2020-03-26 - The Perils of Gardening

It's a very casual sort of invitation, texted out to Isolde and Lilith from Alexander: Want to come over and play a board game with me and Isabella? I'm cooking. But will have backup food if cooking doesn't work.

A day and time is included - and that day and time is now! Alexander has been cleaning, and now he's been cooking. It's eggplant lasagna, which is maybe not the most 'game night friendly' sort of meal, but it's a recipe he KNOWS HOW TO DO, so he can feel reasonably confident that he won't screw it up. Herbs from his little indoor garden have been used, and the smell is actually fragrant and pleasant as it fills the house. He also has soda, tea, and coffee, and ice cream for if everything else fails - but it's looking like it might actually be edible.

The garden seems to have taken well to the culinary pruning. Alexander takes very good care of the plants, and isn't above using his abilities to ensure that they are the happiest, healthiest little plants ever, so as spring has arrived, and the sunlight through the window has strengthened, they've grown larger, and sport lovely flowers and glossy green leaves. Not even Blue Bell's enthusiastic nibbling on them can keep them down...although a couple do look a little ragged around the edges from her latest assault.

Alexander himself is in casual clothes - just an oversized t-shirt for the University of Oregon, and faded jeans. A board game (LIFE) has been set out on the coffee table in the living room, and there's a small stack of other possibilities, if that one doesn't suit. Basically? He's trying a little too hard to be a good host.

She doesn't have the heart to tell him that he's trying a little too hard to be a good host, because from Isabella's perspective, it's utterly adorable watching him fret over the tiniest details when he's entertaining guests in his house. Most of the denizens in Elm wouldn't bother, it's that sort of neighborhood after all, but his attempts to host a house party is absolutely endearing and she spends much of it just watching him while she assists him with the things she can do, like cleaning and placing things to where they should be. Even his indoor garden, which takes up what should be the formal dining room area, looks wonderful - clearly celebrating the coming of Spring.

The archaeologist always makes an effort to look presentable, but she doesn't go too far for her guests either, dressed casually in a pair of comfortable jeans shorts, warm thigh-high socks and a clinging sweater that drops off one shoulder; the left, unapologetically baring the old surgical scar that cuts as a thin, white line across smooth sunkissed skin. Her hair is pulled up in a loose twist, and she's never without two things on her person, these days - the moonstone pendant hanging from her neck, and the dandelion charm bracelet on her left wrist.

Scents from the kitchen waft enticingly to her nose and they pull her unerringly in that direction, reaching out to press her palm flat on Alexander's back and nuzzling his cheek in an affectionate manner; she may be a dog person but there are many facets of her personality that reflect more of a feline bent. "The famous Clayton eggplant lasagna," she teases against his cheek. Famous to her anyway, because she's heard much about it but has never tried it...until tonight, hopefully, barring shenanigans. "I can't wait."

Isolde is more than happy to come over for a game night! Not that she's really played a lot of board games in...well...a long while. She'd done a few odd jobs around town before heading home to shower and change and tell Fred the Frog not to stay up too late ((because stuffed animals need bedtimes too okay?)). Isolde gave a few raps on the door to announce her presence but then just let herself in.

"I'm here! Hello!" The redhead says cheerfully as she closes the door behind her. A whistle of greeting for Luigi before making her way towards the kitchen, leaning in the doorway so as not to crowd the small area. "It smells very good Alexander!" Clearly impressed before her grin turned towards Isabella.

"Isabella!" She would totally manuever to hug the woman if it was accepted. "How have you been? Feels like forever. Since I've seen you!"

Lilith arrives a time after Isolde has had her due moments to get in greeting and exchange with Alexander and Isabella. She was a bit surprised by the invitation, but then, you need four people to play a good board game and Isabella know she's secretly a little nerdy on the sly. That and they hadn't had a moment to really play catch up since the woman has been back from England! So okay, she's not that surprised after she thinks about it, and after coffee, she figures Alexander himself is also opening up a little to be more of his brand of awkwardly social.

She's never met Isolde, though, nor has she been to Alexander's house on Elm, so once she's knocked to announce her entry, she actually waits for someone to get the door instead of sticking her head in as casual expected. She's wearing a long tiered sapphire blue peasant skirt, but because she's Lilith, there's silver embroidery leaves and a gauze layer for artsy designer style. It's still casual dressy, though, and comfortable, paired with slip on low silver wrap sandal heels and a rather plain fitted tank under a thin black wrap cardigan for any weather. Her dark hair has been swept up and pinned with wrap around of partial bun in snazzy (lazy) updo because she's irritatingly one of those women that can just pull stuff like that off, and her cosmetics are accent subdued.

