2020-04-08 - Toast to Health

Lilith loves french toast with powdered sugar and fruit. That's exactly what she's asking for in the morning when she wakes up. And that's good news because she hasn't had an appetite to speak of ever since the Vivisectionist had at her head. The hospital tried to get her to eat, she wasn't having it, and Byron couldn't even tempt her with simple comfort sweets like ice cream. But now that she's back in the Penthouse in cozy surroundings, she's shameless about cute face and batting lashes while making a plea for breakfast. It's doubtful the man's going to let her loose into the kitchen to stand over the stove just yet, and to be honest, she doesn't want to stand in there cooking either.

So, much like the cat, she makes noise until she gets fed. At some point, she migrates from bed to the couch, wrapped up in Byron's warm and oversized robe instead of her own, settling in with a plush throw blanket against some pillows.

Also, the cat is being weird. It won't leave Lilith alone. It's not cuddling or anything, mostly it's sitting in perch and staring at her like it did last time she was injured.

"... did you feed this cat?"

Having skipped his morning run and exercises in favor of ensuring that Lilith is all snug and comfortable without interruption, once she is up and he has time to shower and change, he emerges out of his walk-in wearing a black dress shirt and gray vest with his suit jacket draped over an arm. More than likely, Byron expects to head out to the casino again today or have professional guests over for a meeting in his office. His beard is neatly trimmed, his hair slicked back to perfection.

For now, with the jacket laid out over the couch-- which is usually a mistake, because of the threat of cat fur, Byron finds himself in the kitchen whipping up a nice batter for French toast. It's a good thing he has ingredients such as powdered toast on hand. And fruit. None of this planned ahead of time!

"I fed that damned thing before I'm feeding you." He says, a smile on his lips, as he checks the heat on the stove top. His phone rests on the kitchen counter close by. Byron had already contacted August and is expecting the man's presence this morning. With that in mind, he lays out several mugs for coffee, preparing the espresso machine for company. "How are you feeling?"

August knocks on the door in short order; he's arrived with a plain, white box of veggies and fruits under one arm. Radishes, asparagus, rhubarb, peas, new potatoes, baby carrots, strawberries, kumquats, leeks, and fiddleheads, and a couple of dove for when Byron is feeling adventurous. He's in jeans, a purple UW hoodie, a red Hoh Rain Forest shirt, and his urban hikers. Not a work day, from the looks of it, just an errands and writing day.

"Good. I don't want the damn thing to kill me in a jealous rage war for your meals and affection."

Some women say there's nothing sexier than a man in the kitchen. Lilith isn't sure how true that is, but something about the way Byron is dressed, put together, and in the kitchen today while making her breakfast has her kind of side-eying him even when she's not directly looking at him. However, she controls herself and stays on the couch and doesn't go shooting off her mouth about how she wants to do naughty things on the kitchen counter when company is due any time (also head injury). But she does point out two things after pretending she's using the laptop in her lap (she's not, it makes her head hurt from eyestrain almost instantly).

"You look very handsome today. We should fuck in the kitchen sometime."

Yes. That's Lilith's brand of self-control when it comes to these things. She's not even being a cute tease or trying to rile him, she's just letting him know it should be done, on principle, because looking at him in there reminded her that some surfaces in this Penthouse are still innocent! Then oddly, she looks at the piano for a moment, considering, and she opens her mouth right as the door gets knocked on.

"... but not right now, probably. Want me to get that?"

She knows the answer to that question, but it's the polite thing to say while Byron's hands are full.

Byron's almost done with the presentation of it all, laying out each slice of french toast in a fan-like position, sprinkling that sugar on it. Setting several plates of the stuff out onto the island, Byron licks at some of the powdered sugar on his fingers before wiping the rest away with a towel, all the while his gaze lifts to give the angry looking cat a stern look, addressing Smog in an even stern tone, "You. Behave." But from what he's seeing, the cat's taking good care of Lilith. Either that, or it's plotting her demise while she's done.

Of course, he smiles when complimented. Byron has quite the ego. The smile widens when she mentions the kitchen counters. "I mean, the cat sits all over the counters. Why let that be the only piece of ass the touch them." He's trying to refrain from laughing when he says this. Then there's a knock on the door.

Wiping his hands down even more, he tosses the towel onto the counter as he goes for the door. He's still all a grin by the time he greets August, "Mornin'. Come on in. Sorry to, uh... call out out here so early. We've had quite few couple of nights." Since Lilith's injury and that FCN Dream. "The patient is sitting on the couch. I can't guarantee that she won't be cranky the way she gets with nurses at the hospital." Heading back into the kitchen to add the addition of fruit the the plates, he anounces, "I made breakfast. French toast. And coffee."

August waves the apology away. "I'm up around five to six most days, it's fine." He steps in, sets the box down on the counter. "Fresh from the garden," he says, patting it. "And if you don't like any of it feel free to hand it off to someone who does." He turns towards Lilith, pulls a face as her injuries reach him. "Oh, Lil." For his part, he looks tired, like he's only now recovering from all that's come in the last few days.

He moves towards her, pauses when he sees the cat. After a second, he says, "The girl at the factory with us. Abitha--she and I, we wound up in one of Their constructs together. And...one of those cats, with the tentacles? It appeared on her shoulder." He glances over his shoulder at Byron, back to Lilith. "With a top hat on it."

This memory shared, he asks, "So. Feral? How close can I get. I don't want to get into his space."

"Ow." Lilith sputters out a sudden unexpected laugh at Byron's quip about asses and counter space, fake complaining and laughing at the same time as she flips her laptop closed and he goes for the doorway to let August in. "It hurts to laugh, why are you abusing me with one-liners?" And french toast. So abused. The cat turns its head to stop staring at the woman and stares at the door as the new arrival comes in. Sometimes he bolts when there's company, but this morning he's sitting his ground, still on the coffee table stare perch. Also he's got a stankface for DAYS, but it's kind of hard to tell if it's on purpose or if the cat just looks that way.

