The Perk, Wednesday Noon

[amitragic]

So Ulysses was still kind of broken up about the weekend. Not really about anything that had happened - because he seemed to be able to recall less and less clearly as time wore on, anyway - but there was this horrible weight inside him that he seemed to be unable to shake. The nightmares had stopped with the one he'd woken up from on Monday, but something else persisted.

And no amount of vaping seemed to be doing anything.

So today, as the morning began to turn into the afternoon, he could be found at a table near the back of the Perk, looking miserable with his giant coffee and his half-eated muffin.

You know, super sociable and all.

[ooc: Open like places in town tend to be!]

Comments

[shireisburning]

Eddie was hungover to hell and back, and maybe actually still a little bit drunk considering he kind of stumbled into the Perk. Or he was just a theatrical little freak doing it for attention.

(It was the second one.)

"Coffee," he murmured to the barista. "...what do you mean what kind? Coffee."

What the fuck was a macchiato?

[amitragic]

As much of a maudlin ball of shapeless bad feels Ulysses was being, that managed to draw his attention up and towards the counter.

... Yeah, okay, that looked like the kind of guy who would ask that question.

[shireisburning]

Eddie got his plain black coffee (which was still ridiculously expensive in his 1986 mind), and took a seat near Ulysses, giving him a nod. "Hey, man. You look how I feel."

Rude, Eddie.

[amitragic]

Ulysses tried to straighten up some in his seat, all self-conscious, even though it was clearly far too late to pretend he wasn't just kind of an anxious lump, today.

"... Thanks?"

Because rude, Eddie.

[shireisburning]

"You're welcome," Eddie said, knowing full well that wasn't sincere. "Long night?"

[amitragic]

"Long... everything," Ulysses hesitated, with a vague gesture with the hand that wasn't currently clutching his coffee.

[shireisburning]

"Dude, I'm so with you there," Eddie said, taking a swig of his coffee. "The drinking to deal with the everything is starting to be as much of a pain in the ass as the everything."

He was still going with you being as hungover as he was, Ulysses. What else was there to do in this town other than get shitfaced and play pinball?

[amitragic]

Smoke pot and feel sorry for yourself? Those were Uly's go-tos.

"I, uh... Have not been drinking." Much. "It was just, you know." Another vague gesture, trying to encompass the full weight of what he was about to say. "The weekend."

[shireisburning]

"Did something happen this weekend?" he asked. "Was it bats?"

[pocketpretzels]

"That," Watts said, "is precisely what I said when I first arrived."

[shireisburning]

"Whoa, dude, you look like more of a relic than me," Eddie said, eyeing the guy. His pig radar was going off (you sold enough drugs and were wanted for enough murders you had a gift for that sort of thing), but it also could be because this dude was dressed like meta Sherlock Holmes.

...who wasn't actually a cop, but Eddie never read those books. He was more of a Tolkien guy.

[pocketpretzels]

Fun fact! Some of meta Sherlock's later adventures were in fact inspired by this guy's coworker!

"... 'Dude'?" Yes, way to focus on the important part of what Eddie had said there, Watts.

[shireisburning]

Oh this guy was so a cop. He was, correct, but it also did not occur to him that he wasn't the only time traveler around.

"Buddy?" he tried. "Chum? Matey?"

Way to start off on the right foot with the local law enforcement, Edward. Just like Hawkins.

[pocketpretzels]

Okay, but that actually did clarify things a little. "I see." He nodded. "Can I infer from your earlier comment that you're someone who is also displaced in time?"

[shireisburning]

"You may infer that," Eddie said, with a dramatic wave of his hand. "Oh shit, you are from a different time? I was just trying to rag on you, I didn't realize there were other people."

[pocketpretzels]

“Most others I’ve met have only been displaced by a couple of years at most, but it was 1909 when I left Toronto,” Watts told him.

Though he’d arrived via train and not gross hell portal thing, so Eddie definitely had him beat there, for whatever that was worth.

[shireisburning]

Oh and he was an old timey Canadian. That explained a lot.

"Did they have electricity back then?" This was why you had to take senior year of high school twice, Eddie. And still didn't graduate.

[pocketpretzels]

Following the event in the park, Watts had changed back into his usual three-piece suit and decided to head to the Perk for some much-needed caffeine, when who should he spot but-

Oh.

The young man from the movie house.

Should he say something? He didn't look to be in too good a state.

Eventually, after some hesitation, Watts offered a nod and a tip of his hat in greeting.

[amitragic]

Oh, hey, that one guy Ulysses had very deliberately pretended not to see awkwardly kissing that other guy right in front of his place of work that one time!

Ulysses gave a vague nod back, and then sipped his coffee again.

He would not be starting any conversations today. He was much too uncomfortable for that as it was. (Not that he was ever very good at that.)

[pocketpretzels]

Look. Look, it had been their first date, and-

Okay, they hadn’t actually calmed down any since then, but the kissing was far less awkward now?

Because Ulysses cared about that.

“You look unwell.” As conversation starters went, not the best, but also not untrue.

[amitragic]

It also made Ulysses' face scrunch up a little. "I'm sorry, is it 'rag on Uly' day or something?"

Sorry, Watts, you were the second person to start on that note. It was making him self-conscious, no matter how extremely justified it was.

"'Cause I wouldn't have come out if I'd known that."

[pocketpretzels]

“That was not my intention, I was merely making an observation.”

Not that he was going to offer an apology or anything though.

[amitragic]

"It's rude," Ulysses said.

Now sort of cradling his coffee defensively.

[pocketpretzels]

“Is it?” Genuinely curious here!

[amitragic]

"Greeting random strangers with 'you look unwell'?" Ulysses confirmed. "Yeah."