2019-08-10 - It's A Small Fucking World

Kelsey knew lots of faces in town, but only by watching them. When you only watched and didn't actually communicate. When shit hit the fan you had very limited options on who you could rely on to help. So, Dante got the short straw and the poor guy didn't even know he was in the running. There was music just BLARING from the small house. It was a miracle it wasn't vibrating. When Dante would knocked though, Kelsey heard it and would let him him.

Her face and throat were all scratched up, her arms, legs, and chest had bruises and minor wounds on them too. Well except one on her upper arm looked particularly deep. She'd seemed to have gotten the scratches under control that were on her face. It was likely some of the awkward places ones on her arms and legs she was going to need help with. She doesn't actually say anything when she sees Dante. Just motions him in and slams the door.

Kelsey looks like she's not in the mood for anyone's shit and that she might just pass out at any moment, but she's keeping it together. Clad only in a sports bra and a pair of shorts so she could see all her new 'trophies'. Her torso and back that he can see are also covered with other woulds, older ones. Possibly from knives or a gunshot or something. Leading him towards the bathroom.

"Good lord," Dante looks like a man out of his depth from the moment the door opens. He's dressed rather casually for him, which suggests he wasn't planning on going out tonight. That means skinny dark wash jeans, a white t-shirt and a black suit jacket with the ever-present pocket square. He just sort of stands there, staring at her until she walks away from him. He steps inside and closes the door behind him. He follows, still a bit shocked. "What the bloody hell happened?"

The music blaring is a mix of various 80s rock music. She actually bangs her head against the bathroom door and might just do it again but then remembers Dante is there. Right. She asked him to come over. Literally just let him into the house. "Fuck." She mutters, rubbing at her head. Her throat feels raw, her words are hoarse.

"Some of that creepy stuff you're so keen on finding." She glances to him and then back down her first aid kit. Rummaging around a moment. Then gave him a handful of antiseptic wipes. "Here. Open there, get my arm and my back legs please." As she opens one up for herself and winces as she starts applying it to her abdomen.

Dante tugs off his suit jacket and hangs it on the bathroom doorknob, then does as he's instructed. He's still got this wide-eyed, sort of startled look. But he dabs the antiseptic wipe against the wounds. "Did some kind of...animal attack you? A mad person?"

Kelsey takes a deep breath and then grits her teeth. Any pain she's feeling from the antispetic is swallowed down and she just focusing. Trying to focus on Dante's reflection in the mirror. What did he ask? Right. "Worms. Doppleganger worms? Won't stop singingng It's a Small World. Fucking Small World." She lowered her gaze as she continued working on her wound. "Handful a others too...Mine got me. Otherwise...otherwise I woulda taken the dead fucker with me back here. To study it." To kill it some more. Whatever.

"You say that like it's supposed to mean something to me. Remember, I'm completely clueless. Despite how confident I seem about everything." Dante smiles a bit awkwardly as he continues to dab the wounds. He does it with care, but he also does what he can to clean the wound. He's clearly not well-versed in anything worse than a papercut.

Kelsey quiets again, it's hard to collect her thoughts when the stupid song won't stop playing in her head. In fact, Dante might catch her humming the tune! Until she slams her fist down on to the bathroom sink. The pain giving her a moment of clarity. "There are creatures. There is another world." She explains, waving her other hand to signal that he could stop with the cleaning up. She pulls out some bandages now, thrusting the box towards his hand. "That lays next to ours. It's...upside down and topsy turvy and generally fucking terrible. Sometimes you end up there accidentally. Sometimes you can go there willingly. Sometimes it pulls you in." She looks at his reflection in the mirror intently. "It usually never ends well."

"That sounds like one of my books," says Dante with a nervous laugh. In fact, it sounds an awful lot like his latest book. He looks down at the box of bandages and just kind of stares at them for a moment, before he realizes he should, you know, do something with them. "So...you've been possessed with a demonic earworm, is that what you're saying?"

"Was. Threw it up." Kelsey shook her head. "But the song is still there." She rubs at her forehead. "You should leave this place Taylor." She sighs and shifts a bit so HR has an easier time putting on the bandages while she applies another layer of antibiotic cream to her face. She's gonna need to replenish her lot after this.

