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(no subject)

Who: Edward Nigma and Rachel Conway
What: a meal and some telling of stories/sharing of info
Where: Cafe Handwavium, somewhere in the city
When: Shundi, in the evening
Notes: n/a
Warnings: Potential for high levels of animated chatter. :|a

Rachel's waylaid a bit at the end of her shift, a customer lingering. By the time she's washed up, split up the tip jar, and headed out, she's worried she'll be late.

But she makes good time, managing to get to the place only a handful of minutes after the agreed-upon time. She glances in one of the cafe's big picture windows at the front, looking to see if she can spy Eddie inside, if he's arrived already, as she's on her way to the entrance.

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Eddie is there on time. He makes a point of it. He's sitting inside, visible in the window but off to the side, sprawled out in his chair and reading.

He glances up and manages to spot Rachel and wave as she's entering the cafe, smiling and not the slightest bit inconvenienced by a few minute's wait. He won't even tease her about it.

He will wait until she's sitting down, or at least near the table, to start jabbering, though.

She waves when she sees him, heading immediately to the table and settling in the seat across from him. "Hi! Sorry."

Yes, it's mere minutes that she's running late, but she never just assumes it's all right.

"Don't fret about it, my friend. It's good to see you, again." Eddie notes his page number and sets the book down beside him, at the table. This is casual, so he doesn't stand when she arrives. His expression remains friendly. "I would say I'd waited to order, but I've only been here a short while, anyway. I hope you're well?"

"It's good to see you too!" She beams at him, obviously pleased to be here. Pleased he's here, pleased to have a friend, pleased to be doing something so normal as having dinner in a crazy place like this.

"I've been well, yes. I mean. Apart from the biggest hangover in, like, ever after that party. But good otherwise. And you?"

"Hah, yes, now that the hangover is over and done with, I'm doing quite well." Eddie hasn't ordered, but he's already decided what he'd like to order, and his menu is set off to the side, for now. "I can't say that I've... ever had that much to drink, actually."

"I have," she admits, ruefully, "but it's been a few years. Yay college. But that was fun. We all needed that cathartic kind of experience after everything."

She picks up her menu and opens it, glancing at the inside. "Have you been here before? What's good?"

Eddie grins, happy with honesty, and isn't going to tease her for it. "Oh yeah? What did you study?"

He picks up his menu, too, so he can follow along. "I've been here for dessert and coffee," he says. "But I am in the mood for a nice BLT. Then dessert."

The waiter, seeing menus out, takes this as his cue, and is now here to take the order. Eddie will wait for Rachel to order first, or ask for more time.

"English." She laughs. "And then I graduated and discovered I could do, like, precious little with just the bachelor's degree. Thankfully I got work in publishing--editing and stuff. And, oh man, dessert sounds good."

The waiter arrives, and Rachel smiles up at him. "Hi. I'll have, um... The turkey club, please."

Then Eddie orders his sandwich, and hands off the menu to the waiter.

"And that is a mark in this places favor, I suppose... whatever degree you do or don't have, hey, if you can demonstrate a skill, they'll need it somewhere. I never once thought I'd be looking at journalism, in any capacity."

"Oh, that is nice," she agrees. "I'm doing your typical I-have-a-degree-in-English thing and working at a tea house."

She laughs. Sure, it isn't terribly intellectually stimulating work, but she doesn't mind. It serves her very social side and that's a nice trade-off.

"But it's let me meet a lot of people. I don't think I could've made quite so many personal connections without that built-in opportunity to talk to people."

"Ah, yes. And that's what I wanted to meet with you about, besides enjoying the pleasure of your company. I know you've been keeping tabs on as much of our cohort as you can. That's the best plan."

Eddie's demeanor doesn't change, but there's a curious glint in his eye. It's certainly nothing unfriendly and, in fact, he would like to be helpful.

She nods, settling back comfortably in her chair. "I've been trying, yeah. Not on any kind of official basis. I don't even have a written list or anything like that--I didn't want people to think I was being creepy or something."

She tilts her head, just as curious. "What did you want to know?"

"Oh, no, no it's not creepy. Someone should be keeping a list, because if anyone is, it would be whoever or whatever is bringing us here. I would like to know what I can do to help, and if helping will help me to gain more information on this place than I can help myself to." Using the word help must be worth points in this conversation. It is accompanied by hand gestures.

Rachel nods. "I'm not doing it officially. I don't want, like, a full accounting of our cohort to fall into the wrong hands."

Paranoid? Well. She was dragged here against her will, without her leave, by something powerful enough to do this thousands of times over, by all accounts. With no explanation. Do you blame her?

"It's mostly up here." She taps the side of her head. "But the cohort's getting too big for me to keep doing it on my own. I guess, like, the best help would be other people willing to do the same? Just kinda keeping track of the people you know, making sure they're okay and all."

"Ah, yes. That would be a much better reason." Eddie lowers his voice, leans forward with his palms pressed against the edge of the table, and smirks. "Make a note on your list, then, I've had extensive dealings with both the gathering of information and what my planet considers state-of-the-art security - entirely non-magical, but that's a handicap I'm addressing. 'Defending the fort with odds-and-ends' isn't the extent of my abilities." He isn't going to explicitly state "I want out and I want to do everything I can to get out," but he wants this to be clear.

Both her eyebrows go up; she's duly impressed with this revelation. "These are good things to know," she replies. She's quiet for a few long moments, thoughtful, and then she leans in too.

"What sort of information-gathering are you best at? I may have something you can help with."

"Back home, mostly that's involved with my city's underworld. I was going to go into legitimate private investigation, but here, there's a lot to learn. So, naturally, that's what I'm focusing on. Fun. Tell me what you had in mind, and I'll let you know what I can do."

