i'm worse at what i do best
[21:44] * Julian wanders into Stigmata, as is his general inclination, undoing the sleeves of his crisp black shirt and looking pleased with himself for no particular reason.
[21:46] * Bruce is here, black slacks and sweater, looking a bit dressed up for a bar but otherwise just kind of blank. He looks up at the new arrive - otherwise they're alone.
[21:48] Julian: "Oh, thank God, I'm not drinking alone." Julian grins, with a casual sharpness, as he heads behind the bar and acquires himself a nice, friendly bottle of bourbon.
[21:49] Bruce: "...For varying definitions of drinking," he says, voice soft and tone somewhat mysterious; his own glass is just water.
[21:51] Julian: "I don't require your participation, just your presence--that means it's still /social/ drinking." He is undeterred, pouring himself a tumbler and slipping back around the bar to sit a reasonable distance away.
[21:52] * Bruce appears to be faintly amused at that, and lifts his water glass in a shallow sort of salute.
[21:54] * Julian salutes in return, eyebrows rising magnificently towards his hairline. And then he drinks. It's all fantastic, in his humble opinion. "In the spirit of our camaraderie, I'm Julian Pryor." ...he's just always like this.
[21:55] Bruce: "I'm Tom." ... Okay.
[21:58] Julian: "So, Tom." Julian swirls his bourbon thoughtfully, crossing his legs and leaning back. "Is the water here that great, or are you here for the ambiance?"
[22:00] Bruce: "The doors are just playing tricks on me. It'll pass in a while." He sounds oh so deceptively calm; he was /pissed as hell/ a little while ago. Meditation: not just for insomnia.
[22:05] Julian: "...I have to check something, just stay right there." Because he's rushing to go anywhere else! Julian rises up to check his own door, finds it locked, and sighs. "I should start making it a habit to check that before I sit down. Well, there you go." He returns to his seat. "Nexus magic~"
[22:05] * Julian can use tildes as punctuation. It's a knack.
[22:07] * Bruce blinks at that knack, and then resigns himself to more waiting... great. "That's what I get for not jumping on you when you walked in." ... ... ... "....To keep the door open." Smooth, Batman.
[22:12] * Julian blinks and--laughs, cheerfully. "The only thing past my door is my apartment and a Destroyed in Seconds marathon, and I don't recommend jumping on me in general--I'm all angles, you could hurt yourself."
[22:13] Bruce: "Well... that'd be why, then." What? Oh, god. He's not doing the uncomfortable straight guy reaction to pulling his foot out of his mouth but he still looks, just for a second, like he'd like to crawl under the table and die. It passes, gracefully.
[22:16] * Julian leans over his knees, glass precariously dangling from one hand. "Don't take this the wrong way, Tom, but you look to me like a man who could use a drink." What is he doing? It is a mystery.
[22:17] Bruce: "I get that a lot." Well, he does.
[22:24] Julian: "Then I'm glad we had this little talk." He laughs; he means well, mostly. "Do you like board games?"
[22:25] * Bruce looks momentarily lost, just a bit. "...You mean like Monopoly?"
[22:27] Julian: "And all the other reindeer games--yeah, Monopoly, Scrabble, Sorry, the little plastic game pieces, cheap dice, cardboard." He is getting more and more enthused with the idea as he goes on.
[22:28] * Bruce is trying to remember the last time he's ever played one of those. No particular incident comes to mind. "I don't.. have anything against them. Specifically."
[22:32] Julian: "If we had one here we could play it. Have you ever played Life? I /love/ Life." He straightens up, grinning. "I don't have any cards, either, that exhausts my supply of time wasters."
[22:34] Bruce: "I don't think I have." In fact, he is not actually sure he's ever heard of it. Silence stretches on for a moment until it's nearly awkward, then: "I've just been... uh." Sitting here. Great.
[22:38] Julian: "...so I see." Things are worse than he would have ever imagined. "Aren't you lucky I showed up? If you have to be trapped in awkward conversation with a stranger, I promise I'm at least interesting."
[22:40] * Bruce sips his water and tries not to look socially inept. "Oh. ... What do you do? Professionally."
