Blake laughed, head thrown back. She liked Jack’s style of thinking. “I should. Just right between his eyes.” When he said the word tips, she turned, flicking her hair back like she was some model. “You’ve come to the right woman if you want tips. Do you need to throw a punch, or do you need to be mean? Because I can be an expert at both.”

John laughed along with Blake. “Yeah, right between the eyes should bring him down a peg or two.” She was super confident, he would give her that, and he gave a light chuckle when she flicked her hair. “Honestly? I guess both? Not mean as such just not quite...” was pushover the word? “You know what I mean.”

“Power…problems.” She stuttered, being as vague as she could, “But thank you, I’ll be all right.” Vic laughed at his following questions, taking a long sip of her coffee, letting it marinate on her tongue, before swallowing. She needed that. “I could tell you. Or I could make it a guessing game, really make you earn that rain check.” She was mostly joking, she’d tell him if he asked again.

John gave a single, knowing nod. “As long as you’re sure,” he offered a warm smile, “power problems really can get in the way of just feeling...normal.” He knew all too well what his powers had done to his life prior to moving to Grimstone, so he could only imagine what others had to go through. “I’m going to hazard a guess that you’re an early riser. So you’d be here...pre-10am? Is that a start?” He took a step back and pointed at one of the empty tables. “You wanna sit for a bit or did you have somewhere you needed to be?”

As the man–oh, what was his name? Jack? She was pretty sure he was Jack–spoke, her smile grew. See? Jack totally understood her! “Oh my god, right?!” she exclaimed. “Oh, pff, he was like, under 6 ft and not even that jacked. Really, if someone should be worried about being weak, it was him. Scrawny ass. And I totally didn’t even take him out. I could’ve,” she assured Jack, hands up. “But I didn’t because I’m super nice.”

John gave a small chuckle and nodded. “Yeah, basically a pipsqueak,” his smile faltered for a second. She had basically been describing him...John has under 6ft, and while being in shape was hardly the pique of physical fitness. Not that she was describing him...but the shoe did fit. “I think next time you should, to really hit home that you’re the boss right? You seem the sort to not be messed with...” he paused again, “...on those days when you’re not feeling as nice. I may need some tips to be fair.”

“If someone tells me that not eating meat makes me weak, do I have the right to punch the crap out of him?” Blake asked, not that it was really a question. As far as she was concerned, anyone questioning her ability to throw a punch made them potentially fair game to punch. “If not, I might have accidentally instigated a fight at the gym today.”

“I mean...if you’re going to start a fight, I guess the gym is the best place to do it?” Not that John had ever been in a fight to know where the best place to have one would be, but given that the gym was usually fuelled with adrenaline and testosterone and inner aggression coming out on the weights and punching bags, it was as good a place as any, in John’s mind. “To be honest, there’s always going to be someone telling you that you’re weak or what you’re doing and saying is wrong. You just ignore it...or in your case punch the crap out of them.” He gave a light chuckle. “Wish I’d been there to see it now. How big was the guy?”

Victoria smiled, grateful that he wasn’t upset with her blunder. “One of those weeks so far.” She joked in return, picking up her actual drink from the counter as the barista set it down, taking care to actually check her name this time. “Sure, a coffee raincheck,” Vic smiled again, adjusting the strap of her bag over her shoulder, “I’m here just about every morning if you can catch me for it.”

“Oh...sorry to hear that,” he said genuinely, “anything I can help with or that you wanna talk about?” He knew what it was like to have a bad set of days in a row, so the least he could do was offer some form of help, if he could. “Okay, sweet. I can be here. We talking early morning or late morning/ near afternoon? Or do I just turn up and hope I strike lucky?”

Victoria was feeling somewhat out of sorts, having had a long and difficult conversation with a spirit she’d unwittingly brought back in her sleep and seen looming over her when she woke up. She’d headed to the coffee shop in search of soul soothing coffee and the hopes of some caffeination. Vic hadn’t been thinking when she’d picked up the first cup the barista had set down on the counter, only realizing that it wasn’t hers when she was halfway to the door and saw a different name on the cup. 

“I’m sorry,” she started, quietly, approaching the person that had been waiting at the counter beside her, “I think I grabbed your cup on accident.” She turned the cup out to show them the name. “I didn’t drink out of it but I’ll buy you a replacement anyway?”

It had taken John that extra few seconds to snap out of his daydreaming state, but they were a few seconds too late as he saw his coffee make off in the direction of the door. The expression on his face dropped a little, but he did nothing to chase the girl, opting instead to just wait around and take the coffee he assumed would be hers. If worst came to worst, he could try some of the training exercises for his power, and drink his coffee through her.

