2020-05-15 - My Mother Is Not A Polaroid

Alexander doesn't sleep. Not for any stretches longer than a couple of hours at a time, at least. So he's up before dawn, doing some work, and as the morning starts all proper-like, he's inside, on his couch, playing with Luigi. In this case, playing involves getting Luigi to pick up specific toys and bring them to him from across the room, in exchange for treats. The conure is obviously delighted with the game, and his calling and cooing can be heard through the front window, which is open to let a breeze in. Blue Bell, in all her princess glory, is sunning herself on the windowsill, and looking out at the world with haughty blue eyes.

Since he's not expecting visitors, Alexander is dressed in Addington High sweats, no shoes, and his hair is damp and disheveled from the shower.

It's not yet 8 in the morning. Last night was kinda hell. He didn't end up sleeping between leaving the bar and arriving back home. The gym opened on time at 6am. Now that Duarte is in he's grabbed early breakfast at the Grizzly with Nicole and is stopping at Alexander's because the light is on.

Danny's got the gym. It's not a hard place to run really if you've been there. It ain't what one would call 'formal'. Kelly is tired though. He stands, as always, feet planted, but his posture is tired and he's half awake. Gotta love these visits.

Nicole does not usually wake up as early as Joey. She's more a sleep-as-much-as-possible person. But today was different. Joey suggested pancakes. She loves pancakes,

"Yeah so... they are working in the back right now, so the salon has some stuff in the corner for storage. Looks shitty for now, but, in the end, it will be marvelous. Then I get to figure out the next step..." she is saying to Joey as they walk up to Alexander's house. Joey is tired and half awake, but Nicole had coffee. As they often are, yin to yang.

Blue Bell notices the two as they come up the walk, and gives a raspy sort of meow at them. Maybe it's a greeting, maybe it's the laziest 'get off my lawn' in the history of get off my lawns. Either way, it brings Alexander's head up. He frowns, and Luigi flies up to his shoulder as he approaches the door and peers through the peep-hole. Look, it's Elm. He doesn't take chances that it's just the mailman.

Admittedly, Joey is not the best possible result for an unexpected visit. It doesn't stop him from opening the door just as they're arriving to it, clearly not worried that the bird is going to fly out into the yard. He stares at Joey for a moment. "Kelly. What's this?" Nicole is noticed, as well, and she gets a softened expression, and something that almost looks like a smile. "Nicole. How are you?"

Joey suggested pancakes as not-a-euphemism breakfast special. He lets Nicole do almost all the talking uninterrupted. This is good stuff and her getting her shop in order and his contractors he got from Ruiz doing their damn job? The better thing to focus on than the reason why hes bothering Clayton at before-reasonable hours.

Joey side nods, "This is Nicole." Probably not the 'this' Alexander wanted answered. Taking a deep breath he falls silent as Nicole is greeted and gives Alexander the the answer he's looking for like a bullet through formalities and questions. "Saw Ghol at 1 am this morning when Easton shot up his own bar." Yeah that'll do it for an answer. He eyes the once-host carefully letting that process for a long moment and asks, "Ya got coffee?"

Smiling at Alexander, Nicole, not quite done up for work yet with her hair in a ponytail and no makeup on, says, "Hey Alexander. I'm good! How are you?" Joey's own answer to Alexander has her looking at him in surprise. "I thought...." Thought that was no longer an issue? It was all in the past? Certainly not that Joey had seen him last night.

Alexander blinks a couple of times at Joey. "I know that's Nicole. That's why I said her name. You didn't get much sleep." It's all toneless, not quite dry, but when Joey continues, he frowns. "Ghol? What? What happened?" He holds the door open so they can both come inside and waves them in, much to Luigi's muttered disgust. The conure glares at the strangers, then goes to try and hide behind Alexander's ear. He does not fit. This does not stop him.

"I'm alive," he tells Nicole, solemnly. "And glad to hear that you're good. Come in, have some coffee." Assuming they do, he goes to the coffee pot (no French Press when he gets up before dawn, just black instant death coffee, left to brew until it resembles oil) and pours three mugs. "Take a seat, if you want." The couch is currently unoccupied, although there are bird toys scattered around, and a small bowl of dried fruit treats there, as well.