[22:42] Julian: "I'm a business owner--Pryor Electronics, you've never heard of it. At least that's my day job. By night I moonlight as a vampire slayer." He says this in a way that could easily be taken as joking--reinforced by: "Like Buffy. And you?"
[22:45] Bruce: "I'm an accountant." No he's not. "Who's Buffy?"
[22:46] Julian: "Who's--you're not serious."
[22:46] * Bruce just blinks at him.
[22:48] Julian: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Perky blonde staking the undead? Some kind of...cheerleader?" He taps his deepest knowledge of the mythos. "I never watched the show, personally."
[22:48] Bruce: "...It's a tv show?" He thought Julian was talking about someone he knew. :(
[22:49] Julian: "Can I just ask--what year are you from?" He knocks back his bourbon and refrains from another glass, for now.
[22:50] Bruce: "It's 2010, now." A beat. "..Happy New Year." Could he have said that with any less enthusiasm?
[22:53] Julian: "Happy New Year!" Could he have said that with more? It's entirely possible that 'Tom's' calmness is only inspiring him to new heights of hyperactivity. "Likewise, and now I'm concerned about your pop culture awareness."
[22:54] Bruce: "Oh, I'm... just really busy, I don't watch much tv."
[22:57] Julian: "Mm, a solid work ethic, I've heard of those. I tried to develop one, but it wouldn't take." He knits his fingers together. "Is accounting that time consuming?"
[22:58] Bruce: "...Yeah." Why does that sound like a question. "I golf, too..." Oh, god, stop talking.
[23:01] Julian: "Where? If anywhere in particular. I can't place your accent and it's bothering the hell out of me."
[23:04] * Bruce almost laughs at that - nearly just an exhale. "New Jersey, though my world is a bit different than most, so I've gathered."
[23:08] Julian: "Who's isn't?" That's almost philosophical of him--or just so vague it could mean anything. "I'm from L.A., and I don't golf--we're going to have to find a new topic."
[23:10] Bruce: "I've never been to Los Angeles." Well, he has, but it wasn't to do anything pleasant. Curiously enough, Tom seems perfectly fine with not talking at all about golf.
[23:15] Julian: "That's a tragedy if I've ever heard one--it's not the greatest city in the world, but only because of all the assholes who live there. Present company included."
[23:18] * Bruce raises his eyebrows lightly at that. "Electronics, you said."
[23:22] Julian: "Tiny, tiny little microchips that make expensive things work better--that's the extent of my knowledge, my job is to ensure we keep selling these little microIdon'tgiveafucks in an efficient, ever increasing manner." He shrugs, illustrating the size of these chips with his fingers--very, very tiny, indeed. "Hey, what kind of accounting do you specialize in?"
[23:24] Bruce: "So you're in consulting?" It takes a certain sort of person to actually understand what the fuck consulting means. "...I'm more of an actuary, I suppose."
[23:31] Julian: "My manager e-mails me asking for my opinion occasionally, so--that actually describes what I really do better than most things." His mouth quirks into a faintly thoughtful smirk, as he tilts his head. "So, do you enjoy risk, or hate it? I always wonder that about actuaries."
[23:32] * Bruce thinks about that for a moment; his own opinion on the profession is ... somewhat skewed. "..It pays better." Err.
[23:35] Julian: "Ahh. You hate it. All right--let me guess, you have elaborate safety nets for every occasion?"
[23:37] Bruce: "Yes." Sure. Sort of. Meanwhile, he's absently pulling apart his PINpoint.
[23:38] Julian: "When I did that it bit me, I'd watch out." He leans forward again to peer at it. "I can't help but take your terseness as a sign you don't like me."
[23:40] * Bruce pauses at that remark, glancing at him, not really sure how to respond. "...That's not it, I apologize." He's still picking it apart, not even looking at what he's doing.
[23:43] Julian: "Apology rejected, I'm just curious about how it is I keep catching people here in bad moods. Is it me, I wonder? I stay up nights thinking about it." No, he doesn't.
