2020-12-18 - Use Your Words

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I broke my streak. Four months in Gray Harbor escaping dreams unharmed before my luck ran out. Am fine, just never looking at a meat cleaver in the same way again. Give me suitable amounts of pity, then tell me how's life on the racing track?

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : I got everybody texting me about dreams, mad I'm not there. you sure you're okay?

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I'll get a pretty scar but otherwise I'm good. Turns out Seth Monaghan can heal. Which is probably good because I have a feeling there might be nerve damage otherwise. Turns out meat cleavers don't belong in arms, whoda thunk. Now tell me how you're winning everything.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : goddammit that pisses me off. Seth don't seem like the shaping type, but I ain't about to complain, you can't get nerve damage, not you

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : ehhhh I ain't exactly winning everything. YET

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Yeah, I'm not complaining either. Kinda need that left hand. Dreams do seem to be violent lately. Clayton got put through the meat grinder -- not sure if it was a Dream or not. Same with Vic Grey, though for her, I know it wasn't a dream.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : you can't get nerve damage until you've played with me in front of people, that's the deal.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : (... bouncing dots ...) are they okay

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : How about I don't get nerve damage until after? I mean, not that I'm likely to ever give a concert, but just in case.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : I'm too drunk for your logic

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Yeah, they will be. Clayton got someone to patch him up. Seth patched Vic up at my place. She'll be ok too.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : (...) okay. good. I think

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Not GOOD good. Good that people will recover. Not good that they resolve their problems with their bloody fists, yeah.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : please, that's all people like me and Vic Gray know how to do

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Says the man who has yet to punch me in the fa--fine, says the man who only punched me in the face once.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : it was in a dream it doesn't count

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : That's what I thought but I have to acknowledge that it did happen. Kindasorta.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : I'm not just saying that because I feel bad

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : but MOSTLY saying that because I feel bad

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Pff. I deserved it. I'd have punched me.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : You know. This is one of those things where I really feel I come from somewhere else. A lot of people in Gray Harbor are very -physical-.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : ehh I don't feel bad about punching you per se, you totally deserved it

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : no kidding, I'm living with one of them

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Yes, well, I bet you don't mind all the physical parts of that.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : What I meant, though, is that this whole idea of solving problems by going out somewhere and punching each other until one of the two can't fight back anymore -- it's like I'm from a different planet. I don't get it. I probably never will get it.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : hah I don't mind any of it. I like ALL that shit. which is fucked up, don't follow my example

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : well you kinda are from a different planet

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Other side of it, anyway.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Though it's not like Danish people never end up in court on charges of violent assault.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : guys like me and de la Vega and Clayton, we don't got a fancy name or money, pal. we got our fists. it ain't about Denmark, it's about the rest of it

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Maybe. I don't know. You got a point, but at the same time, I'm not ready to buy into the idea that some kinds of people are just born violent. I'll accept the idea, maybe, that some groups in society are more likely to screw you over financially instead.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : nah who said we're born violent? I wouldn't say that. ...i WOULD say some of us are born to like violence more than others though

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Well, yeah, and some people like strawberries. I don't like seeing people beat the shit out of each other when what they need to do is sit each other down and sort out their issues. Or leave each other alone. I mean, the last option is the one I usually pick.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : I mean, that sounds super rational and civilized and everything this town ain't

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : But it could be. Fighting each other is silly, we got plenty real enemies to fight.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : who's Gray and Clayton fighting? did they say?

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Nope. Not sure it's related, either. But both of them clammed up, and I don't pry. If they think it's better I don't know, they're probably right.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : ...huh.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : that makes me real fuckin suspicious

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Seth's pissed as hell, though. So probably for the best. I mean, he's also someone who might go sort things out with his fists.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : oh he definitely is. hah.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : look all that said, glad we talked stuff out and I didn't even hit you.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : hitting you wouldn't be fun.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Yeah. So if he goes and does that, and then some buddy of the other guy decides to sort him out, and before we know it, we're in a Corsican blood feud.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : yeah it's how that shit starts.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : ... I'm not sorry you didn't hit me either.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I'm not a scrapper type.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : it wouldn't be fun for either of us and then what's the point!

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : it'd just be bullying .

