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The bar was on Broadway, a few blocks north of the light rail station. Elliot made her way there alone, her bag slung over her shoulder. She had taken her time getting ready, and when Z went off to get her friend, Elliot began to wander vaguely in the direction of Capitol Hill.
Gimble texted her. Of course she had known. Witches, Elliot was learning, were nothing if not expert gossips. She offered a room immediately. Elliot politely told her she’d consider. Sleeping on Z’s couch was fine, but she missed having a real bed. But also, her mind kept drifting to waking up to find the ghosts standing by her bed, watching her sleep. So that was a no go.
The four of them were waiting when Elliot got there, Ty and Meryl on one side of the table, Z and her date on the other. Elliot knew she was fifth-wheeling it, but cheap bar food was very appealing. There was already a plate of nachos for picking at, and other shareable food on the way. Z hugged her when she got to the table, followed closely by Meryl, who nearly knocked her down.
“I’m glad you came!” Meryl said. She took Elliot’s hand and gave it an affectionate squeeze.
Z introduced her friend, Dan. He was cat, with ears that flopped at the tips. He was short like Z, and slim. Very non-threatening, Elliot noted. And he was pleasant too, interested in her, asking questions. Elliot felt put on the spot, frankly, and she was happy when the conversation turned to Portland. Elliot picked at her nachos and listened.
Elliot glanced down at her phone. It was getting close to 10:30, and she was getting antsy. At a lull in the conversation, she said, “I’m going to step outside for a bit.”
She was a step away from the table when she heard Ty say, “I’ll come with you.”
Crap.
Elliot found a spot under a light, away from the smokers, and slid her hands into her pockets. She had dressed up for the occasion, at least for meeting Ardy. She had put on a button-down shirt, and pulled a loose sweater over it, the pale and dark green one with the horizontal stripes she had come to love. Her jeans were even her nicest pair, which wasn’t much, but they didn’t have holes in them.
Ty joined her under the light, and for a moment neither one spoke, just watched the people and the traffic go by. Finally, Ty said, “How’re you doing?”
Elliot scanned her tone, her ears perking. A quick side eye revealed Ty mimicked her stance, and watched her, relaxed and interested. “Yeah, I’m… I’m okay. Everything is so much, and I would feel so lost without you all helping me.”
“They’re nice, aren’t they?” Ty said. Her ears moved to follow the conversation of a rowdy group that passed them by.
“It’s a lot to get used to. I’m not used to having to second guess people’s motivations.”
Ty nodded. “Yeah, when you’re From Out Of Town, you spend a lot of time trying to figure out what people want from you. I think that’s why we all want to help so much. We’ve played that game too and it sucks.”
Elliot thought about this. How much different would her life have been if she had met these people years ago?
“Have you been flying again?” Ty asked.
“Oh! No, I haven’t. I don’t really know when to practice?”
“Yeah it’s tricky isn’t it? Especially if you get up too high and get picked up on airport radar, and they start scrambling jets to figure out what you are.”
“What?”
Ty just smiled. “We should go sometime.”
Elliot almost gasped. She felt energy surge through her. “Yeah! But, uhm… Where?”
“I know a few places where no one would bother us, or at least they wouldn’t think twice about seeing two people floating around on sticks.”
“Again, this sounds like a date,” Elliot said.
Ty laughed. “Nah, but there’s a pickup line for you if you’re going after a witch, huh?”
Elliot smiled a little. She looked down the sidewalk, spotting the unmistakable confidence of Ardy’s walk. Her ears perked.
“That her?” Ty asked.
“Yeah…”
Ty gave Elliot a little punch on the shoulder. “Have fun.” She went back inside the bar.
Ardy caught sight of Elliot, and she brightened. Elliot did too. She could feel herself blushing, and if it hadn’t been night that would have been super clear. Elliot quietly praised the night.
“Hello!” Ardy said as she neared Elliot. She pulled her into a brief hug, which surprised Elliot.
“Hey,” Elliot said. She hugged herself and looked around, feeling elated and exposed at the same time.