[23:44] Bruce: "I'm not in a bad mood." :|
[23:46] Julian: "Then I'd hate to see you in one. If you break something in that that gives us radiation poisoning I'll never forgive you."
[23:47] * Bruce glances down at the PINpoint. "It's not irradiated."
[23:49] Julian: "'It's not'--" Julian throws his hands up. "I'm sorry, I thought you were an accountant, not a super scientist. Please, carry on, I'm sure my future offspring could use a few mutations anyway."
[23:50] * Bruce is quiet for a moment and then slowly slides the half dismantled thing towards Julian. >_>
[23:53] * Julian glances at it, then back at Bruce, then the PINpoint--and pulls a small knife out of /nowhere/, to assist in picking delicately at the device's innards. "...this is a little more complicated than an iPhone, at least."
[23:55] Bruce: "It's got some kind of metaphysical working; the actual mechanics don't make sense." Note how he did not deny not actually being an accountant, despite the potentially facetious accusation.
[23:58] Julian: "That's what I like about this place, nothing makes any fucking sense." Julian expects people, on the whole, to lie constantly; it saves him from ever having to be surprised.
[23:58] Bruce: "You /like/ it?" Hey, some real emotion: incredulity.
[00:00] Julian: "Are you kidding? I love it--everyone is insane, anything goes, soda can turn you into a grape. You /don't/?" This is enough to distract him from destroying something!
[00:00] Bruce: "...I'd like not to be a grape," he deadpans. Also, he hates fun.
[00:01] Julian: "You'd be sour, I can tell." He's hilarious, and his grin expects Bruce to support that.
[00:02] * Bruce looks torn between agreeing with this ridiculous notion and the even more ridiculous notion of arguing what he would taste like as a grape. "...And you'd be leather and glitter."
[00:05] Julian: "That makes sense, I'd be inedible. It's all part of my brilliant survival strategy. Unless--what if someone picked me up for decorative purposes? Goddamn it, I need to rethink this." >:[
[00:06] Bruce: "If you're a Nexus grape you'd be edible."
[00:07] Julian: "Now, I know I'm delicious looking--" does he "--but I'm starting to worry about your appetite, Tom."
[00:08] Bruce: "I haven't actually eaten yet today," he says smoothly, because ... that's what you want to say right there, yes.
[00:10] * Julian considers this. "So we have two options: cannibalism or forcing someone else to feed us."
[00:12] Bruce: "Well, cannibalism is right out with the AVF." Flatline.
[00:14] Julian: "Oh, I don't know, if you could convince me to carve myself up--" That's not where he wants to take the conversation; instead, he folds his knife and vanishes it, standing up. "Come on, you've reminded me my squishy body needs nutrients--my brother will be /overjoyed/."
[00:15] Bruce: "Can you cook?" He sounds honestly apprehensive about that, because while there IS a kitchen back there, he has preemptively banned himself from it, for the good of all.
[00:17] Julian: "I took classes!" :D? "But you forget the crucial 'someone else' in the non-cannibalistic option."
[00:18] * Bruce tilts his head, leaning forward on the bar a bit, relaxed. "We're stuck. Considering sending an SOS?"
[00:19] Julian: "First I'm checking these doors, then I'm ordering pizza. You do eat pizza?" ...he assumes Tom is a Martian, apparently.
[00:20] Bruce: "Only to stave off resorting to cannibalism," he says easily, apparently capable of having a sense of humor if he's eased into it.
[00:22] Julian: "We'll order Hawaiian, you terrifying bastard. Pork is close enough." He knows. No, really, he /knows/. In the mean time, he begins rattling doors, intently.
[00:22] Bruce: "Does Hawaiian have vegetables on it?" Oh he's one of /those/.
[00:23] Julian: "Pineapple and ham--don't take this personally, but are you a robot? You're starting to remind me--" He yanks on a door, which stubbornly remains shut. "--of the Terminator."
[00:24] Bruce: "No, I just like math." Which should be horrifying enough. "What's the Terminator?"
[00:25] Julian: "..........Jesus Christ." Julian turns and stares, horrified.
[00:25] * Bruce gives him a semi-startled look, like, what? What the fuck?
