. (throwalifeline) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2019-10-08 13:08:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | #december 2017, jocelyn, jocelyn x nate, nate |
Who: Nate and Jocelyn
Where: Jocelyn’s House
When: Early afternoon, Sunday, Dec 31st
Status: Complete
When the fog had lifted, Nate had sent out a round of texts to pretty much everyone he knew, making sure they were still alive. It felt a little morbid, as it always did, but also necessary. Jocelyn had been among those he texted this time and he was glad to hear she’d made it through the incident unscathed. He’d been hoping to drop by her place sometime that week, maybe take her up on that brunch offer, but he didn’t have time for it today. New Year’s Eve was usually the busiest night of the year and he had a shit-ton to do before the doors opened that afternoon. She probably did too. He’d been idly hoping that she might stop by Dragonfly, but suspected that she’d be working tonight herself. Even then, he wasn’t sure he’d have time to chat if she did show up.
As he passed her place on the way in, he glanced at the clock, then backed the car up to park in front of her house. He was running earlier than he expected and her car was in the driveway, so he thought he might just stop by and see how she was doing. An impromptu visit. Hopefully she wouldn’t mind.
With it being New Year's Eve, and the Back Porch already short staffed, Jocelyn was scheduled to work. It would be a stark change from the last few New Year's celebrations she had been a part of, but Jocelyn kept reminding herself that the tips would be good tonight, and she needed the money more than she needed to get wasted. Despite all of that, it would have been fun to hang with Sage and Jacob, but she imagined Sage was working too, and Jacob would probably be off with Hot Doctor, unless Hot Doctor was working too.
She had slept in today, then took a long bath before getting dressed and making some lunch. Jocelyn hadn't really had any major disturbances in the house that day, but for the occasional cold spot, but she tended to chalk those up to the draft. It was cold outside, and she had done what she would to try and block some of the drafts coming in from the old window panes. Her dad had covered the upstairs windows with thick plastic, which kept the heat in at least.
She began to heat up some soup in a pot on the stove when she heard a car in the driveway. Thinking it might be her parents, or maybe Jacob or Sage, Jocelyn left the soup and wandered to the front of the house to peer out the window. She was pleasantly surprised to see it was Nate who had come by and Jocelyn suddenly wished she had time to run upstairs and put on some make up. She hadn't really planned on making herself "presentable" until it was time go to to work.
Jocelyn unlocked the door to greet him, offering a smile as he headed up to her porch. "If you're here for brunch, I have to admit my refrigerator is woefully unprepared for it."
Nate didn’t care if she was presentable or not. While he appreciated makeup, there was something hot about a woman slightly disheveled. He always figured, if he really got to know her, he’d see her that way eventually. “If I was here for brunch, you should kick me back to the curb,” he grinned. “I just wanted to check and see how you were doing. I know you said you were okay, but right now that pretty much means you’re not dead.” Maybe he was being too cavalier about it, but that seemed to be the truth. Most people said they were okay if they weren’t hospitalized and dying.
Well, that was sweet, wasn't it? It took Jocelyn a little by surprise, but in a nice way, and she stepped back so he could come into the house if he wanted to. "We can save brunch for another day. But I have... do you want something to drink?" Jocelyn needed to go to the grocery store, but she had soda and coffee, at least. "And while I'm alive, yes, I'm also doing all right. My friends are okay, and my parents. The bar didn't get damaged, so I still have a job." Jocelyn smiled. “What about Dragonfly? Everything still okay there?"
Maybe it was sweet, or maybe Nate just wanted to see if the girl he was possibly interested in was ready to leave town again. She seemed well enough though, and not on the edge of a breakdown, which he considered a good sign. “I’m good. I had, like, four cups of coffee,” he grinned, following her inside. It was too cold to linger in doorways. “Dragonfly’s fine. I could think of worse places to get stuck. I don’t know that anyone who was stuck there will come to party tonight, but they’ll be back eventually.”