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I don't think fun was the point for Clayton and Grey. 😕 But yeah, sure, people who get off on it, power to them, what happens in the bedroom stays in the bedroom.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : That sort of thing tends to be consensual though.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : that's my point, if I like you I only oughta hit you if at least one of us will enjoy it. but turns out I hate beating up 90 lb dweebs so I'm out

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Fuck you. 😛

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : hahaha awww tati

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : I'm just playing, you gotta weigh at least a buck ten

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : 176 if you must know. :p

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : okay you actually outweigh me a little so joke's on me

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Hah.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : it's them two inches you got on me, hardly counts

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Clearly counts -enough-.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : But yeah, you might be right. That it's a kind of background thing. I hate the idea of that. It makes me feel... very much like I'm from another planet. That it's something I'll never understand. I don't -want- to feel like beating people to a pulp solves anything, but I feel like I'm missing a piece of the puzzle too, and I hate that feeling.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : ehhh to be fair it only solves certain pretty specific things.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Like what?

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I mean, seriously? What's solved by two people beating the shit out of each other in the woods and then going home talking about how they deserved it? You know this is just a ticking time bomb. Some day, Clayton or Grey is going to slip who worked them over, and somebody else is going to go pick up a baseball bat.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : ... That said, I am morbidly curious as to who's -able- to beat up Grey in the first place. She's not exactly a fragile, delicate flower.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : Roen and I talk a lot about stuff like this, because he and me are poor kids from tough neighborhoods. about how he used to fight to keep guys from bothering his sisters. I did too, anybody looked crosseyed at my sister and there'd be hell to pay. I had to fight a lot over my violin, too, once I got her. fight hard enough and people finally figure out you're serious.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : heh yeah she ain't but she's got the taste for it, I can smell it on her.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Yes, see, I get that. You're protecting somebody from somebody who wants to hurt them. It's not right that you have to -- shouldn't be a -need- in the first place, but there was, and you stepped up. But adults going at each other and then coming back with fractured ribs claiming that they deserved it? That is... fucked up.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : yeah well. those two are fucked up. I'm fucked up. de la Vega's fucked up.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I mean, I don't have sisters, but if I had and someone bothered them, I'd find some way to give that guy hell too. I get that.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : because you do it often enough and soon it kinda seems like every problem's a problem that can be solved with your fists or your dick.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : or as Roen likes to put it, I never met a problem I couldn't wait to make worse

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I can't relate at all. But maybe this makes as much sense as me solving problems by just ignoring them until they blow over, or walk away if I can't do that.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Speaking of. I told you I quit at the Twofer?

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : yeah. pretty much exactly like that. look...when I was fresh out of prison, I was messed. Up. You think I got a temper now? Whoooo buddy. didn't know how to be a normal fucking person anymore. not that I ever been any great shakes at being normal, but I could FEEL it. like I was in some little liferaft going through a storm and when the storm went away I had no idea where I was.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I've never been to jail. Can't imagine what it's like in there. Can tell you, though, that you go into a mental ward with one problem, come out with three new ones to replace it. So maybe I -can- relate to that a little.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : You didn't say, but hey, good for you. I mean that

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : Hah. Yeah exactly like that

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : You know there are studies from all over the world that pretty agree that prison, the kind we think of when we say prison, doesn't actually do shit. If anything, it just teaches people how to be proper criminals.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : ...Christ that's so true though

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Most of the things I know that I didn't learn in school I learned from people who've done time. Like, picking locks, that sort of thing.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : you know what's also fucked up is the Song turned on for me while I was inside.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Oof. So locked up in a shithole and then stuff starts to happen that you don't understand and can't talk about. That must have been fun.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : so I learned all kinds of stuff, lol

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : didn't figure I needed to talk to anyone. just needed to start kicking ass in a way nobody could keep up with. so that's what I did

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I used to think that it was the ghosts. If I wanted a lock to open bad enough, or a key to be in my pocket bad enough, they'd make it happen.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : I mean, who says it isn't? we don't know how any of this shit works, not really

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Well, for one, my family ghosts aren't here, so... I dunno. It's not important. I'm starting to realise how lucky I was that this was always a thing for me, though. Some people tell frightening stories about coming into their power.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : mine turned on in the middle of a riot, I am not gonna lie, that scared the absolute hell out of me.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I bet.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I mean, you had me at 'riot'.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : don't get me wrong, that was terrifying. but it was normal. you know?

