Quentin James (stillhaunted) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2023-12-28 15:45:00 |
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Entry tags: | #july 2018, quentin, quentin x tessa, tessa |
Who: Tessa and Quentin
When: Late afternoon, Friday, July 13th
Where: The Arts Festival
Despite how tiny Point Pleasant felt compared to her hometown, Tessa found that she really liked it. It was cozy and looked like a goddamn postcard most days, which did well enough to hide all the weird shit that seemed to go on beneath it all. She and Caius had been in touch often, occasionally meeting for coffee or lunch to talk about… well, everything. She was fascinated by him in a way that an only child would be once they discovered a half-sibling out in the world. He was certainly more accessible than her “father” was. Tessa had only spoken to Anthony once or twice since their initial meeting, and he was still dismissive of her. It stung, but Tessa was determined not to let it dissuade her. Tessa might not have been a witch, but she had blood relatives here, and a part of her felt like she belonged. She couldn’t explain how or why, but the feeling was there, and she wouldn’t ignore it.
Besides, there was the whole “telepathically linked to a complete stranger” problem she was still dealing with. If she could even call Quentin a stranger anymore, which she kind of couldn’t. They were often in each other’s heads, though she knew he tried not to be as much as she did. Caius was still researching their problem to try and find a solution, but she could tell her brother was a bit distracted with other things, so she tried not to rush him. It wasn’t a painful experience, just jarring and a bit unpleasant.
On the other hand, it could also be fun. She would sometimes start singing in her head until she knew Quentin could hear it, and he would ask her to be quiet. Annoying him had become a cheap form of entertainment.
Today she was carrying a cup of fancy-named coffee, wandering through the arts festival set up on Main Street. There were many cute knick-knacks, some fascinating art, and beautiful jewelry, but Tessa couldn’t afford most of it. Not to mention she was still living at Juniper, thanks to Caius’s generosity, and there was nowhere to put anything.
Sipping her coffee, she fingered a silver necklace with a silver dove charm before moving on to the next vendor. That was when she spotted Quentin farther down the street. Grinning a little to herself, she eyed him for a moment, then moved a bit behind one of the vendor curtains to hide herself.
Enjoying yourself?
She wondered if he would hear her, and if he could, would he ignore her or actually respond.
Despite the fact that Tessa was in his head all the freaking time, Quentin still tensed up when it happened unexpectedly. It was almost always unexpected. In his house was the worst, because he assumed he was alone, but it could be anywhere, anytime. His attempts to enjoy his morning coffee were often disrupted by her singing. Internal dialogue suddenly had her opinions injected. She had yet to interject during private moments, but those had been sparse lately; it was the one time Quentin remembered he was never truly alone.
At least in a crowd, he expected other people. It was just weird when the voice was in his head and not out loud. Quentin immediately stopped and looked around, unable to spot Tessa, though she had to be close. Not because their abilities required it, but because he got the sense she knew what he was doing at that moment. Yes… he answered hesitantly. Nice to be out of the shop. He knew he worked way too much, but he didn’t have much of a social life anyways. His eyes continued to scan the crowd. You?
Of course I am. Tessa sipped her coffee again, grinning a bit to herself. I haven’t been to an arts festival in a long time. I forgot how expensive everything is. Forty five dollars for a 5x7 black and white photo of the ocean? I could do that myself on my phone. In fact, she had a lot of photos on her phone from being in Point Pleasant, though she had no idea if they were sell-worthy. Probably not. But they were for her only, to remember when she finally decided to leave this place. Did you find anything you like or are you just browsing? She stayed where she was for the time being, almost ready to show herself, since she knew he was probably looking.
Quentin snorted in amusement—she wasn’t wrong; a good portion of the goods did feel over priced, especially the photography. Everyone had a decent camera these days, one they carried with them at all times. He had a hard time believing printing and matting the photo even cost half what they were charging for it. But a lot of the other items were handmade, which in his experience cost more than anything mass market. Just browsing, he answered, eyes still on the lookout for Tessa, scanning the crowd. I like supporting local artists. Sometimes we feature their work in the shop. Customers can buy the prints. It gave people something new to look at, an attempt to keep things fresh in a town that sometimes felt stale.
Well, that's really swell of you. Tessa grinned against her cup. Why was he so easy to tease? Tessa knew she really ought to be more cautious about using this whole brain-to-brain form of communication, but now that it had been going on for a while, it seemed almost natural to her. She definitely wanted Caius to remove it completely, but she also saw no reason not to at least make the best of a bad situation. Deciding to give him a break, Tessa stepped out from behind artist's tent and saw that Quentin hadn't wandered very far but he was still scanning the crowd for her. He would spot her in no time, so she started walking toward him. I will say that the coffee I'm drinking right now isn't as good as Joyland, so you've got that going for you.
There was something about her delivery that always made Quentin feel like she was making fun of him. He didn’t have a lot going on in his life. It was pretty much just work, and occasionally hanging out with friends. But mostly work. It dominated everything, seeping into parts of him he’d never intended. It was like he’d forgotten how to shop for himself, that not everything had to be related, and she had to go and point it out to him. It made Quentin quietly fume in embarrassment. Though he attempted to keep his mind quiet, he wouldn’t be shocked if she noticed. Too much made it through their connection. I would hope so. His eyes landed on her almost as soon as she walked into the crowd and he sighed softly, relaxing a touch. It’d be pretty sad if we couldn’t beat out a K-cup.
"Don't knock the K-Cups," Tessa said, once she was close enough to him. He did appear mildly perturbed but she liked that look on him. It made her wonder what it took to get him to loosen up a bit. "They're not that bad and they're cheaper than getting coffee at a shop everyday. Sometimes you have to sacrifice taste for savings." Sacrilege to a coffee shop manager, she was sure, but it was true. Tessa had been getting coffee at Joyland most days because her room didn't have a coffee machine. Plus, it was a bonus to warn Quentin mentally that she was on her way... and he always had her coffee ready for her when she showed up. Perks of sharing some cosmic telepathy, she supposed.
“I’m not saying it’s bad coffee. Just that ours should be superior,” Quentin said as he eyed Tessa’s cup. He knew it was expensive to go by Joyland every day, though they thrived on their daily customers. He was only one himself because he worked there and his own coffee was free. It was the kind of thing he couldn’t do for others, otherwise it’d become a problem. Everyone would suddenly be his “friend”. But he did have her coffee made for her each morning, and she got a discount. He couldn’t even explain why. “You need a refill?” he asked, raising a brow. He wasn’t even sure why he asked. He wasn’t working at the moment. The last thing he wanted to do was go into the shop.