Had Jocelyn grown up anywhere else, something like that fog would have probably scared her off. But she was well aware of what Point Pleasant was capable of, had experienced it first hand even, so it would have to do more than send crazy fog creatures after her to get her to go anywhere. "Give it some time and they'll probably forget all about the fog," Jocelyn said dryly as she shut the door behind him. "I would have much rather been trapped at Dragonfly than where I was." She decided to get something to drink for herself at least, so she motioned for Nate to follow her back towards the small kitchen. Better to make sure the soup wasn't boiling or anything too. "I had the pleasure of being stuck in the same building as your brother-in-law. That was an experience."
“It’s amazing what people are willing to forget,” Nate snickered. It was probably better that way, otherwise Point Pleasant would be a ghost town, but it still amazed him. If he didn’t have magic, if his family wasn’t so rooted there, he wasn’t sure he would stay. He supposed everyone had a reason. His eyes wandered around her house as he followed her to the kitchen, trying not to seem overly curious, but unable to help himself. Nate’s attention was drawn back in at the mention of Caius, surprised that she knew the relation. It wasn’t the kind of thing Nate would have highlighted when talking about his family, if he spoke of them at all. “Caius? Oh, he’s lovely,” Nate said, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he rolled his eyes. “I’m sure he was in great form, too. Where were you?”
Jocelyn's house wasn't anything special. It was small and needed work, but she had been trying hard to make it hers. At least for as long as she stayed in Point Pleasant. She reached into a cabinet to grab a mug to start making herself some tea. She had been home long enough to know plenty about the people there. Including the fact that Nate's sister had apparently, finally, married Caius D'onofrio. Her mom working for the D'Onofrio's kept Jocelyn in the know, so to speak. Not that any of it really affected Jocelyn, but knowledge was power, right? Grinning at Nate's tone, Jocelyn grabbed the box of tea bags. "I was actually at the D'Onofrio management office picking up my mom when the fog came in. She's the receptionist there. So it was us, and a handful of employees, and Caius. He basically stayed in his office the entire time, except once..." She trailed off and opened a package of tea. "I assume you already know he can do... magic."
Both Nate’s brows rose in surprise as it took him a beat to catch up. “Yeah,” he said casually as he leaned against her kitchen counter. He watched Jocelyn closely, wondering how this would go. He’d planned on telling her what he was eventually, but it wasn’t something he took lightly and didn’t usually come out in the ‘getting to know you’ stage. “I’m a little surprised you do though. Was he in some kind of a sharing mood?” He thought that was unlikely, but he couldn’t imagine Caius performing magic in front of her either. And certainly not at his father’s company. Nate supposed that was a fairly safe place to end up, considering everything. Anthony D’Onofrio would’ve had it warded to the teeth. Dragonfly had been safe enough, but there was more that you could do if you were willing to dip into darker magic. Nate knew this, yet he’d never been tempted. He wasn’t interested in power just for power’s sake, much to his mother’s frustration.
Jocelyn snorted as she grabbed her teapot to fill with water. "No, he wasn't in the sharing mood. We were talking and then all of a sudden his eyes went black. Full-on black." She wondered if Nate knew what that was all about. He might know all of this already, actually, but Jocelyn continued. "He told me it was like... what did he say... far sight? I guess he had been looking for his wife... your sister... and had been able to see her in her car, where that was. He told me it wasn't demonic, but... then he got pissy and threatened me if I didn't leave him alone." Jocelyn snorted again, softer this time before she turned off the tap at the sink and set the teapot on the back burner. "I'm not a newbie in this town. I know things. I've experienced them. So I'm not an idiot." She leaned against the counter as she faced Nate, her other hand resting on her hip. "I would assume you would know if your brother in law was some sort of demonic being."