[00:26] Julian: "Were you /in hiding/ during the eighties?"
[00:26] Bruce: "...Uh."
[00:27] Bruce: "Hey, that door looks like it'll open." Shut up, Wayne.
[00:29] Julian: "Hopefully to a Blockbuster." Alas, no; instead it's to a...steakhouse. Julian is pleased. The man in front of him, expecting this door to be a side entrance, is startled! And spins away, little knowing the adventure he has missed out on.
[00:30] * Bruce stands up and nabs his coat. Who cares what's on the other side, it's /an exit./
[00:30] * Julian holds the door for him, courteously. :3
[00:30] * Bruce gives him a bit of a look, but tolerates it. Weirdo.
[00:31] * Julian laaaughs, following him into the restaurant and then making a beeline for the hostess station.
[00:32] * Bruce ... is probably going to attempt to ninja out of there, but goddamn, this place is awkwardly blocked and they're already getting stares for appearing at random. Ffff. He ends up hovering next to Julian.
[00:35] * Julian secures a table for two and their waitress' name ("Emma? Do you read Austen--actually, Sense and Sensibility--") apparently unwilling to let him go back into the world /not knowing Terminator/. It's sickening and sad at the same time.
[00:37] * Bruce doesn't chat much with their waitress, but just to troll the other man, offers her a charming, faux-shy smile as he sits down. He's still not sure how or why that always works. Anyway, here he is. Somehow.
[00:39] Julian: "Listen," Julian says, very seriously, after they've received their menus and he's ordered drinks (diet Pepsi for him, water for Tom, since he's fairly sure it's noon here). "You do know who Arnold Schwarzenegger is? Please, tell me you do."
[00:41] Bruce: "He's the governor of California." The utterly innocent look he's giving Julian right now is for show, because this man is /so concerned/ about it.
[00:43] Julian: "And before that he was an actor. Does the phrase 'I'll be back' mean /anything/ to you?" This is no joking matter, sir.
[00:44] Bruce: "...I've seen Star Wars?" Thanks for trying, anyway.
[00:45] * Julian relaxes, somewhat. "Thank God, I thought I was going to have to kill myself."
[00:45] Bruce: "That would be somewhat alarming."
[00:46] Julian: "I know, all I have is a fork and a butterknife, it'd be a mess." He opens his menu at this point, reviewing the options.
[00:49] * Bruce does not facepalm. Somehow. But he does look at his menu. ... How did he get here, even.
[00:50] * Julian would suggest his 'relentless charm', because he's...magical. "Chicken or steak? This is the question--oh, peppercorn, that's a shock."
[00:51] Bruce: "A shock?" He's going to get some kind of enormous entree and then eat two of them.
[00:52] Julian: "Is sarcasm also new on your planet?" He asks this with complete earnestness.
[00:53] Bruce: Maybe he's just test-driving your ridiculousness, Julian. "Yes."
[00:54] Julian: "And was it a /long/ trip to Earth? Do you need to phone home?" He's not...E.T., Julian.
[00:55] Bruce: "I seem to have been absconded with..."
[00:56] Julian: "It takes two to abscond. Abscond. That's a great word. I don't say it enough--abscoooond."
[00:56] * Bruce stares and then-- laughs, briefly.
[00:58] Julian: "And the monolith cracks. How long did that take--damn it, I didn't check my watch." He does so now, at least.
[01:01] Bruce: "Mmm..." not grudging but not outright amused, either, he just sets his menu aside, selection made. "You either get out way too much, or not at all."
[01:07] Julian: "The former, and with you I'm going to assume the latter. And you have terrible taste in recreational activities--rent Terminator the second you get back to your world, or I swear I'll hunt you down." And do something /terrible/, no doubt.
[01:08] * Bruce gets out plenty, it's just the company he keeps while doing so, alas. "I'm sure I'd fall asleep or forget I'd rented it. I'm bad with films."
[01:09] Julian: "It's non-stop action--I have the attention span of a small child and I can sit through it, don't make these excuses to me."
[01:10] Bruce: "..You know, most people take that tone when scolding children about doing their homework."
