2020-09-19 - Tit for Tat

Bennie finally scraped together a few moments to send Renata a text to meet up at the bar, offering the office for a bit of privacy so they can talk but still enjoy the booze (and the loaded tots) and offered to make an introduction of the supposed Hilton to her most BFF of Ever who will just happen to be there too. She left Alexander in the small room off the back hall to go fetch the owner of the Murder Hotel and as she's walking her back, hand resting on the doorknob briefly, "I'm really glad you came. Sorry I've been such a scatter brain."

Alexander seems content to be left in the small room - the reason is worn on his leg, namely the full-length cast that's sticking out at an awkward angle. Walking isn't...great fun right now, so after making his way down to the bar, he looks grateful to just be allowed to sit. He does not look like a professional investigator - not in the t-shirt, oversized army jacket with the patches removed, and the worn jeans. He looks more like a homeless guy who just wandered in, and is either going to steal shit, or possibly leave his drug paraphernalia in a corner somewhere.

The hotel owner of questionable origins is dressed like she came straight over after finishing her workday. Her attire consists of a cream blazer, a white blouse, and a black pencil skirt with heels. Renata dismisses Bennie's apology with a wave of her hand. "Not at all. There's been a lot going on around here lately." She knows it's an understatement by the way she says it. "You came just at the right time, as far as I'm concerned. I could use a drink." She pauses at the threshold of the door, catching sight of Alexander inside the room. There's a hint of wariness as she looks him over and casts a questioning glance to Bennie. Someone does not like surprises.

"Renata, this is Alexander, my aforementioned bestest friend ever. I'm leg sitting him. Or rather, I'm keeping him company while he can't otherwise be out and about bothering anyone else. Don't worry, he doesn't bite." Bennie breezes in and goes to sit, not in the office chair, but to hop on top of the desk itself. She has a mini bar set up next to her, which is to say she's nabbed a bottle of tequila and one of Jack Daniels and some shot glasses. "Besides, we might all be able to help each other. So what's your poison? I can have one of the waitresses grab whatever from behind the bar, too.

Alexander looks up at the door when it opens, and her wariness is met with something very similar in his own eyes. "Hi," he says, after a moment. "I'm Alexander Clayton," he adds, even though Bennie covered that already. "You don't really look like I imagined a Hilton would look." It's a deadpan observation - but perfectly sincere, with no hint of teasing or sarcasm. He doesn't get up, or offer to shake hands, or anything like that. Blame the cast, maybe, although it really looks like it doesn't even occur to him to do it. Bennie gets a warm smile, though. "I'd like a pop. Unadulterated, please."

Renata relaxes slightly when Bennie introduces Alexander as the friend she was talking about earlier. She nods in understanding and steps inside, gently closing the door behind her. "I get that a lot. Most people expect me to be taller," She replies wryly to Alexander's observation. The promise of alcohol certainly played a part in getting her inside as she immediately gestures toward the tequila. "I think that'll do just fine." She offers a curious glance toward Alexander's cast as she approaches the desk but doesn't comment on it. "I'm Renata. It's nice to meet you, Mister Clayton." Her gaze shifts back to Bennie for a moment. "I guess we have a mutual interest to discuss, then?"

Bennie already has the phone to ear to ring the front bar, asking one of the waitresses to bring a soda for Alexander please and thank you as the two introduce themselves. Hanging up - god, landlines, you still to that instead of disconnectin - she wiggles a little in her perch and pours Renata a double and hands it over, licking a bit off her finger after the transaction is done, but doesn't seem to be drinking herself. Yet. "Yeah, as much as I love the Police Department - and some of them are Shiny like us - I think this falls out of their domain. So it's going to be up to Us to tie this up in a bow and deliver it for them, I think. McHot Killer is BRIGHT, his aura is a seriously dark ugly inky blue." Which in Bennie speak means he's a Physicalist. "Oh, yeah." She fills Renata in, "I met him. Well, a Cheshire cat version of him, but he was human on the beach before we fell Dreamward."

