rylee mears (itsjustafeeling) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2018-04-19 10:19:00 |
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Entry tags: | #october 2017, rylee |
Who: Noah and Rylee
When: Tuesday, October 17, early afternoon
Where: Moxie’s Diner
Status: Complete
Diners were an undeniable staple of Noah’s itinerant life and he wasn’t above judging a town based on whether or not they had at least one option available at any given time. He and Magnus had arrived later Sunday evening and hadn’t felt like venturing back out into the Silent Hill fog once they checked-in to Juniper. Monday had mostly been a mess of unpacking, checking out the B&B and surrounding area, and roving around until Noah found a coffee shop that could feed his caffeine addiction. He had spotted Moxie’s along the way, taking a mental note of it, so after a morning of sending back another round of editing notes on a chapter of a book his friend back in Chicago was writing, he set out to investigate this diner situation.
On first blush, Moxie’s certainly looked like the quintessential small town diner, down to the chalkboard sign near the door advertising the daily special. Pushing the door open, he stepped inside. There were a few other people since it was only a little past regular lunchtime, but there was definitely free space at the counter. He took off his red baseball bomber jacket and folded it, placing it on the stool next to him--he could always move it if someone else needed the space--, then seated himself. Picking up a laminated menu, he glanced through it, expecting someone would come over whenever they were free.
Rylee had been working almost non-stop since Sunday, preferring to be on her foot and making money than sitting at home and wallowing in self pity. It was another week of avoiding Carson, something she hated doing but found she was getting pretty good at. It was a windy day, but not an all together bad one, so the diner had been pretty busy through lunch. It kept Rylee moving and her mind occupied, for which she was grateful.
By the time the lunch began to ease, she snuck out back for a cigarette, deliberately keeping her phone inside to avoid the temptation to text Carson. When she finished, she returned to the diner, washing her hands and fixing her hair before she ventured to the front. She spotted a newbie at the counter, both to the diner and she assumed Point Pleasant, since she had never seen him before. "Hey, welcome to Moxie's," she said, reaching under the counter to grab a glass to fill with ice and water for him. "Have you been helped yet?" He didn't have a drink in front of him so she was guessing no.
There was definitely enough food to pick from and the burger options seemed promising. Closing the menu, Noah idly glanced around at the other people in the diner. They all seemed normal, not that he expected anything else. He assumed that Point Pleasant was just like any other small town that happened to have an unusual number of supernatural rumors floating around about it. If anything, he likely stood out as being from out of town. He looked up as he was addressed, smiling politely at the waitress who greeted him. "No, I only got here a few minutes ago. Could I also get a coffee?" he asked, after the water was set in front of him.
Rylee nodded and grabbed a coffee cup to set down in front of him before she went to get the coffee pot. When she returned, she poured him a cup and gave him a small smile. "New to town?" she asked conversationally. "Or just visiting?" One could never really tell. People came and went so often. Or came and went and then came back, but this guy didn't look like a native, unless he'd been born here and moved away when he was young. At least in Point Pleasant, it was easy for the locals to pinpoint the 'strangers'.
Noah thanked Rylee as she poured his coffee. He was used to standing out in smaller towns like this, between his personal appearance and a limited number of people around, though he tried not to assume everyone must already know each other. “Just visiting. We--my buddy and I--drove in late Sunday night, from Chicago originally.” Picking up his coffee, he took a sip, since he tended to eschew milk and sugar unless it was exceptionally acidic. “Have you lived here for a while? I can't say I expected it to be quite so foggy,” he said, unsure whether or not that was typical for here.
Rylee couldn't help but raise a brow in curiosity as he explained driving here from Chicago. "You drove eighteen hours to come here?" she asked, although it could just be a passing through on their way to some other destination in Maine. Still, that was a long drive to end up in Point Pleasant, of all places. It wasn't even tourist season anymore. She set the pot down on the counter, not terribly surprised by the questions. Small talk was part of the job, especially with visitors. "I'm born and raised," Rylee explained, "and we do have our foggy days, especially being right on the water. It'll clear up. What brings you to Point Pleasant?"
It was a fairly typical reaction, depending on the size of the town where Noah and Magnus ended up and its relative distance from Chicago. Point Pleasant was far enough to be worth remark. “Yeah. It’s definitely a decision we made,” Noah said with a wry smile. “But a couple things brought us here. First, there’s this guy my friend’s been talking to for a few years online--Daniel Valiant?” His tone rose on the name, questioning as to if it rang any bells for Rylee, since one could never know for sure. “--who he found out went missing, so we’re trying to find out more about that, if there is anything. Second, we investigate paranormal hoaxes and there’s plenty of stories to choose from about this place,” he said.