Joey looks to Alexander tiredly, in agreement, "Shit, man, I didn't get any." He pauses and says "Sleep. Or coffee." He only nods slowly. He was right. That got him in the door. The bird being a bird doesn't bother him and he's mindful, at the very least, to wipe his feet on the mat before entering his neighbor's home. The succinct but earnest, "Thanks." is given for the reception. Really, black oil coffee suits the surly boxer fine. He's never complained. He does take the seat though and draws a deep breath, "SO we're having a drink, usual suspects were pretty much there. De la Vega and I are talking and up walks this kinda clear dude who was like 'Sup. Need me a drink.' Talked funny. Next thing you know Marshall's got a fuckin rifle aimed at him and shoots out his bay window. Good thing it was 1 in the fucking morning. Coulda sprinkled glass on people. Or bullets. Dunno what he was tryin to do. Ghost went away and they tell me it's the guy what made you try to kill me. SO..." He gestures with his hands in the here we are manner.

Nicole is still looking at Joey in surprise when Alexander invites them in. She does so, but is too busy waiting to hear more to notice the couch or the toys and bird things on it, which is okay, because for now, she remains standing. She is polite though, and Alexander gets her attention with the coffee. She smiles and says, "thank you," but doesn't move to drink from it just yet.

However, as Joey starts describing the events of the previous evening, she moves to join him on the couch. One hand holds the coffee cup while the other brushes away bird belongings from beneath her. There's a lot of information to take in here, like the fact Alexander tried to kill Joey. She glances at Alexander, then back to Joey and is so drawn into this topic of conversation that she lifts her cup of jet fuel and takes a sip. The dark bitter taste of instant black coffee awakens her senses and she tries to not make a face, lowering the cup to be held at her knee. "Further reason to learn more about ghosts..." she murmurs softly, mostly to herself.

"Kinda clear dude," Alexander says, slowly, moving to take a seat on the floor near the coffee table, so he can rest his coffee there. He folds himself easily into a half-lotus, and blinks a couple of times. "I. Well. I can understand why Easton would shoot." A sidelong look at Nicole when Joey brings up the whole 'trying to kill Joey' thing. "Sorry," he says, after a moment. "I wasn't...I was very angry." He looks back to Joey. "Did Gohl do anything? Slit any throats, threaten vile retribution?" He takes a sip of his coffee, his brow furrowed. "I know he used to drink there. Maybe something is dredging those old memories up."

Joey answers, the 'what did he do?' question with, "Order a beer?" He looks from Alexander to Nicole and waves his hand, "It's fine. It's why we got insurance." Clearly they're still talking. He takes the coffee with a murmur of thanks. "Eh, we all get pissed sometimes. I had to make a guy eat a toaster once. I know how it goes. Easton's trying to tell me some bullshit about ghosts being memories of locations. We know that's some shit, but... maybe that one? Why now? I thought his shit got resolved?"

Nicole gives a half shrug and shakes her head to Alexander. A silent version of 'no need to apologize, my dude'. After all, he didn't succeed and Joey clearly has forgiven him. No harm no foul? She nods to Joey when he says it is fine, though the insurance bit gets an arched brow of a reaction. She gestures with a flat hand, palm up, to Joey. "That! I thought whatshisface was gone? So the thing... it didn't work?" Looking at Alexander she says, "I mean, it seems... you know a lot about him. I only heard bits and pieces. I'm gonna listen and... try to learn."

Alexander's eyes narrow. "What guy ate a toaster? Why?" If he was a hound dog, his ears would be perking up, and his quick accessing of local missing persons and suspicious death cases can just be seen as he reaches for the coffee again. "Gohl is gone," he says, definitively, to Nicole. "I felt him go. He closed a door behind him. Whatever this is? It must just be a," he waves at Joey, "memory that's given life. At the Halloween parade, ghosts came back to march with the parade. The Anniversary of the town is coming up. It makes people think about history." He chuffs a half-laugh. "Maybe it makes places think about history, too. And it's the one hundred thirtieth. That's really just a thirteen with a zero on the end. Fucked up shit is to be expected."

He sighs. "About Gohl himself? He was...a murderer. Prolific. Very, very prolific. He was brought down, sent to an asylum on the wrong side of reality, and they did things to him. He died. He should have stayed there, but other assholes brought his bones back from the asylum, for some reason, and then they got lost. For fifty years or so, Thomas Addington kept his ghost from hurting anyone, but shit happened, and Gohl went on a rampage. We sent him beyond to wherever souls go. I'm sure of that, at least."

Joey gives Nicole's hand a squeeze. it's not to reassure her, that's for him. "Asshole thinks it's okay to hurt animals. Moving on." End of discussion. He listens to the story of the memory and places giving a quiet, "Mmmm could be. I mean maybe man." When Thomas Addington is brought up Joey's jaw tightens and says flatly, "He killed his own family and from the sound of it? His own kid. I don't exactly call that 'kept him from hurtin anyone'." Addingtons man. That's fucked up. That he had one harbored in his employ? yeah he's got feelings on this. "So you know he went. So this is something of the place's memory? Well maybe we can just serve him his damn beer and not shoot up the place. If it's a memory it can't hurt right?" There's a pause and he asks, "...can it?"