Her smile, though, when she comes in, that's a level of glow excitable. New things, games, Isabella's back, Alexander made lasagna, and apparently... is there a cat in here? Byron said there was a cat! She imagines it's nicer than her alley cat adoptee with the face that goes from stank to stanker without notice. Smaug isn't a terrible cat these days, but still! She still thinks he's secretly going to kill her, to a degree. It's just that kind of face. She also brought a bottle of nice wine because even though she grew up in trailers and had no real supervision or home training, she's fancy these days, she's caught on to that kind of mannerism which involves not showing for a dinner party empty-handed.

"Okay, I'm here, I need an Izzy squeeze before anything else!"

"Don't say that too loud," Alexander tells Isabella, with a grin. "My mother might hear, and then challenge me to a cook off. And she will destroy me," he admits, without any hesitation at all. He pulls the lasagna out of the oven - it is an acceptably golden brown on top, with only a few hints of darker bits, and if nothing else, it's packed with enough cheese to overwhelm the senses and cover up any other flaws in the cooking. He gives Isabella a kiss on the temple, before leaving the lasagna to cool. The rap on the door brings a wider smile to his face, and he turns to greet Isolde as she comes in, coming within touching distance of her, even if he doesn't hug. "Thanks, Isolde. I think it's actually edible this time, and we won't need to try to find ways to feed it to the cat." He winks at her, then steps aside to let hugging commence.

When Lilith arrives, he's quick to open the door, peering suspiciously out at the darkening sky like he's afraid something my follow her in. But the smile he gives to Lilith is brief and more natural as he waves her inside. "Thanks for coming, Lilith." A glance at the outfit. "That's beautiful." He closes the door behind her to keep the cat from getting out. And there is, in fact, a cat. Blue Bell is sitting on the couch, a beautiful white ragdoll with big blue eyes, as regal as a princess. Luigi, a bright green conure with a dark head, is in his cage, whistling excitedly when he sees Isolde, but otherwise not coming out where, ugh, humans might bother him. Blue Bell, on the other hand, quickly leaps down to make her stately way over to sniff at and, if permitted, rub herself delicately on Isolde and Lilith's ankles.

Alexander glances at the wine bottle, and then extends his hands. He's supposed to take that, right? He thinks so, anyway.

"I think she'd be absolutely proud of you....before she destroys you," Isabella tells Alexander, arranging pot holders on the counter for him to set the lasagna upon. His brief kiss on the temple earns him a grin. With guests arriving, and with an appreciative look at all the cheese he's left bubbling on the tray, she tents it with foil to keep it warm, before moving into the main living area. The two women who enter spurs her to keep moving forward.

"Looking at this guest list, I have to wonder if Alexander here isn't actually planning on a real seraglio for himself," she observes, a teasing smile directed towards her lover before reaching out to hug Isolde. "It's good to see you, what have you been up to? I hear you have a new place now - one of the cute little cabins managed by Miss Liven?" Lilith next, whom she obliges with relish. Her arms come around her too for a sisterly squeeze. "You look fantastic as always."

Green-and-gold eyes bounce in between the two other women. "Anything to drink? Maybe some of the wine Lilith brought, something stronger or....non-alcoholic?" She is worthless in the kitchen, but she's not about to leave Alexander unaided.

"I am doing good for now!" Isolde grins. "Glad to be here." Also she totally does have a small plastic container with her that her player forgot to mention at the outset. It's filled with chocolate chip cookies that look homemade. She sets the container down and chuckles to Alexander. "Blue Bell appreciates it. Surely." The cat is allowed to rub up against her and, if Blue Bell allows it, Isolde with give her a few light pets.

When Lilith arrives, she offers a bright smile to the woman. "Hello!" Extending a hand out. "I'm Isolde! It's nice to meet you! Your outfit is so pretty!" There is a slightly stilted way about Isolde's speech. Perhaps reminiscent of a child when she has a lot to say. She looks towards the game on the table and then towards Isabella when the drinks are asked about. "I'll try the wine!" Not Isolde's go-to alcoholic drink but it would probably be good with dinner things right? Other stuff can be reserved for the game time! "How was England, Isabella?"

"Thank you, thank you." Lilith says to all the compliments, handing over the bottle of mid-grade nice cabernet wine before doing a preen swish with the length of her skirt proudly, "It was on sale. It still cost too much, but tch. I'd blame Byron and my need to keep up with his general attire, but honestly, I can't do that with this skirt. It's like wearing art and I shouldn't have had myself online shopping after three hits of a joint." Then the ultimate show-off for ANY piece of women's attire practically bubbles out of her, as it would with any woman not-wearing-jeans, "It has secret pockets."

