2019-10-28 - Stand By Me

Joey doesn't walk so much as plod to the end of the gravel drive of Kelly's Gym. one hand rests in the pocket of his leather jacket. His other hand texts a message out to Nicole, and another back to Byron. Looking up he looks one way down the street and then back down the street. Which end to start at. He picks a direction and heads away from industrial for now. He stops and turns to check the industrial yards that are fenced in for now not ruling out security dogs until Nicole or Byron text him back.

Heavy black boots cross concrete sidewalk, pavement, and stone as hardened and broken as the man walking it. The industrial zone turns up little, but you can't tell with an auto-wash. He does convince the soda machine in front of said car wash to cough up a soda by thunking his fist into it like the spirit of Arthur Fonzerelli has blessed him. He takes his Dr. Pepper from it and starts walking to house one.

Alexander doesn't live all that far from Kelly's Gym, although that's probably a source of aggravation more than a convenience. To whom is left as an exercise for the observer. Either way, the little rental house he pays for has been badly neglected with the flu and everything, so Alexander has been out almost every good day where he doesn't have other work trying to set things right. The lawn has finally been mowed, and the few shrubs carefully trimmed. Recently, his mailbox was smashed and he ended up with a car in the front yard, so now he's putting in the replacement. He's wearing an oversized sweatshirt and jeans, along with workboots and heavy work gloves, and he's just finished pouring some concrete around the post in the ground.

Amazingly, he's managed to accomplish this task without hammering himself, spilling concrete on himself, or getting splinters anywhere. He steps back to look at it, a bit proudly, before seeing Joey in the distance, starting to walk. His head comes up, and he wipes some sweat off his forehead as he frowns in the man's direction. He looks down at the concrete. That isn't going anywhere. He takes off his gloves, and tosses them and his tools just inside his door, before he starts to walk down the street, closing in on Joey, his expression wary and thoughtful.

Getting the text from Joey while she was at home, which is in the trailer park, Nicole comes walking down the road eventually, wearing a typical lounging around the house outfit of galaxy print leggings, a rose pink-hued oversized sweatshirt with a dark purple yoga bra underneath, and a pair of Converse low top Allstars slipped onto her feet, ponytail swinging side to side behind her as she walks. She sees him way up there, but texts him anyway, asking Joey what's up, etc. But he said he needed her help, so she is on her way.

When Nicole comes by the sidewalk Joey's hopping back over someone's side fence to their house with a one handed vault so he doesn't drop his soda. yes, he took it with him. He walks away from the intrusion and checks his phone looking at the Where R U text and gives one sharp whistle as an alert before wandering over to Nicole. "Heeeey you made it." The faintest smile appears from his matter-of-fact surveillance of the street. He thumbs over his shoulder. "Wasn't there." The bang bang banging isn't lost as he squints a look to Alexander, then to Nicole, then back. Oh this is no good. Looking back he gives Nicole's cheek a smooch, "Wanna go drive up his blood pressure with me? It's fun. It's like jogging with none of the effort. Good for the heart."

All Joey has to do is stand there to accomplish that. Although Alexander would probably call it loitering. Possibly loitering with intent, judging from the narrow-eyed look he's giving the Kelly. His expression shifts a bit when Nicole joins Joey and receives a smooch - curious as much as anything. He hums to himself, and stops to watch them, arms crossed over his chest, a frown on his face. Yep. He clearly wants to be friends!

"Hey" Nicole says to Joey with a smile, placing her hand on his back as he leans in for that cheek smooch. "What are we looking for again?" She waves her phone in the air. "Your text wasn't super clear." She slips the phone in the made-just-for-phones pocket of her leggings then looks towards that banging sound as well. "Raise someone's blood pressure other than my own?" She smiles brightly. "How could I say no?" Seeing the man in question now looking their way, Nicole tilts her head, ponytail swaying, and waves.

Ain't she somethin? She has the audacity to be friendly while loitering with purpose. Joey looks to Nicole then up up up the sidewalk to Alexander in his yard. Joey lifts his soda and taking another drink. Side nodding for her to walk with in a repair-zone-wardly direction he plods over with her. His boots stop JUST SHY of the edge of Alexander's property. "How's it comin along? You don't have a dog do you?" Hell of a way to greet people, Kelly.

All right. That's not what Alexander expected Joey to open with, if he opened with anything at all. His brow furrows for a moment as he considers the question. "No. I have a cat and a green cheeked conure. I'm not looking to acquire a dog. Why?" Just in case this is somehow a preamble to a collection of puppies to be given away or something. He glances towards Nicole. "I've seen you before. You were--" there when the gym was on fire. Oh. He clears his throat, suddenly bashful, and doesn't complete the sentence. Instead, he just says, quickly, "Nice to meet you. Alexander Clayton."

She -is- something! What better way to raise someone's blood pressure than be friendly when they expect otherwise? She walks over towards Alexander's house with Joey, stopping when he does, even if she isn't aware why he stops when he does. Idly, when Alex mentions a green-cheeked conjure, she puffs her cheeks out for a split second. She nods then. "Yep, you have. Nicole. Nicole Stein," she says, leaning forward with an extended hand in greeting. "Seen you here and there I think... Nice to officially meet."

While it may have taken him some time to get to the fast food joint from the Apartments, the distance between there and Elm isn't terribly far. Now that Byron's on the road, he reaches the designated location quickly enough. Does he know where Alexander lives? He knows that it's in the area and the trio aren't difficult to spot when he's passing by in his rented Benz. Thus, unlike a drunk previously, he pulls up into Clayton's driveway without wrecking the mailbox in repair and steps on out.

What may have taken a while to begin with is that Byron changed out of his suit and tie into something more Elm street. No need to attract attention, right? Besides the car... It's not his Rolls, but it is a beautiful luxury vehicle. Dressed in a black sweater with a gray hoodie thrown over it, dark pants, black boots and a pair of leather gloves on his hand, Byron brings out packages of burgers, onion rings and hot coffee. Enough for THREE people. Was he enthused when told that Joey was wandering Clayton's way? Probably not, but he got food and drink for the third party anyway-- which will now probably go to Nicole since she's here.