Either way, the creature looks annoyed that August is moving their way and rises up to leap from the table to the couch, taking up the place the set-aside laptop occupied prior. Lilith, for her part, seems a touch surprised by this and gingerly reaches to pet the cat's head while looking uncertain, "... rescued alley tom. He's not usually like this, so I'm not entirely sure. I can't figure out if he's trying to plot a way to trip me and take me out while I'm weak or if he's watching for invisible predators, he's weird like this when I'm hurt."

But after another moment of time, she shakes her head some and tells August with a glance at Byron, "He's probably not going to scratch your face off, though. Thanks for coming. The hospital took care of the cranial swelling, I guess, but it's... unpleasant, still." Lilith is a bit careful how she phrases her discomfort because Byron had been biting at the bit to call August while she was in the hospital and she stayed his hand for the sake of NOT making August come to the damn hospital again, especially since she didn't know what shape he was in personally from the same ordeal.

After beckoning to August and putting her hand back down on the cat's back in silent gesture of pressure for the creature to stay and behave, she wonders, "You and Abitha and tophat cats, though... that happened after the factory?"

At the offered gift, Byron curiously looks the items over, rummaging through them all. "Thanks. This is a nice variety of vegetables. I can't say that I've used all of them to cook with before but that's what internet recipes are for." When he notices the birds, he makes a guess, "Quail?" Taking some of the strawberries to go with the blueberries he already had prepared for breakfast, he washes them to serve with the other fruit and toast.

Always trying to be fancy, if only because they have guests, but Byron is one to constantly try to impress Lilith, so it would seem, he works on his preparation to make the whole ensemble look like it came straight out of some overpriced cafe. Hearing the 'Oh, Lil' uttered from Roen, Byron's attention is drawn away from the food to look at the other man. What did August know that Byron didn't about Lilith's condition?

With all three plates set on a tray along with three mugs of coffee and utensils, Byron carries these to place onto the coffee table near where Lilith is seated. "A tentacled cat with a top hat? I saw some a few spiders wearing top hats..." Then he's reminded of the fate of his own wounded doppleganger, "And a copy of myself." He finally brings up, Not having mentioned it to anyone because just the sight of his clone made him uneasy. "The cat should be alright. It just looks like it's pissed off all the time. Though, I guess, there are times when it actually is."

August nods when Lilith and then Byron confirm the just looks pissed off. Mostly. Well, he can also use the Art if he has to, even if he doesn't really like doing that, not even to animals. "Rhubarb and strawberries make an amazing pie," he offers.

Keeping an eye on the cat's mood, he moves to the couch. He takes a closer look at what the Vivisectionist did, expression growing distant. Whatever he sees has him swallowing. "I know when we do things over there we change it, but...bitch got what she had coming."

He watches Byron join them with the tray, eyeing the resulting French toast. He seems impressed. But first...

"Alright. You ready?" He arches an eyebrow at Lilith.

Lilith briefly turns a curious eye toward the box Byron was rummaging through while August comes near to make assessment of her, especially once August mentions rhubarb and strawberries, her eyes widening just a touch with excitement, "... that kind of pie tastes like SweetTarts." Which apparently is a good thing. But she knows what's coming, and while it's welcome impending relief, there's always the oddity and potential discomfort depending on the injury.

There's also the matter of how August is reacting to what he sees amiss, physically, which she can't see in herself like she can with others. It's an unnerving kind of blind spot when you can do it for others, but not do a damn thing for yourself or even know what's fully wrong.

Whatever unease is starting to creep onto Lilith visibly, though, it abates when Byron brings the tray with the colorful, pretty breakfast display. Abruptly, she breaks into smile. It doesn't matter that she's sitting there swaddled in a man's robe with a blanket and cat over her lap. And it doesn't matter that her hair is a bit of a tousled mess from bed and reluctance to brush it due to lacerations. Even the subtle shadows under the woman's eyes are less apparent when her expression shifts.

Sometimes, Byron just makes her glow. It's one of those moments, and it happens to be timed very well. After a small adjust to her posture and a drawn breath, she sounds entirely ready while answering to August.

"Yes. I'm ready."

"I do enjoy a good rhubarb pie." Byron will voice his agreement, "I've never made one before, but how hard can it be? I mean, it's not a cake." Now that Byron is lingering near the pair of them, he reaches to scoop the cat up into his arms so that it doesn't freak out or anything when August decides to do his thing. While he can, if he wanted to, has some connection with animals, he's never really observed the way some animals act towards their inner light or whenever they use their talents.

Stroking at the cat's lamb-like fur, he takes a single step back to give August some room. He tries not to look as if he's staring and for a time will allow his gaze to drift off to the side to not seem awkward. When he catches hints that August was psychically reaching out to heal her, however, that will bring his attention back to them. Or at least back to Lilith as he's stroking the feline.

August's anxieties ease; it's a relief, amidst the pressure from their injuries (and his own lingering bruises and scrapes) to see Lilith smiling. For days he's been struggling to not see her and Abitha falling over, bleeding, beaten. Dying.

He takes a second to remind himself that's not happening right now. They're all alive and safe, for the moment. There's a wooly cat with resting bitch face and French toast. It'll be okay.

"Dove," August answers Byron, belatedly. "Can roast them, or barbecue them--really good roasted with a head of garlic in them, or in a berry barbecue sauce." And then he gets down to business.

As Lilith's seen him do before, he starts small, and deep, looking for the furthest reaches of what the Vivisectionist did. Outward from there, knitting vessels, repairing tissue she rended and split in her attempt to simply shatter Lilith from the inside out.

His stomach threatens to revolt, but he quashes that reaction. Not now; he's working. Later he can go throw up, or whatever.

The swelling fades, allowing him to do the last part: her skull. Cracks seal, and the pressure finally eases.

When he's done, he's pale and there's sweat on his forehead. He blinks a few times, wipes at his face. "No wonder I couldn't heal Isabella."

Lilith focuses on the cat while Byron holds it to pet and stroke, who is staring straight back, fairly unamused with this whole affair by the looks of him. But the feeling of being mended from the inside out makes her stop breathing, even though she's expecting it. Instead of inhaling the next breath, she sits winded deliberately, and after a few heartbeats of time, she feels the itch of the lacerations tingling with more superficial knit and closure. But...

