Dr.Moore

"I don't know what you're talking about, doc. I'm perfectly healthy. I eat an apple a day and all that," Jamie said jokingly, knowing full well he did not, in fact, eat an an apple a day. Or really ever if he was being honest with himself. Doctor Moore had been there every time Jamie had a panic about his health, and he was genuinely grateful for the man. He wasn't judgemental, and more of a paternal figure than even his own flesh and blood with the times he'd helped Jamie through a panic attack or a spiral. But he wasn't going to say that out loud. Probably not ever. That was a lot to attribute to someone.

"Bowling would be good for you. Something you could put together and meet like... once a week, or twice a week. Maybe reach out to your friends and do it for fun, not really for competition or anything unless you find a rival team." Jamie had to admit that he liked bowling, even if he didn't do it often himself with his graveyard shift at the gas station. When Julian told him about his basketball playing days. "You could put a hoop out over your garage and toss the ball in sometimes. Or go to the community center and play with other people. There's a lot to do around town. I try not to lock myself in the apartment after that one gnarly spiral I had a couple of years ago. I've been doing a lot better since, like genuinely. Just... staying active, I guess."

“I-I don’t know what I’d even say.” She admitted after a pause. Her voice wasn’t shaky, just small, measured, stripped of the sharp edges she often wore like armor. "I just—" Arms came to wrap around her frame more for something to hold than any real defense, grey hues still glued to a random spot on the pavement. "“Every time I think about seeing them, really seeing them... I-I go cold. L-Like I’m sixteen again; and they’re just—" She didn't even have to finish that thought. Dr. Moore knew better than anyone what she meant. After all, he'd been the one to step up when they'd been absent. He'd been the one to comfort the scared little girl with the broken foot while her parents couldn't even be bothered to call. "I-It's stupid. It's all just fucking stupid."

Their expression changes as they hear their friend mention the call, a frown now clear on his features, a smile no longer on their lips replaced by a thin line." Julian." They sigh, setting the drink down." Why did you call your ex at 2 in the morning? What were you expecting?" Elian shakes their head." You are a foolish man, nothing good will come of this."

"I don't know, I just--" he rubs the back of his neck now feeling a bit embarrased he brough this up, "I... Had a long day. At the hospital, I saw this couple, not much older thaj me, also divorced, She was in bad shape, but the ex husband refused to leave her side, it just..." Made him think of her, which was something he didn't want to admit, so he just took a sip of his drink instead. "I know. But at least now I know. I... guess she moved on. "

There was a gentle flinch to his shoulders, as the doctor mentioned that Brook moved on. It hurt, to hear these blunt words, even if they were true. Dr. Moore wanted to help, but oh, Mateo wished he would have been more merciful and simply lied to him instead.

"Me, move on?" these words came bleakly, as he lifted his head. "I moved my entire life here for him, what do I have to move on to from here?" Mateo couldn't see any future for him right then, and he sat back, once again massaging a hand over the front of his chest as he could feel the dread of it all settling in. He was seeing everything but nothing all at once. "Next time?" A bitter laugh. "Doc, you overestimate me," he commented, taking in a couple of deep breaths, to try and help himself calm down. "I'm not.. I - well, if a person I've known well over two decades hasn't learned to love me," Mateo's voice had become no better than a harsh squeak, too upset to look at the doctor then, "then there's no hope I'll find anyone else that will. Doesn't that put it into perspective for you? I'm not getting any younger, Julian."

Imagine, if it would take anyone thirty years? He'd be in his seventies then, one foot practically in the grave!

"Moving on can also mean moving back, to where you were before, your old life, and if that doesn't make you happy," Julian shrugs a little and gestured around them, "you are in a new place, filled with new people, new oportunities" it was funny that these words where coming out of his mouth, Julian, could do some moving on himself. Yet, he didn't follow his own advice. "Look, I..." He looks down at his own hands, shaking his head a little, "I'm no expert, far from it, but it seems to me you're the kind of person who wants to be loved, and if that's something so important to you, I don't think that should end because you were too late with Brook. And if not," Julian shrugs again, "You can move on your life and be without the.... Romance part of it. I've been divorced for five years and... Well, I'm still here. You... Learn to go on," what he was leaving out was that he still wasn't fully over it, over her, sure in a way he had moved on, his life continued but he still thought about her and kicked himself for not making his marriage work.

