2019-12-27 - Everlong (Acoustic Version)

Lilith got notification that Mags and company were on their way to play some cassettes of note and get information off of them, so she ran down to the shop floor to get one of those old players like policemen and reporters used to use, not a radio with a cassette. It's very brown, bulky 80's efficient and at least it's in good working repair, given she's skilled in that kind of thing. She has no clue what's supposed to be on these tapes, but if it's important, she doesn't want her vintage equipment shredding it, so she double checks it with a test tape while waiting for the knock on the loft's door.

Looking where Byron is bundled, she flats her lips, bundled in a wrapped plush throw blanket herself while up moving around, and she asks, "More hot tea, babe? They'll be here soon, but I don't think you need to play presentation today. You know?" AKA, please stay down and bundled. She's had that haunt of worry in her eyes for him despite her own shivers because he's so much more affected from his second trip out into the frozen dreamscape wasteland to get her.

After a very chilly recent event, Byron's been bundled up beneath piles and piles of comforters ever since. He's not exactly feverish even if his skin looks deathly pale. His skin is cold to the touch and even with the layers of covering on, he's trembling, fighting hard to keep a steady breath. In this state, his often well-styled dark locks are anything but, the long bangs brushing against his brow. There's a nice hot cup of tea beside him, something that he cradles every so often just for that heat, before drinking it all down so that body temperature has a chance to rise.

He's half way through this third cup of the day, so when she asks if he'd like more, he makes sure to down the remainder of what's in his cup to make the refill much easier. He looks awful, which is why he's having second thoughts about inviting people over here, but something tells him that this is important because it pertains to what he'd help dig up beneath the white dog house on Elm. "Fourths, please." He says with a shudder. "Texted Bella earlier. She's not doing much better."

He then remembers something, "Speaking of which," Here he shifts beneath alll of his blankets to sit in a more upright position with his arms out, fingers incredibly cold, "Come here. She told me to give you a hug from her."

"... I really should try to do something to make your discomfort tolerable, at the very least. It's hard to watch you like this, knowing that you stepped out again to..." Lilith stops looking at the cassette player and turns in place to huddle in that blanket and look at him with her eyes a little hazed by focus of seeing him in that way of hers. She doesn't keep on with the outloud self-guilt tripping, but she also clearly doesn't like what she sees when she looks at Byron. She doesn't make a face or anything, but there's some fidgeting with the blanket edge she has wrapped around the layers of shirts, hoodie sweater, and warm plaid PJ pants. And socks. Two pairs.

She's affected too, but not like him, she sees the damage in his body that the cold exposure in excess caused and all the ways the lingering effects are slugging the body down into misery and cold. And these finer damages seem trickier than broken bones she can see like the sun and spot repair, it's not like how she usually mends or heals, she'd have to work on a finer level and mm. Nerves. Not that it'd put her off from trying at all if he'd let her. After a moment, she starts speaking again, saying, "Detour." She doesn't explain while popping into the bathroom on the way to him, getting a comb and some gel to bring with so she can do his hair. But she needs to free her hands for hug first, so she does.

Then after settling in next to Byron and all their swaddling, she slips into those open arms and clings to try and give him some of her heat. But she's not the little furnace she usually is. While nuzzling, she wonders, "Where are these tapes from, again?"

Byron might look and feel like shit right now, though mostly feels like it, even if he's not put together the way he normally does every morning, he seems in good enough spirits despite the deep chill and shivering. He's wearing several layers himself, though the newly unwrapped electric blanket helps a lot. He knows that Lilith must be suffering the same fate as he is because she was out there in snowy wasteland for longer, so he doesn't expect her to dote on him overly much.

When she nuzzles up against him, he wraps his arm around her, drawing the blanket up over them both for the time being. "Magnolia had a dream one night," He explains. "Woke me with a phone call immediately following. She said someone or something resembling her father was in this dream and that he told her to go find this white dog house on Elm and dig beneath there. Well, she got me to do it and I tapped Kelly to assist." Licking at his lips, looking thoughtful, he adds, "I think that house on Elm was where her father lived, maybe? It belonged to the Joneses, said so right there on the dog house. Anyway, it seems that what we'd dug up are a series of cassette tapes. We'll learn more once they get here."

Magnolia Jones isn't really sure she wants to be here -- not visiting Lilith and Byron, but here with the box of tapes. She stands outside Lilith's door, staring at it while there's lots of nuzzling and cuddling happens beyond it. Does the two lovebirds know she's out there, basically trying to decide if she has it in her to knock. She takes a step back, shaking her head at Kevin and her brother Levi. "Nope, nope. This is so stupid. That tape is probably just some mix tape that Dad never labeled." Which doesn't really serve as a good excuse, and she knows it. She looks down at the box -- metal, heavy and still wrapped in duct tape even if Kevin slit open the sides so she could open it. Written across the tape, in Nathaniel Jones's handwriting, are the words 'To Be Opened Upon My Death.'

