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[jamesthorn]

If there's one thing James doesn't do much, it's drink. He good at cocktail hour, sipping through a couple of bourbons or whiskey to carry him through the mindless chatter, or he'll have a glass of wine with dinner. He isn't someone that ever got wasted in college or snuck out with a pack of beer when he was a teenager. When he was still on the police force, he would join Grant and Alex and the other guys at the bars to wash away the harsh days work, but even then he was usually a couple drinks then calling it a night. 

He can't even remember the last time he was what someone would call drunk. Maybe years, maybe some thoughtless time he was angry with William or stuck in a cabin with Demetri or Daniel on a camping trip, which was always just an excuse to defy their father in every way possible. 

Tonight, though, he is camped out in a booth at Coombs Tavern, a place he hardly ever goes, but tonight it seems like the right place to be. It's the last place he's expected, and the last place most people he'd know that would care, would be to find him. He has a lot on his mind. Too much. Bad relationships. Bad business deals. Bad people trying to attack him in his own house. He orders a beer and something to eat, and he doesn't plan to leave here until his mind stops focusing on everything falling apart. 

Comments

[jamesthorn]

James looks at his beer. It's nearly empty, and technically he has to get himself home and he's already had more than two others. Still, he nods at the request for another. "Definitely," he agrees. Accepting Davin and him were over though would require more drinks. "Davin was good. He is good. I think it's harder to accept since I'm the one who ruined us. I'm sure that's not surprising."

He looks at her. "What about you?" he asks.

[louise_abasi]

"And you're absolutely sure it's a definitely ruin? No gems left in the rubble?" So even after Louise had admitted to not having a clue, she was still giving advice. "Ignore that, I shouldn't be advice anyone on the subject. I'm sure you did what you could."

"Me? I'm going to have a glass of wine." What a cop out.

[jamesthorn]

He's not sure he did everything he could. He hasn't exactly tried to rectify any of the problems Between him and Davin. Partly because he isn't sure how. "It was the magic thing," he explains after a moment. "He didn't think I was comfortable with the fact that he was a witch."

"Let's make it two," he says about the wine. If she doesn't want to talk he won't press the issue.

[louise_abasi]

"Ah, that subject. We live where we live and it can still become a point of discussion. Although I understand that you may have your family background speaking against you."

Louise nodded. "Good idea, fits the mood. I'm -" She just wanted to be the strong one for once. "I don't think I can even blame magic for my lack of romantically social life."

[jamesthorn]

"We both know there are bad witches in this town. They hurt people and use magic however they want. I'm not saying Davin is one of them. Obviously he's not. But---" Sometimes it was hard for James to separate the two things out. He shrugs a little. "I wish it hadn't come down to that, but my family is my family."

He gives her a look. "Well, what can you blame?"

[louise_abasi]

"Me? Them? Fates?" At least it wasn't her family, like James' was. Her parents had been right about Joey, and if she would ever admit to them that she had been Neal's mistress, not his girlfriend, they wouldn't find fault in that decision either.

"Age?", she tried, as a joke. "I never was great at it, but still assumed it would just happen in some way. A loving, romantic relationship."

[jamesthorn]

James smiles, nodding his head. "Yeah. I can say many things about my father, but he was a better person when my mother was here. I always looked up to it...hoped I'd find that for myself." He pauses for a few seconds, thinking. He isn't sure if marriage or his own family were things that are going to happen at this rate. "Kids too. I thought I'd have all that by now."

[louise_abasi]

"Oh." She needs a sip of her wine to finish that line, to not keep spilling out all the pathetic stories. She knows better than to call herself pathetic, but she doesn't feel like she is. "Oh, yes. And you're younger than me."

[jamesthorn]

"Younger," James repeats with a soft snort. She says it like she's ancient. While James is younger by a few years, they are both in their thirties. Sometimes he felt old dating Davin who is still in his twenties. He always worried about holding him back sometimes. Though that doesn't seem to matter now. "We still have some time ahead of us to figure things out. Lets hope."

[louise_abasi]

"Much younger", she emphasises, because she recognises that snort for what it was.

"Of course. And if - well, I know children and happiness aren't necessarily connected to each other but I just always assumed that there would be a family. Maybe I should start looking into adoption. Do you think single motherhood would fit me?"

[jamesthorn]

"I think you would make a very good mother, Lou," he says, finding that it's not even the slightest bit untrue. Louise had the right temperament for motherhood, he thought. "In any form. Have you ever considered a change of location? Siren Cove is a good place but it isn't the only place." He says this like his own family hasn't lived here for ages, so he can't fault anyone for never leaving.

[louise_abasi]

"In any form? Does that include pets, or birthday versus adoption?" Why are they even talking about this, when did this turn into a conversation about her and her life?

"I never really have, not permanently. You're talking to the woman that lived at her parents' grounds until she was thirty four. I can't imagine living daily life somewhere else."

[jamesthorn]

"It includes everything. If a child is what you want," James tells her. Lou is well respected in town and maintains a successful career. He believes she'll find someone she's looking for one day. But then he's alone too so he understands her frustration.

He nods at her statement. "I get that. My family has never lived anywhere else. Except here. I suppose that was one reason I liked Davin. He isn't from Siren Cove. It's much easier when no one knows your entire family's history."

[louise_abasi]

"And with your family history being what it is.. at least I can fall back on ours being pretty inconspicuous, although I'm sure that often enough the Abasi have been called meddling and field preppers. But never to my face, so it doesn't count."

Maybe she should start offering him more alcohol, so the both of them could forget this night. "A child is what I want. I'm ninety percent sure."