Eliot shoved his phone into his pocket then went to grab a jacket. After a couple of summer like days, the weather had turned a little cooler. He didn't mind the gray cloudy day with peeks of sunshine in the least. Veronica was a new arrival in Vallo and nice, so offering to have coffee was his way of welcoming her to the crazy. He didn't know much about her, but hopefully that would change.
The waypoint brought him within a short walking distance of the tea shop. He didn't see Veronica and Backup, so he took up a spot in front of the building trying to decide if he had time for a smoke, but decided against it. All too soon he saw a blonde with a dog making their way down the sidewalk. Eliot walked toward them stopping when he reached them. "Ms. Veronica, I presume," he grinned then laughed. "Hi, I'm Eliot," he said offering his hand.
Veronica had been on quite the adventures since arriving in Vallo. She was still getting her bearings, but she was kind of getting the pace of the city. Walking at night with Backup let her get used to the strangeness in the dark. Sometimes it felt vibrant and new and shiny, like the videos she'd seen of Tokyo or Shanghai. Sometimes it felt seedy, shady creatures of all kinds slithering around blocks, teeming with mystery. There was a pulse, like it was alive, but she thought the shimmer she felt might be an undercurrent she heard people talk about. The Vallo magic. Ancient, and yet current. She wanted to know more, but there was so much she didn't know where to start.
She made her way to the waypoint with Backup in toe, finally getting used to the way to get quickly from one place to another. As she came up to the shop, she recognized the face from the networks that she had yet to meet in person, and a large smile crossed her face.
"The one and only. Well, no, probably not if Dr. Strange is to believe. But at least the only one here." She took his offered had and gave a firm shake. "Good to meet you," she added. She let go of his hand and indicated the obediently sitting Backup, his tail wagging as he looked at her, waiting to see if this was a good one or a bad one. "This is the only man in my life at present. Backup, Eliot, Eliot, Backup. He's good," Veronica said, and backup stood up, his tail wagging in earnest in greeting Eliot.
"He shakes too, if you want to be friends."
"Nice to meet you, Veronica," he replied shaking her hand in return. "You know what they say, we all have a twin or doppelganger running around somewhere. I like to think mine is somewhere like Ibiza living it up, living the good life." Eliot grinned once more then winked at her.
"Sometimes this is the best kind of man to have in your life." His gaze moved to Backup and smiled as he knelt down to hold out his hand. He held up his paw and Eliot shook it. "Hello handsome, good to meet you." He pet over his soft fur and gave him a few scritches behind his ear.
"He's a cutie," Eliot said as he stood. "I'll go in and get the coffee. How do you take it? Or do you want a latte or something fancy?"
"Well I do have a doppelganger, but she's older and has a girlfriend. And not me. But Dr. Strange let me know we're all in a multiverse and there's literally infinite numbers of us at any time and this is just Vallo me. Or something. I was mostly following, he's pretty smart but cryptic." She realized she was babbling, and stopped to shake her head. "Sorry, I have a tendency to get my words out a lot when my company is primarily canine these days. In person at least."
She laughed at the introduction. Anyone good with dogs was good in her book. Backup had pretty good judge of character, even if he was soft on Weevil when he was being sketchy as all get out. "The very best kind. No cheating or talking to exes or going off to Mexico with the boys..." she realized she made no sense but maybe Eliot wouldn't mind too much.
"He is. And thanks, hmm...fancy me up. Mocha something. Surprise me!" She gave him a warm smile then. "And thanks. I don't get out much, so kinda need this."
"Time loops and space, there are different versions of us." Eliot thought for a moment about what he'd been told when he came to Vallo, but didn't dwell on it. "It's okay. Never apologize for being a talker or who you are. And hey, I'm sure Backup is a great listener and comfort," he smiled.
Eliot couldn't help chuckling at her light rambling about men. "Just so you know, not all men are like that. At least half are, but there's still a few good ones out there." Very few it seemed. "Okay, one fancy mocha coming up."
He made his way inside the tea shop and emerged several minutes later with two to go cups. "For the lady one chocolate cafe mocha. I ordered it with extra chocolate drizzle, hope you don't mind." Eliot handed her the cup then started walking. "How are you settling into Vallo? What are your impressions so far?"
