InsaneJournal

Who: Henry and Rapunzel
What: Chatting over coffee and Rapunzel introduces Henry to Pascal
Where: Local coffee shop
When: Backdated to just before Christmas
Warnings/Ratings: Low/none
Status: Complete!



Maybe it was a little strange to carry her little chameleon all over the place, but that’s what she did with Pascal in her dreams and he certainly seemed to enjoy being around here. Rapunzel knew that he was a little different than most chameleons because of the dream factor, but he was quite a friendly little creature. He was getting along well with Laura and she was really excited to introduce Henry to him. They were meeting up for coffee, but the introduction would have to wait until they were out of the shop because Rapunzel had already learned how well employees react to a lizard.

For the moment Pascal was securely stored in her purse at the moment as she stood in line at the coffee shop and debated what to get. She had her wallet in her hand and she was staring up at the menu board when she felt a presence behind her. With a slight turn of her head she noticed it was Henry and broke out into a smile, “Hi!”

Rapunzel had one of those infectious kinds of smiles and Henry returned it with ease he didn’t usually have. “Hi, there,” he answered. He was bundled up in his parka with snow in his shaggy brown hair (he still hadn’t found his goddamn hat and refused to spend the money for a new one).

Henry’s eyes darted over Rapunzel, briefly lingering on her shoulders and pockets. He didn’t see a chameleon with her and was a little disappointed by this. But it was also cold as a witch’s tit outside and Henry remembered hearing or reading somewhere that chameleons were temperamental little buggers and Pascal probably wouldn’t have enjoyed the snow too much. Henry sure as hell could have done without it and he at least had a parka to keep warm with.

“How’ve you been?” Henry asked as he stepped forward to join Rapunzel in line. “How did finals go?”

His eyes trying to find the chameleon weren’t lost on Rapunzel and she chuckled softly, “He’s in my bag. The last time I went to a food place he decided to crawl onto my shoulder and the waitress flipped out. So, he’s not allowed out right now.” However, she was nice enough to step closer to Henry and open up her bag enough that he could see Pascal inside of the bag. The chameleon just stared up at the man and blinked. It didn’t help that he was currently trying to blend into the fabric of the bag and Rapunzel reached down to pet him.

“I’ve been good. Finals went well. Not as scary as I thought they would be, but I did a lot of studying. I’m so ready to rot my brain with tv and books,” Rapunzel explained with a laugh, “How about you?”

Henry raised a brow. He’d heard of people carrying around tiny dogs in bags, but a chameleon? He looked down as Rapunzel stepped up to him and into her open bag. At first he didn’t see anything unusual. It wasn’t until Rapunzel reached in and petted something that he noticed the little chameleon.

Henry wasn’t much of a pet person, but even he had to admit Pascal was cute. “Aww,” he said with a faint smile. “How can anyone be afraid of that little guy? He’s so tiny. Maybe once we get our coffee, we can find a table out of the way and he can come out for a little bit.”

The line was moving and Henry guided them a few steps up. “Glad your finals went well,” he said. “I remember how stressful finals were when I was in school and how relieved I was when they were over. Do you have any other plans for winter break?”

A few more shuffled steps towards the front of the line. “I’ve been working at the new job mostly,” he answered her next. “Other than that, I’ve been trying to document the snowfall. It’s a thing that happens every year here. Apparently. But I wanted to get some shots of it anyway.”

“I have no idea. I feel like people see lizards and instantly freak out because it’s not a normal pet. And table out of the way sounds good to me,” Rapunzel agreed with him. She knew that lizards weren’t the normal type of pet, but Pascal was totally harmless. At least Henry didn’t seem completely opposed to the idea of Pascal.

“Yeah, it’s such a weight off your shoulders when you finish,” Rapunzel commented as they stepped forward, “I am looking forward to having a normal sleep schedule again. And as for winter break, I’m going to see my mom for a week and then I’ll be back here in time for New Years.”

“How is your new job?” she kept an eye on the people in front of them because there were only two other people between them and the cashier so she didn’t want to hold the line up, “and snowfall pictures, I like that. I should go do something like that. I have a few photos of my girlfriend playing in the snow, but that’s about it right now. I totally got sidetracked by finals and haven’t enjoyed the snow as much as I would like.”