Tessa popped the top off of the coffee cup and peered inside. "I could use a refill." Looking up again, she grinned. "But please don't tell me you're the kind of guy who shows up to his place of employment on his day off. If we're going to go get coffee, we've got to go somewhere else." And she assumed that was why he had asked, of course. To go get a drink with her. Even if he hadn't meant it that way, that was the way Tessa was taking it, because she wanted to. It wasn't like she had a job to get to and she had no other plans than maybe popping by to see Caius. Quentin seemed to be alone, too, so obviously, he needed company.
Quentin frowned as he tried to think of some other place that served coffee that he would even consider drinking. Joyland was the coffee place in town. Everywhere else was subpar in his estimation, and he didn’t want to pay money for average coffee. Of course, they didn’t have to get coffee. “You want something stronger?” he offered instead. “I think Books and Beer has coffee, but that’s not usually what I get. It’s not too far. Or there’s Dragonfly.” He’d never been there when it was still light outside, but he assumed it was open. Either were good choices for a drink, since it seemed like that’s what he’d offered her, even if it hadn’t been completely intentional on his part.
Tessa’s eyes widened and she smiled quickly. “I haven’t been to Dragonfly yet. Let’s go there. If we have something stronger, we have something stronger. It’s not like we have anywhere to be, right?” She didn’t anyway and she had to assume he didn’t either. Tessa had not heard a whole lot of social life dripping from his mind, after all. She slipped an arm through Quentin’s to direct him back down the sidewalk toward where she had parked. Then she glanced up at him curiously. “Do we have to drive there? Can we walk?” If they had to drive then they had to drive but if they walked she could have a few drinks without worrying about driving back to Juniper buzzed. Maybe she could get him buzzed too and see what he was like when he wasn’t frowning or looking put out.
“I’m having something stronger,” Quentin said with a small chuckle. That he actually had some time off was a rarity and he was going to take advantage of it. His eyes darted to her arm as she slipped it into his, but he didn’t say anything, even while his mind got dizzy with what he was supposed to do with it. Why was she doing that? What did she want? And could he stop thinking about it now? He had to remember the brain-share. “We can walk. It’s just down Main Street a bit. I’m kind of surprised you haven’t been yet.” Though he got snippets of her thoughts on and off all day, he didn’t always know what she was up to, though she had to have something to occupy her time. He couldn’t imagine staying in a hotel as long as she’d been, even a bed and breakfast as nice as Juniper. “What do you normally do all day?”
Today Tessa decided to be nice instead of snarky, mostly because she was bored and alone and if Quentin was available, then she would hang out with him for the time being. Hopefully they wouldn't annoy each other too much. "I've been to the Porch a lot," she said with a soft shrug. "As for what I do all day, a little bit of this and that. I've been getting to know my brother and his wife better. I like to wander. There's so much to see here, which I know sounds crazy, but... the forests seem to go on forever. I go to the marina to read when I'm bored. I've been sort of thinking about getting a part time job, even. I don't know. It feels like I'll be staying for a while." Tessa looked up at him. "What do you do all day, when you're not working?"
“Honestly, it feels like I’m always working,” Quentin said with a small frown. “I get drinks with friends occasionally. Go see movies. I read a lot. But I do work a lot. My social life probably suffers from it.” It was an understatement, but he didn’t feel like highlighting how dull his daily life could be. This wasn’t exactly where Quentin had seen his life going, but once stuck in a rut, it was hard to get out of it. “So is this like an extended vacation? I mean, if you’re thinking about getting a job… What did you do before you got here? What brought you to Point Pleasant in the first place?” It occurred to him that they hadn’t really talked before, which seemed weird because she’d been in his head so often over the past week. Despite the brain-share, he barely knew her and if she was going to stick around, that might have to change.
Tessa pressed her lips together to try and stifle the threatening smile, but she was relatively unsuccessful. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me." He did seem like a workaholic. She didn't think she ever walked into Joyland for coffee when he wasn't there. "I was a hair stylist," she said. "I still am, I guess. Maybe I can get a job doing that here. I saw a salon in town but hadn't decided to stay yet." Tessa wondered if clinging to his arm was making him uncomfortable. He didn't feel tense to her and he hadn't shaken her off yet. But this was her way of breaking that ice even further, forcing Quentin to get used to her presence. "My brother... Caius D'Onofrio, remember? Well, I came here to meet him and my biological dad, which so happens to be Caius's dad too. Obviously. So that was really the big reason. I'm staying because Caius seems interested in getting to know me. Plus, you know, our big brain share. I'd like that to be cured before I leave."
“I think a new hair place opened around here recently. They might be hiring.” Quentin hadn’t checked it out, but it was rare that he tried something new when he already had what he needed elsewhere. He knew that wasn’t the case with everyone though, and that there were probably plenty of people who wanted more options. More interesting was the information about her and Caius. He remembered her saying Caius was her brother, but now he understood that she wasn’t a D’Onofrio. “You know they practically own this town. The D’Onofrios,” he said, looking over at her. “The marina and the pier for sure, but they’re major investors in most of the businesses around here.” Quentin didn’t think they had their hand in Joyland, but he wasn’t the owner and it wouldn’t shock him if they had a stake there too. Almost every successful business was associated with the D’Onofrios in some way.
A new hair place. Tessa grinned a bit. Maybe she could get a job, even if it was temporary. She still wasn't convinced that Miriam D'Onofrio wouldn't try to run her out of town. Tessa had done her best to avoid the woman while trying to speak to Tony. It hadn't been easy. "That doesn't surprise me. Have you seen their house? It's insane. How do two people live in a house that big? What do they do with all the space? I feel completely out of place." She laughed softly. "What about your family? What do they do? Are they living in town too?"
“I don’t know which house is theirs, but every house in Overlook is huge,” Quentin said. “I think Caius lives there, too. Unless he moved in with Reagan. I don’t know. I don’t keep up with them.” But he did work in the town’s premier coffee shop, where gossip flowed as freely as coffee. He’d heard when they eloped, in large part because there was no wedding, which was a huge disappointment to the Overlook community. He’d heard an earful for a week over it sometime last year. “My family lives here,” he said with a little nod. “My mom teaches and my dad works in finance. Nothing exciting.”
