Nick Iacoletti (cookedbooks) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2018-03-30 10:42:00 |
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Entry tags: | #october 2017, nick |
Who: Madison and Nick
When: Monday, Oct 9, evening
Where: The Boathouse
Status: Complete
Maybe it was weird for some people to have a date on a Monday night, but Nick didn’t mind it in the slightest. It was the night Officer Madison Pierce had declared herself free, so he was going to accommodate her. It wasn’t like he had a regular nine-to-five to get up early for or anything. Nick pretty much set his own schedule. And working in dinner with a lovely lady who might come in very handy in cracking this town open? Seemed like an excellent investment of his time.
He’d asked around a bit to figure out what the best restaurants were, and he’d been told that for something at least semi-upscale, he should go to The Boathouse. So that was where he’d suggested when Mads texted him, and she’d sounded game for that. Nick spent the day of driving around the town some more. He went to the covered bridge and the beach, making notes and taking pictures. There was a lot to explore, and he’d just started to scratch the surface ... he was starting to think he would be in Point Pleasant through the winter at least.
After a shower and a change of clothes at his room at Juniper, Nick headed to the restaurant a bit early to claim the table he’d reserved -- a waste of a phone call, apparently, since there was hardly a crowd. He settled in, glad he hadn’t over-done it on the fancy clothes, and just went with some soft dark jeans and a black sweater that fit him pretty well. He pulled his phone free to idly fiddle with it while he pretended to not watch the door.
The day so far hadn't been so bad. Actually, it had been pretty good. Mads got to spend it with Ty which was always a bonus and managed to avoid anything beyond traffic violations and slaps on the wrists. It was nice and, honestly, exactly what the two had needed. Just a nice, calm day where they could talk and not feel like the world was coming to an end. When it was time to clock out, she waved her friend a quick goodbye before beelining to her truck. She had a little under two hours before she had to meet Nick at The Boathouse and she was going to use every last minute of it to get ready... or only forty-five minutes to shower, put on the bare minimum of make-up, and get dressed. The rest of the time was spent putzing around the apartment trying to occupy herself.
Mercifully, time didn't drag too much and soon she was stepping into the restaurant. Her eyes did a quick once over of the place before she caught sight of Nick. She smiled and waved, taking a moment to tell the hostess she had a table before heading toward her companion for the evening. “Hey there,” she greeted, shrugging off her jacket and placing it onto the back of her chair. Like Nick, she hadn't really dressed up, opting for a red button-up blouse and a pair of jeans. “Hope you haven't been waiting too long.”
“Evenin’.” Nick stood up as Mads approached like a gentleman, but he didn’t go so far as to walk around to pull out her chair or anything. It was a date, but he wasn’t trying too hard to impress her. Plus she was a cop and therefore possibly an Independent Woman who might take offense. You could never tell these days. He did smile bright and easy at her though, glad to see he hadn’t under-dressed. Mads still looked good, though. “Nah, just a few minutes,” he said, sitting once more when she did. “Hope your day wasn’t too hectic ... you look lovely.” He’d always been more partial to women who were comfortable with themselves instead of trying to over-do their appearance, and Mads seemed like one of those types of women. She was pretty enough naturally anyway.
“Nothing too hectic,” she answered as she settled down into her seat. Mads smiled brightly. “And thank you. You don't look too bad yourself.” Though that was a given; he could wear a potato sack and still look gorgeous. Her eyes moved to the menu resting in front of her before returning back to him. “What about you? Hopefully you were able to find something to keep you occupied. Love the place, but sometimes it can get a little dull.” Very rarely with all the weird crap, but sometimes it happened.
Nick sat down again himself, scooting his chair in and finally opening the menu they’d left with him. He hadn’t wanted to just be sitting and staring at Mads while she decided what to order. “It’s definitely not dull to me yet,” he said with a chuckle. Just from what he’d seen so far, this town had plenty to keep him busy. He already thought there might be more than one book here. “But I know I’m not your average tourist. I uh, checked out the lighthouse today, and spent some time in the library. ... which, granted, does sound really dull.” Nick gave a little laugh and shrugged a shoulder. “I’m kind of excited about it all though.”
“I don’t think it sounds dull at all.” While Mads was definitely an outdoor type, she did enjoy the occasional visit to the library, mostly to help with research into cold cases when she felt the urge. If she hadn’t been so busy with present day police work she might have already picked up one as a side project. Alas, she feared she’d never have a chance to between her work and personal life. Perhaps it was for the best; she had a tendency to get a bit absorbed and she didn’t need that. “The lighthouse is nice, isn’t it? And I can’t say I’ve had a chance to visit the library though I’ve been wanting to.” She folded open her menu and scanned the available items. “Find anything interesting on your quest?”