"It's nice to meet you, Renata. Call me Alexander." The investigator pauses. "Alexander. Not any shorter version of the name that might occur to you." It's very firm, but not really angry. He also stares at her with an open curiosity that trips right over the line to rude and kinda creepy. At least he focuses on her face? There's a faint nod at Bennie's words. "I understand you were at the pyre. I was hoping to get any information you might be willing to share? The three of you who were direct witnesses are invaluable, especially since the tide came in."

"I'll keep that in mind, Alexander," She says, noting how particular he seems to be about his name. Renata takes the offered drink with a polite murmur of thanks. She lifts it to take a sip, only to pause midway when Bennie shares the story of her bizarre encounter with the killer. Her hand lowers as she listens with rapt attention to the details. "He has the Gift, then? And, once you were pulled into the Dream, something about its nature changed him that significantly?" She mostly murmurs this to herself. The wariness from earlier gives way to intense curiosity, perhaps hinting that she's never experienced that kind of Dream before. Her expression dims slightly when Alexander brings up the pyre incident, however. "Oh, right. Yes, I was there." She hesitates for a moment before pressing on. "... I spoke to Bennie about some pictures I had that could provide some useful information. I was interested in getting a better look at the writing she saw. This is the same person responsible for the other recent murders? I heard about the park ranger on the beach."

A moment later, the door pops open, a waitress handing Bennie a soda for Alexander before dashing off for more important work. Like rolling her eyes. A cheery, "Thanks!" from Bennie following her out as the door closes and close it does before Bennie starts talking about serial killers again. "Oh yeah, he's totally Shiny. And everyone seems to think he's the one that pulled me into the Dream? But it could very well be we were both in the right place at the wrong time. He just happened to embrace his role, a liiiittle too much. So! I guess that means I'll show you mine, if you show us yours."

Alexander takes the soda with a murmured thanks. "Things spill over. I don't know if he has the ability to create Dreams or draw people into them. But what he's doing, the death and pain and fear he's causing, it might make him more likely to be pulled in? Maybe. I don't know how these things really work." To Renata, he offers a brief nod. "Yes, it seems so. The writing on the sand was an invocation to an ancient god. Similar marks have been found at the other two murders, and it may even be linked to an older murder, as well. We don't know his name, yet, but we have an idea of what he looks like, and what his...obsession is."

Renata stares at Bennie a little longer than might be comfortable once the other woman suggests the possibility of drawing people into a Dream. She stops short of speaking up as Bennie and Alexander bring up that it could've been a coincidence, however. "You're probably right..." She mutters with a small shrug. There's something in her eyes that says she's not entirely convinced though. She returns to listening intently as Alexander offers his own details on the killer.

"It sounds like you've made a lot of headway on tracking the killer down." She nods in agreement with Bennie's offer to exchange clues. "I'm not sure how valuable this information will be now but you've told me this much. It's only fair to give you what I have." She takes her phone out of her pocket and quickly goes through it to find her photos. "The corpse was wearing a shirt that hadn't entirely burned away yet." She places her phone down so both of them can take a look. "I didn't catch it until I looked at the picture but there's a logo. Ricco's Gas. It's possible that it was a gas station attendant."

Bennie's eyes flick to Alexander as the photo and what it reveals are given. Clearly this is news to Bennie but she's not as neck deep in the 'amateur' investigation as the others. "Could a gas station have a band saw in the back? Some kind of mechanic's shop?" She then has no qualm about sharing with Renata, "We know that's how he was.." The blonde traces an invisible line across her neck and makes an uncomfortable CRRRK sound to indicate decapitated. She then wiggles in her seat, pulling her own phone out of the back pocket of her jeans shorts. Despite the fact the weather is still clinging towards warm, she has a long sleeved gauzy pleasant's blouse on, the reason for that shortly known, "We know the writing is cuneiform or Ancient Sumerian. He's doing some sort of ritual to someone he calls the Quencher." First she shows the picture of the writing in the sand, and then shoves up her sleeve to show a similar pattern that's been scratched into her skin.