“No, he’s just a witch,” Nate said, though what Jocelyn was describing wasn’t by any means normal. He didn’t think Caius had the innate ability to randomly spy on people, so it must be something else, some form of dark magic that Nate had never heard of. Normally he’d roll his eyes, but the ability to reach out to people, or at least look in on them, during a crisis would’ve been helpful, especially if it didn’t require extensive setup. All the spells Nate could think of that would’ve allowed him to check on his family were useless without supplies that he didn’t keep in Dragonfly’s office. “It’s weird to me that it just happened. Like he couldn’t control it.” Idly, he wondered if he could ask Caius about it without ruffling his feathers. Fat chance. His fingers drummed lightly on the counter as he tried to decide what he wanted to say. She’d given him a lot of openings regarding magic and her past, the tunnel. Of course she knew things. “So was that your first encounter with magic?” He asked. “That you know of, I mean.”
She had to agree with Nate. Because it had seemed as though Caius couldn't control what had happened. If he could, she doubted he would have done it right there in front of her. He had wanted to be alone after that, and had been a dick about it too. Jocelyn was feeling restless talking about it now and she folded her arms against her chest before nodding. "I think so. I mean... you hear things in this town. I've seen strange things too. But I think that was the first time I witnessed it so close, you know? Unless you count what happened at the tunnel. But that didn’t feel like magic. That just felt..." Jocelyn paused briefly, studying Nate. "I assume you already know all of this. I mean, there were always rumors about your family too."
Nate studied Jocelyn right back, the tiniest hint of a smile playing at his lips. He’d heard rumors about her too, that she’d killed her friend and covered it up. She and Sage and Jacob and the other. Nate couldn’t remember his name. The difference was that the rumors about his family were probably true. “I know some of it. Not what really happened at the tunnel. I think only the five of you know that. But I’d be willing to bet it wasn’t magic.” He hadn’t been down there in years, since before The Cooperdale Five made their mark, but it had creeped him out even then. He hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but later he wondered if it was one of those dark places that just seemed so common in Point Pleasant. “I know people talk. They always have. This town thrives on gossip,” he said, smiling a bit more. “What do you think?”
It was probably a more revealing conversation that Jocelyn ought to be having with a man she barely knew, but that particular can of worms had been opened now and it was hard to get those wriggly little fuckers back into place. Besides, it wasn't like Nate was a complete stranger. Everyone seemed to be tied to everyone else in this town somehow. And Nate was right about Point Pleasant thriving on gossip. Most of it had some semblance of truth. "What do I think about the rumors surrounding your family?" Jocelyn asked, arching a brow before her lips twitched. "I think some of them are probably true. If there are real witches in this town... well, I guess I would probably assume there's some truth to the Point Pleasant Six history. And your family was a part of that."
“I used to think how stupid the Six were, staying in town after getting strung up or burned alive. Now I think there’s a stubborn streak that runs through all of us, like it’s our way of sticking it to The Man,” Nat snickered, his fingers itching for a cigarette. He wouldn’t smoke in her house though. It was a comfort thing, a crutch he was prone to in a slightly uncomfortable situation, but he’d have to survive without it. His lineage wasn’t really a secret. Anyone who dug around enough could trace their family back to the Six, but most people believed the truth stopped there. That all changed when you knew witches were real. “We’re not all pricks like Caius though.”
Jocelyn released a short laugh. "I used to think everyone who stayed here was stupid, especially when they were old enough to leave. That's why I left. And now... here I am. Sometimes I think that's how it's supposed to be. This place pulls you back, even when you try to run." She chewed briefly on her lower lip before turning to flip off the burner that her soup was cooking on. It might have been easier for the witches to stay. As far as Jocelyn knew, there hadn't been anymore "witch burnings" or anything like that since the hysteria of the Six. But who knows. A lot of dark things happened here. Not all of them known. When Nate called Caius a prick, Jocelyn grinned, glancing at him with amusement. "I know that. And I don't think you would be here if you were. A prick, that is. So will you show me something you can do? I don't need to see black eyes, but... maybe something less terrifying."
