2020-01-25 - Spiked Coffee Talk

Nearing the afternoon, the morning fog is slow to dissipate as it clings heavily to the air surrounding the town. Traffic is slow due to that, everyone taking caution on the road. Luckily, the heavy fog isn't as bad as it was during the week of Halloween even if it made the landscape look ghostly still.

Byron is watching all of that from the comfort of his terrace. The French doors remain shut as to keep the chilled air out and the warmer air within. He's dressed in business attire. It's the middle of the day, so despite this meeting, he more than likely has things to tend to afterwards unless he cancels out his schedule.

By the time Isabella and Alexander arrive, Byron's gaze looks down to his phone, giving him a view of the security camera both in the elevator heading up and then the hallway just outside of his door. "Isabella and Clayton are here." He announces to Lilith who had arrived earlier Taking steps to greet his the new arrivals, he adds in, "Let's hope that due to our stars aligning once more that the powers that be don't take this as an opportunity to drag us into another Dream this soon."

The door swings open and he ushers the pair inside, "Bella. Clayton. Thanks for meeting with us today. Care for some coffee, tea? Anything stronger?" Yes, this is the usual song and dance that they should be used to by now.

The perpetual fog-cover in which Gray Harbor has been inundated for the last few weeks have left the streets in an abysmal state. But Isabella manages to get herself and Alexander Clayton to Bayside Apartments in one piece. She tends to drive more carefully within the city limits than when she is while trying to leave it; this means that they've gotten a good view of what it's like when terrible traffic mingles with the creepy, ghostly shapes outlined by the fog.

Still, when she arrives with Alexander, she's dressed warmly; there's a ready smile in her features and a box of Vydal's pastries with her, because she and Lilith have a tradition now - it is full of fruit-and-cheese danishes, as well as a few other choice items (fresh Louisiana-style beignets and chocolate-flavored treats for Alexander). "I brought food to go with coffee," she tells Byron, an arm coming up to give him a quick embrace if he lets her, closing her eyes and unable to suppress the palpable wave of relief that emanates from her once she gets close. "Are you recovering?" She gives him a critical once-over, but he seems fine.

When she moves, it's a little slower, but she always gets back on her feet quickly - an innate physical resistance to injury seems to lend itself to quicker recovery times than usual no matter how severe it is. She sets the box in its usual place.

Alexander is following behind Isabella, dressed as he is usually dressed, the heavy green coat engulfing his frame. Although his shoulders have their usual hunch, and his hands are deep in his pockets as they go through security, which he has never stopped hating, there's a faint smile as he follows Isabella inside. He looks Byron, then Lilith, over carefully. "Thorne. Lilith. Are you well? And the other one - James. I don't have his number." A pause, before he actually addresses the question that was asked. "Coffee would be nice. Thank you." And a wave of his hand when Isabella indicates that she's brought things perfect for coffee.

Lilith is a bit of a multitasker in bulk sometimes, and while waiting on company this afternoon, knowing both her and Byron have things to check on in the evening, she's taking the time in the kitchen to do a bit of preliminary dinner prepping for a simmering tall stainless steel soup pot. She's currently barefoot in the kitchen (like a good little woman, right), but a pair of silver and black heels are kicked off by the doorway where they previously matched her black leather skirt and sapphire blue tucked blouse with sheer sleeves, dressy kind of casual as if she's been somewhere already for the day.

Because she's in chopping a selection of potatoes, carrots and parsley to go in the pot with the sauteed bacon and onion and celery, she has her hair twisted up out of the way and her cosmetics are mere pretty accent of mascara and peachy-pink lip color. When the door opens, though, with Byron giving notification company has arrived, she makes an 'oh' of noise and turns off the low music on her phone playing while she's in doing kitchen work. Then with a dump of things chopped into the pot, she detours to come give greetings before getting the lay of what everyone wants to drink, but stops short to really look at Isabella before putting on a ginger hug.

"Hey you two. And mm. I dislike you feeling cracked up, might have to do something about that after I get the lid on the soup for later. So coffee for Alexander, you going stouter than coffee, Bella? And what do you want, babe? Everyone sit, I'll get the drinks."

The odd dream of their childhood, though Byron is pretty sure that the even never happened, especially seeing that a young Alexander was with them had been bothering him. But very much like the Dream they'd had earlier at Tobin's place, this was almost in a similar vein as that. "I'm going to be honest, I hadn't spoken to James since the Dream." Look, Byron has a lot of things to do and has been incredibly preoccupied since his recovery from hypothermia. "But he hasn't shown up in the papers or on the news as being missing, so I'm pretty sure he's fine." At least in body if not mind.

Seeing the box of goodies always brightens one's day even in a place as dreary as Gray Harbor. "Two of my favorite things. Coffee and pastries. My usual lunch. And if you're asking whether I still feel like death, no. I think it's finally passed." He'd suffered from the unnatural cold chill before New Years even hit and only recently was relieved of the shivering and damning cold. This is why the heat isn't turned up to the max, the way he's had it for weeks now.

To get the gist of why he'd called everyone here out of the way, he says, his eyes trailing behind Lilith now. "We were in another Dream." No, this was not the childhood thing. It was obviously something else. "At the newly renovated and opened theater. Found ourselves in the Veil, or that's what I could make of it, in the middle of a gladiatorial match with someone, more like something, that we've already encountered and dealt with once." When he says this, his eyes are fully set on Alexander. "The Gill-a-Monster... with the cast of Gilligan's Islands as limbs and weapons and what have you." He then goes on to say, "The first Dream that I can remember ever sharing with anyone. With a group."

Alexander's eyebrows go up. "Would you give me his number? Someone should...check in, at least. Sometimes the missing fall through the cracks, and he's only recently returned." It's not strongly chiding, but there's a hint of disapproval there. Lilith, at least, gets a smile, before he starts to prowl around the living room with his usual restless examination. Anything moved is stared at, like his mental map of the place needs to be updated. He's still listening to Byron, though, and watches Isabella and Lilith go about what they're doing whenever his head turns in that direction.

The mention of the Gill-a-Monster brings his attention back to Byron, though. His brow furrows. "I remember that. That was a...strange dream. Even for Gray Harbor." A pause. "Is this how Kelly got injured?"

"Nothing much doctors could do with broken ribs," Isabella tells Lilith, having the good grace to look sheepish. "And honestly, I was fine until the exit. What about you, though? You recovering, also?" Another critical once-over. She had left the creepy doll factory on the other side relatively unscathed up until it had been time to leave. But the embrace is welcome and her arms drape loosely around Lilith, lips pressing delicately on the air next to her cheek. Releasing her, she starts slowly, carefully, extricating herself from her coat - at least the perpetual chill has left her blood, so she can function in human temperatures again. She wears a soft, burgundy cashmere sweater underneath, the neck wide enough to bare both shoulders and leave the straps of her tank top underneath visible, pulled over boot-cut jeans. Her moonstone pendant glitters from her neck - the only other accessory on her is the dandelion charm bracelet she has taken to wearing since Christmas and unlike the warmer months, her dark hair is loose and free, spilling over her scalp and shoulders in its natural wavy state.

There's a curious peeking at the kitchen because something smells like it's on the early stages of something delicious in there.

"Coffee for me also, though if you want to spike it with something, I wouldn't be opposed." She winks at her blue-eyed friend before easing into a couch. "What Dream? Did something happen to James?" Someone wasn't told as she looks among the three of them.

