2019-06-02 - 2/3 of the people in this scene are going to Hell when they die.

Late in the afternoon, just about pressing on toward twilight on a drizzly Sunday (because it's always drizzly) sees a few people milling around this monster of a house. The rain isn't so terrible right now; it's not quite a proper break, but there's just a light mist floating around, making the lights that are gradually coming on around the garden look especially pale and blurry. The house is still open for guests, but almost everyone has wandered on home by now.

Alex and Violet have only just made it up to the courtyard, though. They had a Sunday to accomplish before this point - church, brunch, groceries, all the normal people errands - and this is the wrap-up. Hand-holding, because they're cute like that, they're strolling the exterior right now, and Alex has just gotten around to asking her, "So it's definitely haunted then?" With only a little skepticism.

Violet was dressed in her nice clothes, because they had church this morning and a full day of activities and normal people errands that left her without time to go and change. Which meant she was less 'comfortable granny chic' and more 'normal person that looks like she may belong holding hands with a doctor chic' which is never going to become a famous kind of chic because the name of it is too fucking long. Anyway! She wears a loose floral skirt and a silk blouse in lavender, and a cream cardigan since the drizzle meant it was a wee bit nipply out. And she stays close to Alex's arm, fingers laced with his own.

"Oh, yes," she says of the haunting with the utmost of sincerity, lips bowing into a small frown. And then rephrases: "Probably, anyway. Is it strange that I don't know if I necessarily believe in ghosts, considering? There are rumors, but I wonder sometimes if that is just people Dreaming.." It is probably the least craziest thing Violet has ever admitted.

Right. Alex is always overdressed, so he's definitely overdressed again, in his snazzy gray suit; he could have ditched the jacket at any point after church, but why? He looks pretty. And he has an umbrella open over their heads, though it's not really doing any good since it's less rain and more mist, but he keeps it overhead anyway. Steering steps along the periphery of the fountain, which is only moderately creepy right this exact second, he looks intrigued by this little bit of non-crazy coming out of Violet. "You've never seen a ghost, then? Or felt one?"

"No," Violet replies with a slim shrug of her shoulders, casting blue eyes up to fountain and then flicking a glance back to Alex. A pale gold brow raises above the frame of her glasses. "Have you?" It's a simple question. She suspects she already knows the answer, but that doesn't stop her from asking. "There are an awful lot of ghost stories in Gray Harbor, at least. But I imagine they have some kind of explanation, even if it isn't wholly rational. Maybe people don't understand their... spark. Or they slipped into a Dream and claiming they saw a ghost is the only way to comprehend it." She shrugs again.

It's Sunday, which means that Alexander is actually dressing like a human being. Fresh from lunch with his parents, he is also about as well-fed as he gets, and other than the bandages on his chest that give the shirt a slightly odd outline, he looks as content and pleasant and social as it is possibly capable for him to be. He's wandering through the rooms, shoulders still a little hunched, and stops when he sees the cute couple. He stares for a moment, but social neurons kick in faster than usual, and he says, "Good afternoon, you two."

Honestly, and it's a rare admission from Alex, "I don't know." He pauses their little stroll, looking at the statues in the fountain contemplatively. They're not doing anything, just bubbling water in the graying light, but they still bear watching. "Sometimes at church - " He leaves the thought unfinished, as along comes the other Alex-person, doing the staring thing, and he drums up a socially correct smile. "Hello, Alexander. How are you today?" Yes, yes; that question was super-mundane, but they can work their way back to talk of ghosts!

It's not a response that Violet was prepared to hear from Doctor 'Everybody Except Me Is Crazy' Reyes. She blinks a few times, then her lips quirk into a tiny smile. "Interesting," she responds, and then sticks a pin into that conversation which they will definitely be exploring in more detail. But first! "Hello Alexander," her voice is pleasant, and her smile widens as she turns her focus onto him, lifting her free hand to wave fingers in the air. "We are talking about ghosts," she invites, tacking on the supernatural to Alex's mundane. As you do.