"Well yes, he's a great listener. But if he answered back I probably have some issues and I don't know how great the shrinks are here." She gave him an eyebrow lifted smile, though she realized she should probably get a therapist. She had a lot to sort through, and putting off processing it all was probably not good. But she had learned an unfortunate lesson about therapists-they left you vulnerable, and she didn't like that.
"Not all men, huh," Veronica said, almost deadpan. "Well, enough of them. But, I'm nothing if not a sucker for punishment so I guess a few more won't do me too much harm." She hadn't completely closed herself off to the idea of dating again, but she wasn't really sure how. The last year of nothing but focusing on school had been good for her. Leaving behind Logan and Pez for Stanford had made that easier. You couldn't get much farther from all that then Vallo, so she supposed she should be happy about that.
She clapped her hands as she took her mocha, taking a sip of the warm, chocolatey goodness. "Mmm, read my mind. You're not telepathic are you? You probably need to disclose that huh?" she joked, enjoying the warmth as they started walking, leash in one hand, fancy mocha chocolate something in the other.
"It's both really familiar and really strange. I've been taking night walks to try and get a feel for it, but there's still this...energy that I can feel that just pulses everywhere. The Vallo magic, or whatever people call it. It feels dangerous but ancient. Pretty interesting, if not exactly the kind of thing I'm used to investigating. What about you? What's your read? What's your angle here?"
"I can't speak for all the shrinks here, but I see Dr. Barlow and he's pretty good. I'd recommend him if someone were wanting a therapist." Eliot had gotten to a better place with his help, even if he still had bad days.
"I won't deny that it can seem like most of them aren't worth it." He laughed heartily. "Someone after my own heart. I feel like I've been a glutton for punishment most of my life. Life is made to take risks because you never know what may be waiting just around the bend." Eliot was pleased he'd chosen something she liked. "No, I'm not telepathic, but I am a magician and telekinetic. I can put a spell on you," he said waving the fingers of his free hand at her then laughed. "So there's my disclosure. I use it for good though. Mostly." He smirked, teasing her.
"You're not wrong. I can feel the magic here, felt it the moment I arrived. It's strong and likely very ancient. I don't know much about Vallo's history, was never much interested in it. Obviously it's good and bad considering the things that happen here. The creatures that appear, the strange places people get pulled into and the weird quirks or power they get for short periods of time." He took a small sip of his latte. "I think Vallo is mostly a good place. I've wondered if it's a second chance type deal or reprieve for people."
Veronica nodded, her head swimming a bit. The more she slowed down, the more she could think about all of the terrifying moments and what they had done to her psyche. Yeah, no thinking. Not right now. "I'll...take it under advisement. Thanks, Eliot."
She laughed and shrugged her shoulders. "My dad's a good one. And Wallace too. I know some great men but I guess I don't always work out so well on the relationship front. When I find someone nice and kind and decent I'm just ready for the other show to drop. Or, worse, I miss the excitement of the bad boy. I'm probably broken, don't look to me for dating advice." She took another long sip of her drink, grateful once again for its warmth. It wasn't cool out, but it definitely made her feel better. "Well, next time I need someone tele-moved I'll let you know."
Veronica listened to his assessment, her brows furrowed in thought. "I don't know which I need more, to be honest. Though I'm not coming from the worst time in my life. I can think of many other points that I could have used a reprieve. Tell me more about you. Where do you come from, what's your story?"
"Anytime." Getting to the point where you sought help meant you had to allow yourself to be vulnerable and Eliot knew from experience that wasn't always easy. "The bad boy." He grinned to himself. "Oh, darling, we're all broken in some way. I'd say the same to you of dating advice when it comes to me, though that doesn't stop me from dispensing it from time to time."
Eliot came to stop and looked to her. "I hope you won't mind me making an observation here, Veronica. You seem to not want to talk about yourself much. I can understand that in a way, but it's not fair if I air all my laundry, so to speak." He didn't mind sharing his story. Most here didn't seem interested in getting to know others outside their small circle, but he was a social butterfly and enjoyed meeting new people and making new friends. "So lets make a deal. I'll tell you where I'm from and my story if you agree to share yours." He gave her a look then smiled. It wasn't an ultimatum, but rather a hope to get to know more about Veronica beyond the surface. "Deal?"