Her little dusky-rose painted fingertips come to pinch and pluck two seams to show before she wiggles her hands in to pose with SKIRT POCKETS. They aren't very big pockets, but look, it's the principle. Alexander might be thinking she's a total easily-entertained dingbat for the moment, but the two other women in the room surely get it. Therefore as she reaches into the squeezing, announced hug on Isabella and rocks briefly back and forth with enthusiasm, she explains for the man, "Pockets are holy grail on any women's clothing that isn't a pair of jeans. We just don't usually get them, which is why we get so innovative about what we make into pockets. Hard times, I tell you."

After drawing back from the hug, she looks at Isolde more directly as Isabella goes to pour, "Wine sounds fabulous, thank you, Bella-boo." There's a forward tip of her dark head with pause then speaking introduction more properly, hand coming out for quick and amiable shake to the unfamiliar party in the room, "Hi, I'm Lilith. I think I've heard your name, but can't think of a time we've met."

Lilith might have been about to say more with pleasantry, but then again, maybe not. For as outgoing and direct as she is, hanging out with someone she's never met before occasionally kicks her into reserve because manners training aside (when she bothers), she kind of sucks at small talk without a prompt when the person is a stranger and they're not in a business or outside setting. Isabella noticed it, no doubt, the first couple of times she met Lilith, it's not shyness at all so much as... well, she doesn't believe in extraneous social fluff and is occasionally her own subtle brand of socially awkward.

Cat means she doesn't have to say anything else, anyway! When she notices the rubbing against her ankles and catch of upright tail flicking on the length of her (pocketed) skirt, she makes a tiny purr down at the creature before speaking across at Alexander, "... yours looks like a real cat that cuddles. I'm not used to that!"

Alexander takes the wine, and promptly hands it over to Isabella. "Why don't I serve us our plates while Isabella pours the wine?" That sounds...hosty, right? He clearly hopes it does; the hope shines out of him with every word. Although he does twitch at the nicknames for Isabella from both Isolde and Lilith, he manages not to butt his nose and neuroses in on the affection between them. "Isolde is a friend of mine from college," he tells Lilith. "She's good people. And," a glance at Isolde, "Lilith runs the pawn shop, and is also good people. She invited me out to coffee, and tore open my leg once. But it's fine. She was sort of possessed."

He doesn't see anything wrong with this statement at all, clearly, because he waves them towards the couch and moves to start making plates. "And yeah, Blue Bell likes people. Luigi is slow to warm up to people, but Blue Bell is a princess." Miaow. The cat agrees with the statement with regal good cheer, and twines herself around and around Lilith's skirt, clearly liking the way the fabric moves, only pausing to soak up love and attention from Isolde and Isabella. Alexander, for his part, looks blank at the mention of pockets. "Don't most clothes have--ah." There's an explanation. He frowns. "That seems inefficient. Why don't you get pockets?"

As he passes by the vibrant indoor garden, only Isolde notices that the leaves sort of...move. To follow him, just a little. Turning towards him as if he were the sun.

The wine easily finds her grasp. Isabella smiles at the rest of the guests, before she moves to where the glasses and drink things are - somewhere in the kitchen. In passing, she misses how Alexander's plants seem to follow his very movements, though this does place her in his vicinity. Her fingers reach for the wine opener and proceeds to start working the cork out of the neck. The red will have to breathe, for just a few moments.

"England was great, I had to go to defend my dissertation. It needs a few revisions, but Oxford didn't put up much of a fight conferring a doctorate to me." She's positively beaming when she mentions it, face luminous with pride and relief. "It'll be published any day now."

She lets Alexander add more color to the introductions between the two who have not met, proceeding to pour out the wine in the provided glasses. "She's right about the pockets. We get them in jeans and some shorts, but even when they put them in dress pants, they're more decorative and barely functional." She presses a kiss in passing on Alexander's cheek, and hands out the drinks. "Blue Bell loves attention. She'll take it any way she could get it." There's a touch of exasperation there, but of fond affection also.

"I have heard of you a bit!" Isolde smiles, "but yes I don't think we've met before." She agrees. Tonight would be a good night. She giggled some, looking as Lillith showed off the pockets. "Very nifty! Pockets are very useful. " She agrees as her head turns to watch Isabella head to pour the wine...

And she freezes just for a second. A blink of eyes. Did she see that? "Uhm..." Isolde starts to say and then stops, still looking unsure. Things had been so quiet lately for her. All good things end though...or maybe she was just seeing things.

"Did anyone else see that?" Isolde asks, gaze trained back on the plants, then towards Alexander- where they were pointing.

