2020-05-09 - We're Doing This

A cool day, but not a rainy one, and that is cause enough for celebration, if one is needed - and being in Gray Harbor is cause enough to need to drink your cares away, if cause is needed for /that/. So the bar's doing a pretty steady busy, if not tourist season levels, when Alexander comes in. He's dressed in his usual attire, his hair tousled from the wind coming off the ocean, his eyes tired but alert. Even paranoid as he pauses in the doorway to examine the patrons, then look behind him, then make his way carefully towards the bar. He doesn't draw attention to himself immediately; instead, he settles into a seat out of reach of a knot of barflies, and simply studies the surroundings. The knot of patrons gives him a look somewhere between wary and openly disdainful, but don't say anything, and he ignores them.

The place is doing solid business, but Easton's not behind the bar this evening. But soon enough the deck door opens and Easton comes in, dressed in his usual black dress shirt, rolled up at the elbows and dark jeans, coming in from a smoke break. He is headed back behind the bar when catches sight of Alexander. He stops in the middle of the floor and looks around, obviously looking for other friends or possible companions. Seeing no one, he heads over and takes a seat at the booth without asking first.

"Hey." He waits a beat, looking Alexander over for a moment, "What's up? You okay?" Because normally he would go to the bar for a drink, or come in with someone else if he were going to take a booth. At least in Easton's mind.

Alexander's eyes flick to the door as soon as it opens, but when he notices that Easton sees him, he doesn't do anything to get the man's attention. Just smiles a little, mostly in the eyes. "Hey." A long pause. "I'm okay. I haven't talked to you in a bit. Wanted to see how you were doing. Is that all right?" His head tilts to one side, and he assesses Easton from head to toe, as if checking for wounds. "How are you?"

Easton's smile falters a bit when Alexander asks if it's okay that's seeing how is. "Yeah. Of course." He looks a little suspicious, unsure of why it wouldn't be okay? The look gets a shrug, "Not bad. Got thrown in some shit with Lilith and Gu- De La Vega, but we got out just fine, mostly because of the Captain." It takes him a second, before asking, "You sure you're good? You seem a little more on edge." Not that Alexander is the most laid back of any of his friends but this is a bit higher degree than normal.

There's a brief, bright smile when Easton says it's okay. "Good. That's good." He nods to the seat across from him. "Sit down? I'll order a beer and everything." His eyes drift away, though, staring out at the beach through the windows, expression fixed and searching. Then Easton calls it out, and he snaps his attention back to him. "Have a stalker. She seems to bothering someone else right now, though. Should be safe. I'm glad that you all gout out okay. It was a Dream?" He makes good on his promise to order a drink, even if it's cheap beer.

Easton takes a seat and shrugs at the promise to order something, "You don't have to?" For once business is doing quite well for one, and for another Easton has never minded people just hanging out, unless they annoyed him. "A stalker? Like.." He looks at Alexander, "A ... romantic .. one?" He catches himself and says, "Not that, yer not smashable, just thought Izzy would have clawed anyone's eyes out if they looked at you like a snack." He catches himself a few moments too late and corrects, "Isabella." He tries! He just really never uses full names, except last names. "Have you talked to the police? Or at least De La Vega?"

Alexander blinks. "Not romantic." He looks bewildered by the idea of anyone stalking him for romantic purposes, but his entire face lights up with pride and pleasure at the remark about Isabella. "She wouldn't," he says. "She knows how to use a gun. No need to scratch." The light dims, and he shakes his head. "No. The last remaining actor. She's back. I guess she hasn't been to you, yet? She visited Javier. And some guy named Joseph. She followed me to the hospital." He frowns, looks back at the door. "She's not here now, though. I think."

Easton shakes his head with real mirth when Alexander mentions that Isabella would have more effective ways of dealing with such a thing. "Seriously. I pity any girl foolish enough to chase after you." But then talk shifts and Easton winces. He had forgotten that Meagan was one of the actors. "Oh.. shit. Yea, Joe told me about it. He remembered. The asylum. My uncle. The door" He indicates the spot on the floor with his eyes as if not wanting to even turn his whole head. "I should have recognized the name. Was she the one who fucked with Geoff? Tried to get him to turn? Or was that one of the others?" He barely knew Geoff back then, he had only been in town a few weeks. Which of course feels like years ago now.

"I...don't know. She wasn't one of the ones who jumped me, but she's strong in," Alexander reaches up and taps his head. "But she's doing things she shouldn't be able to. If you've seen Joseph," ignore the way he emphasizes the FULL NAME, EASTON, "you've seen that he doesn't...stand out. Like he used to. The price of the memories. I don't know how she did that. I...there's another one, too. Alice Whitehouse." He does glance at the concealed door to the secret basement when Easton brings it up. "Since you went to the Asylum, she'll probably try to bother you, too. Megan. Not Alice. Probably."

