2019-09-18 - Netherbirds and Broken Cellphones

The sun is setting in the Western sky, and although the weather is still fairly warm, and it's not raining, the Park is nearly deserted. The murders on the 13th have cast a pall over the usual evening activities, and those who ARE about are going somewhere quickly, not strolling and enjoying things. Alexander is the exception to this. He's got a new haircut, looking considerably less like a hobo from the neck up, but from the neck down, it's still ratty old clothes. He's staring fixedly at the carousel while eating the remains of a boxed sandwich. At least, until he gets a text, and looks down to check on it. The carousel, of course, is still playing, although there are no children. Just the animals, slowly revolving.

It's been a long day trimming trees, and the job's only half done. Contracted to get the Park's trees prepped for winter, half of Out on a Limb's employees (which is to say, August and Finch) are up in some ash trees that have gotten a little out of control. Branches rain down as the chainsaws gnaw; they'll have to wheelbarrow this all back to Big Betty, waiting at the closest curb.

August is avoiding looking at the carousel, and fortunately the chain saw means he can't hear it either.

Finch finishes the last of the errant branches on the tree she's climbed, the harness and ropes mostly just there for insurance purposes. The little pink-haired woman is quite skilled at scampering up the various ashes. She turns off the chainsaw and climbs back down to the ground, pushing her goggles back up on top of her head. She's in coveralls with a colorful shirt beneath, and workboots. "This one is done, Boss!" she calls up to Roen. She does give the Carousel a dirty look, since she was the one who had to patch up people in its aftermath.

Alexander texts back to whoever it is. The interruption seems to have thrown him out of his fixed reverie, which means he realizes there's the sound of the saw - even though that sound has been growing for a while as the crew got closer. Now that he's not deep in his own brain, he looks around, and stands up when he sees Out on a Limb's people. A faint smile rises to his face, and he moves towards them, although careful to stay out of the range of any of the saws or branches. "Good evening, August. Miss Celaeno." The latter gets a slightly wary look. "Are you both well?"

August turns off his chainsaw, gives Finch a thumbsup. He has a few more branches to remove, but pauses just before clicking the saw back on to wave down at Alexander. Then it's back to cutting; one branch is particularly big, so he lowers it on a rope line rather than just tossing it.

Ignacio has been off work for a while and with some work he's slooooowly working on making his way back into public. He's a lot quieter then on average. He's got a tin lunchbox in hand walking over and just stops. The carousel rotating captures his attention and he moves with a faint wince over to it ambling like an urban cowboy, right leg pulling him forward rather than an even saunter. "Woah, check it they have a runnign rooster."

Finch squints at Alexander and she gives the man a shrug. "You know, still haven't murdered all my male kinfolk so I guess I'm A-OK." She smirks. "No more unfortunate carousel rides for you lately, I hope?" She spots Ignacio and calls out, "THAT'S THE ONE THAT TRIED TO EAT ROEN!" in warning. Dammit Iggy.

"I wouldn't ride on that," Alexander raises his voice to call to Ignacio as he ambles in that direction. He gestures at Finch at her yell, agreeing with it, and waves up to August. Then checks his phone again. His lips twitch with amusement, and he taptaptaps back before saying, "No, I think I'm going to avoid the thing for a while. And congratulations. On the not murdering. Sometimes it can be hard." He says that all perfectly seriously.

Isolde has been out of contact for well, a day and a half by now. She parted ways with her...well. Whoever she was. Drinking partner? Coffee partner?...Boardwalk buddy? yes! That one. That worked. Her hangover was just about gone and she was looking just about like she slept under the Boardwalk! Sand sprinkled through her unbrushed hair. Her attire was a black tanktop and simple pair of jeans - a few grains of sand clinging here and there. Voices draw her attention. Familiar ones. She lingers on the fringes of the group because Alexander is there...but hopefully all the other people there would lessen any potential. Uh. Lectures.