She shifts awkwardly, glancing back at Kevin, not even waiting for either him or Levi to give her any reasons for or against what comes next. With a breath, she reaches out to announce them either with the doorbell, or a knock if that's not available. She shifts the box in her arms, ending up hugging it to her chest.

Kevin has a messenger bag over his shoulder and a black t-shirt emblazoned with 'IF I DIE, DELETE MY BROWSER HISTORY.' He's already shaking his head when Magnolia pauses, reaching up to put the hand not holding onto his messenger bag squarely between Magnolia's shoulder-blades. He doesn't have to say anything though, as she makes her choice, and he nods instead, glancing over to Levi and then adding, "Even if it's your Dad reading his grocery list, it's something else of him, yeah?" He pats the cassette player on the bag.

Lilith gets up to answer the door after it sounds not long after Byron has explained the source of the tapes, peeling herself out of the blanket swaddling with him and the meager body heat they're managing to share. After casting a look at the hair product and comb on the side table, she murmurs to Byron apologetically with a tick of smile once standing, "I was going to do your hair, but it's the thought that counts, right?" She grabs his emptied tea mug too, apparently intent on taking it to refill after she lets company inside.

Opening the door in her PJ and layers and hoodie huddle, the first thing Magnolia and Kevin FEEL before they even see Lilith is the heat coming out of that loft! Yes, it's cold outside, but people don't usually keep the heater so high on blast, that's for sure. It's worse than an old lady's house. And besides from not being dressed for company, precisely, as she might be other times, she's sans makeup and a little taken with pallor. But she smiles some with the kind of off the cuff casual half-smile and ease that makes up for her temper and general messiness sometimes, laid back and congenial in her own dry way, "Hey guys. Wanna play some bitchin' tracks from nineteen eighty-eight? The player came with someone's old mix tape."

She knows that's not why they're here, but she knows it's probably not fun stuff because nothing dug out of the ground probably ever is! So she leads with something dry and light while inviting them in, "Sorry about the heat. Beer or anything?" The player is on the kitchen bar at current, brown, vintage, and boxy.

Levi doesn't give any reasons either for or against knocking -- he really hasn't said much since he met up with Magnolia and Kevin to go do this thing. It may be due to his state, which is still not all that great. He is unnaturally pale, and still shivering despite the way too many layers of clothing he's wearing at the moment, even considering the snow. There's a beanie, a hoodie with the hood up, a heavy winter coat, and gloves, and that's just what's visible. Considering he's looking a lot chubbier than usual, he's either put on twenty additional pounds in the last 48 hours or he's got several more layers going on underneath.

Myriad of outerwear aside, he's looking a little sharper than the night before when his sister had seen him. He meets her gaze first, then Kevin's, but whatever's on his mind at the moment, he doesn't share it before the door opens. He also seems to appreciate the heat, because he steps inside quickly with another little shiver, this one more due to the sudden shift in outer temperature than springing from something internal.

Yes, Byron tends to always put his best face forward, but today that face is crowded around by warm thick comforters as he rests on Lilith's bed. He was lounging in full this whole time but once they both hear that knock on the door, he shifts to an upright seated position. There's a flash of a smile at Winslow when she mentions that she'd planned to do his hair, but it will have to be in that ungelled natural state, which is how he sometimes wears it on his lazy and casual days.

Seeing the Jones twins make their way into the warmth of Lilith's loft, his dark eyes look over at Levi, remembering seeing him out there in the snow. "Glad to see that you're alright." Though by the looks of it, none of them escaped the icy wasteland unscathed. He's dressed in a sweatshirt and sweater and a couple of layers of long pants. His hands are encased in gloves as his feet are kept warm but a double dose of socks himself.

It troubles him to watch Lilith moving around like that, especially with the trauma she'd been through out on the ice. So he gives her a concerned look before he finally greets the others in full, shifting to seemingly plan to get out of bed, "Don't mind us. I feel like I'm still on the verge of suffering from frostbite from a very bad Dream."

"I see that you're opening a sauna," Magnolia says, tone as dry as the heat wafting from Lilith's apartment. "Do I need to strip down, get some older gentleman in towels to sit around on benches in your living room, perhaps discussing the recent town politics in those overly-superior tones of hidden oligarchy." Oh, that all comes off her tongue smoothly, effortlessly, and she doesn't even miss a beat as she steps inside into the arid interior.

She shucks out of her own jacket rather hastily before the sweat starts in, and she shrugs her shoulder slightly at Lilith's offer. "Um. Sure, beer... but it better be Jack Frost frigid." She cuts a look at her brother who is looking a bit like he's heading up to a Colorado ski resort -- or about to audition for Santa Claus. Then she's looking back inside toward Byron. "Oh, Ronnie, Ronnie, Ronnie... you know, my next trick is going to learn how to manifest my own shit in the Veil." Because that's not scary or anything.