So with a package of deliciously smelling 'bad for you' food in one hand and a cardboard drink container with three large hot cappuccinos in the other, he approaches the group with an amused enough smile on his features, "Looks like I showed up just in time. You both look like you're about to dispute over property lines."

Joey pans slowly to the Benz pulling up. He murmurs in gravely tone, "Well well. Right on time." Right on TIME?!is he inviting people over to Alexander's place now? He looks back to listen with inscrutable expression. (Go ahead scrute away and try it!) Taking the bag from Byron he takes the twenty he's slipped into his back pocket and passes it to him and starts up the drive. "Why would I fight over his property? His mailbox don't even fuckin work. He can keep it." He adds on to Alexander, "You got napkins right?" Unbelievable. He stops at the porch stoop though. "Nah lookin for somethin." He sets the bag down between his feet and passes one to Nicole. "S' for you." And digs out another unfolding it to take a bite out of it like it owes him money.

"Ms. Stein," Alexander says, gravely. He offers a nod, then stares at her hand for a long moment. He makes no move to take it, although his expression isn't unfriendly. Well. Not unfriendly when looking at Nicole. He's a lot more complicated when Byron pulls up in his driveway and Joey speaks like this was arranged. Alexander's brow furrows, and he reaches into his jeans pocket to look at his phone. Did he miss texts? No. No, he didn't. Byron gets a bemused sort of nod of greeting. "Thorne." And then he's following Joey up the walk because hey, that's his house. "I have napkins," he mutters, and after a moment, moves past Joey to open the door. There's a birdcall from inside, and a white cat with blue eyes saunters over to stare out at the unfamiliar people. Alexander clicks his tongue at her, then says, to the three outside, "You can come in. If you want. What are you looking for?"

He goes to fetch napkins, leaving the door open just a crack.

Nicole watches the Benz roll up curiously, smiling when Byron gets out of the car. With her hand not accepted in greeting Alexander, Byron gets a one-handed, one arc of a wave. She follows Joey to the stoop when he holds a burger out for her, drawn in by food. "Thanks... I've kind of been craving a burger. How'd you know?" He didn't, of course. Five Guys just seems his goto. Unwrapping the burger, she peeks into the house, looking at the cat that peers out. "Nicole is fine," she calls after Alexander, tilting her head as if that will help her voice travel inside. Joey attacks his burger and Nicole makes sure it is unwrapped neatly in a way that will hold in anything that might try to fall out before taking a careful bite.

It's a good thing that Byron took out some onion rings before Joey went to snatch the whole bag away. However, he wasn't planning on coming here to eat, despite the food. So while he's chewing on greasy onion rings, he extends the coffee container in Nicole's direction first. "Nicole, If you want one. It's a cappuccino to warm up on this cold day." He's familiar enough with the woman. They were in the same graduating year after all and hung out with some of the same crowd.

"Clayton." He'll finally say in greeting, almost immediately after Alexander addresses him by name. He then looks the house over with what could be an appraising gaze. He hears the sound of a bird and sees the cat at the window. "Cozy place you got here." This is Elm after all! You don't expect much from Elm street houses. He's obviously driven by Alexander's house many a times in the past, just didn't realize that this is where he lived.

Once the onion rings in hand are gone, he claims his own cup of coffee. The last is for Joey, unless he declines. He'll follow along and lean over to set the container with the remaining cup on the porch steps before straightening.

"We're here looking for something. A white dog house. The sooner, the better, I figure." Then again, he's impatient and has things to do usually. Like his festival is coming up. Flipping the plastic spill cover from the cups lid, he takes a sip, "So what did you find out?" This is asked to Joey.

Joey looks to Nicole and says in the same serious tone he always has, "Well I didn't have enough to get you FIve Guys so you get Three Guys an d a burger." Smart ass. Though when Alexander offers napkins and a table he considers a what the hell and follows him. "Careful. Cat." Hey he's not necessarily a 'cat guy' or an animal person per se but he's not a heartless dude in that regard to be negligent about this shit. He does take the coffee carrying that and his now empty Dr. Pepper can inside. Alexander can have teh dime. "Yeah he called me to look. Said it's on Elm St. I found one. Four houses down. Says Fifi on it. Little anklebiter. I got a shitty pic of it with my phone." Looking to Alexander and Nicole he says, "Someone apparently lost something or wants to build something. Dunno. We gotta find em and get the pictures back so she can sort out some shit." He takes another bite shaking his head and pointing to Byron, "I got him to bring me food so I'm helping."

Alexander's house is actually one of the larger rentals on Elm; a three-bedroom single level. Inside, it's shabby, with boring carpet and walls and minimal furniture, although everything is very neat and tidy. Seating and table space is limited. There's a sofa in the living room, and a coffee table, but no proper kitchen table. Instead, the 'dining' space is taken up with racks that have small potted plants - herbs and flowers that can grow inside and which give the air a faint scent of green growing things. There's a large bird cage in the corner and a smallish green bird bouncing on top of it, tossing some plastic rings around. The cat stares up at Nicole, or possibly at her burger, and goes miaow in an imperious sort of way. She doesn't try to leave, though.

Alexander peels a collection of paper towels from a roll on the counter. These are thrust at Joey, and he looks exasperated but not particularly surprised that only Joey came in. "What noun does the adjective modify?" he asks, with a frown at Joey. "Is it a doghouse which is white, or a house for a white dog?" Alexander takes the can and tosses it into the recycling bin. Then he makes a shooing motion at Joey, even as Blue Bell skirts the other man's ankles, then throws herself at Alexander's, making him have to shuffle and dance before he trips over her. "In or out. All of you. I don't care which one it is, but make a choice." That, loud enough to reach outside as well. Then, "I think there's a doghouse just a couple of cross streets down, on the right. I don't remember what color it is. Never seemed important." His voice rises again. "Thorne, why are we looking for doghouses? Are you embracing the tiny house development movement? Because I don't think that's what they mean."

