since high school but… The thought was for another time. Dante would nod along to relatives getting along, and the stocked bar cart, and the suggested food and wine pairings. Hugh undoubtedly had bought into the “proper” world, the established white upper class that most in this country aspired to. It wasn’t inherently bad, but something she’d have to be mindful of before bitching about the white heteronormative patriarchy ruling class of colonizers. “I think a buddy system would be good.” The words were thoughtful. “Should we pair same genders? Bathroom runs. But I think the club experienced are gonna be outnumbered by the clubbing newbies. For newbies we got Audrey, Alex, I think Alex’s friend Mal is too? Then Rey wants to join too, but I’m a little less worried about her than our 19 and 20 year olds.” Which was true. Rey likely knew to watch her drink at bars and things of the sort but it wouldn’t hurt to touch base with her on those things too. Dante made a mental note. “So we need to talk about buddy system, general safety, alcohol inebriation or do we want to talk drugs too? I don’t use personally, but I know a lot of clubbers do.” Dante would shift, moving up nearby to Hugh and offering her hands out to show she was ready to help, assuming there was anything Hugh had left for her to do. "You aren't allowed to kidnap her," Hugh laughed watching his dog with some fondness. "I'd miss her terribly at night, I'd get cold," he teased, at least half serious about his need for another warm body in bed with him. "But I'm serious about coming to see her if you want to, in and amongst all your other projects." He handed over some food, and instead of going to the table, which felt all too formal for the type of evening they were having anyway, Hugh led them into the large living room where he'd pulled the huge coffee table over nearer to the sofas and cleared a space. He sat down the plates and other food related items he was carrying and nodded for Dante to go ahead and sit down while he went and pulled drinks from the refrigerator. He handed one of the bottles to her with a tilted eyebrow. "It's a Seattle brewery, and I love them, and you can't buy them locally, so if you look at it and think 'not for me', I am not offended and will hold onto it. But I think it'd be a good match with this evening, and I'm willing to share," he teased lightly. "I talked to Rey on New Years," Hugh nodded. "I got the impression that she could take care of herself. I might be wrong, but that's the sense I got." Competent, and not easily messed with, if he were coming right down to it. He didn't know her well, and he didn't know her age, but it seemed likely that she'd be fine. "I think maybe a - give everyone someone they keep track of while we're there, sort of thing. Maybe it's not even so much a Buddy system, since we've got three boys and three girls, as just a 'let this person know if you're leaving and with whom', sort of situation?" He tilted his head and shrugged. "I don't want to be too paternal, like, god this whole conversation makes me feel old, but I also want it to be a good experience and to give them the knowledge they need for it to always be a good experience anytime they do it, if that makes sense." He popped the lid off of his bottle. "We should at least mention drugs. I don't use them," hell at this point with his legal background he tried to stay away from them, really. "But again - they'll be in an environment where some people may, and knowing what to expect helps prepare you to deal with it if it comes into your circle." “Can’t anyway, wouldn’t have any place to put her. Making sure my dad can still come over to my place and breathe is high on my list of priorities.” Her response was a bit in jest but it was mostly the truth. As much as Dante may love dogs, her love of her father and his ability to be comfortable would trump that for as long as Hector was alive. “But I will totally come over and visit her.” Dante grinned before reaching down to ruffle the pup’s fur and leaned over to talk to Heart. “Yes I will, yes I will pretty baby.” Her grin widened as the dog seemed to appreciate receiving the attention just as much as Dante loved to give it. There was a soft giggle before she moved to follow along behind Hugh, taking the food and drink with a quick ‘thanks’ offered as she took the beer before following him to where they were going to sit. His house, his show. When shown where they’d be sitting she’d set her plate down before folding one leg under herself and angling how she sat so that her body would directly face Hugh. “Same on Rey.” Dante offered back thoughtfully in regards to his assessment on the other woman. She hadn’t known the other woman very long but there was something in how she moved, how she spoke, how she handled interactions and situations that spoke of confidence. Confidence like that - even when masked with modesty - wasn’t faked, it was hard fought for and won. “I think once we give her a rundown she’ll mostly be fine, maybe a little lost in a crowd, but that’s just an adjustment phase needed and we’ll keep tabs.” Her brow furrowed thoughtfully. “We should probably make easily readable hand signals for when the music’s too loud.” Though at Hugh’s suggestion on the buddy system she’d nod. “That would be good.” She’d hold out the bottle in offer for him to open hers as well. Dante was more than capable of popping the cap off herself but she was trying not to dent his coffee table or show she was stronger than she looked so quick. “Oh yeah, totally mentioning drugs. Also gonna have a talk about if you’ve never done them before this is not your night to try because I don’t wanna be sitting in a fucking ER waiting for someone to puke their guts out from a charcoal cocktail.” Heart followed them, interested in the food, but obedient when Hugh said no to it, but she curled up halfway