OOM: Surprise Blind Date with Nancy

[thesupersmeller]

After his heart to heart with Demeter, as they were always heart to heart with her, and all the confusion he's felt between his body, mind, and most of all his heart, Gus is more at ease than before but without any answers. He's already told The Devil once and for all it's off, he doesn't want to be that guy that keeps an open option - especially not an open option that could destroy him... and maybe still would. He's not that guy at all. Instead, he's been going through the motions; closing the case and helping get everything ready for the impending party.

The day after Juliet's birthday party, he gets a text message from Shawn telling him to be at Milliways as soon as possible at a bench by the lake. Later, it would occur to him that Shawn was clearly up to something - but as he walks a slow circle around the bench in the pink silk shirt and black slacks he'd worn to work for the day and waits for his friend to show it's more annoying than anything.

Comments

[iamhismummy]

Nancy finishes off her own glass and nods.

"I'm ready now, then."

[thesupersmeller]

Taking people between worlds unnerves Gus a little, kind of like Stranger in a Strange Land except because it's him, it's a little more Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure . He worries that the other person will be scared or disoriented.

But, Nancy seems to know what she's doing. As he leads her to the door, he says; "It was close to dusk when I left, so it should be cooling off nicely and we'll be close to the Ocean."

[iamhismummy]

"That'll be nice", she says sincerely. "I haven't seen the sea since I was little, only the river."

[thesupersmeller]

Smiling again, Gus pushes open the door and when they come through the other side they step out of a bank of rescued lockers from the school that he and Shawn went to as kids. There's even a Johnny Depp poster circa 1990 hanging on the door of the one Gus wedges himself out of.

"Welcome to the Psych office," he says with a casual wave of his hands. He's actually pretty proud of it, being that it's the base for the business he and Shawn have been running for almost six years now.

"This is where Shawn & I do our paperwork and hang out when we're not doing other things."

[iamhismummy]

She looks around, taking it all in.

"Nice office. I like the personal touches, it's your own company?"

[thesupersmeller]

Gus plucks his keys off the hook by the coat rack, following it up with his light jacket which just gets hung over his arm.

"Yeah, well - me and Shawn. We've been in business together about six years now. I know it doesn't really look like private detective agency, but I assure you we are all professional." Well, he is... Shawn uses cats as witnesses and hero worships and art thief.

"You can check it out if you like," he offers, going over to his desk to subtly flip over an issue of Maxim. "I don't really know what's interesting to you."

[iamhismummy]

She wanders around a little, looking at the things on the walls and other things in plain sight.

"I wouldn't know what a detective agency's supposed to look like, except Philip Marlowe's in the pictures, but I don't see anything wrong with yours."

[thesupersmeller]

Of course, he hadn't really thought that far ahead - but it's interesting too. The things they don't know about each other's worlds must be staggering.

Watching her, waiting for something offensive to pop off of Shawn's desk, he tilts his head to the door. "We should probably head out before Shawn shows up..."

Things are going well and he's having a good time, and no doubt Shawn is expecting him to come back feeling further rejected.

"How spicy do you like your food?"

[iamhismummy]

If anything offensive is there, she doesn't visibly notice it, and turns her attention to him when he speaks.

"Not too spicy, I'm not really used to it. I like fish, though, and you said this place was by the sea?"

[thesupersmeller]

"I know just the thing..." he smirks, heading to the wide entry way and opening the door to let them out to the boardwalk their office is on. Just outside the door, sand stretches down straight to the beach well within easy walking distance. Of course, this particular section of beachfront is a bit on the busy with several families and girls wearing cutoffs and t-shirts (which is a step up from the tiny bikinis since it's the off season in Santa Barbra with it being late Fall and all) on rollerblades.

"Walk with me?" He offers his hand somewhat tentatively, "It's not far - just the other end of the boardwalk, a little further from the pier."

[iamhismummy]

Nancy smiles, following him to the door, and takes his hand readily.

"It's a nice day for a bit of a walk."

[thesupersmeller]

"It's usually pretty nice here, even during the summer we get a nice breeze coming over the ocean so it's not too hot or too cold." It's a blessing, really. Growing up, he never knew that people actually had really bad weather.

"And it's getting late enough that the families are starting to head in for the night."

Smiling warmly, he gives her hand a gentle squeeze and leads her past the row of offices and small boutiques - away from the noise and action of the boardwalk. "My apartment is a little bit closer to the city, but it's still not bad."

[iamhismummy]

She glances into the shop windows as they pass, taking in and sometimes admiring the displays.

"I'm a city girl", she says lightly. "But sometimes it is nice to get a bit further away from it all."

[thesupersmeller]

His pace is slow, casual and relaxed - she was right, it really is a good night for it. He can't remember the last time he just went for a walk with someone.