[01:11] Julian: "I'm honestly concerned about your mental health, here. I'm just trying to be a good Samaritan."
[01:13] Bruce: "It's just the oddest qualifier--" oh, waitress. Hi. He puts in his order.
[01:16] * Julian gives her one of his better smiles as he orders, not to be outdone by an 'accountant', of all people. When she leaves, slightly flustered by both of them, he raises his eyebrows and sips his soda. "The /oddest/ qualifier? You haven't even got me started yet."
[01:17] Bruce: "...I don't know if I'm curious or afraid."
[01:20] Julian: "Most people settle on an exciting combination of the two."
[01:20] Bruce: "You certainly are a force of nature, Julian." A force of /something/, anyway.
[01:30] * Julian is...instantly and overwhelmingly thrilled by this, and attempts to conceal the extent of that by intently examining the dessert menu and affecting a detached air: "Hurricane Julian was actually my name for a few years."
[01:32] * Bruce raises his eyebrows, honestly kind of charmed by the warm reactions this guy has to everything. "I hope you weren't a sailor."
[01:39] Julian: "I hate boats," he says, reflexively, "I was a teenager, it's a difficult time."
[01:41] Bruce: "It tends to be." Being a teenager? Yes. Because he totally was ever one, can't you imagine him all carefree and going to school dances?
[01:41] Julian: "Of course, you were born twenty-five. It explains how you missed your formative experiences." He will /never let it go/...unless he gets bored and forgets it entirely.
[01:43] Bruce: "...Mm, no, but I wasn't watching Terminator at twenty-five, anyway."
[01:45] Julian: "What /were/ you doing? Balancing your checkbook, planning your savings? Sitting alone in the semi-darkness drinking water?"
[01:47] Bruce: "More the latter." Heh. "You always drag strangers out to lunch?"
[01:51] Julian: "Switch to alcohol, distress your friends and family." He's so helpful. "And no, it depends on the stranger."
[01:55] Bruce: "They'd be relieved." At that, he tilts his head again, half-curious.
[01:57] Julian: "It does sound more normal than /water/--what?" He mirrors the tilt of his head.
[01:58] * Bruce just sips his water and watches Julian over the rim of his glass. Hiii.
[02:00] * Julian responds to this by smirking and chewing on his straw (if he's not fidgeting with something it's probable he'd actually explode and die)--and then there is food, magically interrupting this, and Julian feasts his eyes on the rarest steak he could convince Emma to arrange for him.
[02:10] Bruce: Well that was weird. Good, food. 'Tom' has the sort of impeccable table manners that suggest some kind of deep-ingrained familiarity with the necessity for them, even if he otherwise eats like a teenage boy.
[18:59] Julian: "Look at that," Julian says, happily, cutting into his meat. "I love a place that knows how not to cook a good steak."
[19:00] Bruce: "It's better for you like that..." oh shut up, health freak.
[19:03] Julian: "Is it? I'm just half-Transylvanian, so, you know how it goes." O rly, Julian. "Anyway, as I was saying, it depends on the stranger. It irritates me when I see people brooding and I have to ruin it."
[19:04] Bruce: "Is that where vampire slayers come from?" The way he asks this suggests it might actually be a serious question. "...I wasn't /brooding/." Oh, yes he was.
[19:05] Julian: "Only the best of us--yes, you were, believe me, I /know/. I come from a long line of brooders." This is also semi-serious. "My father was a brooder, my brother is a brooder--I'm just lucky the gene skipped me." Such lies.
[19:06] Bruce: "Maybe I was meditating." Which he was, just ... not right then. "And it's only a matter of time, you know."
[19:06] Julian: "Late onset brooding? I hope they have medication for that, I don't have the time." Here is what he thinks of your meditation, Tom: his eyebrows are trying to join his hairline.
[19:07] Bruce: "When you least expect it ... what's wrong with meditation?" His food is nearly gone. Somehow.
[19:08] * Julian makes a ...swooping motion, as his mouth is currently occupied. WITH FOOD. "I wasn't aware straight laced actuaries were allowed to be New Age."
