You Believe in This Stuff?

Who: Kyle and Dorian
When: Late afternoon
Where: Nevermore

After an afternoon of searching for ghosts, Kyle had come to the conclusion that he was probably never going to see one. Nothing concrete and indisputable anyway. He didn't know what else he could do to fix it, or if anything even needed fixing. Still, he had questions, as he was sure a lot of people did. But not all of his questions centered around the existence of ghosts. Gabe was still lingering in the back of his mind, and before Kyle concluded that his best friend was being driven mad by rabies or something, he figured it wouldn't hurt to get some information first. He felt stupid the minute he took off for Nevermore. The store had always been bunk in his mind - another New Age-y shop that sold incense and books that would teach desperate teenage girls love spells or some shit. Still, if it was a supernatural book store, Kyle figured they would have stuff on werewolves. It would be even better if he found someone who worked there who could just answer him rather than making him read something.

Leaving his bike by the front door, Kyle walked inside Nevermore for the first time since the store had opened in town. He was hoping Alexis wasn't working, and was relieved when he didn't see her around. Which was probably a shitty thing, but she didn't need his own crazy right now when she was already mad at him. Rather than browsing, Kyle went directly up to where the register was, his hands coming down on the counter as he looked around for someone to help him.

"Looking for someone?" Dorian asked, strolling up to the front of the store. He knew he didn't look like the owner, and he hardly had a professional demeanor, but so far no one seemed to mind. After another evening spent with Joey, he didn't mind coming in to work. She added a bit of spice to the mix, a well needed distraction from every day life. Sooner or later, though, he'd want to stir things up on his own. Hopefully something would come his way first.

"Yeah." Kyle turned to see the guy coming toward him. Dorian was right in his assessment that he didn't look like owner. Kyle was definitely expecting an older, white haired guy with spectacles or something to come out of the woodwork. This guy looked... normal. And young. "I mean, no... no one specific. Just someone who works here and can answer some questions I have."

"That'd be me," Dorian said with a little smirk. "I'm Dorian. We don't wear name tags. What can I help you with?" He was expecting questions on ghosts, since that seemed to be the new fad. He didn't mind the questions, even if it annoyed him that it was subject he didn't have all the answers to. Demons were easier. Or vampire, or werewolves. He'd always been a fad of the darker creatures.

"I need to know about, uh, werewolves." Admittedly, Kyle was embarrassed by asking, even though he was in a supernatural bookstore. He still felt like an idiot, and half expected Dorian to look at him like he was an idiot. "Ones that are bitten." He paused and then tried to smile. "I guess I should have had like, specific questions... but really, anything you might know would be good enough. I know this is a stupid question, but can you tell if someone is... er, one? Hypothetically... or something." He so didn't want to spend his money on this shit by buying a book.

Dorian's head tilted to the side and he wondered if this kid had been bitten by a werewolf and wanted to know how to hide it. If that was the case, coming to him probably wasn't the best start, even if he didn't plan to do anything about it. He'd have to wait and see how it played out, just in case. "Well, physically, they should have a scar from where the werewolf bit them. On the night of the full moon, they'll change into monster form. Or battle form. I don't really know which is politically correct," Dorian said, then paused. "Silver will burn them. And if they may shift as defense mechanism-- if they get hurt, get into a fight, get mad enough, anything like that." Dorian paused, thinking. "Is that the kind of thing you're looking for? Cause I can keep going."

Kyle figured Gabe would have a scar, regardless of what bit him, so he didn't put much thought into that. He did have a silver ring at home he could try... but he felt kind of sick to his stomach, thinking about burning his friend if it was true. Which it wasn't... because this whole thing was just ridiculous. Still, he didn't turn around and leave like he wanted to. He latched onto the last part, lifting both eyebrows thoughtfully. "They, er, shift if they get mad enough?" Knowing Gabe's temper, that would be a problem. "So, say I picked a fight with someone who was a werewolf... pushed them hard enough, threw a punch or something... they could start turning into a werewolf on their own? They wouldn't be able to help it?"

"Okay, mad sounds a bit light," Dorian said with a little smile. "Let's go with enraged. But, yes, if they endure enough physical damage, they'll change outside the full moon, to protect themselves. Except what it really does is unleashes a wild, rampaging beast. So I really wouldn't recommend it, since they can't help the shift." And by that, Dorian meant Kyle was fucking crazy if he thought picking a fight with a werewolf was good fun for a Sunday afternoon.

"Enraged... got it." He did have the thought to maybe provoke and piss Gabe off to see what happened. It was a bad idea, he knew that right off the bat. One, he didn't want to piss Gabe off, since they were friends, and two... if Gabe was telling the truth? Then Kyle would be in the same room as an enraged werewolf. And holy hell, how did he find himself in this position again? It was surreal... this all had to be a weird dream. "Wild, rampaging beast... got that too." Kyle paused and focused a bit more on Dorian now. "You believe werewolves and ghosts and shit exist?"

It seemed like the kid got the point. He supposed if Kyle ended up on the nightly news, torn to shreds, he'd find out. "Yeah, I do," Dorian said leaning against the counter. "Why? Got a question about something else?" There'd been a point when he'd been a bit more timid about admitting what he believed in, but now it just seemed a bit stupid not to say so. He ran a supernatural bookstore in a town that had been attacked by vampires, werewolves, and shadow creatures. And now there were ghosts walking the streets. Saying he didn't believe in what he saw everyday just seemed ridiculous.

