2020-03-28 - Art and Decay

It's a nice Spring afternoon, which means it's not drizzling and about fifty degrees. Hey, it's an improvement over literally all of winter--August will take it.

He looks rough. Dark circles under his eyes, one is highly bloodshot, moving stiff and uncomfortable. He's in comfort clothes, no doubt as a response to whatever happened: a dark purple, slub tee, a dark gray hoodie, black commuter pants, and some urban hikers. He's sitting in the Occult section on a couch, a pile of books on an end table. He's going through them, sorting them into two piles, possibly 'buy' and 'don't buy'.

Kailey is here because book stores are, in fact, excellent places to sit quietly and draw. Surrounded by the distinct smell of ink and paper can often make an artist happy. This one at least. Today she has come to the bookstore for two things, though. One of them is drawing, the other is to get a few books. The later are tucked under her arm as she now wanders the store, dressed comfortably. A reusable insulated mug is in one hand, a messenger bag over her shoulder. An angry red scratch under one eye looking almost like fashion makeup. Almost. She too looks paler and her own eyes? They're not the most perky.

As she rounds the corner of a shelf she sees August. Second time in so few days. "Oh...hey," She says as she approaches the older man, waving from the waist so she doesn't drop her books. There is a narrowing of her eyes as she sees his condition. "Whoa...you look eve worse than when we left the Zoo, dude. What happened?"

August glances up from the book he's going through (Bridges of the Oregon Coast), studies Kailey for a quiet moment. There's an exhausted uncertainty about him, like he's at the end of his rope for anything, and he's trying to decide if he can handle a conversation.

The answer seems to be yes. Her comment gets a rough laugh out of him. "Yeah." His voice is hoarse; he clears it, which helps a little. "Had a, ah...unexpected run in with a company from the Other Side. They wanted to give us a tour of their facilities." He rubs at his clear eye. "Permanently." He glances at the scratch on her face. "You doing okay?"

Kailey moves over to the table and sets her books on the edge. It would be hard to miss the theme of her books being the top is a book titles, "45,000+ Baby Names" with other pregnancy books below it. "Wait...there's companies?" That definitely seems to unsettle her because her brow furrows. "You want a coffee? I can go grab you one if you like. Or tea if you prefer. I'm Kailey, by the way. I think I forgot to give you my name the other day," She glances back at the coffee shop then back. Hand free she reaches up to touch her eye and smirks, "This? Heh. Nothing compared to the seawitch that tried to eat me and some others the day after the plants did."

August eyes the books, long enough for Kailey to see him noticing them, settles back on the couch. He reaches over to pull up a water bottle, old and scratched and dented, 'Hoh Rain Forest' barely visible on it in red. "I'm good, but thanks." He nods at one of the chairs. "It's my sorry duty to inform you that there are, apparently, companies Over There." He makes a face. "And a whole lot more."

...including sea witches, apparently. "Sea witch?" he asks, sounding like he doesn't want to know yet can't help asking.

Kailey settles into the chair heavily. "Uff," And shakes her head. "Man...that's...freaky. My mom taught me some, but...more in the 'this happens and you run away from it' sort of thing," She takes a sip of her coffee and notices her gaze. But she doesn't say anything just a shy little smile. Looking at -his- books instead. "Yeah...under the board walk. Something...was eating the homeless. Ummm, I wound up being nosy and following an officer as she went off to investigate. And, well, you know how the paths work. One moment you're walking somewhere normal and the next..." Not so much. "There was a sunken ship. And lots of...rot. It was gross. You ever see that OOooOOoooold movie Legend? Like Jenny."

August has a drink from his water bottle, sets it back on the floor, clear of any books. His pile is a mix of things: some historical books about the Washington and Oregon coasts, a few plant guides for Pacific Coastal regions, and, of all the things, two nominally occult books: A Witch's Guide to Plants and The Modern Apothecary. It's hard to tell if they're the real deal or just New Age drivel, but they're in one of the two piles, so maybe he's declared them keepers.

"Honestly that's some of the best advice you can give anyone." He sighs, listening to her description, and can't help but laugh at Legend being 'ooooooold'. "Yeah, I remember that one. Tom Cruise and Tim Curry." He licks his lips, shakes his head. "You all make it out okay?"