Lizards made pretty good pets, Henry thought. You didn’t have to worry about taking them out for walks or of them shredding your expensive couch. For the most part they simply sat in their tanks, like fish. But better than fish, you could take them out and carry them around on your shoulder (or in your bag) when you wanted to. They may not be furry or cuddly or considered cute, but Henry thought more people should have lizards as pets.

“I’m enjoying the new job,” he answered as they stepped forward. “I get to work with my best friend and I don’t have to worry about wearing a uniform and the pay is much better than I was getting at the Picture Palace. In fact, I’m treated better than I was at the Picture Palace. Plus, my friend is on the network too, so if I should happen to turn into a Demon Horse again, I probably won’t get canned.”

They took a few more steps forward and were next to place their orders. “Snow in California is pretty unique so if you get the chance to photograph it, you should. Just so you have visual proof of it, if nothing else. Also, enjoy it, if you’re into snow or whatever. Go sledding with your girlfriend or something. Make a snowman. You know, enjoy yourself now that you have the winter break.”

“Those all sound excellent plus sides to your new job, Henry,” she commented with a happy smile. As long as Henry was happy that was all that mattered to her since he was a good friend of hers now, but it definitely sounded like he was feeling much happier to have this new job. The comment about the demon horse made her laugh and she shook her head with a smile, “Good thing because you never know if that could happen again. I really hope it won’t, but at least you’ll have an understanding boss this time around.”

When the customer ahead of them stepped away she took a step forward to place her order and paid before stepping away for Henry to order. She kept the pause on their conversation until they were both moving down to the end of the bar to the pickup area, “Oh yeah, we definitely built a snowman and had a snowball fight. It was a lot of fun and I’m really glad I have photos of it. She’s had a hard go of it so far, so it’s nice to see when she’s able to just have fun. But it’s certainly time to embrace a bit more snow playing while I’m away from school. It’s like being a kid again.”

Henry ordered his coffee after Rapunzel. Nothing fancy, just a large hazelnut (his current favorite flavor) with light cream and sugar. He would have preferred it black, but baristas always seemed disappointed that he hadn’t ordered something fancy, like a double shot espresso half black with goats milk, and always pressed him as if he wasn’t sure if he really wanted just plain old black coffee. It wasn’t as if Henry didn’t like fancy coffee drinks, they were just something he had to be in the mood for. As he ordered he handed over his travel mug to fill. After paying, he joined Rapunzel at the pick up area.

“I’m sorry she’s had it rough,” he said. “Is it dream related or…” He didn’t mean to pry, really, but he was curious. Rapunzel was a friend of his now and he wanted to make sure that she was in a good place, which meant checking to see if her girlfriend was in a good place or in a place that might be harmful for Rapunzel, intentional or otherwise.

Luckily for Henry, Rapunzel was the type of customer to order the weird drink order and thankfully it wasn’t too complicated. She usually picked something espresso and threw in a lot of syrups and sugar so that she would be humming along the rest of the day. When he asked the question about Laura she gave him a shy smile, “A little bit of both. Things were rough here and her dreams are incredibly weird. Strange superhero crap, but things are a lot better here. She’s got her dad and she’s making more friends and she’s got me of course. She seems a lot happier now than she was when we first met and it makes me happy to be part of the reason why.”

Laura’s backstory wasn’t really hers to tell and sometimes it felt too complicated to properly explain to people. She would have to make Laura explain it, but Laura wasn’t really the sharing type. All she knew is that Laura was a lot happier and seemed healthier in general now that they were together. “What about youuuuuu. Anyone that you’ve got your eye on that I can stalk and make sure they’re acceptable to date you?” Rapunzel may be tiny, blonde, and happy, but she could totally be fiesty if she needed to be and that’s how she would be around anyone that wanted to date her friends. She needed to make sure they checked out and were acceptable.

Henry could sympathize about weird dreams. His were no picnic, straight out of a horror movie. But that kind of seemed the norm among their fellow Dreamers. Maybe not the horror movie part, but the weird part. The difficult part. The part that made you not want to sleep at night. Rapunzel’s dreams of laughing and bursting into song at random were the oddities here, and yet even her’s weren’t completely safe, given a few of the details she’d shared with Henry, namely being in a tower with magical healing hair.