Alexander blinks, looks over at the phone when it's placed down. "Yeah, that checks. I think the body was identified to be a relative of the station owner, in the end. I doubt he'd be using anywhere public to commit the murders - the displays have become more public as he's grown more confident, but he's killing them elsewhere. That's probably a more private, intimate moment for him." He glances at Bennie. "It's not a real ritual. It's a psychological ritual. He's a mission-based killer, which means he needs something to justify his homicidal need to himself. He's invented a pantheon in his head, that requires blood to be pacified before they bring darkness to the world. But it's not...the religious and mythological tones are trappings. He's not a serious occultist or anything like that, I don't think. He just needs to be able to tell himself that he has to kill people, so it's okay if he enjoys it."

He grimaces. "He's been playing a game. Probably a developer or an alpha tester on this Babylonian-themed MMO. He's either been inspired by some hidden quests in the game, or been building them into the game inspired by his murders. But the game is probably why he's latched on to Babylonian/Sumerian mythologies."

That gruesome imagery of how the killer decapitates his victims is certainly not lost on Renata. She seems to be caught somewhere between disgust and morbid fascination, though her desire to know more wins out. "So they're ritualistic murders in service to a higher power. I-- your arm." Her eyes widen in surprise as she leans in to get a closer look at the markings carved into Bennie's skin. She glances up at the picture on the phone, comparing the cuneiform script. It's obvious that she has questions, but her attention is drawn to Alexander as he explains the killer's thought process and motives.

"Someone with abilities that seems to be sacrificing others to keep 'darkness' from falling over the world? Maybe his gods are real," She says quietly, a distant look to her eyes. "They're just not the kind we're thinking of. Is it possible he's being used by something else...?" Anyone that has experience with 'Them' knows what she's getting at with her theory.

"Oh yeah, no. The guy is full blown crazy pants. If nothing else he's just delusional and equating the Dark Men to some old God he's manifested in his head as some sort of justification for his mental imbalance, or, you know like Alexander suggested, he likes making with the kill-y and this makes him feel better. Either way, we band together and all of us are way stronger than just McHot Crazy Pants Killer man. Poor Ravn is convinced because of vague resemblance he'll be confused or accused, but I assured him is Aura is waaaaay diffs." Bennie smiles at Renata, but instead of her full beam it's more of a smirk this time. "Don't worry, I did it to myself so I'd remember post dream with a stick. It's not deep and with some Healing juju and a little vitamin E I won't look like a Satanist or something for long."

Alexander smiles at Renata. "Maybe they are. Does it matter? Gotta stop him, either way. Whether he's worshiping Dark Men, or gods, or just the voices inside his own head." A sidelong glance at Bennie. "He's not that attractive," he mutters. "Just kinda geeky cute, if you ask me. And he cuts people's heads off with chainsaws. Just so we remember that part." Not that, let's face it, that's likely to be much of a deterrent to Alexander finding him attractive, going by the usual town gossip. At the last, he offers, "Do you want me to try and heal it? Or speed up the healing?"

"Oh, I assumed the killer did it. But that's a clever trick," Renata says with a small grin, genuinely impressed by Bennie's quick thinking. "I'll have to remember that if I find myself in that type of Dream." She doesn't immediately respond when Alexander stresses the need to stop the killer. She gives him a similar look to the one she gave Bennie earlier, almost like she's trying to see through him. It's a brief moment this time as she catches herself and offers a quick nod of agreement. "Of course. Someone like that needs to be stopped, no matter what." She looks a little lost when they start talking about healing, perhaps not being as well versed in those aspects of glimmer. "You're really planning on confronting him yourselves?"

"Aw, don't be jealous. You're still my number one hot geek, Alexander." Bennie teases lightly, but seems to wave away the offer of healing. "Someone..." Likely 'someone' because Bennie was stoned out of her mind, "...at Byron's already did me the solid. No need to overkill. But speaking of," The blonde points to the giant eyesore that is Alexander's cast leg. "You never call, you never write, you never ask for my juju anymore." Cue Bennie's angry eyes, which is just her scrunching up her face at him. "I love you, you stubborn fool."

Her hands mirror each other on each side of her face as she pushes hair behind her ears. "As opposed to who? We're the only ones equipped for this. It's not like there is a special Gray Harbor task force."