Fingers curl around the cup of coffee as Nicole smiles at Byron. "How can I say no to a good cappuccino? Thank you, Byron." She now has one hand with coffee, the other with a burger, but she seems content with that for now. At Joey's joke, she makes a 'hur dur' kind of face and shakes her head with a small laugh before following him inside. "Did a dog run off with it and bury it?" Nicole asks of Joey then shrugs. "I'll help however I can."

Once inside, Nicole looks around with a gentle nod before the cat's meow brings her attention down. Her hands are still full, so she can't just lean down and pet the thing. Eventually, it wanders off towards Alexander's ankles though.

There goes Joey into Alexander Clayton's house with the bag of food in hand. The sound of the rental Mercedes Benz's alarm can be heard turning on and rather impatiently, Byron follows the group in. While he's curious about the way other people live, the look that he gives the interior of Clayton's home is a mere mild scan. If Thorne is truly studying and memorizing every nook and cranny of the space, he isn't showing.

"If I knew there'd be four, I would've bought extra." He says, sticking his hand into the bag for his burger. The animal companions are given a look. Birds don't really do much for him, but he shows some interest in the cat, at least. He doesn't wander over to try and pet it. Instead, he bites into his burger and chews before he gives out any answers.

Alexander's little joke gets the smallest hint of a smile from Thorne, but his gaze diverts when he informs the group, "This is a personal matter for Magnolia Jones. She woke me up last night, telling me that she was in a Dream. Her father was there." A pause, "He wanted us to find a white dog house on Elm, so here we are." He takes another bite, then murmurs, "Like I said, it's a personal matter."

For most everyone here, they probably know that Magnolia's father, Detective Nathaniel Jones and his partner, Detective Morgan, disappeared some time around the current day, back when most of them in this room were twelve years old. Same year that Byron's police detective father killed himself. A little bit of local lore right there.

Joey looks back to Alexander, "We're not trying to modify anything. The damn doghouse is already built." You'd think Alexander would have learned from the elevator on this one. He does have to agree, eating and stepping in because he is in his own way, nosy. Also napkins are in here which gets a murmured 'thanks'. He hands one to Nicole. "Yeah." Bringing up Magnolia's missing dad pulls his attention to Byron. One eyebrow arches, "Shit. This some sort of scooby doo clue thing?" Looking to Nicole he reasons, "Maybe she remembered something that's important." He pauses and looks to Alexander. "Across the street couple down? This way or...?" he points one direction leaving that a yes/no.

Alexander's eyes flicker when Byron mentions Magnolia's father and his partner. "I remember them," he says, softly. Which, of course, he would, considering how much young Alexander stuck his nose in the business of the police. "All right. Can I help?" There's a dismissive little shake of his head at the idea of Byron bringing enough food for him. Like it wasn't something he'd even expect. Blue Bell, for her part, after her attempt to trip Alexander failed miserably, inspects the rest of the people with interest. Joey, Nicole, and finally Byron get the same sort of feline greeting: a cautious sniff at a pants legs, then a twining around their ankles, if she's allowed. The conure does not seem near as friendly, and although it makes a disturbingly human-sounding chuckle from the corner, it doesn't venture off the top of its cage. Just bends down to ring a bell.

Alexander just gives Joey a look. "Kelly...never mind. It's that way," he points in the direction opposite from the way Joey was coming. "And, it could be. Something remembered." He seems dubious, but willing to go along with that explanation.

Nicole listens closely to Byron's explanation of what they are looking for and why. She gives him a bit of a wide-eyed dark stare of curiosity but doesn't ask any questions at the moment. Amazing how so many of them had tragic stories of their childhood, and how so many of those very people are the ones that end up in the tightest circles (usually). Taking the napkin and nodding to Joey, she says, "yeah... maybe. Dreams are tricky like that sometimes." Looking between him and Alexander, she takes a sip from her coffee then says, "so what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"I told her that I didn't like the sound of this." Byron starts after taking another bite of burger and chewing. "I asked if she believed the man in her Dream to be her real father. She said no. Still, he, it took the form of Detective Jones and told her to find a white dog house." Most of that is said in a matter-of-fact way, but at the very end his jaw tightens, something which resonates in his wary tone now, "I told her that it could be a trap. Which is why I'm glad that she's not here right now," His eyes look at the others, "And we are. Though this was more people than I was expecting to get into this." He doesn't turn Alexander's offer of help down.

He watches as Blue Bell sniffs at his shoes and pants hem then tries to get its fur all over him. "Cute cat you got there." He'll at least comment on that with a smile; crouching down so that the feline can take a sniff at what's left of his burger, though he does't expect it to show much more interest than that. "If you found us a dog house, then yeah. We probably ought to check it out." He'll pet the fur ball with his free gloved hand before rising to stand once more.

Joey just stares at Alexander. Joey Kelly is crafty and clever, not particularly academic or read at all. Getting the answer gets a "Thanks you." He finishes his burger and balls up the foil in one hand crushycrushycrushy and looks for where to...put...Recycling! Found it. It gets an easy lob to in there. Looking to Nicole he shrugs. "Sure. We-" He stops to look to Byron and just squints a look at him. "You didn't want her to get hurt?" That part is understandable. It takes no mentalist to read the subtext But you didn't tell me? Ah well. "Great if it's a big big dog and it eats me? I'm haunting you B and telling Lilith on you."