Then she breathes out a sharp breath, glancing toward the vintage tape player and then to Kevin. "Back up," she explains. "Not that I don't trust that the dust perfectly preserved your dad's tape deck or anything like that." There's a quirk of a smile for him before she steps toward the gathering at the couch, the tape having been slipped out of her jacket pocket and into her hand.

Kevin blinks in the face of the heat blazing out of the room, "Jesus, guys." He gives a little wave, then peers at all the bundled up people, "This isn't catching like the ringfluenza, is it? Because I had more than enough of bad dreams and puking my guts out." Still, he comes on inside as invited, shrugging as Magnolia puts his dad's tape player on backup, "I dusted it," he adds with just a little bit of defensiveness, and then lets it break with a chuckle, "And if I'm going to stay here much longer, I'm going to have to strip down to a towel and talk politics, even if it upsets Lia's tummy."

Lilith looks at Levi with a little tilt of her head before looking at Mags, looking at Byron, then back at Levi. She breathes out a little 'oh' while not only recognizing him from the harried event recently in a frozen Dreamscape now, and gets why he's bundled, but she's also put two and two together on the siblings front, "Hi." Afterwards, she rolls her eyes with good nature at Magnolia's joke, then almost trips over a cat on the way into the kitchen as it makes a streak from bathroom to windowsill to post up and look at the new arrivals with... okay. That's one hell of an angry cat face. Maybe it just looks that way though.

After a blown out cuss at the almost-trip hazard, Lilith cracks two beers from the cold fridge for Kevin and Magnolia while waiting for tea to steep in mugs for Byron, and now Levi too with pulldown of another mug from the cabinet, "I guess you guys can slip into towels if you want, it wouldn't be the weirdest thing to do considering all the nonsense we have to slog through. And I tested the player, it's in good repair, I did some gear tinkering to make sure it plays at a level speed still, sometimes the old players drag ass and that's what tangles tapes, inconsistencies in the-- you know what, it's not important."

After shifting the player to the coffee table for Magnolia to slip the tape into, then bringing Byron his tea first with doting automatic attentiveness and a 'look' because he's getting up, she doesn't fuss, she just murmurs, "If the cat tries to trip you too and you fall because you can't feel your feet, I'm throwing him out of the window." Lilith kind of side-eyes the cat while going to distribute beers and the other mug of tea for Levi next.

Angry cat doesn't jump down to trip anyone again right now, though, he basks in the window and stares at everyone, instead. Like this! https://tinyurl.com/y6hups3o

"You, too," Levi replies to Byron as a little smile touches his face. It may not be as easy as his normal smiles, but at least it looks genuine -- if brief -- and the words are sincere. He does cast a longing look at Magnolia's jacket when she just tosses it aside so cavalierly, though. He may or may not be debating trying to put it on as well. Ultimately, he decides against it. Mostly because it's unlikely to fit him in the best of times, and these are not the best of times. Alas.

He turns back to his sister then, and the request for the world's coldest beer has him shivering again. He narrows his eyes at her, but there's a little snort of amusement as well as he moves to take a seat. Lilith's anticipation of his need of tea earns her a much more grateful look than he gives Magnolia, and he says, "Hi. Thanks." He takes the mug, taking an immediate sip from it. "Unless you can catch bad luck, I think you're safe," he says after he's swallowed with a glance at Kevin. There's a moment's pause there, though, before he adds, "Actually, you know what, maybe don't get too close." Who knows what's contagious in Grey Harbor.

Look, Byron knows how cold he's feeling right now, even with the heater on and the electric blanket that was discarded on the bed. Thank god for Lilith and that tea, but he'll make the trek to one of her storage cabinets to fetch out several towels. All of the blankets in the place is piled up on that bed right there. He expects that Lilith might be bringing something hot for Levi as well, but he'll offer the towels. "Summer can't come any faster." He says with an icy grin, before removing the gloves so that the heat from the mug can penetrate through his trembling hands.

After gathering some of the blankets from the bed, he reseats himself down near the tape recorder, bringing up because Magnolia probably told him about them before, "So most of the content was recordings from.. concerts? Why would he leave that for you both though? Memories, I guess. And I'm pretty sure there's some good music right there." He then brings up, "And that house on Elm? Belonged to your family at one point?" He remembers the name on the dog house. The Joneses lived there before.

Magnolia, for all her devil-may-care attitude, herds Levi into a seat even while he moves there all the while. Once she has a beer in hand, she flops down to do the same. She rolls the cold bottle between her palms, looking between those who have gathered to hear The Tape(TM). She looks at Kevin at his levity, and she offers him a warmer smile. "Hey, no talking politics. We agreed."