"Yea, she unlocked his memories." Easton easily confirms Meagan has being strong in the mind art, but also is just parroting back what he's been told. No critical thinking applied. "I know, I'm worried about him." Easton shakes his head and says, "And I pointed him at you to ask about the asylum, I hope that's okay. You and Iz.. abella." He struggles with effort to get the full four syllables out. "I don't like that knocking off someone's shine is possible. Or suppressing it? Is he weaker? Has he tested that out? Or is just how he pings other people?" Ping. Easton's word for recognizing the strength of other Glimmer users, in that it's a gut reaction not a visible / audible sense.

Word that Megan might be paying him a visit just gets a nod, his bottom lip out slightly. "Okay. I'm kinda fucked if she's goes full mindfuck on me, not sure I have the proper defenses to do much about it. You got a description? Even better, a picture?" Not that he would shoot first in a situation like this, but it's best to be prepared.

"Is he a friend? Javier also seemed concerned about him." Alexander's voice is toneless, maybe a bit wary. Even so, he shakes his head at Easton's remark about pointing him in Alexander's direction. "That's fine. I don't know that I was able to help much. I've never seen anyone take someone's...abilities, before. And he thinks that his abilities are damaged, but will come back. I didn't test it. Seemed rude?"

"She might threaten. Javier turned her down, and she threatened him, I think. May I?" Alexander jerks his chin towards Easton's head, at the same time there's a slight brush across his mind, a more explicit request for sharing. If Easton says yes, then he shapes his last vision of Megan for the other man, sculpting her in vibrant life inside his mind.

"Customer." Easton clarifies, but then after thinking about it, he adds, "But yeah, a friend." He manages to stop his mouth from curling up at the part about Javier seeming concerned but in doing so ends up with a strange suppressed smile. "I think they have a past. Old friends." He nods and says, "Yea, I mean.. that's more for him to say?" About his powers being diminished.

"She can threaten all she wants. What the fuck is she gonna do, trap me in yet another torturous Dream that might kill me? Oooh fuck no." He makes light of it because well Marines. He does flinch when Alexander's mind brushes his before he realizes it. "Oh.. yea. Sorry, totally." He opens up the link on his side.

Alexander twitches at the flinch, his eyes dropping to stare at the table. "Sorry," he says, quickly. He shapes the woman's description for Easton, then cuts the link off with a knife-like abruptness. There's a jerk of his chin at the mention of Ruiz and Joe's relationship, as if Alexander isn't entirely surprised. At the last, though, he says, "I don't know. She might be able to take your abilities. Alice said she would take all of my memories and rot them from the inside. And they could make people forget who you were. Or make people believe that you murdered people." It's all recited very matter-of-factly.

Easton clenches his jaw, well aware that Alexander's going to take that flinch to mean more than it should. He tries to send reassurance across the link. He sucks at emotions though, he's terrible at reading them, and not at all well versed in sending them. There is an attempt anyway. "She can take my abilities, don't need 'em to stop her. And she wants people to think I'm a murderer, I can live up to that." He doesn't take kindly to people threatening him or his friends, obviously. But he shakes his head, "Not that it's going to start there. But boy howdy, she picks the wrong moment to make some threatening gesture shit." Thinking back to the other day after the Dream with Lilith, he would have relished the chance to take someone out. Which is a little daunting to him now, but he's also not fighting it.

Alexander blinks at the reassurance, then smiles, and sends his own back, a warm wave of pleasure and relief. A hug inside the mind. The withdrawal is less abrupt, this time. "Don't...escalate things if you don't have to, Easton. Something is /wrong/ with them. And I don't know exactly what, other than being lunatics. But," his brow furrows, "I think Alice has changed. And she's been changing memories, so I'm not sure...what. Or how. But I do remember touching something terribly dark. It might be her. Maybe the Asylum did it to them. I do wish we knew what we saw there." His voice is slow, thoughtful, like he's considering the price if an offer is made.

The mental hug brings a crooked smile to Easton's face, his beard bristling up unevenly. But he takes the warning seriously. "I gotcha." He nods and says, "But if they try to hurt Bennie, or .. anyone." Okay, mostly Bennie. "I'm not about to let them just keep skipping about fucking with people." As if he could stop them? He likes to think he can, but he doesn't actually know what he's facing. "I know. It's hard to not know what was there.. and that gives me pause." Because if they can just erase that or block it, then what else can they do?