"Some people like toast.. some people need a reminder what it's made with." Nicole shrugs it off, returning the squeeze to Joey's hand. She listens closely to all that Alexander says, right to the very end, Joey too. "So it's like a time ghost? The place it is at holds the image of the soul instead of the soul itself? Like a movie projected on the fog... it seems there, but like, not? I mean, if his soul is gone... the ghost isn't like... that sort of tangible, thinking, acting, ghost... right?" She doesn't sound like she's spewing knowledge. More just thoughts that occur to her and in the end, hopeful.

Alexander stares at Joey, eyes black, and expression flat. He clearly doesn't agree with the idea of moving on, but after a glance towards Nicole, he breathes out through his nostrils, a little exasperated puff, and tables the interrogation. For now. There's a shake of his head. "No. Not, not exactly. He kept Gohl in a cage in his mind. Kept him from hurting anyone for fifty years or so. But the cage slipped. Thomas was old, and drunk, and his control was deteriorating. And I think there was something that helped it, but we never found out what. Not exactly. Gohl then used his abilities to commit the murders, and their minds were so...entangled that he targeted people who," a pause, "well, there were internal reasons. Go ask Margaret if you want to know about that," he adds, dry.

Then there's a grimace. "Just because it's not real doesn't mean it can't hurt you. Ghosts seem to be able to use people's abilities, if they're...attached to them? This Gohl probably isn't, and so he probably can't do any serious harm, but if you rile him up or attack him, it's possible he could fight back. To Nicole, he can only shrug. "Maybe? Some ghosts can seem pretty damned real. But they're all just...memories and expectations and feelings. This one would be a lot weaker because it doesn't have access to a powerful healer's abilities. But you might be able to sit down and have a conversation with him. It just might not be one that reflects what the actual William Gohl thought or felt - but more what the town thought he did."

Joey waves a hand in that shit is sorted way. "It's fine. He stopped. We have an understanding. They ain't doin it again." he knows the look. So damn well. Sitting back he reasons, "Alexander, one has to use their ability to commit murder, else it's just like... attempted murder. " God he's tired. Rubbing his face with one weathered tattooed hand he murmurs, "You mean.. ghosty shit. Right. "

Sitting back in the couch he drinks his coffee and considers all the evidence. Looking to them both he asks hesitantly, "So we think this is just some old photograph? Well... cool. Don't need you getting all possessed again." Which might be Joey for concern. Concern for Alexander, himself, his gym or all who knows. "Doesn't help couple people get possessed and now everyone thinks they know everything about everyone. Doesn't just... you can't profile ghosts like that."

"I mean, ghosts are real. They don't just seem real." Nicole seems pretty adamant about that being fact in the way she presents it. "What I am saying is, if it is a ghost without a soul... I dunno. Maybe it's just there? Some ghosts can attack, for sure, or throw tables, or like, tell you you are wearing the wrong shade of lipstick. But those are ghosts that have their souls and can interact with this realm they physically left behind. I mean, that's my take on it. I dunno... I should stop talking..." Her eyes squint just slightly, more in thought than an expression towards anyone. "Though, I guess if it can communicate there has to be.... something." She's mumbling a bit to herself then. "Maybe the soul wasn't all the way gone. What even are souls?"

"Well, not ex... sorry, I'll let Alexander talk. Mine are just guesses....." Then something clicks in her head. "Oh! The lightning thing!" She nods then. "Ancient history. " She waves off Alexander's attempted murder of Joey.

Alexander stares at Joey in silence for a long moment. Then he stands up, and without a word, walks back further into the house, disappearing around the corner for a couple of minutes. He returns, takes a seat, and puts a couple of pills by Joey's cup. "It's just caffeine, but they help for a little bit. But in about four hours, you should go to sleep. Sleep deprivation is associated with many unpleasant things, and no one wants you experiencing irritability, irrational impulses, or hallucinations." His smile is sharp and thin, like a knife blade.

He sits back, hands on the carpet, taking his weight as he considers them both. "I think you'd have to ask a priest about souls. Evidence seems to suggest that there is...something. And that something goes somewhere else when you die. And a ghost isn't that something. I don't know if Gohl - the Gohl we sent on - was a ghost at all, or more like a lost soul? Perhaps some sort of hybrid creation. You might be able to get an appointment with the Exorcist, if you really want to know. She seems to have feelings on souls." He makes a thoughtful noise. The chair flipping, that sort of stuff, seems to be related to the abilities of the people it's attached to. If I were haunted, a ghost probably wouldn't throw chairs at me, but might hit me with illusions, or compulsions, or open up wounds on people around me. I think. This is all somewhat new territory."