Byron's question causes her to nod a few times. "Yeah. I inventoried them, and they are all concert tapes from venues all over the west coast. Nothing really telling about them." Then she takes in a breath, distracted only a moment by an Angry Cat and its furtive stare. She stares back for a beat, and then looks back at the others. "Yeah... I looked into the house. I guess Dad lived there as a kid, but I don't remember him ever showing it to us. The Grandparents live on Oak." She rubs her hands around the bottle, and then starting to peel the label. "So, the first mystery is how the box even got under the dog house to begin with." She glances slightly at Levi. "Maybe Levi can ask Mom if she has any ideas... but maybe without telling her about Dad's... um... ghost or whatever that was."

She now glances between Kevin and Lilith. "So, do we play the mix tape first for shits and giggles?"

"Levi, Lilith, Lilith, Levi," Kevin supplies in brief introduction as Lilith looks about the group. He points between Levi and Magnolia, "Siblings," and then between Lilith and Byron, and this time there's a little more of a questioning inflection to his voice as he supplies for Levi, "Item?" He takes the beer from Lilith, lifting it up in salute, "You look like you escaped a little better off than these two, Lil. And yes, Levi, you can totally catch bad luck. I caught it on my first date with Lia." He grins over at her holding up his hands a little defensively, "And it wasn't just nerves, promise. And I also promise no politics." He digs out his own cassette player, or rather his dad's, at the question, "Tell you what, why don't we put the mix tape in this sucker, and if we need a pick-me-up or a let-me-down after, we can just push play."

"And that sounds like cassette compromise, listen to Kevin over here with solutions." Lilith says to Kevin with a point of finger at him as answer to Magnolia's inquiry about which tape to start with, but not before listening at length to the talk about the tapes and where they came from. Then after a look at Byron with the item question/comment, she grins a little bit (totally an item) before she stops bustling around and grabs a blanket for herself to drag and post up with in one of the arm chairs by the couch and coffee table, all huddled up.

While waiting for the tape to start, she explains to Kevin after a look between Levi and Byron, "... I was struggling and Byron came back out for me so he got a double dose, I think. It wasn't my finest hour, but he's basically a knight in shining armor, don't let the thermal underwear fool you." Then she squints at Levi some, "I think you were mostly blocked from my view until the end there, everything was laid out all... mm."

Lilith drops the subject and pulls her feet and legs up into the chair with herself under the blanket while looking at Byron with brief concern and a visible urge not to come fuss over him and his blanket and tea mug. Instead of giving into the urge to dote with worry over him while company and other matters are at hand, she looks over at the cat in the window and tries to pat her lap to get it to come cuddle and keep warm with her.

It totally just stares and stankfaces her. But eventually, it gets up, stretches, hops down, then prowls over to hop on the arm of Byron's seating, bringing a little huff from Lilith, "... rude."

There’s a grateful look to his sister, despite the look from before — it was mostly a joke, anyway. Siblings, you know. It happens. Levi takes a sip from his tea, and he certainly doesn’t refuse the towels from Byron, either. “Right?” he replies wryly, setting the cup aside just long enough to pile them on top of him strategically, before he picks it up again. He does start to look more comfortable once this is all settled, though, enough so that he can focus on what’s about to happen. He meets Magnolia’s look, and nods once, replying, “Yeah, I can do that.”



His gaze returns to the tape player, though Kevin’s introduction has him nodding to Lilith. “I didn’t notice that much after the beginning,” he admits. “I’m glad everyone got out more or less all right, though.” Hey, more or less is better than not at all! Marginally, but still. He looks back to Kevin then, and a laugh escapes him as his gaze moves between him and his sister, but he quiets then as they’re about to start the tape, the laugh fading into a more thoughtful look. Maybe there’s a hint of wariness there, too, but he’s not protesting.

"It's on Elm, Mags." Byron starts up when Magnolia mentions that her father had not shown his childhood home to her. "No offense, Kevin." He's quick to say with his body hunched forward and all the blankets in the world draped over his shoulders. Byron himself was an Oak boy, even if he spent most of his time everywhere else but his family home on Oak. After taking a much needed sip of warm tea, he has to inquire since the woman was brought up, "How is she doing? Your mother? It's been a while since I really got a chance to talk to her." When this is asked, his eyes look between both Jones twins.

After Kevin's question, however, this draws his attention back to Lilith, listening as she tries to explain the situation they'd found themselves in. All three of them apparently. "It was like a boardgame, man. I remembered walking out of a bank, being on my phone, only to find that not only I was standing in a space around this center archway, but several others were there as well, standing on their own start point. Then we had to make our way towards the center before the ice froze us in place." Lilith calls him a knight, reminding Byron that he always played a knight class in their D&D games a children. Perhaps that was shining through at the time.

"If you're 100% certain that those cassettes are actual concert recordings and that nothing else was recorded over them, then I would say to play the mystery tape." He's surprised to find the ever-glaring cat padding over to him, before settling down at his side. Byron's body temperature was low right now, but he reaches an idle hand to scritch at Smog's super soft fur, listening to him purr. He then asks something that Magnolia had wondered, "Did your father actually bury this in his old backyard or is it... your Dream father or Veil father, or whatever is there on the other side?"

