2020-04-16 - Overflow

It's been quite busy the last few days for Lilith and Byron. They were both behind with work, they had things to attend to, they had to do their taxes (or see accountant) because tis the season, and so on. Byron was so swamped with catchup, he couldn't attend the cleanup at James' house, which is fine, but somehow, it made the day seem SO much longer and taxing for Lilith. She didn't notice it at the time, so much, but now that she's back in the Penthouse, she does. That or it's just the collective day to day (and other things) stacking up and making her miss her man a little extra.

It's well past dinner time and she expects the man had dinner over meetings with others. But, when she beats him home, she puts white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies in the oven from some frozen dough to make the house smell good (also cookies!). While they're baking, she feeds the cat and checks her emails and messages on her laptop while standing at the kitchen counter. She pours herself a glass of wine, pours him an amber stiff drink at the bar to leave out and ready right where he drops his keys, then she strips down out of cleaning clothes to go for the shower while the cookies are left to cool on a wire rack.

So when he comes in, she's in a steamy bathroom blowdrying her hair and standing in a towel, unaware of the fact that the CAT is on the COUNTER next to the COOKIES and is trying to eat at least one and play with the others by batting them on the floor. But at least it smells good and she made an effort. It might be a good thing Byron is the one walking into that, though.

Was Byron disappointed that he couldn't make the clean up appointment at James' place? It's difficult to say. He enjoyed spending time in good company, sharing a few drinks. But then, Hecker's place was a death trap infested by roaches, so he's not overly regretting being unable to lend a hand. He did, in fact, spend the whole day either at his office and then at the casino, where he has a second office. There was much handshaking and document reviewing as well as wandering the place to ensure that everything was almost put together for the grand opening.

Then, he had dinner with a client, something outside of both the casino and the apartments. He's still an entrepreneur after all and has his fingers stashed into several many pies. It's been a long day and he's had a lovely dinner and a good helping of wine that he's in between being exhausted, at least mentally, and being on the verge of a decent mood. Things went well over the course of dinner, so he felt accomplished.

Dressed sharply in his dark suit, he goes through tomorrow's schedule in his mind, reminding himself that he should send a memo to the one of his leasee's before the night is over, and that he needs to speak to Isabella, Alexander and Minerva. So many things to do, yet he tackles his professional business before all else. After a moment, his gaze lifts as the elevator nears the penthouse floof only to hear the sound of the bell 'dinging' to alert that they've reached their destination.

He'd sent a message to Lilith telling her about dinner and then afterwards, that he would be on the way back. He wasn't sure what mood she'd be in after the clean up or in what state she'd be in with all that kick up of dust and grime.

On entrance, just as he's about to set his keys down into the foyer dish, the glass of spirits catches his eyes. That's always pleasant to return home to, he takes it in hand, drawing in an immediate sip before even shrugging out of his suit jacket. From the bathroom, he hears the sound of a blowdryer running, so he knows that Lilith's had time to bathe and hopefully relax some. "Lilith, I'm home." He announces his arrival. The heavy and delightful aroma of cookies draws him towards the kitchen, where he hurries to grab at the cat, scooping it up by the midsection with his free hand to lift it from off the counter and to deposit onto the couch somewhere, "Try not to ruin the dessert, cat."

Lilith is expecting Byron and knows the cat makes general noise getting into things sometimes, so her hackles aren't up real high, even after the recent events. But after she turns off the blowdryer, she thinks she heard a man's voice while it was blowing, which of course, should be him. And it is, she should just holler something back, but she knits her brows, suddenly, adjusts the towel around herself, puts down the blowdryer and comes out into the hallway from the bathroom and bedroom master suite to actually check to see who/what the noise is.

It's him, of course, and she feels like an idiot, she didn't know what else she expected to find. She sees the man dumping off the cat and is none-the-wiser that the creature's been at the cookies. The cat looks pissed to be displaced and meows protest (or hello, he does just kind of look that way, who knows). She tosses the hair brush left in her hand into the bedroom onto the bed after giving it a few quick flicks through her tousled hair to smooth it, then launches herself his way before he can even get to the bedroom, towel clad and happy to see him, "Oh good, it's you. I don't know what I thought I was hearing. I made cookies. And you found your drink. I miss you, squeeze me."

It's not that they don't see each other every night, but some days just feel like those plow through days where you can be around a person, but too tired or occupied or whatever else to really be present and with the other person. She also doesn't appear to be injured, at all, so that's a good sign, at least, despite her immediate cling onto his clothes and body.

After simply setting the feline beast aside, Byron will, at least, scritch at its head, at each ear, before turning to regard Lilith when she makes her presence known. She looked pristine and freshly bathed, wearing that towel around her. If anything, he offers her a 'Happy to see you too' smile, even if his eyes do a subtle inspection over here, seeing that she's wearing very little, but who knows what that towel may hide. She doesn't look to be in any pain, which is a good sign.

"Is everything alright? Is Hecker's place still a mountain of mess that needs to be tackled?" Taking another quick sip from his glass, he sets it aside in favor of wrapping his arms around the bathed beauty, pulling her in close against his still suited frame. Ever since hearing August's concern over some mystery... something that he wasn't able to figure out in regards to Lilith's head injury, Byron's been on constant observation to see if any of that holds truth. He won't bring it up for now, taking this time to leans forward and press an initial kiss at her forehead, like he tends to do, before his lips drift down lower, seeking out her mouth for another kiss. "Sorry, that I couldn't be there today."