"I think I'm more of a study in what not to do, but I still try and help so I think we might be twinsies there." Veronica shrugged, knowing that there were a lot of them out there that kept being drawn like a moth to the flame towards loves that will swallow you whole. She knew intellectually that these things were bad for her but she couldn't stop the desire for them. You know, I really do need that shrink, she thought to herself wryly.
Veronica was a bit surprised when Eliot stopped, and was even more surprised by his assessment. He wasn't wrong, of course, but it was still a moment hesitation. She took a long sip of her mocha, stalling. "Well," she said looking at his face, searching for any telltale signs of him being the kind to use your past against you and finding none, she nodded. "Alright, deal. But I reserve the right to send Backup after you if you let any of this leak, capice?" she said, trying to give her best tough guy voice. She shuffled her cup to her leash hand and offered the newly freed one for a shake.
She wanted to keep walking, finding it easier if she wasn't having to look directly at someone when sharing. "It's a long story, I guess I'll try and give you the short short version. I'm from this little Spring Break beach town in California called Neptune. Everyone is either extremely wealthy tech billionaires and movie stars or other side of the track lower middle income normies. Guess which side I was from. But my dad was Sheriff, so that gave me a little bit of an in. And early in high school I was a cheerleader, dated the most popular sweet guy in school, and was best friends with his sister. My life was pretty perfect, as far as things go, ya know? And then a bunch of things happened. My boyfriend broke up with me without a word. Never told me why, just one day, poof. Nothing. And then shortly after my best friend was murdered. My dad thought that her family had something to do with it, and as they were the richest family in town and employed half the families, well, when they turned on my dad he ended up getting recalled and lost his job. My friends wanted me to choose between my dad and them...I chose my dad. Became a social pariah." He looked over at Eliot, hoping he was following all this.
"I promise this is the actual short version, but there's a lot more. Is that cool or?"
"Twinsies, huh?" He grinned, but doubted she had dated as many as he had. That was then. Eliot had no issue "calling" someone out. In this instance he didn't really consider it that. No, he just felt he was sharing and she was not. How did you get to know someone better if they never shared their own story? He glanced at Backup then back to Veronica. "Capice. I promise I won't tell anyone." They started walking again and Eliot listened to her story making a slight face at one point.
"I'm sorry for the loss of your friend," he quietly said then took a few sips of his latte. "It's a start." He looked over at her and smiled. "I expect more will be shared in time." At least he hoped so. "My story starts on a farm in Indiana where I grew up with an abusive homophobic father. Can't say I think much of my parents and got the hell out of there as soon as I could. Went to college, got a liberal degree and assumed I would get some type of job. But fate or something stepped in. I was asked to take the entrance exam for Brakebills University for Magical Pedagogy," he said with a flourish wave of his hand. "That's when I truly knew I was a magician, where I learned what I can do and all that. That's where I was when I was pulled here. And here I am. Is that a good enough start?" he grinned.
"Twinsies," Veronica confirmed in mock seriousness. She didn't know how many bad boys Eliot had dated, but Veronica felt Logan counted for at least 2. Troy was tame, after all, he hadn't been accused of murder at all.
She accepted his promise with a smile. It was good to talk to someone who didn't know any of the players. It made it complicated to try and explain the dynamics of what she had dealt with the past 4 years, which seemed like 2 lifetimes worth of stuff. "Oh, way more will be shared. That's only the very beginning. My dad became a private eye, I helped him, and in my free time I solved her murder. Turns out it was my boyfriend's dad. Things only get more complicated from there," she said, shrugging. That seemed enough for now. How do you dig into all the layers of fucked up that surrounded her life? The underground seediness, the death, destruction, lies and loves? Epic, Logan had said. Epics always involve a journey, so maybe that was what Veronica was on now.
She listened to his story, her eyebrows knitting. "Your dad sounds like a big old dorkbag. Industry term," Veronica said. "But magic, now THAT sounds interesting. None of my abilities are anything more than dogged determination, sassiness and an appreciation for the fine arts of costumes and fake IDs." She smiled, pushing his shoulder a bit with hers playfully. "Definitely a start. Are you alone here or are there people from where you're from here too?"
