2020-03-09 - That Thing We Do

August has given himself the afternoon off, because it's been a hell of a few days. There's a couple places he likes to meander, waiting for something to catch his eye, and one such place is Likely Stories.

He's moving a little stiff and sore, and there are dark circles under his eyes. He's got an Espresso Yourself coffee cup in hand (a venti, so it's been a hell of a day), and is dressed against the cold in a black turtleneck, dark blue, cable-knit cardigan, denim jeans, and heavy hikers. Who can't wait for spring? This guy. He's perusing the science books section, pulling one out now and then, putting it back.

He hasn't been as much of a presence around town, of late, has Joe. Blame the late winter weather, perhaps. But there's the sailor, sort of drifting aimlessly around the SF and fantasy section. He's in that navy greatcoat, but it's open to show a plain long-sleeved shirt beneath, in an ash gray, old jeans, battered boots. The white silk scarf is unwound and only draped loosely around his neck, and his watch cap peeks out of a coat pocket. He hasn't had his hair trimmed since he arrived a few months ago, and it's turning into a tumble of loose curl.

He's got reading glasses perched on his nose, and he's holding a faded little novella entitled Scissors Cut Paper Wrap Stone - the cover art depicts a Japanese temple, tended by a monk with cyborged lower limbs.

Roxy is haunting the children's literature section, specifically the classics part of it. She's sitting on the floor in her yoga pants and Dance Evolution sweatshirt, clearly on a break between teaching classes, and flipping through various editions of 'Treasure Island'. She may be looking for something specific. As each one fails to meet some barely remember criteria, she puts it back on the shelf and pulls the next.

August comes wandering along the aisles, having now laid claim to a gently-used copy of The Epigenetics Revolution. He sees Joe in the scifi section, steps in among the bookshelves. He doesn't speak immediately, instead pulling a copy of a book (The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate) down to have a look at, so he doesn't interrupt. It's hard to miss him reaching out for the book, though.

Does it seem like a kid like Rekani would show up to a place like this? Bookstores surely weren't a place for someone with his... checkered background. But there was specifically one section he would need to visit currently. Unfortunately, as the door opens to admit the large latino into the shop proper, he sees it may be a bit of a maneuvering to get there. Regardless, he carries on, winding his way back toward the Chilton manuals. He spots August, immediately, his face lighting up in a broad grin, and lifting a hand in a wave, which with Rekani's bulk and enthusiasm, is the loudest quiet gesture one may have ever seen.

The little bell on the door that is common with small independent businesses like this dings as Beth steps inside. The somber uniform of a funeral director has been shed and in it's place is a t-shirt that on first glance looks like the NASA emblem but actually says Bowie instead, a pair of high waisted jeans, and some high tops. On top of all of this is her gray wool swing coat. As on all days off her winged eyeliner is on point and she's paired it with a red lip and bouncy ponytail.

She starts towards the history section to skim the titles with an idle expression.

Itzhak limps in on a full leg brace and a crutch. Both brace and crutch have glitter flame stickers on. He looks tired with a capital T, when usually he looks like trouble.

And it gets Joe looking at him over the rim of his glasses inquiringly, as he steps aside to make room. "Oh, hey, Roen," he says, affably, smiling. He's got a few more books in hand, besides that novella. A couple of little collections of poetry: Poems of the Sea, Poems of New York. More faded novels - yellowed old SF - and what looks like a Haynes Manual, too. One of the things Rekani might be after?

Though odds are very low that Rekani needs specs, stats, and repair info on a Soyuz.

A glance over as Beth comes in, and he grins, all the more broadly. "I like your shirt," he tells her.

Of course he does.

And then past her to Itzhak. "Rosencrantz," he says, bluntly, "You look like you spent the night sorting wildcats."

Roxy gets to the last copy on the shelf and sighs. They don't have the version she remembers, sort of, from the Asylum. She gets to her feet and brushes herself off, before moving out of the children's lit area. She pauses when she sees a few familiar faces, Joe and Itzhak particularly. She smiles and gives them a little wave though. "Joseph. Itzhak. Hello!" She gives the others nods of greeting, as well.

"Chto ty skazal? Eto ne-slushay. Mne nuzhno perezvonit'." The russian words and mildly irritated tone float through the front area of the bookshop as it opens and Kip enters for the second time since she's been here. She's heading towards the stairs, though slowly to a stop at the sci-fi section for two reasons. One -because maybe there's more books by that same author from last week. Two - there's people there! Lots of people and only one of which she recognizes.

The vastly shorter than all these people woman gives a sunny smile to Rekani despite her irritated tone from moments ago with whomever she was on the phone with. "Good afternoon everyone." The sunny smile remains, though it falters a touch when it lands on the injured stranger that is Itzhak. "Wildcats might be an understatement." Is idly offered in an elaboration of Joe's comment.