Mention of the new theatre has Isabella brightening visibly - Byron's probably the only one in the room well-familiar with the Reede twins' love for cinema. "I was going to see if I could convince a group to come with me for one of the showings...but a gladiatorial match? That's...different." Her dark brows furrow faintly, curiosity and concern playing over the fine lines of her suntanned mien. "So this was actually a mass Dream? Everyone in the theatre was pulled into it?"

"It is how Kelly got it, yes. He was quick to volunteer when the arena asked for a pair to challenge the thing. The Captain was the other. Go figure, hm? Granted, it was a mix of both tempting and terrifying when they went mentioning in the announcement that we bested it before, because honestly, the group did it and... I still had a grudge over it taking Tobin out. But... we also knew what it could do, and Byron would have went with me and choked me later in the non-sexy sense for being hot-headed and brash, so... I controlled myself."

When Lilith releases Isabella, there's a space of time when she's looking at the woman with up and down focus before finally releasing the other woman's hand to return to the kitchen. And she plays kind of cool about it, but for anyone paying mind to her, they might see the flash from within her, or possibly the subsequent breath of relief and posture change that comes over the other woman after some delay. She pretends she didn't just do anything, though, she goes right into the kitchen on her bare feet with pink painted toes and starts readying espresso pulls while pouring stock and half and half into the pot to simmer potatoes et all with lid over time into soup, "If we talk long enough, I'll send some real food with you for dinner so you don't have to order out or cook." She gestures to the pot, "Planning ahead, schedules have been all funny lately and things keep... mm."

After trailing off, Lilith looks at Alexander here for a beat and goes back to filling coffee cups, putting a splash of the warm stuff in with the hot beverage for herself and Isabella, at least, "... thanks for holding my hand when I was... you know." Then she pulls in a breath and notes, "There was some notable audience at the mass theatre pull-in, yes. Visitors from the Veil City Hall looking to be... entertained or test us, I guess? Which ones were they again, babe?" Eventually, she gets to where she can deliver everyone their coffee and lean to peek through the box that's been brought with treats.

James doesn't quite have a work number and it's odd handing out people's personal phone numbers without permission so with that in mind, Byron murmurs, "I'll inquire with him to get his OK with just giving his phone number out. I mean, I'd be annoyed to get a call out of the blue from someone who shouldn't have my number." And when he says this, it seems to have happened often enough.

Even with Lilith offering to take care of the drinks and such for everyone, Byron goes to help her in the kitchen , at least to serve once all of the mugs are filled. Isabella's request gets a smile, "How about some butterscotch schnapps or brandy. I mean, while my bar may not be as full as Marshall's, it's quality over quantity."

As he's fiddling around with bottles of spirits and the like in the kitchen, he makes sure to say, "We went to see Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Not exactly the most high brow of classics." But he knows Isabella well enough that the flick needn't be high brow, even if he comments, "If we even got the chance to view the movie, from what I recall, it had its artistic merits... in it's own way." However with Lilith trying to jog his memory of who all was present, those in the Veil hierarchy as far as he knows, he lists those he can remember, "The Archivist was present as a special guest. As well as," There's a furrow his brow now, "I think they called him the Psychiatrist. A walking corpse if you ask me." That's when he looks over at the others in the room, "Is that Dr. Marshall then?" He goes on, "And they announced, I think... The Receptionist, but that seat remained empty. Or they were invisible, I couldn't tell."

Turning in full to face the main room, the thing that was first and foremost on his mind is what he says next. "The gladiatorial event was being hosted by FCN Incorporated." This should be a familiar name to some.

"That would be fine. So long as someone makes sure he's not dead in a ditch somewhere," Alexander says, with a shrug. An apologetic look is thrown Isabella's way, and his restless wandering takes him over where he can brush his fingers against her arm. "Thorn, Lilith, a friend of theirs, and I ended up getting lost. It was a bit of a...strange one," uncomfortable in its de-aging, although he doesn't go into that, "but no one was seriously hurt that I can remember, so it didn't seem worth mentioning." Although there is a flash of a smile towards Lilith. "You're welcome."

The moment of humor dies when the dream is explained. "I should make sure the Captain is all right. And only allowing two to fight that thing is stacking the deck rather badly against the combatants. Were they allowed to use abilities, or is the trend of punishing us for using them continuing?" Mention of the Psychiatrist makes his brow furrow, and he rubs at his head as if there's a sudden ache there. "FCN. That name is coming up far more often than I like, of late. They've intercepted attempts to subject certain samples to analysis."

"That sounds great." There's a grin. "The brandy."

She can feel it; Lilith's healing touch is a familiar one to her, and before she can protest, the aches and pains are gone. Considering how the last Dream all of them had been in emphasized on just how much healers were obstructions to the local predators' food supply, she can't help but be concerned as she watches Lilith walk away with that casual, effortlessly graceful and nonchalant way. But she is grateful, because it's easier to breathe and the sooner she regains her mobility, the quicker she can act on a few matters. Still, the prospect of a homecooked meal earns the other woman a grin. "You're sweet, I wish I was more useful with the food thing." Or anything at all that actually requires some creativity. But no. She can't make anything to save her life unless an oven is involved, apparently.

"So this Gill-A-Monster thing is a recurring guest star?" Isabella wonders, retrieving her spiked coffee from her fellow brunette, mouthing a silent 'thank you' to her - words that apply to more than just the coffee - before taking a sip; the frown is largely in her eyes at the news of Joey Kelly and Captain de la Vega entering the ring, because of course they would.

She listens to the rest, and there's a quick nod. "The Psychiatrist is what they call Dr. Marshall on the other side," she informs both Byron and Lilith. "And the Receptionist is...the person who greets us whenever we go to Veil City Hall - always by name, though he or she doesn't always wear the same face." At this point she's visited Veil City Hall multiple times. "Might be why he or she or it is invisible. And you said guests from the Veil came in to spectate?" Her hand lifts to brush her fingertips lightly over Alexander's hand at the apologetic touch, smiling faintly at him, capturing his fingers for just a moment so she could press a light kiss on his battered knuckles.

This is brief, however, before she looks up at the mention of FCN. "Alexander already tried looking them up before, but no dice. I'm thinking of asking Anne if she's heard of anything else about it. Maybe when we go get our cards read next week." Her eyes lift to Lilith there, since she had invited her to the outing also. "Same company who produced the chicken soup sent to us after the summer flu, and also....the people who produced the toys they all handed to us during the Christmas parade." She shifts a bit, to produce the plastic coin in her pocket, to hand it to Byron if he wants to see - as large as a silver dollar, with an indistinct head on one side and an eagle on the other, the letters F.C.N. clutched within its talons. "Not quite sure what it does, but I've been keeping it on me just to see if anything...triggers a reaction. No luck yet."

There's a brief nod to what the investigator says. "I provided some blood samples to Yule Duchannes because he's presently on the hunt for genetic markers, see if there's anything special about us physiologically that enables us to do what we do. He sent his blood and mine to a genetics lab that usually handles his requests, but he found out in a letter that the lab had too many requests that day so sent ours to FCN. Lab results claimed there's nothing special, but that they're always on the lookout for remarkable individuals. I think the outfit is also affiliated with the entity in the Veil known as the Vivisectionist as she was the one who sent us the soup where we first saw the initials."