"You solved her murder? Impressive. If ever I need a detective I know who to go to." Eliot hadn't heard of much crime in Vallo. He was sure it happened, but maybe given how magical it was criminals were less inclined to try anything. "Sucks that it was your boyfriend. Wait, wasn't she your boyfriends sister? Or do you mean a boyfriend after him?"
He scoffed. "Dorkbag is much to nice a word for him." He didn't really talk about him often and hadn't seen him since...Well, The Neitherlands. That didn't count though, even as cathartic as it had been, that wasn't really his dad. "Magic is interesting. It's also dangerous, fun, beautiful and..." He stopped himself. "Well, it is what it is." He finished off his coffee and tossed into into waste bin. "There's a lot to be said for determination and a good disguise. No, I'm not alone here. There's actually four others from BrakeBills. Fen, Margo, Quentin and Marina. I guess it's a good thing. Marina's not actually from Brakebills. She got kicked out for whatever reason. Quentin is my partner. Boyfriend. Whatever term you like. Only since I came here. It's a complicated history." He sighed. "I'm rambling. Apologies."
"I did, yes. Though unfortunately he was acquitted for...well, reasons I guess is the easiest way to put it. But, someone put a bullet in his head. A mystery I never bothered solving," she said, giving a shoulder shrug. "It's not always crimes, sometimes it's finding out the truth or locating something that's been lost...most of the time I try and help those in need. And if they aren't in need, I try and get cash up front." The question about boyfriends led Veronica to groan. "Yeah, two different boyfriends. As a matter of fact, the second one-whose dad killed the best friend?-yeah he was my best friend's boyfriend. And she was cheating on him with the dad. Who she found out was filming their little romp sessions. And he confronted her and then killed her so she wouldn't go to the tabloids. He was a huge Hollywood star." Veronica paused and gave him an apologetic smile. "I did say there was a lot."
She nodded as they walked, and from what she could tell about Vallo, he was certainly right about magic being both amazing and dangerous. "I can see that. It's a responsibility and all that. Great power comes great yadda yadda," she joked. "And yeah, I'm a little miffed I'm going to have to start building up my wig collection here. Never know when you need to be a nerdy gamer girl or a tour guide; tour guide gets you in anywhere. The key is to have a clip board and sound confident." Boy it would be nice to have her gang here. It was good that he had so many he could lean on. For not the first time, Veronica found she wished she had Wallace and Mac to help her sort through her thoughts. And Logan...well, she wasn't sure how she felt about if he showed up here. "That's really cool, and I'm not saying that ironically, it really is. And I use whatever term you do. But boy do I get complicated histories. You want em? I got em," she said, her thumbs pointing at herself. Backup was walking steadily with her and she was again reminded that sometimes the best friends are the ones who just always listen. "I'm always up for complicated though. If you wanna tell. No pressure, but I did just lay out that whole love quadrilateral..."
"Some mysteries aren't worth solving, darling. You seem like someone who really likes to help others. That's admirable. Don't ever let that slip away. There's far too many selfish people in the world." He'd leave it at that. "Damn. That sounds like a regular soap opera mystery drama. You should write a book or a script. You could be rolling in the money. You'd have to change names and add more dramatic flair to it. Hollywood loves that shit."
"Exactly. Plus you have to watch out for those who want all the magic or think magic shouldn't exist." For a moment his thoughts wondered to her and where he'd been before he found himself in Vallo. "There's a great costume shop here in the city that could help you start building up that collection."
If only Eliot could lean on the magicians here in Vallo, but he couldn't, except for Quentin, but that was something he wasn't going to share. "I'm not fussed about labels. As long as it's not derogatory or some such nonsense, use what you like." He let out a loud laugh. "I've got more baggage than Bric's or Samsonite. Perhaps that's how we are truly twinsies, complicated histories," he said with a grin and shake of his head. "I'll share it with you at some point, but not right now. We hooked up back at Brakebills. He was seeing someone at the time. But it wasn't really cheating. It's a long story and perhaps I was the only one who didn't see it that way. I promise to share the whole story at some point. Quentin is a great guy though. You should say hi to him or maybe we can all have lunch sometime if you ever want to hang with me again."