Alexander smiles back, sorta. His smiles often look like they're made by an alien who is just wearing a skinsuit, and this one isn't much different. He drifts closer to them. "I'm," there's a long, thoughtful pause, "adequate. How are you?" Then he gives Violet a puzzled sort of look. "Ghosts. Composition of? Sightings of? Specific hauntings?" A look over each of them and their nice clothes, and a thoughtful noise. "Theological implications of?"

One day, Alex will get used to the fact that - around these parts - you just talk about this stuff with people. Right out in the open. Granted, there aren't any normal people milling around by the fountain, but still. Violet's frank explanation of their chatter has him smile-blinking a couple times, but he rolls with it, 'cause he's also Doctor Composure. "Existence of," he tacks on after all Alexander's guesses. "Are they," he pauses, because words are the worst things ever and this is not exactly the right one but it'll do, "real?"

Violet doesn't seem put-off by Alexander's alien-smile. They are all awkward in their own right, it seems. But she does look away and back up to the fountain, concentrating her focus there for a moment. "I was telling Alex that I wasn't very sure," she explains, "Especially since it gets so hard to tell when things are real and when they are.." she nips at her bottom lip, and returns her attention back to the two men. "Not. But there are a lot of stories. Strange flickering lights, voices where there shouldn't be, that sort of thing."

Alexander listens, flat stare resting on each of them in turn. "Not real," he says, with a shrug. "But still on the gradient of not-real things that exist. Point-six-five on the reality scale." It's very solemn as he drifts towards the fountain and studies the water. "Probably much higher if you're actually seeing a ghost at the time." There's another, more natural smile to them both. "Context matters."

"The gradient of not-real things that exist." Alex takes a minute to parse that standard, squinting contemplatively at Alexander while he mulls this over. "How can you see it if it's not real?" Wait, he holds up a finger, extending it out from the handle of the umbrella that's not doing him and Violet any good right now. "If multiple people see it, and we all agree that we saw it and it was real, wouldn't that make it real?" He glances between the two people with whom he's having this conversation, pulls a smile from one side of his mouth, and lets the question stand. Enlighten him, definitely-not-crazy-ppl.

"Hmm," rolls off of Violet's lips as she steadies a look on Alexander. She opts to not comment on the reality scale, though it does briefly give her pause. Then, with a blink and a quick shake of her head, she looks back to the fountain. "I suppose it depends on your definition of reality. All my Dreams feel very, very real," she says that quietly, in a reverently hushed tone. She furrows her brow as she thinks through the topic at hand. "So I suppose the question is, are people Dreaming when they see ghosts? In which case, I think you could say ghosts are real. But if they're not Dreaming, where are the ghosts coming from?"

Alexander shakes his head at Alex. "No." He reaches out and touches the water. It feels a lot like water, and much like the water that is falling from the sky. "Just because you experience something doesn't make it real," he says, sounding resigned by this intrinsic unfairness of the universe. "If two or people see the same thing, but it is not a real thing, then it's just...shared psychosis. Separate them and tell them what is real until at least one of them agrees with you." He glances at Violet, frowns. A thoughtful look. "Afterimages of life? Dark things dressed up like people? Lost memories?"

How Violet gonna steal the 'hmm' and leave Alex with nothing? That's cold. 🙁 He asks, from the midst of that sideways look, "So you've never seen or felt a ghost when you're sure you weren't having a dream?" There's a small stumble over the last noun there, another of those little 'this word is not right but it's the only one there is' pauses, and it's also obvious that he's not figured out that some Words Get Capitalized, just by intonation. He's just loosed Violet's hand so he can furl the useless umbrella right when Alexander starts talking about shared psychosis, bad timing. He's not touching that one. "Neither of you have ever seen a ghost, then?" Really?!