"Caius lives in... Black Cove, I think it is? I've been to their house a few times. It's pretty nice." Juniper was nice too, but Caius's kitchen was bigger than Tessa's entire room. Considering what she knew about the D'Onofrio's, Tessa wasn't surprised. But if all the wealthy people liked to live in Overlook, why didn't Caius? Maybe he didn't want to be too close to his parents. She couldn't fault him for that. "I would say finance is definitely not exciting, but teaching probably can be sometimes, right? Kids can be fun... or little demons, I guess it just depends. Do you have any kids?" Quentin didn't wear a wedding band, but that didn't mean he didn't have a Quentin Jr. running around town.
Based on her comment, Quentin guessed that Caius must have moved in with Reagan because he could have sworn he lived up in Overlook, though he couldn’t really say why he knew that. It was just one of those useless bits of information that’d picked up somewhere along the way. Now he mentally updated himself, since she had to be right, if she’d been there herself. “No, no kids,” Quentin snickered. “No wife, no ex-wife, and no reason to think there’s one out there I don’t know about. I mean, there could be, but I seriously doubt it.” There’d been a couple girlfriends back in college, but his love life had gone to shit the moment he’d moved back to Point Pleasant. Of course, the reason didn’t really help, and then he’d let himself get married to his work. “What about you?”
"No kids. No wives either, or husbands. Or exes. Well... okay, more than a few exes, but none that I ever exchanged vows with." Tessa couldn't imagine being a mother, though she knew it might happen someday. She just felt far too young to be taking on that kind of responsibility, taking care of another person when she was still trying to figure out how to take care of herself. "My mind has sort of been focused on this place, ever since I found out who my dad was. Is it hard dating in a small town? I mean, it's not like there are a ton of options, right?"
“Yes and no,” Quentin said with a small laugh. “It’s like, there are options, but you feel like you already know all of them on some level. And they know you. If you get a reputation for something, it’s hard to shake it. And even if you don’t know someone very well, chances are you know someone close to them, or vice versa. Sometimes it’s nice feeling like you know everyone, but when it comes to dating it can suck.” He’d had a few girlfriends in college, one he’d even been serious about at the time, but that felt like years ago. It never felt right asking someone out when he was working, and it felt like he was always working.
Tessa arched a brow, an amused smile forming on her lips. "Do you have a reputation that's hard to shake?" She doubted it. Quentin didn't seem like the type to her, but then again, people could be surprising. And she was still fairly new to Point Pleasant so obviously she didn't know everyone. Tessa wasn't really looking to date or anything like that, but it was still fascinating, getting to know the people here and how this tiny town worked. Everyone seemed to have a history with each other, or, like Quentin said, knew people who knew people.
“No, not really,” Quentin said, giving a small shake of his head, though his smile faded a touch. “But everyone’s known for something.” And he knew without having to think about it what people knew about him. It was one of those things that nobody talked about, but everybody knew. All the locals, anyways. As Dragonfly came into view, he tried to think of something a bit more pleasant and focused on her instead. “You said you’ve met Reagan. Her brother, Nate Kelly, owns Dragonfly.” Quentin assumed he’d be working. He’d never been there when he wasn’t.
"Oh?" Tessa's brows rose. "I don't know Reagan very well but it's hard to imagine anyone in her family owning a bar. Although she owns her own business and apparently Tony owns everything else in town, so I shouldn't be too surprised." Owning a business always sounded amazing to Tessa but she really had no business savvy and she wasn't sure she would want to be in charge of something so risky. That was something she obviously hadn't inherited from her father. Dragonfly looked nice though, not at all like the dive bar she had visited a few days ago, though that had had its own appeal. "Are you two friends? You and Nate?"
Quentin kept trying to place the name ‘Tony’ and it took him a minute to realize she was talking about Anthony D’Onofrio. He’d never heard anyone call him that, but honestly, he really only knew him by his last name. Maybe it was a family thing. “We’re friendly, but I wouldn’t call us friends,” he said. “We’ve always kind of run in different circles, though Nate’s not anything like Reagan. At least, that’s my impression.” He stopped, holding the door open for her so she could step inside the bar. As he followed her in, a sense of calm swept over him, settling his nerves before he’d even had a drink. “You’ll see what I mean.”
Tessa didn't know if "not anything like Reagan" was a good or bad thing. Reagan had always been perfectly polite to her when they had spoken. Did that mean Nate was a jerk? Or maybe Reagan was less kind to people who weren't her or Caius's family. Whatever it was, she had a feeling she didn't want to be on Reagan's bad side, or Caius's. Stepping into Dragonfly, Tessa took a look around, already liking the atmosphere. It seemed chill and less rough around the edges than the Back Porch. Like Quention, Tessa did feel calmer. More relaxed. She took a breath and gave him a smile, gesturing. "Do you want to sit at the bar or grab a table?"
“We can sit at the bar—” Quentin started before his eyes landed on the man behind it and his breath caught in his lungs. He’d expected to see Nate. It was almost always Nate, so he’d forgotten that other people worked there. These days it felt like they were everywhere, at every bar, forcing Quentin to drink alone at home, which he suspected they skipped out on coffee in kind. Quentin caught the moment Sage looked up and recognized him, their eyes locking for a split second before Sage walked to the end of the bar, ducked around the corner and disappeared. Quentin grabbed Tessa’s elbow, halting their progress, and realized he was scowling. “Actually, let’s get a table,” he said, schooling his face back into something neutral.
Tessa blinked in surprise when Quentin stopped her and she glanced between him and the guy at the bar, who was quickly making himself scarce. "Okay," she said slowly, almost inquisitively. His eyes were a bit stormy now and she followed him to a table near the far wall. "What was that about? Who's that guy?" She glanced back at the bar again, but now there was a dark-haired man emerging from the back. The blonde hadn’t returned. Was he hiding from Quentin? What was going on there? Bad blood? Complicated history? Small towns were known for those two things, weren't they? Tessa got comfortable in the seat but her eyes were on Quentin.
It was jarring every time they crossed paths and Quentin wished he could have been a bit more prepared. Last he’d heard, Sage had gone missing, and wouldn’t that be fitting? But no, he’d come back, against all odds, while his brother’s body still had yet to be found. Quentin sat with his back to the bar, glad to see his mood began to lift the moment the man was out of sight. “Sage Monroe. One of the guys responsible for my brother’s death,” he said, keeping his voice low as Nate approached the table. He knew not everyone believed him and if Nate had hired Sage, then apparently he found him innocent. He’d rather not get into it with him.
“Quentin,” Nate said in greeting. Normally this would be Sage’s job, or one for a waitress, but he knew the history between them and was willing to wait on a table if it kept the peace in his bar. “What can I get for you two?”