That was a good sign -- Nick always appreciated a woman who would listen to his nerdy bullshit without getting visibly bored and annoyed. If Mads didn’t find it dull, maybe they would have plenty to talk about. Not that Nick was against encounters with minimal talking, but a mental connection always made things more interesting. “It was lovely, yeah,” he answered, scanning his own menu. “And I did, actually. This town’s history ... just on overview, there’s a lot.” He chuckled faintly, picked what he wanted to order, and flipped his menu shut again. “I think I’m gonna work on the Point Pleasant Six first. Witchcraft executions find a pretty big audience, especially from places that aren’t Salem. Curses too ... if I start with the far history, I can trace the darkness through the years, make the connections to everything else.”
“Point Pleasant definitely has a lot of history,” she agreed as she continued to look over the menu. Especially history that would interest a researcher like Nick. Witches, unexplained sightings, disappearances, unsolved murders? It was a freakin' goldmine. So many things that believers in the paranormal could attempt to find explanations for. Mostly bogus explanations, but who was she to judge? Finally picking an item, Mads shut the menu and rested it on the table. “The Point Pleasant Six seems like the best place to start, yeah. And good time to look into them too. The museum has tours this time of year. Have you been there? The museum? Think it could be quite helpful.”
“I poked through it a little bit, but I need to go back to be more thorough. I’d love to go on one of the tours,” he said, quirking a smile at her as he folded his arms on the table. No matter what he dug up and what made it into a book or only into his reports, Nick knew it would be fruitful here. Places like this just ... resonated. They became hot spots and collected strangeness. After a beat, he grinned at her a bit wider. “We don’t have to talk about this shit though. I don’t expect you to tour guide for me, and I already think about work too many hours a day. Distract me. Tell me about you. What do you do for fun around here? Not touristy shit, I bet.”
“You should. I personally haven't had the chance to go on one of them but I've heard good things.” If things stayed as quiet as they had been the last few days she might try to catch one of those tours on her day off. She'd have to go with someone though because going solo seemed a bit weird. Maybe Fin or Brad or – “Maybe we could go together sometime. New experience for both of us,” she casually suggested with a smile.
Mads quirked a brow when Nick turned the conversation on to her. “You want to know about me? I thought you wanted to be distracted, not bored out of your mind.” She chuckled, picking up her water and taking a sip before continuing. “I do the typical things really. Hang with friends, visit the bars – my friend owns Books and Beer actually, you should check it out some time – hike and explore the area around the town. Stuff like that.” She shrugged some. “I do want to get back into doing my own research but haven't found the time. Alas.”
Nick smiled as she suggested they go on a tour together. “I’d love to.” That sounded like fun. And if he didn’t feel like he could properly concentrate and absorb what he needed to absorb with company around, he could always just go on another tour. Or make note of the route and do some self-guided touring. Taking things at his own pace and poking around places tour guides usually discouraged was half of his job, really.
He gave a faint chuckle at her self-deprecation -- of course he wanted to know about her, this was a date after all. “I’ve seen the Books and Beer place,” he said with a nod. “Definitely want to stop by there. And that’s pretty much what I do too, minus the friends, so ... it’s not boring to me. What kind of research do you do? Something outside of your regular cop-investigation duties?” She’d seemed a little incredulous when he’d told her what he did before, so Nick kind of doubted it was anything supernatural related, but who knew in a place like this.
Her smile widened. “Great. I'll look up the times and let you know.” It seemed like it could be a fun time. It also provided an easy way to spend time with him without seeming like she was trying too hard. Not that she actually was which was why she didn't want it to seem that way. “You definitely should. I bet you and Fin would have a lot to talk about.” A smile. “Then you'll have two friends in this town to do boring things with. As for my research, it's sort of an offshoot of my regular duties? I look into cold case files. Try to find any new leads. So how many cases go unsolved and there's no closure.” Such as the many disappearances and murders that have plagued the town. “I want to fix that.”
Nick gave a crooked grin at the bit about two boring friends. That was better than no friends at all, he supposed. And really, in his experience, the people who were the quietest and most unobtrusive seemed to know the most. They were valuable people to befriend, especially with one in the police force and the other in a book-dealing business. “So not too far afield, but still fascinating,” he assessed with a nod. He was interested in cold cases too, since he knew that some percentage of them could relate back to the supernatural. The mundane cops didn’t usually explore those options, so a lot of things got missed. He was about to say more, but the waitress showed up to take their orders. Once that was done, he turned back to Mads with a smile. “Are there a lot of those in Point Pleasant?” he asked, sounding interested. “Any one in particular got your interest? Like your own Moby Dick?” Nick grinned.
“It is,” she agreed, her smiling widening slightly. Mads was glad that Nick seemed to find her little hobby interesting as opposed to, well, not. Though, in all truthfulness, she wasn't surprised. Cold case files in general were fascinating, but looking at them through a paranormal eye must increase it for those that thought that way. Nick looked as if he was about to continue, but was cut off by the arrival of the waitress. “Quite a few,” she admitted once the waitress had left and Nick was able to pose his question. “I haven't had the chance to go through many of them yet though. As for my own Moby Dick...” She paused, considering. “The hook murders, I think. Not really a cold case, not officially, but the resolution never settled well with me. I don't know why, exactly, it just... doesn't.”