August glances sidelong, spots Rekani and smiles, giving him a wave. His expression turns awkward a second later when he remembers their last encounter, and he clears his throat. Yes...that was what you could call memorable and eventful. In good ways, largely; at least, no one was maimed or died, and no one was irrevocably hurt in any emotional way (that he knows). But Eleanor did climb on the piano in a mid-thigh dress, and that's something Rekani had a front seat view for. Ah, life in Gray Harbor.

Back to Joe, and he nods a greeting. "Hey. How've you been?" He raises the book he pulled off the shelf in a hello for both Itzhak and Beth. There's maybe a glint in his eyes for Itzhak when Joe says that, a hint of the teasing humor he might normally bust out at a moment's notice. He nods a greeting to Roxy, but only recognizes her somewhat, so doesn't say much beyond that.

Itzhak grunts. "More like wolves." He upnods to people nonetheless. "Cavanaugh. Roen. 'ey, Maestro." He doesn't know Rekani's name. And he can't remember Beth's, so he just kind of squints at her. She's familiar, but...well, his facial recognition game isn't on point today. He drags himself to a couch and sinks down on it, propping his crutch nearby and muttering to himself. The Russian makes him glance up tiredly at Kip. Jeez she's tiny.

Rekani offers a fist bump Itzhak's way as he's actually greeted, giving a brief, "Hola, amigo." The latino was, in fact, looking for the same section the Haynes manuals would be, and as he tries to move past the folk that obviously knew eachother, he does spot that book in Joseph's hand. He leans briefly to point at it, "Yo, sorry, where'd you find that? They got a bunch?" Kip's greeting has him turning awkwardly, breaking into another wide grin. "Well damn, ain't that some shit? I was trying to find the book on your beater."

Plenty of people. "All right," Joe tells August, and he seems to mean it. He doesn't have that pained air he often wears, no sign of stiffness.

Roxy gets a lazy, "Hey there,".....and Kip, whom he hasn't met before, a little amused spark in the blue eyes, an upnod and "Dobryy den". Then he's eeling his way out of the stacks towards Itzhak. "I was just thinkin' of you. Got somethin' for ya," he says, presenting him with Scissors Cut Paper Wrap Stone. "I was thinkin' of this the other day, after you and I were talkin' about Gibson. Next to Gibson, this is one of my favorite pieces of cyberpunk."

Rekani's question makes him shift the little poetry books out of the way to display the full cover and grin at him. "This one I got in science, since it isn't really automotive." Russian spacecraft don't really count. "I think the real deal ones are over in transportation, which is..." He turns a little. "That corner?" He's got a slow Georgia drawl, vastly out of place on this coast.

Beth is pulling a copy of 'The Witches' from the bookshelf just as Joseph tells her he likes her shirt. She glances down at the logo on it to remind herself what the heck she's wearing today it and smiles. "Thanks." She opens the book to read the dust jacket but the sudden socializing going on draws her attention away from it. She puts it back on the shelf. "Hey." She says to August when she realizes he is also there, "Thanks again." She doesn't elaborate for what but he probably knows.

The diminutive woman speaking Russian gets a curious glance because this is Gray Harbor. Not Alaska. None of us can see Russia from our houses. But it is polite to stare so she looks away just in time to see Itzhak drop down onto the sofa with his decorated crutches and Rekani ask about a manual. When Itzhak squints at her she mimics the action because why wouldn't she. Roxy is spied as well. She's seen the woman before so she lifts a hand to wave.

Roxy looks a little shy today, out of her element of the dance studio. She looks over at the Sci fi and Fantasy books while stealing looks at other people and listening raptly to their conversations, watching their interactions.

"Oh? That is good luck then! Because, well," Kip glances towards the front and then back to Rekani. "It's making a weird noise." Though, to be fair, it probably made a lot of weird noises. Considering it was a miracle it was even still driving.

She looks intrigued when Joseph greets her. "Dobryy den" She responds. "More people in this town speak Russian than I thought." The total now up to 2 when her original assumption was 0. Mostly an idle musing. She shifts a bit to skim over some books, giving Roxy a smile as she is nearer to her. "Do you have a favorite book recommendation? I am trying to find ones to help improve with the...English reading." Because speaking it is still far easier for her than reading it. "My name is Kapitsa."

Itzhak somehow didn't see Roxy, down there below giraffe-eye-level, and when he does spot her, he tinges red a little. The first time he ever met her has made quite the lasting impression. Rekani gets a fistbump in return and a tug of a half-smile. "Didn't catch ya name," he tells him. "Rosencrantz. I'm a violinist."

Then Joe is coming to offer him a book and say he was thinking of him, and well, that tinge blooms into a full blush. He takes the book, his eyebrows going up. "Ain't read it. What a great title." He turns it over in his hands, the way he does anytime anyone hands him anything.