A sentence that even in his head still sounded weird.

He offered her a genuine smile as the realisation crossed her face and he shook his head. “Don’t be sorry; it happens. One of those mornings?” He took it from her, shaking his head again. “You don’t need to buy me a new one, there’s no harm done. But, maybe you can buy me one some other time?”

Wren blinked and then smiled softly and relaxed. He wasnt a homophobe, he just seemed to be someone shy about his own sexuality. The defensiveness passed now that he knew he wasnt being judged. “Good, because if you were also dating Liam I’d have a lot of questions.” He laughed. Wren had a ton of insecurities, but worrying about Liam cheating on him has never been one of them. “I mean, to be fair, there’s not exactly a hell of a lot of places to choose from. It’s not like we have Pizza Hut and Dominoes on every block.”

Originally posted by tweenw

John gave a genuine laugh. “Yeah, that could have been a pretty awkward round of 20 questions.” Okay this was fine, he relaxed a little more into the conversation, his body feeling lighter, more relieved. “Yeah I know, but i figured a conosuir such as yourself would know the one place that’s the best. I don’t really make it out all that much so any intel on these places is kinda helpful.”

“I’m absolutely certain, just messin’ with ya,” he winked at him before patting the guy’s back, motioning for him to walk with him. Wren was a little caught off guard by how awkward John got, and then felt a little uncomfortable when he asked him who the lucky ‘lady’ was. He wasnt used to people batting an eye at him being gay, but he knew it existed. He was certain if his dad ever knew he’d hate him more than he already did, which he kept having to tell himself that was at least one benefit about living in Point. So when he answered John, he attempted to remain friendly, but there was a slight undertone of defensiveness. “The lucky /lad/, is Liam Slater,” he said. “He lives in Park.”

Originally posted by hothothotgg

John let out a visible sigh of relief and instantly relaxed. He was always on the defence when it came to his sexuality. “Oh thank god.” He gave a nervous chuckle and rubbed at the back of his neck, playing it off by messing with his hair. “I’m the same. Not dating Liam, obviously, that’s not what I meant. But yeah, you know.” He gave warm smile. “Anyway, pizza. I’m assuming you know the best place for it right? This isn’t going to be a wasted trip for me?”

“Yeah, I’m not really the rollercoaster type. That definitely extends to bungee jumping too so likely won’t be doing that.” It was something on Clark’s bucket list, sure, but it was one he didn’t think he’d ever get the guts to cross off. “I mean, some of the rides don’t seen too bad. I think I could handle the pirate ship and the tilt-a-whirl, but that’s as extreme as I go.” He laughed, running a hand through his hair. “So, what d’you wanna do first?”

“Shall we start slow then? The pirate ship is only a gentle sway right? A semi-high up gentle sway?” He kept sounding like he was talking himself out of it. “Who knows, it might change our mind, get us super pumped for the rollercoaster.” He doubted it, but it could be fun, especially with Clark. He always felt safer, if that was the right word.

“You don’t have to do it that way, especially if you don’t fully believe. What’s the point of asking forgiveness of a God that you don’t believe in? It’s perfectly fine to just ask for guidance, and then maybe one day if you feel like He answered you, and the need takes, you can delve into more. Plus, that was just my father’s outlook, not necessarily everyone else’s.” Sophia explained, not wanting to push the male into anything he didn’t want to do, or give him any wrong information. Not that there was really much right and wrong when it came to practising your beliefs in a safe way. “One of the seven deadly sins has it’s grasp on me, I guess. I’m jealous. Have been for a while but especially so in moments like this. I just… I love Point, I like everything it has to offer and the rules suit me just fine. I just wish I could go out and see my family like people in Park can. I guess I’m jealous of those that do.” 

“I guess I just thought that was what you did, especially for guidance: throw it out there into the universe that you’re struggling and seeing what happens or what responds?” He trusted her outlook on this, and if John wasn’t going to educate himself on the subject now, then he never would. “Oh really?” He said with genuine curiosity at the mention of her sin. He honestly didn’t think people took them seriously but he refrained from commenting. “I mean, the sins are only bad if you act negatively on them right? They’re just natural feelings. We’ve all be jealous of things...I know I have. But I get you. It seems like the people at Park have it better...but they’re probably thinking the same thing about us.”

He laughed and nodded in agreement, then almost salivated at John’s mention of meat lovers pizza. “Well, if we’re counting up score, that’s a tripple whammy. Pepperoni all the way, man.” He grinned then replied, “Nope, not at all, just was planning to have a date party of one. Which, to be fair, can sometimes /actually/ be a plan in of itself, but in this moment I wouldnt mind some company.” He pointed a finger at him and added playfully, “But I /am/ taken, so dont get any ideas,” he smirked.