His brother's death. Tessa blinked again, completely taken aback by the bit of information. Despite how often they were in each other's heads, there was still so much she didn't know about him. He'd had a brother, who was dead. And the pale guy behind the bar had something to do with it? God, it was like a soap opera in this town and she morbidly wanted to know more. But before she could ask, the dark haired guy was standing there. Tessa looked up at him and wondered if this was Nate. He had the same dark hair as Reagan but Reagan was definitely more fair skinned. Her attention shifted back to Quentin briefly before she spoke. "I'll take a gin and tonic," she told him with a small smile. "Are you Nate? I know your sister."
Nate nodded, making note of the woman’s order, then raised a brow, his lips turning up a touch. “I am,” he said, already curious. He knew most of the locals, but he’d never seen her face before, so hearing that she knew Reagan was a surprise. Of the two of them, Nate was the more social one, at least in his opinion. “How do you know Reagan?”
Quentin watched and waited, stewing in the bomb he’d dropped before Nate had shown up. He didn’t like bringing up Grayson. It stirred up the worst memories of Point Pleasant, the ones he tried to put out of his head, but never quite managed. His brother had been gone for years, but had been haunting him ever since. It wasn’t just the tragedy and the pain that came with it; it had changed the course of his life. Quentin wasn’t even sure if he’d be there today if his brother was still alive. And so it was unsettling every time he ran into one of the Cooperdale Five, living their lives just as they were meant to, like nothing had changed. Perhaps his perspective was skewed, but Quentin was too stubborn to acknowledge it. He’d never been given a descent reason to see it all differently. It made him want a drink, but he waited, letting his temper mellow out as Nate and Tessa chatted.
Tessa was eager to ask about Quentin's brother, to find out what the guy behind the counter had to do with it, but Reagan's brother was there and Quentin still looked like he had swallowed a tack. She kept the smile on her face, not wanting things to take a turn for the worst. "Uh, actually, I'm Caius's half-sister. I've been in a town for a few weeks but haven't been here yet. Quentin was nice enough to suggest getting a drink here so..." She looked at Quentin again. "We met because of a fender bender. A real meet cute." Yes, she was trying to lighten up the atmosphere a little. It would or wouldn't work, but one couldn't say she didn't try. Tension wasn't something Tessa dealt with very well.
Quentin laughed, unable to stop himself. A million ways he could have described his run in with Tessa and he still wouldn’t have called it a meet cute. Looking at them now, entering Dragonfly together, with her having been on his arm, he could kind of see how someone from the outside might think that, but that would be ignoring every other moment they’d had together. He couldn’t think of a single rom-com where the couple was stuck inside each other’s head, and probably for good reason. When their eyes turned to him, Quentin pressed his lips together to stifle his laugh. “Sorry. Continue,” he said, sitting back in his seat, arms crossed casually across his chest.
Nate’s eyes had widened at the news that Caius had a half-sister, though the thought that Anthony had had an affair at some point wasn’t completely shocking. It was more that he’d allowed his illegitimate daughter to dance into his life, surely upsetting things at home. If there was one thing the Kellys and D’Onofrios had in common, it was their opinions on the importance of appearances. “Well, damn. I had no idea,” he grinned. “Guess I should catch up with Reagan. Welcome to Point Pleasant. I hope you’re enjoying yourself, fender bender aside.”
Tessa knew exactly what Quentin was thinking and she nearly made a quip about being struck by lightning the first time she saw him, but that was probably pushing it. He already seemed tense, despite the laughter. As for the rest of it, Tessa couldn't say being struck my lightning and having Quentin in her head was enjoyment, but she knew Nate was just being polite. "It's been quite an adventure," she told him with a smile. "I guess in some legal way we're related. In-laws and all that. Could I get a gin and tonic? And something stronger for him." She motioned at Quentin. "I think he needs it."
Nate wondered how much Tessa knew about Caius and Reagan, and the town in general, but decided not to go there. His relationship with his brother-in-law wasn’t the best and sharing private information with his newly discovered half-sister would probably make it worse. He usually didn’t care what Caius thought of him, but that felt like a like he shouldn’t cross. “See if you can talk them into a little family get together. Or drag ‘em here for drinks. They don’t get out enough,” Nate smiled. His attention turned to Quentin and he raised a brow. He knew exactly what he needed, but he was polite enough not to say it. Instead, he waited, assuming he’d order a drink for himself.
Quentin’s mood continued to settle as he watched the exchange, enough so that he rolled his eyes at Tessa’s suggestion. He needed a drink, but he wasn’t as angry as he’d been a minute ago, and while he didn’t understand why it had passed so quickly, he was glad for it. A run in with one of the Cooperdale Five could easily sour the entire afternoon and he’d prefer not to go there. He knew Tessa would have questions, that he couldn’t sidestep the conversation, but it felt easier managed with a drink in hand and Sage out of sight. “I’ll have a Johnny Walker on the rocks,” he said, and his eyes ticked back to Tessa as Nate nodded and walked back towards the bar.
Tessa rested her elbow on the table and settled her chin in her palm, watching Nate walk away before she turned back to Quention, a grin playing at her lips. "He's really hot," she said, mainly because she knew it would make Quentin roll his eyes again. He did that a lot. "But Reagan's really pretty too, so it must run in the family. What's up with you and the guy who disappeared to the back?" He hadn't come back out as far as Tessa knew and she was curious, so of course she was going to ask. She and Quentin didn't know each other that well, obviously, but she had a feeling he knew she had a tendency to ask things that weren't likely her business.
Quentin did roll his eyes, unable to help himself. How else was he supposed to respond to that? He supposed she was right, that Nate was hot, but he hadn’t really been looking. He might’ve agreed about Reagan, but the shift in conversation lodged a knot in his throat, making him wish he had a drink to loosen it. Most of the time he hated how the locals never forgot what happened, but it did prevent him from having to rehash the past. It had been so long since anyone had asked what happened that Quentin wasn’t even sure where to start. He sighed heavily, giving it a shot. “He was with my brother when he disappeared,” he said. “Him and four others. They maintain this story that he disappeared into the Cooperdale tunnel, but… Everyone could tell there was more to it. Even the police. There just wasn’t enough evidence. They never found my brother’s body.”