"Yeah we got a real big wolf population in these parts," August says, guileless and matter-of-fact. He pulls out another Chiang book, reads the back, trades it out for the one he was holding. He moves to Itzhak by the couch, walking gingerly. He shakes his head at Beth's thanks, says, "No problem. I'm just glad I could help."

He glances at Roxy, then Itzhak and Joe, offers a hand. "August," he says, because he is, slowly but surely, sorting out how to be slightly more social. At the request for a recommendation, he says, "I swear I'm not being a dick when I say this, but EB White's books are really good for learners. They're usually considered kid's books but it's a good start. Same with Hemmingway, honestly."

"Yo, what!? They do spaceships now?!" Rekani seems genuinely surprised when he sees the cover of the book revealed, looking up at Joseph in confusion and wonder. Kip's utterance has him glancing over with a flat-lipped grimace, the dread of trying to find out what it was going to be this time. "Soon as I find a shop around here that'll let me lift it up, I'ma have to tear that thing all up. Rekani. DJ." The last words were meant for Itzhak, a nod and pointer finger to show he caught that and was trying to navigate the complicated social situation with as much attention to detail as possible. Uttering a short laugh, he hooks a thumb in the direction Joseph had pointed where the actual car manuals were. He wanders off briefly, to locate his quarry, calling backward over his shoulder in a joking manner when he finally catches August's name, correcting, "Lumberjack Jesus!".

"I'm Joseph," says Joe, cheerfully. "And Hemingway's a good choice. His style is clear and simple and terse, not too hard for people new to English, but he's a good writer. A classic, on a lot of fronts. White's good, too."

The amusement ever brighter. "I had to. I lived in Russia for a few years. Zvyozdny Gorodok." Star City.

Rekani gets a bright-eyed look. "It's a recent thing, and they're actually pretty substantive....but not hardly useful when you're lookin' for stuff on actual autos," he allows.

Then back to Itzhak. "It's a good one. Lemme have it when you're done lookin' at it, I'll get it for ya." Of course, he's started to turn faintly pink, too. Itz isn't the only sympathy blusher in town, it appears.

A smile for Roxy, but he doesn't try to draw her out. Sometimes it's easier to lurk on the fringes awhile.

Roxy smiles at Kip and she brightens at the question. "Oh yes. English is hard to learn. Even if you learn it well from textbooks, they do not speak it that way here." Her accent is also thick, but Finnish, not Russian. "I learned a lot from folk tales and fairy stories. Most cultures have similar ones, so it helped me learn the words by knowing some of the context."

At this point Beth is listening in to the conversation swirling around the bookstore more than engaging in it. Her hand drifts towards the bookshelf as if she is torn between finding something to read and socializing. Finally socialization wins out. She steps away from the bookcase and drifts over to where everyone is congregating. "Hi. I'm Beth Lawson. Funeral Director." A pause before she points towards the romance novels. "I don't know much about Hemmingway or White but all of the Harlequins have a formula and they have to be written at a lower reading level for mass appeal. So if that sort of thing appeals to you and you don't mind having to figure out what exactly they are talking about when they use um..." She pauses and her lips quirk upwards with some mirth, "Flowery language."

Roxy slides her hand into August's to shake lightly. "Roxy, I am the new owner of Dance Evolution."

Kip winced a bit at the thought of the car going on a lift. "I fear there will be nothing left to put it back together." She was going to owe Rekani for a hot minute if he got this Acura back in some kind of better-maintained condition.

"I do have some books about legends and things. They are mostly pictures with short paragraphs. I will have to find some others." Kip grins a touch at the fellow foreigner's accent. "How long have you been in the States?"

To August and Joseph, "E.B White and Hemmingway." Kip repeated, looking thoughtful a moment. "I will look for some of those then!" Not taking any offense at all to the comment. Her eyes widened a bit as August is revealed to be Lumberjack Jesus and then she chuckles a bit. "I've heard about you. All good things. It is nice to meet you. All of you." She offers to the group that she now more or less has all names to match with faces.

Though for Joe she adds in, "Really?" eyes wide. "That's very interesting! I am from Kazan. Born and raised. Did you like it there? In Zvyozdny Gordodok?"

At Beth's suggestion of the romance novels, she giggles. "Maybe I will look at those too! There is nothing wrong with a bit of, ah, romantic thought wanderings now and again. And it might be a good challenge...figuring out the flowery languages."

Itzhak hands the book back to Joe, not meeting his eyes, not looking at his face, blushing bright. "Thanks. I, uh, yeah. It sounds great." He looks at August with eyebrows going funny. There's a lot more action in this bookstore than he'd thought there'd be!