Lilith has had so much get up and go lately since she was healed, it's a bit odd to think that there might be something still left behind physically that's hindering her in some way. But she tends to be like that after the downspells of healing too, gracious to have health and mobility and relief to go playing catchup with. Plus with him needing to realign his work situation so much, she feels bad and has been deliberately over-working and occupying while he's busy to wear herself down so she's not needy or annoying. She's even letting him sleep at night (and letting him do office work without her wandering in naked), more or less, no bodily tackling him into an all hours sex session on a whim at whatever time she decides she needs Byron's body on hers.

In fact, she's kind of forgotten that August thought he saw something amiss. She thinks he was just seeing damage that still needed a little longer than accelerated repair of the body could give all at once. At least, she's made that excuse to herself in the name of not getting worried or worrying Byron because she feels fine. Quite fine. Muchly fine. Very aware of the man's body and cologne and... oh, he's asking her something.

"Mm? Oh, yes and yes." Lilith seems a bit lost in tactile distraction while gripping onto Byron and rubbing her hands in drag over his back with catch and snagging on the shirt fabric, not just hugging with her arms, but pressing hard with all of her towel-clad weight and body when he draws her in against him, "And really, it's alright, you'd be glad to know we only saw dead roaches, at least. Got your money's worth with the exterminator. We did a chunk of the second floor. It's not finished, but... the attic way is clear now, at least."

Really, when he kisses her, she'd rather just escalate that than talk, but she knows he's curious about more than details about dead bugs and progress, too. He'd probably been paranoid the house was going to eat her while his back was turned to deal with work, to some degree, because the Hecker House is like that, probably. All that weird stuff in the middle of a hoarder's mess? She was in good company, though. But weird stuff actually... became an issue, too.

"Also we found some valuable things and... a music box." She pauses, "That actually became a problem, though." Another pause, "I'm not hurt."

You know. Byron had a good point during pillowtalk. It is hard to bring these things up after the fact. Damned if she's going to say that, though. She's still going to tell him, it just gets a little awkward as she tries to ease him into the fact that something strange happened, "... do you want me to take off my towel while hearing this? Will it make it easier?"

Of course, Byron has noticed some slight changes in Lilith's demeanor, especially surrounding intimacy. That's a part of Lilith that he's grown used to and he'd be lying if he said he didn't crave it too. But there are days where he's mentally and physically exhausted from work or overly stressed that a good night's sleep does help with. Until, his phone rings at three in the morning to let him know that this or that tenant has a complaint about something or that one of the security guards at the casino thought they saw someone in one of the corridors, but when they did a sweep of the place, there was no one to be found. That last one, probably doesn't need to come to him as one of the casino owners as security should be up to handling it outright. That said, Byron is always curious about what goes on there, specially since it's an expensive investment.

Is Byron afraid of James Hecker's house? Not exactly. Is he wary of what can be found within? Since he knows that his old family house keeps tabs on him, it's hard not to be wary, even if it's just a house. "That's good news. One less thing for everyone to concern themselves with when there's bigger problems to tackle. Like the fact that James' uncle was a hoarder." He says of the exterminator. "I'm also glad that progress was made." He didn't want to think too deeply into things or be suspicious of every single thing going on in their lives due the possibility of danger that Byron tries to dismiss any dark thoughts that may pop up in his mind. The music box has him nod, "Do you know whether it's a valuable music--" Then what she says destroys the fantasy that they can go ahead and live their lives without the fear of threat from the other side.

He blinks once, taking in her words and that brief pause. "I see."

She's not hurt, so that was a plus. It meant he was corrupt in that assumption at least. She then offers to strip down for him to, perhaps, make what she has to say easier and here, he cracks a smile, shaking his head, "Believe me, that will be far too distracting for me to take what you're about to say seriously. So I wouldn't say it would make things easier, just easy on the eyes... but it's not like you already aren't that. Easy on the eyes." Even as he says this, he gaze drifts down her towel clad form still, letting her know, "Whatever you're most comfortable doing. Let me get my glass of whiskey and we can have a seat."

"Mmmm, go get your drink and sit, give me a moment, I'll be decent. For now." Lilith tells Byron after a low hum of purring noise in her throat as her hands rub over his chest and the front of his shirt. Then she disengages with drop of the towel to toss ahead of herself after turning toward the hallway and bedroom, for effect and a peepshow on Byron's behalf. She's all bathed skin and hair and nothing else in the way as she goes, then turns briefly in the doorway to partially flash grin at him because she can almost guarantee he was watching, it was rather the point.

But then she's getting a night slip of a gown to pull over her head and come back out in, soft fine cotton that's pretty, clinging, thin and cozy in a shade of rich sapphire. When back out, she launches into explaining on the way to the couch, coming to drop against the cushions and leather and man for settling, "I'd just like to say... before I even tell you what happened, it wasn't MY fault for touching the bad thing-- which I know, hard to believe. But Diana is the one that opened the music box to let it play when she found it, not thinking or knowing any better."

(Lilith might have too, but that's neither here nor there, she didn't find it and couldn't reach it at the time, so she sounds well behaved, at least.)

Raking a hand back through her hair, she carries on in more organized fashion, "It was really fine once we got in a way to get up there. They found a bunch of things in this buffet we had to move to get to the rooms at the top of the stairs, but one of those things was the music box. So she puts it down, it's still kind of playing, we don't think a lot of it, thinking it just needs to wind down, right? We go into this room that's been repurposed to store the more valuable things this guy was apparently collecting. And Byron..." She levels her blue eyes for bothered weight on him here, despite her playful naked air prior, "I think my jaw dropped when we went into this room. It was weird. Sheets over antique furniture and mannequins with clothing, taxidermy, and ALL these art frames and paintings and... anyway. It's not... normal, even for a hoarder."

