2019-06-30 - A Normal Life

Violet is very tired of adventures. After defeating Satan in Hell, coming home to see a warning for her written in her sister's handwriting on the bathroom wall, and then traveling to Dream Gray Harbor and having to escape through a mouth that acted as the library door in order to retrieve an actual body in a box, she wanted nothing more than a moment of normalcy. Which, considering there was absolutely no place that was truly 'safe' meant that she remains on edge, just waiting for the other shoe to fall. She has chosen to do that today in the pergola, because it was a nice evening out now that the temperature has dropped, sitting with her legs tucked under her on one of the benches or chairs or whatever seating area the pergola has. She's quiet tonight, her head tipped back so that she can look through the slats and up at the stars, brow faintly furrowed in thought.

Well, that makes two of them. In less than thirty days, Alex has been witness to or victim of the statue with the fiery funeral home, the axe murderers that cut open his guts, the creepy house that ate the little girl... and all the stuff with Satan and the bathtub. Suffice it to say, he's fine with spending the rest of his Sunday - after the praying and the errands - at home, recuperating.

He's been in the kitchen for a while, cleaning up after dinner (Believe it or not, he does not expect Violet to do all the cooking-and-cleaning around here, might even prefer if she just stayed out of the kitchen, thx.), and so comes into the yard with a towel for drying his hands. He hasn't done poetry in a minute, so here; peering up through the lattice, too, like he's trying to figure out what she's looking at, he says quietly, "Por que se me vendra todo el amor de golpe, cuando me siento triste, y te siento lejana?"

There's just stars up there, nothing more. It was simple and silent and beautiful up there, and perhaps that was what Violet was searching for in the moment. But she lets her attention shift to settle on Alex when she feels him near, her eyes a little wet but no tears on her cheeks. For once, she can understand at least a handful of words in his poem, and she lifts her hand to briefly touch her heart. "That's beautiful," she murmurs quietly, appreciatively, before she shifts on her seat and pats the empty space beside her with a quick tap of her hand. And should he choose to sit, she immediately curls up into him, seeking his support with a light sigh.

"I keep wondering what it means. Why we could.. bring something back this time, when all the times before.." she shakes her head, the furrow of her brow deepening. "Does it mean things are getting worse? That the lines are.. getting more blurred?"

Alex never sits down. He just runs off into the night, leaping over the neighbor's fence and screaming like Speedy Gonzalez, and is never seen again. The end.

Or okay, he settles into the offered space, tossing the towel over one shoulder and scooting both arms around Violet, perfectly happy to have her tuck in. "Mhm," is where he leaves the subject of the poem's prettiness ('cause it's sort of a sad poem, really), burrowing a kiss into her hair and falling silent while she muses over the things that are changing.

A long spell of silence follows her questions, except where night-bugs make night-bug noises out in the yard. Finally, "Maybe you can only bring things back that don't belong there? Assuming the cardboard box full of human remains didn't originate," he lacks a term for this, "wherever it is that you were."

Violet uses the silence to get herself comfortable, drawing her legs out from underneath her and dangling them over Alex's thigh, so that she can tuck herself easily into his side. She was a perfect fit this way, and she nuzzles her cheek into his shoulder, forcing herself to relax even if the topic was anything but relaxing. "Maybe," she says with a heavily burdened sigh, closing her eyes as she stays near. "But then I guess it begs the question why someone would.. take a box full of bones there. How could they take a box full of bones there?" She gives her head a little shake, frowning to herself.

"Do you think it would stop for us, if we left? If we.. went up to Seattle, it felt quieter there," there's a lot of guilt in the words she speaks now. "I think about it, sometimes."

"If you had a box full of bones that you wanted to hide, and you could get... there, it seems like the perfect place, hm?" Maybe not sitting next to fake City Hall under the words BILLY LIVES, but whatever. Alex is not exactly up to speed on the minds of psychic serial killers. Smoothing a hand down her hair idly, he honestly doesn't dwell on the why for much longer, just temple-kisses, shrugs, and moves on.

Her next question deserves more attention, and he catches it with a brow-lift that she may not see, considering their seating arrangements, but it's there. What she will be marginally aware of is the careful tone employed here, like he's making extra-super-sure not to sound like he really likes this whole 'let's leave' idea, probably because he really likes this whole 'let's leave' idea. "If we left Gray Harbor? Yes. Or at least diminish considerably."

"I would probably put it in a less obvious place. That wall seemed like... like a shrine," Violet wrinkles her brow, but she relaxes at the hand upon her hair, concentrating on him instead of the questions running through her brain. It is this focus, perhaps, that has her picking up on the subtle clues that he was fond of the 'let's leave' idea.. which deflates her, but not for reasons that he would think. "I can't, you know. Go," and she isn't making any sort of effort to show how guilty and sad this makes her.