August returns Roxy's handshake, grip firm and friendly. He's got rough hands that have seen a fair amount of work. "Good to meet you. I was wondering who'd taken that over, since Cole left." He gives Rekani and then Kip a sigh and a rueful half-smile. "Well then he's being overly generous. Nice to meet you," he pauses, careful to get the pronunciation right, "Kapitsa." He coughs at Beth's suggestion, gives her an amused smile. "Well that's probably, ah, true. I seem to remember seeing that in a movie, actually, I always wondered if that was really the case."

He shrugs at Itzhak, dredges up a wry smile for him. He raises his chin at the crutch. "I see how it is. Won't let us heal you because you wanna put some bling on your equipment."

"I had a great time. I ended up living in a local flat block, not in the usual housing reserved for Westerners. Made a lot of friends, enjoyed myself. Made it easier when I was locked up with with Russians for six months on end." There's something almost expectant in his face, like he's waiting for her to get the joke....surely he's not talking about a prison stay? It's as close as he's ever come to really just mentioning his old career in public.

Then he clarifies for Kip's sake, "Harlequins are love stories written to appeal to women." No embarrassment there. Hey, it's a thing.

He seems to just take Itz's lack of eye contact as a matter of course. Rosencrantz is the way he is....but Joe's still kind of mostly oriented towards him.

Roxy has to think hard to answer Kip's question. Because she isn't sure two years of her time counts as being in the US. She looks to Joseph with an expression of 'help, how do I navigate this', but decides not to include that time. "Two years. My mother was from the US." Well, her fake mother was, in her fake paperwork courtesy of Tim.

Returning in time to hear all about the literary prowess or process of such greats, Rekani stops and just sort of stares, looking from one face to the next. The bit of widened-eye look he gives each person betrays this is more than likely a much loftier subject that he feels at all capable to comment on. He stares across at Kip, eyes widening even more, an almost fearful look, like maybe they needed to be saved from it, then going wry at her about the lift fear. He chimes in on what he can, a quiet aside in August's direction, "Yo, it wasn't a joke man. Saved my life. Wild as hell. I been wanting to ask what the hell that was." He takes a quick glance around. Yup, everyone here had that thing in their voice, that easier sound. "Cause that was like first of two weird trips," he stops, thinking, counting a third on his finger as he points at August, maybe half counting that weird night at the piano, "Maybe three... and I only been here a couple weeks."

"He does that," Itzhak mutters in Rekani's direction, about August. "Big damn hero." His grating New York accent makes everything sound like an insult, like, ugh, why does August have to be a hero?! "Did you say somethin' about needing a lift?" he adds. Joe is still here, and he still doesn't know what to do about the fact Joe is going to give him a book, and he just kind of sits there awkwardly, leaning over his braced leg.

"You can go on their website and it shows the formula." Beth says to August with an affirmative nod. Oh, it's real! "Yeah. It's real flowery." She says with some amusement of her own to Kip. When Rekani returns she listens to his comment directed to August. She smiles at him sympathetically before she says, "Town's funny that way. Always has been." Her attention drifts to the science books and she spies Homo Deus and snags it off of the shelf.

Kip stares at Joseph for a moment at his comment and then laughed again. "That is good then. I am glad it was a good experience for you. I miss it some. Russia - in general. But I am glad to be missing the winter. This is like spring compared to what they are dealing with right now."

There's another little giggle as she catches Rekani's wide-eyed look and then maneuvers a bit closer to him so she can peek at the manual he's found. She looks up at Itzhak at his question. "Rekani is going to try and fix my car...or at least find out what is wrong with it. but he needs a lift." Not help fix...just fix...because Kip knows 0 things about cars when it comes to, well, any of the important stuff.

On the subject of the Harlequin Novels - "There are Harlequins in Russia. Well, translated in to Russian at least. My mother is a big fan. I did not think about trying to read them in English though." Kip mused. "Something I might consider."

"Two years is a fair bit of time! All here in Gray Harbor? " A curious question. "I have only been here a few weeks myself. It is an interesting place...to say the least." There's a slight wrinkle of her nose as she thinks about those ruined leggings. "But the people are good people so far that I have met."

August gives Itzhak a look. "Only when I'm allowed to," he says, bland. The sarcasm fades when he looks at Rekani, replaced with a bit of sympathy. "It's okay, I know you're not...joking." He nods slowly at Beth's description of Gray Harbor, explains to Rekani, "I'm not sure about what happened at Hyacinth's birthday, but what we were in, with the cyborgs? That was one of Their constructs. Some people call them Dreams. And they're dangerous." He stops himself there, pulling up short like he was about to go on a tangent and just caught himself. After a moment, he continues, "They can happen for a lot of reasons, it seems, but one of the main ones is using your Art too much." He coughs, looks aside. "Which I'm guilty of, that's for sure." Is he specifically not looking at Itzhak? Oh yeah.