She draws in a breath and comes close, giving Alexander a little bit of a nudge and putting on a smile. "Hello everyone!" Cheerful enough. And trying not to wince from the lingering hangover.

Last extraneous branches removed, August secures his chainsaw and starts rappelling down. He pauses half-way, still a good thirty feet up, when he sees Ignacio headed for that thing.

His mind voice is more than a little strained, and rolls in like a sudden gust of wind. <<Don't go near that thing.>> He doesn't care that he's half way up a tree in a climbing harness, this is important!

A short distance away is a tall man bent over a park bench, wearing, for once, not a suit. Dante couldn't find a suit he could properly jog in, so instead he's in a plain gray t-shirt and shorts. He's a bit sweaty, which suggests this is the end of his jog rather than the beginning. He tugs out a pair of ear buds and pulls a water bottle from the belt holster. His usually neatly coiffed (and usually straight) hair is sproinging into messy curls. He's also wearing glasses.

After standing hunched over for a second, he makes himself pace as he puffs out his cheeks. Only then does he take a moment to take stock in his surroundings.

Itzhak is restless and irritable, what else is new. He doesn't even realize he senses his favorite group of weirdoes in the park, but he did, and he followed the feeling until he's wound up here. As he walks closer, he realizes Isolde is there, tosses down his cigarette and launches into a run towards her. Perfectly rational behavior!

Alexander turns to look at Isolde as she approaches. It's a slow, up and down look, taking in the sand particularly. "So. Either a very good night or a very bad one. You seem unharmed, though?" He's not hiding his concern, but he's also not demanding an explanation. In public, at least. Besides, it looks like Itzhak is going to take care of that part for him. He sidles away from the oncoming Itzhak with a murmured, "Good luck," to Isolde, nearly running into the branches August and Finch have been trimming. Dante is noted in the distance, and if he can catch the writer's eye, he gives him a nod of recognition and greeting, before his phone chimes again and he hurriedly texts back.

Finch paces towards Ignacio, chainsaw dangling in one hand, just to make sure her wayward boyfriend doesn't get himself turned into worm food. She just got him, dammit. He's not allowed to be chewed up so soon.

Ignacio fleans forward and points at the rooster circling around. THe sudden voice upon him is startling and he narrows his eyes, "You run at me? Marinare y te cocinare, bastardo." He points to his eyes and then teh rooster. Can he fight? Oh HELL no, but he's from New York and that's enough. He continues over to hand the small tin box to Finch. He does pick up teh trail end of that conersation, though he looks in bad need of either a shave or a plaid shirt to go with that beard coming in. "Yeah, I'm still here. She's really been slacking on that front."

"...It was an...interesting one? Not a bad one." Isolde sounds a little uncertain. She barely remembers anything about it. She's just glad that her phone was broken so she doesn't have any of the evidence with her! And hopefully they never meet Cameron and she shows them EVERYTHING.

She squeaks as Alexander slides away from her and she is side-lined by Itzhak. Well, at least she had a few seconds to really brace herself. "Hello to you too!" She manages to get out, glancing over towards August and Co to make sure that no one was getting hit by trees.

Then she looks back to Itzhak and wraps him in a hug properly.

August groans and rolls his eyes as Ignacio takes the quick mental prod for a call out from one of the carousel animals. Well, at least Finch has him in hand. He continues his descent, landing with a light touch. Unlike Finch, he's geared to the teeth: protective glasses, GoPro camera on his climbing helmet, the whole nine yards. When you're full of bones pinned together with titanium that's just how it goes. "Hope we didn't hit ya," he says to Alexander by way of an apology for the flying debris. He glances at Dante, gives him an upnod, then eyes Isolde. "Something happen?" he murmurs to Alexander in an aside.

Itzhak sweeps Isolde literally off her feet, angular momentum translated to her as he grabs her and swings her around. "Izeleh! Ir bazorgt mir, libhober!" He's hugging her and kissing her face, holding her off the ground, unaware of anybody or anything else for these few seconds.