That was heavy. Tessa frowned and tried to put herself in his position, but she didn't have any siblings. It had always been just her and her mom. Now she had Caius but she wasn't sure they were close enough for her to feel devastation if something happened to him. Maybe that was a bit harsh but she was betting he would admit to the same. "So you think they killed your brother?" she asked, straightening a little in her chair. "I've... I mean, Caius told me about this town. Is it possible that he did just disappear?"
“I mean, people do disappear around here, but… but it always felt like there was more to the story than what they were saying. They were freaked out from the beginning. Sketchy and tight lipped when it came to their story. They passed a lie detector test, but it never made sense.” Quentin had read over every bit of evidence available to the public, sorted through their statements and the timeline, trying to find the missing pieces. Nothing explained what happened out there and the only people who knew refused to talk about it. “I’ve been down to that tunnel a dozen times and there’s nothing special about it. And Grayson would’ve never just left. They’re not even saying he did. He’s just gone, and they’re the only ones who know what happened to him.” It still hurt to think about all these years later. One day he had a brother and the next day he was gone. Quentin’s life had never been the same.
Tessa could see things from Quentin's point of view. People who were innocent of a crime usually had nothing to hide, so why be tight lipped about what had happened? Then again, Tessa also knew there were always two sides to every story and she was only hearing things from Quentin's side. But it was clear that the whole thing still haunted him, and she couldn't blame him for that. "I haven't been to the Cooperdale Tunnel yet," Tessa said. “I've heard things about it, but it's hard to imagine an abandoned railroad tunnel being able to influence bad behavior. I'm sorry you never got the answers you needed." And she was being sincere about that. Tessa could only imagine how much it hurt to not have closure. "Do you think they would talk to you now? I mean, it's been years now, right? Or has that bridge already been burned?"
“I don’t know. Maybe. Probably,” Quentin sighed. “Sage is the only one that stuck around and we had enough run-ins back when it happened that he’s probably the least likely to talk. I’ve seen Jacob decide not to get coffee when he saw me at the counter, so chances are slim there. Jocelyn… maybe. I heard she’s back in town. The other two I haven’t seen in years.” And he was generally happy to have them gone, except when he thought about how they were out living their happy little lives while his brother was just gone, not from the town, but from this earth. “I try not to think about it, but then something happens and it dredges it all back up. Every time someone goes missing it becomes part of the conversation. Sometimes they come back. Sometimes they don’t.” He sighed again, feeling like a heavy weight had come to rest on his chest. “God, I need that drink now.”
She had no idea who those other people were, though it didn't take a genius to recognize they were the other people there when Quentin's brother went missing. Tessa studied him, feeling a little shiver when he said sometimes people came back, and sometimes they didn't. Those who came back, did they have an explanation? Were they the same? In a town that had legit witches and creepy places to visit, it felt like Quentin's words meant much more than he may have meant them to. "I didn't mean to bring the whole afternoon down," she said. "But I am sorry about your brother. And that you have to see the people who may or may not be responsible for whatever happened to him. Maybe we need more than one drink."
“It’s not your fault,” Quentin said with a little shake of his head. “This is old news and I really shouldn’t let it get to me. It just catches me off guard every time I run into ‘em.” It didn’t help that they acted like they had something to hide. If they had nothing to be ashamed of, why avoid him like the plague? Why not say what really happened? He hated that it was one of those things he might not ever have answers to. “Let’s talk about something else. Something a little less heavy,” he suggested. “I usually like this place. It has a way of cheering me up. Or maybe it’s just the drinks.” One thing was certain, he wasn’t going to give up Dragonfly just because Sage was there. He just had to work at not letting his presence bring down his mood.
"I wouldn't say it's old news. Maybe to some people, but not to you. I think if I were you I would be suspicious and upset about it too. The not knowing has to be worse than knowing, you know?" Her lips quirked a bit and she waited as Nate reappeared with their drinks. She hoped Quentin was the type of guy who loosened up with some alcohol and didn't go down the despondent and mopey path the way some people did. She thanked Nate and then lifted her drink in a mock toast to Quentin. "Let's cheer you up. This is a good start."
Quentin thought she was right—it was the not knowing, the feeling that he was never getting the true story, that ate at him. Without all the information, his brain filled in the gaps, and it always made the others seem so much more guilty than they might actually be. But when it came down to it, Quentin didn’t really want to believe that Grayson’s friends killed him. Any other explanation seemed better. He’d just never been given one. When their drinks appeared, Quentin lifted his, returning the toast, glad to have something else to focus on. “Cheers,” he said, taking a sip. “Tell me something new. What do you like about this place? What’s keeping you here beside your brother?”
Tessa sipped her drink, appreciating that it wasn't too strong, or too weak. She hated being able to taste the liquor in her drinks, but she also hated not tasting it at all... there was a perfect balance out there, in her opinion. "Well, I wanted to get to know Tony. But that's been slow going. He's hard to get in touch with and his wife hates me. But... I don't know, I also like this place. It's quaint, I guess. Something about it makes me want to stay a bit longer. Like there's a ton of secrets to reveal. Obviously. What's keeping you here?" she asked, arching a brow. "Your family?"
“My family mostly,” Quentin answered. “I came back when my brother died and… I don’t know. I always intended to leave after that, but it never happened. I settled in and now it doesn’t really make sense. If I stay here, I might own the shop one day. The owner and I have talked about it. But if I leave, I don’t know what I’d do. Manage a Starbucks? No, thank you.” He could always open up his own shop somewhere else, but that was easier said than done. There was nothing dictating that he had to work in a coffee shop, but he’d been doing it for so long that it was the industry that he knew. Changing industries could potentially set him back and most days he just didn’t see the point in starting over. “So, wait, back up. You said your step-mother hates you? What’s that about?”
Tessa chuckled and resisted telling Quentin that she had a bazillion stars on her Starbucks rewards card. No need to offend him further, though she found she quite enjoyed doing it. Sipping from her glass, Tessa nodded and then shrugged one shoulder. "Yeah, I mean... she didn't know about me. So when I showed up, it was a revelation, I guess. Her husband obviously cheated on her at some point and had a love child. Since she didn't know about me, she probably didn't know he had been paying my mom child support for eighteen years either. I don't blame her for being pissed about it. But he doesn't seem to want to have a relationship, so maybe that'll make her feel better, right?"
For some reason Quentin just knew Tessa frequented Starbucks, and it took him a second to realize he was probably pulling that straight from her brain. It didn’t offend him though. Being a patron was different from working there in his mind. “Maybe? I mean, she shouldn’t take it out on you, but you’re proof of his infidelity, so I can see why she might be sour when you’re around, especially if she just found out,” Quentin said. He didn’t want to take the woman’s side, but he’d be pissed too in her shoes. As he imagined it all playing out, he found himself smiling. “I can’t believe you just showed up. Did you know anything about him?”