Dropping her hand to her lap, her head shakes as she brushes the oddity of the very collection right away in favor of telling what came next, "So we get in there and the music gets louder and comes up the stairs after us and the whole room comes to life. They weren't trying to hurt us, though. The things started moving and dancing and trying to make us dance with them. Tobin tries to get back downstairs to stop the crank and music to stop, we're tussling with the room, then he yells at me to break the gears, and I forgot that I can... do that without seeing, you know? So I did. Then everything stopped and it was fine."

Really, it was a strange but harmless incident all told. But there's something bothering her, he can tell, maybe even anticipate it by the thick pause, "... we took a break, ate on the porch, cleaned more, nothing else happened. I put the broken box in the shop before coming home."

"For now?" Byron asks with a touch of amusement in his tone, lifting a brow. Then just like that, she completely disrobes, baring herself before his eyes as a little tease as she wanders into the bedroom to make herself 'decent'. It would be wrong for his gaze not to follow behind her nude form, he even has to chuckle to himself at that, wearing a big smile across his face. That was Lilith for you. Obviously, she was never quite like this when they were growing up, but there were hints of her boldness even while they were still young. He used to think it was for shock factor and if that still was the case, in this instance, he can't complain.

Slipping out of his suit jacket to let it drape on the back of a bars tool at the island, so that the cat wouldn't get to it, he brandishes his glass of whisky and takes up the plate of cookies before settling down onto the couch. Setting the plate down before him on the coffee table, man did those cookies smell good, he leans back, taking a small, quiet sip of his drink, before he lets one arm extend outward to give the cat seated at the top of the couch an idle back scratch.

What Lilith wanders out in doesn't cover much more than when she was completely bared, his eyes taking notice of the way the thin fabric clung to her flesh almost like a second skin in some section. It didn't leave much to the imagination, but it left enough. Once she nestles up against him, the extended arm drops down from where the cat is seated to drape across her shoulder. "Right, so all of this was Diana's fault. I'll make sure to bring it up next time I see her." He says between savoring sips of whiskey. Byron knows for a fact that the women in his own life needed to be observed carefully and put on a leash when it comes to how curiosity killed the cat. That's speaking for both Lilith and Isabella.

"Never knew Uncle Hecker was loaded." Byron will admit when Lilith brings up the man's collection that they'd found. "I wouldn't call /that/ hoarding. It's collecting. Well, if we're talking paintings. The other things," He lifts his shoulders into a shrug, "Mannequins and... dead animals, that might just be his hobby. A weird hobby, but still. He quiets again, his face turned to Lilith to give her his full attention when she tells him what all went on. "The music followed you? Not the music box? And the music made all of the figurines dance?" He sort of has a memory when they had to dance once, to mirror what their teenage selves were doing. "Did they get aggressive when you didn't start dancing? Or... did the music affect you all too?" Byron seems to have a lot of questions about this.

His brow quirks again, "You forgot that you could wreck shit and that the music box would be no match for the destroyer of things?" While that might be a good thing in his mind, it means that Lilith's first thought didn't lean toward destruction, when such an action was necessary... Staring at her profile, his dark eyes ever observant, he tries to think of what to ask next, perhaps catching part of her troubled expression about the whole ordeal. "I'm surprised that you all even went back in to finish." He takes another sip, before she feels a shift beside her when he leans forward to place the half-empty glass next to the plate of cookies. This is when he scoops up two of those babies, handing one to Lilith.

"Is that all? There's nothing else, I don't know, nothing else that happened? Or that you'd seen?" With that said, he can't help but furrow his brow, "I don't know if there's a good place to dispose of Veil crap, but we might want to find one for objects like that."

Lilith nods a few thoughtful times while the man makes commentary, but while cuddled in and half-turned to face him on the couch while talking, she occupies with small fidget of bother against her bared thighs with her hands. Then she notices she's doing it and wiggles around to put her legs up over the man's lap. She also kind of makes a sniff-and-snub face at Byron's bit about her 'forgetting' she's a destroyer, then reaches out to pinch him with faux irritation and play in brief against his flat stomach, "... not all things. Just most things. I usually look at the things I'm breaking, so I didn't... well, think about going for the box downstairs from up there until Tobin said it." She pauses, "Also, I wasn't sure if the taxidermy coyote was trying to dance, hump, or bite, it was a to-do. Turns out, punching a dead dog in the snout doesn't hurt it, in case you're curious."

But after she's finished making small clarifications for the man's questions, she finally says what's bothering her about the whole ordeal. She didn't mention either of the things while she was at the Hecker house with the others, she'd been trying to place what it was that was setting her on edge, other than the actual ordeal, and it looks and sounds like she's working it out in part while saying the bits aloud to Byron, "Right. Just the music, it kept getting louder and faster. They never got dangerously aggressive, they just sped up and got more grabby and annoying. We weren't being compelled to dance, as far as I can tell. I mean, it didn't feel dangerous so much as it just..." She blows out frustrated air that pitches some hair over one of her eyes after, looking at her painted red toenails when her feet absently wiggle, "You know. Weird. But it didn't feel like we got snared anywhere either, you know? It didn't have the same wholly encompassing feel of a Dream or anything."

"It's more like..." Another breath as she works out what to say, eyes squinting a little to look at him through her dark lashes with pensive nature, "The box had an effect on what was in OUR reality? Or let us interact with another side? I don't know. It just animated the 'things' where we were and compelled them, apparently. Which means that box is bad news and it was actually uh. Kind of hard for me to break. Like some energy or something I couldn't place was trying to keep it together. It took a lot of effort and power to snap the gears and crank to disable it, not just flashboom like I usually do. I don't understand why things like this are in the house, though. Collectors generally have a stash, yes, but... not in the middle of trash too."

Shrugging a little bit, she supposes, "Maybe he started as one and just... got mentally ill or something and the trash came in later. Makes me wonder what the hell is wrong with the other things I've taken out of there, potentially. I mean, a box that can animate a whole room with its music? That's weird."

