2019-09-19 - Never Have I Ever

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : Still alive?

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : Good evening, Alexander. Yes. You? How are you?

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : <<Attachment: A picture of a beautiful white ragdoll cat, staring curiously into the phone with big blue eyes>>

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : She's beautiful. Also look what Isolde sent me today.

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : She is demanding and loud and fuzzy. Oh?

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : ((Picture of Alexander, with Luigi on his shoulder and the cat, on the couch))

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : ::smiley face:: Oh, that. Yes.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : You now have a prominent place on my smartphone's lock screen.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : How was your day?

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : I get the smartphone lock screen? You must really like me. It was quiet. I've just been doing research, and that's not exciting. How about yours?

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : You do, but for all you know, I'm just admiring my handiwork. ::winky face:: Same. I've gotten a quick clip on the middle of my thesis. I'd tell you about it but you might find it dry.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : What are you researching?

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : Just associates of the deceased, any recent money or business troubles, all of that. Lot of phone calls and public records searches. And I'd find your thesis interesting, although I might not understand most of it. But if you want a quietly adoring audience, let me know?

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : ::laugh emoji:: You're sweet. And is that a promise? The quietly adoring audience?

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : Mmm. Of course! I shall languish at your feet and stare up at you with rapt fascination.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : Well, then, the pressure is on, which means I'll regale you with it once the first draft is ready. I'll eventually have to go back to Oxford to defend it, but you might find this part of my thesis interesting. Have you heard of the Naos of the Decades?

[FS3 Rolls] <FS3> Alexander rolls Have I Heard Of It?-3: Failure (5 1)

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : No, I don't believe it rings a bell at all. Tell me?

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : When it was found, the archaeologists who discovered it didn't know what it was at first, but it's a monolith which lists Egyptian decans on it and decodes their astrological meaning - think of it as an ancient occultic Rosetta stone. Decans are ten-degree asterisms that lie just off the ecliptic and were initially used by the Egyptians for time-keeping purposes until they decided to use it for their star divinations. But the find is significant because until then, experts didn't think the Ancient Egyptians had developed an advanced system for decanic astrology until the first or second century BCE. The stone is dated to at least the fifth century BCE, meaning it is much older. I mean...Mesopotamian and Babylonian traditions still hold the distinction of being the oldest forms of divination known to man but it seems that by at least that time, the Egyptians were giving them some serious competition. It's significant to my work in two ways - firstly, because Hellenistic astrology was originally a hybrid of Mesopotamian and Egyptian systems, which is directly related to my specialties in Ancient Greek and Roman culture. Secondly, the four most recently found fragments of the Naos of the Decades were recovered in East Canopus during the excavations of the European Institute of Underwater Archaeology.

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : There are at least three words in that conversation I will need to look up, later. But it sounds fascinating. So, it's essentially a textbook for Egyptian astrology from a time earlier than anyone thought they had astrology?

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : Precisely. Oh, Alexander, I really DO like you!

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : There aren't many outside of the discipline who would think so, let alone parse it down so succinctly.

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : What's not to find interesting? Knowing that people so long ago took an interest in the stars, the tides of fate, and had the technology and sophistication to do so in an orderly way, even if it's not what we would think of as scientific? It's amazing. Heartening. And I really like you, too.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : There are times when I think that people back then were more open minded regarding exploration than some in the later eras. There was so much we didn't know about the world in the ancient times, it was rife for innovation and invention. Not to say there aren't incredible discoveries being made every day in our current time, but to be presented with such a clean slate, to definitively shape the world and what's to come this way? My pulse races just thinking about it. Is that strange?

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : I don't think so. There's an excitement in a blank slate, in not knowing what you don't know.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : Absolutely. I'm certain you can relate to that very well, can't you? The curiosity?

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : Always. Although for me...I want to fill in the spaces. Replace the boundlessness with borders and reality. But it's not simple.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : Give me an example.