Finch takes the lunch box in her free hand and leans up to kiss Iggy's scruffy cheek. "Come on, Roen's over here, and Alexander Clayton too." She leads him back to where their boss is up a tree with a chainsaw. She sits down on the grass and opens the lunch box to see what Ignacio brought her. She smiles and waves at Itzhak and Isolde.

Dante recovers enough to recognize a few familiar faces. He lifts a hand to August and Alexander, then steps over a little closer. But then there's charging and swinging and, well, he looks a little startled. "I seem to have stumbled on a reunion," he says a bit awkwardly, but there's a smile on the end of that nonetheless.

Alexander gives August a crooked sort of smile. "Yes. Drinking, I think. A great deal of drinking when I checked in," he says, with a shrug. Then adds, "I'm not sure she even remembers me doing so," in a low voice. He leaves Itzhak and Isolde to handle their handling, and offers a brief smile to Dante. "Mister Taylor. Hello. Don't mind them. They're fine." Suuuure. "Are you well?"

Isolde squeaks again when Itzhak literally swings her around. She has no idea what he just said - Yiddish is definitely on her list of things she's learning words from. But she can maybe get the gist. She holds on tightly until her feet are back on the ground. . "I'm sorry, mon cherie" She murmur low to Itzhak. "I'm okay though. Promise." Though some other parts of the town might not be.

There's at least one stop sign missing to be found in someone's trunk and one of those little rides in front of the Safeway has seen better days. So much drinking.

@emit August relaxes noticeably. "Ah. Normal wild times, for a change," he says on a wry smile. He pulls off his helmet, gets the camera turned off, and sets to retrieving his ropes. With a glance at Dante, he says, "Still researching?" His gaze strays to Itzhak and Isolde, just to check on them, back to Dante.

"Well enough. And yourself?" says Dante to Alexander. He pulls the water bottle out of its holster and takes another swig. He politely averts his eyes from the spinning pair to let them have their moment. To August, he nods, then grins. "Researching away. Poking my nose in where it doesn't belong. You know, the usual. I'm out of the bed and breakfast. I think I ate a whole pig's worth of bacon in my time there."

"I'm okay." His phone chimes several times, and Alexander looks down at it, and winces. "...I'm being chided by my girlfriend. So. Somewhat fine?" He texts her back, then looks up and smiles. First at Itzhak and Isolde, then towards Dante. "Where'd you find a place? Bayside? Did you meet the goblins?" Because really, Alexander does not care how crazy he sounds, sometimes.

Itzhak has mercy on Isolde and her hangover and sets her down, scolding her, "Don't break your phone unless you text me FIRST!" Then he kisses her one more time for good measure. At that point he's finally able to look around and notice that there's a bunch of other people here all of whom he knows. "Ahhh hey guys. Sup." And snickers at Ignacio threatening the rooster.

Ignacio lets teh rampant static in his head die out withteh affestionate gesture. Finch is armed with a chainsaw. While local lore might suggest now is the ideal time for Ignacio to run like hell he seems to take some strange comfort in this. Hey the bird is made of wood right? Problem solved. He greets Alexander with, "That's a good sign though right? Keeps you healthy and from... Natural selection creeping in?"

How ironic. The best friends being chided by their significant others at the same time. Isolde is thankful for the mercy because her head is starting to throb again. The kiss is accepted and another squeeze given to him. "I wasn't thinking. Everything was red." She murmured and then shook her head. 'Will tell you later." And then turns to focus on the others more fully now. "The goblins are mean." Nose wrinkling.

Finch digs into the almond cookies Ignacio brought her like a hungry harpy. She arches a brow at Itzhak and Isolde's antics and grins, happy to see Itz happy. "Goblins?" she asks, wiping crumbs from her mouth off on her sleeve before tugging on Iggy's hand to urge him to sit with her.