"It's dubious, to be certain," Alexander agrees with Byron. "But it's not the first time useful information has been conveyed by a dream. Or a Dream." He also nods at the idea of it being a trap, though, because it's really never a bad assumption where visions, dreams, and apparitions are concerned. For her part, Blue Bell takes a dainty sniff of the burger, and makes an appreciative miaow, before giving Byron's gloved hand an affectionate chin rub. One doesn't have to read minds to read the tone of the gesture: Yes, human, you make an acceptable servant. She accepts the pets with all the dignity of born royalty, before returning to Alexander and raising up on her hind paws and putting her forepaws on his thigh, claws showing as she stretches her head up towards him. Miaow. Alexander gives her a few scratches behind the ears, and tells her, mock-stern, "Don't let it go to your head, Blue Bell." The cat gives a cocky little swish of her tail, then drops back down to saunter over to the couch, to sit there like the owner of the house, judging the guests.

Joey just get a return stare, although there's an approving nod at cleaning up after himself and using the recycling. The interplay between the two men is watched with dark eyed interest, but he moves to hold the door open so that everyone can leave and he can close and lock it behind them. Especially around this time of year, the house of Crazy Clayton is at some small risk for pranks and eggings. "Dogs won't be a problem," he says, quietly. "A nervy homeowner with a pistol might be, though."

Nicole studies Byron as he speaks. She isn't really paying much attention to the cat at the moment, but Blue Bell seems content with her audience anyway. Thoughtful, her lips twist a bit to the side before she takes a distracted bite of her burger, big eyes on Joey now. Chewing then swallowing, she says, "I'm just gonna stay behind you all then... I didn't realize this was a dangerous dog we were looking for...." Her head swiveling so she can look to Alexander, she asks, "so this is one of those... weird dreams?" She nibbles at the corner of her lip before deciding another bite of burger would be better.

"Hopefully, this is nothing." Byron reaches the cat petting hand into his hoodie pocket to pull out his phone to view the messages again. "All I was told was to find a white dog house on Elm street. Once that's found, I don't know what we're meant to do with it. Hopefully," He repeats the word again, adding emphasis there, "There's no dog to go with this dog house. But when are we ever that lucky?" That's when he finds it, "She did mention digging up under the dog house, so there's that." The phone is then slipped back into his pocket, "First things first, we find the thing, but I'd rather not go empty handed." He turns to look at Alexander, "I'll assume that you own a shovel."

After he's finished with his burger, he snatches his cup of coffee from off the table and looks ready to head on out. "I believe so, yes." He responds to Nicole about the dream thing. "Do you know who lives over at Fifi's?" He asks, catching Joey's gaze with a returned grin, "Let's just hope it's a dog, if anything."

Joey murmurs top Alexander, "Well shit they won't be the first person to put a bullet in me this fuckin fall." After the fact he pauses only to flinch. Well shit he wasn't going to bring it up but there it is. At the digging Joey looks to Byron with that same look that is usually accompanied by the words Gonna shake you til your teeth rattle, but he doesn't threaten B. "We gonna have a talk later man." Looking to Alexander he says, "Give me the shovel. I'll do the damn digging.. He's been working all day and you ain't gonna in that so." And he's not asking Nicole to play rabbit and dig a damn hole.

Walking across the street he stops and turns around looking to Byron and stares. He does a lot of that. Without explanation he starts off not towards the house intended but back down the sidewalk. The hell is he off to? He looks at them like he's expecting them to catch up and also not let Nicole be a snack food for this crazy venture. "All dreams are weird. Anything universally weird is status quo and can't be weird so no. No weirder than anything else, Nicole." Sure he doesn't know what conjugate means but now he's a fucking philosopher.

Alexander offers a nod to Nicole. "Probably. It'll be alright," he tells her, with a brief smile. "Probably."

"So. We're gonna talk to these homeowners and ask before we go trespassing in their yards and digging under their doghouses. Right?" It's Joey and Byron who take the brunt of Alexander's sardonic look, although he freezes in place when Byron makes that assumption. "I do." He turns and heads to an external storage closet, unlocks it, and brings out a shovel, which is casually rested on his shoulder as he locks it back, and rejoins the group in time to hear Joey's murmur. His eyebrows go up and he looks - oh dear - quite interested. "Yeah?" He makes no move to hand Joey the shovel, but he does follow along behind the man, his eyes dark and thoughtful on his back.

Nicole finishes her burger while all this is going on, her eyes darting from man to man. She tosses the wrapper, taking her cappuccino with her as she walks outside with the others. Her steps stop short when Joey talks about bullets in him, giving him a look and seeming as if she thinks, at first, maybe she didn't hear him right. No, she's pretty sure she did, and her eyes narrow as she lets out a 'hmm'. Joey is in all business mode now, stalking across the street. After a moment, her feet start working again and she heads after him. She can't really argue with his logic on dreams and matters of weirdness, so she just shrugs and sips her coffee. "Where are you going?" she asks, noting he is not headed where she thought he was supposed to.

Nodding to Alexander, she says, "probably, you're right." She doesn't seem too worried yet. Yet being the operative word.

Byron doesn't seem too bothered when Joey tells him that he'd like a word. Later. Byron didn't tell him to bring a date on this excursion! And he did mention that they got his information from a dream so take it as you will. Nevertheless, once they got the shovel and are outside to the street, he'll take a look down the road, seeing if anyone else might have a dog in their yard. Once outside and Joey seems to be leading them in another direction, he looks behind him at that perfectly good white dog house in the yard behind them. "Alright. I thought you said that was it." He murmurs. Either way, he shrugs, though now he's getting annoyed. Joey /better/ know of another white dog house in the neighborhood.

Joey has the shovel by way of Alexander being the one to brandish it. Is shovel squire a job title? He might suggest this. Alexander gets a sigh as he plods along confirming Nicole's curiosity, "Yuuuuup." He stops when Nicole asks. Sure, she gets the special treatment of not being snapped at. Pointing to Byron he says to her, "He said they ain't got no dog in it so I'm gonna take a wild fucking guess at starting with one of the two houses for sale in which sake they would not have either a dog nor an owner."

He pauses and looks to Byron and Alexander "Either way we won't have to ask permission unless someone's haunting the damn place then they generally ain't going too far. If she's thinking about this now I'm guessing if they dead they ain't gonna care we're diggin some holes." Turning around he heads back down to the house that is for sale and lo' has structures in the back it seems not that they are in any more glorious shape than the rest of the house is. Welcome to Elm St. It ain't nice but it's ours.