From the outside, she practically blossoms in that inexplicable way of health again. The way she's sitting changes, her eyes close and stay that way a moment and when they open again, the relief of feeling whole again is awash through the blue irises. She starts breathing again and immediately puts her hand up through her hair with natural, quick animation and rake of her nails, "I am so jealous of that cat getting pets and scratches right now."

Lilith feels healthy, she's reacting well. Something isn't right about it, though, August feels it more like a nag, not something he's able to immediately pinpoint or explain.

After a pause of caution, the woman's hand drops and she looks at August to make sure he's not going to be ill, concern flashing her features suddenly at what he says, "I heard Isabella killed her, but I didn't know she got hurt by the Vivisectionist too."

There's nothing more that Byron can do but to watch as August magically heal Lilith. Rather than occupying himself with other things, the cat aside, like eating breakfast before work, instead, Byron's attention is fixated on the young woman's face while she's being healed.He's all too familiar with how the sensations of being healed feels like. How good it feels to be made whole again. Or at least, the kickstarting of such a process. It was also an odd feeling, because you can feel your very flesh and bone mend.

There's a brief moment where Byron turns to August to gauge his reaction to all of this as well. It's almost as if he can sense just how dangerous this head wound truly was, despite the doctors allowing her to be released from the hospital.

Then it's done, allowing him this time to take an initial breath ever since the process began. Smog is restless and begins to squirm in his arms, so rather than fight the cat's urge, he lets it go to land on quiet feet on the floor. Then August speaks. "What... do you mean? You couldn't heal Isabella?" He wasn't even sure if she were injured or not, being too involved in making sure that Lilith was on the road to recovery. "I mean, what happened? Why couldn't you heal her?"

From August, his gaze drifts down to Lilith, looking her over. "Feeling better?"

August takes a few seconds to let his nerves settle before he tentatively starts looking over his handiwork. It wouldn't be the first time he's failed to completely heal someone. He tilts his head, eyes narrowed. "Do you feel one hundred percent? Because..."

He's quiet a while, carefully checking here and there. He's not even sure what he should be looking for, truth be told. And yet...

The questions about Isabella make him stop double and triple checking. "It was...well. She was almost as bad off as you, honestly. I tried a few times, and it just wouldn't take. Wound up in a Dream for my trouble." He pulls a face about that. Didn't even manage to heal her and he still got stuck in that maze of elevator halls. "She's okay, as far as I know, but it might be a while until she's up and around." Which is no doubt driving Alexander to distraction.

He considers Lilith again. "Something seems off. I'm not sure what. Do you mind if I take a real good look at you? It might just be me being anxious, but..." But the Vivisectionist did try to split open your brain his tone implies.

"I feel a lot better. My head isn't in a vice, I can see straight without dizzy spells, and my scalp doesn't feel tight and swollen and I--" Lilith looks at the breakfast and her special toast with the sugar and the fruit on the tray tableside, entirely dismissive because she feels so much better, "I'm starving." After leaning to pick up coffee for a drink, she shrugs in slightly cavalier fashion when August asks to take a closer look at her in that way of theirs, "As long as you eat when you're finished staring at my insides." The woman then uses one of her hands to pat Byron a gesture of invite to sit and eat too, now that she's not suffering, "Come on, you made it, you eat it too. I know you think you can live on coffee, but I promise, you can't."

Yes, she seems to have heard that something seems off, but does it stop her from putting the coffee down and picking up a plate for a pretty hasty bite of breakfast?

No, it does not. Maybe the stubborn denial is fine, though, it's better than panic or worry.

Now, all that Byron is looking at is August, sensing some of the man's distress. His dark eyes flicker, focusing solely on any subtle change in the other man's expression, the look in his eyes, anything. Then August asks Lilith's permission so that he can take a better look at her. It's then, right before he settles down on the couch next to Lilith, that he asks in quieter tones to Roen, "...Is there anything wrong?"

Either way, after taking up one of the three plates, he seats himself next to Winslow, and though this further examination is making him uneasy, he flashes her a smile at least. That is, before slicing off and stabbing at a piece of sugar powdered French toast to openly pop into his mouth as a show of 'Look, I'm eating'. He even chews obnoxiously just so that she can see. "This actually came out decently." It's French toast! Nothing overly special. "I'll call Isabella up to check on her once I have the time." This is when he returns to observing the botanist, waiting for him to take this deep dive into Lilith's well-being.

(TXT to Byron) Felicity : hey, I just got back in town, after a long break, mind if I come by?

As he waits for August to do a deeper, more thorough physical scan on Lilith-- or whatever Healers do, Byron remains ever vigilant, despite being seated beside her to continue poke around at his plate of French toast. It's when he sets this plate down to reach for his coffee does he feel his phone buzzing in his pants pocket. It was early in the morning, but his work is never done, so Byron's not surprised.

Wiping the sugar off of his hands before he digs into his pocket to reach for his phone, he's surprised to see the name posted. Looking between Lilith and August, he knows that Lilith doesn't like most anyone, especially people who she didn't know well seeing her in this state, well, she's already been healed, but she's not even changed into something decent yet. "Felicity is back in town." He announced to gauge their reception and to see how much Lilith even knows the other woman.

"Maybe she's looking to rent an apartment." He murmurs, tapping away a response.

(TXT to Felicity) Byron : Wow. Welcome home. Are you thinking of renting finally? haha.

(TXT to Byron) Felicity : actually that is a great idea

Lilith continues to eat while she's studied at focused length by August and doesn't seem to think much of it. She knows what it's like, to look into someone and search for the threads of disturbance when something wrong with the body is less glaring. People have a baseline of alignment that can be off even when a person is relatively healthy, it's what allows her to see things like heart conditions and diseases and illnesses, even though she doesn't necessarily focus enough to look for such things unless it's deliberate and for a purpose.