"Chiding you for being anywhere near that thing?" August asks, jerking his head at the carousel. He seems to realize belatedly that Dante isn't someone who might know about such things. His mouth flattens, and he seems ready to drop the subject. "There's a butcher in Hoquaim who deals in local game meat and local farms, if you've got a car and don't mind spending the money." And can cook, but August is going to flippantly assume everyone can do that until proven otherwise. "People around here eat bacon like it's all there is, but there's plenty else that tastes just as good."

Ropes gathered, August adds them to a pile of gear and starts loading the branches into a wheelbarrow. He gives Itzhak an upnod.

"Yes, Bayside. Mister Thorne gave me the grand tour and graciously offered me a short-term rental," says Dante to Alexander. The goblin comment makes him shake his head. "Ah, no, no goblins. Just a murderous ghost, apparently. One who only goes after Addingtons? Quite curious. A brand-new high-end building wouldn't be my first thought for a haunted locale." His smile is a little bit tight, a little bit...well, it's hard to read. Somewhere between concerned and amused?

His brows go up at August's butcher recommendation. "I'm English. I'm quite accustomed to eating more than beef, pork and chicken. The lack of lamb and rabbit is criminal."

"Okay," Itzhak murmurs back to Isolde. He squeezes her around the waist and lets her go. Running his hands through his curly black hair, he sighs explosively. Then goes over to kiss Finch on the top of her head and offer Ignacio a dap. "Good to see ya out, mano."

Alexander peers dubiously at Ignacio and his greeting. "I never know quite what you mean. But yes. I guess. It's nice that she cares enough to chide." He glances back and forth from August to Dante, resting on the latter. "Interesting. He told you about the Ghoul? I'm somewhat surprised. He must like you," is the investigator's opinion on the matter. A glance towards Isolde. "Itzhak's right, though. It'd be nice to not break your phone. Things are dangerous."

Isolde suppressed an eyeroll. Obviously breaking phones was not good! "I am going to get a new one later today." She assured Alexander. And doesn't elaborate further. She studied Dante curiously for a moment, because he was a new face to her. "Your accent is cool." She offers up to him finally with a cheery smile. Then pushed a hand through her hair, maybe to try and shake some of the sand out of it.

"He's got lamb, rabbit's a little hit or miss, they get stock issues with that one. And it's not open season here, so they don't get local hunters offloading it either. He's also got dove, this time of year he'll have plenty of other game birds, deer and elk in a few months." The mention of a mysterious ghost that only kills Addingtons brings August up short. He clears his throat, decides not to comment on that. He trades a glance with Alexander, goes back to loading his wheelbarrow. "Bayside's a nice place, though." There, that seems neutral enough.

"How're you holding up?" he asks Ignacio, eyebrows raised.

Ignacio still looks pretty tired as shit and like he's having a hard time truly focusing on anything. He is in fact out in public which is apparently some sort of feat for the errant 27 year old. "You're welcome, Alexander. someone's got to keep you on your toes." Isolde's mention of Goblins illicits an explaination from Ignacio to Finch asking, "Tiny. bitey. Green-grey. Live in the Misty Mountains. Son una verdadera perra." Whatever they are is not favorable. Looking up to the other author he squints an eye. Right, yes they met. It's Itzhak that pulls more words from him with the fistbump returned. "Hey, sorry about the thing the other day, mano."

Looking up to August he pauses and furrows an eyebrow . For whatever reason he's not getting the bullshit answer right now. "Rough? ...Holding. Working on hanging on right now."

Finch grins at the peck atop her head from Itzhak and offers him a, "Hey you," in returns. She looks over at Isolde curiously. "Do you need your phone fixed? Might be able to do that. Maybe." She looks to August as if the boss can confirm something that complex can be repaired.