And quite frankly, he was too god damn selfish to care one lick for the one sad, most important fact that mattered above all else in this: his wife had been unhappy. Maybe if he had cared about that, she wouldn't have left him.

"Aren't you like sixty?" Ney suddenly bit off, eyes still quite narrow and unamused by his childish behavior. "If I hadn't seen your PhD with my own eyes, I'd say you're full of shit." Seriously, in the grocery store? He couldn't hold himself together for five minutes? It was like the second he saw her, he dissolved into immaturity and contempt. And hurt too, you conveniently overlooked that part, didn't you?, her brain fired back.

Just as her eyes had begun to soften with understanding — and that guilt, couldn't forget that — of just why he was being so defensive, Julian had to get mean about it, too. That dried up any concern for him real quick. Clearly, she didn't need to ever ask him what his opinion of her had always quietly been, friends or not. People's true thoughts and opinions of one another always came out in moments of ache. He's always seen you as some pathetic, lonely woman with too much time on her hands, her nose in everyone's business, and a fucking turtle to come home to.

Part of him felt bad for saying all these things to her, he knew was much as Ney likes to be a gossip and be up in everyones business, she was also kind, sweet woman, or at least she used to be, long time ago.

"I am not a drunk!" His voices raises as he glares at her, "because I'm buying alchool doesn't make me a drunk, and even if I was, what is it to you? doesn't seem like to you care enough to worry about how heartbroken or misserable I am, if you did you would had kept your nose out of my relationship!" At this point he was very close to start sceaming at her, his free hand pointing to her as he spoke, Julian knew he couldn't let her get to him that way, but it was very hard not, especially after what she had just said.

Julian all but confirmed that he was aware of the strange - and perhaps unexplainable, at least to most people - things that happened here in Cardinal Hill, though he could tell the other man was still trying to find a rational explanation. And that was okay - it was easier to find one, even if it wasn't true, than to face the truth of what was likely happening in this town. Unfortunately, Brook knew of witchcraft, so he didn't have that same luxury. "Do you still like living here?" Brook asked. "Or do you feel like things have gotten too...weird?"

To the question, Julian shakes his head, he has lived his whole life at Cardinal, never really tought about leaving, "I don't think so. It's... Kinda hard to explain, but I've lived here my whole life, I think at this point it doesn't matter how weird it will get, this is my home, you know?"

“No I haven’t, I’m actually grabbing a few things to go home and cook.” In her basket was the fixings for chicken piccata that she would pair with whatever the mood called for— pasta, mashed potato, or a side salad. “Would you like to join me? I’m making chicken piccata, and something else, that I’ve yet to settle on.” Gisela looks at the pasta options on the shelf. “You can help me decide, and cook if you’re not too tired.”

"I was gonna suggest eating out, but a home cooked meal sounds a lot better," he nods his head with a smile, "I can help you cook, but you're gonna have to tell me what to do because, I kinda suck in a ktichen."

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ “If I don’t like mine, and you don’t like yours, then a trade sounds perfect,” he said, a soft laugh escaping him. It was all so delightfully silly, the two of them stepping out of their comfort zones, already making backup plans in case it all went wrong. There was something endearing about it. In that small, quiet moment, Jinhwan decided he liked Julian. He liked him very much.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Jinhwan’s expression shifted the moment Julian sighed. It wasn’t pity that filled his gaze, it was something deeper. Empathy, quiet and sincere, the kind that didn’t rush to fill the silence but allowed it to settle first. He reached across the table, not to touch, but just to rest his hand nearby. A soft gesture, a quiet offering, I’m here.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ “That sounds so heavy,” he said softly. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to carry all of that.” His voice didn’t waver, but his heart ached a little for him. “I think you’re incredibly brave, Julian. Not just for what you do, but for being able to talk about it.”

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ He gave him a small smile, something steady and bright, and then added with gentle humor, “And for trying Hawaiian pizza, of course. That’s a different kind of bravery.”