Therefore, it doesn't feel overly uncomfortable or intimate to her, she knows what it is and what it's like, even though they all tend to perceive in their own ways a little differently. That and she has her French toast with berries and coffee and like she said, she was starving. Having the body systems accelerated for repair tends to emphasize that as the body plays catch up.

Looking aside at Byron, her brows lift a little bit before she wonders, "Felicity... who?" Lilith wasn't very social those high school years, so without the last name to make it click as the one from back in school, she looks a little clueless. Popping a berry chunk into her mouth, she plucks up another and leans to poke it into the man's mouth with needless sharing since he has his own plate, but his hands are full with phone and she's doting, "If you have someone stopping by for an apartment talk, I can go put on real clothes and actually brush my hair now to look pretty."

"Addington." Byron says, his eyes lowered to the screen of his phone again, before he pulls up a few apps, one of them his appointment calendar and the other is a listing of vacant units within all three of his buildings. "Felicity Addington. She graduated with us." Those dark eyes of his lift to regard Lilith from over his phone, a brow lifted, "Not that I ever saw you during that time." That's a lie, but that's how it felt like. He then adds, "Mayor Clyde Addington's daughter. I think she teaches at the high school."

Tapping out a response, he adds in, "She may be interested in renting an apartment." That's when Lilith forces food into his mouth and he happily enough obliges, flashing her a smile as he chews. "Only if you want to." Sure, she is drowning in his robe. "Only if you're feeling better." Despite the healing that just happened here, he still has his reservations, especially with what August had said. "I'm sure she'd understand otherwise."

(TXT to Felicity) Byron : What time did you want to stop by? If you remember Lilith Winslow from high school, she's here. She's.. under the weather, so I have a medical friend tending to her.

(TXT to Byron) Felicity : oh sorry to hear that, we can catch up later?

(TXT to Felicity) Byron : We can do lunch maybe. I'm not sure if your dad told you, but I invested in a casino. Well THE casino in Gray Harbor. The Grand Olympic. So I juggle my time between projects, the Apartments and the casino now.

(TXT to Byron) Felicity : he did! actually. And I would love lunch, a date?

"I will," August assures Lilith. "It looks fantastic, and I don't turn down good French toast." Then he's staring at a point just past her shoulder, eyes unfocused, one of his hands occasionally twitching in a stray gesture. He murmurs to himself sometimes, and makes faces. Nothing severe, so whatever it is that's tickling his attention, he's not finding enough to get panicked over. Just annoyed that it's evading him. On the other hand, he's not exactly a doctor.

Which is the first thing he says. "Well, I'm not a doctor, so I don't really know what it is that's bugging me. You might want Erin to have a look at you." He focuses on Lilith, runs a hand through his hair. "Or Jacob Winters, if you know him. He's a GP, he could probably pinpoint it better than I can." He gives himself a second for his stomach to settle before taking a plate, glances over at Byron. "Another Addington?" he asks. "Just how big is that family."

(TXT to Felicity) Byron : Date is such a dangerous word. I mean, if you sign up, you'll be my tenant. And I'm sure Lilith wouldn't be too happy about it. I kid. But sure, lunch sounds great.

(TXT to Byron) Felicity : No date then! No problem, either way be nice to catchup text me when you can?

"Oh, okay. I think I remember. I mean, I'm not in a hurry to get dressed, but I probably should at some point, and I have no excuse not to, now. In fact, I'm a bit antsy, having health and energy back, if you do an apartment tour, I could walk around with you and play catchup. Or I guess I could just go to work while you're working, too." Lilith makes a noise of recollection at Byron and polishes off her food in relatively short order, washing it down with the rest of her coffee. She also relishes the fact that she can nod her head in understanding without pain, briefly, which really makes what August is saying afterwards a non-concern to justify considering how she feels in comparison to how she was just moments ago.

The bit about not-seeing her goes untouched verbally, but after Lilith is finished with her plate and coffee, she leans aside to press three trailing kisses with subtle, backhanded, years-old apologies on Byron at the side of his bristled face. Then on straightening, the question about how many Addingtons there actually are kind of makes Lilith grin before she makes delayed supposition, "I did have brain swelling, maybe there's just some things that are going to take a little time. I think the point is that I feel healthy and I'm not head-wounded straight into retardation or memory loss anymore, and honestly, that's more than I can expect so soon, given what happened. But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to see an actual GP now that the damages aren't in the way. I'm also far overdue to catch up with Erin."

Suddenly, though, something that August said while he was working on mending and studying her comes back to mind, "... what did you mean when you said when we do things over there, it changes it? Killing her changed something?"

The smile continues to linger despite Lilith saying that she should eventually get changed. "Take your time, we'll be meeting later."

That's all light-hearted banter until August brings up that something was still troubling him about her head wound though no one seems to have any idea of what. "If anything, I'd hoped that the ER doctors would've caught it before releasing her." He then adds in, "But if they did, then we wouldn't be here today. With you." Lilith had to remind Byron of August's dislike of hospitals. "That's my way of saying thanks, Roen. Thanks for looking after Lilith even when we all know just how dangerous it is to use our powers. I mean, you were drawn into another Dream immediately following the FCN one." This is when he comes out and says, "When I was at the hospital with Lilith," His gaze looks to her now, "When she was still woozy and asleep, I was dragged into one for a time." Apparently, this isn't something he'd told her yet. "So it's been happening more and more often." He was injured then too.

"Jacob Winters actually lives in our building, but if you'd prefer Erin, I have no complaints." Byron says as he reaches for his coffee now that his phone is put away. "Right. Another Addington. Daughter to the mayor. Also graduated the same year as us."

August nods at Lilith. "Kind of my thinking. I'm sure it's not a big deal, but Erin can give you a proper, clean bill of health. I might heal a lot, but that's like saying I bandage my own cuts a lot. Doesn't make me a doctor." He shrugs helplessly.

He dips his head at Byron, accepting the thanks and acknowledging the increasing issues they're facing in doing such things. "You're welcome. Lil's done plenty for others, it's the least I can do for her." He mmms about the new Addington--or new to him--but doesn't have much else to say on that front.

