Pathos - A Duskwood Fanfiction

Chapter 18

"Do you want to come with me, or wait here?"

Lilly's voice came after a few moments of silence as they both sat in the car, looking up at the sign for the Aurora as the sun dropped in fractional, slow degrees in the sky. The bar would not be open to the public for another few hours, but Lilly had told her that the best time to go to the Aurora was when it was empty and its customary loud live music wasn't there to inflict deafening levels of auditory chaos.

She kept her eyes on the sign for a few moments longer, indecision keeping her frozen in her seat. On the one hand, she didn't know if she was quite ready to meet Phil yet after everything that had happened to him that she had played such a large part in, but on the other hand she was practically shitting herself at the thought of finally meeting Jake. She desperately wanted a distraction from the sheer agony of ruminating over that meeting and was not especially eager to sit alone in a car with her thoughts as she waited for Lilly to return.

Also, she desperately needed to take a stress piss. She had been drinking water non-stop during the drive, trying to combat the ceaseless dry mouth that accompanied every single thought that she had about Jake, and her bladder now felt like it was going to pop.

Just go inside, say hi to Phil, get out of that awkwardness by going to the washroom to have a lovely stress piss. And then drink a shit load more water so that at least the feeling of needing to take a leak will distract from thinking about Jake.

"I'll come," she replied, and at that Lilly turned off the car engine and they both stepped out of the car. As her shoes touched the parking lot ground, it occurred to her that this was the very first time that she had made physical contact with the town that had, up until this very moment, existed only in potentia in her thoughts and in her dreams.

As she stood up straight and closed the car door, she found herself wondering at the fact that it hadn't felt particularly special or life-altering to finally be standing in Duskwood; there was no preternatural rush of energy that she could feel, and certainly no angelic choir sounding from the heavens. It was just a parking lot in a tiny town, and she really needed to piss.

She followed Lilly as the other woman led the way to the front door of the Aurora, and watched as she knocked on the pane of stained glass that obscured the scene within. There were lights on inside, she could tell, and she watched them as they flickered and danced through the myriad colours of the glass.

After a few moments, the lights were suddenly obscured by a dark shadow and the sound of the door unlocking was followed by the door swinging widely open as a tattooed arm held it in place. Her eyes followed the line that the arm made as it connected to its owner, travelling up a simple V neck white t-shirt that gave way to a now very familiar neck bat tattoo and onto a face that was staring directly at her.

"Took you long enough," Phil said, an easy smile on his lips as he, without any apparent deference to social graces, looked her up and down slowly. His smile turned into a charismatic grin as she, very obviously flustered, stammered out a greeting, and then stepped back as Lilly made a sound of irritation and pushed between them to go inside.

"At least let her come inside before you turn on the charm," Lilly said as the other woman grabbed her hand and pulled her in behind her.

As she was pulled into the deserted bar in Lilly's wake, she was acutely aware of Phil's gaze remaining locked upon her as he exhaled a soft laugh at Lilly's words, and she could feel that gaze as it stayed on her back as Lilly led her to the bar counter.

As Lilly motioned for her to sit on the barstool next to hers, Phil's voice materialized behind her and made her jump slightly.

"Wait," he said, and touched her arm lightly to stop her from sitting. His dark eyes sparkled as he lifted a crisp white bar rag off of where it lay draped over his shoulder and proceeded to wipe down the pristine seat surface in exaggerated, theatrical motions as Lilly rolled her eyes.