As Nate stood there, leaning against the counter, both hands braced on the edge, he tried to think of something light and easy to show her. He could suck the air out of her lungs, but that would be more terrifying than Caius’s black eyes. Maybe something a little less threatening, he thought, and a breeze began to blow through her house. “I’m not very good with the showy shit,” he told her with an easy smile. The wind became just a bit stronger and then he added in something that had always come easy to him, magic that always felt useless because it was so obviously magic. Items on the counter began to levitate and swirl upon the breeze, plates and empty cups circling Jocelyn before finding their place on the counter once more. The air eventually stilled and Nate cocked a brow. “How’s that?”
For a moment Jocelyn thought the draft in her house gotten worse. That there was another window she needed to cover up with plastic. Then she realized it was Nate, which made it more intriguing than annoying. Especially when the dishes started to levitate and move. She watched with a pleased sort of smile because that was much more fun than demonic black eyes. "I don't need the showy shit. That's good," she told him, still smiling. "And probably not at all close to what you can really do, but it's good for now. Your secret is safe with me. Assuming it's technically still a secret."
“Technically, yeah, it’s not something I advertise,” Nate smiled. “No one’s really public with it for obvious reasons, but Reagan will take requests for the right price and once people know about her, they start to wonder about me.” About all of them, really, because once you knew one witch existed, you started to question everyone and everything else. Jocelyn’s past experiences likely made her a little bit more prone to believing in the supernatural, so witches weren’t really that big a jump. “You’ve seen more of my magic, you just didn’t know it.” For as much as his mother liked to point out how obvious Dragonfly’s charms were, nobody took notice unless they knew to look. Now that Jocelyn knew, he wondered if she would pick up on it.
Requests? Requests for what? Jocelyn tried to imagine what people would pay for in terms of magic. Revenge? Love spells? It seemed so simplistic, like something out of a movie, but she was sure it was more complicated than that. What could they really do? How crazy could it get? Necromancy? The thought made Jocelyn shiver and she rubbed her hands up and down her arms for a moment. She eyed him with mild amusement, trying to think back to the few times they spoke to one another. At the marina. His bar. "Where?" she asked before smiling. "Your bar? What did I miss there?"
Nate knew his sister made good money on some of the spells she performed, but it always felt like such a bad idea to Nate. Not only was she risking the backlash, she was exposing herself and, in a way, their entire community. He knew she could take care of herself, but wondered how that was going now that she didn’t have her magic. He didn’t like thinking of Reagan as vulnerable. If he’d known of a way to get Reagan’s magic back, he would’ve done it, but he wasn’t as connected as she was and there was nothing in their grimoire that could help. “The bar in general,” Nate smiled. “Come by sometime when you’re a bad mood. You’ll see what I mean. You won’t even need a drink.”
That was intriguing and Jocely arched a brow as she smiled. "Is that so? I'll have to do that, then. Is there some kind of... feel good magic on the place? If so, that's pretty clever. It would keep people coming back, at least." She wondered if Sage knew about the magic. If he felt it. She wanted to ask him, but then again, it really wasn't her place to tell him something like that. That would be on Nate. Still, she was curious. Jocelyn tried to remember how she felt the last time she was there, but she couldn't pinpoint anything in her memory that had felt artificial. The teapot start to whistle so she took it off the burner and flipped off the heat. "So then you're a good witch. Nate, the good witch of the north. Do we have any wicked witches in town?"
“Something like that,” Nate nodded. “I think it helped on Halloween, when people were losing their minds, but it made keeping people out of the fog a bit more tricky.” It made people feel good, but it shouldn’t have over-ridden common sense. Some people were just idiots. “Sure, I’m a good witch,” he chuckled, thinking of Glinda and her big pink bubble. “I don’t know that I’d call any of them wicked. I mean, they’re just people. But… There are a few I wouldn’t want to piss off.” Anthony D’Onofrio was at the top of that list. So was Caius, though Nate was loathe to admit it. He had the feeling that he was into darker stuff than Nate had ever considered trying and it irked him that his brother in law was probably more respected by his mother than he was. But that was all baggage that Jocelyn didn’t need laid out on her kitchen counter.
