2020-11-20 - Gluttons for Punishment

Fucking slimes.

Alexander has been living in the bathroom since last night, scrubbing, and disinfecting, and scrubbing, and medicating, and scrubbing. The smell still lingers, sadly, and his chest and arms have been bandaged, and he's finally gotten to the point of bearing the touch of clean laundry on his skin, so he's at least not naked. But not even the cat will spend time with him, and as he hobbles into the kitchen to get some food, Blue Bell turns her nose up and slinks into the bathroom.

From the outside, the house looks much as it always has - there are small flower beds with autumn flowers and a few veggie plants, but it's quiet and pleasant. Ignore the lingering smell.

It feels like both an eternity and just yesterday since Isolde was last at this house. She just stands and stares for a moment or two before remembering that she should probably actually approach. Maybe it's the haze in the air that she has definitely realized is weed. She exhales and pushes a hand through her hair before finally approaching. The smell lingers out on the street and then it sort of fades before picking back up near the house. It makes her nose wrinkle but, in truth, she's been in situations where the smell might have been similar or even worse. So it doesn't bother her two much.

What does bother her is the little knot of butterflies fluttering around her stomach. Uncertain about how her seemingly random appearance will be received after her vanishing with little more than a text saying she was going back to Portland. There's two quick knocks on the door and then she takes a slight step back to wait and see if Alexander is even home.

Alexander is totally home. He blinks at the sound of the knock - his eyes are a little red, which is a definite sign that the investigator is high. He goes to open the door and stares at the person on the other side of it. "...Isolde?" His eyes widen. "Isolde! What are you doing here? Is everything all right?" He's waving her inside as he talks, and if she actually does come inside, she's going to get hugged. SO HUGGED.

Isolde looks a little pensive when Alexander answers the door, but his relatively warm reception allows her to relax some and grin, walking inside as he waves her in. She whistles a greeting towards Luigi,as if something of a habit hugs Alexander back tightly. "I don't even think I wanna know what you've been up to." She laughs, mostly teasing. Once she's released she answers his questions. "Everything is fine. Fine as it can be." And she looks okay. Her eyes are clear - though that probably won't last long with the weed cloud. And she looks fairly put together even though she's just wearing a pair of jeans and a thin, green long sleeved shirt. "I just...got tired of Portland." There's probably a little more to it than that but baby steps! "And I figured there are more people here that I like than that I don't like. So why not try and come back. Right?"

Luigi's head bobs in his cage in surprise at the familiar whistle. He whistles back, and leaps out of the cage, climbing up to the top of it to give Isolde - the only other human he likes - a screech of welcome. Alexander hastily kicks the door closed, and then the bird is zooming across the space to land in Isolde's hair, chuckling and pecking. "He's glad to see you," Alexander says, and squeezes her more tightly. "So am I."

But then he puts her at arms length, and frowns. "What are you doing here? It's dangerous here! You were away! It's a bad decision!" He shakes her, just once.

Isolde is just a touch startled as Lugi lands in her hair and she laughs. "Yes I've missed you too mon chérie" She says affectionately to the bird. Lifting one hand up to lightly touch his feathers. Then she refocuses on on Alexander as he goes into worry mode. "I know it is. Apparently not even a little better. Maybe even worse? Than when I left." She admits. "I thought about not coming. But I'm doing better! Mostly. Portland is just as bad for me though. There are still Dreams but...I'm on real medication now which helps with the non-Dream things. And I would rather try here than keep trying in Portland." She sighs but then smiles again. "Tell me, how is Isabella doing?" Apparently not even doubting for a moment that Isabella and Alexander would still be together.

Alexander's scowl lightens only a little when Luigi leans into her fingers and chuckles in a low, throaty voice. He sighs, and squeezes her one more time before letting his arms drop. "It's good to see you. Are you staying?" A hint of a smile returns at the mention of the real medication. "Good. Are you well? Any bad ones?" He looks her over for bruises or damage. "And Isabella is doing well. She's, uh...okay, she needed some air after putting up with my smell all night. We had a sewer Dream last night, and I got...slimed." A sheepish sort of look. "I'm amazed she didn't make me sleep outside. The house."

"I plan to try at least. If it gets to be too much I might just have to give up and try living down South." Isolde chuckled a little at that. "I've arranged to rent one of those apartments that opened up. It'll be ready in a couple days so I'm just staying at the motel for now." She slipped her hands into her back pockets then. "I'm okay. None that were too bad really. At least not physically. But over all I could always be doing worse." She nodded a little. Her eyes widened at the Dream explanation. "That sounds awful. I wondered if maybe a pipeline broke or something. I'm glad she's doing good, I'll have to try and see her soon to say hi."

"The murder hotel?" Alexander looks a little skeptical and worried. "Be careful down on that end of town. There's...some issues with crime, lately. Although it seems quiet right now." He snorts. "I assume everyone is baked. The dispensary blew up and..." he waves at his reddened eyes. "Hey. Sit down. You want something? Ice cream? It won't stink, I promise." There's still worry lurking in his expression, but also pleasure and happiness. "It's really good to see you. Did I say that already? Think I did. But it is. I worried about you. Hoped you were well out of everything, you know."