Roxy shakes her head in the negative at Kip. "No, most of it was in Oregon. I moved to Gray Harbor near the end of last summer," she explains. She gathers in the information August is explaining, and nods in agreement with him. "What he says is true." She grimaces.

The look Joe gives August is dry, but not terribly censorious. And then, as if to only add to Itz's apparent mortification, he steals some of the space on the couch, settles in, comfortably.

A glance at Kip, and he chuckles, "I didn't realize they'd translate them. Makes sense, I suppose. No native equivalent, I imagine."

A click of his tongue in sympathy for Rekani, but....August has it handled far better than he can. He's still a newbie himself, really.

Attention drawn aside and down to Itzhak, he cocks a brow, the self-styled violinist confusing Rekani for a second, as they still had probably not made the connection on the matter, "Yeah, what she said, know one of the shops around here that'll let me rent shop time?" The book is tipped out from under his arm so Kip can see it was actually the book to her car.

"Oh you talking about...?" he replies to August's explanation by tapping his temple, probably meaning the moving things with his mind, "Yeah, shit's rough. You ain't gotta tell me twice." He rubs his chest faintly, remembering. If he'd listened the first time, it woulda gone better, "Are They all robots?" he asks, a probably comical question for people in the know, but... Well it's been all robots for Rekani so far.

"Every language has to have euphemisms for bumping uglies." Beth says, ironically using a euphemism to talk about euphemism. She opens the book in her hands and begins scanning over it. While she scans she says, "As most cultures find discussing sex to be impolite."

She looks up from the book at Rekani and nods her head along with August. She shakes her head. "No. Generally They'll go with anything that can scare you. So chances are whatever it is will be unsettling. So if you find robots scary they'll probably be robots often. Sometimes it doesn't make any sense."

"Not mine. My lifts are ferkakte." Itzhak answers Rekani like he didn't just say he's a violinist. "...You weld? Maybe you wanna trade some time fixing 'em for using 'em?" He snorts when Beth says that thing about bumping uglies, blush not cooling. Especially not when Joe joins him on the couch and makes himself comfortable.

Roxy pulls a copy of a book down off the shelf and she smiles to the others. "I should go, I have a class this afternoon." She moves to the front to buy her find, and departs.

A smile is flashed towards Joe. "Not quite like it no. There are romantic books of course but...not such a wide-spread series." Kip nodded and then moved back over to eye a portion of the sci-fi books. Ah -ha! She seemed to have found what she was looking for here at least because she does pull out a book. A part two to some space opera-esque deal. Because romance and warfare in SPACE was, well, exciting. "Yes it is. There are some places still where it can get you in trouble."

"It would be preferable if they were all robots." Kip mused as she eyed the book but, refrained from actually taking it for now. She wasn't sure she'd be able to understand anything so technical anyway. "At least we know how to defeat robots." More or less. "We had to do a dance off...it was...exhausting? And a bit scary. They were very pushy dancebots." Kip shook her head, glancing up to the group.

"I am told to expect things like that to happen often though. At least, that is what I've gathered from my conversations with others." Kip tilted her head ever so slightly. "It was nice to meet you. Have a good day." She smiles towards Roxy, watching her depart.

August sniffs at Joe, a 'do not judge me' sniff if ever there was one. "Yeah," he says to Rekani. "People call it a lot of things--the Song, the Glimmer, the Art, the Talent." He gestures at Beth. "Like she says, They're not...really present. They, the Unshaped, the Bad Men, They don't have a form. They're not in the Dream, They're just making it happen. They can sense when we use the Art, and They really like it when we're hurting. Or, better yet, when we use it to hurt one another. So They get a whiff of you, crowd on in and put you in a little habitat to take a nice big bite." He glances down at the book he's holding, turns it over in his hands. "If you're lucky, you make it out of there, get to think about when the next time is you want to take another turn around the dance floor with them."

He grimaces at Kip's description. "Yeah, that sounds like their bullshit. Was everyone alright?" He's totally not looking for people to go heal because he's done a triple axel flip right the hell off the 'don't heal people' wagon or anything.

Joe is judging him. He's radiating judgement like a cat sitting on a table. He's also kind of flopped back on the couch like he owns it. Not crowding Itzhak, still plenty of room for the fiddler....but very firmly there. Someone's in some kind of mood. He waves farewell to Roxy, but he's really just listening to Roen lay down the 101.

"I always called it glowing because people who have it glow sometimes to me." Beth says as she absently flips a page in her book, adding along to what August said. "I also think sometimes the divider between this place and that place just gets real thin and sometimes you just...walk in. Or strange stuff walks out. Sometimes it's not even bad. Once I saw a whole bunch of hat wearing octopi taking an evening stroll across the park. They were just minding their own business."