The question about killing the Vivisectionist has him making a face. "That...will take some explaining." He takes a plate of French toast. "I forget if I told you two about my tree problem Over There. How I tried grafting and it went completely fucking sideways?" He raises his eyebrows, has a bite. An appreciative sound follows, along with a mumured, "This is excellent, Thorne."

Lilith widens her eyes at Byron some but is mum's word about anything she's thinking when he explains he'd been pulled into another bit of strange and dangerous himself so soon after the factory floor chaos. In fact, she's counting, and considering he'd disappeared off of the terrace the night or two before they were dragged to meet with the Vivisectionist, then disappeared again while she was asleep with a head injury, that's... three in a row. It might be a miracle she's only sitting there with her eyes vaguely widened in pause staring at him with this revelation. She doesn't even have to know what the third incident was to know that's just too damn much in too short of a time to have any real comfort about closing her eyes again anytime soon. Not that having her eyes open would help if these things want to steal him away (maybe for good one of these times, oh god).

After a tiny clear of her throat, the woman bats her lashes a few times fast to refocus on August and what he's saying while he eats, trying to explain with answer to her question prior. At first when she speaks, though, it's a passive sound of understanding for his other words on mending, "... no, I know what you mean, it's alignment and colorcoding and tiny machines to me, doesn't make me understand anything in medical terms or understand 'why' very often at all." After thinking for a beat with pause, she tacks on, "And no, I don't recall anything about trees over there or grafting anything. But now that you say that... I found a heartroot on a killer plant last week and felt pretty damn plant savvy about that idea." Pause, "I killed it, but still."

Lilith looks back at Byron and decides fair is fair, also she kind of forgot until right now when strange plant-life is being brought up. After making her own confession, she leans in and against his side, eyes swapping back to August so she can hear what 'sideways' means in this context, "... Alexander's garden came to life when I went for dinner and was giving us trouble. A giant killer flowerplant tried to eat me, it was a very Feed Me Seymour kind of moment. Kind of funny, in retrospect."

She might be minimizing with that comment, but look, GH people need that darker sense of humor too. It's legit.

This last Dream wasn't something that Byron was hiding. He just never had the opportunity to bring it up because on his return, Lilith was still 'sleeping' in her hospital bed. He will come out to admit, "I didn't want to bring it up until you were fully healed. And it's no big deal. Though it seemingly had to do with that one time I was standing in line at this Veil contracts office. Except this was a full blown revolution that I was caught in the middle of." And he had nothing to do to spark it at all! Nevermind that Byron was still hurt when drawn into that Dream and maneuvering the panicked Dreamscape, while he was miraculously uninjured during this one, it still hurt like a mother fucker.

However, now Lilith is telling him about a garden mishap that she had at Alexander's. He remembers hearing about the dinner, but as usual, he had things to do that evening. Doing some mental math, he tries to sort out how long after the Werewolf Dream this may have been and how long before the fCN Dream. His free arm slips out and over Lilith's shoulder, giving her a squeeze against him just before he takes a sip of coffee.

"I'm glad that you took care of that." If she were hurt, he would've known it. So things must have gone well.

His focus being drawn back to August, he considers. "Sideways? You went into the Veil to try and graft their trees? What repercussions came of that and... what repercussions do you killing the Vivisectionist will have over all?"

"Killing something that's trying to kill you is completely reasonable," August says. He's in the business of trimming and cutting down trees, after all. "I was prepared to kill these trees if I had to, but fortunately it wasn't needed."

He frowns at the news about Alexander's garden. "That's no good. I was at the zoo when a bunch of people got attacked by some plants. And...Joey Kelly was saying one of his trees by the gym is acting up." Which now has him worried about his shop. This is sounding like more than just the usual nonsense.

But, back to the topic at hand. He frowns about the mention of a revolution, opts to set it aside for the moment. "So a graft is usually just a single piece of a branch. This was Sitka spruce. But instead, it multiplied and got all over numerous trees. And unlike over here, the trees over there are...alive. Ish. They're ents, basically. Like in Tolkein." He sighs about that. "Which I should have expected. Anyways, it poisoned them and pissed them off, and we had to remove the grafts to fix them. They let us go after that." He has a few more bites of French toast. "But I figured I should examine the scabs of the graft. So I did, using the various types of Art and," he grimaces, "got my ass kicked. I mean, psychically."

"Oh. Ohhh. I wasn't imagining that strange smell. Like... smoke and concrete or... I don't know." Lilith murmurs suddenly with a glance up and aside at the man as she rests with the arm wrapped around her against his body while seated. She actually seems a bit relieved to know her olfactory senses weren't busted, because in the hospital, she recalls thinking Byron smelled strange and it made much more sense now if he had been pulled into some revolutionary moment. Slipping her arm around the small of his back, she gives conjoined company a delayed return squeeze that's snug and firm.

... it's a little like she's making declaration to the universe with one big silent 'mine' given the way the squeeze is timed.

Then she lapses into considering what other plant related incidents seem to be cropping up and makes a little 'huh' of noise. But then she's listening attentively to August's explanation, hand absently resting and rubbing against Byron's knee, "... how do you mean?" She's not particularly in the know about what mindbangers can and can't do to another's mind, so her brows knit just a touch with that ask for clarification. And if it's something else other than a mindbanger, her head isn't imagining what else it could possibly be.

"I agree." Byron says whole-heartedly about feeling no remorse for killing what's trying to kill you. Perhaps, that's a motto he lives by.

Everyone's been mentioning plant life going haywire now, but Byron hasn't noticed. His own potted plants, which were kept sheltered during the winter, were once more basking in the PNW rain out on his terrace. Some have already started to bloom, giving color the mostly dreary Gray Harbor backdrop out there.

"What were you trying to do with those trees to begin with? Was this a test that you and Yule and Isabella were running? To graft Veil trees?" This mention of Ents would normally have Byron lift his brow, but they'd encountered tree monsters during Christmas tree purchasing, so no, he's not surprised. In fact, as a kid who grew up playing D&D, the first thing that came to mind was treant.