"That's where the letters were familiar from, the box I got for Christmas and the--" Lilith shakes her head and knits her brows while looking over at Byron for a speculative moment, her breath pulling in brief before she gives him a small smile. While pulling out a Danish to settle on a napkin she delivers with those drinks and help, she finally gets seated and crosses one leg over the other on the couch, her bare toes wiggling some with tick habit as her eyes turn thoughtful. Then she looks at Isabella with a bare knit of her brows when she mentions the happenstance of blood lab shuffling when it comes to those initials, seeming a touch confused or wary for some reason.

Then, after taking a bite of the fruit and cheese danish, which gets Isabella a little grin on chewing, despite all other context because it's their thing, she nods a little bit at the card reading date and asking Anne. Then she explains to Byron aside, "That's what we were talking about at the party, getting our cards read together for kicks. I'm sure mine say doom and despair or something, but even in that case, it's fine, at least I can laugh at the fittingness of it, mm?" She doesn't seem to be putting much stock into the plan other than for entertainment purposes and girl time. Then, after a pause, and with a touch of hesitance in her voice, she wonders of those present.

"Did anyone try to read any of the items we got? The coin, you have it, the box is in Byron's room. Do we think that's smart or stupid?"

Since Alexander is so concerned about James, Byron whips out his phone to send Hecker a text message. It's more than likely this that makes him miss any of the healing shenanigans going on between Lilith and Isabella, especially since Lilith already used her Talents, as Isabella would say, on Joey at the hospital. So he doesn't expect her to use them again this soon. In fact, once he gets a response, he looks busy typing out a pretty lengthy message before hitting send.

"Right, when you brought it up to my attention," He then says of FCN, "I did a little digging of my own though I'm sure we've come to the same conclusions since my pulse on the heartbeat of the business world normally wouldn't dig up anything that P.I.s or anyone just typing a few letters online wouldn't also learn." His gaze finally lifts as he carries some of the drinks out for their guests, handing Isabella her spiked beverage, having added just a touch of the same into his own. "Hmm, it's a company in Maryland, female led that states that they have federal government contracts and also have ties working with the likes of Amazon and Microsoft etc. Now, whether Rockville, Maryland is a place similar to Gray Harbor, I have no idea."

The discussion of having their cards read comes up, there's a quirk of his brow, "Tarot cards read?" There's this look of amusement, at least, on his face.He then shakes his head, "I never read any of the items given me. Especially not the packets of soup. The stocking stuffers, however? I mean, I'd assume it came out of some Veil factory and they are just mass produced, so... I never thought to look further into it on an emotional or memory based level." That's when he turns to look at Alexander now to see whether the man agrees with this or had tried to do a read on his own.

"That's more than I was able to find out in my original investigation," Alexander says, with an approving nod in Byron's direction. He smiles at the kiss on the knuckles. "I didn't think 'dreams' had reoccurring guest stars, though. We killed that thing. It is supposed to stay dead." He frowns. "Sometimes I wonder if they're all just fucking with us."

He seems oblivious to the healing that's happening, and makes a thoughtful noise about the tarot reading. "It's hard to say that anything is invalid, when we have so many bits of evidence that the unreal is regularly real. It'd be interesting to see if you get any verifiable data. It'd be interesting to test various forms of divination - but at the same time, the one thing the Veil has never thrown at us is visions or predictions of the future. The past, yes. Taunting with fears about the future, sure. But never any real...predictions. That I know about."

"I've never had my cards read, ever," she confesses. "I figured it'd be fun, plus Anne's had a rough go at it lately - she nearly lost an arm." Isabella's expression darkens there at the remembrance of it; nights have been restless whenever she thinks of her wide-eyed face as she was pulled towards gleaming saw-blades. "I figured having some girl time would cheer her up also, even if we set it up before her...injury." She attempts to relax her tightening grip of her coffee cup, before taking another swallow of the brandy-infused brew.

She, too, finally gets a fruit and cheese danish, winking at Lilith at her grin and wiggling a piece of it towards her before popping it in her mouth. But as for item reading? Green-and-gold eyes fall on her danish, looking palpably, decidedly uncomfortable. "I've been more open lately...to the point that the sensory input gets too much, sometimes. It's worse in the mornings, but...that's not something I want to touch, or cultivate to any degree of working competence," she confesses quietly. There's a glance towards the two best readers she knows, both in this room, though, her eyes lingering on Alexander; he's great at it, it's the psychic art in which he has based plenty of his effectiveness around, but after having tasted what it actually entails she can't help but worry for every Mentalist she knows, now.

There's another gulp of her spiked coffee as she quietly listens to Byron's remarks. "Rockville, Maryland?" she wonders. "That's new, too. I've never heard of anything strange or noteworthy coming from there that's presently relevant to our interests." She also looks disturbed when Alexander rightly points out that they've not seen portents of the future yet. "I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with the idea that can actually be measured, but if it's something that needs to be tested, Lil and I can keep our readings in hand and see if anything relevant comes out of it."

"I figure if everything else can exist and be valid, why not cards? Though I'm sure a lot has to do with the person looking, so I'm not sure what the actual odds of someone with real talent using the proper tools and interpreting properly might be. Seems kind of long shot-ish to me, but if it makes me stop and think about one thing or another, even with just entertainment value in mind, I don't know. Maybe that's fine too." Lilith comments on the possibilities with cards while nodding at the reading question she posed prior, taking another nip from her spiked coffee between bites of danish and reflective expression on listening to everyone else.

Though, when Isabella states that Anne almost lost an arm, among other things, her lashes bat a few times and the foot of her crossed-over leg pauses with point of toes mid-flex, "How and what did she almost lose a whole arm to?" Though they're all endangered during these dream occurrences and often do bear the pain and damages, almost losing a whole arm is a level of 'woah' and maybe reminder or reality check of the dangers they face just living here, being as they are. Then she thinks for a moment on the other bit, wondering of Isabella, "Had you been using it more? Or did it start happening after a big deal trauma or scare where you had to use it in defense? Didn't you say our powers are kind of like muscles sometimes?"

Having received word from James, Byron decides to forwards the guy's information to Alexander's phone. "Hecker gave the green light. He also seems to fine as you were curious." After some thought, he adds in, gaze lifting to view Clayton, "The childhood Dream was just one of several that he's had recently. He mentioned another to me and was afraid that these Dreams are becoming as normal as just another Tuesday to him." He then goes to add, "He's not one that usually uses his abilities, however. In most of them Dreams, which very few there were, that I'd shared with him."

With that out of the way, he decides to pull up the website that he did find, then makes his way to Alexander and Isabella so that they can better see it and access it for themselves. (https://fcnit.com/) He will admit, "I have absolutely no idea if there's any connection between this company and the Veil. It definitely might not be what we're looking for at all. I mean, who knows anything about Rockville, Maryland or Montgomery County. And it's not far from Washington D.C. Might be something to look into, but it could have no ties to this Veil corporation at all."

Taking one of the danishes, Byron then settles himself down with these afternoon pick-me-ups besides Lilith once everyone gets a good look over of that website. "The return of the Gill-a-Monster really isn't proof of anything, I suppose. Maybe they can simply conjure these creatures up and throw them at us whenever they wish. The narrative, however, followed our experience with it because the announcer and Veil or Dream memory remembered that Lilith and I had faced it once before. And won. Though, when the others asked for tips, all I could give them was that we used teamwork and that there were many, many of us versus the one." Taking a bite from his danish, he will say, "But then again, at least in my experience, this was the first Dream that I've been in where I had a need to fight for my life in this manner. The first time that I realized that I could use static electricity and other electrical currents as my weapons. It was new to me, but we are far more prepared now than we were back then." A pause, "While we were not allowed to use our powers to try and thwart the competition, cheat prevention, I /think/ that the competitors were allowed to use their abilities. Hell, de la Vega summoned up some sandfish. An Angel Fish maybe, which in turn, was murdered by the gill-a-monster." Taking a sip of coffee, he adds, "The anthropomorphic dog typist who we met at City Hall that one time we visited the Archivist... he was hit by a stray bullet. " He then quickly adds, "I don't even know why or how I remembered it, him. If it's really dead or not, I have no clue."