"No. We can't let them hurt people. We just have to be careful on how to handle it," Alexander agrees. His beer arrives, and he strips it of its label, and starts tearing the thing paper into even thinner strips. "How /is/ Bennie? I'm sorry I didn't come to the party. I was going to, but I--" a long pause. "I got scared, and so I didn't. I'm sorry. How are things?"

"Agreed." Easton agrees to the terms and is all too happy to move on to the topic of Bennie. "She's great. Again, I can't thank you enough for seeing her through that." He pauses, letting that have a bit of weight to it. He winces a little about the reason Alexander didn't come. He can't help feel a little guilty after the whole Bar-lympics nonsense. "That's fine. It was a lot of people." And a lot of drunken nonsense. "But we missed you. And, we're good. We found a place together. One of the cabins on Sycamore? It's nice, and it's ours." There is just the slightest bit of a blush at 'ours', it feels so official and all.

"There's no need to thank me," Alexander says, and his own cheeks turn a bit ruddy. "Bennie is one of my best friends. She had only to ask. For anything. You, too. There's no thanks." He reaches for the bottle and takes a drink. "I'm glad it was a good party and people had fun." If he notices the wince, this time he doesn't speak up about it. Instead, his smile returns at the last. "I've seen them. They're nice, and you seem happy. To be together with her. I'm very glad it's working out. Don't let Bennie bury your ex-fiance under the backyard. That never works as well as people think it will. Besides, there's a whole forest to work with."

"Well, too bad. Yer getting thanked. Possibly even hugged." Easton smiles but doesn't make good on the threat of physical affection. "I am. It's good. For both of us." They came together like two cars smashing into one another, but over time have figured out that there were more specific areas where they fit together perfectly. It's really heart-warming in a gooey Hallmark channel Holiday movie way, and as such it's best to look away. "I don't think Bennie has it in her to murder anyone. I mean she might claw out Katherine's eyes if she gets any ideas about winning me back, but I'm pretty sure I fucked those thoughts dead." The use of that particular verb quite apt in this case. Usually it's just added color in the technicolor rainbow that is Easton's speech pattern, not this time.

"Hugging. My one weakness," Alexander deadpans, with amusement gleaming in his eyes. "If it were you, I could probably stand it. With warning. Patrick tried to surprise me with a hug, and I punched him in the eye. I didn't mean to. It just happened." He clears his throat, sheepish. "But I'm glad. And you're right. Bennie couldn't kill anyone. Even in the worst of the withdrawal, she just broke furniture. Not limbs." Which Alexander was clearly sort of expecting. "But. Speaking of people Bennie /should/ want to murder? Any more harassment?"

Easton grins broadly at Alexander's weakness. And his eyes light up at the thought of it being allowed. "Okay, but I don't want to rush it. I want our first time to be special." Easton imbues that statement with all of the naive hope of a sixteen year old girl before prom that it deserves. But then he's laughing, "Addington? You punch Patrick Addington?" Not that Easton's talked to the guy in years but it's still a great picture. "Yea, I think she might have have something against furniture in general, it does seem to bear the brunt of her fury." RIP coffee table.

"No." Easton shakes his head at the last part, "No word from Frank yet either but we should be coming up on a payment due soon. So hopefully we can get that resolved." He looks at Alexander for a moment and almost adds something but holds it back. He needs to stay compartmentalized. Not just for his own sake.

Alexander nods solemnly. "Long, lingering hug. Full body contact, hands allowed." His head tilts to one side. "Did you know him? Patrick?" A pause. "I don't punch him as a regular thing. It was an accident. Mostly an accident. I think we're friends, though? He brought me my favorite flowers. And I murdered a monster in his house." And these are the things that build friendship in Alexander's eyes. But he laughs, briefly. "Bennie, the furniture slayer."

He doesn't miss that look, and when Easton stops himself, Alexander is happy to be the guy who makes everything awkward by asking, "What? You were gonna say something."

"No shirts, they just get in the way. But that goes without saying." Does it? Easton deadpans, in planning for this epic hug to end all hugs. "Yea, I did, forever ago." Just one of the many Addingtons Easton met at one of the many Addington events of his youth. "Punching. Flowers. Monster murder. Sounds like you two are tight." There are worse bases for friendship after all. Easton laughs loudly and heartily, "Oh shit, furniture is screwed. She'd just be popping couches left and right." Something about that causes him to glance over at one of the stools at the bar, "Makes me think of the night I met you and Turner." There was a barstool harmed in that affair, but not by Bennie.

Easton doesn't miss a beat, "I'm just worried about getting you and Isabella caught up in this." Nope, that was not it at all. "I know you want to help, but if things take a turn for the more ... serious." He means murder-y. "I just want to limit the scope of responsibility. That's all." It is a good point, and one he did want to raise but there are other things he doesn't want to discuss. Criminal things.