Lilith looks at Isabella with congratulatory pride, but then she's pressing her lips into a flat line with Alexander detailing the leg flaying and possession bits as introductory to her as a person with Isolde. She decides not to look at him or Isolde while that's going on. Instead, she leans down a moment to pet the cat and makes a tiny noise in her throat. It's unclear if she's mildly embarrassed, incredibly amused, or both, but at least she's not bothered or offended! Instead, she just lets it happen and embraces it as a lot of is-what-it-is while petting kitty fur.

On straightening, she goes to pick up her poured wine glass courtesy of Isabella and tells Alexander, "Lovely plan, the second I walked in here, the smell had my stomach doing excited flips. And I have no idea why we're not entitled to pockets, might be some huge handbag racket and conspiracy to keep us buying and loading designer purses." While taking a drink, she wanders toward the set up as Alexander starts on plates, casting a brief amiable smile aside at Isolde from around her glass.

And she wasn't really paying attention to the plants before, so she doesn't see or hear shit. She does turn to look over there now, wondering, "Oh nice. Have you been in the habit of keeping greenery like this or did August set you up for pretty hobby?"

Retrieving her own glass of wine, that glowing expression becomes even moreso when Lilith flashes her that congratulatory expression. She'll ride high on that for a while, to finally earn the right to be called Doctor Reede. She certainly never gets tired of it when Alexander calls her that.

Isabella glances over towards the plants. "He's always had them, though I don't know what inspired him to keep them. Honestly, I wonder how any of us manage to keep up with Alexander, really, when he's interested in so many things." He's very diligent about learning new skills, and there's a look of pride for him there also.

However, at Isolde's prompting, her smile fades. "Hear what?" she wonders, peering at the dining room and its indoor garden. Come to think of it...

Any congratulations Isolde had for Isabells had definitely vanished when she saw the moving plants. Also for the record, she doesn't seem perturbed much about the leg flaying talk. Or look at Liklith strangely. She just shakes her head. Finally pulling those wild blue eyes back to Isabella and Lilith.

"The plants...moved." Isolde said with a hint of uncertainty. "And...there are more of them?" But maybe Alexander just got some more?

Alexander is cutting the lasagna into neat little pieces. It must be said - even when the actual food is inedible, his knifework is always flawless, and he handles the blade like a pro. And clearly keeps it very sharp. "I think that's unfair. The lack of pockets. Women carry as many things as men, and purses aren't always convenient. I'm not sure who you would protest to, but you should protest to someone." He levers lasagna onto plates - there's a lot of stringy, gooey, cheesy goodness.

At the mention of the plants, he says, "I've been keeping them for years. It was sort of practice for using my non-mental abilities. And it's calming. Soothing. They're nice plants. I like them." He's got his back turned to the garden, concentrating on the meal, so he doesn't notice the shiver that runs across the plants like a breeze at the words, although anyone looking in that direction can't possibly miss it. Or the way the plants are slowly, but surely, overflowing their pots and starting to take over the dining room area. When did plants start crawling on the walls?? But they are. Right now. A couple of tendrilly runners are making their way towards the kitchen in an odd, stop-motion style. They never seem to move when someone is looking directly at them, but as soon as the gaze strays just a little? The plant has jumped at least an inch.

"Mm. I get the concept and attraction, but I... have plant issues from way back that crop up now and again." Lilith might or might not be a plant killer, and not in that green-thumb lacking kind of way. But that's neither here nor there, because Isolde's caution and spoken observation has her visual attention swapping from company, back over toward the plants with cursory glance, then a downright sniff. She may like to LOOK at pretty plants and smell them here and there, but look, track record, also sometimes they attack with a vengeance, "...remember when Joey wrestled a whole Christmas tree? That was fun."

It must not have been too traumatizing, though, because she takes a sip from her glass after grinning some at Isabella (who was there). Then she happens another look at where the greenery is and does a double take. But given how much attention she wasn't paying initially, she can't work out whether or not... so she tries to casually talk with compliment for Isabella, "Doctor Reede sounds amazingly official, but it looks better written because of the snazzy silent 'e'."

There's a pause as she considers Isolde's demeanor for a beat on the sly, because she doesn't know the woman, but she also knows she probably isn't imagining things. Probably. Then her eyes go scrutinizing toward where greenery is creeping, "Uh." It's already been said, she doesn't have to say it again, but she snap points with her arm out indicatively at Isolde suddenly, "... I think I see what she sees."

"Purses do have their uses, sometimes," Isabella replies. "If anything jumps out, you could always garotte said thing with the strap."

She does look eager at seeing all the cheese string out at every portion of lasagna, reaching out with eager fingers to take a plate. There's a fork, and she's cutting herself a bite of it from the square when they talk about the plants. She doesn't seem all the wiser that there's something wrong, or the fact that she's about to eat something made entirely out of eggplant, but she's hungry and she's looking forward to tasting Alexander's cooking.

