a closed starter for @nancyonpaper | lunch !
Evan had reached out to Nancy the moment he knew his trip to Hawkins was set, wanting her know he would be in town, wanting to connect with her in person. It was so easy to get wrapped up in his job, to focus so much of his time into the professional connection he shared with her. Certainly beneficial in both directions. So many interesting inquiries would have gone unanswered had she not been able to set him up with a few of her contacts ( and Evan was certain it was the same vice versa ). Now that he was in Hawkins again he wanted to expand their connection beyond just sharing intel and phone numbers. It felt like he was meeting with a colleague he had known for years and years, but also like he was meeting someone new for the first time. It really was nice to make friends. Evan needed more of those.
He purposely arrived early to the lunch spot in the hopes of jotting down a few ideas in his journal. Evan ordered himself an iced coffee and then spent the next few minutes looking out the window. Hawkins hadn't changed a bit since he left, and yet it was a completely new town. He didn't know if this was how towns changed with the sudden onslaught of modernity and technology, or if he'd just been gone so long he forgot what it was like. The Hawkins in his mind was quieter, more — well, the Hawkins in his mind had been before all of the chaos. So did it really count ?