Dante definitely doesn't know anything about bandaging people, but he does his best, hands shaking a little as he tries to keep it pulled tight, but not so tight that it cuts of circulation. "Why don't you?" he asks quietly. That's unusual for him. He's the type who is usually quite gregarious in almost all situations. Not so now.

Bandaging done, Kelsey rearranges the kit some and stows it back under the bathroom sink. Turning to lean against said sink and face him properly now. "Because I can't." She said simply. "This place has sucked me in and if I leave I know I'll only want to come back. And I've got no where else to go anyway." Moving past him - towards the kitchen - expecting him to follow. "But you can go anywhere you want. And spare yourself."

Dante does indeed follow, though he pauses to wash his hands in the bathroom sink before he does. He picks up his suit jacket, but doesn't immediately slip it on. "What makes you think I'm any different? I've been chasing the strange and the dark almost my entire life. I'm not about to stop now."

Kelsey pulls out a container of what looks like homemade Lo Mien. Pulling down two bowls. He doesn't even get a choice in the matter - he's getting some. Probably a non-verbal thank you. Because she's not good at the sincere ones unless she's about three sheets to the wind. "I don't know. Maybe you aren't, This place. Changes you. " She pauses. Whether for effect or because she's distracted is hard to tell. Spooning some Lo Mien into both bowls and putting them in the microwave. "No. That's not right. It just makes you face who you always have been." Glancing over her shoulder. "Are you prepared for that?"

Dante opens his mouth to protest the food, but at the last minute seems to realize its purpose, so he shuts his mouth. He rests his hands in his pockets, jacket looped over his arm. "Of all the possible places, all my research, all my explorations have led me here. And now you're telling me there's something real here, something horrible. How can I possibly walk away and just keep writing made-up stories after learning that?"

"You can't." Kelsey sounds almost dejected when she says it. "It's horrible and it's beautiful, and it's terrifying. " She stares at him for a moment. "And I really, really hope you survive." The microwave goes off and as Kelsey is pulling the bowls out, a drawer next to her opens up and two forks lift up and start over. It's a short distance, but she's distracted too, so they nearly clatter to the floor. But they manage to land safely on the counter. And the draw closes. She picks up a fork and bowl, handing them to Dante and just...stares at him. Like none of that just happened at all.

That was...well, it's fairly easy to read Dante's face. He looks like he would have preferred not to see it. He blinks, shakes his head, jaw tightening. He's quiet for a moment, and he's trying specifically to not look at the forks. "I should..if you're all right, I should..." he motions vaguely towards the exit.

It was a test! And he was failing it. That was written all over Kelsey's face. But also that she was expecting such a thing. "Take the Lo Mien." He's not getting to leave so easily. " Why did you start chasing after horror? Legends? What turned you on to it?" She is going to wait very patiently until he takes that bowl and fork - or if he ultimately doesn't, it gets set back on the counter and she retrieves her own so she can start eating.

Wanting and getting are two different things. Dante can want to know the truth, can crave it, can chase after it. But then there's actually being slapped in the face with it, being forced to reckon with all he knows and doesn't know. He takes the bowl, looks into it, but doesn't move to eat it. "I can't remember. I think it might have started with my grandfather telling me ghost stories about our family home. The Taylors had lived there for hundreds of years. Every generation but mine had grown up in it."

Kelsey knows it's shocking. Knows it's almost impossible to comprehend, but she also wasn't the sort to do anything gently when it came to these matters. The best thing was ripping the blinds right off. She leads him into her Ripley's Believe It Or Not-esque living room, sitting on the couch as she takes a bite. The Lo Mien looks like it's made right! And loaded with vegetables. How she can eat noddles after throwing up a giant worm is anyone's guess. "Why don't you guys live there now? Did something happen to it?"

Dante attaches to more mundane conversation, "Oh, it became too expensive to maintain and we had to sell it. Much to the absolute horro of my father." Interesting choice of words. He follows her, holding the noodles, but not eating. He looks around, then down at his food. "We lived there until I was...eleven? Which was when I went off to school, anyway."

"Unfortunate." Kelsey agrees as she relaxes carefully into the couch. Talking is good, the music blaring is still good. Though - it's coming from the room down the hall so it's easy enough to talk. "Boarding school? That's a common thing then? In England...? Is that where you're from?" It was all a distraction from that stupid, stupid song.