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : <-- from country where 'riot' usually means, three people got into an argument about right of way.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : horrible and fucked up and guys were getting hurt real bad, but normal.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : That's an exaggeration. We have had riots. Last big famous one was in 1993. I rest my case. It's not normal here. There.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Sometimes, the US feels like a war zone to me. Like everything here is taken one step further, always more extreme.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : but that suddenly nobody could touch me, that I could hear this song in my head that made things happen? that wasn't normal. scared me worse.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I bet. I'd have been curled up in a ball somewhere.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : But then, I've never been the bravest guy on the planet, not ashamed to admit that.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : yeah, we ARE like a war zone compared to you guys. ...don't even give me that shit, cowards don't pack their violin and thumb across America

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Guess that depends on your definition of brave. Most of the time, no one bothers a single, tall guy who doesn't look like he's got anything worth stealing. Keep your head down, mind your own business, people leave you alone. When they don't, run.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : But yeah, it makes me wonder if Denmark is the same, except I never saw it.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : then you come here and set up shop and put up with some ex-con yelling at you

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Yeah, well. Maybe I needed somebody to do that.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Aaaand now I think I understand what Vic meant.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Excuse me while I look for a facedesk emoji.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : yeah, what's that?

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Think maybe sometimes you need someone to pull you up so hard on the crap you tell yourself that you can't rationalise it away and make it fit your narrative and go on telling yourself more crap.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : know that feeling, Roen does it all the fucking time to me

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : so tell me about quitting the Twofer

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Eh, it was mostly that thing Vydal and Hyacinth said, about whether barbarcking is also what I want to be doing in ten years. Might have stayed on longer if not for that but you know I wasn't 100% comfortable there recently anyhow. Maybe I just needed that push.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : what'd Vic say to you? come on, I'm dying here, I need gossip

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : About her beating? Or about the Twofer? She hasn't said anything about the Twofer. I think it's business as usual there?

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : About her beating, she said it was necessary and that she deserved it, and something about it being therapeutic.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : And then she passed out on my bed in a haze of scotch and percocet as administered by Saint Monaghan.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : oh, she's in your bed again, huh?

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Yes, well, this time it was more a matter of being a little bit unable to stand with a handful of fractured ribs.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : that's a lot of therapy

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I say again, WORDS, WE HAVE THEM FOR A REASON.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : well but seriously no I get it, about a beating can be therapeutic. hard to explain but I get it. also if she says she deserved it, I'd believe her.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : Alexander, ehh, harder to judge, he thinks he deserves a lot of stupid shit

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Until five minutes ago I would say I don't get it. But I do get how on some level, I probably needed someone like you to yell at me.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : man. it's so flippin rare someone says that to me. kinda feels good

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : OK. can I sound seriously pretentious and arrogant a moment?

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : why stop now

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : You realise how few times in my life someone's just flat out called me out on anything?

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : ... Asshole.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : haaaa well I'm not so surprised, rich guys don't get called out on their shit

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : No, they don't.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : it's still hard for me to think of you like a rich guy. Roen said he knew, though, or at least he figured.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : anyway, point is... you're welcome

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : -I- don't think of me as a rich guy. Does that help?

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : (gif of Maui from Moana singing You're Welcome)

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : (gif of Sylvester the cat faceplanting a telephone pole)

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : actually it probably helps, because I known rich guys slumming it with guys like me, and you don't vibe like them.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Look, it's... difficult to explain.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : There's a family business. Name, obligations. Things I need to sign sometimes. But I don't run anything. I don't live there, I'm not part of it. I'm as far walked away from it all as I can be, except my name's still on papers. It's not me.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I guess I -am- slumming it. I could go back if I wanted to. Maybe that's what Roen means.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : most of them, they knew they were rich guys. you know? Whatever they did, however they acted, they knew they had an out, and you could just tell.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : You mean they felt they could do what they liked because if shit hit the fan, they can afford a good lawyer.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : I mean that, sure, but I also mean... I dunno. can't explain it too well. Even if they didn't cause trouble. You know the joke about breakfast, where the chicken's involved, but the pig is invested? They'd be the chicken. I'd be the pig. this is actually a terrible analogy, I'm bad at analogies.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I get that, actually. Yeah. I feel like that sometimes. Like I'm the chicken. It's one of the reasons I never stayed long in any one place.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : yeah. that's why you can walk away.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : And why I don't talk about my past much. Yeah. I can walk away. It makes me a terrible hypocrite because if things really do blow up, I have an out. Most people don't. And it makes me feel like I'm this terrible human being taking advantage of everyone.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : ehhh, well, you know, Jews, we don't look at being rich as bad. it don't have to be bad. you're rich, you can help more people than some schmuck like me. so be Jewish about it. it don't have to mean you're taking advantage of anybody. It can mean you can help people when nobody else can.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I feel like I should point out I'm not exactly Jeff Bezos, either.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : thank God for that, the world couldn't survive two Jeff Bezos

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Ain't that the truth.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : you know what's weird, you're like, Opposite Thorne

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I know you probably think I'm crazy. But I'm far happier here. There's this Jewish guy who yells at me when I'm being an idiot. There's people who trust me enough to turn up on my door step when they're in pieces, and who trust me to not do something stupid or ask the wrong questions.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Who, the guy who owns half of Bayside?

