sowing season

Having supper outside doesn’t sound as appealing when you have to be on crutches and can barely carry your own tray, but Jess is determined to hold herself at least for one night without asking for any help. Sure, it might sound reckless but she has grown too mentally wearied only staying at home and feeling like a bruised fruit. At least she’s just one one crutch now but it doesn’t make it easy to slog around. Many has offered assistance but she has been denying them left and right until she has reached her final curb when one of her utensils falls to the floor with a loud clank. Jess looks down at it with a bitten lip for a moment, feeling tears come up to her eyes but she doesn’t want to attract anymore attention by having a meltdown. Instead, she gives up on her pride and taps the person closest to her. Strangers frighten her now, so she hopes it’s at least someone she knows … Or at least someone not sus. “Excuse me…” She mutters. Her British accent is stronger now with her mum around and watching her every move. “Could you help me get another fork? There’s a crowd of people there and I don’t think I can shoulder my way through. Please?” She asks, timid. 

~~

nate hadn’t much to do tonight, a highly unusual occurrence. he typically had client paperwork to go through, notes to skim, adjust, and file, things he always brought home with him although he probably shouldn’t. nate just wasn’t.. well, like many others. as much as he enjoyed messing with people, finding pretty girls to hook up with, finding fights to start, or wandering a cemetary or park drunk in the dark -- he, simply, always ended up back buried deep in his work, trying to solve the puzzle. in fact, all he suddenly could think of doing was working on something -- anything. he had a few notes from his research on a slaying in california many years ago that he had taken and some papers he had printed out, telling himself he had to at least pretend like he genuinely cared about ‘being social’ or seeming like other regular people for the night -- just one night. thus, he found himself and all of his pieces of research, sitting in the diner, but still alone ( just as he liked it ).

suddenly, his train of thought was interrupted by a loud clang as a nearby fork fell to the ground. “what the fuck?” he asked, very audibly. people around him mostly definitely could hear that. usually, he wouldn’t be too sorry about that kind of ‘outburst’ as, at times, he could be extremely sensitive to sounds invading his headspace, but he saw a woman who seemed to be a bit in distress. “hmm,” he hummed, an upward inflection in his sound to show it was a question to the girl tapping his person. “sure,” he assured her, a forced ( almost ) customer-service-like smile spreading across his mouth.

almost as quickly as she had asked, nate hobbled his large frame out of the booth and went to the counter to request another fork. after a few moments, he was handed one that he quickly returned to the stranger, taking his seat back at his own table but this time sitting half-turned so he could see her face. “i promise that i did not touch the mouth-part,” he joked, a more ‘genuine’ ( if you could call it that for nate ) smile now upturning the corners of his lips.

“IT’S NOT DISNEY WORLD, but i think it’s pretty impressive for what we have,” nadia grinned, always one to look on the brighter side of things, especially her job. besides, there amusement park was prettyb impressive considering the lack of those nearby. she wasn’t playing cinderella or anything, but she still considered her job quite glamorous. many asked her how she was able to work in such a tourist-y destination, but it honestly didn’t bother her, besides, if someone was unimpressed, at least she didn’t have to see them during the next performance. at his description of a certain ride, her head tilted to the side in amusement, her expression fully entertained as she nodded along. at his admission, though, her smile only grew, as she felt herself blushing. “ah, so that means i get to show you around for your first time here, then?” with a smirk, not that that was intimidating coming from an innocent face such as nadia’s. she offered, "because it would be a shame for all these free tickets i get from working here to go to shame…and plus my insider knowledge of the best rides….” the flamethrower trailed off, jokingly, offering an invitation in a playful way. “but that’s only if you’re interested in going on the one over there that does the thing.” clicking the locks of her case closed, she offered toothy grin. “nadia, it’s nice to meet you, nate.” 

“you know, it may -- may not technically be my first time,” he admitted, knowing full well he may have come before and just not remember, especially if it was a shorter visit and he had gotten to alcohol beforehand. “but it’s definitely the first time i remember, so i’ll happily take you as my guide.” 

nate knew by now that he was nearly getting what he wanted, a pretty girl to give him just enough attention to feed his ego -- oh, how funny and attractive he must be. but maybe he could consider being nice, letting a little loose, unlike himself, because why not? maybe because the park felt otherworldly, like he wasn’t in a place where everyone knew who he was so he could be whatever he wanted, or needed, to be. what could he be for this girl in front of him, or be with her? human, for once? empathetic, genuine? he could really test if he put on the facade well enough for truly in depth interaction like this -- interest, romantic, platonic, whatever.