And there it is. While watching the curious movements of the plants, she eats a bite of what's on her plate; like looking the plants right in the eye while she consumes their cousin.

"I'm really glad that it's official," she tells Lilith with a laugh. "I worked very hard-- " What she says withers on the vine (see what she did there?) when she sees the plants crawling over the walls. "Um. Huh. Alexander, how's the non-mental practice going? I think it might be going a touch too well, considering..." She gestures to the climbing vines with her fork, before taking another bite of eggplant lasagna.

"It's delicious," she tells her lover with a smile.

"Plant issues?" Alexander glances up and over at Lilith, then smiles. "Oh. Yes. I seem to recall you had a plant? You were practicing healing on it, back when we first started talking." If she was actually practicing not murderizing it, he doesn't bring that up. He grabs his own plate last, and turns his attention to cutting a piece off and chewing it slowly. Clearly grading himself harshly on his cooking process. "I don't think I sauteed the garlic quite enough," he mutters. "It's like, half a second between 'underdone' and 'black', though, which is also not--"

And then Lilith and Isabella and Isolde bring up the idea that there's something wrong with his garden, which makes him scowl. He looks in that direction, prepared to defend his gardening with his life...only to have his eyes widen. "Oh. Oh, that's not good."

Realizing they've been made, the plants cease their slow creep to take over the house, and instead, vines lunge out through the air, trying to grab each of the four of them with viney lengths. "I didn't even have vines!" Alexander protests. The vines do not care.

Isolde can't really bring herself to say anything. The eggplant meal is good! And she'll have to express that later, because right now she is feeling a rising well of panic. Flashbacks to when she tried to make that frozen lasagna in this kitchen all those months ago and the plants attacked her then too. So she's silently counting frogs. Mouth moving a bit as she does. "Not good. Not good!" Isolde agrees and finally tries to make a move to do...something. But, uh, you know, the plants laid claimed to her instead. Dragging her towards the back yard while she struggled and definitely cursed the plants out in French.

There's a series of things that are both good and bad that all come together at once to culminate in a very startled Lilith getting snagged, wrapped and then yanked across the floor by vines toward what's become a very dense jungle of greenery. The brunette woman squints her eyes with narrowing and makes her FIRST mistake in not reacting immediately while they're still all taking in the problem...

"Maybe we should just spray them with something, like when a cat is bad. Then they'll go away. This hasn't happened before, right?"

Lilith is getting way too acclimated to things being strange and takes the time to drain her wine glass with quick tipping upward once she's inquired. Then she makes her SECOND mistake when she decides to step over to not only get a closer look, but to also snag a bite of food to at least TRY before plants maybe strangle them to death. She's hungry! Then, her THIRD mistake comes when the first feeler vine hits her ankle and she just kind of kicks at it like 'no, I'm eating'.

As she's yanked legs out from under herself, that pretty skirt is getting snagged and dragged after she thumps the floor suddenly, wrapped in like eight vines like a vice. Briefly, her instinct is fire to burn it ALL, but she doesn't panic so much that she sets Alexander's house on fire. Instead, she scrabbles around and tries to grab things for purchase before failing that and glancing over her shoulder to exert power with ripping force. Not ALL of the vines come free, but it spares her drag into more green problems and buys her time to see what's happening to the others.

"I'm okay, I got it!"

PS: That's kind of a lie, she's still on the ground.
PPS: Her wine glass didn't break when she knocked it over and she got exactly two quick bites of lasagna to pass opinion on later.
PPPS: Lilith decides all plants are assholes now and doesn't feel bad for accidentally killing hundreds of them anymore.

The vines lash out and Isabella's reaction is instinctive. She twists away from her place by the counter, stuffing the last of the lasagna in her mouth before she slides underneath a grabbing vine, and parries one with a fork. For a few short moments, she looks ridiculous, brandishing her utensil like a sword and keeping her plate aloft like a shield. Green and gold eyes widen when the rest of her party are ensnared, and slowly dragged into the growing jungle in the dining room.

Her own ability lashes out in an effort to protect her, and the hatchet that she's taken to using lately goes flying into her hand.

"Oh, no. No. Let go of him!" she demands of the plant - she goes for Alexander first, of course, in an attempt to drive the wicked blade down into some of the vines that hold him - Lilith seems to have hers well in hand, but she has priorities here. She swings the thing in an arc, to chop up the vines that are attempting to drag him into the mass. Her own Spirit abilities are relatively fledgling, so she doesn't trust herself to use them in this situation. "Alexander, where do you keep your plant care things?!"

The lasagna IS, actually, pretty decent. It might be the best lasagna Alexander's made yet.