Byron expected some sort of reaction from Lilith when he taunted her about her goddess of destruction reputation, so when she makes that face, while he may have been non-chalant about what he'd just said, the smile he'd been holding back finally emerges. It's around this time that Lilith lifts her legs up to rest atop his lap, so with one hand resting against her knee, the other reaches out to give one of her bared feet a bit of a soothing rub. She's worked hard. Those things may have even forced her to dance. She deserves a little foot massage. He kneads at and drags his thumb along the sole of one foot, applying some pressure wherever he touches.

"I wasn't exactly curious, but that's unfortunate to know." Byron says, that amused smile lingering when talking about the lack of effect when punching a dead coyote.

Silent once more, he just continues with the massage, reaching all the way up to her ankle and beyond before starting over again from the base of her foot. His eyes are even lowered to watch what he's doing, but more than likely he's also lost in thought to some of the things spoken. What she says about how the whole 'Dream' didn't feel like a Dream at all as it were happening in their reality give him even more to think on. He then says, all without stopping his progress, he even moves on to the next foot for now, "Just like the shadowy goblins that attacked us here." He means the Apartments, and the lobby to this particular building more specifically. "They invaded our world, forced me to have all of the lights changed out again. And then left a gooey mess right outside of the lobby door that needed to be cleaned. It's something like that." Only then does he turn to look on Lilith's face again, "I've been counting my blessings that those little fuckers haven't returned yet. And that the kid who disappeared in the elevator was found or..." He shakes his head.

"Anyway, I wonder how much James' uncle knows about," He can't help but shrug, "All of this. Our abilities. The Dreams. The Veil." He continues, "He was a long tie resident, so he must've known something and maybe that's partly why he collected a few of those things. Maybe he knows what they can do. Or if not, that's what drove him crazy and to hoard"

"You know... I forgot about that. Which says something about our lives, I think..." Lilith comments to Byron with a tiny 'oh yeah' kind of breathed noise, though it turns into a sigh of pleased affectation once she's gotten it out. Her legs flex slowly with enjoyment as the man's thumbs and fingers knead into her foot and for a moment, she tips her head in against him to rest and think for a few passing moments, "But you know, yes, it was kind of like that. Did they never find the elevator guy? I feel like a dick, I never even thought about it again and he probably got..."

The woman pulls her head back up to press a kiss along Byron's bristled jawline, "Anyway, I don't know. Should talk to James more about his family when it comes to the strange, I suppose, because this is... it doesn't exactly bode well for the attic, that's generally where people put things they don't want to see again. But we have to get him a liveable space. We'll figure out something to do with the box, I guess. It just... felt strange to toss it in the trash, who knows what someone could... I mean, you don't flush radioactive waste down the toilet, see. Feels like that, who knows what happens to the world as a result? So I kept it for now." Pause, "Probably stupid."

After drawing in a breath, she carries on, "Anyway, since I'm playing disclosure, the other day while you were catching up with work, I went into the forest and blew some fruit up with Easton because I wanted to see if it helped me, you know? Something violent and destructive without shining a beacon at Them every time I need to vent something inside that's built. And he was military, so I asked if he had a very big gun or grenades or something. I had texted him to ask about it right before... you know. Issues back to back. So the day after I was better, I saw the fruit in my trunk, texted him and we blew stuff up. Then the forest ran us out."

And Lilith seems... embarrassed? Why? That's a strange reaction from her. It's not guilt, really, they have been running from one thing to another and it's just a thing she did and forgot to bring up, save for the part where she did tell him that she punched Easton and she'd tell him about it later.

"And the day I was driving by the Broadleave Apartments on Sycamore. Some-thing," he add emphasis on the 'thing' part, "May have attacked someone in the apartment building. We could see it from the window and at some point it leapt up and landed on a lamp post where it bled a bit. That happened in our reality. And I gathered up some of its blood to give to Alexander to give to... the ME, I guess." Byron has no idea what Alexander did with the sample. "So they've been creeping into our world more and more." On the topic of the pizza boy in the elevator, he says, "I believe he was found at TIBS shortly after. Investigation looking for him mostly stopped after that"

Byron's fingers and thumb continue to press and knead to ease some of her tension. "Do we even need to clear the attic? If that's the only room in the house that's unexplored, maybe it's best we leave it that way." That's Byron's practical mind thinking. "He has the rest of the place to himself, unless you think there's something up there that might try and evict him. Or swallow him whole, whichever comes first?" He says, smiling a touch when the kiss is administered. "I'd say just dump that box in the Veil, but who knows what fucked up thing They will use it for. Then again, it may be safer in the Collector's collection or somewhere like that."

He returns some of his focus back to her feet, adding a few final squeezes and stretching out the arch of her foot and her toes. By his level of expertise, he more than likely has done this a few times. Or had it done to him. The mention of this outing with Easton, however, comes as a surprise and that's where the massage ends, though he keeps one of her little feet within his grasp. "You go out and bond and blow shit up with Easton, of all people." He sounds a little exasparated by that, returning to stare idly down at that bared foot, "What if I wanted a day to shoot shit up. No one asks me what I want to do." Byron's very familiar with firearms and Lilith knows that he, strangely, has quite a few of them, either on his person or in his safe.

"Maybe I'll ask Isabella if she wants to go out to Firefly Forest and shoot things. From what I heard about her and de la Vega, she's a fan of shooting things out in the forest." Again, no one asked Byron if he wanted to go! "I could find animals for us to hunt or something just as exciting, I'm sure." He's probably being an ass right now too.

Looking back at Lilith, his brow furrowed, giving her a far more serious look than he did when he was complaining about being left out of fun. "The forest ran you out?"