Rylee wasn't really sure which part to focus on first. Danny or paranormal hoaxes. She and Danny used to argue those particular topics quite a bit whenever he would come into the diner. Most of their conversations were playful, although a few had gotten heated from time to time. This guy and his friend weren't the first strangers to visit Point Pleasant based on its history and "legends". They wouldn't be the last either. "I know Danny," Rylee said, turning to put the coffee pot back on the warmer. "I listened to his show and then gave him shit for it whenever he'd come in. Sorry for the language," she added a bit belatedly while turning back to Noah. "But as far as I know, the police haven't been able to find him, or any clue as to where he might have went or what happened. His sister moved away. As for hoaxes, you could be here for a year and still not cover everything." Rylee gave him a faint smile. "Most of what you've heard is bunk. There's just not much else to do here but exaggerate and embellish."
Noah had little reference for what might draw other people to Point Pleasant, though he knew they weren't the first paranormal investigators to turn up there based off of what word got around about the town. Reactions tended to vary when he brought up the paranormal part, but there wasn't ever a reason to be coy about it. The most annoying to deal with tended to be the people who protested the use of the word hoaxes and believed that stuff to be real, which fortunately Rylee did not seem to be among. "I'm no stranger to giving friends shit when they’re talking nonsense, so no worries," Noah said, smiling at her, more genuinely than politely this time. “I don't know that we'll find anything out that the police haven’t, but my friend needs to try.” Not that Noah was ever optimistic about trusting in the competencies of the police as a rule. “And that’s kind of what we’ve assumed. We’re just going to be on the lookout for the best ones to debunk, since that’s our thing.”
Rylee wasn't sure what two strangers could find that the cops weren't able to, but Rylee also knew the cops were bogged down with disappearance cases year long. The most likely explanation in most of them was that the person took off and left for whatever reason. She had no doubt that some probably met with foul play, or maybe they left to commit suicide or something equally as morbid, but... every disappearance had some logical conclusion. Just because they didn't know what that conclusion was didn't mean it was supernatural in nature. "Well, don't let the Point Pleasant PD catch wind of your investigation. Since it's an ongoing case, they might get prickly with you. Danny's... his mom had mental health issues. To me, it seems most likely that he may have shared some of the same problems, and just left, whether he knew what he was doing or not, you know? It's not an explanation that brings him home, or helps his family, but it's more plausible than half of what people here might guess."
Sometimes just having the time and patience to thoroughly go over things could get Noah and Magnus somewhere, though looking into a missing person wasn't their usual purview. Plus, they had less concerns about procedure and other crimes or whatever it was the police were supposedly concerned about. He knew Magnus’ need for information could be voracious, but he only had the one disappeared guy to focus on, then whatever they could find for their channel. “Yeah, we’re definitely not planning on waltzing in and asking for their help or offering ours, since we’re just a couple randos with a YouTube channel,” Noah said. Avoiding the police always seemed to be the most surefire way of not provoking them, too. He listened to Rylee’s theory and filed it away to tell Magnus later. It certainly made sense and Noah inclined his head in agreement. “That would track logically. I think for my friend it's a need to feel like he at least tried to find out everything he could? Which I get. I'd probably do the same if one of my friends went missing, however I happened to know them, and there's only so much to find out without being here.”
Rylee nodded, because she could understand that much. It was difficult for any friend or family member when people went missing, and it happened quite a bit in Point Pleasant. So much so that it barely startled anyone anymore. It was just another headline, another search party to throw together. Another story without any conclusion. "Well, Danny was... is a nice guy. I know his family are worried about him. I hope you and your friend can find out what happened, especially after driving as far as you did. Maybe a fresh set of eyes is what's needed." She offered him a small smile. "I've been interrogating you instead of asking you what you want to eat. Sorry about that. Moxie's always seems like the place to meet newbies in town. What can I get you?"
Chicago was a big place and Noah knew his fair share of people; sometimes tragedy struck, death in particular, but not really anyone who had gone missing mysteriously without explanation. He knew it must happen there, yet here in this place that was a fraction of the size was where they ended up. Was a disappearance a big deal in Point Pleasant? How could it not be? There hadn't been much about it in the online version of the Gazette, but maybe in print. He’d check out the library. “We’ll do as much as we can. I think Magnus has been in touch with Daniel’s cousin? I'm sure he'll come through here too, especially since there's pie.” Noah chuckled. “Well, I led off with being here for some reasons that needed unpacking, so… let me turn the tables a little. Is there anything you'd recommend as a shouldn’t miss from here? Other than the Monster Burger, which I think I'm gonna save for later.”