Ardy was dressed nicely, a button-down shirt under an argyle sweater, and a pair of gray pants. She looked good, and Elliot did her best not to stare.
“So what are we doing tonight?” Ardy asked. “Did your friends run off?”
“No, they’re still inside. But we don’t have to go back.” Elliot looked away.
“We are so going inside,” Ardy said. She put her arm around Elliot shoulders and pushed back into the bar. Somehow, Ardy found the table amongst all the others. She pulled up a chair and sat down. Elliot reluctantly followed, sitting down.
“WHOA,” Z said. “You’re… the date?” She checked her words carefully, and she wondered if Dan knew or not.
Ardy smiled. “I am the date.” She held out her hand to Z. “Ardy Book. A pleasure. Are you Z?”
“Yes!” Z shook Ardy’s hand enthusiastically. “I’ve heard a lot about you, I’m so glad you came in.”
“Likewise,” Ardy said. She introduced herself to the rest of the table, while Elliot watched silently. When Ardy turned to talk to Meryl and Ty, Z pointed to the demon and mouthed, “Holy fuck, dude.” She gave Elliot a thumbs up. Elliot silently prayed for the ceiling to collapse right above her head, putting her out of her misery.
Ardy worked her way around the table, keeping up with every topic thrown out, with the exception of sitcom TV, which honestly was fine with Elliot. Meryl must have caught Elliot’s discomfort, because she took Elliot’s hand again and squeezed. And when Elliot looked at her, she gave the raccoon a sweet, reassuring smile. This was okay. Everything was going well.
“But Brunel wanted a seven foot gauge, which is probably what sank him,” Ardy said. Dan nodded along, as if this was a well worn path they traveled down before. “But he was planning for high speeds, not the standard fare British Railroad had been.”
“Okay,” Z said, “But we’re not talking about Supertrain here.”
“I missed why we’re talking about railroad gauges?” Elliot said.
“Supertrain, obviously,” Ty said.
Elliot frowned. Not knowing what else to do, she stood. Ardy didn’t miss a beat.
“We should get going,” she said to the table. “It was lovely meeting all of you.”
“Bye, Elliot!” Z said. “Please tell me everything!”
Elliot turned away, getting outside as quick as she could. She waited on the sidewalk, her ears against her head. Ardy came out a moment later.
“I embarrassed you,” she said.
“No.” Elliot said. “I don’t know.”
Ardy placed her hand gently on Elliot’s shoulder, and the touch felt amazing. Elliot sighed.
“I should have said something, I guess. But I feel really exposed right now. My world is changing and I feel like I’m barely holding on sometimes.”
“I apologize,” Ardy said. “I was thoughtless. You clearly wanted to move on and I didn’t listen.”
Elliot nodded. “It’s okay.” She thought a moment. “I think they like you, though.”
“I like them,” Ardy said. “I wanted to meet the people you’ve spoken so highly of. They did not disappointed.”
“Yeah, they’re neat.”
“So, where to?” Ardy asked. She led Elliot away from the bar, her hand still on her shoulder. Elliot didn’t try to stop her.
“There’s a neat coffee place over by Madison. I guess it’s a bit of a walk?”
“I like a good walk,” Ardy said. “Especially a night walk.”
“Yeah, me too.” Elliot thought a moment. “Do you ever get scared?”
Ardy looked over at Elliot. She laughed, low and knowing. Elliot laughed too.
The walked for a moment in silence, just taking in the night.
“So…” Elliot said quietly. “This is a date?”
“I thought so,” Ardy said. “I’d like it to be.”
“I’m glad you would,” Elliot said. “I would like it to be, too.”
They waited at a crosswalk. A trolley bus went by, its poles sparking as wires crossed over each other. Elliot always liked that.
“So, tell me about a cryptid. What’s the monster of the week?”
“What?” Elliot asked. “They’re silly? We don’t have to talk about them.”
“You like talking about them,” Ardy said. “And I like listening to you talk about them.”
“Okay,” Elliot said. “But can I ask you a question first?”
“Always.”
