Henry Townshend is a ghost magnet (room_302) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-06-05 16:41:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, chloe saunders, henry townshend, revy |
Who: Henry, Chloe and Revy
What: Best friend meet Girlfriend
Where: Local restaurant
When: Recently
Ratings/Warnings Low - language
Status: Complete!
Henry was a little nervous. Well, actually he was a lot nervous. He really wanted Revy, his best friend, to meet Chloe, his girlfriend. It was important to him that the two of them not only met, but got to know one another. They didn’t have to be best buddies or anything, but he did want them to get along at least a little bit. He also wanted to show Revy that his luck was changing. She had every right to be concerned about him. After all, he hadn’t exactly had the best go of it the past several months between accidentally releasing Silent Hill’s fog and monsters into Orange County, to getting kidnapped to having his “heart” literally pulled right out of him. Chloe was really the first good thing to happen to Henry in a long time. She made him happy, made him feel good about himself and the world he found himself in.
Henry also wanted Chloe to meet his friends, especially Revy, who had always been the person Henry turned to when things got...well...weird. She had even saved him on more than one occasion. Henry trusted Revy to the end, no matter what.
So it was incredibly important to Henry that this meeting between two of the most important people in his life go well.
It had been decided a lunch would be ideal for the three of them, somewhere they could sit and talk and have a couple of drinks. A kitschy restaurant near the beach whose decor consisted of surfer and skater stickers on the booths seemed perfect.
It was a good thing that Chloe had made sure that she and Henry went away for Memorial Day weekend because work was now ramping up into a whole other world of craziness. Summer movie season always made it busy, but Chloe wasn’t expecting it to be like this and they were asking for mandatory overtime and there were more events happening in the evenings that she was going to. The weekend ones weren’t awful because she could now ask Henry if he wanted to tag along to anything when he wasn’t working. But the best part about being busy was that Chloe could convince someone to cover her for a longer lunch break.
Meeting Henry’s best friend was making her nervous, but she luckily didn’t have time to dwell on it until she was walking up to the restaurant. She wanted to make a good impression on anyone Henry thought was important because he was important to her. Eventually she would be forced to introduce him to Derek and she wanted to get brownie points for being a good girlfriend. She stopped briefly at the hostess stand to inquire about her boyfriend and was pointed towards him on the patio and she made her way to him.
Heels clicked across the wood floor as she adjusted her sunglasses and reached a hand up to run her fingers through her blonde locks. At the sight of her boyfriend an easy smile appeared on her face and she instantly felt more relaxed. Upon reaching him her smile only grew and she leaned in to give him a kiss in greeting and slipped her hand into his, “Hi handsome. Is Revy here yet?” She didn’t see any signs of their third person here yet, but she wanted to make sure.
Revy was more of the intimidating, tall and well-toned ex-con of a foul-mouthed tattooed older sister Henry had probably never wanted, and it wasn’t like she ever yearned to find someone to fulfill some kind of emotional sibling connection with but, fuck, there you have it. Chances were that the little girlfriend he’d procured himself was as harmless as he thought, but she’d always been a decent judgment of people - she knew skeezy fuckers and murderers from the glint in their goddamn eyes, and she wanted to know whose twat Henry would be plowing (or was already plowing) to be a little more at ease. And not worry so much whether or not he’d be held hostage again with fancy dogmeat (also known as anything served at Taco Bell) shoved down his throat.
This restaurant had outdoor patio seating which was smoke-friendly, and if they’d follow the scent of tobacco and smoke, they’d find an olive-skinned woman of the half-Asian variety sitting at a table meant for three. Rum and coke in a glass, a cigarette between her fingers, frayed shorts in spirit of the summery heat and a flowy tanktop that was mostly worn to barely conceal the yellow bikini-top. Revy had made her rounds by the ocean water already for a jog and some sun, and it’d work out an appetite for protein by the time it came around to meet up.