Veronica gave him a wry smile. "Trust me, that's one I know is better left where it is." She had a feeling his murder was a hit, and there were a few people who would want him gone, but it didn't surprise her the Neptune's Sheriff's Office never found a thing. No DNA, no shell casings, no fingerprints, not even video surveillance in a huge hotel with extensive security. Somebody who knew a lot about the location and carrying out this kind of thing did it, and she had a feeling it was the kind of skills one could obtain if you had enough money to pay the right people. Funny how a big star could be murdered in a hotel and people just...move on. People move on a lot easier when they aren't personally touched. The next scandal comes, the next bus of school children, the next string of rapes, the next Dean who didn't actually commit suicide, the next cheating spouse to get lost at sea...some time Veronica would let go of her past, but she never seemed as capable of coming fully to peace with everything as so many others were. Maybe she didn't see Lilly as often these days...or Meg for that matter. Their ghosts didn't haunt her dreams like they once constantly did. But her nightmares were still there, the demons she battled were only sometimes at bay. The change of venue, whether to Stanford or now to Vallo did give her temporary relief while she had to adjust to her new surroundings and meet new people, but she basically was just waiting for the other shoe to drop and for Beaver's smile as he stepped off the Neptune Grand filled her dreams and the sound of Mercer's clippers rang in her ears.
She really needed that shrink.
"I think saving others helps me feel like I have some kind of control in this world full of chaos. But mostly it just reminds me how much people suck. Starting to think at least Minotaur's are alright, but only met the bagel guy and maybe he's an outlier." She gave Eliot a laugh then, a genuine one, as much to cheer herself up and to stop her from ruminating than anything else.
"Why would people not want it to exist? Somehow I find that weirder than people who want all of it. Desire for power I get, but..." Veronica paused, trying to put it into words. "Seems like whenever someone wants to do away with something it's BECAUSE they want all the power. But then, I haven't always interacted with the most upstanding of citizens." Even her dad, she knew. Even the best man she knew had done things that were wrong, even if they were for noble reasons. She didn't even know the full extent to which that was true. "Well, you'll have to text me that costume shop info. I've started working at a coffee shop, and if I ever want to get a detective business off the ground here, gotta build up the collection."
She nodded, understanding fully not wanting to give away everything from your past. It was hard for her to do the same. Even as much as she'd shared there was so much more she still had hidden. Sometimes she wondered if she attracted these bad things because of luck, because she couldn't leave well enough alone, or because the universe just didn't like blondes. She gave him a smile. "Well, this won't be our only little meeting I have a feeling. Trust me, there's a lot more in my life too. No sense in giving all your good stories at once. And I will. I like good guys. Hence me being here." She paused as she finished her coffee and tossed it in a nearby can which promptly growled at her. "Well, still some things I'm getting used to here. So I will take all the friends I can get."
It was nice to talk to someone who seemed to have a good head on their shoulders and could talk about the serious stuff as well asjoke and laugh. Good conversation often felt like a lost art. Plus he was enjoying getting to know more about Veronica. "Mmm," Eliot nodded, "people do suck. Consider yourself lucky if you find a few good ones in your life. I don't think I've ever heard anyone speak ill of the Minotaur and his bagels are delicious."
He thought for a few moments before answering her question. "Mostly because they're selfish assholes. However, no one person has the right to decide what is good or bad for the whole." Veronica wasn't wrong for the most part, but not so much in this situation. "There are always people who want all the power, it's the same with magic. Some want it all for themselves or their group. An excellent example of how people suck. They get drunk on power, fame, money, you name it. Maybe we should go live off the grid," he joked. "I think you could sort of do that here." He shrugged. Knowing he couldn't leave Vallo on his own terms or travel anywhere outside of it was something he greatly disliked about the place.
Eliot wasn't generally an open person with most people. With Veronica he didn't believe she would ever blab what he shared or hold it against him. He got a fairly good vibe from her, but had a feeling she could be a little high strung at times. Who wasn't? "Exactly. You have to spread them out over time. Keep you coming back for more. Tune in next week for the conclusion of The Life And Times Of Eliot Waugh!" He laughed as thoughts of something like a ridiculous soap opera flashed through his mind. "Good, because I have the same feeling and enjoy making new friends."