August finishes off his French toast, sets the plate aside. "An experiment I was performing. The ones I was doing with them were doing with the items from FCN, and..." He shrugs. "Those all broke. Anyways, we have a better idea of how they were making them." Answer: in the most horrible way possible. "Which..." He sighs, scratches his beard. "Honestly, when we were first found these things, and Isabella and Yule talked about them having the Art in them, my first thought was 'how do you put it in something?' and that lead to an obvious answer: how do we make a lot of things? By taking them from something that has them. Leather, food, wood..." He winces. "I was just...hoping to be wrong about that. Anyways, we'll have to sort out a different way to imbue things, if we still want to."

He settles back in his seat. "I was trying to get at the nature of the Veil. Of how things work over there as it related to their biology--if they have any. We can survive over there, but some plants from over here can't. Why not? So I figured I'd try a graft." A perfectly logical progression which did not go as planned, to say the least. "When I read one of these scabs that the graft had turned into, it was like I read every possible emotion that had been felt in that part of the forest. Just an," he gestures with his hands, "avalanche. I passed out. Popped some blood vessels in one of my eyes. I slept for most of a day. But," he opens his hands, "it wasn't a wasted effort. I'm pretty sure that what happened is the graft joined with the Veil. Not the trees, but th Veil itself. Which implies, that everything over there is the Veil. And that could mean anything we do--killing the Vivisectionist, for example--changes the Veil itself. Hence her factory collapsing." He stops there to see if they agree.

After a sip from his mug, he sets it down on the counter and takes up the plate of French toast again, which means releasing Lilith from his hold for the time. Slicing into a piece of toast laden with sugar and stacking several berries onto it, he savors in the mixture of flavor, listening to August talk.

"How did you get into the Veil? Who went with you?" He asks of August experimenting on this project alone. Though when August brings up what they've all be shown and had been more than confirmed at the FCN facility, Byron slowly nods, "Yeah. My X-Ray vision glasses? I wonder what poor sap they had to grind to make that." A pause. This is a more disturbing question, so he bides his time by cutting into another slice of French toast and chewing, before finally stating, "The dopplegangers. Who are they and why do they look like us?"

He's been slow to eat earlier, so he's playing catch up right now. "I wonder what killing the Actors did. Or killing the guy with the lantern, the one passing out invitations to us. What consequences came of all of that? It makes me wonder. I just assumed they'd replace the Vivisectionist, the way they did with the head psychiatrist at the Aslyum. But then again, the factory crumbled. The asylum did not, so who knows.

"Actors?" August frowns, trying to remember if he's heard of that debacle. There've been so many, he can't be entirely blamed for forgetting or mixing it up.

"Itzhak took me the first time; when we went back, it was me, Enzo, and Niall. Not sure if you know Niall, he's a mover. Reasonably strong." He tips his head North, unerring in the manner of all Physicalists. "Works up in Olympic." He pauses, then adds, "I can open a door in, if it's thin enough, but not out. Itzhak, he and Niall and Enzo can open them wherever." He sounds mildly envious of that. "But it's always a good idea to take at least one person with you. It's interesting over there, but dangerous."

He coughs, slightly embarrassed at the question about the doppelgangers. "Uh, in your case, I'm pretty sure the...Archivist made those." He gives Byron an apologetic look. "One was sent to help Anne and Isabella and me when we were trying to figure out where you needed to take the ring. It was destroyed in the process, but I assumed there were others." Assumed, rightly. "Not sure about the copy of me." Which he's been trying to not remember exists, so thanks for that, Byron.

Lilith is quiet and listening with thick consideration for a spell while taking all of the back and forth in. There is, however, a knit of her brows when it's stated the Archivist potentially has a harem of Byrons somewhere! Then she remembers what the Archivist looks like and can't figure out if she wants to laugh or set things on fire just because. Fire. Change. After a long moment, Lilith bats her lashes suddenly and pushes up into a stand from the couch, the robe swaddling falling around her as she goes toward the terrace doors where she keeps a pack of smokes stashed in a carved and decorated tobacco box on one of the small tables.

"I'm listening, keep talking..." It looks like Lilith is just going out for a smoke and she leaves the doors open behind herself for the pair of men to get that impression. Strange time to want to pop up for a cigarette, though, given she only smokes when drinking or particularly stressed and having a craving. Grazing her bottom lip with her teeth, she flares it up, sans lighter with it briefly held between her teeth. But as soon as it's sparking to light, she's pulling it away from her mouth to eye the burning cherry a bit critically.

What happened last time she tried to light a fire out on the terrace doesn't happen this time, possibly because she's paying exact mind to what she's doing? She's not sure. After a twist of her lips, she takes a drag, then leans to stub the thing out without actually smoking it. Then she goes to get her coffee cup for a refill and offers to take Byron's on the way, murmuring to August, "I was checking something. How often do you use fire?"

"Right, the actors. They showed up when shit hit the fan in town and around the time that I experienced my first.. group Dream with everyone. In fact, that was my second Dream of that kind. And it only kept getting worse." Byron tries to explain. "They, the actors, worked for Them. The Dark Men. They wanted us, as a group, to sacrifice Alexander Clayton." He rolls his eyes when he says the man's name. "Obviously, there was a fight bound to happen."

"You went twice? Did you trying grafting twice or was the second go to check in on what you had done prior?" Byron is genuinely curious about this now. This mention of Niall has him shaking his head as he takes a slow sip of coffee. "I can't say that I have met him, no." Since he's only a mentalist, anything else that others can do, talent-wise, is something that he's quick to dismiss or ignore as it has nothing to do with him. His only real interest and things which may make him jealous are things which other mentalists can do that he cannot. Or things that they've accomplished.

He will say, "So you are a healer, you have some of my own powers and you can also enter doorways. Interesting. I wonder how or when powers split in that way. I've only ever been a 'mind reader'. When he says this, you can almost hear the quotes.