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ When Julian asked about him, Jinhwan blinked, then ducked his head with a small, shy smile. “Oh. It’s nothing nearly as noble. I run a little flower shop here in town. 새의 정원,” He said it in Korean first, then, back in Engish, “Bird’s Garden. Maybe you’ve passed it?”

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ He tilted his head slightly, eyes softening. “I arrange flowers. Take care of plants. Deliver bouquets when people are too shy to say how they feel.” There was a quiet pride in his voice, a kind of peace. “It’s quiet work… but meaningful. I like to think that beauty and gentleness matter too. Even in small ways.”

He looks over at the hand being reach out across the table and nods, not really moving, not because the had anything against holding another person hand, it was just odd for him to feel like he was the one who needed comfort, usually it was the other way around.

"I wish I could say I've gotten used to it, but," he shrugs, no matter how much he had to deal with it, and for how long had been a Doctor, he'd never get used to losing a patient, "I had a mentor who once told me if I'm gonna be a good doctor, I'm going to keep my feelings and thats gonna cause me to be upset from time to time," he smiles a bit at the memory, "So I guess in a way it shows me I'm on the right Path."

"I think so," Julian nods, as he hears the name in English, "Though to be honest, its been a while since I'm on the position to offer anyone flowers," he half jokes. Its true, ever since his divorced, dating, romance all that has been out the question for him, and if anyone were to ask his ex, she'd probablly say, he didn't give her flowers that many times, anyway.

"Well, I... Think that's very important too," Julian tells him and he's being honest, "You bring people together and give them a chance to--work it out. I'm not exactly a romantic,but I do think that's very sweet and very important, can't tell you the times when I was, oh I don't know, very much younger and didn't have the nerve to ask someone out, having someone like you around would had been handy," he chuckles, but he's being honest, he's always been a little shy when it comes to asking women out, especially when he was much younger.

It was harder, though, to keep one's self impassive and unbothered against someone you personally knew. Were even relatively close with, once. True, Ney's friendship had certainly been strongest with his wife, but Julian had come as a packaged deal at the time, too, so they had often interacted as well. Shared in laughs and good times, late nights of long chats. Perhaps not quite friends the way she was with his wife, but friendly. She certainly would have labeled him as such, if anyone had asked. Now, they could hardly to stand to be in each other's presence long.

A bitter chuckle escaped her lips as she shook her head slightly. "I’m pretty good at disappearing when I want to.” She admitted, forcing a wry smile. Years of practice had led to an uncanny ability to vanish without a trace at the drop of a hat when necessary. Addie's done so more times in her life than she'd care to admit. “I've managed to keep my family in the dark about my return for months now." It had been what? Five months that she'd been back in Cardinal Hill? And not once had anyone she reunited with mentioned her parents asking about her, just confirming what she'd known her whole life: They. Never. Cared. "I-I plan on keeping it that way.” Her voice softened, touched by something fragile beneath the hardened exterior. "I promise you don't gotta worry about me, Doc." She forced a small smile, not quite able to hide the pain behind grey hues. "I-I got my ways."

"Oh hell." Neylani paused, her eyes rolling heavenward. Just seeing Julian Moore raised her blood pressure these days. She did her best to avoid the doctor entirely, but every now and then, like today, they were bound to run into each other out in the wild like this. Especially in such a small town, and they both had to shop for groceries at some point.

Honestly, the quiet dislike between the two was more her own doing than not. Perhaps that was why she preferred to avoid him these days, that guilt. Ney hadn't meant to cause any serious rifts between him and his now ex-wife — she had thought, she was only helping a friend. The woman was so upset, lost, and unhappy in their marriage; all she had said was, she didn't see why she would stay in something that wasn't working out. Apparently, she had taken these words to heart because the doctor got served with divorce papers and now, Neylani found herself in a spot somewhere between them, her hands completely dirty.

And she hated that she was the cause of that broken look in him. Every time they interacted now, she had to confront that.

He tried to ignore her, but it seems She had other plans, "Neylani." He simply says, "wish I could say the same," he gives her a sarcastic smile before noticing her looking at his basket, "Yes, is there a problem? Let me guess, you got some unsolicited advice for me?"