"Yes. Does the accent not give it away?" says Dante with a soft chuckle. "Mhmm, it is for people with my dusty old family name. Boarding school, that is." He knows they're just making small talk to avoid the fact that she just moved something with her mind and had a literal earworm in her body.

That makes her chuckle. "Honestly it doesn't sound like a dusty family name. Unless Taylor is just a penname and you're real last name is something like Wentworth or, uhm, I dunno. Cunningham." A touch of a smile. "I almost went to boarding school. But it's cause I was a terrible kid. Boarding school's like a punishment here in the States. For some at least." Musing.

"I went to one of the schools that was the inspiration for Harry Potter. Except all boys. All rich boys, for the most part. But there were a few legacies like me and some scholarships as well." Dante still hasn't eaten the noodles, but nor has he set the bowl down. He just sort of...holds them and stands there. He's not someone who is usually awkward but he looks awkward now.

"Really? Cool." Kelsey watches him a beat longer. "Sit down Dante." Oh hey, she does know his first name! "No potions or herbology I'm guessing. Just arithmetic and good old fashioned science?" His awkwardness at least is not making her feel awkward. "So, do you do anything for fun besides drinking and writing?"

"And Latin. And Greek. And theology, though I tried to skip that one whenever possible." Dante does sit. His jacket gets draped over the arm of the chair. "I also wore robes to class." He bites the edge of his lip and looks up, grinning a little, eyebrows arching. "We're really going to continue with smalltalk after you floated a bloody fork?"

Kelsey's gaze lingers on him a beat, lips quirking into a half-smile. "Well, I wasn't gonna talk about it if you didn't feel like talking about it yet." Sure she ripped off at least one of the band aids, but it was all about being ready to vocally broach the subject! Or something like that. "That's not even the cool shit I can do either. But...I just wanted to really drive home to you. That I'm not full of shit when I tell you this place is different than anywhere you've been before."

"Have I ever said that I don't believe you?" says Dante as he looks up at her, head slightly tilted. "You don't need to convince me. I'm a rather decent judge of people. I'd like to think I can tell when someone is bullshitting me. And...in my research? I've learned that the most important thing is that the person I'm talking to believes it. And my job as a researcher is to find out if I believe it as well. Or get to the heart of why it's convincing."

Kelsey set her half finished bowl down on the table, carefully tucking her legs up under herself. "You haven't, but I wanted to be sure. Because you can never be too sure." She gave a small shrug of her shoulders. "Uhm. Besides all this stuff. Related to what I showed you. If you ever need a hand in researching things. Like, other lore and legends and whatever. I'm happy to lend a hand. It's literally my life these days." As if this room they were sitting in didn't speak for itself. "Well besides when I'm doing my odd jobs and whatnot."

"A reasonable human being, in most cases, would laugh off the things you and the others have told me," says Dante. "But you've only been confirming some things I've felt to be true for..." he whuffs a breath and chuckles humourlessly, "...for a long time now. I'm as guilty as anyone of turning my head away when things get too impossible to properly process. But I'm not out here because I think it's all bullshit and I want to prove it is." He rests back against the chair, still holding the noodles in his lap. "Do you think people in this town would actually talk to you about it? Because despite what I feel are my considerable charms, they don't seem that keen to speak to me."

"Probably because they don't know you..and you haven't had the pleasure of being sucked in yet." Kelsey answered after a moment of thought. "I could talk to the others. That were with me tonight. I'm sure some of them would talk to be at least. These things are difficult to process. I...normally don't talk to anyone about them. Haven't been pulled in with anyone before like that." She carefully ran a hand through her hair. "But there's a sense of...trust. Faint though it may be. Because they know that you know they aren't crazy. When you go through it together."

"In my experience," Dante finally sets the noodles aside, "...crazy is rarer than people make it out to be. Far more often than not, our senses and our sense of self are reliable. We've all just been taught to mistrust our own senses. When instead, we should be learning to interpret them better. And..." he lifts a hand, "...it's only natural that someone who had seen something that shifted their entire perception of reality might be having a difficult time coping. And they may be exhibiting behavior that one would consider...strange."