"I don't know. Maybe." He still felt stupid even being there, and it showed in the way he shoved his hands in his pockets, keeping his shoulders tense as he looked around uncomfortably. "Has anyone come in here who hasn't seen these ghosts? Because I haven't... so... it's just weird. Hard to believe in shit when I can't see it." That was quickly becoming his personal slogan. "Since you believe in this stuff, you'd probably not blink an eye if someone you knew told you they were... er, different?"

Dorian knew a non-believer when he was standing right in front of him, but to say he hadn't seen a ghost really did catch his attention. At this point, that seemed like the one thing people were beginning to accept, since they were everywhere for everyone to see. "Before Halloween, sure, people came in all the time that hadn't seen a ghost before. After Halloween... no, pretty much everyone has seen them. You'd be the first, which is interesting in itself." His mind was already ticking through possibilities, trying to figure out what that meant. "I've met a lot of different people in my life, despite my age," Dorian said with a smirk. "If you said you were, I'd believe you, but I'd also want to know more. If you were willing to talk, that is."

"I'm not though... different, I mean," Kyle said quickly, not wanting this guy to think he was a freak. Not that people who were different were freaks per se, but he felt like one already not being able to see ghosts. "When people tell you that stuff, do you make them prove it? Like... show you something that would convince you it was true? Because I've been told that this weird shit exists, but I haven't seen a ghost, and I haven't seen any proof otherwise. I don't know if the problem lies within them, or me." Kyle wanted to just shut up and leave, since he got some answers he wanted, but if this guy knew about this stuff, or believed in it, then Kyle thought maybe he would have an explanation for why Kyle wasn't experiencing things like other people.

Yeah, sure. If Kyle wasn't different, then Dorian was an angel. He didn't know how, but he'd owned Nevermore long enough to know how people danced around subjects they were uncomfortable with. And he knew what it sounded like to try and hide a secret unsuccessfully. "It depends," Dorian said. "If you came in and said you could set things on fire with your mind, I'd want you to light a candle or something. Because, why not. If you can, then I wanna see. But you're saying you can't see ghosts, which I'll admit is pretty weird at this point in time. Does that mean that the people standing around you can see them and you're blind to them? Have you tested this out at all?"

Setting things on fire? Would be kick ass... except that train of thought wasn't productive, so he clamped down on it. "That's how I feel... I mean, I wanna see it, you know? Look, I know some things are easy to believe, even if you don't see them, but when it comes to weird shit like ghosts? Or wolves? Or whatever... I want to see some proof, right? And yeah, I've tested it out. Twice actually. A friend of mine saw two until I got close to him, then they disappeared. A girl I met today walked with me for awhile, but we didn't see anything. She thought she did, but all I saw was a shadow that wasn't much of anything. And then that was gone too. Doesn't make sense, does it?"

"It might," Dorian said hesitantly. He didn't want to jump to any conclusions, but ghosts disappearing when Kyle got near? That really was unusual. "Can I get your name and number?" Dorian asked. "I have some ideas as to what might be causing that, but I don't wanna start rambling on when it's not something I'm completely familiar with." There were some things he wanted to look up first, books he needed to track down in his shop, before he gave Kyle any kind of a solid answer. And even before that, there were tests that could be run. He just... needed to think about it. It was there, in his mind, but it just needed sorting out.

"Um... yeah, I guess." He thought it sounded kind of ominous that something could be causing him not to see this stuff. Did he have cancer or some disease? That didn't make any sense, but it rain through his mind anyway. But hell, he wanted to know if something was going on and if this guy could help him out, why the fuck not? "It's Kyle Denner... you got a pen and paper?"

"Yep," Dorian said, handing both over for Kyle to scribble down his name and number. "I'll call and let you know what I find out either way. Even if it's nothing." Which it might be. He just wasn't sure enough of himself in this department to reach an immediate conclusion. It reminded him of meeting Chance, and not knowing what Fades were. There was a lot of stuff out there that wasn't as common, but that didn't mean it didn't exist.

"Thanks." He wrote down his name and cell phone number before sliding the paper back toward Dorian. "I don't even care if you find out it's nothing, and I'm just... in the wrong place at the wrong time--" All the time apparently. "--at least I would know I'm not insane or something. And thanks for the information on werewolves."

"I don't think you're insane," Dorian grinned. If Kyle had said that the people standing next to him could see the ghosts and he couldn't, then maybe he'd go down that road, but he didn't think that's what was going on here. "I'll call you. And thanks for dropping by. Try not to piss off a werewolf, though. You really don't wanna force one into shifting. It'll tear you apart." He hoped Kyle understood that he was serious on that note. The werewolf wouldn't be able to stop himself, even if the person inside would've wanted to.

Kyle slipped his hands back into his pockets and nodded. "Yeah... I'm not gonna try to piss of a werewolf. I don't believe they exist... no offense or anything." He was going to piss Gabe off and feel vindicated when the guy didn't shift into the wild, rampaging beast Dorian was talking about. Then he could tell Gabe he's probably got an infection and should get checked out. "Thanks, man, I appreciate the help." He started toward the exit before he got anymore werewolf lectures. Gabe was his next stop.