Lilith makes a small 'huh' noise as Byron explains about something attacking someone at the other apartments in their own reality, looking vaguely unnerved because that's not just animated things trying to move to music, that's... disturbing, actually. But then again, so are the Dreams, the Veil sides, the Dark Men, and cursed items and everything else that unfortunately is a problem in Gray Harbor. So when a vague frown creeps up, it doesn't last that long. That and she's safe and warm and comfortable right now, Byron's hands quite dotingly working the arch of her foot.

"I don't know. It depends on how much residual upset James is getting from things in the house. I guess we could ask him what he wants to do, considering what happened with the music box. Maybe the Collector isn't a bad idea, honestly, though I have no clue how to go about that. You're right about just pitching it in on the other side, though. I did think about just tossing it in the pond, but when the cursed ring fell in... well. You know what happened there." Some things on the other side got a hold of it and started worshipping it like a god or something until they went retrieving on a mission with Mags and company.

After a little bat of her lashes, though, Lilith looks at Byron more closely, "... we didn't bond, we blew shit up, it's not like we were out there talking about our feelings. You're going on boys trips to Vegas and strip clubs with him nowdays and buying a casino together. Most talking we did is him saying this lawyer you've been around so much recently is his ex that returned a ring he wants to pawn for more guns." After wetting her lips her head shakes a little bit, "It's not that I didn't want you to go. I was going to mention it, then a bunch of things happened, then you were busy and I was... upset about you getting sucked into three terrible things in a row because... it's like the damned universe is trying to TAKE you from me. And there's a lot of things you don't tell me, this wasn't on purpose, it was just timing and impatient whim on my part."

Exasperation creeps up on Lilith too, but after a moment, she deflates, lashes dropping, "Sorry. I didn't think about it, it's embarrassing to be like I am when you're used to dating women that are probably nothing like me that fit in your world. I just... did it. I shouldn't have. The forest started moving and we had to run before things got too weird. It's like we pissed it off or something and got out just in time to avoid tree-mauling. And given we had just talked about plants acting up... yeah."

Suddenly, it feels a little less exciting to tell Byron about the moment she sucker punched him for picking on Byron back when.

"Hobbs, I think, killed people in our world too." Byron mentions the person or thing that Detective Nathaniel Jones' spirit or ghost was warning them about. "I mentioned it to de la Vega. I don't know what he may have as evidence or in any case file, but he's been informed."

Thinking on the Collector, he considers, "I suppose we could go there and ask if he has something like it in his collection. His or Its'. How difficult can it be to get an appointment to donate something, then again," He's reminded, "They might rope you into locating something else, the way they tasked Kevin and Magnolia to find that damned ring again. So maybe it's not such a good idea after all."

The rest of it, however, has Byron wearing a neutral expression, listening to Lilith try to defend herself to his accusation. "Boys night is one thing. I don't really care about what you do on Girls night. Though, hanging out at a dance club is not my idea of a great time. That said, we're mostly sitting around and drinking, so... yeah. The Vegas thing was Easton's idea." Katherine is brought up and he doesn't say much about it, but what he does say is, his tone firm, "Look, I'm just saying that it sounded like a lot of fun and God knows we need the stress reliever. So not being invited to blow shit up? Harsh." Letting her leg rest on his lap, he shrugs his shoulders, "It's like all you want to do is fuck when we could be shooting things up instead." Whether he actually thinks that the firing range is equal to or better than sex, well, he's more than likely kidding about that. While he has a need to take out his aggression, sometimes through violence, sex was sex.

He then adds with, "It's a good thing you got out." There's nothing said about the trees or the forest, but this tells him that whatever is going on goes far beyond simple plants and gardens. Oh, he remembers what she told him at the bar the other night. "And this is when you punched Easton for whatever reason? Are you sure it wasn't bonding?"

Lilith apologized, admitted she was wrong and was sorry. She was actually real sorry the longer he goes on about how he would have found it to be stress relief too, she didn't think of that. He's fancy now, she forgets they used to run around and be wild for kicks, that he carries that handgun sometimes. But when he lets her leg be and says the bit about 'fucking' she flushes bright red and draws her leg back off of him to start pushing up off of the couch.

"... I punched him for picking on you in high school because I never did it then. Then I got in my car and left."

Her jaw is set and she is fucking furious and just barely containing it. But the thing that is keeping her at bay is shame. That part is less apparent but... instead of glowering at or challenging Byron back with her gaze and the total are-you-fucking-kidding-me kind of stare she generally reacts with before fury... she won't look at him. She doesn't hear kidding in his tone given his firmness, shrug and sudden lack of touch, she hears other things that make her feel like a maladjusted whore given the things she's confessed to him in the heat of moments, the way she always tends to be the one to initiate and approach with her 'play' and she's horribly insecure in an instant.

"... but I'll work on the whole 'fucking' problem we seem to have."

By now, Byron is munching away at the cookie he'd taken off the plate. It was still warm despite their conversation. He had a few things to think on and Lilith keeps reminding him that he doesn't tell her everything. He's more focused on that than the Easton situation. He only notices that something is amiss when she pulls away and gets all cold, the way she does. Finishing up with the cookie, he quickly rises to stand.

When he's told the reason why she punched Easton, Byron has to sigh, the edges of his lips forming a tight smile, but there's some humor in the expression. "I figured he'd deserved it. I told him that I owed him one, but maybe I'll let it be since you've handled it and I doubt he'll be able to take anymore punishment." He can still sense that she's upset, so after dusting off the crumbs from his hand, he reaches a hand out to her shoulder, "Come here. We don't have a fucking problem. I was just being surly. In part because when does anyone invite me to do the cool things? And also, I've had a long day, but... I'm glad that you got to get all of that out of your system. I'm just," He shrugs once more, "A little sorry that you didn't think you could count on me to help with that. It's fine. We have our thing, so if you need to destroy things, don't let me stop you." A pause, "Unless you're planning on doing something really reckless. Then let me try. to."