Alexander, shovel squire. Maybe he wouldn't mind it. Either way, he seems slightly more comfortable at the idea that they're just trespassing in an abandoned house rather than somewhere that might have a grumpy homeowner. He does give Nicole a brief smile at her 'hmm'. His attention returns to Joey at the confirmation and the sigh. Oh the questions he clearly wants to ask. SO many questions. Probably pointed ones. But for the moment, he doesn't, as they've already got one mystery to handle. "Did Miss Jones have any idea what she was looking for under these doghouses? Are we looking for a body, or...?"

She may not know what she's getting herself into, but when has that stopped her before? Nicole nods to Alexander. "Very good question...."

"I didn't say that." Byron is quick to murmur about the 'no dog' business. "I just said that there could be a dog or it could be something entirely. Or nothing at all. The only thing I was told was: 'Find the white dog house.'" He then finishes with, "Then Maggie mentioned the digging, so it could've been something she was told to do. For all we know whatever we're looking for is inside the dog house not under it, but the shovel is there just in case."

There's only mild look of skepticism on Byron's face when rather than look at the dog house that's actual right there, Joey decides to wander to some vacant lots that could possibly have a white dog house. Or just a dog house. "No, Magnolia didn't say. All she said was." And here, Byron feels like he's sounding like a broken record, but he stops himself from repeating what he'd just said. "The thing that took on Detective Jones' body told her to find the white dog house on Elm." He'll add that last part now.

When they come to the vacant lot in question, he's follows the group around the back. The place really was overgrown. Who would want to buy it in this condition, he has to wonder. It's a decent sized yard for Elm. He follows the group around the back, curious eyes looking towards the house now and into those dark windows.

Joey Arches an eyebrow and looks to Byron and considers this, "Well if you actually sit there and go hey Joe, here's the whole thing and not do a reveal like a game show like you know you love doin my head get less screwed up. But... I like you so, either way why don't we hit up the places we know no one is there and see what we got. I got one of them feelin things." Because if anyone would tell Joey he's a physicalist you know the response would be I own a gym. Of course I work out.

As it so happens he happens to be passively innate at finding the weird shit he's looking for sometimes and know where to head off to. Right now it's one block down to an abandoned house.

Rolling up on that house he plants a hand on the fence and is up over it in an easy lob looking around. T eh dark windows reflect back the dust of memories abandoned and moved on from. It's pretty clean. There's a few things in there. The kitchen still has a stepladder and a boom that have been left behind. The back yard is mostly dirt and weeds and very little lawn. The lawn, in this case, lost the fight and has been reclaimed by the indigenous flora. Lo, in the back corner of the yard, however, is a white dog house that might as well have Snoopy on it. The dirtl that is in the area of the 'sandbox' it's resting in is cluttered with weeds.

"So, Nicole," Alexander murmurs to Nicole, moving to fall in beside her, "tell me about yourself? How'd you find yourself chasing strange dreams with stranger people?" He doesn't mean it to sound like a demand for information, but it sort of comes out that way. He seems to realize that, and tries to soften it with a smile. He scans the abandoned house and lot rather suspiciously, like there might be someone there to ambush them, but doesn't hesitate to follow Joey into it. And maybe his lips twitch a little at Joey's rebuke to Byron, but he stays out of it otherwise.

He does focus in on the doghouse as it comes into view, wandering over to take a look at it. "...Alpha Jones," he murmurs, pointing at the placard. "That'd be a little on the nose for a clue, but sometimes people get arrogant. Or want a reminder for the future." He offers the shovel to Joey. "You want to give it a go?"

Joey looks to the gathered and eyes Byroon. He turns and gives the guy a pat on the shoulder with a brief squeeze. "Look we all worked all day. You're helpin someone out so let's just dig while no one's complaining and see what happens. We'll help her out." That's about as Joey an apology as it gets.

Nicole is rather quiet as she walks along with the others, listening, absorbing the bits of info placed here and there like breadcrumbs leaving a trail to the house made of candy... or in this case, a white dog house. She finds Alexander falling in step beside her and smiles at him. "I dunno. Joey texted like, 'hey, wanna help me find something?' and I said sure." Shoulders lift in a shrug, the oversized neckline falling off one to show that purple strap. "I didn't know this was all about a dream until, well, Byron said so. So.... I don't really know. I've always had weird dreams but lately, shit seems even weirder. I don't get it." Looking down at her feet a moment as she walks she adds, "maybe this is all just a dream and I am going crazy. Who knows, but I guess I am along for the ride of it."

By the time she is done talking, they've arrived at the house and Joey's hopped the fence. Unlike Alexander, she does take pause, standing on the sidewalk looking around for a moment. Perhaps she's playing lookout, or maybe she's reluctant to jump a fence. After a moment though, she either gets over that reluctance or decides she doesn't want to miss out on the fun and goes over to climb the fence. It's not a fluid jump over like Joey, but, she manages well enough. After taking in the appearance of the back yard she looks to Joey as Alexander hands him the shovel. "Hey Kelly, it's kind of hot out. Might want to take your shirt off before you dig." It's not hot at all, really, but a girl has to get her comments in when she can.

"Well, Kelly. I only tasked you to go and find the thing." Byron says, his eyes looking to the other man directly, though not in an entirely confrontational way. "Nothing more. I would've taken over from there. Especially since this is more of a personal matter for both Magnolia and myself." Magnolia's dad was like a really good uncle to Byron as a child, "Unless, you wanted to help further. But as it is." He looks to the group, "Seems like you're all willing to lend a hand which I appreciate."

He'll then let Joey continue to lead, pushing through the overgrown weeds which should be pulled out if anyone was ever hoping to sell the place. The abandoned lot paints a picture of life in this place, the way in which things were left behind rather than packed up for the move. If whoever lived here before did get the chance to move out.