"I'm on antibiotics for a few days after getting a nail through the arm. Lyric and Officer Alisha were banged up too. But we could all walk and talk at the end," Kailey says, smiling at the man's laugh. "So...I can't help but notice...well...YOU," She says and makes a vague motion with her hands before pulling the bag onto her lap. From it she fetches her sketchpad from the other day. It's a little scuffed. But from it she pulls out a finished piece. It's August sitting with his lunch, looking off at something, and it would be a normal portrait in watercolor. Except there's golden-yellow and blue-purple aura around him. Metallic gel pens in gold and silver have added what looks like hundreds of tiny bright flecks hanging in the air around the figure. Almost blending with the background. "Here, you should have this," She says as she leans forward, holding out the watercolor piece.

August grimaces. "Did they hit you with a tetanus shot too?" He shakes his head. "That's TDaP is the fucking worst, and who even knows if our medicine works on shit from Over There." In spite of this short rant, he's relieved to hear no one was seriously hurt or worse, and allows himself to relax.

He tilts his head, eyebrows gathering when she starts to say...something, and instead hands him the portrait. He blinks at it, accepting it carefully, like it might break. "Ah, oh. Thanks, this is...it's awesome, actually." It takes him a second to put it together, but who can blame him; its been that kind of week. "Oh, you mean the," he waves a hand around the top of his head, "the Art. The Song. Glimmer." He shrugs. "Whatever you want to call it."

"I had to get a booster last year already for slamming my hand down on a nail in a bathroom down at one of the California state parks," She wrinkles her nose in distaste before she smiles lopsidedly when it hits him and she nods. "Yeah. That's...how I see people. Swirms of color and light and shimmer. You're, like, pure gold. It's kinda cool," She says and then giggles in a nervous manner. The coffee gets a long sip even though she whinces a bit. "I call it glittering or shimmering cause that's what Mom called it." Her eyes drop to the books again and she asks, "So...what do you do? This part of it or more related to the shenanigans at the Zoo?"

"Well that's good then. You don't lose your arm for a week." Okay, August is probably exaggerating because he hates hospitals. Or maybe he just has bad TDaP reactions.

He toys with the watercolor, sets it on the table next to one of the piles of books. He's still looking it over, though, still considering it. After a few seconds of that he nods, looks at her again. "I see kind of a...not sure what to call it. It's not quite a shine, not quite a sound. I feel it as much as anything else. You know?" He raises an eyebrow. "Eyes seem...bright, everything people with the Art does stands out more. Somehow." He shakes his head, gets around to answering her question. "I'm a botanist. I run the horticulture shop just on the outside edge of town with a business partner. And an arborist business. You?"

Kailey nods her head and there is an understanding in her eyes. "Oh yeah, there is so much more than visual to it. But, can't capture the feel as much as I try. Maybe someday I'll figure out the technique," She says with a soft chuckle. "Oh, that's cool. So the plants getting all murdery is probably not something you need happening!" And her green eyes go round for a second. "Is there anything I can do to help? This place...it's not like any other place I've been. It's so...thick here, yeah? Any idea why that is?" She is just full of questions. Poor August.

"Yeah it's definitely not great," August says, mouth pulling as his teeth set. He heaves a sigh, takes up his water bottle and has a drink. "Nothing at the shop's popped off yet, but maybe that's just me. I mean," he glances up at Kailey, and his expression goes distant, focusing just past her shoulder. He winces. "Nah, okay, you're not like me. Someone like me can control plants. But in your case," his eyebrows go up, "something sharp to cut them up with, if they get out of hand and are dangerous." He sounds perfectly serious about carrying a Leatherman or some pruning shears to defend herself from plants. Welcome to life in Gray Harbor.

Kailey shakes her head and says, "No...I've never felt an affinity for that...aspect. My mom had it...I dimly remember her healing a broken wrist when I was...six? Something..." Shrug of her shoulders and she smiles faintly. "A leatherman? I got that. I can do that," She says with a decisive nod. "OH! Oh! You could probably figure this thing out that I have...Um, I'm gonna run to my van real quick. Be right back okay?" And she sets her mug down and zooms off in a burst of youthful energy. She'll be back in just over two minutes. Giving August at least a brief reprieve.