"That's bullshit, Byron. That's FUCKING BULLSHIT. You don't tell me anything! You don't tell me how you feel after horrible things happen, you don't tell me half the things you do, you let me think I was the other woman even after Vivian moved out and didn't tell me. I got blindsided with THAT shit at coffee, which everyone ELSE seemed to know, which was EMBARRASSING. Same with those crazy bitches and that fucking house you won't talk about that I STILL have not pushed you about which... trust me, you'd lose your SHIT if I didn't tell you something like that!"

Uh oh. Lilith doesn't cuss much. That's mostly reserved for dirty talk or general driving. Even when she's mad, she's more action than cussing. She's cussing now.

"Hell, you were considering a plan to REMOVE A BONE with Isabella and not tell me just to throw in that goddamn box! And I didn't push! For months, I have tried so hard to think that... when you do these deliberate omissions, it wasn't because you don't trust me, or because you don't believe I could actually have input that's worthwhile. But now, I don't even know anymore. I can't figure out if you're trying to hide things because it's habit or because you think I'm incapable of handling them like some broken princess on a pedestal!"

Lilith lets loose. She doesn't break anything, she doesn't hit Byron, she doesn't turn when he puts the hand on her shoulder and she still CANNOT look at him, her hand working through her hair as she works her jaw with set. Her eyes go ANYWHERE but on him. But eventually she turns and looks right at him, as wounded as she is blazing mad with this sudden verbal venting of months worth of hurt and frustration, "But I still trust you. I trust you with everything. I tell you horrible things I want, horrible things I've done, horrible things I seem to need to try and feel whole. I tell you horrible things that happen to me. I had to come home and show you fucking BRUISES that GRANT put on me, do you think I wanted to do that?"

She probably needs to breathe properly before she breaks something or someone. This is apparently a powder keg.

"How dare you even BEGIN to imply that I am omitting because you think I believe I can't count on you! I fucked up! Everything got fucked, I forgot about it, and instead of waiting, I was impulsive and selfish and didn't think and I apologized. It's not like you caught me and I was hiding it. And that 'all I want to do is fuck' comment? Heh. I can't even. Don't touch me. Don't fucking touch me after making me feel like a dysfunctional slut because your feelings are hurt and you want me to hurt too. Trust me. You do a fine job of that without the comments by cutting me the fuck out of way more than target shooting."

Byron looks somewhat stunned when Lilith unleashes her anger on him in words. He was trying to coax her back to calm, but she wasn't buying any of that. Until, she demands him to not touch her, he'll keep a hand on her shoulder, but she can feel the physical tension in that connection coming from his side in how firm his hold becomes once she starts to shout at him. He doesn't immediately try to defend himself and though she has a difficult time looking at him in her rage, the intensity of his eyes are staring down at her. He watches the wild fury in her eyes, when she tosses out accusation after accusation at him. The Vivian thing had absolutely slipped his mind until now, with how long that it's been, and even he doesn't remember it the way she thinks she does from what she'd been told.

For much of what she brings up, it's easy for him to dismiss as they are of little importance to him. The Archivist's request for a bone? He'd practically forgotten about that. Though there are certain things that he's been keeping from her and whoever spilled the beans on it, probably Alexander or Isabella, will have a stern talking to. It's only then that his own jaw tightens in annoyance. Once she gets to the point where she asks him not to touch her, the hand remains there for a moment longer before he withdraws, but he continues to stand there tall, shoulders tensely squared as he just listens.

At the end, he finally speaks: "That was a joke, a poor one, but there's no denying that you're a little nymph." There's no lightness in his tone either, everything spoken flatly, until there's some warmth when he states, "One that I appreciate." He goes on, finally turning somewhat to idly let his gaze move around the room with the once extended hand now lifted to run fingers through his hair. "I still stand by my words about being hurt that I couldn't be there for you to give you the support you needed at the time. You needed that outlet and I wasn't able to provide it for you."

Slowly, he returns his attention back to Lilith, going through some of the things brought up, "I can't say I remember much about this Vivian thing. We had a big argument before we broke up. Then, I'll assume, she went and spoke to people about it spread the word at how terrible a person I was. Which, in truth, was fair for her to say, because I'd admitted to her that we, you and me, were sleeping together and..." His head shakes slowly, "That was a mess that I was still working out. If I didn't tell you immediately, then that was me trying not to be the person to sing the song of 'Ding Dong The Witch is Dead'." He starts to regret using those exact words with what he knows of Vivian right now.

The issue with the House is his most personal one yet that she knows of. Probably the most personal of his secrets. "The House is something for me to deal with. We all have our demons to fight and that one is mine. It's full of darkness and not anything that anyone else needs to be exposed to." Well, except Alexander, but there are reasons for that as well. "Sometimes, it doesn't dawn on me that I /need/ to tell you about everything. Most things are minor inconveniences." A pause, "And, I'd like to think, that if you had your own personal demons that you needed to handle alone that... that I would let you go to it. Would I be happy about it? No." His mind goes back to Grant Turner now, wondering if he'll be able to let that one go and leave it up to her if she requested it. "Anyway, I wasn't implying that you were omitting. You /told/ me about it. I just... Call it jealousy that I wanted to be the person who is able to relieve you of your inner turmoil, help you to unleash what you need to in order to unwind, feel the calm."

"Nymph. Is that your word for it?" Byron's flat tone chased by the appreciative warmth comes in the wrong order to soothe her, she's clearly rubbed very wrong by that joke in that particular moment and it probably goes a lot deeper than anything that's been brought up given how she's reacting. But given the things she's said in the bedroom with dark confessing and done shamelessly to keep him on his adrenaline toes when it comes to sex... in combination with certain old damages and insecurities... he really might have shot himself in the foot (crotch) for a while on accident.