So, no one should be particularly surprised that his flailing as the plants lunge at him knocks the pan off the counter and sends it, lasagna side down, to the floor. SPLAT. And Alexander is being dragged towards the newborn jungle with remarkable speed, as well. "I keep the plant stuff under the pot shelves!" he shouts. The pot shelves which are, currently, unable to be seen thanks to the profusion of plant life that has taken over the 'dining room' and most of that side of the house, now.

Isabella calls the hatchet and it flies to her, and she's able to hack away at the vines covering Alexander with sharp, meaty THUNKS. The plants quickly realize she's not playing around, and shrink from the man, although not without a disappointed sigh of leaves. And Lilith's power slices at vines, sending them recoiling from her.

Meanwhile, Alexander rolls to his feet and tries to wither the plants that are grabbing Isolde and dragging her into the dark canopy, but all he manages is to turn a couple of leaves brown. "Get them off of her!" he shouts, while reaching for the knife he was using to cut the lasagna. But Lilith and Isabella have problems of their own. New vines emerge, dark as serpents, quick like serpents, and...studded with thorn fangs. They whip themselves out towards the two women, slapping them with needle sharp thorns. The plants rustle angrily!

This is precisely why Isolde was definitely never getting any indoor plants for her house. THEY WERE EVIL. She is frustrated more than scared and tries to shock the plants - fry them a little to loosen their hold. But that doesn't quite succeed. So obviously the next logical step is biting!

Isolde bites into one of the vines wrapped around her wrist, tearing and tugging at it to try and get her wrist free. She can feel some of the vine give. And also the gross sap. The redhead tries not the gag. But finally, her wrist comes partially free at least. Better that not free at all. "LET. ME. GO!" She shouted to the plants, continuing to try and tear and bite at them.

It's all happening real fast, but Lilith can't help but stare for about two heartbeats at the sight of Isabella whacking down on Alexander's constricting vines with protective rage and a hatchet. This is why they're friends, maybe. And while clawing onto a doorframe edge to try and yank herself to stand, she almost takes a moment to focus on Isolde's snag up before rising, it's in her the way her focus shifts.

But then she's grabbed abruptly again by four more vines and tugged, so reflexes take over. However, what starts as vines falling apart escalates with a huge ramp of furiously exerted power that she unwittingly changes the form of mid-attack. The vines on her don't just start coming apart. They die. She instantaneously withers the power out of the tangle hold on her body and shoots the decay down through the cells of the plant like a sickly miasma of death. It flashes from green to brown in wither all the way to the root. Which hopefully is the root of the plant trying to grab at Alexander and Isolde too, but given where they're coming from in that jungle, power might only do so much.

After all, vines are quick and they seem to be shooting from all kinds of momma vine origins in the center. That and she doesn't really have a moment to focus on precious given the violence of her lash out with agitation reflex. It's almost like it's not enough for the plant life to be cut away and bid back suddenly, unconsciously. Lilith wants them to suffer and die. It's kind of rude for Alexander's garden work, good thing he's not a mind reader.

But all the same, she doesn't focus on the willful fury and rage that she lets loose as attack.

She realizes she just needs to find the right root, maybe. And y'know. Probably get standing so she's not laying on the floor like a sitting duck.

"Great. I can't exactly get to them, it's a jungle in here!" Isabella exclaims, though there's overwhelming relief on her features when she manages to free Alexander, and Lilith manages to get away from her trap. Whirling the hatchet in her grip, she looks like she's about to go for Isolde when she's whipped by those cutting vines. She manages to bite back a cry when one of them strikes her cheek, leaving a thin red gash across her skin, drops of blood staining the thorns. Another manages to bite into her arm, and another at her leg.

But true distress falls over her face when the lasagna pan comes down from the counter and lands noodle-first into the floor. "No!" she cries again, because come on! As she's pulled, dragged into the mass, she lets the hatchet fly, bolstered by telekinesis this time, because at the moment, she can't reach Isolde physically. As usual, other people take priority. Light winks off the edge of her hatchet as it goes flying from her hand to hack at the last vine holding Isolde. She attempts to summon the thing back to her afterwards so she can try and get herself free.

One thing at a time. "I'll try to distract it," she calls to Isolde. "Try to get to Alexander's cabinet with his plant care things!"

The vines that are chopped and withered retreat, leaving Isolde alone for the moment. Unfortunately for Isabella's shouted suggestion, they seem to have left her with a nasty little gift - a couple of what look like thorn darts in her arm that have the woman out like a light. Alexander darts forward to grab her by the arms and drag her away from the ever-encroaching plant life. "The weed killer is under the pots," he shouts, pointing at a place that...doesn't look like it has any pots at all. "...maybe. I think we must have sidestepped into a Dream. There might not be any weedkiller at all!"