Alexander gives Bennie a fond, amused look. "Your standards for hot geekness should be a lot higher than me," he points out, voice dry with self-mockery. "But also higher than a serial killer. Those sorts of relationships never work out." A brief nod at her turning away of the healing, which turns sheepish as he looks down at the cast. "It's healing. I don't want--healing attracts attention, Bennie. I don't want to inflict that on people. Certainly not on my friends." His cheeks visibly darken at the affectionate insult.

"Yes, well." He clears his throat and turns to Renata. "The police aren't being entirely left out of it. We've kept a detective informed, and she put out an APB on the killer. And one of the forensic scientists has been very helpful. Ideally, the killer gets arrested at the end of this."

Renata nods in understanding as Bennie and Alexander leave no question of their intentions to see this through. The motel owner doesn't look nearly as confident, however. "As long as you're sure..." She finally downs her tequila shot and sets the glass back on the desk. "As for me, I'll admit that I'm probably not going to be much help when it comes to fighting a serial killer. It sounds like you've got a lot of support already and I wouldn't want to get in the way." She looks apologetic but there's something to be said for knowing one's limits. "There is something else. I didn't think much of it since I had only heard about the two murders on the beach. A tourist named Haruto came into the motel looking for a room. He was a hiker that was looking for a new trail to explore. He never came back so I assumed he just moved on." She gestures to the pair. "But I got the same feeling off him that I get from you two. He had abilities as well."

"And a hypocritical one to boot. I'd pinch your cheeks, Alexander Clayton, if that wouldn't throw you into anaphylactic shock." Bennie vaguely threatens with a pinch pinch of her fingers at the air.

She's amusedly shaking her head as she looks back to Renata and grabs the bottle as if silently asking if the woman wants a refill. "The only thing to remember is news travels fast but people travel slow in a town like this. If you want/ to be helpful, you don't have to play things so close to the chest. It doesn't have to be a tit for tat situation, I totally would have shared my pictures with you if you had just asked. But I'm glad I got to introduce you to Alexander." As Renata explains about the hiker, she looks like she just might upend the bottle straight to her mouth, giving a little, "Oh no." Silently wondering of the man's fate.

"It's not hypocritical," Alexander says, then snorts at the playful threat. But he doesn't deny it. He takes a sip of his soda, looking down at the glass, vaguely surprised, as if he had forgotten it was even there. Murder is interesting, after all. "She's right," he says, to Renata. "Don't talk about things to people who don't stand out, unless you really, really trust them. They'll just think you're crazy. But most of us who do? We know the town is fucked up. We don't have to hide much - the Veil does that for us. So. You're not gonna get hauled off to a government lab and vivisected or anything." He tries a smile, it's odd and crooked on his face. The mention of the tourist brings the light of interest back in his eyes. "Really? Do you still have any of his things? Did he file a map of his intended route with anyone? A lot of bad things can happen to a tourist. But the killer does favor targets of opportunity."

Renata has enough decency to look guilty as Bennie chides her for bartering with information instead of sharing it openly. She's certainly aware that it puts her in an even worse light when people's lives could be on the line. "I... I guess I'm not really used to dealing with people that way." Trusting them, presumably. She lets out a soft sigh and shakes her head. "You're right though, I should have come to you sooner." Her lips form a small, thoughtful frown as she considers Alexander's rapid-fire questions. "No, he didn't check in so we don't have any of his belongings. He was on a weekend trip from Seattle, fluent English but I think it was his second language. He never left his phone alone, I don't recall it leaving his hand for very long. I wasn't able to pick up too much else from our exchange, I'm afraid."

"What about 'let me fix your tiny scratch but my I don't want to put my friends out for my giant broken leg' isn't hypocritical! I would literally tie myself to a railroad track for you Penelope Pitstop style, so don't think I won't risk a little Shade for making sure you don't seriously suffer unnecessarily. Besides, isn't that thing, like...itchy? As soon as I get you alone, Alexander Clayton, I'm going to have my way with you." But then there is a hand flap Renata's way. "You don't have to apologize, it's my fault for liking to keep busy and then I end up juggling too many people's balls." A pause. Tilt of her head. "You know what I mean. But judging by your aura...well, you'll settle in. And we're new faces, it's hard to be like 'hey stranger, let's swap serial killer theories'. But just remember, we take care of our own, and you're one of us!" Bennie chirps congenially.