Speaking of City Hall, he then states, "Anne must have a lot of stories since she works in what I'd call a hub of Veil activity, when that might not be the case, but the structure houses all this Veil bureaucracy pretty damned well if you ask me."

Alexander grimaces at the reminder of Anne's injury, his shoulders hunching a little in on himself. To Lilith, he says, "We ended up in an evil doll shop. I was in another part, but I think there were saws where Anne and Isabella ended up." He reaches out to lightly rub the back of Isabella's neck, noting her tightened grip on the mug. His other hand holds his coffee, which he's hardly bothered to take a sip of.

He does his best to be entirely oblivious, outwardly at least, to the worried look she throws his and Byron's way. He does murmur, "A lot of people's abilities have been growing by leaps and bounds as they're tested in lost places. And yet, at the same time, we're punished for having them. Using them. It's vexing." He actually used the word 'vexing', yes. And leans in with curiosity when Byron shows the website. "Ah, yes. That's the site I found, too. It's a technologies company, though, and everything we've dealt with has seemed more involved with biology. Or so my reasoning went. And, thanks," a quick smile to Byron as he reaches for his phone and quickly adds the forwarded number to his contacts. He glances up at the mention of the dog. "...that's a shame. It seemed nice." He frowns. "If it's even real. If Veil 'denizens' are showing up in Dreams, now, then does that mean that the Dream figments are real...or that the denizens are not?"

"Agreed," Isabella tells Lilith after taking another swallow of her coffee. "Yule's dating Sparrow, and he told me before that she's very good at what she does - but he hasn't told me of any of her predictions coming true and I think if they ever had, he would have mentioned it in that conversation, so in the end it might be just entertainment in the end. As we already know, though, anything can happen here."

Lilith's questions are sound and astute ones and she shakes her head. "I rarely ever use." After she taps her fingertip thoughtfully on the cup, she continues, "I was a lot stronger than I am now, when I was younger. I was a lot like Itzhak, in my teens. After Sid disappeared, I wasn't the same....it left me...hobbled. Up here." She taps her finger against her temple, unable to meet Byron's eyes there, and grimacing faintly. "After the Fall and a few things have happened - reconnecting with Ronnie and you, my relationship with Alexander on top of others...Alexander thinks that maybe I've been letting myself heal, little by little. I asked August, recently, what he thought, and he agrees...I'll never be the same, but he thinks the same as Alexander, that I'm probably compensating for the loss in other ways because I'm finally letting myself."

The cold bite of Isidore's pendant finds Alexander's kneading fingers, forever lashing out in this way. The archaeologist's head tilts slightly to rest the side of it against his nearest shoulder. "We discovered in my last trip on the other side that the Addington Park Carousel reverses its revolution only on Tuesday, so we decided to try and find out why. Anne and Alexander found out that one of its former operators was a Jacob Baxter, and his daughter, Jill, disappeared riding it the day Elvis Presley died in 1977. We uh...found Jill. When we rode the Carousel on the other side, a secret doorway opened up that led into the doll factory. Anne and I fell into a conveyor belt that...ground up bodies. She pushed me out but she fell and she nearly got her arm sawed off."

There's a glance to Alexander, and then to Byron and Lilith. "I talked to Father Daniel recently, to try and see whether I could find out more about those Baxters - he said he would help, but he also told me the Carousel was originally built by a guy named Matthew Whittaker, who gifted it to the city and was arrested less than a year after doing so for....preying on children." She makes a face there. "The Carousel was set up in the park in 1911. The year after Billy Gohl was arrested."

"Wait. That was the dog you told me could--" Lilith makes a tiny, disappointed noise in her throat at Byron's explaining to the others, nodding along at small bits and pieces about the arena that he recounts. Then she lifts her coffee to suppose, "Maybe it doesn't really die and it's like cartoons. Because that monster sure came back to be in the arena. Maybe showing up at City Hall one day will show me the typing dog too." Look, we all have stupid hopes and dreams and it's the thing she wanted to see since it was detailed to her. Then she tacks on with a little screw of her nose and possessive leaning into Byron's arm nearby as she finishes her danish, "Blobfish admirer is seriously ick, too, and why was his hat turned at a douche-angle? And how was it staying on his lack of head to-- you know what, nevermind."

Alexander's supposing, though, it kind of confuses her and she starts to ask a question before getting sidelined by the sheer terror show it sounds like they were part on involving the Carousel, "... you found someone missing since the seventies? Were they still a person, or is that ah. A polite way of saying you found the body or her turned into a monster?" She pauses, "I always wondered, if you could successfully find someone that disappeared, would they be aged or just as they were when they went in? Or I guess it'd depend on how time moved where they were, possibly, too." Then she breathes out a soft sigh after voicing those wonderings aloud and gives a small smile toward Isabella, who no doubt has personal reasons to have wondered the same things herself over years.

Draining the rest of her espresso and Bailey's combo she hit her own cup with, Lilith uncrosses her legs and leans forward in brief to put her cup down before settling back in with cuddle against Byron, suddenly, arms curling a hugging hold around his midsection while awaiting more of the story or other details. Her eyes are a little faraway there for a few moments, though, as if something she's said reminded her of the length of time she had disappeared with time passage variable.

"I'm not sure." Byron says with a creased brow before taking another drink from his cup, "I think even this Veil FCN deals with more than just biology. Sure, the Vivisectionist might be a part of that, but they also produced Christmas gifts. Stocking stuffers with various uses. Then the gladiatorial games. Looks like they cover entertainment as well. It just seems like a big corporation that deals in many, many different things if you ask me. However, do I believe that this place in Maryland has any ties whatsoever to the FCN that we're looking into?" He shrugs, "Maybe, maybe not. It could be a front, for whatever reasons, if the Veil even needed a professional 'face' in our reality. Which I doubt it does." Byron makes sure to state. "Might take a look into that city and county's past. See if anything interesting pops up."

It's pretty sad seeing how crestfallen Lilith looks on realizing that the dog that Ruiz accidentally killed was the dog she'd taken an interest in through his story. He doesn't know how the Veil works, but he will offer a reassuring, "I'm sure the dog's fine. It's like you said, the Gill-A-Monster returned and it wasn't a different one. It's the one that we'd fought earlier." He ruffles her hair playfully. He speaks nothing of the backwards cap wearing Archivist!

Isabella's description of what she and Anne and others encountered makes Byron wince a little, but he has to ask, "So Anne fell into the belt and how did you all get her out without her being ground up?" Like beef. "I also find it odd that Elvis Presley's date of death is of any importance to this story at all, but the fact that it's such vital information that really must've stuck out." The mention of Baxter, of course, is quietly noted though what Lilith asks is something on his mind as well, "Right, was this Jill dead? Aged? Or did she not age at all?"

When Lilith leans in close to him, he slips an arm over her form to pull in her close. There is this thoughtful, somewhat hopeful look that he gives Isabella now. If they found someone who was Lost and that person was alive-- then again, there was no mention if Jill Baxter was alive, so he waits for a response to it all.