"I don't know what's happening. But that was Alice's handwriting in our room. And it has to be a trick, it has to be," she bites at her bottom lip, picking up her chin so that she can bring her blue eyes to his own. "But there is a tiny part of me that hopes it isn't. That maybe she.. I don't know. Was sending me some sort of message. If she's in trouble, Alex.." she shakes her head, full of regret. "I need to see it through."

A less obvious place. Excuse Alex for the darkly amused smile that comment pulls into place, tugging just one side of his mouth and leaving the other one alone; whatever he was thinking for that second wasn't THAT funny, just a little funny. Anyway, even that phantom humor is gone when Violet gets all bummed out about the leaving conversation, and he tightens his arms around her momentarily, just a quick and bolstering squeeze. Placidly, "I understand."

WHICH MEANS HE THINKS SHE'S FUCKING WRONG WRONG WRONG but whatever, she's obviously picked the hill they're dying on.

There's a quiet nod about all that stuff regarding Alice, and he stays quiet through her delusionshopes about Alice. "Then you should see it through. But you should know that I can't find this facility. I'm trying to find the doctor that referred Julia there, but it's like hunting a black dog at night."

Violet isn't a mindreader, not even with her super awesome psychic powers, but it isn't hard to know what he is thinking. She lifts a hand to brush her fingers through his hair, along over the curve of his ear, and she dips her chin into a slow nod. "I understand," she says of the facility, even if it brings a furrow to her brow. Then she amends: "Actually, I don't understand. How can a place just.. exist and nobody knows about it, not even the people who were there? It doesn't make any sense," says the girl who lives in a world that makes no sense at all. Which she realizes, but she needs to let her frustration out somehow. There's a little sigh of annoyance that follows her words, before she tucks her cheek against his shoulder again.

"I know you don't agree. With my decision, with the fact that I feel like I need to stay for this," she addresses the elephant in the room. "And to be honest? As much as it would hurt -" and the emotional tremble in her voice suggests just how much it would. " - I'd almost rather you left. Went to Seattle, found a small place. You could be close to Sophia, you could.." she swallows. ".. I could come. When I find out what's going on. I just need to stay long enough to make sure she's safe."

"When you have a facility that seems to cater expressly to those with extraordinary abilities," Alex exhales through his nose, pestered by his inability to just solve this problem, "you probably take extraordinary measures to keep it a secret." So at least they're annoyed about this mystery asylum together, something they have in common~.

What they do not have in common is a clear understanding of why Alex would disagree with this plan to stay and see it through. "If it was my sister, I would make the same decision. I understand why you need to stay. But I feel like you may be setting yourself up for disappointment and pain. If Alice had good intentions, why would she make an effort to hide them? Why not simply come and see you?" Also, with a flat, uninterested shake of his head and a tone to match it, he dismisses the whole idea of his running off: "No, Violet. I'm not leaving you here. If you're not coming, then I'm not going."

End of discussion.

"All I can think of is that whoever wrote that message in the bathroom.. isn't Alice. It can't be Alice, because she would come and see me. Nothing else.. nothing else makes sense," Violet breathes out a sigh, because this was something that clearly frustrated her along with the mystery asylum. But at least there were a few things that made sense. Like Alex's steadfast dedication to her. Oh wait, no, that didn't make a lot of sense to Violet either.

But it sure felt nice.

So she doesn't argue, and she doesn't question it. She just lifts her head and presses a firm kiss to his lips. "Then we'll leave when it's all done," she says that quietly, resolutely. He gives a little, she gives a little, someday they'll meet in Seattle~ You know, if they don't die in the process. "Maybe.. maybe we could have something of a normal life. When this part of it is over."

Sure, Violet. Alex believes that it wasn't Alice, can't be Alice. Totally. So totally that he looks at her quietly and doesn't argue or quirk a brow or anything.

Mooooooving on.

He likes being kissed. He doesn't even have to pretend anything for that part, just brushes the backs of his fingers across her cheek smoothly afterward, following up with a brief peck of his lips to hers. "Tell me what a normal life looks like, Violet." So he knows what he's getting into after they deal with the psychic sister and leave the Town Filled With Horrible Monsters.

Violet likes being kissed too; and she likes the little strokes that his hand makes against her cheek after. It releases the tension in her shoulders, even if his loaded question afterward should bring it right back. She tilts her cheek into his touch, and she sighs. "I don't know," she admits. It brings a slight twitch to her brow, a mild frown. But it was honest. "Something completely and wholly opposite to the life I've led so far? I don't have much to go on. My mother was sick all the time, she wouldn't even leave the bed for months. And my father..." she lifts a shoulder. He knows already. "But nobody would know me in Seattle. Maybe I could go to the coffee shop and people wouldn't stare. Maybe I could... could teach, or find a museum to work at. We passed so many museums.."

What a lovely pipe dream. Alex listens quietly while Violet lays out the possibilities, noting, "You could have your shop in another city. It might be more difficult?" Is that the right turn of phrase? He rolls with it. "To do what you do, with reading people. Would you miss it?" He looks down at her over the tops of her glasses, keeping hold of her eyes while he asks that question.