The plants? They appear to be listening. And not liking what they hear, either. There's a sudden rustle from the interior, and then a volley of fruit - hard apples the size of an adult's fist, come hurtling out of the foliage. Artillery fire! Alexander curses and tries to shield Isolde with his body as the fruit pelts him.

Lilith finally gets off the damn floor and flings her arms to sling away wilted breaking vines from the snare, just in time to get a fruit bomb soaring at her head at that level! As soon as she's standing, she starts to call over to Isolde that she'll cover her to get plant spray or whatever else, but realizes somewhere in the middle of talking the woman has been possibly knocked out. Instead, she just squeaks and ducks with interruption reflexes, "Isolde, I'll keep them from grabbing you, try to-- woah! They're throwing things now!"

And she sounds offended they're not only grabby, but throwing things, because man, she has plant issues and is starting to take this personally now. She's no August, her instincts are to cut and fire, not talk the things down or command their little chlorophyll bolstered vine limbs. But... also knowing they're just plants helps her keep her temper in check enough to think now that Isolde getting free for alternative means of management is no longer an option.

Weed killer. Plant killer. Lilith is poison for a plant, herself. But the thing about killing a weed...

You have to get it at the root. Gasping suddenly, she tries to duck behind the counter and peeks around to focus on the dense vegitation itself with her eyes shifted a bit far away in hyperfocus. Her abilities fan out to make her see without seeing at all. It's like knowing a body from the inside out, all the pulses coming from one bigger lifebeat, plants are alive, they have...

There it is. Abruptly, she rises into stand and prepares to be a whole lot of withering poison to greenery and life, "I found the root! Hide!"

She grits her teeth when fruit explodes on her and douses her with itchy fluid and worms. "God damn it." As usual protecting everyone else is a priority, so Isabella attempts to send the artillery directed to Alexander and Isolde back to the source.

"Lil, I'll cover you!" she calls out and attempts to do just that, and will do what she can to redirect the hail of ridiculous fruit aimed towards her friend as well. Apparently she doesn't care if she gets pelted or the rash that is starting to develop over her skin. And when she's asked to hide, she does.

Alexander blinks as the apple that was about to smack him right in his face instead reverses course and sails neatly back into the miniature jungle. The plants clash their branches together angrily as their missiles are redirected, and Isabella suddenly feels herself the sole focus of the brooding attention of many, many pissed off plants.

At least, until Lilith shouts what she shouts. A sudden stillness falls over the jungle, and Alexander curses, gesturing for Isabella to help him get Isolde (and themselves) behind cover. Meanwhile, from the center of the foliage emerges a massive, blood red blossom like nothing that has ever existed on earth. It unfolds towards Lilith, revealing a red-darkening-to-black interior that is studded by many, many, many tiny thorns. Or. Well. Maybe teeth?

It lunges at the woman as she readies her assault.

There's things that challenge the natural composure of a person and flip them to reactionary gut instinct of fight or flight. Lilith should probably start hiding too, she technically doesn't have to SEE much of anything, but she's trying to be very precise and very potent with her powers and needs the focus that comes from the instinct to see and aim. That and... okay, Lilith makes fun of Isabella for running ahead and eating Veil Soup, but this girl doesn't have the wits she should have either when it comes to willfulness and challenge.

She not only doesn't duck and cover like she should to buy herself time, she downright stands there and stares at the plant with her eyes narrowed by determination and seeking focus during exertion of abilities. And sure, it makes her shake with fear of getting EATEN in a FEED ME SEYMOUR kind of moment, but she trusts Isabella's backup plan, she trusts the very idea that she's deadly when pointed right. She traces the biggest throb of green life now that she knows how to find it, follows it, then FLOODS it with a wash of powerful decay at the root she can't see.

Then once the seed of death is in the root? She pushes it like a contagious plant rot disease, exploiting all those little green cells to death with rolling effect that shoots from the source, up through all the connected vines and fruits and flowers. But before it dies, she downright pride hisses at it, knowing the triumph before it falls.

Yeah, she's kind of petty.

As Lilith ventures forward, Isabella extricates herself from the pool she's starting to form around herself with all the squishy apples her body is being battered with, to stand in sentry position near Alexander and Isolde while keeping line of sight on Lilith. Distressingly comfortable with her role of distracting the biggest thing in the room, her hand reaches out to summon her hatchet back into her hand. With a spin of it in her fingers, she sends it hurtling back towards the mass of green, to start hacking, slashing and decimating whatever vines that come close to Lilith or any one of her companions. She's a mess at this point, dripping with gunk that's making her itch, red splotches appearing on her skin and...are there worms on her? She barely even seems to notice, she's handled worse.