Violet might've gotten away without much of an outward reaction from the 'shared psychosis' mention if it hadn't been for Alex quitting her hand at the same time. It was very bad timing, indeed. Her pleasant demeanor quickly fades, blue eyes darkening as her shoulders twitch, roll back, and straighten. "You don't know what you're talking about," she snaps, then adjusts, fitting her now free hands primly at her stomach. At least the look she passes to Alexander is apologetic. "People can have the same experience and it can be very real, and just because someone puts you in a room away from that person and tells you repeatedly that you're insane and sharing a psychosis with them doesn't mean that they are being truthful." Huff. She turns on her heel and starts walking up the path to the house.

Alexander shrugs to Alex. "I haven't." And then Violet gets all dark, and he flinches back, head ducking. "I didn't say true. I said real. It's different," he mumbles, and rubs at his head. "True things often aren't real. Not real things can kill you." His shoulders hunch as she turns on her heel, and gives Alex a quick, dark-eyed look. You. You're handsome and social and she likes you. Fix this, that look says.

The return look says OMG MAN COULD YOU HAVE DUG ME A DEEPER HOLE HERE?! Alex struggles to finish closing the umbrella, shaking it roughly a couple of times even while he's following after Violet's initial steps. "We're talking about hypothetical situations, Violet. And extremely different ones. Shared psychosis is a thing that happens," apologetically, "but I think ghosts are, too. I'm not sure the two have anything to do with each other, except that I'm sure some people who've seen ghosts have been accused of being mentally unstable when they aren't. Please, don't take things personally that weren't meant that way?" This next look that he shoots at Alexander is one of the 'dude, apologize!!' kinds, passed over his shoulder while he tries to catch Violet by the elbow.

"It's fine, Alexander," says Violet with just a minor tremor in those words, lifting a hand while her back is turned to swipe her fingers across her cheek. She's not crying, YOU'RE crying. There's a heavy swallow as her elbow's taken, but at least it stills her in her pursuit of getting inside the maybe-not-haunted house, darkened blue eyes sweeping up to Alex with a narrowing look. "I understand what he meant. He doesn't know," Point for Alexander. But hey, at least she's vaguely aware that it would be probably impolite to drag Alexander into sudden relationship drama. So she just gives a pointed look at Alex's hand - the one that ceased to hold her own - and then looks away. "You were saying, about the church?" She quirks a brow at Alex, inviting him to continue on this line of conversation. No apologies necessary. From Alexander.

Alexander trails after the two of them, catching those return looks. His brow furrows. Then, amazingly, he seems to pick up on what Alex is sending and says, slowly, as if trying to pick his way through a minefield of words and emotions, "I'm sorry, Miss Whitehouse. I was referring to my own experiences. I don't...didn't...mean that people were right about what they said. I don't usually know what real is. I know what I know, but I don't always remember the way other people do. So I have been told. Many times. So...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel wrong." A look back at Alexander, then back at Violet. And now the subject is being changed. Again, there's a moment where anyone can just see that he's about to stay on this topic, doggedly tactless, but then rethinks it. Instead, he says, "Church. Yes. Church seems like a good subject. What church?"

Hey, would you look at that? Alex totally gets what he did wrong in this situation, leaving him with a baleful look at the umbrella (that just HAD to go and require both hands to fold). He shifts to holding it like a cane with one hand, and - with a very apologetic look at Violet - offers the other one to her. Okay? Geez. "For me personally? A church back home." Glance to Alexander. "In Philadelphia. And here. Saint Mary's. Neither of you have...?" Hmmmmmm

It's safe to say that Violet's not a confrontational person, and the fact that Alexander was verbally apologizing to her whilst Alex made the sad apologetic eyes just makes her feel awkward. She scuffs a shoe into the cobblestones, frowns, and drops her hand from her stomach. It takes a bit of time? But she reaches out to accept Alex's offered hand, and laces her fingers back his own. "It's fine, Alexander," she says again, but this time in a tone of voice that suggests she means it. "I just.. had a bad experience. With my sister. People are.. very unkind," and she leaves it at that. Besides, ghosts! Her attention flicks back up to Alex and she shakes her head. "I've never," seen a ghost. "But I don't think that means it couldn't be real." Because Violet is a compassionate and understanding person would never suggest that Alex is crazy 😃 "What did you see, in the Church?"