Itzhak lets August just lay out the deets, his mouth twisting funny. Which has nothing to do with Joe sitting next to him. But he kinda smiles at the image of hat-wearing octopi. "Not everything's bad. Maybe not even most stuff," he murmurs. "But They, the ones got no shape, make it bad."

"Yo, that sounded like an F-word, so I'm guessing they broke." Rekani surmises as he glances to Itzhak, "I have welded. It ain't my job. I do know about hydraulics though, so... Yeah, you got a number?" Beth's comment about bumping uglies gets a smirk, but her next comment begs a question, "That why it feels like this town is uh... I dunno, feels like swiss cheese?" his face was scunched as if he was trying to think and put words into being, making a poking motion, likely a feeling from his Physical senses he didn't quite know how to describe. His face does fall though as August talks about harming eachother, "Oh man, so that crazy blonde that burned my hands, that was just like, 'Over here, guys, dinner time.' huh..." he winces, leaving off the point where he had retaliated.

Kip considers for a moment and then shook her head. "Not seriously, no. At least not that I am aware of. They had some strange...neon colored oil that I and a few others slipped in but otherwise...well, we won at least." She nods towards Rekani. "He was able to mess with the music and his sister helped rally the rest of us for a final choreographed number!" Sounding just a little bit like it was a lot of fun. She cleared her throat and looked sheepish. "It was...exciting...but dangerous. I am sure the next time will not be as...uhm. Lenient." An emphatic nod.

"Hat-wearing...octopi? That sound interesting. Perhaps I will see something like that one of these days. I was doing an overnight at Pripyat with a team of ghost hunters and it was...an experience. It is a very bad and unstable place. The...'Them' you speak of? The shadowy things? Have overrun it." A little shudder at the memory of the feeling.

That has the Laser of Judgement aimed at Kip. Joe's eyes widen, and he peers at her. "You were doing what in Pripyat?" he demands, tone utterly horrified. "Jesus H. Christ on a pogo stick."

He recoils a little, as if the connection she just made plain just hit a nerve already raw. "God almighty, I wonder if They had something to do with that whole thing...." A neverending font of suffering and death....of course They'd be all over that like an all-you-can-eat buffet. "What'd you see?"

"Black holes," Itzhak murmurs. He upnods at Rekani. "You're like me. I can hear it." He taps an ear. "We oughta talk. My place is Steelhead, on Spruce in the industrial center. Come by when you got a minute." Kip tells her story, and he glances at Joe, surprised, then at August as if asking for more information on wtf Pripyat is. And reaches over and rubs Joe's back, forgetting to be shy, instinctively offering him comfort.

"Yeah.Swiss cheese." Beth says with a nod of her head. "But only to us cause we were born with something different. There are plenty of people in town who can't sense it at all." Her eyes widen slightly when Kip mentions having gone to Pripyat. "As in Chernobyl? Isn't there a lot of radiation there? Like enough to still make people pretty sick?" She shakes her head softly before she says, "I use formaldehyde regularly for my job and I wouldn't go there for that reason alone." Her eyes widen at Joe's implication that They caused a nuclear disaster. "Could They do that?" She adds in a startled huff, "Hopefully the government doesn't have some secret silos hidden here."

"Precisely," August says, nodding at both Rekani and Beth. He smiles briefly at the description of the octopi. "I've been over there a few times, and it's not all bad." He licks his lips. "But, ah, we can also make it bad. Word of advice--be careful what you leave there, and what you do to the things there. It's entirely possible for us to poison the life that's in the Veil." He grimaces about the altercation at Hyacinth's party. "Unfortunately? Yeah." He considers Itzhak, then tilts his head, eyes unfocused. "He's almost as strong as you," he says. "And a little bit of the mind Art. Nothing of the other one, though."

He blinks at Kip, surprised like Joe is. Catching the look from Itzhak, he says, "Chernobyl." It's the only word that he really needs to say, considering. "The trees, that died from the radiation? There 've been forest fires, and they send radioactive smoke for miles." He suppresses a shudder. Oh yes, They're probably all over the Chernobyl region.

Rekani aims a finger from Beth's remark, then at Itzhak as he talks about the sound, "Yeah, yeah, it's like... sounds like when you stand up too fast after a good hit." He cocks his head them, brows furrowing, "Wait, I left you a message a couple days ago, shit, answer your phone, homie." He breaks into a joking grin, then, winking at Itzhak, hoping he took a joke. Kip's comment about his abilities with the music gets a hearty grin and a wink, a finger gun, taking her talk as the compliment he knew it was.