"Well, I was nosy. I heard about the ruckus and asked to chat with him about it. It just came up in the course of the conversation," says Dante. "Though I hope when people meet me, they're more inclined to liking me than the alternative." He rocks on his heels and twitches a grin. He turns that grin towards Isolde and inclines his head, "Thank you. I come by it honestly."

"Bad job I'm a lousy hand in the kitchen," he says to August. "I'm actually going a bit stir-crazy food-wise. I miss a good curry, or something a bit more exciting than one of three meats and two veg, one of which is usuall potato. No offense. I try very hard not to be a snob. And I really shouldn't cast stones, given the traditional food of my homeland involves things like mushy peas and spotted dick."

Alexander nods to Isolde, accepting that. Finch gets a frown. "You don't have to repair a phone. There are more phones out there in the world, and there's no point attracting attention for something minor." His voice is stern, and he's staring at her for a long moment. Then sighs, and looks away, more towards Ignacio. "I...see. Thank you, then." Perfectly sincere. He shifts in place, glances to the author. "You can try Hoaquim. It's not far, and it has a bit more variation."

Isolde looks to Finch curiously as she is shaking out her hair. So she probably looks a little funny. "It is very, very broken. Not easily fixed." She had been really angry okay! "Cheaper to get a new one." Blue eyes flicking over towards Alexander briefly and then straightening up. Good enough. She'd take a proper shower and everything back at the house. Get the rest of it off.

August frowns at the idea of fixing a phone. "Not sure about that," he admits. "Next time I drop mine on the job I'll be give it a shot." He glances sidelong at Alexander, shrugs. "There's that too," he says around on a rueful almost-smile. It's no secret he's of Finch's mind on that sort of thing.

Now a real smile for Dante, and a bob of his eyebrows. "Hey if you can't cook, I think you give up your right to complain about what the town can offer." He sets his equipment on top of the branches in the wheelbarrow. He nods at Ignacio. "Okay. You need anything, let us know."

"Yeah, don't fix her phone." Itzhak's eyeing the cookies, thinking about how fast he'd have to be to filch one. "The border's thin lately. Billy's pulling it tight." He says it absently, not at all like a prophecy of doom.

Ignacio works on remaining quiet. It could be either his fellow European going off about food quality or Alexander speaking about not glimmering to fix a phone. His hand reaches down to grab Finch's and he doesn't even check to see if there's a chainsaw in hand or not. His chin rests on her shoulder and he focuses instead on making a bitey face that is an invitation of I made those for you but you can share one right?

Dante chuckles and nods towards August. "Yes, yes indeed. I can muddle through, but I certainly can't cook the food I'd like to be eating in ideal circumstances." He nods to Alexander. "Yes, a road trip might be in order. Perhaps I could gather some more tales from a little further afield while I'm at it."

Finch eyerolls at the cautioning about gathering attention. "Pretty sure we've already got their attention. But that's your choice." She takes Iggy's hand, the chainsaw safely on the ground now, and hands him a cookie as well. She exchanges a look with Roen. Oh they will SO be trying to fix a phone later. They're idiots like that.

Good luck guys! The phone is probably in the garbage by now! Isolde doesn't know. She left it at the house with her note for Alexander and jetted.

Isolde looks around a moment before deciding to settle on the ground, leaning forward a touch to rest her elbows on her thighs. Sitting was better than standing. Yes it was. "Who made the cookies?" Mostly just curious. And deciding how they visually compared to her cookies. Probably quite a bit better. If the question had been asked and answered already while she was here - she clearly missed it.

Alexander gives Finch and August long stares. Then a sigh. "You, especially, might want to take it easy," he mutters to August. "Byron told me you helped Miss Winslow. That seems hard for you." Not quite chiding, but a hint of exasperation. Then he turns back to Dante, and smiles. "Have you found any worth inclusion in your book?" He, at least, does not seem to be about to pounce on the cookies. Maybe just because he hasn't tasted Ignacio's cooking before.