Tessa grinned a little. "A phone call felt wrong. It would have given him an easy out not to see me, or talk to me. Showing up on his door... I guess he could've shut the door in my face but I was willing to take that chance. I only knew a little about him, from what my mom told me." She took another sip of her drink and continued. "I knew he was married and had two kids. I knew he had money, because he had no problem paying my mom for eighteen years. Not that I came for that," she added, in case Quentin might think that of her. Tessa had no doubt she would be left out of the D'Onofrio will and she was fine with that. Her lips twitched. "He doesn't seem to be very paternal, to say the least. What are your parents like?"
While Quentin didn’t know much about the D’Onofrios, none of what Tessa said really surprised him. It sounded like the kind of bullshit someone like that would pull, and a part of him was pleased that Tessa had stepped in and disrupted their lives. But he didn’t really wish a shitty dad on Tessa. It was unfortunate that Mr. D’Onofrio was uninterested in a relationship with his daughter, but at least she had gotten a brother out of it. “I think my parents are pretty normal, considering everything. We’re close, I wouldn’t have come home if we weren’t. I try to see them once a week, but I fail half the time. If I go too long, my mom’ll show up at the shop at the ass crack of dawn and make up for it,” he said with a little smile. It was one of those things that annoyed him, but he’d never ask her to stop. “You close with your mom?”
It was nice to hear that someone she knew had a good relationship with his parents. Tessa knew just from talking with Caius that he and Tony weren't close, though they certainly had a relationship, considering they worked together. She wasn't sure what Caius's relationship with his mother was like, because they hadn't really talked about her. Somehow she couldn't see the D'Onofrio's being the fuzzy affectionate type. "Yeah, I am," she said with a small nod. "I mean, my mom didn't date much, so growing up it was just the two of us. I do miss her but she understands why I'm here. We talked all the time, though. I didn't tell her about this." Tessa gestured between the two of them. "The brain thing. I don't know if she'd believe it. She might come here and drag me to a doctor."
Quentin was glad to hear Tessa was close with her mother. He’d hate for Tony D’Onofrio to be the only parent in her life, considering he was such a dud. “I’m not sure I’d believe it if I wasn’t living it,” Quentin said with a little laugh. “I’ve seen some weird shit around here, but this is kind of a new level for me. And I’m still not sure there’s not something seriously wrong with us, but I guess I’m willing to take my chances.” He didn’t want a doctor thinking he was crazy or worse—having some FBI level agent pick him up and experiment on him. This felt like the kind of thing that they should keep between them. “It’s kind of cool when it’s not intrusive. I just wish it was more useful. It’s not exactly the super power I’d pick if I got to pick one.”
"Oh, there's definitely something seriously wrong with us," Tessa corrected. "We're in each other's heads! That's fucked up for sure. It just hasn't killed us yet." She grinned and picked up her drink again. "And you know I only intrude on your brain to annoy you. Like I wonder if I asked you something intrusive, if you would answer in your mind before you had a chance to stop it." Just because they'd had a real conversation for once here in Dragonfly didn't Tessa couldn't mess with Quentin. He practically begged for it, even if he didn't realize it. "Like... when's the last time you had sex?"
“Don’t,” Quentin snapped, but it was too late. He was unable to stop his brain from processing the question. When was the last time he’d had sex? Over a year ago, that was for sure. When he’d met up with some college friends in New York for a long weekend. He didn’t even remember her name, just the taste of her lips and the exhilaration of letting go for once in a blue moon. The knowledge that Tessa could know all of this in an instant brought a laugh to his lips and he shook his head in embarrassment. “Fuck you, that’s not fair,” he said, though there was no malice in the response. “I already told you dating can suck around here.”
It was so surreal how vividly his answer came through and Tessa's grin widened. "I never said it was fair," she pointed out, amused. "I just wanted to see if it worked the way I thought it would, and it does. A year, though? Poor guy." But she could see his side of it. Point Pleasant was a small town after all and he would have to find someone his age, or close to it, single and interested on both sides. "You're pretty responsible, aren't you? You don't get to just make impulsive decisions all that much?"
A fucking year. Quentin didn’t want to think about it. Thinking about it would make it infinitely worse, especially since his thoughts could be so easily shared with Tessa. He knew he didn’t get out as much as he should, and his job didn’t help things. Early mornings made late nights even more difficult than normal. “There’s not a lot of impulsive decisions to make,” Quentin shrugged, taking a sip of his drink. He’d never thought being responsible was a bad thing, but it did make life sadly predictable. “I’m not against being impulsive though, so long as it doesn’t ruin my life.”
Tessa agreed with a small hum in her throat as she took another drink. She had never done anything so impulsive that it ruined her life, but she had certainly taken risks. Coming to Point Pleasant to find her birth father, for example. "Well, go on then," she said, once she set her glass back down on the table. "Ask me something embarrassing. It seems only fair that you get an answer too. And don't ask me the last time I had sex. It was like, six months ago and it wasn't great." Tessa wasn't one for long term relationships, but it had been at the tail end of one and the passion had long since dwindled away. It was what it was and not anything really worth talking about.
“Something embarrassing,” Quentin said, drawing a blank on everything except the one thing she’d forbid him to ask. It probably wouldn’t have embarrassed her anyways, which was why this was so hard. He had the feeling Tessa was much more difficult to fluster than he was, which was embarrassing if he really thought about it. “I’d ask when was the last time you had great sex, but I doubt that would bother you,” he said, finger tapping on the table for a second. “What’s the worst date you’ve ever been on?” Everyone had at least one cringe-worthy experience, one that immediately popped in their head as how bad it could get.
Of course her first thought was the date that never happened. A dumb blind date - who went on blind dates anymore!? - that her best friend Kelley had set her up on and the guy never showed. It had been more humiliating than going out with some guy who didn't bathe or expected sex for a paid meal. Her cheeks turned pink at the memory, despite the laugh she choked out. "Getting stood up was the worst," she said, though she was sure he probably already sussed that out of her head. "And the last time I had great sex was.... a year ago?" Tessa winced and then laughed again. "Is that better or worse than not having sex at all?" She took another drink and continued. "Have you ever been in love before?"