"I want to know if there's any smuggling going on in the city." Rachel folds her hands. "Especially, like, how they get stuff in. Or out."

There might be a clue in there, she thinks. A way out.

"I also want to find out about stories. Folklore, legends, rumors about people coming to or leaving the city. Because sometimes, if you go back far enough, those things have a kernel of truth in them. If we know what someone did and whether or not it worked, it might help us."

"From what I've seen so far, that's a tall order." He grins. "I'm on it, and I'll get back to you on that." Eddie leans back, and clasps his hands, considering.

"Thank you," she replies, pleased.

"And yeah--getting out would be a tall order. They say no one's done it, but I want to know how accurate that claim is. And, like, even if no one has--if we can find out what people have tried that didn't work? That's still totally helpful information."

"Oh, absolutely still helpful. We're not going to get to find out about the people who actually managed to get out, if there is anyone. There may well be no way to verify it." And it is, honestly, a very exciting problem, especially with someone else in on the idea.

"But, for now, we should move on all conversational-like." He walks his fingers on the table. "Have you given any thought to long term goals here, as far as business goes? Do you plan to keep working where you are?"

"Yeah, totally. Information can only help, even if it's a lot of 'he tried this, no luck.'"

She frowns, thoughtful. "I haven't, really. I mean, like, working in a tea house, it's not the best job ever. I know I can do more. I took it because I wanted steady income and to get out of that inn. But at the same time, the hours are reasonable, I can get by on what I make. And more importantly, being there gives me a good opportunity to have people come and go, you know? A meeting place that doesn't arouse any suspicion."

"Oh, nono, I know that. I'm asking because if we're here a while, I'm curious if you've considered opening your own place? It would be great, I'm sure, to have something more concrete to offer newcomers than somewhat disappointing information."

Eddie shrugs, and glances off into the room, to try and summon up the waiter and their meal by force of will. That doesn't work out quite so well. "What I wouldn't give for more resources to work with... ah well. There are much worse places to be poor. I've made a point to discover one new thing to see, every day, and I'll be at it a long time."

Her eyebrows go up, and she considers this a moment. "I hadn't thought about it, no. But it's not a bad idea. It would be nice to have something to offer, you're right."

She nods at his observation. "More resources would be great. It feels like so many of us are strapped here compared to back home. And that sounds like a totally enjoyable pursuit, seeing one new thing a day. What have you liked best so far?"

"Plus, I can think of less reasons to object to someone who's looking for information on how to leave while simultaneously making every effort to play nice and contribute while stuck." He holds up his hands, then thinks for a moment. Which to pick?

"Okay, that's not an easy choice, but I found a spectacular old overpass with very interesting construction and some fun graffiti, and the whole area around it kept me busy for a whole evening, exploring. Tomorrow, I may have a different answer, though. That happens about once a week. How about you?"

"Yeah, I suppose so."

She listens to his description, smiling brightly. "That sounds really awesome. I'm glad the city affords you the chance to do cool stuff like that. Me..." She shrugs. "I dunno. I guess it's the ocean. I live near the harbor, work near the beaches. It's comforting. Makes you feel a little less trapped here, even if going out very far would remind you of that all over again."

"I haven't spent much time by the water, yet. Oh god, the docks where I'm from are not a fun place to be. Real scummy, literally and figuratively. Do you know how long it's been since I've been to a nice beach? I'm entirely in favor of not getting sunburn, but boardwalks are so much fun." Commence gleeful chatter!

"They are! We had a pretty good one at home, but there was an awesome one about an hour away from where I went to college." She grins; clearly this is a happy subject. "I was spoiled in California, good beaches everywhere. The ones in Gallmarch aren't bad, and the docks here are pretty nice. Not totally scummy but not all touristed out either."

"Ah, all touristed out is fun, though! Fries in giant buckets and cheap sandals, and taffy and carnival games, you know? I would so rather be in California than here. We should set up a petition to be trapped there, instead. We can hang out under palm trees while waiting for the next invasion."

"That's true enough," Rachel muses. "There'd be fun things to do. And hey, I would totally be down with us being stranded in California rather than here. I could be a much better guide there, I know all about California. There'd probably be more reasonable invasions, too. Sharks or invasive plant and insect species, not the things we get here."

"Nah, it could be weird invasions. I'd be happier, anyway. However! Now I'm going to spend some time down by the water. I'll pencil that into my schedule. That's a great suggestion!"

"Well, if you ever want someone to come with you, I'm game. But sometimes solo beach explorations are awesome, too. Very comtemplative."

"Oh no, the beach goes well with company, if you are so inclined." Exploring is usually better with someone who knows the area, from a purely practical standpoint, and he... just likes company.

"I am so inclined," she replies. She would never turn down a chance to wander a beach, especially not with good company. "I don't really know what the seasons are like around here but hopefully we can count on warmish weather for a little while longer. Beaches are cool regardless, but when they're cold, it's not quite the same experience."

"Ah! We'd better go soon, then. Windy, cold docks are much less fun, yes. Though, I suppose it depends on the context. A windy, cold day would bring out a different sort of crowd, different things to explore. And then, I wonder what washes ashore in a place like this, after a storm!"

"I hear that's how stuff comes through from outside." She grins, half-shrugging, it's just what she's heard. "Washes in from other places."

"Yeah, and before it's been picked over? I want to see that. Stuff from everywhere. It could be... well, anything! Have you spent much time in the bazaar?"

"I've been there a few times," she explains. "When I needed stuff. Clothes, stuff for my apartment. It seems like everything's totally different every time I go. I have to wonder how people are getting all these goods, if everything's made here in the city or if they're importing somehow."

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