August gives Itzhak a look which telegraphs he's real close to just asking Isolde for her phone so he can try, simply because two people have told him not to. He exchanges that look with Finch, expression turning neutral. Yeah, next broken phone is going to be a guinea pig, for sure.

"Seattle's got some great stuff. A bit of a drive but completely worth it. Thai, Vietnamese, Central American," a glance at Itzhak, and an apologetic wince. "Ah, probably not much in the way of Jewish delis, though." He shrugs about that.

He sniffs at Alexander, looks away. "I did it remotely," he says. "Which was...worse and better." He shakes his head. "If she's helping out on the ah," a furtive glance at Dante, "thing, she needs to be in good shape. No telling what's going to happen."

Itzhak catches the look August gives him and scowls ferociously at him, flinging both hands up. "So fix it! See if I care!" He gives up his cookie-stealing plans and stomps a yard or so away to light up another cigarette, muttering.

There's a lot of conversation flying back and forth, so Dante's completely missing what the big deal is with going to get a phone repaired. "Ah yes, I've been to Seattle. I've spent more time in Vancouver, though. I've some distant relations in the area." To Alexander, he says, "Mhmm? Oh, I've a few threads I'm chasing down. I've read the tale about this park, for instance. Or, well if it's actually true. I haven't dug into archives to know if it's actually the case."

"He cares," Alexander puts in, mildly. Like that actually has to be said.

"I don't have the phone." Isolde stares at the group, a little perplexed about why her phone getting fixed is suddenly a thing.

Finch watches Itzhak and sighs, before she hands Ignacio a cookie and nudges him to bring it to Itzy. Peace offering. "So, what else is going on? Besides goblins?" Because she's been nursemaiding Ignacio for a bit.

Alexander's eyes turn to Dante, with interest. "Oh? Which story about the park? There are several. You've got the homicides, of course. But also...you should come out in the early, early morning sometime around the zoo. You might see something interesting."

Ignacio looks to Finch and takes the cookie with the quiet understanding of Go calm your buddy there down. He takes it adding, "I care too." which extents enough to overtly imply, his concer. Does he get up though? No. "Zee? C'mere try this since your caring has been freed up and needs to go somewhere."

August starts to say something at Itzhak, stops, raises a hand to point, closes it into a fist. He shakes his head and looks away. "Fine," he says. "Fine! No fixing phones." He doesn't sound like he's just saying it to mollify Itzhak, he cuts a look at Finch and shakes his head. Phone repair is off for now.

With another surreptitious glance at Dante, August tells Isolde, "It wouldn't need to be." He raises his eyebrows to see if she follows. Another pause, and he adds, "Finch and I have really good range. But," his gaze moves to the angrily smoking Itzhak, "it sounds like we shouldn't."

"Interesting, or terrifying?" says Dante. He gets the sense that Alexander considers them one and the same. "The murders. These Addingtons seem particularly unlucky."

He's finally seemed to clue in that the others are dancing around something without naming it. He glances around, eyebrows lifting. And then he says, a bit cautiously, "Would it void the warantee?"

Isolde's headache is preventing her from caring too much about the phone and the consequences. But she is smart and keeps her mouth shut. Because she's just hungover. NOT DRUNK. Thank the lord. She pushes herself to her feet. "I am going to get a new phone. And then go home." She announces, primarily to Alexander. Then she walks over to Itzhak and Ignacio. Giving Itzhak's hand another squeeze. "I will call you with my new phone tonight okay? I'm sorry that I made you worry."

"Don't encourage them, Mister Taylor," Alexander says, a little sternly. Then sniffs. "Actually, not murderous or bloody at all. At least, that I've ever noticed." He turns, and gestures towards the zoo. "In the zoo, there's a white peacock. An unbearably vain bird of beautiful plumage who regularly escapes into the park. In the very early morning, he's been noted to have a friend, or a mate. Who is as jet black as he is white." A pause. "Peacocks, you will note, do not usually come in black, nor are they native to the Pacific Northwest." As Isolde speaks up, though, he frowns. "I'll walk you home." It's only barely an offer.