She laughed and motioned for him to come closer. “I could be really lame and just read you this,” she said, holding up the book in her hand. Red Dragon, by Thomas Harris. “You know Hannibal Lecter? This is the first one.” She set the book aside though. “But it’s more psychological than scary. Pretty good, but kinda weird at the same time.” She was talking too much, wasn’t she? She always talked too much, she was just too much. 

With one hand, she picked up a longer log, about the width of her thin wrists. She pushed at the base of the fire, stirring the embers, sending a shower of sparks straight upwards. That tight feeling in her chest faded, just enough for her to breathe again. “I’m Leo, by the way,” she said, using a considerable amount of effort to look at him and not the fire. “Tell me your name and maybe I’ll tell you a ghost story. One of the best.” She had absolutely no idea what it would be, but that didn’t matter. The end of her little log had caught fire now and she breathed in the thick smell of smoke and ash and felt the warmth tingling on her cheeks. 

nate quirked a brow at her reading choice, stepping slowly towards the flames, eyes locked on the dusty bits floating through the air and disappearing onto the ground elsewhere. “very interesting you would say that, you see --” he began, cutting himself off as he wagged a finger in her direction as he spoke before tucking it back into the pocket of his jacket. “considering i’m a psychologist.. somewhat. i can technically practice in some states, as long as i take that state’s licensure. but generally, yes. i have a degree in psychology. and i, ironically, would like to practice something loosely similar to forensic psychology.” 

following her lead, the male worked his way around the fire’s width by slowly walking closer to her side, but ensuring to keep a few feet between them to seem less creepy -- something he’d picked up and noticed other people did and something he heard numerous women wished men did / appreciated that men do, whenever it rarely happened. “well,” he mumbled, now shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he rubbed his thumb along his bottom lip for a moment. “they named me nathanael, but there’s an awful lot of spelling mistakes with it, so i prefer nate.”

“SORRY, I DIDN’T MEAN TO DISTURB YOUR VISIT,” nadia meant visiting story land, as the last thing she wanted to do was take away from a patron’s experience. then again, she also didn’t want to burn the park down by not being able to put her equipment away. something had to give. as he came over and held open the case, she could only nod at his quip. “and i will pay that hairdresser bill even if you go to the most expensive salon you can find; i’m that confident in my abilities.” the smile on her face showed her jest, falling into casual playfulness with the stranger as she placed the baton into the case, carefully, not to disturb anyone’s hair. “never believed in magic? oh, now that’s just sad you need a little magic to spice up your life,” or maybe she had been hanging around too many of the magicians of the circus. as the lid of the case dropped, the fire went out, easily. nadia switched the locks on the container, confirming it wouldn’t reopen in transport, before looking up with an amused smile. “uh, not really, this is my first time. any good rides?” she played along, clearly being funny about it and continuing the gag. considering that was her last show for the day, she had time to be a jokester. 

exhaling audibly, nate placed both hands on his hips and looked around at the surroundings. “so, so many... good rides,” he hesitantly assured her. the male had been living in salem for a while now, but he’d never done anything besides get the typical touristy things out of the way when he first arrived, but that felt like ages ago. honestly, he’d never done anything in story land, but he couldn’t tell her that. “the one over there that does the thing -- it’s great.” 

looking back to her, nate shrugged his shoulders in defeat before admitting it. “i got nothing,” he laughed out. “i don’t come here, i just ... drunkenly wandered in and saw a girl that was way out of my league, and i ended up here.” of course, he was talking about her, and playing to it very well. “i’m nathanael, but you can call me nate.”

Leo sat on the cold, leaf-covered ground and threw a couple more sticks onto the fire. It was a small one, nothing enormous, but it was enough to give her that warm, buzzy feeling in her head. The kind that other kids chased after with booze or weed, and she didn’t mind either one, but this was so much better. A crackling campfire, the only light around for miles among the trees. She had a book open in her hands, but she was barely reading it, her focus on the bright orange flames. It took her a second to realize that someone else had stepped into the firelight. “Kind of a private party,” she joked, glancing over. It took effort to tear her eyes away from the fire. “Unless you brought marshmallows. Or know a good ghost story. Then you can definitely stay.” 

