(Untitled)
WHO: Benny Ito (Third Swan Brother), John Tracey (Kaa)
WHEN: Thursday afternoon
WHERE: Nondescript sandwich/soup place
WHAT: Benny's still Ethan-hunting
RATING: Should be fairly PG.
( the hunt is still on. )
WHEN: Thursday afternoon
WHERE: Nondescript sandwich/soup place
WHAT: Benny's still Ethan-hunting
RATING: Should be fairly PG.
( the hunt is still on. )
Benny caught the nod, and returned it with one of his own; for a second, he couldn't hide the disappointment that he felt. It was obvious across his face, the way his gaze dropped and his shoulders fell and he sighed on his way over there. It wasn't that he didn't think this new person wasn't going to be nice or anything - it was just that he'd been looking for his swan brother. Or probable swan brother. Alleged swan brother. Something like that.
He headed toward the other man's table anyway, forcing a smile even though he was bordering on depressed over this entire manhunt. It was not going well at all. He'd probably never see him again. Benny stood for a second, and then waved a bit. "Hi. I'm Benny," he introduced himself, standing for a second before taking a seat.
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He folded his arms on the table behind his plate, casual in posture and expression, and put his curiosity right out between them: "What brought you in here like that? Something wrong?" He flicked a glance past Benny's shoulder, toward the exit and the street beyond, as if the guy had a problem trailing him (or if he himself needed to make a strategic withdrawal).
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"Nice to meet you," he agreed, bowing his head respectfully. There were certain mannerisms (not to mention a weird accent, half Philadelphia and half Japanese-American) that he picked up from his family, and that was one of them. "Oh," he said, shrugging his shoulders and directing his attention up toward the menu. Maybe he'd get something to eat while he was there.
"I've just been looking for someone," he told him, looking back to John. "I," he lowered his voice after a moment, in case anyone was to overhear. "I felt the Tale thing and I thought it might have been him. But it wasn't." Benny wasn't the type to give up, but it'd been a month now with no progress at all.
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That social duty done, he dropped his voice, too, though refrained (with some effort) from hunching forward into full cloak-and-dagger mode. At least there were mostly empty tables around them as the lunch crowd scattered back to work or whatever. Talking Tale business never fitted him well; doing so in public . . . well, add on an extra few layers of itchiness. "You didn't write about it in the books, did you? I saw that, commented on it - what a coincidence, huh? Who are you trying to find?"
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Benny nodded a bit, understandingly, considering for a moment before deciding on something involving chicken. He'd have to get up and order in a few minutes, but first he wanted to finish talking to John. "Thank you for your advice," he said, out of sheer force of habit.
"Yeah. Well, I don't know who he is, exactly. I think he's from my story," Benny confided, leaning in just a bit closer. He liked the feel of it, secrets and information and informants and secret societies. Well, sort of. "But I've only seen him once. I don't have much to go on. Only what he looks like."
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However, he nodded back in encouragement and then pointed out, "You've got the whole community to tap. Just write down his description, and someone, somewhere will probably run into him and let you know." A thought struck him. "Unless he doesn't want to be found? I guess using the books would give the game away, in that case."
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Fairly oblivious to most body language, Benny didn't pick up on the grimace. He saw no reason not to go looking for his tale brother. After all, he thought they'd get along. It was naive of him.
"That's true," he agreed, tilting his head a little bit. John was the second person who'd suggested that maybe his tale brother didn't want the touching reunion that Benny had been envisioning. It always made him feel like someone'd just hit him in the stomach. "Yeah, I guess it would. Maybe someone does know him. There aren't that many people around with hair that red," he said, nodding.
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He didn't want to be in the middle of this. He didn't want to be involved. Did Ethan? Oh, he really didn't want to be involved. He looked down, poked around the chips remaining on his plate. Which, sure, looked like the evasion it was, but he was at a loss. Didn't mind helping Benny, but didn't want to get mixed up in some weird Tale-family thing . . .
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"Mmhm," Benny confirmed, nodding his head, oblivious to anything other than it being a simple question. "Really red. Pretty long, too. He was a little bit pale, definitely white." He scratched his head a little bit, giving another glance up toward the menu.
"I think I'm going to go with the Tuscan Chicken Sandwich," he decided, aloud, voice somewhat pondering. "Would you excuse me, I will be right back," he said to John, waiting for a response before he got up. It didn't even strike him as odd, manners like that were just ingrained.
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Might be best just to lay out his cards on the table, what he had in hand when Benny got back from ordering, and see if his guesses were anywhere near the mark. If they were, well, he'd try to give Ethan a heads-up in case he needed to make a run for it. In the meantime . . . he had to admit that he was curious to find out how this little chase would play out. His qualms about interfering were sliding inexorably into the old, old grooves of what-if tinkering. He had a bite of his cooling sandwich and waited with some impatience, now, for Benny's return.
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Sandwiches didn't take that long to put together, and Benny stood by the counter waiting for his. He chose a bottle of tea and a bag of baked chips, and paid for his food, put it on a tray, and carried it back to the table. "I'm back," he announced, which was fairly unnecessary, and sat down in his seat again.
"But if you do see anyone with long red hair, please let me know," Benny requested, while he opened his tea to take a drink of it and took a bite of his sandwich. "Mm. This place has good sandwiches," he observed.
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He took it head-on; what other way? "I met someone like that last month," he said quietly, putting his own sandwich down. "A Tale with long red hair. Male, definitely white, young, maybe just out of college . . . I don't know if he's the one you're looking for, but if I point you in his direction, I suppose you can find out for yourself."
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Benny's eyes widened, as what John said registered. This was it, this was like the Holy Grail. John's description seemed to fit the man he was looking for perfectly, and Benny gasped a little.
"Really?" he asked him - as far as Benny was concerned, this was the best news he'd heard in a long time. The only thing that could be better than this would be if he found Bigfoot, or maybe got conclusive proof of the existence of the Loch Ness Monster. This was huge. And, as far as Benny was concerned, it had to be the guy he'd seen, which had to be his brother. He got a belief and he stuck with it, even if it was wrong, which his beliefs usually were.
"Do you know where to find him? Do you know his name? Do you know his Tale?" he fired off questions quickly, sandwich utterly forgotten.
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"I don't know the last one," he answered, working his way backwards, "but his name is Ethan, and he's a bartender at the New Moon." He added the club's neighborhood and street, and then a thin smile. "He's new, though, I know that much. New to Tales, that is. You . . . might want to go easy on him, not just pounce on him out of the blue like a long-lost whatever."
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Benny looked just a little bit embarrassed, at the barrage of questions he'd just thrown at John. The poor man, Benny thought he looked a bit overwhelmed. He took a deep breath, and nodded.
"I understand," he said, and smiled. "I won't surprise him too badly. Ethan," he said, thoughtfully, looking down at his sandwich. Ethan. That sounded like a name one of his Tale brothers might have. "At the New Moon," he finished - he knew that place. Well, he hadn't been in, but he'd walked by a couple of times. "Thank you. Thank you very much. I've been looking for a clue for weeks and weeks."
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