"Santa Barbra's pretty nice like that. Like, you're in a city - but it's not like being in LA or something where there's so many buildings and people and it's all traffic and noise." He shakes his head at the thought, "it's a small city, pretty much anything you want is within walking distance but you're not packed in too tight to breathe."

[iamhismummy]

Nancy considers this and smiles slightly.

"Not like London, then. I mean, you can get most things in London in walking distance and it's really a lot of little villages packed together... but big. You couldn't walk from one side to the other."

[thesupersmeller]

"Definitely smaller than London," he agrees with a slight laugh; "I've never been there, though. Just from the way it looks on television, it seems really big."

He's always wanted to go, but never really traveled overseas.

[iamhismummy]

"They say London proper's actually tiny. Just the mile or so where the big banks are now. Westminster used to be a city of its own on the other side of the river, and everything else was just little settlements that got swallowed up into the city."

[thesupersmeller]

"That's kind of how it is everywhere now, I think. All the small towns get swallowed up as the cities expand outward."

Looking back out at the ocean, he squeezes her hand again and tilts his head toward a row of food trucks that like to park on this end of the boardwalk after the businesses start closing for the day to catch people on their way home.

"There we go, see the one with the big red, white, and green flag by the tables - that's my favorite food truck in the area."

[iamhismummy]

She returns the hand squeeze, looking pleased and contented, then looks towards the trucks curiously.

"Food truck?"

[thesupersmeller]

"Mmmhmm, he inhales sharply and catches the scent of a hundred different foods over the ever-present ocean air. "Sort of like mobile restaurants, the travel around to where the people running them can make the most money at any given time of day. Most of it is kind of cheap food that you can pick up and carry with you walking home or sitting on a bench or down by the water."

Stopping their easy gait, he points at the closest of the three trucks; "That one is sort of Italian food, he does a pretty good meatball sub, but last time Shawn and I ate there he got sick. I think it was because no grown man should combine gummy worms and marinara - but he's convinced he got food poisoning." He laughs dryly and points to the furthest; "She's the pretzel lady, but she does popcorn and peanuts and corn dogs too - good for snacks but nothing really substantial. Usually the sandwich guy is there but once a week he takes a day off to take his kids to a ballgame or something. It's pretty cool."

Not really realizing he's rambling, Gus continues to share his rather extensive knowledge of the food truck industry of Western Santa Barbra. "We," he gestures toward the third truck parked in the middle; "are gonna go to Julio's - kind of a Mexican-slash-American-slash-delicious flavor place. He makes the best fish tacos you've ever had."

Granted, they'll be the only fish tacos she's ever had, but that's beside the point.

[iamhismummy]

Nancy listens carefully to all he says, rambling or not, although she does look a little confused at the 'gummy worms and marinara' reference, and nods when he comes to a halt.

"I've never had Mexican, I'm looking forward to it. I don't think we have people selling food out of trucks like this, either, but it's a good idea. Must save on rent."

[thesupersmeller]

Starting up their pace again, headed toward Julio's, he nods more eagerly. "You know that's right, you gotta be pretty careful though. If they don't operate within health code guidelines you could get sick. I always make sure that I only eat from the cleanest vendorsthat I've had time to check out."

Almost as if on cue, a large Hispanic man with a thick accent raises his hand to wave to Gus. "Hey! Where's your amigo, huh? He didn't come last time either - you two didn't break up?"

His face warming, Gus quickly shakes his head; "Naw man, I told you - it aint like that at all. We're just friends and he's been a little busy." He looks toward Nancy and tilts his head; "I'm kind of out with someone special right now... and she's never had a fish taco. I told her you are the guy to come to."

"You got it, ¿cuántos?"

"How many do you think you'll eat, maybe two? We can get more later."

[iamhismummy]

Nancy is laughing at the interplay between Gus and Julio, then smiles up at Gus. "Um, I don't know how big they are. Let's get two and more later if we're still hungry."

[thesupersmeller]

"And you know what I like," he grins at the man. "Four fish tacos, make hers with white boy sauce - you know I like a little fire in chest."

"You got it, two mild and two that'll make a grown man weep." The man goes to quick work, laying out smaller flour tortillas and then adding shredded cheese and cabbage before heaping spoonfuls of grilled, marinated fish and his special sauce.

"Julio's are special because he grills his fish, where a lot of the guys batter and fry them. It's a little healthier - and I think more tasty."

"Yeah, you tell that to the gringos at the surf shop - they don't like 'em. Diet Coke?"

Letting go of her hand, Gus is quick with his wallet; "Not today, I'm feeling a little bold - I'll go with the horchata." He points to a large machine with a lever turning a white-brown mixture. "And you?"

[iamhismummy]

"They look delicious", she says to Julio, peering over the counter, and she's not just being polite. The horchata machine gets an assessing look. "Depends. What is it?"