Settling back, he pats at the space next to him for Lilith to come join him and the cat, before his eyes are drawn towards the main cassette player, waiting in anticipation for someone to press play.

Byron's question about Mom has her sharing a glance with Levi, and then she rubs at her knuckles. "I think she's doing okay. Granddaughter time is great." Even if it stresses Magnolia the hell out most of the time. She glances to Levi as if he might have more to say.

She reaches for the cassette player that Lilith has offered up. She places it in her lap and then cracks open the tape case with that little clatter of hard plastic. She pops open the player, sets it, and closes it up around the tape. "You know, I don't really know," she says to Byron, leaving the talk of the dream mostly to Levi and the others. Magnolia has intense opinions about Dreams, and most know she keeps those opinions to herself. She glances up to Byron. "Answering that question means I need to decide what to even do with the knowledge that the Veil has... what? Constructed a shade of our dad? Like, how deep down this rabbit hole are we willing to go?"

Though, just about two minutes ago, Magnolia was hypothesizing if she can shape the Veil because... obviously it can be shaped.

She glances up at the others, as if gauging if they are ready for her to hit play...

Kevin gives Lilith double fingerguns as she gives him props, and then grins over at Byron, "Her Knight in Shining Undies. Quite the ring to that." The reaction to Lilith from the cat draws a blink, and then a shrug, "Cat." He snorts at Byron, "There's nothing wrong with Elm street that a steamroller and a hundred million dollars to rebuild can't fix." The description of the human board game draws a slow nod, "Hey, at least it wasn't Wizard's Chess." Magnolia's comment about granddaughter time gets a snort in response, "I'll just be happy if Lark doesn't come home with her hair permed." That wouldn't happen, right? Probably wouldn't happen. "How about we worry about Veil-stuff after we hear what's on the tape, Lia?"

Lilith looks pleased enough as Byron pats to call her over like she tried (and failed) to call the cat. Bringing her blanket, she comes to tuck into the space for seating next to and against the dark-haired, bundled man, both doubling his layer of blanket and swaddling herself to try and make some heat under those blankets for his body to absorb. When her head drops against his shoulder, she eyes the cat like 'nyeh' for a tick once cozied in, then she looks between Levi and Mags especially when the blonde woman wonders if everyone's ready for go time.

The brunette woman figures there's some nerves about it... she'd be nervous in this position, much like she was nervous when she had Mags over to show the ring the first time in the shop. So when she speaks up, her voice is encouraging, "Now or never, isn't it? You're holding the player and the tape. Go ahead, I think we're all quiet and ready if you are."

The glance from Magnolia has Levi nodding in agreement about their mother, and he says, “Yeah, she’s doing well. She’d probably be happy to see you if you wanted to go over there sometime,” he adds as he looks back over to Byron, reaching for his cup again to take another sip. He doesn’t add much more about the Dream, except to shiver once more involuntarily at the memory that still stubbornly lingers.

He also does not look all that enthusiastic about hearing whatever it is that’s on the tape, but if he had any objections to actually listening to it, he must have voiced them already. Now, he’s in it for the long haul, and while he isn’t rushing to be the one to press play, he doesn’t try to stop her. Instead, he looks back to his sister, and a little smile pulls up the corners of his mouth as he adds, “Go for it, Mags.”

This little smirk tugs at the corner of Byron's lips at Kevin's quip about oh how shiny is knightly briefs must be just as Lilith cuddles up against him and bringing all of her blankets with her. It's almost as if Byron had called her over just for that reason. However, it's when Levi tells him that Mrs. Jones might be happy to see him that, while his smile doesn't fade, there's this thoughtful look on his face, the way that his dark eyes just stare out, looking at nothing in particular except for the memories in his mind. While Levi might genuinely believe what he's said, Byron isn't so sure. They both lost police officer fathers that same year and Byron can't help but wonder if his presence might stir up bad memories for the woman. Still, he murmurs, "I might do just that and apologize for not checking up on her during the holidays." He finally blinks, gaze lifted to Levi.

Everyone else is giving Magnolia the go-ahead, so Byron refrains from doing the same. Instead, he'll sit quietly, sipping at his tea as all eyes are on that tape player.

Kevin reaches up to rub a hand between Magnolia's shoulder-blades as the others pile on their support for going ahead. He draws in a breath when she presses play, holding it for a moment until the tape gives that crackles. His shoulders slump as the music starts up, and he grimaces, shaking his head and starting to turn toward Magnolia, "Damn it. I'm sorry, Lia -- " the sound starts to twist, and he looks back down toward the player, his eyes widening, but his reflexes are not so fast as some of the others in the room.

"Let it try, that might be old tape distortion from a recording or dust on the read. I can repair both the player and the tape, it's okay. Ejecting it while it's struggling might make it worse." In fact, Lilith is staring at the player intently when it starts to distort from instruments to voice, tucked into place next to Byron. And though she doesn't lunge for the player or anything, she tips her head up off of Byron's nook of arm and shoulder to stare at it like she's about to force tinker some things into compliance. But instead, she waits it out to see if anything breaks or if it's the distortion noise of having layered recordings.