between Hugh and Dante - clearly keen on making friends and being near where the action was, and possibly near where dropped bits of beef might occur and she could clean them up. Hugh opened Dante's bottle nodding along with the suggestions she was making. "That's a good plan, and we can all exchange phone numbers if you're comfortable with that, or everyone can have mine, cause I don't care - that way if we get separated we've got that as a back-up too. I've got a watch - don't usually wear it, but I'll put it on that night, cause sometimes I don't catch notifications in a crowd with the phone." He shook his head. "Agreed, I spent one night in college with a roommate, and fuck that, never again." Hugh had been known to drink too much, and cigarettes were a constant sort of battle that he sometimes won and sometimes didn't (when he was doing well professionally it was so much easier to not) but that one experience had cut any desire to do anything harder out of his system early on. "I don't think it'll be a problem…" he considered the group. He didn't know Alex well, but he couldn't see Audrey intentionally trying drugs, or possibly even drinking. "But I think it's good to cover." From the grinning glances and tabs kept on Heart it was obvious Dante was already in love with the pup. However, her and Hugh were talking now and he deserved her attention just as much. “Oh yeah, totally exchanging phone numbers. We should probably let the kids know we’ll need their numbers.” There was a thoughtful hum here. “Chris has mine, and I don’t think I care if anyone we know is coming does either. We can both keep an eye out for notifications and things. Easier with two to handle things.” And it was true, trying to manage a gaggle of people at a club was a nightmare. Why after her early ventures into clubbing she’d decided to stick in smaller groups, three or four people was pretty manageable still. Dante would nod along as Hugh spoke about who and what he knew. “Have to cover club etiquette and dress requirements too, plus picking one out that allows under 21 as Alex has already told me he is 19 and did not mention a fake ID.” Dante couldn’t help a little grin. “I’d be fine if he had a fake ID, but I’m not making him one.” There was a pause as she thought. “Maybe we should look at the clubs we can go to before we start making any more rules on what we need to teach them?” While there was a general air and generic things they could put down about watching drinks, letting people know where you were and more, there were some things they couldn’t figure out until they knew where they were going. “Any thoughts on a good 18+ club?” She knew a couple that might work but it seemed like Hugh had more knowledge of The Capital and might have a few more in’s than her. "Group text maybe," Hugh suggested after reaching for food. "Obviously not required, but could make things easier. And yeah, that's true about the etiquette and requirements on dress. Kinda depends on the club doesn't it?" He took a bite of nachos and then reached for his phone. "Actually yes. Most of the ones I've been to have not been, but I went to a couple back in early December with some of the cast and crew of the television show I worked with, and there were a couple of the cast members that didn't hit that 21 mark." Hugh scrolled back through his texts for the link and then pulled up the website on his phone and handed it over so Dante could take a look at it. "It had good music the night I was there, kinda prevalent non-alcoholic options on the bar, which I felt like promoted an atmosphere that you didn't have to which is always nice if you don't want to for an evening or you can't legally, etc. There was another one mentioned that night, and I'd have to get in touch to ask for the name, but I could. This one is near the Arts District too, so in general stuff stays open later and if we want to cut out early or get food somewhere, there's plenty of places open past midnight with all the shows that are there." “Group text totally.” Dante agreed enthusiastically to the idea as she reached for some food. It would - theoretically - make things way easier if everyone was passively keeping an eye on each other in that way. “But optional for our experienced goer’s I think. I’d want an open line for the new kids to ask questions through.” Which felt weird to call a 19 year old a kid when she was only 26… Then again when you had a life like hers… It was time to put food in her mouth and not say things like that aloud. “MmMmm.” Would be the response - with a closed mouth of food - when Hugh offered over his phone and it took her a second to clean her fingers before she took it from him. It almost felt strange to use a phone like this with how much she’d been responding mentally recently. All that running things while working on Atticus’ car had really done a trick on her brain for that one. It was a habit she’d need to break soon, but it was what it was for now and she’d make sure to cognitively fight against the urge. Dante’s thumb scrolled over the listing and started to click through a few of the hyperlinks to check the place out as she chewed. After a few moments she’d scoot the phone back across the coffee table towards Hugh and swallow her bite of nachos. “I like it, and non-alcoholic options are good. We don’t know if we have any non-drinkers and we’ll have to stop drinking alcohol probably around 1 or 2 anyway and having more options open are better than less, always.” Her head would nod along as she spoke through the thoughts before reaching for the beer to take a sip. Hugh nodded. "If someone's been a lot before, they don't need us looking over their shoulder. Hell, I don't want to look over anyone's shoulder so much as give some techniques so they can feel comfortable on their own." He took a drink of beer and nodded back to her. He had a high tolerance for alcohol