"People are very unkind," Alexander agrees, with no hesitation. "I'm sorry." While adorable if slow acts of affection take place, he just sort of stands there, awkwardly. Watching. His mouth opens at the mention of 'real' again, but since it went so badly last time, he closes it again, and just turns an attentive look to Alex, awaiting the answer with interest.

'Adorable if slow' pretty much sums up Alex and Violet.

Eager to leave the whole folie a deux conversation behind them... Alex will just dive right into his particular brand of crazy. "The statue of the Holy Mother?" He looks between the two of them one more time, just to triple-check that they're not just fucking with him. "You've never seen her weeping?" This is when he should be like 'lol me neither KIDDING GUYZ,' and that realization plays out in the way he shifty-eyes his way around this relatively abandoned garden, leaving him with a twitchy smile pasted on at the end. They should take a stroll around this clearly not-haunted fountain while the talk, his steps pick up to start said stroll.

The statue of the Holy Mother. That's gonna take Violet half a second to realize what he's talking about to begin with; Violet was a heathen for quite some time, after all, she's only just recently tried to get back into God's good graces. So she nips at her bottom lip and follows Alex to take a stroll around the haunted fountain, thinking this through. "No," she finally replies honestly. "At least, every time I've seen her, her hands are out." Like so: she holds her one hand out in benediction, then drops it back to her side. Alex's hand is given a reassuring squeeze. "But maybe I am not looking at the right times. You know, some things are.... different. At night," and that makes her furrow her brow. "Like the black peacock, in the park."

Alexander stares blankly at Alex. If he's fucking with the doctor, his poker face is excellent. But then he says, "I don't go to church. Any of them," he says, with a shrug. "I wouldn't have seen. I believe you saw, though." There's a spark of interest. "I would like to see. Did you taste the tears?" Because that is OBVIOUSLY what a devout Catholic would do. He nods to Violet, trailing behind the two of them like an awkward shadow. "I have seen the black peacock. I go to the park."

Like he never would have put it together on his own otherwise, Alex realizes and says aloud at the same time, "She only cries at night. I have to assume that Father Daniel knows about it." He wears a little frown for that, though, like maybe he doesn't have to assume that after all, and now he needs to rethink this whole issue. Gosh darnit. He physically recoils from Alexander's question about the tears, horrified. "No." He shuts up and lets them talk about the black peacock.

"Is there Mass at night?" asks the former heathen. Violet lifts a look to Alex, and blinks twice. "I'll go with you next time." And then there is a pleasant smile for him, albeit a brief one, because she's probably still inwardly irritated about the hand thing. She is crazy, after all. But he gets a finger squeeze as he recoils, the question from Alexander earning a bit of a side-eye from Violet too. Like, there are lines in the sand. But it brings up a good question: "She is crying tears right?" Not like, blood or whatever? Then, as for the black peacock, "I don't think the peacock is a ghost," she frowns.

Alexander frowns at the recoil, brows furrowing. He actually looks slightly indignant at the response. "How are you going to know if it's tears if you don't taste it," he mutters, as if this is OBVIOUS and ANYONE should know it. The mention of night makes him hum: when the priest catches Alexander climbing all over the statue in the middle of the night, this is going to be Alex's fault. It just is. But Violet's words get a short nod. "Neither do I. What does a peacock have to resolve? They don't think about much except how pretty they are. Not a lot of existential conflict."