Then the dog house is located, so Byron doesn't feel like he was having his time wasted by not checking the first dog house. Approaching the structure, he crouches down, placing a free gloved hand on its roof at first, his dark eyes staring at the name posted 'Alpha Jones'. He then reaches out to brush covered fingertips of the name Jones. He'll take a peek inside, of course, to see what remains, but it's more or less empty. That's when he feels that sudden touch and squeeze to his shoulder, making him turn to view Kelly before he draws himself up to a standing position. "I'm just hoping that we find some clues as to what happened to Detective Jones and Detective Morgan. It might shed light on what happened to the others." The others who had disappeared and perhaps some who had died.

There's only one shovel, so while Joey starts off the digging, Byron reaches for his phone to tap out a message to Magnolia: We may have found the dog house. Does Alpha Jones ring a bell?

"Tasked you," Alexander echoes after Byron, briefly. He gives Byron one of those 'really?' sort of looks, shakes his head, then turns his attention to Nicole and her answers. "Interesting. I meant in a more general sense, but I guess along for the ride sums that up pretty well." A soft laugh at the suggestion to Joey. He doesn't stand still as Joey digs, but sort of prowls around the yard, looking at various bits of abandoned household wares, the doghouse, and even peeking into the back windows. Look. If he's going to trespass, then he's also going to snoop. When he makes a circuit back towards the others, he pauses to say, "This is Elm, so if we find a body, it might not be what we're actually looking for. Fair warning."

Joey nods slowly to Byron neither saying more nor expecting more. The jacket slides off and is handed to Nicole. The request has him eyeing her but the t-shirt is peeled off too. It's a simple suggestion and he's not going to tell her no after dragging her halfway across the neighborhood and it'd be nice not to have it filthy in dirt besides. Seriously filter requests there. What else can she get the crabby Kelly to do? She's on a roll here.

And the man digs. Byron was hones to make the most of an opportunity, Nicole has her art, and Alexander his puzzles. Grunt labor takes o the task of grunt labor in the backyard battle of Man vs. Nature. "If we do find a body we'll take care of it." Right. Omnious!

See? She's such a helper. Nicole takes Joey's jacket, draping it over her arm, cup of cap still in that hand. When he eyes her, she grins and arches a brow, but when he actually takes that shirt off and hands it over she is all smiles and a light-hearted chuckle, expression reading, 'I wasn't expecting him to actually...'. She is more than happy to drape the shirt over her arm as well. If nothing else, he'll have a mostly clean, not sweat-drenched shirt to put on afterward (and in the meantime, she might get an eyeful or two. No harm!)

But Byron's words bring the true serious nature to the forefront for her and she steps close to him. "I'm sorry... I just like to keep things light. But, you know, I came cuz Joey texted... said he could use some help. Byron... we go back. I'd have come to help if it was you who asked too." Yeah, Joey is well... he's Joey. But Nicole is dead serious when she looks at Byron. Years might have passed, things might have changed in the periphery of their lives, but Nicole will be there for her people, and Byron? He's still considered 'her people', it seems. "So yeah... I'm willing to help."

She kind of leans against the dog house then and says to Alexander, "along for the ride sums up... most of my life." She shrugs with a smile, but that vanishes quickly. "Wait... what do you mean, if we find a body it might not be... what like, we could just find a random body or.....?"

Oddly enough, it's not the idea of a random body that bothers her.

Look, depending on the situation and company (a combination of both), Byron sometimes uses a separate set of lingo. Despite lacking the suit, he's in 'All Business' mode for the time, though he tends to always be in that mode. So!

"It's okay, Nicole." He finally says, gaze lifting from his phone which he keeps in hand because he's awaiting a response. "If this were a different circumstance altogether, I'd definitely say that it's good to have aboard." A pause, before his lips quirks into a smile, "Forget that, it's good to have you aboard either way." With lifted brows, he looks to where Joey is digging, taking another sip of his coffee, possibly planning on finishing it up when he feels it's his turn to take up the digging. They don't know how deep they need to dig! Alexander's snooping doesn't seem to bother him too much. Though he does cast a wary glance at the street or the houses around them just in case.

For the most part, Byron keeps a steady watch on the ground that Joey digs at. He's imagining a lot of things that could be under there. Surely, the remains of Magnolia's father and his partner couldn't be there, could it?

Alexander shrugs to Nicole. "It's Gray Harbor, and it's Elm Street. Finding random bodies isn't as unusual as it might be in some places." It's all very solemn, although the hint of a smile plays across his lean, intense features. Finding random bodies is exciting, after all. His gaze twitches over to Joey, and he adds, "We'll--" then he sighs, "I will call the cops and report the body, and you all can be elsewhere. No one will be surprised that I found a body." It's very practically stated, and he thinks about it. "After we check it for whatever Miss Jones might need." He frowns at the ground. "Shame we didn't bring a metal detector. Might help us narrow things down."

Joey just attacks the ground with stab after stab with the shovel trying to put the dirt...where... Alexander please stop... wandering... "I'm piling the dirt here." This is the only warning anyone is getting. Stabstabstabbitystab. His jaw is set and his eyes don't leave the dirt in case...whatever. "Usually, Nicole... bodies are not random. They're pretty specific. Like names and shit. And..." The shovel hits dirt and Joey looks up, sweat working on his brow and taking a breath but serious all the same looking to Byron, "You're family sorta so... ya know... I'm fuckin here." He still had him pick up five guys, but other than Byron asked? Nah he don't need more a reason. Uncomfortably the same goes if Monaghan asks him to do things so it is what it is.

Looking up to Alexander an eyebrow goes up. "I appreciate that." He pauses and frowns. Looking up to Byron he takes a deep breath, "You want me to find what's buried here or find you a body? In case they're not the same thing. I mean..." And with that he goes back to toiling. Unsuspecting himself he works on focusing on trying to remember her father, or imagine a strong box, and tries to imagine if he were these things where in the yard would he be. Whether he's aware or not glimmer bends just a bit and the man keeps digging as the falling leaves push themselves away from he and the hole while he does so.