The blade twists in devastating arcs, glinting in the dim light of Alexander's house - or at least his house in a Dream. His cabinets containing plant care stuff are well beyond reach, but that's alright. Lilith has a plan, and she trusts her to know what she's doing, just as much as she trusts her to be deadly when pointed in the right direction, and given enough impetus to be.

Right now, there's plenty of that, with adrenaline and the thrill of the fight singing in her veins and scorching her from within.

Those petals gape wide, stretching as far as they will go to open up and devour the woman standing before them. And then, just before it gets close enough to enfold around her head? The flower convulses as Isabella's hatchet goes tearing through the plant life, leaving a trail of severed vines and oozing sap in its wake. The heartblossom jerks and shudders, starting to turn its attention back towards Isabella.

Then, a smell fills the air, something like loam or mold and rotten eggs: the smell of decay. Of green things becoming black things. The plants shudder and jerk, trying to escape the decay. But it attacks them from the bottom up, from the heart up, and with amazing speed, the greenery turns brown and black and oozy. The vines collapse. The heartblossom loses each petal with a kind of tortured dignity before falling in a collection of black stamen onto the carpet.

There is nothing but chopped, withered, rotten plants in a heap one moment. In the next? The world seems to tilt sideways, and there's just Alexander's garden, filled with its small, unassuming flowers and herbs, sweet smelling and innocent. Alexander is standing over Isolde, blinking rapidly. "I think...I think it's over," he mutters. Then turns around and curses. "...lasagna's still on the goddamned floor, though."

Lilith has killed a lot of plants, but she's never quite done it on purpose. When it happens like that, it makes her feel like the dark death and decay and wilt is around her like a miasma. It feels monstrous, it makes you remember maybe you're something that isn't just human, and that's unnerving. Killing plants on purpose with precision and ruin, however... it feels nice while she's all surged with the destructive adrenaline. Lilith doesn't say that, of course, she's a little concerned she still ruined Alexander's garden, but when things snap back from strange after Isabella's preventative power and her own willful manipulation of powerful death and decay is through, it seems fine.

Standing there breathing quick and shallow, Lilith bats her lashes a few times to re-orient, then turns to check on the others while her body wants to unleash more more more destruction. When she starts speaking, it's a bit slow, as if she's re-acclimating and playing catch up with her actual wits, "... is Isolde alright? Are you guys alright?" Finally starting to move, she wanders to one side to get a better view of the others before seeing the REAL tragedy of the day.

The lasagna! But hey, you know what? Lilith's already going for her phone, "... I'm buying pizza and we're still going to play games."

It's got that ingrained will that's familiar about Lilith, they get that too, why let Gray Harbor ruin what can be salvaged? But she's also uh. In a really peppy mood for someone that almost got ate by plants. It's a little rare she gets to feel good about death and destruction, she doesn't allow herself to relish it most of the time, she tamps that all down to be human, not a monster.

But this time, there's nothing to make her feel bad about relishing the killshot, it was just plants. She even hums while going for her phone like she just got laid or something.

(Guys, don't tell August she's high off plant killing, ok.)

"We're alright, I think. Just...extremely gross at the moment." Isabella plucks a worm off her and puts it in one of the potted plants within reach, to help the soil breathe. All this time hanging out with August has enabled her to learn how some plant rearing works. The hatchet snaps back into her hand, and she sets it aside. Glancing at the rest of the indoor garden, there's a sigh of relief - it would have been a pity if they destroyed it. Alexander is attached to his plants.

There's a smile towards her lover and his best friend, though when he mentions the lasagna, her expression flattens. "It is," she grumbles. "Sounds like it's time to order takeaway - pizza or something. And I should probably take a shower." She gestures to herself; grimy, slick with wormy and too-ripe apple sludge, with insects still wriggling around her skin. She isn't throwing up at least, blessed with a strong stomach and at least she isn't squeamish.

Give her a few hours though, as this city tends to test that aspect of herself also.

Alexander? Well, Alexander fusses. He checks over Isolde carefully, makes sure she's recovering from whatever sedative the plant injected into her, then does the same for Isabella, grabbing some supplies and gently helping her treat the rash and get rid of the sap. "There are times when I'm very glad that I don't have your particular abilities," he tells Isabella, with a crooked smile. "I never carry anything back but the damage." Then he checks Lilith for damage, albeit without touching her, and finally he checks the plants, clucking and speaking quietly to them as he waters them and makes sure that they're not actually rotting away.

"If you want to play games, then I'd be up for it," he says, not looking at any of the humans in the room - but there's a clear shading of happiness in his voice that they might actually stick around after his garden tried to eat them. He helps Isolde to go lay down for a moment until her head clears, but after that?

Pizza and board games forever.