As it so happened, Nick was familiar with that case, at least in passing. He’d done quite a bit of digging into Point Pleasant before he showed up, and the range of bizarre deaths that popped up in its history had been eye-catching. “Huh, I remember reading about those,” he said, sitting forward a bit with interest. “Mostly in the 90s, right? There seemed to be a lot that went wrong around that tunnel.” If he remembered right, there were multiple mutilated bodies hung up, a girl pushed in front of a train, and a missing kid sometime later. Nick made a mental note to go check it out soon, see if he could pick up on anything. Certain places attracted certain tragedies. “But hey, trust your instincts, I say. If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. Humans are far more intuitive than we give ourselves credit for, the brain picks up on so much we’re not consciously aware of.”
“Mostly in the 90s and early 2000s, yeah,” she confirmed with a slight nod. “Four found in ‘92, then three in 2001.” Mads went quiet and lowered her head slightly, a brief moment of silence. It wasn’t a common thing for her to do, but this case was a little more personal than others. One of victims of the 2001 murders - Joanna Harris - had been Charlie’s sister. She hadn’t been close to Joanna considering their age difference, but she had been friends with Charlie and knew how much the death had affected her and her family. Taking a few seconds to remember only seemed right. “Places like that tend to breed trouble,” she continued with no comment on or recognition of her momentary silence. “Out of the way. Little traffic. Stories that give it a certain allure.” Stories he had already delved into, she was certain. A small smile came to her lips at his encouragement. “I try to. Trust my instincts, that is.”
It was a pregnant pause, so Nick didn’t try to fill it with something, just looked at Mads with one eyebrow lifting slightly. He often got reminders like that, that the things he was academically interested in, the tragedies that were so fascinating, had real people behind them. Maybe Mads had known one of the victims, and that was why it was her Moby Dick case. He was tempted to ask, but it felt a bit invasive for a first date. Not that they were having the typical date conversation at the moment, but that was all right. Typical was boring. He nodded to the rest of what she said, and smiled faintly back. “Then you’re probably on the right track,” Nick told her. “I’m no detective, but if you ever want a fresh pair of eyes ... I’ve seen a lot of unsolved murder cases.” And if she started trusting him enough to show him the police files on some things, maybe he could get her to show him other things as well. Current things. Nick chuckled softly, his grin widening a bit. “Probably a weird offer on a first date, but ...” He shrugged.
“It’s not that weird.” A pause. “Okay, maybe a little weird,” she conceded with a chuckle. At least it was when one looked at how first dates generally went and the conversations they produced. Personally, Mads was glad this date wasn’t following the norm. Idle chit-chat was boring - unsolved cases though? Those were interesting. “But that’s okay. I like things a little weird. Keeps things interesting.” She flashed him a smile and winked. Taking another sip of her drink, she added. “If you’re really interested in looking over cases with me, I welcome the help. A fresh pair of eyes would be nice and good company even more so.”
Nick grinned back at her wink, glad that she wasn’t looking at him like he was crazy or something for enjoying this kind of thing. Being a police officer, he wouldn’t expect her to be weirded out, but one never knew. People were judgemental, he knew that for sure. Mads might still turn out to be so, if she found out just how much of his writing he believed ... but that could all wait. “And how do you know I’m good company?” he asked, still grinning as his voice dropped into a flirty tone. He stopped short of singing ‘Bad Company,’ but it crossed his mind. No singing yet, too cheesy. “The eyes, I can definitely do though.”
“So far you haven’t proven yourself to be bad company, so you must be good company.” Mads leaned forward a little, smile flirtatious. “Though a hint of bad to mix things up isn’t such a horrible thing. Adds a little excitement, don’t you think?” Leaning back, she chanced a glance around the room before returning her attention to her date. “It’s settled then. When I get the chance to pick something up I’ll give you a call.” She grabbed her utensils, unwrapping the napkin around them. “You know, if you need help with anything - a fresh pair of eyes or something - I don’t mind helping,” she offered. “Don’t know how much help I could be, but figured I’d offer.”
“Mm, life is much more interesting with some spice added in,” Nick agreed. He thought he might have more than a hint of bad in him, especially from Mads’s perspective, but that was all right. Not everybody had to know everything. The fact that she was offering to help him in return was an excellent sign, and Nick did his best not to look too eager. She had access to so much that could help him and the people he worked for, but he knew he had to pursue it right or this would all blow up in his face. “I’m sure you could be a lot of help,” he told Mads with a warm smile. “A detective’s mind like yours? Could be very useful. In addition to being good company, of course.”