The talk of Chernobyl is sobering, even a kid like Rekani knowing about the place, though he wasn't quite sure of the connections people were making. Place was mad spooky though in Call of Duty games. He looks to August confused, "Mind? You can just use your thing to sense that? Wait, can you like... lose stuff? Cause I used to be able to kinda..." He makes a motion from his forehead, pointing in the distance, his face a mask of concentration, his best charades at mental communication, "Think at my sis, but like... I can't anymore."

Kip studies August for a moment, curious as he mentions strength levels between Itzhak and Rekani. A thoughtful noise is made but she doesn't speak on it. Instead, it is her turn to blink at Joe's initial reaction and then shook her head a little towards Beth. "...They do tours there, in the city.. Like. You can go on a tour of the city in the day time. Well to certain places and the guides are very strict. But I was consulting for a professional team that has a TV Show. They got permission to do an overnight. You can't go near the plant itself or the reactor because of the radiation. But the town is at safer levels." She elaborates. "I didn't see a lot. It was mostly just noises. And a sinking, uncomfortable feeling." Kip used her free hand to rub the back of her neck, as if she could feel her hairs all standing on end again. Her expression softened ever so slightly. "I do not know if they did or not but...it happened and there they are. After that is when...I started noticing more of the...strangeness. Abilities."

Just as unthinkingly, Joe's edging towards Itz. As if the idea of that vast, ghostly region, haunted by the aftermath, really gets under his skin.

"They can lean on human foolishness and weakness, lies and mistakes.....and what was Chernobyl but a cascade of that. A flawed reactor....." He shakes his head, not so much in disagreement as a kind of denial. "Can They affect physical things?" As if that old question about the wreck that nearly killed him had come back again.

"I.....wonder if high doses of radiation are the kind of trauma that....do enough damage, enough alteration to let you get access to Glimmer, if you didn't before," Musing aloud, though his gaze goes between August and Itz, as if they were the experts. "I'd assumed it was the physical trauma of the wreck that sparked me, but....that was after six months of being irradiated...."

Congratulations, you came back from space sterile but with psychic powers to compensate you, was it a good trade?

Itzhak makes a grimacing 'oh. that.' face at August. Ugh. The glance he shoots Kip is downright impressed. Then he snorts at Rekani. "Oh that was you? Look, I been busy, and by busy I mean high on Vicodin." All the while he keeps his hand on Joe's back as Joe talks about Them and the Chernobyl disaster and his personal physical trauma.

"Really?" Beth asks Kip, and she sounds slightly appalled. "Tourists will really go to anything." She shakes her head in amazement. Rekani gets a knowing glance when he does that gesture. "Transmit thoughts, you mean?"

She looks between Kip and Joseph as they wonder if it might be trauma induced. "All I know is I was born in this town. And I've been able to feel other people's feelings for as long as I can remember. Now, I went out of town for college and when I left? That stopped. It was like someone turning off the sound on my headphones." She frowns a touch and shakes her head at the memory as if recalling how unpleasant that was. "Or like not being able to see purple anymore."

August gives Kip a horrified look. "Overnight? Oh hell no, not there." Honestly he wouldn't even want to take a tour in daylight, but at night sounds like begging for all sorts of awful bullshit. Now he just seems impressed. "Damn, you're hardcore, aren't you." He trades a look of agreement with Beth.

Of Rekani's first question, he says, "The sensing what others have, that's something people like me can do." He glances at Kip, then Beth, seems to decide to not say anything about them or Joe. He mulls over the other comment. "I've never lost parts of it, but," he doesn't look at Itzhak, but one can almost tell he wants to, "I know people who have. So it's definitely possible. As for getting it," he shrugs at Joe, tips his head at Beth, "I don't remember anything traumatic that brought out mine initially, but I was real young. Later though," he makes a face, "definitely. And when I went into basic, and at jump school, it went dark. Wasn't until I was deployed that it came back."

"Aw shit, no judgement, homie." Rekani reacts with a smirk to Itzhak's Vicodin use, even holding out a fist to pound, as if in approval of the passtime. Kip, likewise, gets an appreciative look, his eyes going down, then back up her form, the story only making her seem more metal. To Beth, he snaps a finger and points, apparently missing that whole memo about common politenesses, "Yeah that."

He does look slightly confused at all the talk of gaining it, though, having to think a moment before speaking, "Wait, you're not born with it?" he wonders, looking around the gathering, "I don't remember not having it. Nova said I used to knock things over as a baby."

Kip considers the potential correlation between radiation and Glimmer. "Maybe?" There's a light shrug of her shoulders. "I hadn't quite thought about it, but it might be? Or just being in an area where their activity is so concentrated?"

There was a little twitch of a smile at the slight banter between Itzhak and Rekani. "If you need any other kind of help? I would be happy to lend a hand...since it is my car he needs the lifts for." She offers to Itzhak.