“I’m glad that she has people around to support her,” Henry said. “Family, friends and you. It’s important to have that kind of thing.” Henry assumed anyway. He didn’t have any family, but he did have Revy in his corner and at this point he’d probably be lost without her. “And with you around, how can she be anything but happy. You’re like infectious with it.” He gave her a grin.

Since Henry’s order had been painfully simple, his order was ready first. He accepted his travel mug back, all nice and warm and full of coffee. He took a tentative sip and tried not to look sheepish as he thought of how to answer Rapunzel’s teasing question about his own love life.

“I don’t date,” he told her at last and it was the truth. Henry had never dated a day in his life, had never had a steady girlfriend. He’d had sexual partners, even a few repeats, the kind that could be called friends with benefits, although neither Henry or the girls he slept with had ever really considered themselves to be friends with each other. More like a convenient standing and open invitation to screw each other when the fancy struck them. None of them were on the network, though, and since he’d started dreaming, Henry had distanced himself from them and they had moved on without question.

That was the way it always had been, so it confused Henry a great deal when he met Kenzi and a new set of feelings had stirred in him. Feelings he wasn’t really sure how to describe or what to do with. Kenzi was different.

“Sorry,” he said with a shrug, “But there’s no one for you to stalk on my behalf.”

There was a bit of guilt that came along with the fact that Rapunzel’s dreams were a little more carefree than other people’s dreams. Especially Henry’s because the things he had to deal with were absolutely awful and she would probably be going crazy if she was trapped in some kind of horror movie scenario in her dreams. Right now she only had to deal with trying to get out of her tower and away from her controlling mother. But, if her friends didn’t have happy dreams then the least she could do was to spread a little sunshine to their lives.

Which was why the comment about being infectious brought about a blush to her face and she flashed him a smile. “Well, aren’t you just sweet. I’m probably too sugary sweet for her since she’s a little gothic doom and gloom sometimes. But when she smiles, jesus christ,” she pantomimed a fainting motion and smiled. It wasn’t just the smiles that Laura gave, but she wasn’t going to give out all the details of her sex life to poor Henry when he hadn’t even had his coffee.

Thankfully her order arrived as soon as he mentioned he didn’t date and that smile turned into a bit of a frown. She narrowed her eyes at him and reached forward to playfully poke at his stomach since that was easier for her to reach than his chest. “Puh-lease,” she gave a bit of an eye roll before lifting the drink to her lips and moving to walk towards a table near a back corner of the store, “I would date you. And if there is ever someone I need to stalk you better tell me.” She wasn’t going to assume why he didn’t date, but he was an attractive man so he shouldn’t be lacking on choices. Rapunzel had tried not to date Laura at first since she had just moved here, but it just happened eventually. It wasn’t her place to pry into Henry’s choices, but she would be his friend no matter what.

Once they made it to the table she sat down and let Pascal out of the bag slightly.

“They say opposites attract,” Henry told Rapunzel. “You know, like that song with Paula Abdul and Scat Cat.” Not that Henry was anywhere near old enough to even know that song, much less remember it. The internet was a treasure trove of useless trivia about decades gone by and Youtube was an education all of itself. “There’s no way you’re too sugary sweet for anyone. Besides, you probably balance her out, right? A ray of sunshine in her gloom?”

Rapunzel was absolutely smitten with this girl. It was cute and Henry wanted to support that cute little ray of gloomy-sunshine love.

He took a seat across from Rapunzel at the table to block the view of anyone happening to look their way who might object to a lizard peeking out of a bag. Henry reached over to pet the little lizard on the head with his finger.

Girls slept with him, they didn’t date him. Rapunzel was probably just humoring him, he thought as he stroked Pascal’s scaly little head. The lizard was really cute, despite what others may have thought.

“Would you really date me?” He asked skeptically. “I’m pretty reclusive and kind of socially stupid around people. I wouldn’t even know what to do on a date. What do people do on dates, anyway?”