"She was a doll - or a bunch of dolls - made from people parts," Alexander says, bluntly, about the Jill they met. "And the date's confluence with Elvis' death is only an interesting coincidence." But Isabella's pointing out of dates makes him think. "I...wonder." He starts to say something, then frowns, presses his lips together and shakes his head. It's half-formed, and he's clearly thought better about speculating.

At least, about that. About FCN, he's more than happy to speculate. "I would be somewhat surprised if the IT company was the same as our FCN. I don't necessarily rule it out, though, and it would explain how they have such penetration into things like samples being sent to labs - they could be monitoring electronic communications. But I'm still not entirely clear on why. Other than to keep all of it secret, I guess. I would honestly rather we avoid the entire company until we know more, but," he gives Isabella a sidelong look. "Some people disagree." It's a by wry.

"Because it's one of the most famous Tuesdays in American history," the archaeologist adds to Alexander's observation, though at his truncated thought, there's a glance towards him. "It certainly points to the possibility that what happens here can affect things over there, and vice-versa." She presses her lips together. "Honestly, I didn't even know about the Gohl connection until I talked to Father Daniel, and with this stuff regarding the Asylum, I'm wondering why the biggest pieces we're poking at seems to be pointing back to him and his entire trouble."

The hopeful look from Byron and the significant glance Lilith gives her feel like their own saws, grinding up the softer parts of her - because she knows. It isn't just Isidore, but Mrs. Gillford, too.

"Yes," Isabella tells Lillith quietly, finally. "Finding someone who's been missing on the other side is possible, but...I think depending on how long they've been missing, one's going to have to be prepared for the possibility that they've been irrevocably changed." She keeps a steady attention on her mug, before draining it in another long, solid swallow. The brandy hits her stomach and warms it. "We already suspect that Time works differently there, and that a normal object exposed to its environs warps and develops properties it never has before. The Lover's Jewel was such an item. If the Veil can do that to an object, we can't discount the possibility of what that kind of exposure does to a person."

The sidelong glance to her from Alexander inspires the return of her more rueful expression, before she looks at Byron and Lilith. "August is thinking of taking up FCN's offer and coming in with a few people to see whether they can find out more about the company. I advised against it, but he thinks we can't afford not to take it. But I'm inclined to believe Alexander about the efforts to keep this secret, and monitoring inquiries. When we first did this....we pestered and pestered until they allowed us to set an appointment. It was the same with the Asylum, and now FCN. The appointments are most definitely alternative ways of controlling the dissemination of information. This way, they get to control what we know, also."

"Hope so." The hair ruffling from Byron has Lilith briefly reaching up to smooth at some strays of hair after trying to blow them out of her eyes and face with a few futile puffs. It's a welcome distraction to the memories of being 'away' in a dream alone that this conversation is unwittingly bringing. But after she's poked the rogue hair behind an ear, she snugs right under his arm and replaces the almost anchoring wrap around his middle with both of her arms. Her lips twist some at what she's hearing or possibly thinking in response as her head lays to partial rest on the dark-haired man's business attired chest, then she pipes up, "Checking for 'strange' in a county's past might be a damn good idea. To what ends, I'm not sure, but just... I think oddities in a trend would stand out like a sore thumb to people like us who live with them, you know?"

There's a short and vaguely sharp little breath intaken through her nose when it's stated what happened to Jill from Alexander and she shudders in brief, thinking about the dolls in her own personal lost dream, suddenly wary they'd have tried to doll her too! But after exhaling, she's blinking a couple of times to focus on what's being said and explained, "... if they deal in blood, it could be tracking for... mm. I don't know." She pauses, hand absently rubbing and playing against a couple of Byron's shirt buttons while she looks at Isabella, "Or they just have you when you get there and decide you know too much and take you out like some weird mafia hit." Another pause, her voice lightening, like it's somehow a reassurance to add, "But they could do that here too, so maybe it's fine. Now I'm just damned nosy about it. What was the offer made, exactly?"

Still, this mention of Elvis' death, well, Byron had NO IDEA when the King died. That was way before his time, but he'll nod and while he's fine with Presley's music and the musician may have influenced many artists that followed, the whole Elvis thing was never a big deal for him. Though Stephen Thorne may have had some interest in the King. A little.

"So the Jill Baxter that they found wasn't the missing girl at all? She was a doll or," His lips purse as he breathes out in light exasperation through the nostrils, "She was turned into a doll? This doll was a mockery of who the girl used to be?" Another pause, "People parts? Is that why Washburn's arms was nearly ground off?" There's this look as if he was about to say something more until the doll parts came up, then whatever he was thinking of was no longer relevant in his mind.

"As you may or may not know," Byron says, breaking what brief silence there is with his voice alone, "I have an interest in business and finance. The daily operations to run various businesses. The things discussed in a boardroom." Which is why when he casts illusions for others to view, there's something futuristic boardroom about his presentation. "Which is the reason why I looked into it to begin with. Honestly, at first, I didn't really or think much of it. I am interested to see whether this whole production of pharmaceuticals and... guinea pig testing," He looks to Isabella since she's the one who got a chance to see a list of other clinical trials that the Vivisectionist was performing or had performed. "If there is a face to this corporation, a physical face in location and name, that's what I'm getting at, the same as with City Hall, I'd be interested in looking into that."

Making a little memo to himself once he pulls his phone back out of his pocket, he asks, "Do they know where they are supposed to head out to?" Look, he has an address for a company with a similar name. "Or is it one of those things where..." Dark eyes lift to view Isabella and Alexander, "You just end up there rather than like our trips to City Hall. But more like the trip to the Asylum?" He's still not exactly sure where they had to go to access the Asylum.

Alexander gives Isabella another of those sidelong looks. "What if it's not Gohl in specific, but something that he...represents. Or committed. And Jill, perhaps, is the other side of the coin. Sacrificers and sacrifices." He takes a deep breath. "What originally got me started looking into all of this was just noting that Gray Harbor has a lot of disasters, and that a lot of them end up killing Baxters in some fashion. What if those dead Baxters are sacrifices? Or, maybe, some of them become sacrifice-makers. One of the thoughts that I had, when I was infected with Gohl's anger didn't feel like my thought. It was anger that Baxter blood had 'polluted' a perfectly nice family, the Gohls." He frowns. "I don't know why the town would periodically eat Baxters, or encourage them to kill others, but..."

He trails off as the others discuss FCN. Aside from his worried expression, he doesn't seem to have anything to add that hasn't already been said. He does quirk an amused smile towards Byron. "Just remember - you cannot propose a merger with the evil Veil corporation. They are not your friends, and the dividends probably suck, anyway."

"The offer was that if August or any one of us know anything about remarkable individuals to let them know, and they'll probably set an appointment for a visit," Isabella tells Lilith. "I told them it's probably not a good idea, especially if they're related to the Vivisectionist and her gruesome experiments, but I think August and his party are willing to risk it and they're adults. Besides, it's not as if any of us have a leg to stand on regarding reckless decisions." Definitely neither her or Alexander. To Byron's remark about Jill, she nods. "I didn't face her, Alexander did, so he would know better than I. Safe to say it was probably an amalgam, like most things that are from here that end up there - twisted from its former, original self."