and also knew his limits really well, but he was also no stranger to not drinking after a certain point either because of driving, or because he had rehearsal the next morning and his career was too important to him to fuck up. "Anywhere that has creative non-alcoholic options always gains points with me, to be honest. Both because sometimes I need them, and I've had too many friends too that just don't drink for whatever reason. It's nice to be inclusive. And at least some of the people going are underage, and I'm not going to keep them from it, but I don't want them to feel weird if they don't want to, basically." Hugh took pity on Heart and offered her some food on one of the small plates. "I feel like that's most everything, yeah? I mean, I just want people to have fun mostly." “Totally agree. They’re all adults and while I’m sure I’ll do that weird helicopter parent hover thing at least twice over the course of the night, I’d rather not do it at all.” It was an honest admission of her habits and behavior. When there was someone in a new situation she tended to hover a little, mostly out of concern for the person to feel comfortable, but it was still hovering and that shit got obnoxious. Another bite of the food and swig of her own beer would be taken as she let him talk as she nodded along. They really did seem to be on the same page about most of it. “I think so. We’ve got drinks and behavior. Otherwise it’s just reminding them to keep their phones charged, bring some spending cash and what times the carpools leave.” Since really the rest was just schematics at this point. “Does that mean it’s time for the diagrams now?” And to say she was just a little excited about that was totally a lie. Hugh nodded, feeling reasonably good about having agreed to do this with Dante. It felt as if they more or less saw things the same way - which if he were perfectly honest was nice. He'd had a phase of feeling as if he didn't see eye-to-eye with anyone, which was almost as isolating as living by himself was. He took a drink and laughed. "You really want diagrams now?" He sat the beer down on the coffee table and pulled a foot up under him. "I almost feel as if I ought to have gotten poster board and things like an old Elementary School science fair project. Draw a tree, fill in names," he was teasing, mostly but it wasn't the worst thing to talk about. His family wasn't probably as complicated as he'd made it out to be, but it was also nice to just talk about it with someone. "So… once upon a time, a young woman who wanted to be an actor met a shy and slightly work-ahollic software developer in California, and they definitely fell head over heels for some reason that I'm still trying to figure out," he laughed. "And she quit pursuing acting, and they moved to Washington state, and settled down and got all house wife of Bellevue. And they had a boy, and then they had a girl, and they had the 2 kids, but not the .5, I guess, which I'm pretty sure wasn't a problem for Isaac Blumenkrantz, I'm guessing he'd have been happy with two, but then she went and hooked up with another software developer and along came Jeremiah, who hated being Jeremiah, hated anything remotely resembling science or engineering, and loved the stage, and was the odd person out in his family, for like 27 years." “I really want diagrams now.” Dante teasingly confirmed with a devilish grin. “Hop to, sexy.” As he set his beer down Dante picked hers up with a pleased smirk and slight swish of her hair. A sip of the beer was taken as she settled back against the couch again but not before giving Heart a brief scritch behind the ear. “Mm.” The beer was swallowed as a hand raised, a pointing in the air as she nodded. “Totally school science fair it up, I dig it.” Her hand rolled in the air. “Points for style, continue.” Hugh’s approach of starting it like a fairy tale story book wasn’t lost on her and the effort earned a low snicker. At the mention of California Dante did the only appropriate thing a listening audience should and ‘ooo’d like it was some dramatic scene setting. There would be another bite of food retrieved as he spoke. Eyes watched Hugh as he moved and spoke, following along any direction his hands might give, or if lacking food in her mouth she’d offer an appropriately humorous sounding ‘ooo’ or ‘ah’ like one might expect to hear on a 90’s sitcom from the audience interjecting over the scene. Her face fell at the end though, clear sympathy for the last bit. “Poor Jeremiah, that’s quite some time to be the odd one out.” Hugh laughed. "I am an actor, not an artiste!" Which was probably why he'd gone fairy tale. And maybe, he could do a little more writing than he'd ever given himself credit for. The real problem with writing was that it wasn't acting, and there might yet be a script or a novel in him yet, even if he did mostly protest that notion. He took a bite of the nachos, and shifted, leaning down to give Heart some love before he looked back up. "I mean, it all makes you who you are right? All of that. And Mom always took me to theatre camps and dance lessons and went to bat when I wanted to do them so I was not without anyone in my court. Finding my biological dad, and also just generally finding out about him was this bizarre fluke, but one of those moments when everything about your life just clicks into place suddenly and you're like 'oh'," he laughed, but it didn't last very long. "In all honesty finding Harry was the best thing that happened to me that year. When I got caught up in the trial from the film, he called his personal lawyer, when I wanted to disappear from Seattle because it was too much, he found this place. It's weird, but not in a bad way." He reached for the beer, but didn't take a sip, instead he just rested it on his knee for a moment. "And I think Isaac knew, even if like, he didn't know, and that makes a