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It's early evening, and Michelle is waiting for Jack in a diner. Nothing fancy, just--catching up time. She is dressed in spring green today, a spring green tee shirt and jeans, with stiletto heeled ankle booties in grey. She waits, reading over the menu and considering her awful food choices.
Thank god it isn't the same diner as he was in last night. He might've actually suggested a different one, if that was the case, but regardless. Not the same. He's in a union t-shirt, and jeans stuffed into scuffed and loosely tied Docs, and his mien is at is usual level of stressed and sketchy. Worn down, even.
What's new is the strength of the rainstorm scent he carries with him - just a little bit stronger than the last time he and Chelle met up. He gives his friend a tired sort of smile, and slides into the booth across from her with a quiet groan.
"Been a while - how're you?"
Chelle raises an eyebrow. "It has been. You good?" She inhales the rainstorm scent, and his appearance, and flags down a server. "Coffee for both of us, and nachos to share?" She looks to Jack for confirmation. "This is on me, by the by."
"Coffee sounds amazing." He gives her a real, genuine smile. "Nachos's fine - no jalapeños though."
When the server is gone, he shrugs at Chelle. "I'm hangin' in, you know how it is. You been good?"
Considering the question, Chelle smiles slow. "Mostly. Trying to figure out a few things." Player's been low energy, and Chelle takes a lot, but--In downtime, Chelle's been good. "Doing my thing, you know?" She peers at Jack. "You look awful, if I can be blunt. What's wrong?"
He lets out a laugh. "Lotta stressful shit's happened, not gonna lie. Lemme see." He holds up his fingers, ticking them off one by one, and speaks quietly. "Strike at work - which I initiated, but you already knew that one. I'm chair of a union committee to investigate big events like the fashion show to make sure that shit doesn't happen again. There's a vampire out for my blood - dunno if literally or not. My partner's got - had? a boyfriend, who I'm also dating. Same partner's an Oathbeaker 'cause of some shit between the two of them. Uh...."
That seems to be it, for the moment, based on his frown. But, while he's telling her all this, it's pretty clear he's not really feeling the emotions that come along with it. It's all on the surface, a kind of light self-deprecation.
Chelle blinks. "Uh. That's a lot." She peers at him as the server drops off coffee and nachos sans jalapenos. After she walks away, she says, "Are you okay?"
"I'm dealing." He shrugs, the way you do when you don't have any choice but to deal. "Oh - and I'm a Joyeux, now. Had a talk with Ari about my trajectory in the Court, and he suggested it's a good starting place."
Chelle smiles at that, startled but pleased. "Congrats, darlin'. It is a good place for you, at least for the moment. We'll talk more over text later." Signal is a great little program, she's known about it since before Mearcstapa even. "So... have you relaxed any?"
"...Define 'relaxed'." Another little laugh.
That makes Chelle shake her head. "So you're always tense?" She sighs patiently at Jack. "You need a massage from your partners."
He shakes his head. "They need me more'n I need them right now. Seriously. This whole fuckin'...thing. With them. They're both a mess, they've got every right to be."
Chelle squints a little. "You can't pour from an empty cup, hon. You need to take care of yourself."
"Well -" He lifts his coffee mug to her. "Coffee helps. You know. An' I can deal with myself once Lux and Mearcstapa aren't...in crisis."
Chelle files that away. She knows Mearc and Lux, but her face only quirks an eyebrow. "Can I help?"
"I...dunno." He sips his coffee. "Not sure I can do shit about it, so I don't...I dunno what they need, 'sides time. I don't wanna make things worse."
Chelle nods. "Absolutely fair."
"So." He shrugs. "That's where I'm at. Life's crazy, 's nothing new." Another swig of his coffee.
Chelle grins crookedly. "I thought my ex husband is in town. It's unlikely, but..." She shrugs.
"Oh Jesus, really?" Jack looks a little concerned. "How're you...handling that?"
Her grin is sharp. "About as well as you're handling your shit."
"Christ, Chelle. 'S it worth getting someone to look into it, to make sure he's not?"
Chelle considers him. "There are reasons he probably isn't. I can't tell you why, here, but he's probably not. Still, Mikey's going with me and we're going to meet him."
"You're...going to talk to a guy who may or may not be your ex-husband?" Jack frowns, clearly confused.
"I mean, he's also some clothing designer, which is part of the reason I think it isn't my ex-husband. And, well. He's a big fan of overnights. Hates the day. My ex was one of us."
"But you just...wanna be sure. So you're going to see him in person. You done any other research on the guy?"
Chelle blushes. "The thought hadn't occurred to me."
"...Maybe do that first?" Jack raises his eyebrows as he pulls a cheesy chip from the plate. "If he's a clothing designer, there's gotta be shit about him online."
Chelle nods. "I will. Thank you," she says to Jack quietly, still embarrassed that she didn't think of that before. "Anyway." She clears her throat. "How's other stuff going?"
"It's going. The eh...'f you end up going to talk to this guy, and make anymore friends in his circles, watch out for an Anna-Marie Cordray. She's the one who's...well she hasn't done anything 'sides threaten Lux and shit 'cause of their connection to me, and been rude as fuck to Mearcstapa, but...she's fucking nasty."
Chelle tilts her head. "Good to know," she says softly, frowning. "Maybe I should have had you come to my place for supper. Sounds like we need a follow up conversation sometime." Her grin is wry.
"That's about all there is to that, honestly. You can look her up, too, she runs an investment firm." He shudders. "Kinda person who thinks she can just buy people."
"Ewww." Chelle shudders.
"Yeah. Stay the fuck away from her. I dunno if she's been laying low, or what, she hasn't made good on any of her threats yet, but it's probably only a matter of time." His voice is low, and at this point he seems more irritated than upset about the whole thing.
Chelle nods. "That sounds awful. Just be safe, okay?"
"I don't plan on getting anywhere near her. Did that once, not gonna fucking do it again."
Chelle nods, satisfied, and sips at her coffee.
There's a few moments of silence broken only by Jack crunching on the nachos. "You'n Michael doing well, still?"
Chelle smiles, a soft, sweet thing. "Yeah, we're doing pretty good." A beat. "You doing okay with yours? I know they're having trouble, but your relationships with them are as solid as possible?"
"Eeeh?" He shrugs. "It's...I mean I'm dating a fucking Oathbreaker, so. Trying not to let that fuck shit up too much."
"I mean, that's not easy." Chelle sounds sympathetic. "If you need to talk about it, you know where to find me."
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