Nicole arches a brow towards Byron, but, before she can retort, he amends and says it's good to have her aboard after all. She gives him one bouncy-ponytail nod and lifts her now cold cap up for a sip, Joey's jacket and tee getting hugged against her as she does. Realizing that might get annoying, she does some shifting and maneuvering, putting his jacket on and the tee draped over her neck like a scarf. Unhindered movement is best, especially on an abandoned-house-digging-adventure. While doing this, cappuccino moving from hand to hand, she looks at Alexander with those raised brows at first, but says nothing about his talk of bodies. Though, she does pull out her phone to press the button. "Siri, make a note. Buy a metal detector... Never know when you might need it." Back into the leggings pocket it goes. She watches Joey a moment. Grunt work Joey is cranky Joey. Well, mildly sort of irritable Joey, really, in this case. Shrugging her shoulder, she says, "well, yes... but like... if we don't know who they are, or why, or, names and they pop up where you don't expect a body....." She shrugs again, but looks around. Considering bodies are actually possible, from what she has heard, she decides it is better to shut up, and does so for the time being.

With Joey letting the group know just where the excess dirt will be piled, Byron can't help but look at that space warily. But that wasn't the spot beneath the dog house, so it should be fine in his mind if what Magnolia had planned to do was the correct course of action. So the plot beneath the dog house it is. Once he's finished with his coffee, he sets the empty cup on the steps to the abandoned house's porch, before continuing his observation. So far, he's not heard word from Magnolia. She had her hands full as it is.

"I'm surprised you don't have a metal detector, Clayton." Byron murmurs, dark eyes eventually flickering in Alexander's direction. "Unless you do... then the trek back isn't that long." He then responds to Joey, "We're just looking for what's buried beneath the dog house. If nothing's there." He has to sigh, his eyes on the placard again where the canine abode was repositioned for the dig. If nothing's there, they are in the wrong spot, but how could they be? "Then we keep looking. Hopefully, Magnolia gets back to me by then."

As Byron, himself, didn't come here with a shovel, it might mean that he never meant to start digging until he heard the go-ahead from Magnolia. But things were moving faster than that with a larger group and, unless they were in the wrong location, he didn't really mind. With the colder weather, however, it does make the exertion of digging more difficult and after a while of watching Joey do his thing, Byron shrugs off his hoodie, reaching out a hand towards the other guy, "Here, let me take over for a bit."

Alexander doesn't stop wandering, but he does at least give Joey's designated dirt dump site a wide berth as he roams. He shrugs at Joey's expression of appreciation. "No point in getting anyone hassled for something they didn't do." Something in the way he says it adds an implied 'not when I can hassle you for the things you did do'. Despite that, his expression isn't unfriendly. To Byron, he says, "I do have one. I can go get it before we hit any of the other locations if this one doesn't pan out."

He wanders back over towards Nicole as she makes that note, and he chuckles. "Metal detector. Really good first aid kit. Sturdy shoes. Covers most of your treasure-or-body hunting needs right there, really." He gives Byron a thoughtful look at the sigh, and adds, quietly, "Whatever we're looking for isn't likely to move anytime in the near future. Whatever it is, we'll find it. Even if it takes a little time."

Joey is winded. Really it's a pretty great work out, but he's already had two today. Had Byron not said anything the odds of him still digging away would be high. Is he crabby? Yes. That's pretty much always a given. Looking to Byron, tired he nods in genuine appreciation and hands him the shovel, "Yeah gimme like ten and I'll be good." His hands wip on teh side of his jeans and then his face before finding the remainder of his coffee he'd set down to drink that. "Feels like the spot. Can't tell you why I know it but somethin's here and wants us to know it' here so, I mean if it's a body we can go get the car." Looking to Byron he nods. "If we got to use teh rental I got that guy who can detail it so they don' charge you."

"Do we know what we are looking for?" Nicole asks Byron, double-checking. "Cuz, if not, a metal detector might not help, maybe.."

She looks down at her shoes. They might not be the most comfortable shoes sometimes, kinda flat-soled and all. "I'll have to put together an adventuring pack, just in case." The shovel changes hands, but Nicole gives Joey some space to cool off a little. "I can dig some too," she offers. "I might not be able to do as much, but still... extra hands for a bit."

Sure, he's the guy who tends to dress up in stylish suits and drive around in far too expensive fancy cars, but Byron's never been afraid of hard work. Hell, he worked at the sawmill for a time once he reached sixteen and it was legal for the Addingtons to hire him, unlike his other under-the-table child labor endeavors. With shovel in hand, he picks up where Joey left off. "I didn't call you up, expecting you to do all the heavy lifting, Kelly." He says with a light laugh as he works to lift dirt out from that hole and toss it over to that growing mound.

"I'm hoping that it's not a body, but.." He'll add to this with his focus solely on the hole he is digging rather than on those gathered around him, "If it is Magnolia's father, then that might give her family some closure, but that doesn't solve the mystery. Even if we can assume that his soul can now rest when he's properly reburied." He then quickly tacks on, "It might not even be that at all." He then looks towards Nicole, "That is a mystery still. One that, if this is the right location and I don't see how it wouldn't be, we'll find out soon enough." Before murmuring, "God, I hope this doesn't go down for six feet." Because that would take quite a while if it turns out to need a coffin-sized hole dug into it.

Alexander looks at Joey. Just stares. "No," he says, flatly. "We are not transporting an illegally buried and illegally exhumed human corpse in Thorne's car. Even if it is a rental." He takes a deep breath before he launches into the full rant that's just waiting behind his teeth to be unleashed. Instead, as Byron speaks, he adds, "If it is a body, we need to be careful. If it's Detective Jones, Morgan, or both of them, we have to be doubly so, or risk ruining physical evidence which could find and nail the bastards responsible. When you get tired, Thorne, give me a go at it." He grimaces. "I hope it's not, though. That would make all of this a great deal more complicated."