Itzhak sighs out a plume of smoke, and sets his cigarette down on the walkway, still lit. He squeezes Isolde's hand back. "Okay. Look, it's okay, just..." he shrugs awkwardly and leans over to kiss her cheek. "Just, I worry. See you later." Then he goes to sit his narrow ass down next to Figgy and Inch and accept the cookie. "Salud."

Ignacio looks up to Isolde and waves with one flutter of his fingers. "Hey. I'm 'Nacio. I'm his asshole friend. Nice t'meet you." He looks to Alexander no doubt causing more problems for him by saying, "Sometimes I wear black. We just preen less." Okay Ignacio may be rolling on something right now or need to be. 50/50 either way or he's on another wavelength. He looks to Itzhak giving him a glance over. There's a nod and a wait to see what he thinks of that.

Ignoring Alexander's admonishment about not being encouraged, August narrows his eyes, says, "Not if we make sure to fix all those little stickers they use to tell." He raises his eyebrows at Dante. "Good luck finding a new phone, Isolde." He takes up the wheelbarrow. "Be right back," he says, and heads out across the grass to the large white bucket truck in the distance.

Finch listens attentively about the peacocks. "Black peacocks? No such thing," and she would know. "I mean there are black shouldered peafowl, but not all black. Is it from...over There?" she asks, with the curiosity of, well, an ornithology masters candidate.

"Ah, curious," says Dante of Alexander's peacock story. "A peacock and its shadow? How's that for a chapter heading?" Then he cants his head. "I wonder what I could discover about peacocks and mythologies, other than Zeus probably transformed into one to have sex. I swear, he was the randiest bugger in all of mythology."

"See you later." Isolde says softly to Itzhak and then nods to Alexander. "Okay." She says simply. She know when she has a choice or not. This was not one of those times.

Alexander smiles at Dante. "There. See? And no murder. Which makes it an inferior story, but you seem a bit squeamish." Or maybe no one's just as big a fan of murder as Alexander is. COULD BE EITHER. He shrugs to Finch. "I don't know. I've seen it here, just before dawn. It's definitely a peacock and it's definitely pure black. I've never tried to catch it or read it or anything. That seemed unwise, and it's not hurting anyone that I can tell." He just sighs at August's practicality in the pursuit of Glimmering and grunts. "Going, now. Try not to die." A glance to Itzhak, and a warmer smile. "Good to see you." And then he heads over towards Isolde, to walk with her.

"Not quite," Finch corrects Dante. "It was Hera's sacred animal, when she turned Io into a cow to piss off Zeus, she sent the cow to Argos, the monster covered with eyes. Zeus ordered Hermes to kill Argos, but Hera removed all it's eyes before he got there, and transferred them to the tail of the peacock." Hey, when your family curse involves Greek monsters, you learn this stuff. She waves farewell to Isolde and Alexander.

Itzhak is a very disappointing food critic, to some. To others, the way he'll take a bite and immediately, viscerally react tells them everything. So when he bites the cookie, and then groans happily and stuffs the rest of it into his face, that's what he's got to say about Ignacio's foray into baking. He's so busy experiencing this cookie that he doesn't realize Alexander is walking off with Isolde until they're both on their way.

"Oh I'm not squeamish, my dear boy. Believe me. I've got a dark imagination. Or so the critics say," there's a bit of a drawl to Dante's words. He lifts a hand as Alexander moves off. Then Finch goes all mythological, and he snap-points. "Right. It was a swan." He side-eyes Itzhak when he groans, eyebrows arching. "My my."