Paula Abdul and Scat Cat? Rapunzel just arched an eyebrow at him and silently chastised him for being a dork. She didn’t think she had ever watched a music video like that and she had seen some weird things from the 80’s and 90’s on the internet. But there was a hint of a smirk as she looked at him before chuckling, “I’m hoping that’s true, but someone can be too sugary sweet. We’re certainly different from each other, so hopefully it just means we’ll work well together.”

She was smitten and she would continue to do what she could to make sure this relationship with Laura worked. She smiled to herself and then watched with alert eyes as Pascal made it a bit up on the table and began to turn color to blend into his new surroundings. Hopefully Henry blocking people will work and Pascal will be able to get away with being out on the table for at least a little bit.

Her drink was lifted to her lips and her eyes widened just a bit when he asked for confirmation about the dating comment and she gave him a nod. After swallowing her drink she set the cup back down and grinned, “Yeah, I totally would. You’re attractive, you’re nice, you like my weird pet, and you teach me new things. And I have to say I don’t mind the socially reclusive and socially inept. As for what you do on dates, well, you just hang out and get to know people. My first date with Laura was painting her and then we went out to the movies and out for coffee and stuff like that. Eventually you are done going out in public and then you start spending more time at home together.”

It wasn’t every day Henry got complimented. He felt a bit of heat in his face. “Thanks for saying so,” he said. He was still stroking Pascal’s little lizard head. “Your weird pet’s not so weird, really. He’s actually pretty cute.”

He drank his coffee thoughtfully. “I don’t think datings really for me,” he said after a moment. “I mean I like movies and coffee and stuff but,” he shrugged. “I don’t know.” He shifted the direction of their conversation. “Your first date with Laura sounds interesting. Did you offer to paint her, or did she ask?”

“You’re very welcome. And he is quite cute,” Rapunzel smiled down at her chameleon who was thoroughly enjoying the head pet at the moment and then looked back up when he began to speak again. She could fully understand where he was coming from, but he should at least allow himself to be open to the possibility if it ever did get a chance to happen. She would never tell him that he had to date or anything like that.

“That’s fine. You shouldn’t force it, but at least grasp the opportunity if it does happen,” she suggested and took another long sip of her drink, “I posted on the network that I needed a model and she volunteered. She and I had hung out once or twice before, but it hadn’t been anything like that. She’s a very lovely model.”

“I doubt the opportunity will ever come up,” Henry shrugged again. It hadn’t before and Henry had no reason to think that it ever would, and that really didn’t bother him. It was just life. But, he gave Rapunzel a small smile, “but for you, if it does, I won’t let it pass me by.” He had to admit, Rapunzel’s relationship with Laura sounded nice.

Henry stopped petting Pascal’s head so that the little guy could wander around the table and explore his surroundings. Pascal was cute and all, and friendly as far as lizards went, but Henry was a little disturbed that animals were part of the bleed-over process. He didn’t want to wake up on Revy’s couch and be face to snout with a sniffer dog. “Have you heard of many other people getting pets from their dreams?” He asked.

“Good, I’m here to be your optimistic side,” Rapunzel countered with a smile as she playfully reached out to kick his foot under the table. It would be easy to get down when your dreams were as bad as Henry’s, but Rapunzel was basically sunshine personified for the most part. She was more than happy to help Henry along and she really did hope the opportunity for some more happiness in his life did happen. You could never guess when someone special would just show up. She had never expected Laura.

The question gave her a moment of pause and she pursed her lips together in thought, “Um, I can’t say that I’m 100% sure of hearing about other people. I’m sure it’s bound to happen though. I don’t think it will always happen, so I wouldn’t be too afraid.” It would be a tragedy if poor Henry had to wake up with a horrible dog from his dreams. Hopefully this dream kind of dream bleed-over wouldn’t happen to him.

Henry smiled back and laughed a little when his foot got kicked. “Thanks, I could use an optimistic side, sometimes.” He set his chin in the palm of his hand and thought for a moment. He decided to let her optimism take control in this situation. He hadn’t heard of anyone else getting animals from their dreams. And, besides, Pascal was a pet. Sniffer dogs certainly were not pets.

“You’re probably right,” he said as he picked up his coffee cup. “And, hey, even if one of those dogs does show up, who says I can’t tame it, right?”