Despite the grim subject matter, he gives Nicole a smile. "It's not a bad idea, to have a bag in case it's needed. Usually fate isn't kind enough to let you grab it when you need it, but," he grins, "sometimes it works out."

Joey swivels his head to Nicole as she offers to do some of the digging and blinks, "Nicole...at some point take you out for ribs or somethin after all this is over provided the cops don't come up with a fun new reason to arrest my ass?" Hey that's sincerity there. He takes a long drink of his now cold coffee and walks over not in swinging range of Byron and says "B? Dig careful. If it's... ya know her dad or family or somehin? Prolly we might want to be careful with the shovel." He's a little sentimental on the dead family front. He nods slowly and there's a small nod of support. Looking back to Alexander as he wanders off he calls, "Garage garbage bags too, man."

In the meantime, Nicole just kind of hangs out, listening to the guys and occasionally looking about to make sure they aren't being watched by nosy neighbors or anything. Her cappuccino is gone, but she still holds the cup. "I... hope it's not a body...." She smirks at Joey and says, "if you promise ribs, I might bail you out for them... depending."

This really was grueling work, you would think the cold would help to cool you down, but nope. When you keep at it, every muscle in your body straining as you dig out clumps of dirt after clump of dirt, it definitely becomes a tiring task. Byron Thorne is in shape, however, and works out daily when time permits. When Joey warns him to take care when digging in case it is a body, Byron has this annoyed look on his face, possibly even a frown. If there was an unboxed corpse beneath this dirt, that, in his mind, is a far more gruesome discovery.

While this is running through his mind, his shovel makes contact with something metal and hard. Blinking a moment, he shoves the edge of the tool down again. He definitely struck something. "Come help me get this out."

With a group effort, they are able to uncover the lockbox in full, lifting it up and out of the hole it was buried within. Silently he reads the written note on the duct tape. "N.J. Nathaniel Jones." He murmurs. Breathing in deeply, he finally gets the chance to wipe the sweat from his brow, the other hand reaching for his phone once more, sending Magnolia a text: We got it. It's a lockbox with the initials N.J. written on it, along with a note stating 'To Be Opened Upon My Death'. Want us to bring it over?

Alexander gives Joey one of those looks at the mention of the garbage bags. It's grumpy and narrow-eyed and inquisitive all at the same time. But just about when he's going to maybe push his luck with some questions, there's the sound of Byron's shovel hitting something that isn't dirt. Distraction achieved! Alexander helps out with getting the lockbox out of the hole and on the ground. Alexander hums with interest, although even he's not so rude as to try and just pop it open. He brushes the dirt from his hands, and waits to see what Magnolia has to say.

Joey watches Byron with that look that is clearly not saying this to win him brownie points. He wants to make sure Byron's assets are taken care of. He doesn't like saying the bad news out loud but he also doesn't want anyone feeling worse because they got careless either. The garbage bags are just useful to keep many pieces together! Yeah I don't like it either seems to be the look. He drinks the rest of his coffee until Byron hits, well, something. Asked for help he nods and crawls into the hole to work with Byron and his shovel turned pry bar to pull it out. After much propping and pulling he makes a gimmegimme hand for the shovel when Byron takes the box. Spade finds soil and hands fold over the end leaning on it. Breathe, Kelly. Look at all what needs to be done. leave no evidence behind. He sniffs and rubs the side of his nose with his finger and murmurs, "If they ain't shut the water off we can go clean up I guess. Lemme know if that's all she was looking for before I shove the dirt back into the hole." Looking up to Nicole he adds Sympathetically, Probably won't want to stand downwind of that."

Surely the hole is only so big. Nicole trying to help them finish digging up the lockbox would be more trouble and annoyance than help. While they all get down and dirty, Nicole stands nearby ready to lend a hand if one is needed at all. Until then, she watches curiously. After all the 'body' talk, she looks relieved when a lockbox is discovered. This is not a moment to be Instagrammed, so her phone stays put away. "Oh..." is all she says, stepping out of the way of any flying dirt that might happen, but still curious about the box. Nibbling on her lower lip, her mind races with what could be inside.

With the box retrieved and set aside, Byron looks to Joey when the guy is prepared to do cover up work to hide what they've done here. Biting down at his lower lip with a slow shake of his head, he responds, "I believe it's just this box." Though he has to stare down into that hole with curiosity now. It just had to be.

"Either whatever is in here, it's for Maggie's eyes." It is from her father. "So for now, we cover our tracks." Yes, he agrees with Joey's idea, even if it just means kicking dirt into the whole since there's only one shovel. He then shoots a glance over at Alexander, "If Clayton doesn't mind, we could use his place to clean up at."

"I was actually going to suggest that," Alexander says to Byron. "Rather than breaking and entering. Not to mention accidentally turning on a tap and getting spiders. No one likes to shower in spiders." A thoughtful pause. "I take that back. Someone probably does. I don't judge." Either way, he starts helping shove dirt back in the hole, eager to not be trespassing as quickly as possible. Especially since if they get caught now, they'd have to explain the box. Which he desperately wants to open. That much is obvious.

Nicole is a curious person by nature, and when Byron mentions the box being for Maggie's eyes, there is a brief look of disappointment before she nods. She can't argue that logic. Magnolia was visited by, possibly maybe her father maybe not, in a dream and that brought them here... to a lockbox with her father's writing on it, his initials. Continuing to nod, she agrees, simply, "yeah... "

It's not until the hole is filled in and they are all set to leave that she shrugs. "Too bad we can't like, transplant the weeds, make it truly look like the spot wasn't disturbed, you know.. just in case." She walks to the back stoop to pick up the discarded coffee cups. Wouldn't do to leave DNA behind... or something. She's still wearing Joey's jacket, his shirt like a scarf, as she walks towards the fence to climb back over. She doesn't notice, but behind her and by the dog house, a few weeds grow, fast enough to begin hiding the overturned dirt.