Lilith does shut up and listen to him, though, once she's got all that out. She wasn't really looking for explanations in this moment so much as prove a point (and explode some of the things that have clearly been festering). But she does listen to them with focus despite the furious moment she's having, "I don't need you to tell me everything. You know better. You know I don't ask certain questions or bring certain things up. Why do you think I didn't push and hoped you'd just want to tell me some of these things after I knew months ago? Especially after I knew others knew and learned about them by proxy like a moron when everyone thinks we're so close, it's..."

Her fury is waning. She looks at the cat staring at her like it's HER fault because she's the one that got loud and flips it off before some of that fury abates more. Then after closing her eyes for a long moment, she sighs, "We're tired. What's done is done." Her eyes drop to the floor for a moment, "We should probably just go to bed."

Yes, nymph /is/ his word for her, but the way she asks about it now, Byron says nothing in response, realizing that even this little touch of affectionate humor isn't going very well. There's some annoyance that he feels when he believes she's talking about the House again, rather than anything else they'd touched upon, but he tosses out a blanket statement over some of it. "Because most of those things are not important." He says of all the various situations that he may not have brought up, including the idea that he was planning to offer up one of his bones to the Archivists. Then again, she knew about that at some point, when she'd told him not to. "Most of them." He emphasizes.

"I'd looked into that damned spike and saw a scenario that was none of my business." He goes to admit, placing that in the 'Unimportant' stack. But this next thing, he will say, "And I did a reading on the feather of the crow that attacked you. I didn't tell you about it because of the trauma that it caused you. And the fact that /I/ was that bird, saw through it's eyes in that exact moment that you killed it. Then when it retaliated." That's the part that he was hoping to keep hidden. "And then it, liked everything else, slipped my mind because do you know how many Dreams that we get pulled into?" With a heavy sigh, he wanders back to the couch to take up the plate of cookies from off the table there along with his whiskey glass. "I was given some information about things to look for, I think." It's been so long, you'd think all of this had faded from memory now. "I was planning to show it someone. People. Maybe they'll be able to figure what any of it means."

"If you're talking about the House. Maybe I should have said something. The only reason why the others know about it is because they were there, otherwise, they'd be kept in the dark as well." But who knows how things would've ended if they weren't there. "You're right." He says, heading to the kitchen to find a container for the cookies, "I'm going to clean up and take a shower." Casting a glance over at her, he murmurs, "I'll meet you in bed."

Lilith looks up from the floor at Byron with these new things, and she's not sure how to feel at the moment about any of that. She does know that she specifically asked him to agree not to look at the spike, at least, without her around because she was scared of the lashback. So that one stings on principle because it's the thing she specifically asked and he agreed to. She's unnerved by the idea of Byron feeling her kill him as a bird to the point it makes her feel a little ill. She knows what she does when she kills things and it's violent, it's part of what's always made her feel like a monster. The fact that she has URGES and RELISHES in those moments on the sly, despite rationale telling her that's a bad bad thing to enjoy.

But she doesn't say anything else. She just looks at him a moment and turns around to trail into the hallway and bedroom after he says he's going to take some time.

She doesn't turn on the lights. She just goes straight to bed after a mumbled, "... alright." Her fury may have abated outwardly. But while she's lying there, she feels a whole lot of things in silence and none of them are particularly good.

If Byron had made the promise regarding the spike, it didn't come to mind when he pulled out the box to examine its contents. So he does't think much of it, already having forgotten it altogether. The visions from the feather is what lingers most of all, but the crone wanted him to remember and very much like the Eye in the Rebellion Dreams, certain things were burned into his mind just so he wouldn't forget the little details.

With the cookies placed into a jar and set somewhere safe so that the cat won't knock it off a counter and with his whiskey completely downed, the empty glass set into the sink for a wash later, Byron starts to loosen his cuffs, making his way to the large terrace entrance doors. He watches the darkened skies outside, knowing that he could have handled that better, but there was a part of him that was, in truth, annoyed. He wanted to be there for her emotional support. Not to protect her from everything the Veil has thrown their way, but to actually be there and share in an experience that she felt she needed. The focus of his eyes shift from what's outside the glass to his own shadowed reflection staring back at him.

Turning off the lights in the main room, after he loosens his tie, he fidgets with his watch which he sets down on the nightstand on passing the bed with Lilith on it. He'll look to her in the darkness, stationing himself at the side of the bed for a good minute and a half before the tie is removed and the rest of his shirt is unbuttoned. If she's not looking at him, she'll feel his weight on the bed as he crawls onto it to place a kiss against her cheek. "If you're asleep before I'm done, goodnight." He then withdraws to pick up a clean towel from the closet and head to the master bath, flipping that light on. Before he shuts the door behind him, he'll make sure to state, "I'm sorry for pushing you away, making you feel useless or untrustworthy. That's not my intentions." Not even with the House. The door then shuts closed behind him and after a moment, the sound of shower spray can be heard from within.

Lilith is admittedly turned away from Byron's side of the bed when he comes into the bedroom to stand and undo his tie and shirt buttons (and look at her, but she can't see that, she just hears him and knows his routine for undressing and knows he's probably doing it). She's awake, of course, and she's counting her breaths in her head to try and make them even in the name of appearing still and silent and bedded, instead of lying there brooding upset and disliking herself (and a lot of things) at the moment with no way to let them out otherwise. She has the covers tugged up and a strap of her nightgown she's kept on with rare bed occasion is falling down over her shoulder, a lot of dark hair somewhat tousled and swept with tendrils over her face.