August nods his understanding. "Not everyone can do all of them. Some can only do one, even. It's all over the map, like anything else, really." He blinks as she gets up. "Uh, sure." He watches her go, tired just watching her. He has a bit more water, resumes going through his book about bridges while he waits.

Kailey returns with a ziplock baggie that contains a...rotten plum? But the plum has a, well, shimmer to it. "Found this in my pocket when I was getting ready to toss my clothes from the seawitch. I almost tossed it cause ew? But...look. It...shimmers," And she holds out the bag and wiggles it. "I've come back with dirt, grime, and wounds. But never...anything substantial. I mean, it's just rotten food but...should I toss it?" She looks at him hopefully. "You being a plant guy and all that..."

August shuts the book when Kailey returns, leans forward and squints at the plum in the bag. He nods absently, eyes still on the fruit, in response to part of what she says. "You've got that art. Movement, some call it. I think of it as matter and energy. Lets you bring things back." He's real glad she has it in a bag because it looks like it smells.

He straightens up, lifting a hand and turning it over, like he's directing something in and around them that only he can see. A few seconds of this, the Art brilliant and strong. That makes him frown; where was this earlier, when he was trying to heal Isabella? The Art was a capricious and fickle master.

His gaze shifts to Kailey again. "Clearly got something to it. Not...sure what. I expect, ah, eating it would do something." He cuts the rotting plum a brief, dubious look. "But I don't know if I recommend that."

Kailey looks at the shimmer in the air and gets this funny kind of smile. Eye's a little distant, not quite crossed, as she follows the shimmer. "Neat," Is her comment along with a soft little huff of a laugh. Impressed more than amused. When it finishes she blinks once and focuses on August once more as she sits down. The fruit is eyed and then her nose wrinkles at his suggestion. "Yeah, ew. I don't wanna do that. But...I've never brought stuff back before. This is a first," She says and turns the bag over before reaching to take up her mug and sip. "Mmm...definitely -not- eating it. Gross. You wanna...like...keep it and stuff? Like I said, I'm not a plant person and...right now? I'm not even supposed to eat cold lunchmeat apparently!" And she points at the bottom book of her pile. 'Eating Healthy for Two or More'.

August pulls a face, but nods and holds out a hand. "Yeah, I can hold on to it. Maybe, figure out a safe way to dispose of it." He gets a thoughtful look even as he's said that. "If...you think you need to find the witch, you could use it to do that. That's something," he taps a temple with a finger, "people with the mind Art can do. Find the person something belongs to." He gives the plum another look. "Not that I'd want to use that Art on this. It'll probably be bad. Real bad."

He arches an eyebrow, then ahs softly. "Right, Listeria. I mean," he shrugs, "chances are it won't be an issue? But, my younger sister didn't eat it while she was either time, so." He shrugs in a 'what can you do' manner.

Kailey hands over the plum and says, "You are probably better suited to it. And the witch is dead so...there is that. The officer and Lyric took it out while I was hiding in rotten debris." Another swig and then she leans forward, elbows on her knees. "I can find stuff. Really good at it. Or at least, I liked to think so. But coming here? Makes me realize there is -so- much more I could possibly do. Or achieve. Of course...that comes with added risk, but..." She trails off and stares off into the distance at her pile of books. "Anyway...I should give you my number as well, since you gave me your card. If I can help with anything or you figure out something -useful- to do with a plum. Probably can't plant it and get a money tree eh?" She smiles with amusement now.

August looks not the least bit perturbed to hear Kailey hid while a cop and Lyric took care of business. In fact he just nods his approval. But the next bit has him sitting up and looking away.

"You can, yeah," he says. He picks some imaginary lint off his pants. "A lot more. Which isn't a good thing, necessarily. It can be but...it can also be a dangerous thing." He meets her eyes again, one of his much too red to simply be bloodshot. "I don't tell people to not do it, because that'd be a little more hypocritical than I like to be. But...be careful. This shit..." He thinks of Isabella and Lilith--Lilith, who was like him, and should have been able to turn an attack like the Vivisectionist's aside, simply collapsing with a single flick of the strange being's power--and swallows. "It plays for keeps."