Pouring the hot water into her mug, Jocelyn glanced at Nate with a wry smile. "Yeah, me too. Your brother in law, for one. I guess I could say he doesn't scare me, but I think it's common sense to be scared of anyone whose eyes go black like that. I told my mom she should retire. She's been working there forever, and Anthony D'Onofrio takes good care of her, but... it creeps me out knowing she's working for someone like Caius, no offense." Jocelyn looked back down at her tea. "Are you sure you don't want any? I can pour some whiskey into it and call it Irish, if you want." She probably shouldn't stand around and bad mouth his family, although Caius was technically an in law and it didn't seem like Nate minded it all that much.
“Sure, I’ll have a cup,” Nate said. He hadn’t been planning on staying long enough to have one, but the conversation had gone down a rabbit hole and he could use something to do with his hands. Drinking tea was more acceptable than smoking. “I don’t think your mother has anything to fear from Caius. He’s not my favorite person in the world, but that has more to do with his dysfunctional relationship with my sister than anything else. Yeah, he’s probably dipped into some shady shit, but...unless your mom has plans to bring down the D’Onofrio empire, she’s safe.” He hoped that was a correct assumption, otherwise they all had reason to worry. But his mother was a powerful witch herself, one who might even be as powerful as Anthony himself, and he didn’t think she was evil.
Pleased that he might be staying a bit longer, Jocelyn pulled down another mug from the cabinet to make him a cup. "I think my mom would rather just retire and stay on Anthony's good side," she said with a smile. "She rarely talks about them, unless it's gossipy things, like Caius and your sister eloping. She seems fond of Anthony, at least." At the end of the day, it didn't matter. Jocelyn hadn't liked how Caius spoke to her, but she hadn't been shocked by it. Overlook brats were... well, brats. Some of them, anyway, because Nate seemed like the complete opposite. Jocelyn dunked a tea bag into the hot water and looked at him assessingly. "I might have already told you this, but you really don't fit the Overlook mold. Is it accurate to say you're the black sheep of the family?"
Nate knew Anthony could be charming, as could Caius. He’d seen both men turn it on, usually at social gatherings where they were surrounded by their own kind. But he also thought that being on their bad side could be a real bitch. Nate had always been somewhat shielded from it due to the connection between their families, but he imagined it would make anyone uncomfortable even without knowing what they were capable of. Her question earned a grin and he nodded. “Yeah, I kind of think, when you grow up around there, you go one of two ways: you either decide to play the game or you rebel. I don’t know that it’s a conscious decision, but I definitely hit a point where I wanted something different and I went for it.” He didn’t think either way was necessarily easy. They were going to face judgement either way, either from the outside or from within.
"It's always more fun to rebel, isn't it?" Jocelyn chuckled and tracked down the honey in her cabinet. "I played the game, as you call it, a lot in high school. All that stuff seemed so important, you know? All it takes is just one... moment, to change your views on everything." Jocelyn kept her hands busy, finding a spoon and sweetening their tea. "Rebelling doesn't seem to have hurt you though. Dragonfly seems to be doing really well." That didn't mean that his parents were proud or anything, but Jocelyn would hope they would be. Nate could be lacking ambition, or unemployed, or worse off in so many ways. He could be renting a tiny, drafty house working as a waiter, like she was.
Nate didn’t ask what that moment was for her, but he wondered if it had been that day at the tunnel. He was curious, as he guessed that most people were, but it felt like this big, heavy thing to ask about, even after discussing magic and how it was real. “Dragonfly’s really worked out for me, but it’s not… it’s not the direction my mother would’ve liked to see me go.” His father seemed happy enough, but he’d never been the one to wear the pants in the family. That was all Veronica. “There’s a lot of jabs about unmet potential, but I try not to let it get to me.” He was doing his best not to sound bitter, but it still managed to creep out. His mother would’ve liked a son with more ambition, that pushed his limits when it came to power and magic. She would’ve liked him to be more like Caius and it was that knowledge that kept him resentful of his brother in law, even when he and Reagan were on the mend.