And while he shares, "It doesn't have to be Seattle. We could go anywhere. Pick a place on the map and say the word." Like it's just that easy.

Would she miss it? The question makes her flinch, but she's not exactly ashamed to admit it. "Yes," she says quietly, with a sigh. "But only because I.. I don't remember what life is like without it. Maybe it would .. get easier. With time. When I was in school, before, I never wanted to use it again. It was only after Alice started to talk to me that I.. that I remembered it at all. Maybe I could just forget," and she worries her bottom lip, not wholly comfortable or uncomfortable with that possibility.

But his comments leave her smiling, at least a little. "Anywhere? Maybe we wouldn't have to pick a single place. Maybe we could just.. go. See the world, explore?" It really was a lovely pipe dream. But it begs the question: "What does it look like for you? A normal life," she lifts her eyes to his, blue to brown.

With the pad of his thumb, Alex quietly liberates her lower lip from between her teeth, frowning at the poor thing like it doesn't deserve to be so brutalized. He even kisses it afterward, as if to apologize for her being so mean, poor lip! With that accomplished, he notes mildly, "Sophia and I never forgot, not entirely. It was more difficult," see previous pose re: not exactly what he means but close enough, "but I still knew what things I could fix and what things I couldn't." His shrug apologizes for disabusing her of that notion.

As for seeing the world, he finds a very small laugh and notes, "I'm not independently wealthy, my love, I have to work." Ten days every month. 😃 As for what it looks like to him... yeah, that's awkward. So he goes with, "Something new and different. And safer. With you."

Violet does not resist the care he takes with her bottom lip, she might even push it out a bit more prominently so that he can kiss it properly. But the talk of their powers gives her something to think about later; she rather silently tucks it aside, and focuses on the conversation at hand. A normal life, and what it means to the both of them. His answer makes her cant her head, not because it wasn't the correct thing to say ... but because she knows it's not everything. She's been learning how to read his cues, to know when what he says isn't everything. "Is that it?" It's a subtly probing question. "Because I want to know. Beyond the.. pretty, nice things that you said."

"For me, yes." Alex keeps her eyes held, answering the tilt of her head with a slight shake of his own; it's not everything, but she may be misunderstanding (lol take a drink) his reticence to fill in the details. "I've had an entire normal life already. But I don't think that's the normal life that you and I will have. I would love to travel with you, to see the world. To have some place that is home, but also go to all the places we've never been. It could be exciting and romantic and different." And he smiles a questioning smile at her, brows knitting heavily above that smile. "I want you to be safe. And happy. And have everything that you want."

"Our life is already fairly exciting and different," Violet remarks with a dry laugh, though it's rather clear that his answer has made her happy. The wet glistening of her eyes is replaced by a true spark of brightness, as she leans to nudge her lips against his jaw. "I would like to see the world with you. Or even just.. see Seattle. It doesn't matter where we go," as long as they don't stay here, where it is weird and scary. "I would just be very happy spending the rest of my life with you, Alex," she admits that last part in a quiet whisper, lashes lowering demurely. "I hope that is okay."

Okay, he has to concede about excitement and difference already in play, and he does so with a dithering nod. "A different kind of different." Just saying that phrase makes Alex pull a frown, deeper on the side where she's got her lips against his jaw. "Como se dice, different but without horrible things constantly trying to destroy us? Normal, hmm?" That's where they started the conversation, normal lives.

Also, how fucked up would it be if Alex was like 'nope, want you to leave home with me so i can ditch your crazy ass as soon as we hit the edge of town.'

"Yes," he says, losing the frown from earlier and sliding her glasses off with a curl of his index finger, only so he can press a pair of kisses to her prettily lowered eyelashes. "That is okay, Violet. I intend to keep you."

A different kind of different. Alex might not have the best grip on the English language at times, but that actually made sense to Violet, who kisses away the downward pull of his mouth. "Normal," she agrees, because that was what started the conversation. Still, his answer - and the kisses to her eyelashes - makes her heart swell. And maybe it didn't matter if they had normal as long as they had each other. Because he intended to keep her, and it didn't need to be said, but..

"I intend to keep you, too, Alex," she breathes.

She nudges his hand with her own, a soft direction to lay her glasses down somewhere. Because the weather was nice and they were in her favorite place, and she was with her favorite person; and well, she's been wanting to get laid under this pergola ever since she set eyes on it. So there will be no more words for the evening (err.. except the words she'll be trying to keep hushed so as to not inform the neighbors of their risky business~) - she'll just wrap her arms around him, lead herself into his lips, and spend the rest of the night showing him what the rest of his life will be.

k but no babies, Alex has been down that road before, and it leads straight to Divorcetown! (And by 'straight to Divorcetown', I obviously mean 'first they have to stay married for like twenty years because he's stubborn AF.')

Anyway. They bang under the pergola. Good for Violet, she finally got her wish!