He accepts the plum, turns the bag over in his hands, stuffs it into a pocket of his hoodie. "No," he says, snorting a laugh, "probably won't turn into anything like that. Stone's probably dead. Probably." He refuses to think about reviving it. Or planting it.

"Ah, yeah, sure." He pulls out his phone, unlocks it, raises his eyebrows in a silent request for her number.

Kailey reads off the ten digits, the first three from somewhere in Oregon. "I...can see how that could be. You seem to be in rough shape. Have you...gotten your eye seen? That looks painful," And she looks sympathetic and worried again. "Trust me...I know this stuff plays for keeps. They took my mom. She ran with me for ten years before it caught up...but not sure if leaving would solve my problem. Strength in numbers? Maybe?" She looks at him hopefully. "So far that seems to be the case..." She quiets then because finally his demeanor and expressions sink in.

"Whatever you went through...if you need to talk to somebody about it...I'm willing to listen. My therapist always said it can be easier to talk to strangers. Especially if they're already set to believe and help you. I mean...I am -no- therapist...is there even one in this town that knows about this stuff?" Kailey has hit babble mode and it takes her a few seconds, once started, to realize and stop. She shoots August and apologetic look. "I...chatter when nervous. Sorry."

August can't help a tired smile when she mentions his eye. "Yeah, it'll be okay. A little hemorraghing from a really bad idea I had. Should clear up in a day or so." He takes in a slow breath and lets it out when she mentions her mom, shakes his head. "Sorry, about your mom. If she was running from Them with you, well...it's probably not less safe here, all told. And yeah--here, there's people who can teach you. Which is better than being alone. And, thanks, though, I've got a therapist. For," his tone turns dry, "a lot of other things."

He laughs a little as she recites the number, glances up and gives her a smile. "Portland, huh? You from down there, or was that the most recent stop?" No judgment in his tone, just curiosity.

"Well...kinda ties into the mom thing I guess," Kailey says with a sad smile. But it an old sadness and the pain isn't as great today. Taking a sip from her mug she glances around. No one hovering she can see. "I was in foster care after my mom died. Never knew my dad and my mom only ever called him Connor. Or sometime Collin or Charming. She had mental health problems on top of the other shit following her. But, you know, I was a kid. I don't remember a lot.

"Anyway..." She takes another sip of coffee, staring at the book on Apothecary thoughtfully. "I got put into foster care. We were staying at a motel out in Cornelius. So mostly I moved around the Portland Metro from then till 18 when the system booted me out. Luckily the folk I was staying with at the time actually gave a shit and let me stay and get my head on straighter," Her smile is wry. "I apparently also had an inheritance. So I spent it on a camper van and then left when I could...just kept the number you know?"

August makes a low sound. "Sorry about that. Can definitely be rough, living that way." He nods his head south and a little east, finding the direction to Portland unerringly. "I grew up in a trailer park, near the river, close to the tracks." He bobs his eyebrows, one corner of his mouth twitching in the shared experience of not growing up with everything going smooth. "Spent a lot of time harassing ducks and geese, fucking around in empty rail cars."

He has a bit more water, tucks his phone back in his pocket. "Well, at least with with the Art, maybe I can help. A little, I don't know as much about the two things you do. But I do know people who do. I can see if they're willing to help teach you some."

Kailey nods understandingly to that. "Yeah. So many fucking geese..." Kailey giggles softly and shakes her head at something that brings to mind. "I had to use what I had and hone it, given the situation I was in. Foster system has some really great people...and hides some really scary things too," She makes a face. "I mean...I would love to be able to help someone heal. If I could learn that...maybe I can fix things instead of fucking them up all the time." Another derissive laugh aimed at herself. "Anyway...I will let you get back to your book sorting. I've got reading to do. And...thanks. For the offer and the help and info and all that jazz," She gets to her feet and picks up her pile. "See ya around!" And she turns to head towards the register.