Spotting Henry was easy, and she assumed the perky blonde cozied up to him was the legendary Chloe. “Hey. Dickcheese.”
His endearing nickname was announced loudly to glean his attention.
Henry’s eyes lit up the moment Chloe approached him. All nervousness about this meeting instantly melted away when he saw her smile. He stepped forwards to met her part way, hands instantly finding and holding hers as she kissed him greeting. He smiled against her lips, that happy smile that seemed to be plastered on his face for the past several weeks.
“Hello, beautiful,” god, but the two of them were cheesy dorks, but that was what Henry adored about Chloe. How easily he could just be himself without having to worry about saying or doing the wrong thing, or coming off sounding like a poster child for social awkwardness. “I’m really glad you were able to get a little time off to met us for lunch.” Though he didn’t really show it, save for that doofy smile, but he was practically bouncing on the inside. Nervousness had turned into excitement over the fact Chloe would be meeting Revy.
“I just got here too,” he said, as he turned to head towards the patio, his fingers still intertwined with Chloe’s as he did. “I haven’t seen her ye-”
And there it was. Called over the soft din of lunch hour. Dickcheese. Called by anyone else to anyone else, it would have come across as an unwarranted insult. But for Henry when it was uttered by that smoker’s rasp, it was a term of endearment. Plus, it was way better than Hank.
The smile on Henry’s face grew. “There she is,” he pointed the tall woman occupying one of the patio tables. Arm around Chloe, he brought the two of them over to where Revy was sitting and waiting. “Revy. Hi. Thanks for meeting us.” He turned slightly towards Chloe. “Chloe, this is Revy. Revy, this is my girlfriend. Chloe.” Yes, the dork just simply had to say the word. He had to admit, he liked the way it sounded.
Seeing Henry was basically the highlight of her day at this point and time and she adored that dorky smile of his. He had a way of making her feel light and forget about the annoyances of the day. Maybe she should take lunch breaks with him more often. It was a definite possibility especially if her fellow interns didn’t mind her running off from them during the week. They had a lot of bonding during the day anyway.
A squeeze was given to her hand as she flashed an easy smile at him, “Of course, I’m enjoying seeing you during the work day.” And then she heard the word ‘dickcheese’ ring out through the air of the restaurant and she was surprised to see Henry responding to it. Well, that was unexpected, but it certainly seemed like a brother/sister type relationship because she had been called odder things by her friends during school.
Still, her eyebrows raised in surprise briefly as she followed along behind Henry towards his friend on the patio. As they drew closer she took in Revy and her surprise turned into amusement. These two seemed like the odd couple of friendships just by looks and she was looking forward to seeing how the two of them interacted when put together. The free hand that wasn’t in Henry’s reached out towards Revy and she gave the woman a warm smile, “It’s nice to meet you, Revy. I like your choice of nickname. Can you please make sure to use it in a more crowded area the next time we’re together?”
Barf. Henry was the definition of ‘awkwardly adorable,’ and the happiness was something she could almost literally see him shit - but the focus was more on the girl he was hand-in-hand with, and, fine. Nothing alarming about her. Cute, blonde, girl-next-door vibe so far. Revy’s handshake was firm. “Usually my plan,” she smirked, and then motioned them to sit.
She didn’t bite too hard.
“Ordered some fried mushrooms already - you guys can have some if you want,” Revy continued after a puff of her cigarette. It was just an appetizer, and for an entree she’d have one of their cheap slab of steaks, fuckin’ mooing and with grease fries. “So, Chloe.” Ashes in flicked in the little tray, then a sip of her drink. “Henry’s told me close to shit about you aside from the fact that you two are a thing. What do you do around here?”
Dickcheese wasn’t a bad nickname, was it? Ok, yeah, maybe it was, but it was Revy’s term of endearment for him. Henry knew he was in the shit if she ever actually called him Henry to his face. Still better than Hank. At least Chloe didn’t seem to mind it.