Byron's words make sense. "There probably is, but I don't know the ins-and-outs of the corporate world as well as you do, Ronnie. You'd probably know better than me, and you're probably the best equipped to find something like that. If it's in any way a shell corporation, that's you and Alexander. Corporate filings aren't exactly something I look at regularly. As for where? I don't know, I don't think they set an appointment yet. I'm sure August will tell us once he's rounded up his bodies - and if he doesn't intend to, we should probably encourage him to tell us in case he needs a crack team to break them out in case the worst happens and nobody hears from them for a while. The last thing I want them to end up is strapped to a slab, being dissected." She has seen this list of experiments, none of them are pretty.

Alexander's remarks have her growing quiet, thinking back to not just this, but everything to the start of it. "It would parse with what we were already thinking of, wouldn't it?" She looks among the rest of her friends. "That very first picture, with the preacher and the women about to be burned at the stakes - the Addington, Baxter and Whitehouse women. When Elias said that it was strange that a Weber would marry a preacher when they were all historically witches - maybe it wasn't a witchcraft trial, but human sacrifices. Maybe we really do need to circle back to the original question as to what the true connection between the Baxters and Addingtons is." To Byron and Lilith, "Alexander was thinking about the deed again, and that maybe we should give it another go at finding it."

Lilith is quiet for a long while, resting against Byron a cozy, latched on spell before gradually releasing and rising up to go refill her coffee and Bailey's, but this time, she adds a nip of vodka too. She offers with gesturing as people talk for their own refill offers too after fixing up and sipping at hers while wandering. Her brows are knit down a touch and she blows out a quiet, pensive noise to herself before wondering a bit hesitantly, "... what entails as remarkable, exactly?" Then, after a pause, she pipes up, "I'll help as needed, so yes, hopefully he says something about it before just up and deciding to attend in whichever fashion."

There's a moment while she's standing there drinking that she eyes Byron and suggests, "I feel like whatever 'invitation' might just strange-pull them, or whatever. But you and I could take a mini-vacation to the actual physical location. Dig around at the town library or museums, see if there's some 'feel' about the place. Maybe even look at the company itself, so on. And if it's just a coincidence or cover, it's kind of like a working vacation, isn't it? At least we'd know."

Then her attention shifts to the bit about Baxter's and the deed, "A deed to what? And do we have an idea of where or how to find it?"

The thought of investigating a Veil corporation, while it's something that piques an entrepreneurial investor's mind, the details that Isabella gives makes Byron uneasy suddenly. Though he was probably wary of it all from the beginning.

Remarkable individuals and To let them know,

Once those words are uttered, he looks to Lilith, who still seems set on looking into this corporation despite any of that. "A trip to D.C. would be interesting." Byron obviously has business associates located there. "I'm not sure if I can pack up and go any time soon, but it's an idea. Whether the FCN in Rockville is what we're looking for or not. Anyway, I'll get into contact with August, see what he thinks of the corporation in Maryland and what he's got planned for his own visit to the company-- more like, who he plans as using as... bait, just for the company to take any interest in his little group."

Once Lilith is up to get her own refill, he'll collect any cups from his guests if they were wanting a refill themselves or just want to relinquish their empty mugs. Byron, himself, is ready for seconds.

With the discussion returning back to the Baxter-Addington history and the image of Lindon Baxter, was it, well, the Priest Baxter looking about to sacrifice some women, Byron falls silent and just fills his cup. When he does speak up about it, it's to Isabella, "How is Father Daniel?" Playing around the church as a youngster with the twins did they get them into some trouble with the clergy, even if they weren't punished severely for their impishness.

"I feel the whole visit is an unwise idea," Alexander mutters, but with an edge of resignation, accepting that he's not going to change anyone's mind about it. And, well, he's curious, too. He snorts a little at Isabella's observation of the hypocrisy, but doesn't deny it. He just nurses his coffee like it was a grudge. It's really good coffee, and deserves better than that. To Lilith, he murmurs, "I suspect 'remarkable' means possessed of abilities. Or of active abilities, anyway. The nature of potential versus activation is still a curious and ill-understood one."

He visibly tenses at the idea of Lilith and Byron going to take a trip to the other side of the continent to poke at a possible Veilcorp, but he clamps his jaw down on his immediate protest, and just stays silent on the matter. Instead, he says, "The original contract of sale from the Baxters to the Addingtons. Trying to find a record of it, a written record, was how we found - or were invited - to the Archivist the first time. But, of course, he didn't give us that document. We got a bit distracted instead. But whatever this town is about, it feels like it involves those two families, and maybe the Whitehouses and a few others, to a significant degree."

He mutters, after a moment, "I have to talk to Violet's father."

"If we're right in that FCN is affiliated with the Vivisectionist, and since her list of experiments seems to be concentrated on how environmental stressors affect Talent users? People like us is probably what they mean by remarkable," Isabella tells Lilith grimly. She lets Alexander field the question about the deed. She relinquishes her empty mug; no more brandy for her, and she's driving today.

There's a faint nod in agreement to what Byron says about contacting August. "He's determined to go, but I think he recognizes the fact that he can't be reckless about it - or as reckless as the circumstances entail anyway." She nudges Alexander quietly at his snort, though there's a hint of a smile there.

His quiet muttering has her looking at him. "Do you think he'll talk to you?" she asks quietly. "You told me before that Violet and her father didn't have the best relationship." But then again, considering his particular brand of Talent, maybe that's less of a concern.

"I'm not gonna stop you if you want to make the trip to D.C." Byron speaks out to Alexander, gauging the other's mood from his tone alone. "There's a lot of museums and interesting places to observe on top of this tech company, which, I suppose, I would probably call ahead to ensure that they are allowing visitors."

Isabella brings up exactly what Byron's concerns are, talking about talent users. "Roen, himself, has the Talent. You'd expect those connected to FCN to know that, so it's strange to me that his Talents doesn't automatically give him an invitation and this idea that he needs to, I don't know, sell others out, is how one gets the golden ticket. If you can even call it that." He makes sure to tack on, "I know that Roen isn't about to sell his friends out, but that's just how it feels like. Like that's what the corporation wants him to do."

"This deed, it's nothing that could be lost at Addington House? Something for Patrick or Hyacinth Addington to look into?" That's the first place that Byron would have searched anyway! "Can't say I knew the Whitehouses all that well. Just knew them by reputation." And not a very good one.

Alexander blinks at Byron, taken aback. "What? No. I...no. I wasn't saying that I wanted--" he bites off the words, drains his coffee, and stalks off, movements jerky, to rinse out the mug and place it neatly by the sink. "I just think it could be dangerous. That's all. If it is something. You'd be far from anyone who would believe that anything was going on." Its a rapid-fire mutter, and he's not looking at anyone as he resumes roving restlessly around the penthouse, hands finding the pockets of his jacket. "August would give his own blood before anyone else's - and I don't think he would give that unless pressed."

"And I imagine the Addingtons do have a copy of whatever original sale bill there was. Somewhere. But I don't think we can count on them helping us find it. If they wanted it made public knowledge, then there'd be a copy at City Hall, or framed in Addington House." At Isabella's last question, he stops, for a moment. "He thought she was the spawn of Satan, apparently. But yes, he'll talk to me." It's flat.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Isabella replies. "Maybe it's not automatic." She pauses, before she continues, slowly, "When we went over the last time, Anne was trying to test a theory - that going over specific parts of the Veil requires a certain degree of intention. Maybe the function of the appointments is twofold - not just to control where the information goes but also who gets to visit. So maybe we're looking at two things here - fixed portals that take you to the same destination once they're known, and doorways that require a specific intent to access. But we don't have a lot of data on that just yet. I think that's going to require more trips, which...I'm not comfortable doing. Not with what happened with Anne. At least, not without proper training and assessment as to what kind of gear that's going to require."