Originally posted by bradjade

He smiled. It was good to see that they were at least on a similar wave length. Food was food though, and John was usually content with whatever he managed to get his hands on. “As long as you’re sure,” John liked to double check. He hated feeling like he was forcing his company on someone. He was caught of guard and felt himself stammer. “I...no, no ideas.” He was never openly out to new people...it took him a while to get comfortable with the other person before letting that slip. Did Wren guess? Was it obvious? “Who’s the lucky lady?”

“I’m afraid I don’t have too many suggestions.” Peter shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I’m just here in search of kettle corn. Since you’re so culinarily inclined, have you seen that booth? I’ve done about two circles of this place and I can’t find it.”

“I haven’t seen the booth, no, but I’m pretty sure the food stalls are supposed to be in that direction somewhere.” John smiled and pointed in the direction he had been heading. “I’ve only just got here myself so I’m still working out where everything is, but if my nose is anything to go by I think I’m on the right track.”

“Well rule number one is to wear pants that never get too tight so the pigging never stops.” Brianna grinned, stretching the waistband of the most forgiving leggings she had. “There’s a pet adoption if you’re looking for a pet, racing, tug of war. I personally enjoy a good fun house.” 

“I think you might be a genius!” John gave a sincere laugh. How had he never thought of that before? “Saves being uncomfortable I guess. It’s a bit too late to go home and change now though.” He shrugged. “We should definitely go and play with the animals at some point! And I’d be happy to follow you around the fun house.”

“Well, if you’ve already eaten the rides wouldn’t be a good idea. But there’s some things that could be fun, like the mechanical bull or the fun house. That’s kind of in the name, so you can’t deny that would be fun. Personally, I’ve been trying to sike myself up for the Kamikaze ride, or even bungee jumping, but I don’t think that’s gonna happen.” Clark chuckled, glancing over at the man with a soft smile.

“Luckily I’ve not eaten yet...maybe a ride or two wouldn’t hurt.” He returned Clark’s smile with one of his own. “I’m game for the fun house. Seems simple enough. And like you said, fun is in the name. And if you do try the bungee jump, I’ll happily be your hype man.” he paused. “But from the bottom. I’m not doing that.”

“Yeah, my father was the pastor in our little town back home so… I guess I’m pretty knowledgeable about it.” Sophia smiled, especially at the squeeze to her shoulder giving her some comfort. “But there’s no real right or wrong way to do any of it. I mean, what are you wanting from it? Do you want to devote yourself, or do you just want to feel like you’re getting some guidance from some higher power? Either is fine, you don’t have to be completely devote to benefit from Him. You can ask for guidance in your head, speak aloud, speak to the pastor… It’s completely up to you how you do that bit. I was raised a certain way, with my dad. There’s things I follow and things I don’t. I would have to pray for forgiveness before I could pray for guidance. My father taught us forgiveness for your sins is the most important thing. Which I guess right now is what I’m struggling with the most…” 

“Oh so you fully grew up around it.” John nodded, listening to every word that Sophia had to say. He gave a small shrug at her question. “Honestly, at the time it was for guidance. There was...a lot going on and I didn’t have the answers to anything. I was just reaching for anything that might make sense.” It was nice in a way to have an open discussion like this. There weren’t many people that knew an awful lot about John’s life prior to Lake Grimstone. “Forgiveness before guidance, got it.” He made a mental note. “I know I shouldn’t ask, but what do you need forgiveness for? You don’t strike me as the overly sinful type.”

Sophia knew John was right, that He would see she was trying her best and her jealousy wasn’t coming from a malicious place. Perhaps she could go in and sit with the other. Before Lake Grimstone, she would always go to Church with her family; her father was the pastor and her mother and brothers would always be by her side. Perhaps it would feel more normal with someone sat next to her. “Thank you, I appreciate that so much.” She smiled graciously, took a deep breath and turned back around to walk into the Church. “I think I’ll sit next to you, if that’s okay? Before coming here, I would always go with my family, you know? Always. It feels strange to sit in Church alone.” 

“Anytime,” he gave a smile before turning towards the church with her. “Yeah, that’s fine with me. If it makes you feel comfortable then of course.” He gave her shoulder a light squeeze, hoping it was something of a comfort at least and he followed her in. “So if you came a lot with your family, you’re pretty knowledgeable about how all this works right?” He didn’t want to pry but he was genuinely curious. “I’ve had moments when I turned to this for some kind of guidance but I’ve never been sure I did it right.”