Henry pulled out a chair for Chloe before taking a seat between the two. Fried mushrooms sounded pretty good to start with. Henry reached for one of the laminated sheets that had the restaurant’s menu printed on it. He laid it on the table so Chloe could look at it too. He scanned the listed entrees for lunch and it wasn’t long before he reached the conclusion that he really wanted a hamburger. A nice thick greasy-ass hamburger with a mountain of fries.
Just as Henry had decided what he wanted, Revy was talking again. The emphasis on Chloe’s name made Henry look up. He hadn’t really told Revy much about her other than she was smart, pretty and not dangerous. He had wanted Revy to draw her own conclusions about his girlfriend. He glanced over at Chloe beside him.
Seat was taken and menu was picked up as she scanned over it while Revy explained that she had ordered fried mushrooms. She wasn’t overly hungry nor did she want something too filling, so she was most likely going to order some kind of fish just to make it simple. Healthy eating wasn’t something she did all the time, but she did her best to make a conscious effort and she also didn’t want to risk spilling on her clothes. There was also the time factor and she didn’t want to be out for too long over her break.
Menu was set down as she heard her name and couldn’t help but lift a corner of her mouth upwards when it was explained that Henry hadn’t said anything about her. They hadn’t been seeing each other for very long and Chloe hadn’t properly mentioned him to a lot of her friends aside from her roommate. Henry seemed like a more private person who could count his close friends on one hand and he had been a little busy with watching over that crypt when they first started spending time together.
“I work for the entertainment industry. I’m an intern at Warner Brothers studio and just finished film school this past year. I’m just trying to get my foot in the door, basically,” it was as simple as that. She was willing to put in the grunt work in order to get the experience and the connections, “I help out with doing promotions, looking over paperwork, and getting a lot of coffee. What about you?” If Henry hadn’t told her much about Chloe then Revy could deduce that Henry hadn’t told her much about her in return.
Look at the three of them, involved in creative things. Though in Revy’s instance it wasn’t a choice - having the skillset of ‘porn editor’ right next to ‘gunslinger’ didn’t fit, but she learned the trade hands on and had it been at it for almost a year now. Not like it took a fucking genius to splice footage on software that required you to know where the functions were and how to click on them. “Warner Bros, that’s pretty fucking neat,” she commented, sincerely. Even if it sounded rough and rumbly, her voice carrying a natural raspiness. “I edit porn. Dickcheese here comes in to take photos for DVD covers and headshots.”
Henry at least had the maturity required to be in a place like that, but everyone in the business was alright - they were just people trying to make it through the world and screwing for the camera happened to pay well.
Nope, there was no giggling at butts or dangly bits as far as Henry was concerned. He was always strictly business when it came to the porn studio. He had witnessed a couple of scenes that had been rather laughable, but what did you expect at a studio that spoofed monster and sci-fi movies, but with porn? Henry at least had the wherewithal to keep his laughter to himself until he was at home. Other than that, everyone at the studio was relatively normal and that was saying something when one thought about it.
“I actually met Revy during a shoot with the actors at the studio,” he told chloe. “I signed on Valar originally to get more freelance work and Revy got me my first job down there. I thought she was going to eat me alive the first day I met her.” And here they were now, the odd couple of Orange County. It was amazing how things worked out sometimes.
“Ah! That makes sense, I was wondering who your best friend was,” Chloe turned towards Revy with an amused smile, “He only told me that his best friend helped him get the job, but didn’t go into specifics. And editing porn would be quite amusing. I might have to come watch you edit sometime and send some of it to my fellow film school buddies.” They would probably laugh at her and wonder where in the hell she was and what she was doing. It would definitely be a Snapchat-able moment.
“And you should be afraid that all women are going to eat you alive. We are dangerous creatures and we should be admired from afar and with great respect,” It was very true and Revy did look like the dangerous type, but she liked that. It meant there were stories to tell and experiences to share. Chloe felt very vanilla next to her, but that was probably fine since Henry seemed to enjoy her just as much as his best friend. It wasn’t a competition, but more of a look into Henry’s life and knowing that he was the kind of guy that would accept anyone into his circle of friends.