"Maybe." Joey offers Nicole. His eyes track Alexander as far into his house as he is in view too damn tired to track him by intuition. Joey might be concerning if he consciously thought about ability in that sense ever. When he returns and is handed something he stares at it and considers this, and dry swallows them, then drinks his coffee. Order of processes are not always his friend.

"Exorcist? Like Minerva exorcist or some Evangelist nutjob, or what?" This is new news to him. Tapping his molars together he thinks about the bigger picture of what this means for the Kelly clan and reality as he's come to know it most of his life. "Well some can jut slam doors, keep kids out of traffic, and whip a dinette set at your head without a host necessarily."

Curious, Nicole watches Alexander disappear only to return with pills. She frowns at them, but after the explanation, looks side-eyed to Joey. "Yeah..." she says, straight-faced. "Can't have an irritable, impulsive Joey about town..." She reaches up, toying with her hair by tucking it behind an ear before she starts listening to the important stuff again. "Wait... there's an exorcist in town?" And then... "but what if they aren't... sorry. I'll make a list of ghost questions and ask you them another time." She then sits quietly back for a bit, (mostly pretending to be) sipping her coffee and listening in. It's okay, future Alexander who will find her cup near full. She just takes very small sips. Though she does nod along when Joey talks about 'some' ghosts.

Alexander doesn't even roll his eyes at the dry swallowing; half the time he does it, himself, even when he has a glass of water at hand. "The Exorcist," emphasis on the capital letters is clear, "exists over there. In the Veil. In their version of the City Hall. She seems to be the person who handles matters of ghosts and souls. She's...helpful, but acerbic. And her throat is cut, so that takes a little getting used to. Doesn't seem to slow her down, though." He says that like it's perfectly normal. "I could try to get an appointment? I haven't. Tried. Usually left that to Isabella or Thorne. But I can try. If you want." Another sip of his coffee to hide his smile at Joey's conceptualization of certain ghosts.

The smile widens and becomes visible when Nicole suggests making a list. "You're welcome to. Um, any time you want to come over and I'm home. I can't promise that I'll be able to answer all of them. I'm deriving from observations, mostly. Several people in town have been haunted by their own ghosts. I never have, so it's mostly second-hand knowledge. I mean, there was Gohl, but I only directly talked to him once, and he cut my throat open. So."

"Don't care how acrobatic she is. I don't need her to be bendy, just answer some damn questions." No, Joey's got no process for 75 cent words. "Yeah so we gotta draw a chalk door on the wall I say we try to get an appointment and go." Yup, Went right to Beetlejuice. The kicker is that he is capable of opening doors to the veil and will just attribute it to the movie physics. There's a systematic process to these things, but he ain't enabled. Ask him. Watch him stare at you!

There is a pause and he asks, hesitantly, "Could you? I mean I don't mind driving or whatever. I wanna know this thing ain't gonna fuck with your or some other people and I wanna know Ma's okay, ya know? And Easton and Roen can fuck right on off calling her a Polaroid. Don't want any other creepy ghost Avon ladies harassing her shit neither."

"Acro--Kelly, that's not even the same fucking /word/," Alexander says, and he sounds way more upset about that than all of the murder talk. That's normal. This is vocabulary. He stands up again, points at Joey. "You wait." He turns and goes into his office. Which is, for the record, lined with bookshelves and filled with books with many, many syllables. But all he does is grab a pocket dictionary, return, and put it before Kelly's place at the table as he sits down. "Take this. Word a day." HMPH.

He folds himself back into his seat. "And, yeah. You won't need to drive. It's at the city hall, and there's usually...they usually let us in. I'll try to arrange an appointment. She tends to be hard to talk to, sometimes. But I think she does want to help. Sort of." His shoulders rise and fall. "So I'll see if I can't solicit an invitation for you. I'll go with, if you want. But I don't have to, if you have questions you'd prefer stay personal." He smiles. "But in exchange?" Chin nod to the dictionary. "Word. A. Day."

In a break in the conversation, Nicole asks, "is she safe? The Excorcist? I mean like, for me to talk to." She hasn't had a ton of her own experiences, but through them and conversations, she knows things from over there aren't usually to be trusted. Though, Joey just jumps right in and is ready to meet her. She nods a little., slightly worried. She nods though when Joey talks about his Mom, agreeing with him emphatically. When Alexander mentions that Gohl cut his throat, she looks down to Alexander's neck with a frown. "Um... I am glad you are okay. I will gladly get a list and come over and chat sometime though. You just opened a can of worms..." But oh ho! That word a day thing happens and she just looks aside to Joey to see his reaction. However, she offers, "I can help, if you wanted."