The disappearances were always a big deal, until the trail ran cold and there was nothing more anyone could do. It was just... normal in Point Pleasant now, unfortunately. And Rylee didn't believe there was any supernatural explanation to it. It was just really bad luck. She smiled a touch, aware that Danny's cousin was Sadie, or her sister Tatum. Both would likely want any help finding Danny that they could get, so she hoped it went well. "Plenty of pie. So much pie. Too much, in fact," she teased before glancing back at the kitchen. "Oh, you know, everything is good here. The BLTs are pretty fantastic, and the milkshakes. My favorite is just a regular burger. I could never finish the Monster burger, even though I've tried, many times. But we can put together just about anything you'd want."
Noah hoped Daniel had just skipped town and was living somewhere new that struck his interest and would maybe turn back up one day. It was shitty to the people left behind, but it was better than the alternative of being dead in a ditch. There were other possibilities in-between those two, such as what Rylee mentioned about a possible mental break, but any kind of supernatural possibility didn’t cross Noah’s mind, since none of that was for real. “There’s such a thing as too much?” he asked, grinning. “I don’t believe it.” Picking up his coffee, he took a sip, as he thought it over another second. “I’ll try a BLT and fries. To prepare for pie after.” Besides, lettuce and tomatoes were at least vegetables, right? However loosely they were being applied. “We’ll probably be staying at least a couple weeks, so I’ll have to try the Monster burger eventually. I’m Noah, by the way,” he added. “Since you’ll probably see too much of me, especially if the pie’s good.”
Rylee didn't need to write down BLT and fries, since that was a pretty basic order, so she nodded with a small smile. "Hi Noah. I'm Rylee, which you already knew." She pointed one finger at her name tag. "And I promise you the pie is amazing, so I fully expect to see you around again. I'll get your order in, but holler at me if you need anything else, okay?" He didn't seem like the type to become a difficult customer, which was always nice. She was much more willing to go above and beyond for the chill people rather than those that made a stink about everything.
“I did manage to figure out that one,” Noah said, giving her a friendly smile back. “I’m willing to take you at your word, but it seems like the sort of the thing I’m gonna have to experience firsthand.” Food was one of those things where he was generally easy to please. Even if it weren’t great, he never wanted to be that asshole who was rude to the waitress. “I should be good other than that, though, unless you can think of any must-see places I should go while I’m here.”
“Absolutely,” Rylee said with a smile. At least she could still shove pie onto people and pad their bills a bit. She gave him a thoughtful look before chuckling. “There are plenty of places you should probably check out, especially if you’re here to debunk.” And look for Danny, but she didn’t think they were going to have any luck with that. “Maybe start at the museum near the pier,” she suggested. “They can give you plenty of ‘hot spots’ to check out, at least in terms of tourism. They have witch tours and all of that junk. You guys might enjoy it.”
“Yeah, I’ve got a whole spreadsheet of them, ranked by absurdity,” Noah said, grinning. It wasn’t precisely true, but he did have a Scrivener file in which he was keeping outlines of their potential leads. Which was possibly nerdier than just having a spreadsheet, in retrospect. “I’ll bump the museum up the list of places to check out, thanks. I am definitely here for a witch tour, if it’s even half as cheesy and terrible as I’m hoping it might be.” If nothing else, he and Magnus could find something to laugh about until they were kicked off the tour. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Rylee couldn't help but laugh a little, since she quite liked how he worded it. Ranked by absurdity. She could only imagine what that list looked like. "It's definitely cheesy," she said with a nod. "It's not terrible, though. It's... entertaining, at least. There are a couple people who do the tours. One takes it very seriously, and the other has a bit of a tongue in cheek presentation. I would recommend taking it twice, once with each tour guide. If nothing else, you'll be shown some hot spots that the two of you can check out on your own without a big group hovering." Rylee shook her hand. "Let me get your food order in so you can eat. I'm around if you have any other questions, though."
“Fair enough,” Noah said. “I’ll also gladly settle for entertaining.” Boring was usually what he most wanted to avoid. Hopefully they would get the tongue-in-cheek person first, since sometimes that was more compatible with their particular brand of asshole commentary, but he’d have to drag Magnus on it either way. Maybe even both of them as Rylee suggested. “It definitely sounds like it’ll help us weed down the list a bit.” He gave Rylee another friendly grin, since she seemed pretty cool. “Thanks, Rylee. I’ll let you know if I think of anything else.” Most likely, he’d be fine; he knew she was working and there was only so much attention he wanted to capitalize on from a captive audience.