Quentin opened his mouth, then shut it, his brow furrowing in thought. His immediate answer had been yes, but in retrospect he wasn’t so sure. His thoughts were jumbled enough that he wasn’t at all sure what Tessa would pick up and he spoke just so she wouldn’t go sorting through the memories while he tried to come up with an answer. “I thought so at the time, but looking back, I don’t think so,” he said. “I was dating a girl when my brother died. I thought it was serious at the time. She came for the funeral, but then she went home and I stayed here. It fell apart and I barely noticed. I mean, I was in the middle of a family crisis, but I still feel like it should have hurt more if I had been.” It probably made him sound callous, but it was just the way his life had unraveled. “What about you? Some great love affair in your past? Please tell me your life’s not as depressing as mine,” he said with a little self-deprecating smile.
It was hard to pick out a set answer from Quentin's brain, but that wasn't surprising. Love was a complicated emotion. Even when someone was right in the middle of it, they may look back later and realize it wasn't as deep as they'd once thought. "Grief is hard on everyone," she said after a moment, "even those indirectly affected by it. I'm sorry that happened, though, love or not. As for me, no great love affair, but I've been in love. Once in high school and once since, but nothing worth talking about. I think I've been too wrapped up in trying to figure out who I am and where I'm from to think about love or dating. Plus, as you've pointed out, there doesn't seem to be a lot of bachelors in this town who're my type."
“I wouldn’t give up hope yet. The town’s small, but there’s no way you’ve met everyone,” Quentin said with a teasing little smile. It was so easy for her to pick on him, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do the same. “Unless you’re just that picky.” He had no idea what her type was, but there had to be someone around, so long as she didn’t want someone completely normal and untraumatized. It wouldn’t shock him at all if the town was running low on traumaless inhabitants, though things had been quiet for long enough that some could probably pass. He certainly couldn’t, not after getting struck by lightning with her.
That was true. There were definitely people she hadn't met yet, but she had no idea if she would. Who knew how long she would stay and did she really want to get involved with someone, even on a temporary basis? Sex would be nice, but finding someone on board with that might be even harder to do. Tessa attempted to shut down her brain, chuckling to herself before sipping more of her drink. It was only fair to let him tease her a bit. God knew she didn't let him off the hook when she saw an opportunity to tease him. "I'm not picky," she said after setting her glass back down. "I just have standards, as I would hope most people do." Tessa arched a brow, trying to bite back a smirk. "Do you wonder what sex between us would be like? Do you think we would be in each other's heads too much?"
Quentin’s brows rose, eyes widening before he attempted to shut his brain down, glad he didn’t have any specific memories to associate with a question like that. His natural instinct was to avoid and not answer at all, but then she’d likely just pull his thoughts from his head, so he might as well speak. “I think it would either be awful or incredible,” he said, a laugh bubbling its way to the surface as he tried his very best not to imagine anything at all. He was failing spectacularly. It was an impossible feat with her sitting across from him. “If it was good we’d both know it. And if it was bad, that would make it so much worse. So it would either be horribly embarrassing, or we’d actually know what each other liked.”
Tessa grinned, pleased to see the question amused him. He had a nice smile. "It wouldn't be bad," she pointed out simply, tapping a nail absentmindedly against her glass. "If anything, I bet it would be amazing. Knowing what each other likes... if you're too shy to say it out loud, anyway. Maybe we'll find out sometime. You said so yourself, pickin’s are slim in this town. And I think you're past due for some good sex." Tessa was serious, of course, but she found she quite liked throwing Quentin off his game a little. It seemed like he needed lightening up a bit, and hell, what else did she have to do in this place right now?
“I’m not shy. I’m just not—that—” Quentin’s words failed him and he laughed softly as he rubbed a hand over his cheek, ruffling his scruff. “Even with access to your thoughts, I can’t tell if you’re fucking with me or not.” Against his better judgment, he was curious. The feedback loop had the potential to make for some really good sex. And Quentin wasn’t blind—Tessa was attractive, and would be even moreso if she was slightly disheveled, clothes slightly askew from his hands… Quentin picked up his drink and took a long drink, forcing himself to focus on the burn. “This is your fault,” he told her as he set his glass back down with a thunk.
She wasn't fucking with Quentin, but Tessa did like that he couldn't tell for sure. He was fun to mess with, but maybe it wouldn't be a terrible thing to find someone to hook up with in this town. Until her father or his wife chased her out of it, anyway. And he was attractive and she was betting he was good in bed too. Arching a brow, Tessa's lips quirked as Quentin's glass clinked on the table. "What's my fault? You being flustered or this whole thing in general?”
“I don’t think I can blame you for a lightning storm,” Quentin snickered. “Unless you’re a witch. But I feel like I’d have figured that out by now.” No, it was her fault he was thinking about having sex with her, an idea that once implanted wasn’t going to go away. Instinct told him she wouldn’t be interested, but the fact that she could see into his head changed things. Complicated them, because he could see into her head too. Sometimes. It wasn’t something that he’d worked at, but now he was beginning to wonder what might happen if he did.
Tessa snickered softly. "Definitely not a witch. Apparently that gene skipped over me." Not that she minded it. Tessa could only imagine what growing up as a witch would have been like, especially since her dad wanted nothing to do with her. Maybe if she had been a witch, Tony would have been more present in her life. Either way, it didn't matter. Right now she was flustering a cute guy who she could tell was attracted to her. Folding her arms on the table, Tessa leaned in, lowering her voice conspiratorially, "I have a room at Juniper, if you're ever interested."
Quentin’s eyes flicked down as Tessa leaned in, giving him a glimpse of what he was sure were nearly perfect tits. He blinked and looked up at her, but his lack of subtlety didn’t matter. The image stuck in his head and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that she could see it. “You think that’s something I would do?” he asked. “Just show up at your door without an invitation?” He’d never been that bold in his life, or that desperate, but at the moment he was feeling tempted. Because she was hot. And he was curious. And he thought she might actually invite him in. Having the door shut in his face would be bad enough, but being laughed at in his own head afterward was something he’d like to avoid.
"I don't know if that's something you would do," Tessa said with a soft shrug. "Only you know that. Maybe you should try something out of your comfort zone. And if it helps, you do have an invitation." From what she could tell, it seemed like Quentin might be a tiny bit insecure, worried about a reaction that would lead to potential humiliation. But if they were both stuck with this weird brain connection for now, it seemed like they could do some good with it - good for each other. It had been so long since she'd had good sex and if they could sense what the other liked... they were both good looking people, around the same age... it made sense, didn't it?
