Eliot sat outside the coffee shop waiting. It was a warm, but nice evening. The fresh air was nice and getting out was something he really needed to do more often. Usually it was work, checking on the work on the cottage with occasional errands. Now here he sat waiting for Abigail, a woman who's last name he didn't even know. Someone who had come into his life due to a nightmare scene he'd witnessed in a glacier. It wasn't surprising. It was typical Vallo, it was typical of his life.
Abigail seemed nice, though to be honest, he'd assumed she would turn down the offer of meeting for coffee. She was new, only three weeks in Vallo and as he'd told her, everyone needed friends. So he sat, legs crossed, scrolling through his phone for no particular reason other than to pass the time.
Abigail glanced over her shoulder for a moment, before entering the coffee shop. Her father had been dead for over a year, she was in another universe, and yet the slightest thing could give her the feeling that he was close by. Seeing that he wasn't there, she took a deep breath, and walked inside.
She easily spotted her potential new friend and walked over to where he was seated. "Eliot?" She asked with a polite smile. "Hi. I'm Abigail." He must have known that from his vision. She did look better now. She even had a green, silk scarf tied around her neck to hide her scar. She could at least look like that ugliness had never happened. She waited only long enough for him to confirm that he was Eliot and then she sat down across from him. "Nice to meet you."
After several more minutes Eliot made his way inside and up to the counter where he placed his order, then found a booth and slid into it. He wasn't waiting much longer before a young woman approached. "I am the one and only Eliot," he smiled back, gesturing for her to join him. "It's nice to meet you as well." There was an almost fragile look about Abigail. Given what she'd been through that would make sense. Eliot had a feeling there was so much more to her story. However, looking fragile and being fragile were two very different things. Everyone had traumas and dark times they'd gone through in life and no one came out un-scarred.
"I've already ordered my coffee. Couldn't help myself," he grinned. It was still cooling off. "What would you like? It's on me, a welcome to Vallo gesture of friendship."
"That's very nice of you. Thank you." Abigail said with a shy smile. There was a part of her that wanted to reject the offer, some message from her dad about not owing anything. Just a small part. She knew she might have the chance to return the favor down the line, if this developed into a larger friendship. And Hannibal's voice was in her mind too, reminding her of social niceties.
"Umm." She glanced over shoulder at the coffee menu on the wall. She'd missed it on her way to meet Eliot. So many choices, compared to the simple coffees that her parents drank, and the later lack of choice at the facility or with Hannibal. "Oh. Just regular coffee."
"You're welcome, but it's really no big deal." It was the least he could do for someone new to this place. Now that he thought about it, Eliot seemed to remember all new Outlanders got a free drink or food, something like that. He couldn't recall and wasn't even sure it was something they still did.
"A girl after my own coffee heart," he grinned. His own cup was black with two sugars. He hadn't been in the mood for something fancy. "I'll be right back." Returning to the counter he placed Abigail's order and in no time he'd sat the cup in front of her and slid back into the booth. "Sugars on the table and regular creamer. If you want flavored creamer they have a big selection over there." He pointed to an island that held several different creamers, syrups and such. "So how are you settling in so far?" Eliot asked, directing his attention back to Abigail.
Abigail had to fight the urge to add another thanks. She'd been so careful with Hannibal, knowing she was never supposed to meet his definition of rude. Her world was much bigger now; she didn't have to worry so much. She nodded and picked a packet of sugar, tore it open and shook the contents into her cup. She gave it a little stir and watched it dissolve. Just enough sweetness to cut the bitterness of the coffee, without affecting the taste too much.
"I'm settling in okay." She said and took a small sip. "I've got my free apartment. I found a job. Not a fancy one. At Teppanyaki in the Starcourt mall. Still, it's my first job and I'm like that I don't need to be dependent on others here. And I might go to university in the fall. The DOA helped me with the application."
"That's good. It takes time to get more used to things around here." Eliot wasn't sure he'd ever be completely used to it or consider it home. For all he knew he could disappear tomorrow and sometimes that didn't seem like such a bad thing. "I've got an apartment there, too. We...I stay there while the remodeling is being done on the cottage. The inside should be finished by the end of the summer." It shouldn't have been, but that was before Q had disappeared.
Eliot sipped on his coffee. "First job," he smiled, "that's great. Independence is a good feeling. Oh?" He perked up at the mention of Abigail going to school. "What are you thinking about studying?"
Abigail nodded. Vallo was different from anything she'd ever experienced before. She had only been to Minnesota and Maryland back home. "I think I'll adapt in time." She was already less surprised when people spoke of magic or mythical creatures. She lifted her brows slightly as she sipped more of her coffee, trying to remember if he'd mentioned a partner or other family before. "We?" She asked softly.