lot of things make sense. So that's - I don't know if it counts as a diagram, but that's the jest." “That’s what they say.” This conversation felt strangely similar to another Dante had had not terribly long ago. There was a thought to drop more information or interaction in based on that concept but Hugh kept talking and Dante opted to let the point go. That ‘oh’ moment Hugh mentioned though? Dante had a few of those. None she could use to relate to him right now, not until they knew each other better. She always had to get a better read on people before revealing anything with her cars or… other abilities. Regardless, Dante would nod along, listening to how Hugh felt and what he’d been through. She thought to say that the trial - from what she’d read of it - seemed a nightmare but instead she’d opt for something else. High wasn’t the only actor here. “It really sounds serendipitous.” Would be offered in response instead to the information and lengths that Harry had apparently gone though to help. Though the last bit about Isaac earned a nod. “It must have been tough, probably some distance there, yeah?” The words were more of a theory than sincere knowledge though and the sympathetic look offered would only drive that home. It was what they said, and mostly Hugh could see it. There were worse things than the childhood he'd had, for all it had at times felt unbearable living through it. In retrospect, there'd been an ideal veneer to it that a lot of people didn't get. Sure he still probably had Daddy issues with a capital D, if he were going to be really honest, but… he'd figured it out. "It was, in a lot of ways," Hugh nodded. For a moment he was quiet, debating how much to really say. He didn't know Dante well, but she seemed like someone that could be trusted, generally, and it wasn't as if there was any truly damaging thing she could do with the information - it was more the uncertainty of being vulnerable with someone about it. "It was the one good thing that came out of a really shitty year. I think… I don't know that I'd say that my Dad, Isaac that is, and I really get along better now, but I don't expect things from him that I always wanted, and that part maybe does mean that we get along better in a round about way. There's distance, though, which doesn't hurt. I mean, I'm here, because my actual biological dad bought me a house here, so ... " he shrugged. Obviously it created distance. "In some ways I think I'm still figuring out exactly how to maneuver this stuff, but it's alright." “People don’t always think about the small things in those situations. Those tend to be the ones that hurt the most.” The smile was sympathetic, holding a certain understanding born of experience. It was easy to be understanding about the complications of people’s family’s. Even with his problems Hugh largely acted right though, and that was what made him awesome in Dante’s eyes. “Expectations, and unmet expectations, can kill relations.” She’d used unmet expectations to force people away from her before. When someone was starting to seem a little too into her? It was easy to bail on their invite out and go do her own thing and keep doing that until they’d caught the hint. “So if things are easier now, that’s not too surprising.” There was a smile offered to Hugh here, one unsure but supportive of whatever he might need at the same time. “I’m sure you will figure it out, and hey, I bet you get some awesome stories along the ride.” Put a positive spin on it, that would make reality easier to swallow, and with that she reached for her beer again, because that also made reality easier to swallow too. "Right?" Hugh's eyes brightened, some gratitude in his look as he smiled for her, and he reached for his own beer. He liked Dante, liked her no nonsense energy and optimistic spirit, and she was fast becoming someone he wanted to keep around as a friend. He placed the mostly finished plate of nachos to the side, and Heart saw that as her invitation to stand up, begging for an invite to his lap. He sat the bottle down, and patted beside him, and she jumped up on the sofa, nose in his lap, and curled up there. "I mean, for a while I pretended that I could write a story out of all of it, and maybe someday I will yet. I don't know. It's not impossible, although I think I'm a better actor than I am writer. Currently, anyway." But all of that fed the acting too and he was smart enough to know the ways that working through things fed the roles he auditioned for an accepted. "Anyway, I apologize for the lack of diagrams, but maybe I'll draw you a picture and pop it in the mail," he quipped. "Please expect stick figures however, because I don't draw very well at all." “What about thinking of it as a play instead of a story?” Maybe specifying the mental distinction would mean something to him, it certainly made worlds of differences in her own head some days. The commentary about diagrams earned a laugh and a bright smile. “I’ll be awaiting your glorious artwork with baited breath.” Dante couldn’t help but tease good naturedly. People didn’t send enough mail now-a-days and it was always nice to get something from a friend. "Maybe," Hugh scritched Heart's ears gently. "Or maybe just go a different direction than what I was originally thinking of. Like - maybe I need to mix up the genre, you know?" He'd tried something that hadn't worked, but that had been over a year ago, and in all reality, he realized that he might be looking at a different type of story now, and maybe as a screenplay or just a play in general would be the way to go. "Well, I can't let a girl down, can I?" He grinned. "Which reminds me. I made brownies with lavender and white chocolate pieces, so if you're down?" He quirked an eyebrow at Dante and began the process of shifting Heart off of his lap, much to her dismay. "If you're interested in that kind of thing?" |