She nods towards Alexander's remarks about the bill of sale. "If I had to pick where it would be, it would either be in Margaret Addington's safety deposit box or whatever safe she keeps in her homestead, or somewhere in the Veil. I can always ask Anne which department could help us, but I'd rather we exhaust our efforts here first before subjecting ourselves to the tender mercies of Veil City Hall once more. Alexander already suggested asking Patrick if we could access Addington House's library, see if there's any clues there. And that wouldn't be the first time I've heard someone knowledgeable suggest to me to visit the House and take a really good look."

Concern flits over her features when she regards Alexander, before she nods. "Let me know if you need any help?" she asks, quietly. Otherwise, she won't protest or insist - Violet and Alice is a personal issue to him.

Byron happens to be standing near the sink when Alexander decides to join him, having just refilled his own cup. This time without any spirits because it was the middle of the day and he probably still had a few calls to make. He can't help at smile at that stalking even if he pretends not to really notice. "Are you sure? You'll miss out on so much of our great country's history." The way that this is spoken, he's more or less teasing. "You're right about it being difficult for us to find anyone there who would know." A pause as he lifts his newly filled cup to his lips and feeling the heat of the steam wash over him. "And who knows if we'll remember anything once we're there." Or once they are away from Gray Harbor. "Unless it's a place like Gray Harbor, but when do our memories start to return." He's talking about himself, having learned that others don't forget their time spent in Gray Harbor or its weirdness much at all.

"The Addingtons keep a lot of things forgotten up in that attic, I believe, or probably anywhere." He then goes to on to mention something that he'd told Alexander about once before. "The attic is where Hyacinth Addington found my great grandaunt's wedding dress and stole it to give to me." He clears his throat before finally taking a drink, "I have it in the bedroom. Still don't know what to do about it, but that just goes to show that 1. There's a lot of lost and forgotten things in that place and 2. There are Addingtons willing to get back at the family matriarch."

"Well. I see why we dressed the coffee and you brought pastries, this is quite the conversation, as they all tend to be, hm?" Lilith says after getting herself and Byron refresh on their coffee cups with the spike and espresso pulls. She listens attentively while everyone converses, but doesn't seem to have a lot to add, despite the 'thinking' look on her fine facial features in profile while she bustles. Coming back to seat herself against the cushions and man nook that is Byron when back at the couch, she does at least say, "I don't want a vivisection. But..." She knits her brows and absently curls her toes while blowing into, then sipping from her cup during a pause that's thick.

"People with potential and power, they aren't so hard to find here, feels off that they would just want our kinds of talents as something 'remarkable'. That or we're so used to this stuff, we're appropriately humbled into knowing any neat stuff we can do comes with bad, so we don't think of ourselves that way." A pause, then she points out with a glance back over her shoulder, toward the hallway and bedroom, probably in thinking of the box somewhere in there, "Also, we all got gifts that are marked from them. And they seem actually, I don't know, useful for some reason, maybe. So while we may know very little about this FCN, it's clear they know enough about us. And I don't like that kind of uneven playing field, is all. I guess that's why it's sticking as something to poke at. But also... no vivisection."

Okay, she's at least using caution in wanting to poke when curosity and reason has her asking and commenting aloud on part of the affair. Though not the Baxter stuff. Those parts she's mostly listening to and noting for later if she's asked to do something to help. Then Byron's words have her blinking with distraction, then blurting, "... is it pretty?" Priorities, see.

Alexander throws Byron an irritated look as he passes him in the kitchen. "I've never been on a plane before," he admits. "Or off the West Coast." It appears to visibly pain him to point that out in a room full of people who are both significantly younger, and much better traveled, than he is. He runs a hand through his hair, and mutters, "What happens if you get lost on a plane? Do you just...plummet out of the sky when you get back?" It's only one of his many anxieties about travel - but it's definitely one of those things that contributes to why he doesn't have a car, and walks pretty much everywhere.

He moves on from the subject quickly, his pacing taking him over towards the windows so he can look out at the view rather than at any of them. "I don't want to put Hyacinth or Erin more at odds with Margaret if I don't have to. Just because they, or at least Hyacinth, probably would do it, doesn't mean it's a good idea. Right now she's ignoring them. If she wanted to hurt them, then there are a lot of ways she could do that in this town. Ideally," he huffs out a resigned breath, "I'd like to get the information without rousing the Old Lady's ire or knowledge at all. But that's not likely. And I doubt any of the other family members want to end up like Erin and Hyacinth."

There's just a nod at Isabella's offer, although Byron's mention of the dress, and Lilith's follow up question do bring his attention back around to face the other man. "Have you read it?" Because of course, that'd be the question he asks.

"I never really forgot...and I spent a good decade actively trying to forget," Isabella tells Byron quietly. "But I think if this place wants you, it will try to bring you back. I thought I escaped it...but I think everyone does when they're determined. I'm not discounting the idea that it could be different for everyone, either." Lilith's remark about this turning out into quite a conversation has her grinning at her faintly. "It always is." Her observation is dryly made.

Still, Lilith makes a good point. "Honestly, I didn't even consider that, Lil - that maybe they're looking for something specific." There's a look over to Alexander at that, dark brows raising to her hairline in an inquisitive gesture, prompting for his opinion silently. "But I don't think we can even begin making strides in that direction without knowing more about the company itself. Anyway, FCN does seem to know a lot about us, and may have pieces of some of us...but we have pieces of their research, also." She glances over at Byron and Lilith. "Yule Duchannes is examining the items, to try and see if he can pick it apart and determine the method. From the objects I've seen so far? They seem to be focused on imbuing specific pieces of each aspect into every day items. August has glasses that can cast a specific illusion on himself, for instance. And Eleanor's bath bombs produce a soothing effect. Both are reader talents. The chicken soup accelerates the way the body repairs itself when injured- a healer trait. I don't know what my coin does, but I intend to find out and I think..the more objects he gets to examine, the better chances he has in trying to reverse-engineer what they do, maybe."

There's a glance at Alexander. "I had a Dream on a plane, before," she tells him. "I can't speak of anyone else's experiences here, but when I returned, I was back in my seat. As for the grande dame..." She pauses. "Addington House is currently curated by Patrick Addington, and from what Anne tells me, whatever Margaret says, he does. So if we want access to the library, we have to keep that in mind."

The subject of the wedding dress has Isabella turning curious eyes to Byron, especially at Alexander's question.

Listening to both Alexander and Isabella speak about whether they'd been on a plane, what would happen if you dreamt on a plane and the fact that Isabella never forgot about the weirdness of Gray Harbor, Byron has to wonder, "I am curious what life would be like if I did remember everything about Gray Harbor. My powers. What happened to Tobin's mother, your brother..." his voice soften when he says this, eyes turned to Izzy, "Magnolia and Levi's father and... the House." He's talking about his own family home. "I met a girl a while back, new to town, but she and her family had always been hunted by Them, supposedly. And she could see the way that people shined in place other than here. So anything is possible and we definitely are affected by things in different ways.

On the topic of spiteful Addingtons, Byron won't push for any of the other Addingtons to act out and start stealing things from the museum. He's a little uneasy to even be in possession of the dress that he seems to be going to fetch, setting down his coffee cup on the island before washing his hands.