Alex, the doctor, who went to medical school!, continues to be horrified. "I am not going to taste the tears of the Blessed Virgin. I don't even know if there are tears." To answer Violet's question. He takes a terrible risk and, after the squeezed fingers, lifts his hand to cover one side of his face, fingers over his eyes, head bowed. The other hand has the umbrella, so he can't use that one. "As such. But when I look again...?" He raises his hand, similar to Violet's earlier gesture, then takes her hand again. Before their whole relationship falls apart 'cause he dropped it for a second. "Perhaps it's a friend to the monkeys and is waiting around to see them freed." <-- It's no crazier than anything else they're discussing.

Blink-blink bats Violet's lashes at Alexander. "But what if it isn't tears and it's blood? And then you are tasting the Blessed Virgin's blood? Or.. oh.. what if it isn't Her blood at all?" Oh, this is getting a little spooky. A shiver runs down her spine in the brief interlude while Alex is showing how the statue looks at night, and she nibbles on her bottom lip. When he takes her hand again, she strays a little closer against him, so it looks like their relationship is a-okay for the time being. Hooray! "But would a statue that moves necessarily be a ghost? Could a statue be a ghost? Or maybe it is just... a Dream," she shakes her head. Magic 8 ball says: answer unclear, try again later. As for the peacock: "It doesn't seem overly interested in the monkeys," she replies to Alex.

"If the statue was bleeding, I would recommend collecting it in a cup. Presuming it is a cup that you really like, since it's possible that it might come to be revered as the next Holy Grail. And you could do DNA testing." Alexander brightens. "Combining both ideas, there's a theory that the Merovingian dynasty was descended from the union of Jesus and Mary Magdalen," Alexander chatters suddenly, "with the Holy Grail representing not a cup where the blood of Christ was collected, but rather the bloodline descendants of the line. I am not sure how that would translate to a new Holy Grail from the Virgin's blood, but it is interesting, isn't it?" He looks at them both, hopefully. He is contributing!

Just to make sure 'horrified' keeps getting used in Alex's poses, he still looks horrified, looking between these two with stubborn disbelief. In them. Not the fact that a statue weeps in a dark church. "We're not collecting the tears of the Mother of Christ in a cup, and testing their DNA. Especially not if they turn out to be tears of blood. No." Just no. Mira, "I know that it's not a dream," lol famous last words alex, "but she's definitely doing it. We'll go tonight. And you can both see for yourselves. But no touching." Heathens!!!!!

"Oh, I.. don't know if that is actually a very wise thing to do," Violet says to Alexander about collecting the blood/tears/whatever is falling out of this statue's face. And she did that before she catches Alex's horrified look her way, so he doesn't need to get all crazy on her tyvm. "Though that is an interesting fact. About the origins of the Holy Grail. Still.." she bites at her bottom lip, and turns her eyes upward to Alex. "I would like to see. But not to collect anything. God and I have a ... very complicated relationship," this is a rapid-fire explanation to Alexander. "I don't want to upset Him. I'm pretty sure that would upset Him."

Violet. Not a Heathen (anymore). Except for all that living in sin that she's doing.

Alex's horror is met with blank confusion from Alexander. On the other hand, that sounded like an /invitation/, and Alexander rarely gets invited anywhere, except to be locked up. So he says, "I'd be interested in going." His gaze shifts sideways to study Violet. Then Alex. Then Violet again. He sighs. "I won't collect the fluid." It's grudging, and his lips thin a little when Violet talks about angering God, but he is being GOOD and doesn't say ANYTHING ELSE. Otherwise he might be uninvited.

They talk about making a new Holy Grail, and somehow - let us call it Divine Providence - Alex manages not to just come unglued and storm off in a religious tizzy. In fact, he very calmly stays quiet until everyone agrees that there won't be any collecting of any fluids from any virgin mothers, his eyes shifting between the two of them. "Then shall we meet at ten o'clock at Saint Mary's?" Beat. "You're not going to bring anything strange, are you?"

Alex is imagining Alexander showing up with a P.K.E. meter and a proton pack. Just so you know.