The light changed and they crossed the street, and continued south down Broadway.
“Are there any other people like you here?”
The look on Ardy’s face changed. She considered her answer for far longer than Elliot really had wanted. Elliot felt her skeleton try to leave her body.
“There used to be a lot of us here,” Ardy said.
“Was that New Gehenna?”
Ardy looked over at Elliot, scanning her face, her intentions.
“I saw a map in your shop. It took me a while but Gehenna is-”
“One of the states in what you would call Hell,” Ardy said softly. “You’re paying attention.”
Elliot looked away. “I’m curious. You know so much about me and about this society and I barely know anything about you.”
They walked the rest of the block in silence. Elliot felt her ears drop on her head. Way to set the tone for the date, idiot. They waited in silence at another traffic light. Carefully, Ardy took Elliot’s hand in her own. Elliot nearly jumped out of her skin, but she appreciated the gesture.
“I’m glad you care,” Ardy said. “It means a lot to me.” She stood up a little straighter. “Anyway, I think talking about the old neighborhood is fourth date material.”
“What date are we on now?” Elliot asked.
“By my count, this is number two.”
“What about third date?”
Ardy smiled. “I have plenty of ideas of what we could do,” she said. “But I also think you’d better set the tone on that one.”
Elliot could feel her face starting to burn. “Oh, yeah, that’s probably a good idea.”
Ardy laughed. “I don’t know if I’ve said this yet, but you are very cute.”
Elliot let out a little cry. “Thanks, I don’t know how to handle all of this and I can feel myself starting to freeze up but I really appreciate it and also you’re really pretty, and like even more pretty when you’re not in your disguise.”
Ardy beamed, and they started back down the street, the both of them continued down the street, hand in hand.
“The Fresno Nightwalker,” Ardy said.
“The Fres-” Elliot said, her mind catching up with her. She shook away the haze she was in. “Like, is he real?”
“Are they real?” Ardy said. “I believe there’s at least three of them in one of the videos.”
“Okay, so like there’s people who claim there are Native American legends about the Nightwalkers. But, people like to claim that about anything that’s, like, remotely spooky. I think it’s a guy with some decent puppets trying to get famous.”
“What, no.” Ardy said. “You can’t burst my bubble like that. The Fresno Nightwalker is a good boy who likes to walk around down by the highway, and I will not be convinced otherwise.”
Elliot felt herself smiling. “Were you researching cryptids to ask me about?”
“No, who does that?”
Elliot laughed. They strode across an empty crosswalk, and Elliot froze.
“Oh, come on,” she said.
Ardy followed her gaze to a person across the street.
“It’s him,” Elliot said.
“You problem boy?”
“The Nerd,” Elliot said. “I don’t know how, but everywhere I go, he’s there.”
The Nerd stood outside a comic shop that was just starting to close. A group left the shop, and the Nerd watched as they all left, saying goodbye to a few of them. After they left, he got out his phone and started scrolling through, making his way towards the light rail stop.
“Do you think he knows?” Ardy asked.
“Like, is it on purpose? It has to be. Why else would he be everywhere I am?”
Ardy squeezed Elliot’s hand. “Because you are also a nerd and like the same things?”
Elliot frowned. “I feel like you’re not taking me seriously,” she said softly.
“Right,” Ardy said. “I apologize. Come on, let’s go ask him what his deal is.”
“What?” Elliot asked. “No, you can’t.”
Ardy started towards the Nerd, locking her eyes on him.
Elliot pulled back. “No no no, Gimble doesn’t want us to engage. You could get hurt.”
Ardy stepped back. “Do you think he scares me?”
“No? But he could still hurt you.”
Ardy watched the Nerd disappear into the light rail station, seemingly unaware he had been watched. She looked over at Elliot again and gave her a soft smile. “You’re right. So, you promised me coffee. You should show me your coffee shop, and then, since this is an all nighter, I have something to show you.”
Elliot felt herself blushing again. “Yeah, okay…”
They started down the street again, Ardy naming every cryptid she could think of, and Elliot talked expansively about each one.