“Hey, if you got the stomach to stop by, more power to you,” Revy shrugged, the remainder of her cigarette sizzling in the ashtray, embers fading. Not a lot of people did, and it involved a sense of open mindedness and a non-judgmental attitude. Chloe seemed laid back enough - most people got a little uncomfortable around the ruggedness of this particular ex-con, but her round-around-the-edges demeanor didn’t seem to make blondie here nervous. Good sign.
The fried balls of mushrooms came to the table, freshly battered and steaming, with a large ramekin of ranch for dipping. “Henry knows if I was going to rip him into shreds, I’d have done it by now,” she smirked. “But he was one of my first friends here. We’ve been through a fuckton since, haven’t we?”
Fucked up experiences strengthened the bond, from kidnappings to things grabbing at his heart. Her circle of friends was small, but it was steadily growing as she grew more accustomed to the idea of having people around - people she didn’t want to disappoint, which was a new thing for her.
This was going well and Henry was very pleased. That doofy grin seemed as though it was permanently plastered on his face, even as he placed his lunch order of hamburger and fries with the waiter who had brought the fried mushrooms, and boy did those mushrooms look good. Just the smell of them told Henry that he was starving. He waited until Revy had selected one before helping himself.
“It’s true,” he admitted. “She would have totally ripped me apart if she wanted to. And we have been through some crazy shit.” Crazy halloween shit, weird ass fog, monsters, dream bleed throughs. It was a laundry list of Orange County’s greatest hits and Henry had been lucky enough to have someone to count on when the really fucked up shit happened.
He gave Chloe’s hand a squeeze. The way he looked at her, it was plain as day how smitten he was. This whole experience was new for Henry, but he was looking forward to it, whatever it may bring him. He was as happy now as he had ever been in his life. He hoped that this trend would continue not only for him, but for Chloe and Revy as well.
That smile was so adorable and she was almost tempted to grab her phone and snap a picture of how he looked right in this moment. But she knew that would be impolite so she kept that tucked away and took a mental snapshot of it. At least the meeting was going well and Chloe placed her order before reaching over to try a mushroom once Henry and Revy had taken them.
“Well, at least I know I’m in good company when the first weird thing happens while I’m on this network,” she lightly nudged his shoulder with her own. Revy would be good company to have because she seemed like the type that didn’t take shit from anyone and would keep a level head in those kind of situations. With a quick check of her watch she mentally did the math and she should be fine to make it back to work on time, “Alright, time for you to tell me some embarrassing stories of Henry.” This would be quite amusing and Chloe settled back in her chair as she got ready to listen.
Embarrassing stories? Revy had to laugh, almost sinisterly, a look in her eyes that could almost be construed as malignant but it was merely her brand of mischief. Another refill for her coke and rum was put in place, along with her mooing steak, and she leaned forward with a sneer. “There was the time he turned into a horse,” she began, popping the fried ball of ‘shrooms into her mouth. “To be fair, I turned into Chucky but it was pretty fucking hilarious.”
There were a couple more but if she was going to step into the role of ‘big sister’ then fuck yeah, she’d go balls to the walls with it.
Henry was lucky. He had more or less chosen what kind of Big Sister he would have. Not every one as lucky and as far as Big Sisters were concerned, he could have done a lot worse. Revy had his back, not all sisters were like that.
He laughed a little and shook his head, a bit of color hitting his face as he thought back to waking up in the middle of a park the first week of last November with the distinct taste of grass in his mouth. He looked at Chloe with something of a sheepish grin. “Never a dull moment around here,” he said. If he didn’t have people who he relied on, it may have driven him crazy by now. But he had Revy, his best friend and Chloe, a woman he was easily starting to fall for and hard. With both of them, Henry’s outlook on what happened around here had greatly improved. He could take on anything this place could through at him. He couldn’t be happier.