[19:09] * Bruce makes a mild, unusual expression, halfway between puzzled and annoyed by proxy. "Meditation is one of the oldest universals in human culture, there is nothing new age about it, unless you're doing it wrong."
[19:11] Julian: "...I wasn't aware straight laced actuaries were allowed to be /philosophical/," Julian laughs, "I freely admit I don't have the patience for it, so yes, doing it wrong is the operative phrase."
[19:12] * Bruce raises his eyebrows. "Straight laced is an interesting way to put it. I'm not philosophical, anyway, just ... informed."
[19:14] Julian: "You were drinking water in a bar, you're an accountant, you /golf/--what else should I call you?" But if the conversation is taking a deeper turn, Julian's willing to follow: "Informed by what?"
[19:14] Bruce: "Mm." He appears to concede those 'facts', because ... well. "Experience."
[19:16] Julian: "Oh, no, no, don't get terse with me--I demand an explanation, you've piqued my interest, and I'm just insufferable when my curiousity is denied. Come on, please?" ...why the eyes.
[19:16] Bruce: "Maybe I've just read a lot," he says, completely without conviction. He's looking at the menu again, anyway.
[19:17] Julian: "You said experience, not literature, and never start a lie with a 'maybe'." Julian toys with his untouched mashed potatoes. "What, is it embarrassing?"
[19:18] Bruce: "No, you're just funny about it." Oh, Bruce. You jerk. "I spent a lot of time in Tibet and Bhutan."
[19:19] Julian: "Shut up," he replies, cheerfully, because he is very mature. "Is there a lot of work for accountants in Tibet? Or was it one of those journeys to find yourself I hear some people go on."
[19:20] Bruce: "I was in prison."
[19:20] Julian: "And what did you do?"
[19:20] Bruce: "I learned to meditate."
[19:21] Julian: "You're hilarious. All right, let me clarify: what did you do to end up in a Tibetan prison, learning to meditate?" It's possible Julian should be less amused by this.
[19:23] * Bruce shrugs. "Passport mix-up. They don't actually let in but a few hundred tourists in every year in Bhutan - they love outsiders, despite it. The communists who control the borders, on the other hand..."
[19:25] Julian: "You know, this is amazing, I can't tell if you're telling me the truth." Julian tilts his head, interested and mild, for once. "I'm not saying I don't believe you, but I just can't tell."
[19:26] Bruce: "You gonna hit me, or something?" Eyebrows.
[19:27] Julian: "What--prison /clearly/ affected your mind, no, I'm just noting that I never want to play poker against you."
[19:31] Bruce: "Oh, well." He seems faintly amused. "I have no idea how to play poker."
[19:33] Julian: "You...missed a lot of things in Tibet, didn't you." Is 'Tibet' Tom's childhood, now? Maybe.
[19:33] Bruce: "I had other things on my mind." Like ninjutsu. Shh.
[19:34] Julian: "I'm starting to wonder if you're from another planet." Julian peers at him, intently.
[19:35] Bruce: "Maybe I'm just shy." He's going to order a sandwich, now. Some kind of insane one. But without red meat.
[19:36] Julian: "Really? Were you an ugly kid?" Julian gets a refill of his drink, and something made of chocolate, caramel, ice cream, and /madness/. "I have trouble picturing that."
[19:37] Bruce: "Do I look like I was an ugly kid?" What kind of question is /that/, Julian.
[19:38] Julian: "No, absolutely not- that's why it's hard for me to imagine why you'd be /shy/." It's a vitally important question.
[19:39] * Bruce thinks Julian just hit on him, but he's not ... entirely sure. Hm. "That's an interesting criteria for shyness."
[19:41] Julian: "Is it? Most of the good-looking people I know were fairly popular, taking away that shyness thing - take me, for example. So I have to conclude there was something else wrong with you." Julian smiles, pleasantly.
[19:41] * Bruce gives him an 'are you fucking serious' look? What /are/ you, Julian.
[19:43] Julian: "Look--most people who say they're shy really mean that they were too socially awkward as a child to make friends, this is what I know, and it's not a bad thing! It's just something that happens. So. What was your dysfunction, was it that you hated speaking in anything but monosyllables?" He is...terrible.