Alexander is talking of making a new Holy Grail. Violet is over here being very pious and suggesting they maybe not consider it. Ahem.

Anyway, Violet tips her chin into a nod, offering a faint-but-polite smile for Alexander. "It will be .. fun," she decides, though she seems uncertain that 'fun' is the right adjective to use here. Anyway, she's going for it. But the question of Alexander potentially bringing something strange makes her brows climb. She looks to Alexander for confirmation.

Listen, meta. Violet is still going to hell. So there.

Alexander stares at Alex. Then he looks down at his hands, turning them over slowly as he flexes them. He shuffles from one foot to the other. "I'm bringing myself." And he's clearly not sure if that's un-strange enough. "And a notebook. I think it will be a very ordinary notebook." His shoulders droop. "I lost my tablet." But when Violet smiles at him, even as faint as it is, and suggests it might be FUN, he smiles back - one of those rare, sunny smiles that makes him look like someone who isn't likely to be found with a murder dungeon. "It will be fun," he agrees, without as much hesitation. "Thank you." That to both of them. "For the invitation." With that, he turns on his heel and starts to leave. No goodbyes at all.

There's a small smile from Alex - he's bringing himself, himself = strange - but he lets that one go. "Fun," he repeats, like he's trying to fit the word to the situation and it just... won't... cram... itself... in there. Stupid round-words and square-holes. Anyway, Alexander didn't say goodbye or anything, but Alex still offers, "You're welcome, we'll see you in a few hours." And passes a look to Violet, one that says the 'lol that guy is so weird' that Alex is too nice to say out loud.

The brightness of Alexander's smile brings out Violet's own, until she's practically beaming for a short-lived moment. Then Alexander scampers off, and Violet lifts a hand to wave it through the air. "Goodnight, Alexander!" she offers up, before she turns to Alex and looks up at him. The hand that was waving through the air comes to rest on his cheek, and she picks herself up onto her toes. "I like him. He's very nice. And harmless," she murmurs. "And you are incredibly sweet." And then Alex is gonna get some smoochy-smoochies by the maybe-haunted-fountain to reward him for his (mostly) good behavior. It appears she's forgotten about the hand-holding incident... FOR NOW.

Forgive Alex for being stuck on this point, but he reminds Violet: "He wanted to catch the bloody tears of the Mother of Christ in a cup and test their DNA." But whatever. If inviting crazy to church will get him some kissing by the haunted fountain? He'll take it. "Should we finish the tour?" he suggests. After they come up for air or whatever, and head-tilts to the big, creepy house that they haven't even walked through yet. It's totally going to set the mood for a few hours from now when they go pray. ROMANTIC~!

"Yes. But." Violet takes a moment between kisses to consider this. "I think he has good intentions?" And she sincerely believes that. So sincerely, that she's going to prove how much she believes in Alexander's goodness by .. nevermind. She's actually just going to kiss Alex some more. She's all blotchy in the face when he finally pulls away, and she looks a touch flustered by the fact that she's got a fistful of his shirt in her hand while they were getting their smooch on. "Oh," she clears her throat, relinquishes her hold on his shirt, and casually smooths out the wrinkles. "Yes. Yes, the tour is exactly what I want to do right now," she lies through her teeth.

Aw, look at Violet, trying to play it cool. Alex, who understands her particular brand of crazy as we have already shown today, beams at her in that 'he thinks she's adorbs' way, and - despite having tipped his head toward the house - draws on her hand to lead her the opposite direction. They probably walked here, because he just lives over there, so they can walk home, too. "The house has been here for a hundred and fifteen years already." Give or take? It's probably on a placard somewhere that they read before this scene began. "We can come back another time." Watch-check, they walk a little faster.

Because going home to have sex out of wedlock before showing up to pray in front of a haunted statue of the Virgin Mary? EVEN BETTER than touring the haunted house. Alex's ideas are the best.