D A Y 0 8

[founds]

CHAPTER 2

NOV 7TH | 54℉☀(windy)

▸ Parka up for a cold an--*CHSKSSS--*- windy day in Blackwell folks! I sure do hope--*CHSKSSS--*-search team down at the lake won't--*CHSKSSS--*---*CHSSK--*-trouble out on the waters. Professional divers have been going in since dawn, let's give it up for the professional --*CHSKSSS--*-!!

▸ Old Lady Petunia has paid me to say DO NOT SEEK OUT THE ANGELS--*CHSKSSKK--SK--SSSH--*- In fact, there are no such thing as angels. See how easy that was? No angels, no problem.

▸ And now back to our --*CHSKSSS--*-regularly scheduled programming.

THE RISING IS NOT IN EFFECT

Comments

[secretagents]

You're out of job once they turn up dead?

Might as well return where you came from and start another case. Do something useful with the time.

[ just being reasonable. ]

[espish]

I've been getting that a lot lately. Guess I don't know what's good for me.

[glances back in the direction of the table he left again. the waitress comes back with their food.]

Thanks. Brooklyn, by the way.

[cuts into his omelet with a fork once the waitress is gone. the bite's halfway off the plate when he frowns and sets it back down. carefully unfolds it with his fork. unfolds the rest of the omelet and starts to dig bacon out of the cheese.]

[secretagents]

[ nods thanks to the waitress. she knows him so she isn't too insulted by his lack of manners. ]

Yeah, that's pretty obvious. I can hear it.

[ takes his fork but doesn't start eating yet. ]

Part why you've been hearing the same advice again and again is because locals don't like outsiders as much as they admit. Must have noticed that by now.

[espish]

It has come up.

[last night was the rudest greeting he's gotten, but he can't blame the blonde for being in a bit of a mood if she was salvi's former flame. sam can see how dating someone as intense as salvi could necessarily end in an equally intense way. poor kid, whoever she is.

the guy has no excuse for being a jerk, though, unless sam's mere presence is ruffling more feathers at the department than he realized.]

Then again, judging from Salvi's welcome home committee, locals don't exactly get a free pass either. Which one are you, Jacob?

[local or outsider? you talk like either one as it suits you.]

[secretagents]

No one that matters.

[ aka his wife knew all the people and the family friends disappeared one by one once he was alone. it's almost like he's an outsider now. ]

But which one of us does matter in the end?

[espish]

Ah, nihilism.

[not like nostalgia, more a flat recognition.

lets the moment pass in silence as he takes a few bites of his mostly de-baconed and somewhat cooler omelet.]

Why did you invite me over here?

[he genuinely wants to know. mostly people want to give him bad news.]

[secretagents]

People shouldn't eat alone.

[ doesn't explain this change of heart any further. ]

[espish]

Well. Thank you.

[a little surprised, actually. most of sam's meals have been ramen alone in his room since he arrived. last night had been a conscious attempt to break what was swiftly becoming a depressing and depressingly familiar habit.]

[secretagents]

Figured I'd rather eat with you than the cop.

[ points fork at Ben still intensely playing with his phone. judging by what he saw last night Sam isn't so bad so he took the risk of inviting him over. ]

[espish]

[glances where jacob points, toward the table sam abandoned, and toward ben.]

Thanks...

[wouldn't make the same choice, in your shoes. looks back to jacob.]

I'll say this much, there are less personable cops on the force.

[like all of them. literally all of them, though the one from last night is unquestionably the worst. just the worst.]

[secretagents]

Oh right, you met Dennington.

[ smiles at the eggs but the emotion doesn't reach his eyes. ]

[ people have been trying their best to stay out of his way ever since he started working here. Jacob knows his reputation. ]

[espish]

Was that his name? Salvi just introduced him as "Hillbilly Cop," and he didn't bother to correct her. I didn't address him by it, did I?

[this last part is a joke, but he might've. there was a lot of whiskey.]

He's sure a sweetheart.

[secretagents]

One of many.

[ like you said, there's a lot where that one came from. ]

At least he doesn't waste any time on bullshit.

[ respects him in some twisted way. ]

[espish]

No, he didn't do that. Not that we had a long conversation—which I guess proves your point.

[this breakfast isn't working out for him. reaches for the ketchup bottle and pours more than is really palatable to most people over the excavated omelet and hash browns.

they never brought out the toast, though.

or more coffee.]

He didn't really seem to want to own being from here, either. As a matter of fact, neither did Salvi. Nobody does.

[secretagents]

Can you blame us?

[ there's your answer, he's local. ]

[espish]

I guess not. It's no New York. It's barely a Newark.

[that's very rude, and that attitude is possibly why the waitress seems so disinterested in actually waiting on the table sam is affiliated with. then again the others seem to give jacob a wide berth as well, so it's probably both of them. good job jacob on consolidating the undesirables.]

All right, maybe it beats Newark. Given my choice of which one to walk through alone at night, though, I might pick Newark.

[secretagents]

Right.

[ suddenly pauses eating and looks like he's going to throw up for a moment. ]

[ slowly pushes the plate away. ]

[espish]

[glances up from the plate then back down. takes another bite of over-ketchuped egg.

that's probably an expression he would know better from the inside. not recently, though.

everybody here's lost somebody, huh.]

[secretagents]

[ digs around for his cigarette pack like he forgot where he had it. ]

... A pleasure meeting you.

[ he's gonna go now. slides off the chair and wanders to the door. put it on his tab, whatever. ]

[espish]

Likewise.

[apparently more for sam than it had been for jacob. once jacob's gone, sam produces a battered, and empty, purple plastic lighter from an overcoat pocket and sits there looking at it until the waitress shows up with the bill.

for what it's worth, he's sorry he brought it up. that was the longest and most pleasant conversation he's had in nearly a week.

well, with maybe one exception.]

[eternalboy]

[ you done? ]

Hey, Sam!

[ raises his voice because he's still sitting on the other side of the restaurant, gaze fixed on his phone. he would have greeted Sam if Jacob hadn't gotten there first. ]

[espish]

[looks up, startled, when he hears his name. at first he's a little confused as to who addressed him, since nobody's maki eye contact, but he's pretty sure that was Ben. pockets the lighter, grabs his hat and slides out of the booth to head over to ben's table. ]

Morning. I thought I'd managed to sneak past unnoticed

[gestures at the other side of the booth, eyebrows raised. you mind?]

[eternalboy]

[ figured he'd drop the mr Blake since they've known each other for so long now. yep. he doesn't see Sam's gesture since he still hasn't looked up from his phone but nods anyway. ]

Nothing gets past me.

What are you doing later today? Say, in 30 minutes.

[espish]

Ace detective.

[slides into the booth across from Ben and sets his hat down on the table. Lifts his eyebrows to the both awfully vague and awfully specific question]

I've got no plans that can't be postponed. Why?

[an exaggeration—he has no plans]

[eternalboy]

[ frowns and makes a quiet argh noise before setting his phone down on the table. lets out a small, frustrated sigh. ]

Man, I used to be able to clear through that level in seconds. I bet it's the weather. Gets to my fingers, you know?

[ he should really get himself a new pair of gloves. sets his hands on the table and looks across the table at him. ]

The thing is, I'm moving out today. Could use a hand.