"It does feel good to know it's my money too. The job's fun. I get to do some knife tricks and show off a little." Abigail smiled at his interest in her education. "Psychology. Hannibal said I had a talent for it. It was what I wanted to study even before I met him." She paused for a moment."Hannibal is, or was, my guardian. He's a psychiatrist."
He'd let it slip and she had asked. Fuck The anger wasn't toward Abigail, it was directed at himself. Eliot had to stop himself from saying we a lot and he thought he'd been doing well at it. "Quentin, he was my boyfriend. He disappeared two months ago. We lived in the PK cottage that's being remodeled." He took a soft shaky breath. He missed Q so much.
Eliot cleared his throat and pushed away his current thoughts. "That sounds like fun. Knife tricks? If you work with knives you should talk to Fen. She's a fellow magician and loves knives." He thought would appreciate someone else into knives. "Psychology. Interesting. Ah, I see. You must be young then," he chuckled. "I was trying to guess your age, but I'm rather crap at it."
"I'm sorry." Abigail said, still speaking softly. She had no real experience with that type of relationship or any examples of truly loving romantic relationships. She figured it would be almost like losing a part of one's self. There was a temptation to reassure him that Quentin could return. In this place, anything was possible. But after months, it must not feel that way. "Are you going back when the remodel is done?"
"I'll try to meet Fen. I don't have magic though. It's tricks like throwing an egg in the air and landing it on the knife, so that the yolk lands on the food I'm cooking and the shell stays on the knife." Abigail explained. "There's a few small tricks with fire too, like an onion volcano." Nothing as big as Hannibal's displays. It was only a food court. "I'm eighteen now." She felt younger at times. In many ways, she hadn't been allowed to grow up. "You saw Hannibal, in the memory. He saved my life."
"Thank you," Eliot replied with a nod and sort of half sad smile. He could only hope that Quentin had not gone back 'home'. Death waited for him there, a thought that made his disappearance all the more difficult. "Yes, I'll go back permanently once it's finished. I still go there now. I try to spend at least one or two nights a week there." Which wasn't always easy. He'd not yet gone into Quentin's room which basically still looked as it had back home. No, he wasn't ready for that.
Eliot sighed and shook his head. "I don't know where my head is. Fen isn't a magician. Sometimes my brain just puts her in with all of us. She's from Fillory. A really beautiful place." He paused, feeling his emotions well up at the thought of Fillory. Q had loved it so much. Eliot gave thought to sharing that he and Fen were married due to circumstances beyond their control. Being betrothed to the high king, needing the Leo Blade to defeat the beast. They weren't in love. He loved Fen, but as one would a friend. So technically they were still married, but neither held the other to it. They'd done it because they had to.
"Fen would love all that. Her father was a sword smith and knife maker. She loves and is very skilled with knives."
"Eighteen and your whole life ahead of you," he grinned. "Hannibal seems like quite the man. You must miss him."
Abigail had returned to her home once, looking over all the good and bad memories. She thought it would have given her comfort or closure, but it had ended up leading to more trauma. That house had felt contaminated afterwards. Even good memories could be haunting reminders of a loss. "Are you okay there on your own?"
"Is Fillory in Europe?" Abigail asked. "I was planning a trip to Europe once to see beautiful places." All the ones that Hannibal had told her about and convinced her that she wanted to see. She had believed in his stories about their new life there, and maybe he'd meant once. Maybe he'd even be happy that she'd found a new life in Vallo. "Or did your world even have a Europe?" In Vallo, anything was possible after all.
"I used knives for hunting. We made the handles, and sometimes an entire knife." Abigail commented. Though knives made entirely out of bone were mainly decorative and her father had seen that as a waste. She frowned slightly, remembering that Eliot had seen one of their knives in that memory. "I learned the cooking tricks later from Hannibal." She added, moving the conversation to a better place. She'd learned other uses for knives from Hannibal too. Tricks that made her feel powerful, though she doubted Eliot would understand that part. He seemed like too good of a person.
"Here. I can have my whole life here." Abigail smiled back. "He is. He was a psychiatrist, and before that he was a surgeon. He had all kinds of hobbies too." Her smile faded. "But, uh, he couldn't protect me in that life, not at the end."
"I'm okay there. I don't generally stay there every night, but the remodeling is wrapping up and soon I'll be back there." Good and bad memories surrounding him all through the day and night. "Thank you for asking though." He was finding Abigail to be kind and it ways, cut from the same cloth given both their histories. One so young shouldn't have to deal with such things, but life was never fair.