The cat doesn't seem to like Foo Fighters. It looks over at Byron and plaintively meows with that face before leaping onto his blanketed lap, though he kind of duck-dodges Lilith's hand absently coming over to pet him with welcome or soothing, "... okay. Hi." After shooting a look at Byron, she looks back at Magnolia, then the tape player again, thinking for a few moments because she knows the player is fine, which means it must be something to do with the tape.

Despite what he'd said, Levi is not actually all that keen on hearing the tape. Sure, he wants to on some level -- but it's probably closer to a split level. So, when the tape starts to distort, there's actually a little note of relief that crosses his face. It's faint, but it's noticeable, if one were looking for it. He shoots a quick glance at his sister, and now his expression is a little bit guilty, whether she'd seen the relief or not.

He looks back to the tape player then, and though he waits a moment or two, he does not heed Lilith's words, and instead leans forward, reaching across Kevin to pick up the tape player. It's not immediately clear what he's actually going to do -- maybe turn it off.

This song was a classic. At least to Byron. While his father might have had more of an interest in actual classic rock from the 60's and 70's primarily, Byron had an appreciation for the new stuff coming out when he was still a young one, so there's this look of appreciation crossing his face when on realizing just what song is playing. An appreciative look and the bobbing of his head after those first few chords play and when the drums come in.

As Lilith might be getting used to by now, Byron even starts singing along once the vocals starts, his own voice carrying on even after the recording becomes distorted. "Tonight, I throw myself int--"

This is followed by silence, at least on his part as his eyes roam from one face within the room to the other. Smog is a distraction, however, its annoyed meow adding to the cacophony before it hops up into his lap, forcing one of his gloved hands to drop to pet it, because that's just what you do. Now that he has a cat in his lap, if he wanted to grab at the tape player, he's being hindered now.

However, Levi takes action like a champ. Whatever he did, though, leaves Thorne feeling a touch uneasy in this odd, sudden silence. The familiar voice of Detective Jones does very little to put his mind at ease and he quickly asks, "Is.. Is this still a recording?" Byron already knew the answer to this.

The caution from Lilith to leave the tape player to work through its problems stalls Kevin's move toward the machine, and his brows lift up as he looks to Magnolia and Levi, "But what if it..." and there's Levi, picking the machine up, and Kevin cuts off. The new voice, the voice he never really heard except a few times growing up, speaks up, but it's clearly not part of the song, and he blinks owlishly behind his glasses, "Woah." And then he frowns in thought, his mouth running away with him before he can think about it, "I really shouldn't be surprised by this, should I? I mean, with everything else freaky going on..." finally, his words trail off, and he looks around the group and then back down to the player.

Levi is so startled by the voice that he nearly drops the tape player. He fumbles it, and there's a moment where it seems that falling is inevitable, but he manages to snag the corner somehow at the last moment, stabilizing it somehow. His face has gone white as he stares at the tape player that has just played his father's voice -- or rather, bridged death and life, or the Veil and reality, or whatever it is that has happened. It certainly isn't a recording.

"...Dad?" he finally manages to get out, his voice barely above a whisper.

Lilith opens her mouth and then closes it as Levi grabs for the player to hold it, and she's probably about to insist to Kevin that whatever breaks, she can fix, and that the player was self-tested! But... then when Levi takes up the player and the message changes from song to what seems like sentient response from the voice on the tape in response to the man's touch, the brunette's eyes flip over to watch Magnolia for a few moments. Byron can feel her posture tense while in against him and his body in that heap of blankets and layers, but she stays right where she is and stares with her breath held to wait and see what comes out of the machine next.

There is a moment, though, while listening where Lilith looks around the apartment itself, as if expecting a ghost to manifest in the loft itself instead of just serving as a voice from the tape player and she automatically looks at the cat with a few blinks to see how IT is reacting. Afterall, aren't animals supposed to have second senses for this shit, cats especially? Maybe. With that face on that animal, though, it's hard to tell. While it's seated under the touch of Byron's hand, it too is rather upright instead of nestled or cozied in, but then, it's not the cuddliest of cats just yet, so maybe that's just how it sits on... well. Maybe not. It's staring at Levi and the tape player with tail flicking in twitch like it's about to pounce or just straight bounce.

Magnolia's expression just drains. Her mouth falls open in surprise at the sound of her father's voice, and the way it sounds like he's just on the other side of the speaker. She grabs for Levi, scooting toward him to look down at the tape player. "Dad?"

"There you both are." There's a strange tiredness just beneath the surface of those simple syllables, but also a weird flatness. "Did Magnolia dig up the doghouse? Must have." The voice hesitates, and for a moment, the sound of wind adds a bit of static to the exchange. When the static fades away, Nathaniel's tired voice cuts back in, " -- are you two with right now?" Normally, that question would have a bit more inflection, but instead it is delivered with the smallest hint of inquiry.