Kelsey considers him and his words, finally nodding. "You have a point. And I can agree with it. Though, it doesn't get easier. Because this stuff...it's meant to drive you mad. Drive you to the brink of your insanity. Because the...things. Lurking. They're just waiting for you to crack, so they can take you." She barely even realizes she's started scratching at her head until she hits a nick from earlier. Wincing, she quickly pulls her hand out of her hand and tucks her hands between her knees so she can't use them! "Have you seen anything in your researching? Besides this just now. That's made you question reality?"

Dante opens his mouth, closes, smiles a bit tightly. "Nothing...concrete. But I've had a feeling. When I stumbled on the few stories from this area, something about the accounts rang more true than stories of goat men and demonic possession I've researched in other areas. I can't say what led me specifically to feel that way. But something about the details felt...oddly consistent. Something about the people felt more reliable." He shakes his head and whuffs a mouthful of laughter. "A gut feeling, I suppose is what I'm getting at."

"I getcha." Kelsey nodded. "I...'ve been through some shit. And when I moved here, things were fine. Until they weren't. Weird stuff was going on, things just a little off. Then...a few times stuff like what happened to be tonight happened. It's all so very...not what you think it will be, and then exactly what you'd expect." She gives a wry smile. "That wasn't what I wanted to show you. By the way. When I've been saying I'm going to show you something. I want you to be a little more, ah, prepared? I guess. Though I dunno if you can ever be really prepared for anything in that sense."

Dante smiles, then bites the edge of his lip again. "I'm...not certain I'm ready for what you want to show me, given..." he motions to her, then back towards the kitchen, indicating the floating fork. "Perhaps my training wheels need to stay on a bit longer, mhmm? But, as you say, perhaps one can never be truly prepared to be faced with something that will redefine their perception of the world."

"Oh, without a doubt. You need your training wheels a little longer." Kelsey confirmed, though she's smiling when she says it. More of a genuine one than he's seen her give yet. "I suggest you continue trying to talk to people...and tread lightly. And if you happen to...get sucked in before I have a chance to show you anything more. Feel free to reach out if you need to talk. Or, process or whatever." Thinking for a moment. "Because as much as drowning in drugs and booze will sound appealing...it isn't the greatest coping method."

Dante rubs his hands along his legs. "And I'll try to make friends along the way. Buying everyone alcohol seemed to help that, at least alittle. I understand how I must look to people who are used to the same small town with the same faces they went to school with. And I'm poking around, asking the questions no one wants to consider, let alone answer."

"Precisely." Kelsey agreed. "It takes time for people to let their guard down. Especially about these kinds of things. Besides, having friends in general is a good idea. Something I need to start doing myself. Think I've spent enough time lurking in the shadows. Probably should get out there and actually learn about the people I live around."

"I do admit to being flattered that you felt you could trust me to patch you up," says Dante a little awkwardly. "As I said, I'm not used to being the one anyone calls in a crisis. Unless that crisis is an empty drink cup or an empty bed." He wobbles his head, "Even if you only called me because I'm the only one you've spoken to at length in this town."

There's a quiet chuckle at his admission, "Well...I promise I won't try to make a habit out of it. I just...normally I might go. To the hospital. But with this song still...in my head...." She untangled herself carefully, picking up both bowls to bring them into the kitchen. "I knew it was too risky." She returned to the living room. "I just. Do have one request of you. Since I don't know if there's anything I can do to stop it. Or if it will just go away. Text me or something? Later tonight and tomorrow night? To make sure I didn't go crazy and off myself." It's a completely serious request as she sits back down.

"The noodles looked good, by the way. I'd...heh, actually just eaten when you'd messaged. And apparently those words had a difficult time travelling from my brain to my mouth." Dante grins a bit sheepishly. But then she's making a rather intense request. "Oh, ah, that's...are you...truly concerned about that? Because..." he trails off.

"It's fine. I'm always cooking stuff. You'll have other opportunities." Kelsey said and then nodded. "If there hadn't been so many other distractions when everything was happening...I very well may have bashed my head in. I mean, you see my face right?" It's a rhetorical question. Still all covered in scratches. "I did this to myself."