A genuine soft smile curved Eliot's lips as he shook his head. "No, Fillory isn't in Europe. It's another planet. I'm not sure exactly where it's located. It's like a fairy tale place. Beautiful, magical. No one thought it was real until one of us actually went there by accident. There are books written about Fillory. They're Quentin's favorites. They helped him through...through some really hard times." He reached for his coffee and finished it off. "Yes, we have Europe. I'm from earth. New York is where I was...sort of. Being a magician I've been to places your average person never will go. Like Fillory."
"I hope you have a very happy life here." It was a shame and something he hated about Vallo, that those here would never get the chance to leave, to travel and explore the world if they chose to. That was unless Vallo yanked them out. He made a slight face. "Sometimes we can't protect or save the ones we care about and love. It's a harsh reality of life." One he had wished many times he could change.
"Hunting? Am I in the presence of a mighty hunting warrior?" He asked with a playful grin. "Maybe you can teach me those cooking tricks sometime. They sound fun."
Abigail smiled back, using her own memories of Disney movies and stories her mother told to picture Fillory. "It sounds lovely. Like Oz or Narnia, but actually real." She took another sip of her coffee. "The idea of Europe helped me through some hard times. I'd imagine being there and things I'd do." Her own daydreams weren't exactly the same, but at least she had some understanding of that part. The idea of other magical places was far beyond her experience. "I lived in Minnesota most of my life, then Maryland in the end." Nothing more.
"Thank you." Abigail said, before finishing off her coffee. It was her wish too, and yet it felt like an impossible one. In her experience, things always went wrong. She nodded. "I know. I couldn't protect anyone." Not the girls her father killed, or her mother, or Marissa or any others.
Abigail shook her head with a touch of amusement in her smile. "Not a warrior. I hunted back home, mostly deer. Not for sport. My family had a use for every part of an animal. It was even more important after my dad quit his job." Looking back, that had been one of the first warning signs of what her father would become. The paperwork he'd left at his last job site had led Will to find him eventually. She nodded. "I'd like that. It would be fun, at least it was for me when I learned."
"Narnia could be a good comparison." But even Fillory had its dark side. His thoughts briefly wandered to Seb, to the creatures that had attacked them and those who were against them when they ruled. "It sucks you won't get the chance to see it...while here. I've been once and it was amazing." Of course he had partied a great deal while there, but it was still one of the best trips he'd ever been on. "I have an idea," he began with a broad smile. "We should do a tour of Europe for you. Pick a few countries you want to visit and we'll cook food from them, dress in their style, have wine from those regions, and play music from there. Even hang up some posters or something. Kind of like you're there." Or as close as Abigail could get at present.
"I don't really understand hunting other than when and where necessary, but it's good to know you used all parts." Eliot wasn't some big activist or anything, but hunting for sport was wrong in his opinion. "Then we'll make it happen. My friends always liked my cooking, so some new tricks could be fun. You want to walk around a bit? Or do you need to get home?" She may have had other plans or things to do.
Abigail doubted she'd have the chance to see it anywhere. Being in Vallo was like a miracle, finding her way to another magical world seemed impossible. She smiled at his idea. She'd developed her imagination well while dreaming of Europe. Acting out would be even better. "I'd love that." She told him. "Italy should be one of the countries." That was where she was supposed to live with Hannibal and Will, had things worked out differently. "And Lithuania." She knew that was a less expected choice, but she'd heard a great deal about it too.
"It was necessary for us. Our food, furniture, everything we had came from hunting. Even our pipes were held together from putty made from bones. I had a hard time understanding food from farms, until I couldn't hunt anymore." Abigail tried to explain. She knew part of her father's traditions were to honour the animals in his mind. Part of it was his illness, and the last part was his desire to keep her family hidden and isolated. "Let's go for a walk." She said, "Maybe you can show me around a little."
Eliot was glad she liked the idea. Everyone deserved happiness here even if it could be fleeting. "Ooh Italy, now you're speaking my language. I love Italian food. We'll look up other information and submerge ourselves in Italy and Lithuania. Though I can't say I know much about the latter. I'll learn though. We'll have fun. Maybe we can learn some traditional Lithuanian dance or something," he smiled. He was actually looking forward to planning everything out. It was something different and seemed like it would be fun.
"Wow. You must have been real wilderness folk. Not that there's anything wrong with that." It seemed like Abigail and her family lived off grid in a way. Something he could never do himself.
"Let's go then." Eliot stood and they made their way out of the cafe. He showed her a few of his favorite shops as they walked and talked. All in all it was turning out to be a nice time and he felt like he was making a new friend.