Despite all the dark, craziness that Byron had experienced since... well, though he'd lived through a few solo Dreams during the years that he was a residence of Gray Harbor, 2019 was the most eye-opening year for him when it came to these Dreams. The first that he'd been drawn into one not his own and the first that he'd been in the company of others. It's hard for him to determine whether they are, indeed, Dreaming right now or if this is a part of their reality.

Hearing the voice of the missing and presumed dead man, Byron should be hesitant to speak out. There's nothing good that comes from speaking to ghosts, after all, if you asked him! However, this was Magnolia and Levi's father. A man he knew and respected from when he, himself, was a kid. It's this latter thing that compels him to say something even if he's not sure whether the tape was left by the real Nathaniel Jones or a Dream or Veil version of him, "Detective Jones, this is... this is Byron Thorne."

There's so many things racing through Byron's mind now that he's introduced himself and some of them relates to the deceased. One of those questions is in regards to his own father, but before he can blurt out more, he decides to make the tense introduction of the others gathers, "We're here with my friends," Because they were a young Byron Thorne's friends before they were friends of the Jones twins, "Lilith Winslow and Kevin Walters."

There's an almost apologetic look when his dark eyes look between Lilith and Kevin, having given them up! But this was a small town, so Mr. Jones may already know of the other two, especially the daughter of one Hank Winslow, now deceased town drunk. Perhaps out of nervous wariness, his fingers dig into and stroke through that lamb-like fur of the really pissed off looking cat.

"Is that? There's no way that's..." Mercifully, Kevin stops rambling as Magnolia steps up next to Levi, each sibling trying to confirm that they're actually talking to their father -- somehow, somewhere. He swallows and looks around the group, his eyes wide behind his glasses. One hand settles at the small of Magnolia's back, just a reassuring presence, and he opens his mouth to introduce himself when Byron covers that for him. Looking down at the tape player, he hesitates a while longer, and then gives a little shrug, "I always heard good things about you, Mr. Jones." A beat pause, "Detective Jones." Dating the daughter of a long-dead cop is bad. Dating the daughter of a possible ghost cop? That's a whole new level of terrifying, so it might pay to be polite.

Levi's eyes are wide as he looks around at those gathered, but they settle on Magnolia, and he settles the tape player onto his leg, slowly, as though it's a bomb that might explode at any moment. He keeps one hand on it, since that seems to be the conduit, but the other one reaches out for his sister's hand when she comes closer to him.

He doesn't notice the cat's reaction to the tape player, and he also doesn't think to make introductions -- despite his father asking. He hears the voice, but he doesn't quite seem to comprehend it quite yet. It's somewhat of a shock to hear one's dead father speaking through a tape player. He looks down at it, then up to Magnolia again, and this time the little shiver that passes through him has nothing to do with being cold. "It's good to hear your voice," he finally says.

Lilith knocks a hand slowly through her hair to tousle and grab some of it into holding while staring wide-eyed at the cassette player making sentient inquiry, then Levi and Magnolia in turns to watch their reactions. But if she's unnerved beyond the fidgeting play at her hair and a subtle shake of her cold hand, she's quiet and not letting on otherwise save for the slow exhaling puff of air over her lips. At least, not to the room, anyway. When her hand drops, it automatically reaches for the cat again to try and keep it calm or pre-emptive shushed where it is on Byron's lap under his own hand. And this time, it doesn't shy away, seeming just as stiff and wary, but maybe soothed enough to feel not one, but two sets of bigger human hands on it.

Of course, somewhere in the back of her mind, Lilith gets convinced the cat is only letting her pet on it to feel better because Byron is doing some low level mindbanging on the thing because man, that face looks like both of them are about to get clawed at any second. That or it's about to downright pounce the tape player to attack it in Levi's lap, since that's where those yellowish (draconian?) eyes are currently snared with focus.

After Byron makes response aloud, though, she wets her lips and doesn't seem bothered so much as she seems to be getting as wary as the cat. She stops looking at the player and the others to look at the room for a long and assessing moment and her posture and weight already pressing against the dark-haired man in leaning, it increases. Then cautioning with whisper and turn of face and mouth right at his ear in hush, she takes a brief moment before she's silent again to look warily at the tape player.

If anything else happens, it's you behind me this time, killer.

Honestly, she might be afraid they're about to get Dream snared again given what happened just not so long ago and now this brand of strange.