"That they will." Kip agreed with Beth about tourists going to see anything. "It is a fascinating walk though. Extremely sad but, you do gain some insight in to things." There's a tinge of pink on her tanned skin. "Oh...thank you? It was very unsettling...there was definitely no sleep had. But we made it out."

As far as powers, "My abilities...personally I know I really could not do much at home. Only could feel that something was different. Here though...I can do more. The power feels more present. I haven't done much experimentation yet though." She looks thoughtful at Rekani's comment about being born with it. "Maybe you can be born with it- it is just a rare thing?"

"No, man. I wasn't born with it. I didn't get any hint of it until I'd been in a wreck in my mid-forties," Joe explains. He's leg to leg with Itzhak, now, unselfconscious. "I've only had it for a few years....mostly didn't know what it was, what was goin' on. Then I got here, and people can actually explain it....well, sorta." He's set his books down on the couch, waves a hand, vaguely.

Itzhak smirks back at Rekani and pounds it. "Not my usual high a choice." His entire damn leg being in a brace probably has something to do with the Vicodin consumption. Other hand still on Joe's back, he doesn't seem to mind the tall blonde guy oonching ever closer. Much more oonching and Joe will be climbing in his lap. Itzhak looks at Beth and Rekani, shakes his head. "Mine turned on. Didn't have it as a kid. Then it turned back off when I was...when I was away from where it turned on. Came here, it came back."

"I think it's place more than anything else." Beth says thoughtfully before she looks back down to the book in her hand. She looks back up and smiles politely. "At any rate I just came in to grab a new book and it looks like I found one. Nice to meet you all. Good luck on..." She waves her hand around, "Getting acclimated to all of this." That said she turns towards the register to pay for her book before she slips out.

August gestures at Itzhak, Kip, and Joe, says to Rekani, "Seems to vary a lot. I know there are people looking to see if it's genetic, or if there's a genetic component to it, but so far I don't know that they've found anything." He raises a hand to Beth in a farewell. "Goodnight Beth. Take care."

He toys with the book he's still holding, looking throughtful. "Like she said, place definitely plays a part. Where I grew up, in Portland? There's a spot like here down there. Not as strong, though. And where I was deployed," a glance up at Itzhak, "back down at the book, "it was too." He sighs. "So much we don't really know, since we can't record it."

"Take it easy, lady!" Rekani calls in a friendly enough goodbye to Beth. He opens his jacket just enough to show Itzhak a silver pen vape sticking out of an inside pocket, "Yeah, but its so easy to get good ones now, though, right?" To Kip, he gives the biggest shrug he can manage, bottom lip jutted out just for a touch more drama, "All I know is the weird shit me and Nova did. She can like talk to me from mile away and make some fake shit." He points at her briefly, waggling the finger in a very hand-talking gesture as he's calling attention to a memory, "Like the dance line from the thing."

He shifts his weight and crosses his arms as he tries to parse August's words, but can't really think of places he'd been that felt the same. "Can't record it? I know people forget shit. I got away with a ton of shit as a kid. But you can't write stuff down?"

A shake of his head. Joe's lapsed into silence, his face drawn, body language tight. He does look, indeed, as if he really would like to clamber into Itz's lap like a frightened dog. August, at least, has seen that look in mens' eyes before - remembered trauma is veiling the current reality. Not a full flashback, but....

"Have a good evening Beth. Thank you for the insights." Kip offered up a smile and a bit of a wave as the woman left. She nods to August. "I wish that we could. Record it. I've tried...when my own team and I were doing an overnight at some supposedly haunted place. Sometimes I would use a minor power or something and-" She makes a little wave of her hand. "Suffice it to say, it does not translate well on camera at all." A fleeting frown. "Not sure about written records? Video records are definitely a no go."

Itzhak meets August's glance. A lot is said in that one flicker of eye contact. A lot of history between the two of them. An awful lot of things they've gone through together, and the expectation that there is plenty more to go. Then, "Hey," he says to Joe. "I'm gonna have a smoke. Come with." He grabs his crutch and uses it to pry himself to his feet.

Itz has the right idea, 'cause Joe's heaving himself up in a scramble of limbs, murmuring his farewells. He purchases his books, dumps them into a little folding shopping bag, and then he's following the musician out the door.

Rekani makes way to let Itzhak get up and head out, the exiting mechanic and likely the following Joseph reminding him he'd just been stopping in. "I'ma head out soon. I'll come by the shop later, Rose... Rosencranz?" The end of the statement definitely has a lift to it, like he was asking a question and was hopefully right, leaning slightly back and to the side and looking to August for confirmation covertly. This gives him another idea, "Hey, and can I like... text you? Like you seem to know a lot and like... you know... if I need another miracle..." he halfway joked to August. Always need to know the street doc.

His eyes train back on Kip, then out the door where her car was no doubt waiting, then back to her. He had a flat expression, like he wasn't looking forward to it.