"I don't want to see you get hurt, Bennie," Alexander says, bluntly. "I don't really care if I get hurt." But he waves a hand towards Renata, dismissing the apology that wasn't even made to him. "How would you know? You're not town. Everyone needs time to settle in. Or run screaming, which is what we usually advise for people. Just so you know." An amused little shrug. He listens to the rest and sighs. "Damn. Do you have his full name or the phone number? Maybe could get someone to track the phone if we had something to identify the specific line."

There's a small but genuine smile from Renata as she watches the back and forth between Bennie and Alexander. She doesn't interject, staying quiet until Bennie addresses her directly. "I'll... try to remember that." She seems sincere, at least to the point of taking Bennie's words about relying on each other into consideration. "And yes, I've heard a similar story from someone else about locals warning people away. I'm starting to understand where that's coming from if this is your normal here." She takes a moment to consider Alexander's follow-up question. "Now that you mention it, I think his last name was Nakamura? I'm pretty sure."

"Well, part of protecting our own is trying to convince them that they should ignore the call that draws us all here. I mean, we know no one actually ever heeds the warning, but we feel obligated to give it anyway. There is no doubt that life in Gray Harbor is dangerous, merely existing here with a Shine makes you into a target, so consider it a Surgeon General's label. This town is bad for your health." Bennie tells Renata, then aside to Alexander. "But we also tout the tagline ' do unto others as we won't have done to ourselves out of love', apparently."

Alexander replies, deadpan, to Bennie, "Yes." There's a nod to Renata. "All right. Haruto Nakamura, who was looking to find a trail, and ended up disappearing. I'll pass the information on to the cops, and their tech expert. Maybe they can pull the GPS on his phone. Hopefully, he just did move on." He doesn't actually sound very hopeful. But he does try and smile at Renata. "Thanks. It's helpful. Is there any way we can be of help to you? Gray Harbor is a bit...much. Especially at first. Don't mind asking questions. And Bennie has a large supply of booze. Sometimes that helps."

"I'll take it as a fair warning," Renata replies solemnly to Bennie, taking in every word about Gray Harbor's sinister nature. "I didn't plan on stopping here at all actually. The rental I was using broke down on the outskirts and I ended up staying. It makes sense, that something called people like us here." It's definitely food for thought, something she'll likely be mulling over for a while yet. "Still, I've decided to stick around for now. I've got the motel to look after and some... personal business to take care of." She turns her attention to Alexander in response to his offer to field questions. It's easy to tell from the eager look on her face that she likely has a million of them. She seems to think better of it after a moment, however.

"I don't want to take up too much of your time," She says politely. "I do have one question. I've been looking into interactions with the other world, the place where you seem to go during a Dream." She glances at both of them as she continues. "Have either of you heard of other ways to reach it? ... An alternative way to cross over?" The question is delivered innocently enough but there's a glint of something more intense than simple curiosity in her eyes.

"You're the key!" Bennie squeaks as her hand drifts towards the tequila bottle and decides it better stray towards stealing a sip from Alexander's soda instead. "I mean, I don't know how it works because that's not my bag, but you totally have the ability to open gateways or doors or whichimicallits. Not that I recommend it, even if I do see the potential benefits. But, ugh, like why?"

Alexander waves his hand towards Bennie. "That, pretty much. You can get to the Veil if you know how to move things with your mind. I don't. But that's not quite the same as getting into a Dream. The Veil is a whole other world - it's not always hostile, and it has a sort of logic and permanency to it. But Dreams appear to be largely unique, and more...protected? I guess? Or prisons. You can't just hop in and out of them. I think they're in the same place, though. But Dreams are like inside the Veil, places within, while the Veil is the whole of it."