"Ah. Sometimes I forget you were a summer person." Which, considering the typical townie perception of 'summer people', is possibly meant as a high compliment from Alexander. Or he's just breathtakingly tactless. Or both. Really, it's probably both. He smiles, slightly. "He's not too bad. He probably won't commit human sacrifice unless his inheritance depends on it or something." It's very deadpan.

His eyes follow Easton's glance to one side, and he smiles. "I remember that. Julia and Violet and Turner and Violet's doctor, Alejandro." The smile falters, remembering that two of that group are dead now. "It was nice. To meet you all." His attention turns back to Easton, brow furrowing. "I want to be involved. Whatever is involved. Isabella..." a full-blown frown, there. "I don't want her involved if we have to kill," and wow, he just says that in a practical sort of tone, and at least his voice is naturally rather low so it doesn't carry far, "because she has a life ahead of her. But I really don't know how to stop her from doing anything she wants to do. Not without forcing her, and I'd rather not."

"God I hope so." Easton would love to have people forget that about him, particularly those who knew him at that time in his life. "High praise for an Addington" Easton grins, not really meaning the barb but it's fun to say.

Easton passes over any more reminiscing about that first night, to deal with the situation at hand. "I know." He knows that Alexander wants to be involved, he's also well aware that trying to stop Isabella is a fool hardy idea. "I know." He sighs, wishing Alexander hadn't just said that outloud, here, in his bar. "If it comes to anything serious we'll handle it. I'm hoping we can have a mature adult conversation and show them the error of their ways without resorting to anything too messy." So it's clearly on the table, but not the first plan.

"Yes," Alexander says, either completely missing the teasing nature of the remarks about Addingtons, or...well, just being Alexander about it. He smiles at the repeated 'I knows'. "Yes. That would be best," he agrees, easily and sincerely, without a trace of sarcasm. "Either way, you aren't going to have to deal with it alone, limited responsibility be damned. We're friends." He gives that bright, sunny, brief smile. "It's good to see you, you know. I'm sorry I've been quiet. It's easy to...not. Talk to people. Even if it's fun. Especially if it's fun."

"Dammit I know we're friends. But this isn't some fucked friendship barometer." Easton growls back, but tries to hold his temper in check. "I'm not dragging Geoff into this." Trying to emphasize that involvement in this is not some measurement of how close they are, or how much Easton can rely on someone. "I need to do this to get Bennie her life back. And I appreciate that you want to help. I do." But there's stress there and he's not sure how to deal with it necessarily outside the constructs of the military. There's no SOP for this, except for the mental one that Easton has written, but that's non-binding for civilians and non-Easton personnel. "Not that I don't want your help. And it is good to see you. I just don't want any blowback on you or Iz." He and Bennie are just in it. There is no staying out of it now. At least he can make sure that there the only blowback will be if they make a mistake. Assuming his conversation with Kelly goes as well as he hopes.

Alexander just stares at Easton. At first, in blank incomprehension. Then, slowly, with something warmer. "I know," he says, at last. "You wouldn't ask me to do anything...wrong. Nor would Bennie. It makes you better friends than some I've had. I want to help. No one should feel like Bennie's been feeling, but especially not her. She tries to help everyone. She should be able to count on people to help her, when she needs it." A pause. "There won't be any blowback on us, Easton. Any of us. It'll be okay."

Easton appreciates the desire to help. When people are in shit situations he's not going to hesitate to lend a hand. And he shouldn't fault others for doing the same but he also knows that his life is inexorably tied into things that he can't ever escape. He knows that there are very natural consequences aside from all the mystic hoo-doo in this town. So he nods but when Alexander reassures him that it will be okay he very much wants to get angry Marine voice and explain at least twelve different scenarios in which things do not work out 'okay'. But instead he just clenches his jaw and reminds himself that he's not in the Marines anymore. And Alexander is trying to help and be reassuring.

"Okay." He takes in a sharp breath. "Okay, we're doing this." And he lets that sink in, and view it as a positive. It's good to have support and backup. And it's not like Isabella and Alexander haven't faced a million batshit crazy scenarios. "Anyway, I'm gonna get back to work. The beers on me."

"Yes. We are." Alexander, for his part, looks way more calm about this part than about...almost anything else at any other time. He doesn't try to reassure any further, just turns around to check to make sure there aren't any surprise Megans sneaking up. "Keep an eye out for the actress, Easton. And, as always, don't die." A quick smile, although he shakes his head at the beer being on Easton, and his jaw sets mulishly as he gets out the cash and tip and puts it on the table before sliding out of the booth.