I’ve been working on a few pieces of original fiction stemming from an ongoing RP and was gifted money for an art commission for my birthday from my amazing RP friends. If I can say anything, it’s that @potato-lord-but-not consistently delivers. Thank you so much Jay for bringing my idiots to life.
“Normal People”
Steeplechase Pier, Coney Island September 1931
“Normal people”
Steeplechase Pier, Coney Island September 1931
Jack found a bench down on the pier, looking out over the channel and had sat, checking over her notes, waiting for Michael to arrive. The sun was just starting to go down and the hazy light illuminated her stray hairs as he made his way down the boardwalk to meet her. He sat next to her and handed her a hot dog.
"What's this?" she laughed.
"What, you never had a Coney Island hot dog before? You been livin under a rock?" he took a bite of his own sausage.
"Darling I've had a hot dog before. My question is why you're handing me one."
He shrugged. "Thought you might be hungry." He looked out over the channel.
"So I've been thinking about the case…" she started.
"Hey" he interrupted, catching her gaze. "I wanna try somethin'."
"What?" She raised an eyebrow at him.
"I wanna sit on the pier and eat a hot dog and pretend to be normal people."
"Michael if we were normal people, we wouldn't be rooting out a cult under the Coney Island docks on a Friday evening." she said flatly.
"Yeah but… we could pretend? For like…" he looked at his watch. "20 minutes? We got 20 minutes before sunset."
"You want to pretend to be normal people for 20 minutes." She repeated slowly, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Yeah. yeah I do. I wanna sit on the dock, look at the ocean, and eat a hot dog like I don't know what's actually goin' on in the world." he took another bite. "And if you wanna join me in that, more's the better."
"Alright. 20 minutes." She closed her notebook and relaxed back against the bench
"Well, more like 19 minutes now."
She laughed and took a bite of her hot dog. They ate in silence, watching the waves lapping gently at the beach below. When he finished eating, he shifted closer and put an arm over her shoulder. If they were normal people, he'd be able to call her his gal. He'd be here with his gal who wouldn't push him away if he asked too many questions, or if he tried to stay over too many nights in a row. The gal he could take out and introduce to people without worrying that he was stepping over some kind of line. The gal that he could take to Coney Island and buy a hot dog for without the pretense of an investigation.
But that was for normal people, and god help them both, they weren't that. So instead he did whatever this was, and pretended it wasn't tearing him apart. Basking in his 20 minutes.
She rested her head on his shoulder, the warmth of her seeping through his shirt. He let out a soft sigh and let his eyes close gently, enjoying the sounds of the gulls and the feeling of the breeze in his hair. If he was a normal person he'd put his fingers under her chin and draw her into a deep kiss. If he was a normal person he'd tell her he loved her. He'd buy her a ring, she'd say yes with a smile on her face… but that was for normal people.
The sun set. " Ok" he murmured. "Back to work."
She patted him on the shoulder as she stood ." That was nice." She said with a smile. " thank you, Michael." She turned and started walking down the pier towards the shoreline."Now come on, I managed to get a copy of the key to the basement. We should be able to get in and poke around without too much trouble."
He sighed and looked out over the channel as the last orange glow of sunset faded into darkness. It was nice. Had been nice. If 20 minutes was all he could get, he'd take it. "Yeah. Yeah ok."