Renata's eyes widen in shock as Bennie tells her directly that she could open those doors herself. "I'm the key...," She repeats quietly. Her attention remains focused on the pair as they get into specifics regarding the Veil. She seems to understand Alexander to some extent as he explains the difference between a Dream and the Veil as a whole. There's a long pause as she takes a much needed moment to process the information. "You asked why? I want to learn more about the Veil, more than I can find studying anything from here. I agree with you about the dangers of a place like this, so I think it's important to learn everything we can about it for our survival. These abilities... must be a way for us to find answers and fight back against 'Them'. I'm sure of it."

Bennie takes that wave from Alexander as permission to take a drink from his soda, sucking noisily from the straw around the ice. "Viel-ception." She provides all too helpfully about the Dreams being inside the Veil, but apparently she has doesn't share the academic bug when it comes to poking about the place. "I've think I've only actually been to the Veil once outside of Dreams, and when I got back all my juju - and those of my ilk - were changed. Not something I'm keen to repeat, But then there are some people that like to experiment with horticulture over there, so! To each their own."

"Hey!" Alexander protests the THEFT of his soda, but then again, it's free soda and technically hers in the first place, so he doesn't do anything except give her sad, dark eyes for a moment. It fades into something more curious as Renata speaks. "Well. You certainly can. You should speak to one of the powerful psychokinetics in town. Itzhak Rosencrantz goes over there fairly often. Isabella Reede isn't the most powerful, but she's got a strong interest in Veil research. August Roen has gone over there several times, and seems to know his way pretty well. Just don't go alone. If you can help it. And we can talk about the things over there, too. But that's a long conversation in and of itself."

Renata can't help but look a little alarmed when Bennie informs her of there being potential consequences for crossing over into the Veil. "I could see why you would want to be careful over there if something that drastic happened." She doesn't look any less determined to pursue it, however. She listens intently as Alexander lists other users that share her type of abilities, committing each name to memory as he speaks. "R-Right, not alone...," She says, looking a bit sheepish in response to Alexander's warning. It's not really hard to tell that she was thinking of doing that exact thing. "They sound quite experienced. I'll see about getting into contact. Thank you for this information."

"What!" Bennie responds cheekily to Alexander, but as he starts pointing out all the powerful Movers in the town a little bit of her sparkle fades. "I should go check on the front of House, but you two stay as long as you like. I'll have some apps sent back and another soda." Her smile is tighter, her words a little more drab as she unfolds from her perch on the desk.

Alexander's face falls. "Bennie," he says, softly, and rises with difficulty to his feet to reach out and - for once - actually offer her a hug. Sure, it's a one-armed hug, and if she accepts, it's a quick thing, but still. It's a hug. He says to both women, "I should actually be making my way back home, too. And you're more than welcome, Renata. Just don't go alone," he eyes her, "and don't hesitate to reach out about information. If you really wanna trade about it, I've got some keen interest in who approaches you about conducting, uh, business in your hotel. We've had some criminal troubles of late. But it was nice to meet you. Oh!" He rattles off a phone number. "Text or call, if you want. I don't mind."

Renata seems confused at the exchange between Bennie and Alexander but is tactful enough to remain quiet since it seems personal. She perks up slightly in response to Alexander's offer to trade information in the future. "Criminal troubles, huh? Alright, I'll be sure to keep an eye out and let you know. I'll give you my number as well." She does so before turning back to the door and opening it as she prepares to leave as well. "Speaking of the motel, I should be heading back. Thank you for meeting with me. I'm glad we got a chance to talk, I've learned a lot."

Bennie doesn't exactly let it be a quick thing, though, does she. She gratefully folds herself against the man to enjoy that bit of comfort as he rattles off his phone number to Renata he'll start to feel the warmth radiate off her and through his bones. She seems mostly apologetic, especially if he tries to draw away because her grip'll tighten until she's through. "Thanks for coming by." Her voice squeaks tightly at Renata as the woman leaves, mainly because she's concentrating on something else entirely. Nothing to see here, and did it just get brighter in here? Maybe!

"Hate me if you need to." She murmurs to Alexander. "But I won't just sit around while you're in pain."