She feels the weight on the bed of Byron crawling onto it and her instinct while upset is to lie very still, especially after she told him not to fucking touch her. She was just hurt and thrown (and horribly triggered) by the comment on how much she wants sex, joke or not. And there's reasons, of course, that exist, reasons that go all the way back to when she was fifteen years old, the year after she panicked and shut the Thorne boy out to protect him from her monster inside. It was a bad year. And she has a whole decade roughly unaccounted for that she barely talks about, a time when she did damages to try and punish damages, all at her own expense. There's the vulnerable things she confessed to him, acts on with him like she hasn't with others, there's her former profession, there's...

There's so much shame and helpless self-loathing that's very old and hidden starting to creep up on her again after so many months of relative dormancy with Byron's assuring presence back in her life making her feel right and alive again. But she still can't lie cold and still. When he leans over her with his scent of cologne and whiskey trace on the warm breath to press his lips to her cheek, when she feels the bristles of his beard catching in her hair where it's strewn to fall over her jaw, she can't help but nudge her cheek into it and murmur, "... love you. Goodnight."

When he outright apologizes, though, she almost starts crying. She didn't mean to hurt his feelings either. And really, It'd be okay if she did cry, he's in there showering and wouldn't know the difference. It might do her some good, but Lilith is rarely like that on stubborn principle (she'd rather mentally and emotionally lambaste herself or break things instead). She had been feeling a little like that for months, but she also knew it wasn't what he was meaning to do, deep down, no matter what he doesn't say. That's part of why she didn't bring the things that really bothered her up, she knows what he feels and he thinks he knows best. Sometimes he's even right about what's best for her, though she won't always admit it.

Lilith isn't asleep when he gets back in bed, but she's still huddled with blankets in the still and quiet way that might make him think she is until he gets close enough to know better with his own crawl into bed for settling. Instead of having her back turned to his side of the bed, though, she's shifted onto her tummy to smash cheek and nose into the pillow a lot while hugging at it.

"... love you. Goodnight."

As he Byron stands beneath the various shower heads, feeling the pressure and spray of hot water against his skin, coming from all angles, he replays those words in his mind as he lets the water wash the day's filth from his skin, though not the tension from his muscles. That he couldn't quite shake, no matter how long he basked in the heat and steam. At some point, he turns off all of the jets but the single shower head above him, feeling the wash on his back. As he stands there, leaned forward with his hands placed against the wall, thick droplets of water drip from his hair and make their way down the sides of his face.

Not everything he withheld from her was a secret. Men don't tend to talk about everything going on in their lives, so many of things may have slipped through the cracks and were never brought up in conversation. The few that he had meant to withhold, he had his reasons, though the crow's feather was one that he'd just brought up. He had information on Grant Turner, probably most of which Lilith knew something about. Then there was the House and the women who reside within it. Byron knows what he sees when he enters that place, all the bad memories flooding back to him. It's as if the place wanted to remind him of something. His fears as a child. Even now, as a man nearing thirty, those memories still haunt him.

With his clothes stuffed into the hamper, the water turned off and after Byron towels himself off, he brushes his teeth and moisturizes his skin. It's a nightly ritual, when he remembers. He was proud of his appearance and works hard to keep it that way. The image staring back at him is not a happy face, meeting the gaze and those intense eyes within that reflection.

Eventually, he joins Lilith in bed, laying on his back and eyes lifted to stare upon the dark ceiling. Turning towards her once his eyes have adjusted to the dark, he turns onto his side to face her. He knows that she's a bit prickly right now, despite perhaps imagining her cheek pressing up against his kiss. While he doesn't quite spoon her or make any attempt to gather her up in his embrace, he moves in close, to lay directly beside her. If she didn't want to be touched, then he'll be so close that they are nearly touching. Once he gets himself comfortable, his face so close to hers now, she can feel his warm breath against her neck, "I love you too, Lilith." He follows this up with another soft kiss into her hair, before his eyes start to close for the night.

Lilith's mind and body is telling her to scoot the second Byron gets into bed, not away from the showered warmth of his body slipping between the sheets and blankets next to her, but into him. It's instinct and reflex, and even if she had really MEANT the part about no-touchies, it'd be hard to enforce like this, especially once they're asleep-- odds are, her body is going to end up latched onto his or rolled over with smash against him in some format. Even when it's hot, she'd rather toss the covers and tangle legs as substitute to holding each other while on her back, it's how they did it when they were burning up with Veil fever between the chills. Sometimes, he even wakes up with her laced hand to hand with him just to make up for being sprawled in the opposite direction, like she needs SOMETHING touching him.

Soooooo, Byron getting as close as close can be without touching quite (when she really wants to be touched) is a magnet. She wiggles a touch with scooting after feeling his breath and his words and the kiss, then wiggles with scoot again until they're pressed. Then she finally relents and throws the whole leg over his while rolling onto her side to nestle her nose at the side of the man's neck when her own eyes close.

Lilith doesn't sleep right away. She tries to do that because she's exhausted in multiple ways now and doesn't want to think anything at all anymore because her thoughts are not behaving. But it just doesn't work until a good time later when her body slams her with fatigue shutdown.

It's alright though. The difference between feeling bad now and feeling bad before?

She's not alone.

Byron tries not to stir too much when he eventually feels Lilith's body lacing with his, her leg brushing over his thigh as she settles in closely against him. He pretends to be asleep, but he doesn't normally sleep that quickly, but then again, he often has her as a wonderful distraction. So now that he feels the heat of her body pressed against his skin, her breath misting at his neck, he'll eventually wrap his arms around her in such a subtle manner to pretend that he's just moving in his sleep and getting comfy, his eyes closed the whole time. They both might not be asleep, at least for some time, but they had one another in this dark silence. And that was enough for now.