When she finished up, Jocelyn picked up one of the mugs and offered it to Nate. "Well, you can't please everyone. You're an adult, and it's your life. I know that sounds dismissive, but it's true. I'm sure she's proud of you, even if she wishes you would have done something different." Jocelyn was assuming, of course, because she didn't know Veronica Kelly very well beyond surface things. And she had been gone for quite some time too. All Jocelyn knew was people like Veronica Kelly cared about image, and it was a small enough town that if she was terrible to her son, people would know it.
It was nice of Jocelyn to say, though she really didn’t know Nate’s mother. It was probably killing her that Reagan had lost her magic, as if she didn’t have another descendant to potentially pass it on. But she was publically proud of him and he was happy with his choices and Nate believed that mattered more than making her happy. He ran a respectable business and she couldn’t even accuse him of cheating a little, since pretty much every witch he knew did it. “Thanks,” he smiled at Jocelyn. “Some people are just difficult to please. I’ve come to terms with the fact that my mother is one of them and always will be. It’s just her personality. I’m sure you know someone like that.”
"Someone who is difficult to please?" Jocelyn smiled and wrapped her hands around her own mug to warm them. "I mean, yeah, I've dealt with people like that before. I had a couple of friends out west who were never pleased with anything, even when good things happened. Thankfully my own parents are pretty... I guess, laid back? I'm not sure they ever had really high expectations for me, which sounds awful. But they've always just let me do what I wanted to do. Which also sounds awful." She laughed a little. "I think maybe they realized I was stubborn and would just push back if they put a lot of pressure on me to be something they wanted, so they just didn't."
“None of that sounds awful,” Nate grinned. “It might even be wise on their part.” He’d been the one pushing back, often rebelling because he’d rather give his mother’s expectations the middle finger than give it his all and fall short. As horrible as it sounded, it was only failure if he tried. That was why Dragonfly meant so much to him, because he’d put everything into it with nothing else to fall back on and he was far too proud to run back to his mother for help. “And, I might be wrong, but… I’m guessing you had a lot more going on than a normal senior in high school would. If I’m remembering right.” He thought they’d been seniors when the incident at the tunnel happened, but he’d been away and it had all been hearsay to him. “Laid back parents would have been a godsend.”
Jocelyn sipped her tea, but then nodded briefly, glancing away toward the kitchen window. It was nice being able to see out toward the trees, and not be met with a blanket of white like last week. She wasn't surprised that Nate would have heard about what happened at the tunnel, though like with everyone who tried to speak to her about it, she wondered how much he actually knew, and how much was just town gossip. "They were really supportive," she said after a moment, her eyes ticking back to Nate's face. "They never doubted me, or Jacob, or Sage, or... well, they never doubted us. I've always felt guilty that they've had to deal with the accusations and bitter feelings, even when I left town. But they've never complained, or purposely made me feel badly about it. I guess I got lucky in the parents department."
Nate watched her carefully, noting the way her eyes ticked away, and he wondered if she was going to say anything at all. He knew it was a sensitive subject, but if she could ask him about his family’s involvement with witchcraft, then it must be open season for uncomfortable conversation topics. He was about to tell her not to worry about it, to just forget he’d ever said anything, when she turned back to him. Nate had the brief thought that his mother wouldn’t have doubted him either, though ‘supportive’ was a word he had a hard time associating with her in any situation. “I know it’s probably not something you like to talk about, but… I guess I’m just curious. If you ever feel up to it…” Nate shrugged.