"The very same." Isolde agreed when he asked about the murder hotel. "I noticed it when I got in town last night. The haze. I'm amazed that it's lasted so long. There must have been a lot of product." She chuckled, moving to settle on the couch. She lightly fingered a little piece of the fabric of it before looking back to Alexander. "I will never turn down ice cream." Giving him a bit of a grin. "Probably you did. I'm glad to see you too. I felt bad for leaving the way I did but...I wasn't doing so well. And I knew it would just get worse if I stayed." She elaborated. "So I went back to what I kind of knew instead. I should have just found some safe town in the middle of nowhere but is anywhere really safe?"

Alexander heads into the kitchen to get a couple of bowls and ladle in heaping helpings of ice cream into each bowl, then come back with spoons. One is offered to Isolde, as he folds himself onto the other end of the couch. "Mmm, you're lucky I had some. I've been eating everything in the house. Reminds me of college," he adds, with a waggle of his eyebrows. "I haven't been this high since then, anyway." He rests his head on the back of the chair and studies her through half lidded eyes, while he gathers his first spoonful of ice cream. "You shouldn't feel bad, Isolde. You did what you had to do for yourself, and that's all I ever want for a friend." A pause. "No one blames you for leaving. Not me. Not Itzhak. In case you were worried. Getting out of this town is the best thing anyone can do."

Isolde laughed at the mention of college. "Those were some wild days. Fun days though. I remember more than one time raiding the little convenience stores and eating way too much." A little grin as she took a bite of ice cream. "Speaking of college. I'm taking some only class things. About art! Art History. It's interesting and I like it." Her head tilts a little at the mention of Itzhak. Her expression is hard to read for a couple seconds but then she smiles. "That is reassuring to know. Uhm how is he doing?" Taking another bite of ice cream. "It is." Getting out of town. "But some of us are just gluttons for punishment I guess." Chuckling again.

"Mmm, munchie attacks. Yeah. That was fun," Alexander agrees, languidly. He ladles more ice cream into his mouth, then smiles widely after he swallows. "That sounds wonderful! Art history, hmm? Do you need autopsy photos? They're sort of artistic, when you get good ones." Is he joking? He might be joking. He might just be stoned. Even odds. "He's okay. I imagine he'd like to hear from you, if you feel up for it. I don't think his number's changed, although he doesn't live next door anymore. I dunno if that happened before or after you left. It's all a little hazy." His chuckle is more like a giggle. "And I suppose so." His amusement fades, and he jabs the spoon at her. "Be careful. Okay? If you're staying. And let me know what I can do to help."

"Somehow I don't think the teachers would appreciate the autopsy photos as much as you do." Isolde giggled and grinned. "Though I'd be curious to see them for general reasons. See what all's been going on. Any interesting cases." She nodded a bit. "I will reach out. Or try to. Maybe later tonight or tomorrow. If it turns out his number is different, I'm sure I'll run into him eventually." She mused. "Must have happened after." The comment of him not living next door anymore and she falls quiet for a few moments. Eating some ice cream to cover up whatever might be rolling through her head. "I'll be careful." She assured with another smile. "And of course I will let you know if help is needed. And you let me know if you need any help with things too."

Alexander sniffs. "They can't be very good professors if they can't appreciate the beauty of the human body, even in extreme circumstances," he mutters. His next bite of ice cream is particularly vehement. "Sure! And we had a serial killer! An actual, ritualized serial killer. I helped to catch him," he claims, and practically wiggles in place with pleasure and excitement. "It was very interesting. I also met an excellent gamer and computer person who I think you'd like. Her name is Machina. Abitha Machina." A sudden grimace. "She prefers 'Mac', quite strongly. And there's Cecil, who is a forensic scientist and very smart. They're good people." He bobs his head. "Of course."

Isolde giggled again though looked very interested in this whole serial killer business. "Really? With like symbols and everything like some sorta movie?" She asked, turning a bit in her seat to face him easier. "Of course you did! You're practically an expert. That's so cool." Grinning again. "Mac and Cecil. Maybe I will run into them around town. What sort of games does Mac play?" Head tilting lightly. Isolde wasn't very good with computers aside being competent enough now to know how to do her school assignments and such.

"Yeah. He was sacrificing people who stand out to gods of his own making, but he was also involved in this MMO, and taking some inspiration from their version of ancient Sumerian and Babylonian myth. It was interesting." Alexander pauses, coughs sheeplishly. "Uh. And terrible, of course." He runs his fingers through his hair. "And I think she plays pretty much everything. Uh, she's one of those people that people pay to watch play games? It's weird. But interesting." He grins. "Either way, there are interesting people in town. And they're nice! So it's a good time to come back, I think. If there's such a thing."

"Very terrible. But very fascinating." Isolde took her last few bites of ice cream. "You can get paid to play games? That's a pretty cool job! Yeah it sounds like there are." Interesting people in town. "We will see who all I run into! It will be a good thing, to meet new people. Broaden the social circle some more." She sighed contently, setting her bowl aside on the coffee table and then looking back to Alexander. "It was good catching up with you. I'll be by more I'm sure. Especially because I still need to teach a certain bird more French words." She giggled. "But, I should go back to the hotel I think. Make sure no one's decided to steal my stuff or something. Cause that would be my luck."