The grip that Levi keeps on the tape player, indeed, maintains the connection between those in Lilith's living room and whatever might be of Nathanial Jones on the other end. The tape player whines again, but it's a short blare of noise instead of a stretched out sound. Nathaniel's voice cuts back in, once more in the middle of a sentence, " -- hear your voice, Byron. And yours, too, Levi. I wish we had the time to catch up, but -- " Again, there's a monotone to those words, as if Nathaniel is straining to keep his voice even, flat. "I don't have much time." He waits just a heartbeat before continuing. "I'm sorry I left you both so long ago, but this was the only way. Hobbs attacked Morgan and me in that alleyway, and the only escape I could think of was the other siiiiiiiddddeeee." That word, stretches, elongates almost like Nathaniel is dragging out those vowels and consonants. The tape squeals again with stretched feedback.

Magnolia's hand suddenly tightens on Levi's, and her eyes do not leave the tape player. Her nostrils flare with a barely controlled breath.

Byron remembers the last time he ever heard Nathaniel Jones' voice. He was thirteen at the time, the same year that his own father had killed himself. So this was incredibly haunting to him, but probably not as haunting as it would be for his own kids. Detective Jones would be familiar with Byron's sense of politeness, especially when interacting with adults, moreso if those adults had contact with his parents, his father especially. That's the tone that he tries to convey even now in his uneasiness, "I hope that you're... that wherever you right now, that you're safe or at least not suffering in any way, Sir." It's an odd thing to say, really.

However, when told that the man or being who is speaking to them now doesn't have much time, Byron can only wonder just what is going on over there that there was for Jones, or someone pretending to be him, to reach out to his children right now. At some point, his hand lays more heavily atop the glaring cat, perhaps getting a sense that the feline creature might try to attack the device from which the ghostly recording is being played.

He then utters something that might be on everyone's mind, "Hobbs, Sir?" This time, those coal black eyes look to both Levi and Magnolia. Perhaps it's a name that they'd heard. One of Detective Jones' old cases?

Kevin keeps quiet now, smothering down the nervous words that might otherwise tumble off his lips. His eyes stay a little wide behind his glasses, but otherwise he stays outwardly calm and collected. This is how you be a rock for your girlfriend as she goes through Some Shit<TM>. The mention of the third name perks up his metaphorical ears, and he opens his mouth, but Byron gets there ahead of him, so Kevin just subsides into silence once more.

"You, too." It's the understatement of the century. Levi looks as though he has a hundred more questions to ask of his father -- though he also can't quite seem to get more words out than he's said. Especially not when his father goes on. Magnolia's hand tightens on his, and he squeezes hers at the exact same moment as whatever color that's left drains from his face. His grip tightens a little bit on the tape player, as well, an involuntary gesture that might be the only thing that keeps it from sliding out of his hand and onto the floor.

Lilith finally seems to edge out of her tense, wary state that's expecting danger or dream snaring to go with that tape and pays more visible mind to the tape player itself while listening. There is a beat, though, where she looks at the cat to make sure it's not about to try to attack the player putting it on edge (and poor Levi, by extension, looks like he's having trouble enough). Gradually, she puts her head back down onto Byron's shoulder in their blanket heap and pulls her hand back from the cat to tuck it under the blankets because it's cold being out of them and giving her the shivers. That or it's the whole ghost tape doing that. After wetting her lips, she looks confused for a beat and maybe about to ask something, but she holds it for now, as there isn't a lot of time, as stated.

So she listens and keeps a tiny frown knit on her brow, mostly watching Mags and Levi.

"I don't have much -- " The tape starts to cut out, stretching out the silence with a dull whine. Far behind Nathaniel Jones's voice comes a distant sound -- a low, keening sound. Jones comes back with a sharp. "Time. There's never enough time. You need to finish this." Again, that keening sound cuts through. "He's over here. He's crossed back over, but I can't let him cross back aggggaaaaaiiiinnnnn." The syllables stretch, distort. "Talk to..." Everything starts to crackle. "... case files. They have the pieces."

Magnolia sits forward as her dad's voice is suddenly followed by static and then the tape suddenly clicks, coming to the end of the reel. The tape stops.

If Byron's sudden bout of hypothermia made him feel cold initially, hearing the chilling words on the recording made him feel even colder. Ever since hearing the hauntingly familiar voice of Nathaniel Jones, he was kept at the edge of his seat with only Lilith's lithe frame leaning against him and that damn cat nestled on his blanketed lap bringing him any sense of comfort. Beneath that blanket, his arm is snaked around Lily's form, his icily trembling hands only making contact with her where there's layers of fabrics protecting her skin from his touch.

There's an intensity in those dark eyes of his, hearing a sense of panic coming from the recording and then that strange sound in the background. "Let who cross back ag--" He's about to ask, before he murmurs, "Hobbs." Then it's over.

"That's," He starts off, still feeling stunned to hear the lost detective's voice again, "That's messed up." Case files. "Does he mean cold case files surrounding your father's disappearance or...?" The or probably means 'something new'. This wasn't his father nor his problem, in truth, even if it sort of felt like it. If anyone, his gaze is set on the Jones twins. "Listen, you know I'm here to help if you need it. I guess, you're both planning on speaking to the GHPD? Possibly Captain de la Vega might be able to help."