It did make sense, but Quentin had never been led into sex via logic. It was usually emotionally driven, or drunkenly, and he didn’t have to think it through. The problem was that he was thinking now, and that tended to make him more hesitant. There were always consequences, but in this case maybe the payoff would be greater. “We should have another drink,” he said with a little smile. Maybe it was flirtatious, but Quentin hadn’t flirted in so long that he felt completely out of practice. “It’s been a long time since someone forced me out of my comfort zone. Well, not forced,” he said thoughtfully, backtracking a bit. “Since I stepped out, I guess.”
Her glass was nearly empty so Tessa agreed to another drink. She turned around to look for Nate and get his attention. "I would never force you out or into anything," Tessa said, once she caught Nate's eye and indicated they both wanted a second. "But it's pretty liberating to do it from time to time." She rested her chin in her palm, eying him. He was good looking. She had noticed before but Tessa had been more focused on things like getting struck by lightning - allegedly - and dealing with the brain share on top of trying to get to know her half-brother.
“Yeah, forced was the wrong word,” Quentin agreed with a little laugh. “You couldn’t make me do anything I don’t want to do.” And he was willing to admit that he wanted her. That part was becoming harder and harder to ignore. If he knew it, she likely knew it too, just like he could sense her thoughts as she looked him over. This wasn’t one sided, and knowing that gave him the boost of confidence he needed when dealing with her. “You ever wonder how this works?” he asked. “The limits? The abilities? If there’s more to it, or if it’ll last?” He’d originally wanted to be rid of it as soon as possible, but if there were some perks to it, then it might not be as bad as he thought.
"I do wonder, yeah," Tessa admitted with a soft sigh. "But I have no answers. Caius was going to try and find out what was going on and if he could help, but I haven't heard from him in a couple of days. I just don't know what the purpose is behind it. If it's just a fluke thing that will fade over time, or get worse? It's a little scary not knowing but there's really nothing we can do about it, right? So... I don't know, we experiment with it and see if we can figure things out on our own." She didn't want to be wholly dependent on Caius to fix this for her, even though having a witch for a brother was certainly beneficial.
What bothered Quentin about it was that he didn’t understand the why behind it all. Saying it was because they’d been struck by lightning wasn’t enough because that didn’t make any sense. Without understanding why it happened, he couldn’t gauge if it would get better or worse, stronger or fade, and he had nowhere to go for answers, not like Tessa did. “What exactly could Caius really do?” he asked, some little detail beginning to itch at him in the back of his mind. It was something she’d said, or something she’d thought. Something he’d picked up on, but not really processed. “I think experimenting would at least help us to understand it better. Can’t hurt, you know?”
Being struck by lightning seemed like the easiest way to explain what had happened, even if Tessa knew that couldn't quite be true. They had survived without any burns or long term damage but for their brain share. But what else could it have been? Caius told her, in so many words, that this town was fucked up and he was a literal witch. So had it been lightning or something else? "I don't know, magic or something?" she said with a shrug, pausing when Nate appeared with fresh drinks. He took their empty glasses away and Tessa stirred the liquor with the tiny plastic straw. "He said he would research, but the last time we spoke he sounded a little distracted, so I don't know if he found anything yet."
Ever since Quentin became aware of their connection, he’d been trying not to listen. It felt intrusive, like he was listening in on a conversation that he knew he wasn’t supposed to hear. Today was the first time he’d really turned it on, listening in on Tessa because he knew she was doing the same to him. It was the only reason he knew she wasn’t fucking with him. “You’re serious,” he said in surprise, lowering his voice as Nate stepped away from the table. “Like, he’s a literal witch?” He’d always heard there were witches in town, in Overlook specifically, but he’d always expected something different. Not someone like Caius D’Onofrio. “Are you sure? Have you seen him do anything?”
Tessa arched a brow, confused for a moment. She had thought Quentin knew that much about Caius. Hadn't she told him? She realized now it was possible it had been in her head and maybe she just assumed he knew. And maybe Caius didn't want people to know what he was. Though she couldn't really help it now, because Quentin was in her head and she couldn't exactly deny it. "He is," Tessa said, lowering her voice to a whisper. "And yes, I've seen him perform magic. His wife too. Which I guess means... is Nate a witch then?" Since they were siblings. Was that how it worked? She and Caius were siblings but Tessa wasn't a witch. But she also had a mom who wasn't a witch.
Quentin started to look over his shoulder, but stopped himself, not wanting to direct Nate’s attention back towards them. “Maybe? Probably? I don’t know how it works,” he said quietly. “Is it hereditary? Are both Caius’s parents witches?” He could totally see it if they were. He’d just always imagined witches as hippies or goths, the kind that shopped at that tea shop and wore pentagram necklaces. The D’Onofrios were the exact opposite of that, but they oozed power. In a town like Point Pleasant, being a witch would give you an upper hand. It was the kind of thing that Quentin both admired and hated—why should they have all the power? If he could learn, he would do so in a heartbeat.
"His mom isn't," she said before grimacing and lifting up her glass. "I honestly don't know if I was supposed to say anything, so keep it to yourself, okay? It was just me and my mom growing up so it's nice actually having a brother to get to know. I don't want to ruin that because I opened my mouth." She didn't think Quentin would blab to people about Caius being a witch but she also didn't know him that well, so it felt right to ask him to keep it quiet. "And for the record, I have no idea about Reagan's parents either. Maybe I'll ask him how it works. But if he can help us figure this out because of what he is, I'll take it."
“I listen, I don’t contribute,” Quentin said, sharing his cardinal rule of working at a coffee shop. He heard all kinds of things, but this was the best bit of gossip he’d come across in a long time. As juicy as it was, he knew better than to do anything that might piss off the D’Onofrios, plus he liked Tessa. If she wanted him to stay quiet, then he’d do so. “Find out how it works. I’m curious. And if he can help, even better. I just don’t like not knowing what we’re dealing with.” It was a control issue more than anything else. He didn’t like that he didn’t know his own abilities, or what Tessa’s were, since they were linked together. If Caius could give them that, he’d be grateful.
"Mmm, so you gather all the hot town gossip," Tessa pointed out. "I bet that comes in handy, though you don't seem like the type of guy to actually blackmail anyone." Which was a good thing, given what she had just told him. And she had a feeling if he planned on blabbing she would know it, given she was in his head and everything. "But yeah, I'll talk to Caius again and see what's going on. And if he can't figure it out, maybe he can point me to someone who can." Tessa folded her arms on the table again and leaned in a bit. "Do you cook?"