Joey just. stares. "Whatever. Sure." Someday, when Alexander beats underboss Joey Kelly to death with a dictionary no one will ask why? He takes the book and stares at it. SO much staring. He looks up to Alexander for the explanation that comes. He gets blinked at by those dark green eyes seeing something of reason there.

Still fair is fair. "Yeah. Alright." whether he does it or not is another story. Joey looks to Nicole and back to Alexander. "So what do we need to do to talk to this politician person? What you need from us? Ma need to write a field trip note or something?"

"Safe?" Alexander pauses. "No. Probably not. I don't think any of them are safe. But she's intervened to our benefit on a couple of occasions, and hasn't offered any harm or tried to get us to sacrifice our bones, so she's probably the most friendly titled City Hall person I've met, thus far." It's a low, low bar. "Be respectful, don't do anything bad to people's souls. You should be fine." There's a sheepish, even shy, sort of smile. "And I don't mind the questions. It's nice to have people believe me, sometimes."

And Joey? Alexander just returns stare for stare. "Look. If someone says they want to defenestrate you, I'd rather you not go over thinking they want to be your fucking lawyer, okay? Just read words." He runs his hand through his hair. "And, nah. I don't think so, anyway. I'm just going to make a crazy pest of myself until I get a mysterious call saying we have an appointment. That's how it usually goes, anyway."

"Welp, looks like we're going to City Hall then!" Turning aside to Joey Nicole murmurs, "don't tell Sparrow...." She then smiles to Alexander a bit crookedly. "I said I would come with questions and listen to you, maybe learn some things, I never promised to believe you." She gives a wink his way though, teasing the man.

"Look, I don't need a lawyer to defense-erate me. It's fine. I just wanna meet with this Exorcist person. If you tell me I need an old priest and a young priest I'll find one. Nothing's free." Especially on the other side. He drinks his coffee, exhausted murmuring, "I never didn't not believe you, Clayton. Its why I came to you first." He's so sincere for a guy who might have trouble spelling anything longer than his own damn name.

Alexander doesn't take teasing well. It's clear in the way he goes tense and wary all of a sudden, his expression shutting down, creepy and blank. Before he can open his mouth and probably earn a punch in said mouth from Joey, though, the other man speaks up, and he subsides with a grunt of surprise, that wary look transferring to Joey, studying him for a moment. Then back to Nicole. He sighs. "Probably wise," he says, to her, with a shrug. "I'll do what I can, and let you know when the appointment's been made. In the meantime," he nods at Joey, "you should probably guide this one to some sort of bed, before he hurts himself. Pills or no, I don't think he's got four hours left in him."

Nicole senses the change in Alexander and bites her lip. "Trust no one? I'm sorry. I was just kidding. I am looking forward to the talk, learning, and sharing thoughts. Guesses are all I have, but I find the topic interesting. She repeats, "I am looking forward to it." She nods then and taps Joey's knee. "Ready to head to your place for a fourteen hour nap?"

Joey tiredly looks to Nicole and explains, "He's got no filter for guff and most people are assholes. Best just to assume the worst in case. Can't be too careful. " Joey actually gets it. Looking to Alexander way too lucid for his own good he agrees, "Yeah if I can't figure out what the fuck someone's sayin I just assume they talkin shit about my mama. They stop. All's good. Only got suspended twice for that." Oh yeah he's past his bed time.

Alexander shakes his head at Nicole's apology. "It's...I know you didn't mean any harm." Now. He knows that now, his expression says, sheepish but still a little wary. When Joey elaborates, he snorts, and gives the man a genuine little half smile. "Sorta like that, yeah." To Nicole, he says, "I'm looking forward to it too. Uh, Joey's got my number. Give me a text any time you wanna arrange it. I'm usually around." The joys of not having a 'day job'. He rises to his feet, brushes his sweats off. "Now. Get him home. Unless you just want to hang around until he starts giving me evidence. I'd wager he's," he pretends (maybe pretends) to give the underboss a sharp look-over. "I'd say he's about twenty minutes from saying something I'll have to get interested in. More interested."

Nicole goes all big eyed and sets her very full cup of coffee wherever she can before hopping to her feet. She holds out a hand to Joey and says, "let's go, big guy. Beddie bye time." She salutes Alexander and says, "I'll talk to you soon. Thank you, Alexander."