.

nate had been reading in a more populated area of the park, where benches lined paths that had been ground down by the shoes of people pacing, running, and walking to either get away from problems or chase the simplicity of the outdoors for a moment or two. now that it was much colder outside, the time had jumped backwards and the sun was setting before he even left work. he was thankful that he only sometimes went into the office on weekends, but it always meant he got to leave whenever his work was done instead of when business hours were up. it gave him time to do things he loved - or try to find things that he ‘loved,’ things that simply passed time until his next drink or drive to the office all over again.

it was dark, the smell of something off in the distance caught his attention - fire? the male was always one to go hunting for trouble. whatever it was, person or paranormal, nate was searching for anything to make him feel alive again, or whatever all those young adult novels try to convince kids to do. “interesting,” he mumbled, shoving his small book into the pocket of his peacoat before following the scent - thank god he was wearing boots. honestly, nate was never not wearing boots. good thing they made fashionable, work appropriate ones now. in exchange for the book, he pulled out a small pocket light he always carried around.

the smell got stronger when he saw an orange flow through the dense trees. now that he thought about it, some weird guy, dressed in business casual, wandering the woods, seemed very horror-movie-esque. like either he was the secret serial killer or was the dumb ass you yelled at on the screen to not do the stupid thing and get out of the woods because the killer is there.

“i wouldn’t say i’m a story-teller,” he admitted, raking his fingers through his curly, blond hair that had escaped from the bun he sported for work all day - not bothering to put it back up at this point. “so i certainly hope that you have a story somewhere in that pretty little head of yours, given the setting and all.” to be honest, nate thought that was a little funny. there they were, in a ‘haunted’ town, but he never had any ghost stories to retell.

DONNING STAGE MAKEUP AND A BRIGHTLY COLORED UNITARD, nadia walked around the amusement park before the next show started with easy confidence, gathering interest (and tickets sold) for the circus, as one hand twirled a baton with both edges on fire and the other moved dramatically around it. one of the best parts of her job was seeing the disbelief young kids watched her with, providing some sort of amazement and excitement for them. there was a kind of innocent happiness from putting a smile of a child’s face. making her way back to the circus tent in a theatrical fashion for those she passed, she had already a bit of soot on her face and costume from moving the flame around her, as usual. as she went to open the case for her equipment, she held the baton safely as she attempted to hold open the case, struggling. noticing someone nearby, she managed to call out, “hey, you mind holding this open for me for a sec? i won’t burn you, i promise.” closing the case with the flame inside was the easiest way to extinguish it, not that it helped if she couldn’t hold it open herself. “hope it won’t ruin the magic,” she said with a wink. “usually someone’s out here to help me a bit.” 

there wasn’t much for nate to be doing - no work, no friends, no one to sleep with - so, if course, he’d find himself either stuck to a barstool or wandering around. he didn’t know why he was in this area but a few whiskeys later, someone with literal flames caught his eye. “hm,” he exhaled, mostly to himself, as he stood aside with his ‘water bottle’ and took a sip. the people around him certainly were worth the moment of people watching, but nothing much else. in short, nate was bored.

“what?” without much thought, the male turned to its source, nearly stumbling over all 6′4 of himself when he moved much more quickly that he was prepared for. “oh yeah, uh - sure, sure.”

furrowing his brow, he shoved his water bottle into the pocket of his dress pants ( yes, still in his work clothes ) and grabbed at the lid to the case to hold it open. “if you burn my hair off, you pay for the proper cut to fix it,” he teased, shaking his head so the curls would fall over his face. honestly, this kind of innocent, simple interaction was very unlike Nate, but was something just unusual enough for it to be something he could go along with for a moment. admittedly, nate always had ulterior motives. if it wasn’t that, then you were probably one of his patients. “i never believed in magic anyway,” he responded, letting the top of the case go so it would close.”but uh - come here often?” he asked, returning her wink with a goofy smile.

+SAGACIOUS +ENTERPRISING +UNABATING -ASTUTE -IRASCIBLE -BEGUILING

hi ! i’m mav, i’m 30, and this is my offspring, nate ! your friendly, neighborhood (wanna-be but very convincing) psychopath. there are times that i may be unavailable or vanish because i have a baby and i’m in school, but i am determined to be around. sometimes, however, duty will call.

trigger warning for: mention of murder

“are you speaking of general psychological theory, which there are too many to count, or are you speaking of the basic psychological theories?” squinting, he lifted his hand to quickly go through the basics and count them out. “cognitive, sociocultural, humanistic, more or less the viewpoints, you could say, but they are still theories. if we’re speaking general, the terror management theory is funny to me - not my favorite as in why we do we do what we do? but it’s funny to me, nevertheless. it’s the theory that majority of human behaviour exists as a buffer against existential dread.”

“no, i rather enjoy routine. routine creates stability, although i have been known to be both a bit unstable and a bit spontaneous, it just depends on the situation. i wouldn’t consider myself outgoing or spunky or anything, though… so i’d say no, it’s what you would call ‘comforting’ to me.”

“i believe.. the term is .. e-boy? there’s an e-girl, right? so there must be a ‘male’ equivalent.”