This talk about the Archivist has his tall posture straightening, but rather than look entirely annoyed by the idea of these copies of him being paraded around and shared by the Archivist, he gives off this sheepish grin. "Yeah, when we went there, into that cave, we saw a memorial for it. So at some point it was destroyed. I was thinking that would be the only one, but then I saw a copy of myself at the factory. Whatever they've been through, it wasn't pleasant." He recalls how his doppleganger looked to be drained of blood and missing his eyes.

When Lilith pulls away from him to wander out to the terrace, he shifts in his seat, "Be careful. In case the plants out there go crazy." He's heard too many stories! Of course, he watches her with concern in his eyes, curious as to what she may be thinking and knowing that he could tap into her emotions at any moment. Though this is something he refrains to do right now. When she returns with a question for August, there's a quirk of his brow, before turning towards the botanist, curiously.

"To check," August confirms. "Which is when we found out it went insanely wrong. That's how those gnomes got riled up--they lived in the area where I did the graft, and it made the trees attack them." Speaking of things he looks sheepish about. A weak shrug is all he's got for that. "Sounds like Enzo sorted his end of things, and a whole group of folks helped me solve mine. So...now we know. When we do things over there--kill something, destroy something, make something, leave something--we change it. The Veil itself."

He watches Lilith go to the terrace, curious as to her experiment. Eyes on her, he says to Byron, "Yeah...Eleanor's similar. A bit of everything. Though I'm pretty strong in the shaping, like Lilith. I started out with the other two, though. Moving and reading. I was pretty young, then." A small smile for Byron's warning; as if he and Lilith couldn't handle any plants that got uppity.

He tracks Lilith coming back, shakes his head. "Not a lot. It's definitely different now--Thewlis was saying he can't direct it anymore. I've noticed I can...just tell the fire where to go. The conjured flame." He holds up a hand, and a small swirl of sparks coil in his palm for half a second, then disperse. He tilts his head. "Did the same happen to you?"

"First it just felt weird when I did it, then it went too strong with the spark. Then I had one fizzle out on me entirely and just smoke. I'm... I have to concentrate and pay attention to do it right now, when I could do it so mindlessly before and it's... yes. That. Not that I went around playing with fire so much after I set them, but there's... a difference." Lilith wets her lips after she gets the other coffee cup, standing there with two in hand while she watches August with a tilt of her head and somewhat close inspection for his hand.

Once he's explained it's not just her noticing differences, though, she clicks her tongue once and looks at Byron with consideration before moving toward the kitchen to get the coffee refills, "I thought it might be me, but if others are noticing oddities too, that's... hm."

After a brief moment, she comes back from the adjoining area and leans to press a kiss against Byron's head with mindless affection while passing him the refilled cup. Then she steps over to return to a sit with her own in against his side once more, "Well then. We live wonderful lives."

"Gnomes.." Byron has to repeat, perhaps finding it humorous. Though he'd been attacked by gnomes before as well. "I'm sure they deserved whatever they got." He'll say that much. Licking idly at his lips, his gaze looking thoughtful, he states, "They need to stop making us do their work for them." He's talking about the gnomes and whatever August and the others needed to do to compensate for forcing killer Ents into their town, but his mind is really set on this revolution.

"Thewlis... the grave digger?" Yes, that's all Byron will ever think of the man, since that's what he'd been forever! "I knew he could do something, but I can't say I knew what." He saw the light within him. This talk of fire and how some had lost the ability to control it, which he was never sure they could actually do becaue just knew they could set fire, it makes him think of his own changes. "That's... unfortunate. I've noticed an increase of powers within myself, but with everyone changing, where I'd thought I'd grown stronger, it just seems like the world shifted." He turns to offer a quiet smile of fondness to Lilith when she rejoins him, before adding more soberly, "The day Thomas Addington supposedly disappeared." He graciously accepts the newly refilled cup and waits for it to cool.

"It's my sincerest regret to inform you that it's not just you," August says to Lilith. He turns his hand over, and this time, lightning dances between his fingers. "The day after Thomas Addington supposedly vanished? I shocked the hell out of Eleanor. And she, blew up the coffee maker." He closes his hand and the threads of electricity vanish. "And I can...command animals now. But I can't control another person's fire or lightning, and I used to be able to." He looks thoughtful, like he's trying to remember what feels different. "I can't shield someone, either. I can still use," his gaze moves to Lilith, "our empowerment. But the movement Art, it lets--it used to," boy he looks annoyed about this, "let me protect someone. Now I can't. Tried a couple times the other day, wouldn't take."

He studies Byron, bites his lip. "It's interesting you say that. 'Doing their work for them'. I'd never thought of it like that." He is now, though; one can almost see the gears turning in his mind. "I wonder to what extent we're something advantageous not just for Them, but to anything Over There."

He continues, "It might be worth asking Hyacinth about Thomas. She might have talked to Margaret about him--he was her grandfather, after all." He raises his eyebrows, leaves it as a suggestion.

"They certainly prefer we use our powers for destruction over healing, I at least know that." Lilith tells August with a click of her tongue after listening to all the differentials with a thoughtful expression after Byron and him talk about Thomas. Apparently she'd never connected that strange feeling with the fact that her fire starting abilities seemed a bit weird or off, but she never thought much into it until she had the total mishap on the terrace a good number of nights prior.

At mention of talking to Hyacinth, though, Lilith lifts her coffee cup for a sip and looks at Byron with a little bit of a shrug, suggesting, "Might not hurt, you at least have the family-in-road to be a little nosy about it, at the very least." While settling back, she curls her legs up alongside herself and leans a little more on the man while nursing her cup, relishing the feeling of knocking her other hand back through her hair in brief with another drag of nails over her scalp, "Mm. It is going to feel so good to wash my hair and brush it, just so you both know. Small comforts in the middle of a shitshow, aren't they? But important comforts."