August returns, sans wheelbarrow and gear and gloves. He moves to stand next to the bench. "So," he says, looking from Finch to Dante. "What's this about a black peacock, or something? Is it like all those other things people keep running into? Invisible dinosaurs and whatever?" He peers at Dante. "What, Zeus? He turned into one to get some, he didn't go after one." He pauses, shrugs. "Maybe that's splitting hairs."

Ignacio looks at Itzhak trying to pick up what he can off syntax. he blinks and smiles. Hand finding Finch's. Huh they actually did turn out alright! More than even. Mental note to Corey for a thanks there. Looking up he murmurs, "We talking about actual birds or theoretical ones and are they carnivores?"

Finch is already making plans to hit the zoo super early now, just to hunt down the elusive Dream Peacock. It's right up there with finding those Utahraptors in the forest and having one for a pet. Neither is a wise idea, but it's Finch. "Clayton said there's some sort of ghostly black peacock at the zoo really early in the mornings, hangs out with the white one that breaks out all the time." She offers the boss a cookie too, because they are too good to keep to herself. She's proud of Iggy's baking skills.

Itzhak licks a sweet buttery crumb off the pad of his finger, eyes closed in bliss. Then he goes still, realizing Dante is Noticing him do it. He clears his throat, goes red, and quirks a sassy eyebrow at him all at once.

"Zeus could theoretically change himself into anything, yes? And for some reason he chose a great bloody white bird." Dante grins when talk returns to peacocks. He really doesn't mean to look sharkish, but it seems to come naturally to him. "Perhaps it's a love story. Though if they're full plumaged, then we've got ourselves a same-sex netherbird romance. I haven't heard either of them described as a pea hen, after all."

And then, to Itzhak, he drawls, "Well don't stop on my account."

August accepts the cookie with a murmur of thanks, has a bite, and nods his approval at Ignacio. Tone bland, he says to Finch, "Well that definitely sounds like something you should investigate all by yourself without any help." He gives her a look to go with that tone in between bites of cookie, glances at the others (even Dante) for backup. Which is how he notices what's going on with Dante and Itzhak, and he has to look aside before he does something like laugh.

Ignacio just leans forward fingertips to forehead, "That's not funny, Boss." Everything in today is stressing him out. "So... early zoo trip that it? Cute birds that aren't going to eat us?"

"Sounds good," Finch says to Itzhak. "But we also need to take a less fun trip soon. Up to visit my Great Aunt, and maybe my mother. If you're willing to come with. I mean Iggy is a given, I don't want to speak for you, Itz, or Roen."

Itzhak grins lopsidedly at Dante. "I'd need more cookies." He gets up, picks up his smoldering cigarette and tucks it in his mouth. "'Course I'm gonna come with ya, Fincheleh. I only wouldn't if you didn't want me to. K?"

"I'm happy to go," August assures Finch. "We can even use my car," he cuts a look at Itzhak, "once that other situation's sorted." He clears his throat, says to Dante, "Well if you want to come catch a glimpse some time, let me know. I wouldn't mind getting a look myself." He glances down at the others. "Time to head back, get closed up." Which means the big white truck is departing for the shop, if anyone needs or wants a ride back.

Ignacio looks like he might be getting very overwhelmed slowly. It might be notable to Finch by how tight his hand is around hers. For all teh world he's calm on the surface. He's struggling but offers with encouragement, "See, we got a ride, Pajarito."

"Well, I'm going to head back home. The longer I stand here, the more I'm able to smell myself. Happy netherbird hunting, if that's what you do. Make sure to keep a sharp memory of the hunt, then come find me so you can recall your experiences." Dante grins around. To August, "Ah, best not bring me. Proof of the supernatural tends to flee in my presence. All these years poking 'round and I've yet to see much of anything."

"Thanks guys, I really appreciate it," Finch says sincerely. She can sense Iggy holding her hand ever tighter, and she knows that's the signal to get him someplace quiet for a while. "Yeah boss, we could use a ride." She gets up and helps haul Ignacio to his feet. She gives Dante a wave as well.