[19:44] Bruce: Despite this being a prime opportunity for MY PARENTS ARE DEAAD, Bruce just gives him a little-half smile and sips his water. "Bugs the fuck out of you not knowing, doesn't it?"
[19:48] Julian: "It /does/." Julian thinks Tom is definitely flirting, at this point. How wonderful; dark and solemn is something he enjoys, from time to time. "Which is why you're not going to tell me, isn't it?"
[19:50] Bruce: Oh, /god/. "You look like you could use some uncertainty." That's a yes.
[19:52] Julian: "It might not /hurt/." Julian takes a moment to enjoy his dessert, which is delicious. >:9 It leaves a little chocolate syrup on his bottom lip, completely inadvertently. "I'm going to keep bugging you about it."
[19:53] * Bruce , because he is oblivious, just thinks Julian fails at ice cream. SORRY JULIAN. "That'll be interesting to watch."
[19:54] * Julian will happily keep misinterpreting everything in the world, thanks. "I'm /sure/. Does the misery of others usually entertain you?"
[19:55] Bruce: "Only when I run out of math problems."
[19:56] Julian: "Hahah, very funny--that's what I like about you, Tom, your unrelentingly sense of humor."
[19:56] Bruce: "Usually people say it's my warmth." >_>
[19:58] Julian: "And your verbosity and wit?" :D?
[19:59] Bruce: "On the nose."
[20:01] Julian: "There you go, then." There you go...what. Julian opts for finishing his DEATH BY SUGAR instead of explaining.
[20:02] * Bruce smiles a bit at the waitress who brings his sandwich who ... kind of gives them a look. ...... So Bruce asks if there's color-able placemats and crayons for his friend here. :D?
[20:04] Julian: "We're visiting our niece and I want to make her a card--she just got out of the hospital, fractured tibia, you know how it is--thank you /so/ much." :D
[20:05] Bruce: Damnit, Julian. Bruce does not laugh. Almost.
[20:06] Julian: "So," Julian says, folding his placemat in half, "Misery, again. Should I write you some math problems just to save myself?"
[20:09] Bruce: "Could you come up with anything that'd take me more than thirty seconds to solve?"
[20:09] Julian: "...no, probably not." What is he drawing? Why does this require...a lot of red crayon?
[20:10] * Bruce observes. Because.
[20:12] * Julian sketches (with...decent skill, considering the medium) a mass vampire slaying on the 'card's' exterior, and then flips it open to continue the illustration, this time of a graveyard. Helpfully labeled 'Transylvania'. "I hope they take American dollars in this universe."
[20:13] <`Bruce> "...I hope you really /are/ a vampire slayer." Otherwise that would be even more concerning.
[20:16] Julian: "Why, because it's amazing? Or because otherwise I have a disturbing obsession with the undead?" Julian jots...something else down inside the card, closes it, and slides it over to Bruce as Emma shows up to inquire about the bill. "--we're splitting it, are we splitting it?"
[20:17] Bruce: "I got it." Just to hush you up, child.
[20:18] Julian: "I'll get you back next time."
[20:19] * Bruce makes some kind of noncommittal noise and pays in cash, because he is just like that. Card o' horrors ends up in a jacket pocket.
[20:20] Julian: "So, shall we see if we can get back to our respective universes now?" Julian pockets a crayon just...because.
[20:21] Bruce: "This does seem like it's about when someone else would run from you, screaming into the night."
[20:22] Julian: "But not you? I assume you mean the screaming." He sighs, sadly. "I hate the screaming."
[20:22] Bruce: "I'm not a screamer." --Uh.
[20:23] Julian: "I am." ...so. He grins, heading to the side door they entered through, and finds it still leads to Stigmata.
[20:25] Bruce: "I'll make a note." Behind Julian, Bruce waits until he's got the door open and facing the bar, and then tests his real PINpoint (you know, not the ones he pulls apart at random) and before the younger man has turned back around, he's gone.
[20:27] Julian: "...I bet you will." Julian is going to remember you, Tom, definitely. For now, he's homeward bound.