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : Murders. Always a mystery, always difficult to solve completely. The who, the how, fine. But the why? It's often deeper than it appears.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : It's bound to be the most difficult question. Motive, means, and opportunity, yes? Means and opportunity can be determined by forensics and chronology. Motive is rooted on the human element, and that's always unpredictable. But if you know that, then you have the key to the door.

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : Yes. But the human element is ultimately the most important. Because it is a choice. Why do some people make it? Others don't?

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : Is this what you always ask yourself first when you're on a case? Or do you assess the others first?

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : If it's an unsolved case, practicalities first. If it's a historical case, I like to think more deeply about it.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : Like a...what's the term for it. A cold case? Do you get those often?

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : No one hires me to investigate cold cases. But I have an extensive research library.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : A database that you put together yourself?

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : Something like that.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : What goes in it? Or do you limit it to old case files?

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : It's a lot of things. Things that catch my interest. Rumors, old historical records, things like that.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : Aha, like Sherlock Holmes, then. Have I told you I really like you today?

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : You have. And I suppose there are some similarities. I don't use cocaine, though.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : And I'm assuming you're not a violinist, though you do apparently have some musical inclinations. Which I've yet to wheedle you into demonstrating for me, Mr. Clayton.

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : I am not a violinist. That's Itzhak. I will sing for you, if you like. I make no promises as to quality. It's been a long time.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : I would like that. Maybe at some point during our road trip to Seattle? I don't think I ever acquired a modicum of artistic ability.

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : Sure. Car singing is a grand tradition. And it's probably for the best. Smart, adventurous, and artistic? The world is not ready.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : ::laugh emoji:: Doesn't that describe you, though? Or are you not that confident with your ability to enrapture an audience?

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : I think that is an overly kind descriptor of me, my dear. In many ways. I'll leave the enrapturing of others to you.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : Well, if it'll make you feel better, I very much intend to collect hard evidence in our upcoming road trip before definitively making that conclusion. And speaking of being overly kind! I'd be lucky if said others didn't flee after five minutes of talking to me once I really get going. ::laugh emoji::

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : Though if I've enraptured you somehow, I am more than happy with that.

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : I find the idea of fleeing you to be incomprehensible.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : You do?

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : In general, yes.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : ...it's not because I've a predisposition to chase after the fleeing person to have a proper confrontation, so the pragmatic option would be to stand still in hopes that I don't sense movement, is it?

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : That is a practical consideration.

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : ::smiley face::

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : ::laugh emoji:: You're terrible.

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : You said it. I was just being agreeable like a good boyfriend.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : I...

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : You are that, aren't you? Wow. I...

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : This is a first. I've never had one before.

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : I've never had a girlfriend before. So. If we screw it up, we can claim ignorance.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : You can be very assertive when you want to be, Mr. Clayton. ::smiley face::

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : Sometimes. If it's important.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : ((bouncy bouncy dots))

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : Oh no. Now I suddenly wish you were here.

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : Well, it's storming outside, but I don't fear lightning. I could be there in a bit. I'll have to get out of my wet clothes, though. If that won't shock and offend you.

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : ::devil emoji::

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : ::angel emoji:: Well, considering my newfound status, I suppose I should take my duties seriously in ensuring that you don't get a cold. Like getting you out of said wet clothes. Warm you up so you don't get a chill. I have it on good authority that the most effective way to stave off hypothermia is to share body heat. So I hope that doesn't shock and offend you.

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : I guess we'll just have to try it, and see if I faint from shock. Experimentation. For science.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : I mean the two of us are academics in a way. Researchers. Thinkers. This is purely a collection of empirical data so we can make accurate conclusions. Isn't that what we do? Test out different theories and permutations in a practical, hands-on manner?

(TXT to Isabella) Alexander : That sounds like a solid plan, soon-to-be Dr. Reede. Test and retest. I'll be there shortly. Don't die.

(TXT to Alexander) Isabella : I won't. Just get here. And then you can tell me whether you prefer red or black.