What August says now, giving Byron a rundown of things that work for him and things that do not, or those that have changed, is quite intriguing to listen to. "I gotta admit, that I don't really test the limitations of my own powers. I've learned, I think, that I can understand foreign languages now. Including morse code. I recall Alexander having mentioned it before." Something which raised Byron's ire at the time. "I don't know if that's part of the shift, when I'd thought I had grown stronger." A pause. "That wasn't the reason why I thought I grew stronger. I was never able to send out an arc of electricity until recently. I'll chalk that up to this oddness in our powers as well." He only nods, however, when August mentions being able to communicate or control animals. This is something Byron's been able to do for as far as he remembers since realizing that he had any powers (when he was around 14 or 15), though it's something he rarely uses.

"I wouldn't call it a family-in. We're as distant as cousins go. Still, I'll ask her. Not because of that." He waves the whole Addington connection dismissively, because they were never really family to him. "But because finding out what the hell is going on sounds like a good idea. First Gohl's funeral shuts the world down in some way. Now this shift, which, in some sense is a boon. I'm able to do things that I wasn't able to do before."

August looks genuinely surprised to hear about the 'family-in' angle of things. He blinks, starts to say something, stops. It's not really his business.

But... "You might want to ask Alexander too. I know he went over, around the sawmill, and it was," he grimaces, "bad. He didn't say much about it, but whatever they found out wasn't good. Maybe he'd be willing to tell you more."

Now August gets up, wincing as he does so. The bruises from being clubbed by 'guard dogs' at the Vivisectionist's factory are still healing. "Thanks for the French toast. Glad I was able to get you cleared up a bit, Lil." He points at her. "Make sure to have Erin or Jacob give you a once over, okay? I'd rather be paranoid and wrong than right."

"I suppose I should, if you really think it worthwhile. If only for peace of mind. I really do feel quite well, considering." Lilith says to August with a small, noting nod of her head after making a noise of agreement at Byron's own planning words. Apparently, they both have a new appointment or two to make. Shifting off of her lean against Byron, the woman starts to rise to collect the tray of plates and see August out once she's placed it in the kitchen. It's a far cry flip-flop from the way she was patient-mode on the couch with Byron set to dote and take care of her, she's picked up the reins now in lieu of feeling better.

"Thank you, though. I'll let you know if either of them notice anything funny, it really may just be a time thing, we know not everything we do is instantaneous."

And really, that might be a fair assumption, but what August noticed, while not quite identifiable, it's out of the ordinary as a gut feel. Of course, she doesn't know that, but it no doubt is prompting the better-safe-than-sorry talk given she couldn't see her own damages.

While it's not something that Byron tells everyone about-- well, he had mentioned it to a few of his closest friends, but this Addington connection is also not something he's hiding from. "Clayton looked it up. Found that my great," He's doing some mental calculations right now, "Grand Aunt, Claire Thorne married into the Addington family." He's sipping at his coffee when he adds, "She was Margaret and Thomas' mother."

But August announces his departure and stirs everyone up and into motion. With Lilith clearing the table, Byron rises to, at the very least, see their guest out. "Alexander went to the sawmill as well?" He's not sure whether Clayton had told him or not and if so, Byron already had a lot on his plate, so may have forgotten. "I only remember Isabella saying that she did, but yeah, that's another thing to ask about."

With Lilith joining him now, on their way towards the foyer and the door leading to the elevator, Byron chimes in, "Yes, thanks again." Just the fact that August wants them to reach out to Erin, Jacob or any other medical type still has him worries, that much is seen on his features. "Have a safe trip back. And... I may be stopping by some time during the weekend to work on more planting." Obviously, at some point, he must have started. "Though with what you've said about aggressive plants, I might hold out. But then the season's passed and what good would that do, right?"

This is said with good humor as he opens the door for the guy, "I'm sure you'll be hearing from us soon." They have dangerous things to do, probably.

Once August is in the elevator, Lilith unties the robe. She thinks about dropping it entirely on the way back through the foyer so that she's an eyeful of naked when Byron turns around from shutting the door. With her pointed to see the kitchen on walk-in reminder, she's tempted to drop it again and suggest that countertop thing to celebrate feeling better. But instead, she starts walking through the penthouse at a bit of a meander toward the hallway and bedroom while telling Byron, "I'll grab the dishes or leave them for housekeeping, leave them be. But right now, I'm going to wash my hair."

What a behaving little Lilith. She knows Byron has work to do. But also she pauses, suddenly and spins around, mostly covered, though he can see the open fall split of the robe engulfing her lithe body, When turned, she looks at the man and announces, "I'm going to massage you from head to toe and then some. You take very good care of me. Think about when you want me to take care of you, hm?"

Tempting little shit. Sweet, though. Also it's coming from Lilith, so that sweet probably ends somewhere and turns into...

Thinking back on a few things that August had said, Byron does turn around, but rather than being graced with a naked Lilith in his living room, he wanders over towards the couch to ensure that his suit jacket isn't covered in fur. Of course, he catches the playful look in Lilith's eyes, just the untying of his robe is enough to catch his attention, if just out of the corner of his eyes. "Are you sure?" He asks about the dishes with his jacket now in hand. Inspecting one side of it, he turns it around to ensure that the back isn't a disaster zone, knowing full well that the cat sleeps on the edge of the couch on the regular. "I'll remind housekeeping to do it."

The twirl that she does once more captures his attention. Rather than setting the jacket back down on the couch, he drapes it over the back of one his island chairs, as his gaze follows Lilith wherever she goes. Her offer-- no, her telling him that she's going to give him a massage for caring for her has him smiling from ear to ear. "You already do so much for me. Probably saved my life several times over." He'll come out and state with a gentle lift of his brow. "But if you insist. I'm not one to turn down a good massage." And though she says massage, he's already thinking of other things.

Once the jacket is out of hand, he works to straighten his tie as he crosses the room to stand in front of the lovely brunette. Once that's done, he wraps his arms around her, feeling her feminine form beneath the plush softness that loosened robe of his that she's wearing. Slowly, he leans forward to press his lips to hers, a quiet smile forming, "I can't wait."

Unfortunately, for the both of them, it really will have to wait. He had quite the schedule laid out ahead of him for the day, all starting with a brief meeting in an hour, followed by lunch and an apartment showing with Felicity.