Dante's fingers curl under where they're resting on his thighs. "I have some weed? Perhaps you should just get incredibly baked and sleep through the worst of it?" He sounds like a man who has used that particular solution for something in the past.

Kelsey eyes him a moment, like she hadn't actually thought that was an option. "Huh. Sure. Why the hell not. I'll replenish it for you when I get back in my right mind." The nice thing about weed being legal in Washington! "It's at least worth a try I guess."

"If you can't get rid of the music, perhaps you can just make it so you don't care about it, mhmmm?" Dante reaches back for his coat, then goes through his interior pocket until he pulls out a small ziploc bag containing two joints. He opens it up and passes it over to her. It's strong-smelling, but in the pleasant rather than skunky way. "It's a body high, fairly potent. I tend to use it to help me sleep."

"One can only hope." Kelsey sighs as she takes the baggie. There's a touch of a shudder that runs through her but she extracts one of the joints and passes the bag back to him. "Thanks Taylor. " She grabs a lighter that was laying on the coffee table, neatly wedged between a stack of books and a few old newspapers. "You gonna stick around for a little bit? Or leave me to get high all on my lonesome?" Quirking a brow before lighting up the joint and taking a deep, slow hit off of it. "Trouble sleeping or something?"

"Some nights, yes. My imagination runs away with me. And I tend to let it. It's my livelihood, after all," says Dante. He leans forward, resting elbows on knees. "I'll stay until you're well and truly baked, then I must be off."

"Imagination is a dangerous thing." Kelsey agreed as she slowly exhaled that cloud of white smoke. Relaxing a little further into the couch and offered him the joint if he wanted to take a hit. "Some pretty good stuff you got there." She murmured. "What's your next stop? After you decide you've had enough of our quaint little town."

"It's from British Columbia. I've cousins up around Vancouver, who hooked me up with the proper stuff the last time I visited. Not...that your local product isn't good. I've just got a preference for this strain." Dante takes the joint and takes a hit, then passes it back over. "You should have the lion's share of that if it's going to put you properly to sleep."

"Hm. Well. If that's your preference. Good to know." Kelsey accepted back the joint, studying it briefly. "Probably. I haven't smoked in forever. Well, not with the intentions for getting totally stoned at least." She took another hit, letting her gaze wander a moment. "Didn't answer my question though." She seems to realize. "Or was this your last stop?"

"I don't really do things that systematically. I just go where the stories take me. And..." Dante inclines his head. "My work can be done from pretty much anywhere. So sometimes I'll just settle in in a comfortable spot. I'm not really a planner."

A thoughtful noise. "I suppose that makes sense." Kelsey stood up then, one more hit off the joint before handing it off to him, wandering into the bedroom so she could grab her blanket and pillow. It was a couch kind of night apparently! She flops back down on to the couch, catching herself humming the stupid song. But it's mixing with the Boston song currently playing. So it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The pillow is set on the floor for now but she snuggles up under the blanket and would take the joint back from him. "Some people say planning is everything. But, planning is hard to do for some things. Do you have any other books rolling around? Like fiction ones? You might right?"

"Yes, I've always got a few drafts on the go," says Dante. He's done taking a hit off the joint by the time Kelsey is back. He hands it over to her. "You keep the rest. I've got to drive back." He reaches over and shrugs his blazer back on. "You starting to feel sufficiently sleepy?"

Kelsey shrugs a little bit. Holding her tongue. She's not stoned enough yet to be talking with no filter. "Mmhm. Mostly." She agreed. "Thank you for letting me have it." Relaxing again and taking one more hit. "Be careful driving. Don't get Lost." The way she says the word lost feels like it implies more than just getting turned around on a side street or two.

"Rest well, and...please don't harm yourself. If you feel the song coming back, just..." Dante reaches into his pocket and pulls out the other joint. He tosses it to her. "...smoke that." He grins, then starts for the door.

"I make no promises. Except that I'll try not to." Kelsey's eyes lazily tracked him to the door. She doesn't make any move to catch the joint because there's no way she's going to move that fast right now. However, it manages to land just fine on the coffee table. Rather neatly on a book pile. "And that I'll not let any of this go to waste." She laughs then. "Seeyalater." Is sort of mumbled together as she closes her eyes. Just relaxing and trying to dull the sound of the song.