For a second Jocelyn wondered if Nate was interested in her - if that's what this was - because he wanted to know about what happened at the tunnel. But then she dismissed the thought, because he didn't seem like the type to latch onto someone because of morbid curiosity. He had seemed open with her about his witchcraft, and his family issues. They didn't know each other terribly well, but he didn't make her uncomfortable, and he seemed the complete opposite of what she always imagined the Overlook brats to be. She rested her hip against the counter, still studying Nate as she held her tea. "Are you curious about what happened? I mean, the truth of it, not what everyone believes happened."
“If I believed even a fraction of the bullshit people think happened, I wouldn’t have hired Sage,” Nate told her in all seriousness. He was all about giving people a second chance, but the bartender was the most visible person in a bar. He wouldn’t have risked his business on someone he just thought to be innocent. Nate believed it because he believed the tunnel was one of those dark places where things happened and nothing that happened down there could be blamed on a human, not entirely. But it would have been nice to know the truth, partially because he’d taken a gamble on Sage, but mostly because he liked Jocelyn and he felt like it was part of her story, the way being a witch was part of his. He could get to know her without it though. It was in the past, so it could stay there if she wanted it to. “Just forget about it,” he told her with a small, apologetic smile. “I’ve taken up too much of your time. I just meant to drop by and say hi. And happy new year.”
Jocelyn understood where he coming from. And she wasn't sure if she would have told him what happened or not. Maybe not yet. She and her friends had sworn not to tell anyone what really happened. They had their story and they stuck to it. Because no one would believe them. At least not back then. They had been a bunch of teenagers, and nobody believed teenagers... not when they had been drinking. Not when Grayson had disappeared. People had wanted answers. There had been accusations and hurtful things said. Nate would probably believe her if she told him the truth, but the truth was painful. They had all done... horrible things. So maybe it was better to let it go for now. She and Nate could get to know each other, and if this went anywhere... she would tell him everything. But Jocelyn didn't want to make assumptions. So she smiled softly. "Well, I'm glad you dropped by to say hi. Maybe we can do that brunch thing soon, when you have time."
“Maybe next weekend?” Nate asked, taking the step to put an actual date in place. It was easy to always talk about that thing they were going to do some other time, but he didn’t want it to be something they just talked about and never did. If she wanted out, she could always cancel on him, say something had come up, but he wanted her to know he meant it. “I figure by then things will settle out, calm down a little. I’m kind of ready to have a break from all the holidays.” He’d probably be bored by February, but right now he felt like he could use a vacation.
Next weekend was a solid agreement and Jocelyn gave a nod. "I'm all for next weekend, assuming the weather cooperates," she said with a small smile. She was quickly re-learning that one should never make plans in Point Pleasant. Something always looked to fuck it all up. "Just send me a text mid-week and let me know that we're still on?" She could go shopping then and figure out what she wanted to make. It would be nice to be able to sit down and have a meal and a real conversation without bad things hovering.
A lot could happen before now and then, but Nate felt good about giving it a try. If it didn’t work out, they’d just try again. “I’ll do that,” he smiled, then took one last sip of the tea before setting it back on her counter. “Thanks for the tea. And good luck tonight. I think people are itching for a party after the last week. Might get a little crazy.” Which could be good in their line of work, but it was also a lot of work.
"I can handle crazy," Jocelyn said with a grin. She pushed away from the counter, holding her tea still to keep her hands warm. She would at least walk him to the door. The Back Porch was definitely different clientele from Dragonfly, so she was hoping crazy didn't turn into ass groping. Thankfully Caden tended to toss those guys out, so she didn't feel uncomfortable or unsafe. "Good luck tonight," she told him. "If you want, send me a text when you close up and let me know you survived it."
“I’ll do that,” Nate smiled. Maybe, if the night went well, he’d ask her out for a nightcap. He wasn’t going to mention it now though because there was no telling how he’d be feeling around 2am after dealing with partiers all night. And if he asked her over for a drink that late at night, he’d probably want more than a drink, and he needed to pull his mind out of the gutter when he was standing in her house, trying to say goodbye. “Talk to you soon,” he added, before making his way to the door. He’d text her for sure. The rest he’d just have to wait and see.