It doesn't take long once he enters his room for him to find the item in question. He brings out an old fashioned hatbox, of all things, so delicate and vintage. Making room on the coffee table, he lifts the lid to expose a lovely wedding dress and veil, dated around the early 1930. (Something similar to https://tinyurl.com/y2qm77en)

He'll let them touch it if they want, expecting them to handle it with care and with clean hands. To Alexander's question, he nods, "Yes." He has read it. Though it's Lilith who he watches now, since she was the one truly curious.

Lilith has already prepared for this moment as an antique item handler here and there, and when Byron gets up, she gets up too to go for her purse in the front hallway, using straight hand sanitizer over good old fashioned soap and water. She may just want to contain her sudden excitement, though, because she's a little pace happy with wandering in her bare feet while waiting on the dress to come out. And she doesn't say a word about her decade of life and certain ways and urges about it while away from Gray Harbor given how close she was to the Bermuda Triangle. This is a lovely distraction for that.

In fact, just seeing the box has the brunette already flitting over to look at it at length, like she's about to open something seriously sacred and naturally needs to survey the container and wrapping. Then she reaches to draw out the veil at length, first, because who is honestly going to get in the way of her and vintage anything, that much excited glow on her over a 'thing'. It's akin to someone busting out native clay pots and runestones at Isabella (or veil soup). Lilith is going to touch this thing and lead the charge of viewing, that much is clear.

After laying the veil out carefully over the lounge length of the leather sofa to admire while spread out, she turns to pull the dress out next and holds it up in front of herself, but... not against herself, that'd be such a damn girly thing to do. She might be resisting personally sizing it like that, though-- while Lilith isn't predominately typed to get gushy over wedding things, this is something from Byron's family and a wedding thing and old and lovely as hell.

"Wow. Please tell me you didn't see something terrible with a dress this gorgeous and authentic? Seems a shame on principle."

"I didn't forget when I left, either - but it was all...blunted," Alexander says, quietly. "It was easier not to think about it, especially about the supernatural aspects of things." He considers Byron steadily for a while, before adding, "You may have been better off. Not remembering. You know, so it didn't distract you from doing the things you wanted to do that had nothing to do with this place."

He makes a thoughtful noise - not QUITE reassured - when Isabella talks about her own experiences on a plane. "It's probably just being paranoid," he admits. He falls silent when Byron brings out the box, but moves closer to take a look when the hatbox is lifted. He whistles, low and long. "That's gorgeous." And Lilith asks the question, or a related question, that would follow on the heals of that yes, so rather than elaborate on it, he just studies Byron, waiting for the answer.

Byron's quiet mention of Sid has Isabella's eyes drawing away from him again, jaw setting upon the delicate hinges - the effect is always twofold, unable to help but reach for the empty spaces within herself in a futile attempt to find some piece of him, only to be confronted by that same, yawning empty...and the guilt that is so palpable that it feels like something monstrous and alive that constantly threatens to consume her if she allows herself to sink too deeply in those waters. "I forgot many things regarding my powers...my knowledge about them...while I was away," she says instead. "But not...events, or the people I met or spent a lot of time with." She had tried to forget Byron, too, but was unable to do so; an already broken heart could hardly be asked to let go of the connections that still exist so easily, after all. "It could honestly mean anything, and each person is different."

She rises from the couch, finally, striding over when Byron brings out the wedding dress and lays it out on the table, and despite Isabella's unapologetically tomboyish ways, she is not immune to the gorgeous piece of vintage, Jazz-era history spread out before her. There's a faintly wistful smile when she encounters the dress - not because she wants a wedding of her own, but rather an expression she often wears when coming across the likes of Lilith or even Vivian decked out in pieces like this; these are simply things she wishes she can wear with the manner and grace they require, that she believes she is lacking for some reason or other.

Not that she would ever admit it to anyone. "It's gorgeous...which great grand-aunt was this?" A name, she means. Her hand unconsciously lifts, as if to touch the dress...but she stops herself in the last moment and lets those fingers fall against her side. It's a wedding dress, practically a nuclear bomb of emotional impressions, and she's not confident enough in her newfound sensitivity in those areas to risk touching it.

Plus, really, who wants to get in Lilith's way when she looks like that?

"Memories are one thing and some of which we experienced was devastating enough." Byron says thinking back on how much of Gray Harbor he never thought of at all, even when Tobin would call to keep him up-to-date on his business. Being the ambitious man that he is, while the memories may have hindered him, maybe, it's the powers that he wish he had access to. It would have made life so much easier. But, he also believes that he didn't remember due to his own low light. These others whose lives were affected even when far from here, even Isabella, their inner light is almost blinding.

This, as always, is not something that he cares to bring up. Instead, he tries to dismiss the entire conversation, though he looks to Isabella when she speaks of Isidore. If he remembered correctly, he knew of Isidore and that he was gone, like Tobin's mother and everyone. They were just gone. It was more of a missing person's case than something supernaturally odd. Either way, he will come out to say, "I wish that I'd remembered all of it. All of /you/ the way that I knew you back then." He's mostly taking about Isabella, hell even Magnolia, since those were the circles of kids who never held back in using their powers. And they were blinding. His eyes flicker to watch Lilith as she handles the veil with careful fingers, "This is why when I returned home and was hit by all of these memories, and believe me, I still had very little knowledge of everything I know now, I felt guilt for not remembering the strange way that Tobin's mother just stepped out of our lives. Or the fact that Magnolia and Levi spent several holidays with us because their father vanished as well and their mother became catatonic because of it. When I was in L.A. everything, all of that, was far from my mind. Or missing completely. If I'd stayed away, I wonder if I would ever think of any of you again."

To answer Isabella's question regarding his aunt, he simply states, "Claire Addington nee Thorne." He already had a chance to observe it, touch it and dip into its history for just that one day alone. The emotional residue on an item like a wedding dress would be lacking when compared to other items. Not lacking in intensity, but a bride usually only wears the dress once.

Milling around near the others as they marvel at the thing, Byron states, "It's what you would expect from a young woman getting married-- and not out of love, of course, but to help boost her family's name." Here he has to laugh a bit, "And look what good that did for the Thorne family. We lost our house, the home that /she/ had lived in at one time." His voice softens a touch after that mocking tone, "She didn't really want to marry into the Addingtons, knowing the dark history of that family and being afraid of the death that lingered over them. That's the emotion that I felt. A heavy unease." His voice rings clearer now, "I think, from what I've gathered, her brother, David Thorne, may have been the only person to sympathize with her."

"David Thorne, huh." Byron's middle namesake, potentially! Lilith kind of murmurs it while listening and looking at the dress, but there's a point where Byron is talking where she cuts her eyes over to him, then back to the dress. Some of her excitement wanes visibly into a vague wistfulness or something else, but she's still not lacking appreciation for the piece. Very careful and practiced, she stops holding out the dress to look at all the details and cut, and without holding it against herself, she stores it back in the box, turning attention to the veil next, "... I see. I guess that would be fairly natural and... warranted. Especially for this time period."

After replacing things in the box, she closes the lid and grabs her coffee to drain, commenting dryly after she swallows the spiked caffeine, "Guess it's no good for Vegas or Reno anyway, huh." Then Isabella and Alexander are checking the time for engagements to steal their company and Lilith takes to bustling so she can pack them up some servings of the simmering creamy potato bacon and vegetable soup that's been simmering and filling the apartment with smell good. They didn't come in empty handed, no use in seeing them off that way either.