Jake looked back at the chat window, and smirked as the entire place had erupted into arguments.

Later, snowflakes. was all he said before he logged out.

He then sighed, got up, and nodded to himself.

Over the course of the next 45 minutes, he'd washed up, changed into clean clothing, and made his way to the diner in question, where he sat in the booth he said he'd be in, and ordered himself a coffee to drink while he waited for the woman.

He then took out his phone, and sent her a text.

Waiting for you in the diner. And now you have MY number. it read.

Jake was absolutely stunned and taken aback by the woman before him.

She had an elegance and beauty that he'd never seen before. Sydney was beautiful, Vanessa had had a certain physical beauty to her, Allee had a subtle sultriness to her, but this woman was different.

She was absolutely gorgeous, and Jake felt himself instantly attracted to her. Especially her white hair, it looked good on her, and almost gave her an otherworldly elegance.

"Ah, hey." Jake responded as she approached him.

"I... assume you are NightmareFuel?" he asked her.

'Huh. Not much of an accent.' Jake thought. 'That's surprising.' he thought further.

"Call me Jake." he then responded, figuring he'd leave out the warning about his real name for now.

"It's nice to meet you, Anya." he went on.

"Would you care for something to eat and/or drink?" he then offered, gesturing to the menus that were on the table.

"Feel free to get whatever you like."

"That's cool." Jake responded.

"It's on me." he said.

"And thankfully, this place serves all kinds of stuff at all times." he went on.

"Breakfast, lunch, dinner, get it here at any time of day." he chuckled.

"But yeah, nice to meet you, Anya." he reiterated.

"Haven't seen you around the chat rooms much." he then said.

"Oh, plenty of questions." Jake replied.

"Some of them more... private than others." he went on with a smirk.

"But... let's start with some basics." he then suggested.

"Why do you frequent the chat rooms you do?" he asked.

"What are YOU looking to get out of them?"

"Same as you." Jake replied.

"I'm bored and lonely." he said.

"And yes, I have to admit that those types of venues aren't the best for long-term commitments." he went on. "But it's the best I can get." he admitted.

"See... my existence is supposed to be hidden." he told her.

"Which is to say, only those considered paranoid or crazy actually 'believe' in me." he continued.

"So I have to be very careful about where I dip my toes, so to speak."

Jake just smiled, as a server approached them.

"You ready to order, or need more time?" he asked them.

"I'm ready." Jake responded.

"If you're ready, go on ahead." he told Anya.

"The service here is friendly and speedy, and the food's delicious." he said further.

"You flatter us because you're a regular, Jake." the server chuckled in response.

Jake just smiled as Anya said what she did.

"I think getting to know each other is a good idea." he agreed.

"I guess I'll start with employment." he went on.

"What do you do?" he asked. "What brings in the money for you?" he reiterated.

"Myself, I work security for a government agency." he continued, pausing for a moment.

"I can tell you more when we're back at my place." he then added.

"An arachnologist? Really?" Jake asked.

"Huh. Fascinating." he said.

"Admittedly, not something I've encountered a lot." he then said further, thinking about it.

"But still. Fascinating." he reiterated.

"What made you choose that profession?" he asked her.

Jake just shrugged.

"Not scared of them." he said.

"Not completely in love with them, but they don't scare me, and I don't hate them." he went on.

"They impress me a lot, as well." he continued.

"One time I looked up and saw a butterfly caught in a spider's web, and the cocoon it had emerged from was literally a few inches beside it." he then told her.

"All I could think of was 'what a clever girl'." he added with a light laugh.