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : are you kidding, this town's the only place anybody ever listened to me when I yelled at em.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Gray Harbor, where you find your true purpose. Whether it's yelling or being yelled at. 😆

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : yeah, him. He cares a whole lot about being rich. But he came from the same place as Joey Kelly. He knows what it's like. So now he swans around in a cloud of knowing that he's rich as fuck

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Oh, I see what you mean. You know what's really sad? I was raised to look down my aristocratic nose at people like that. Because how can clawing your own way up from nothing possibly compare to inheriting a name from some guy who lived 850 years ago? It's all very silly, Itzhak. Good on the guy, if swanning around makes him happy.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : oh he's earned his swanning rights

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Probably feels he's got something to prove. I get that. Not like I don't feel the same way, after all.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Got any idea when you're going to be back in town?

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : gotta win a few races, gotta get the job done, gotta start a new nation gotta meet my son! not really that's from Hamilton. but it's gonna be a while longer. hey this is great though, I wasn't sure I was gonna get called back, but here I am.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I hope you realise this means I'm going to spam the shit out of you regularly on the phone.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I have to sit up to silly o'clock some nights, to skype with some student in Denmark, somebody else gets to suffer too. Congratulations, you're it.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : (selfie of Itzhak, dated yesterday, in coveralls and grease, standing next to a gorgeous muscle car. The car's hood is open to display its massive big block engine. Itzhak is grinning like a proud father.)

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : great, you're gonna get more drunken wisdom from the house of Rosencrantz

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : (selfie of Ravn, dated two seconds ago, sprawled on bed in trailer in sweat pants, tank top and bandage on one arm, cat curled up into a ball on pillow in manner that suggests that yes, she owns that pillow most nights)

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Hey, the drunken wisdom of the house of Rosencrantz beats any drunken wisdom I ever heard from the house of Rosenkrantz.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : oh yikes your forearm bro, that better heal clean or I'm gonna be mad

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Yeah, it's doing fine. Seth really did well on it.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Clayton walked him through it in a smart way. Said to feel for what's wrong, make it right -- nothing about anatomy or repairing nerves or other things that might have distracted him, just fix the wrong.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : look, uh, don't let him pick up any baseball bats, if he finds out who roughed Gray up. we don't need a fucking war in this town.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : This is why I don't press the point. Clayton and Grey. Neither wants to talk about who or why. I don't try to make them.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : They're adults. They know they could go to the police, they could press charges. They chose not to. They have reasons.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : she's a tough girl, I should know, I had to hold her blood in. if she says she went looking, she went looking.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : But let me just tell you this: Goofball Seth Monaghan doesn't look very goofball when he's firing that big piece of his into the face of some giant man-beast and splattering it over half of dreamland.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Between him and Clayton, that guy we ended up doing instant therapy on is going to piss his pants at the thought of squashing a mosquito.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : okay you started talking about him firing his big piece into someone's face and I had to double check who I'm texting

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : ... Ha.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Okay, want to laugh at me a little?

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : I also triple checked what picture I sent you

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : of course I do

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : You know how this -shine- stuff works. So we're in this factory in dreamland that's literally a serial killer in the making taking people and animals apart and rebuilding them. Think The Shining for interior decor, just with no creepy twins. There's blood everywhere. There's even more blood everywhere after these animal things are dead. And we come out of this dream --

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : So, it turns out that only guys who do the -moving- thing actually can bring anything back.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : So there's Clayton and Seth looking like they just walked out of their living room and me looking like a showered in a ketchup factory.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : oh holy shit lol

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : (But hey, turns out I can still pick a lock with a pen spring, day wasn't all wasted).

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : yeah I knew that, when there was a ghost shootup, most people didn't bring back bullets, but ahahah fuck

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : DRENCHED.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Still debating whether I should staple the sleeve of my leather jacket together and show it off as a victory scar, or just burn the thing and buy a new one. It still smells like something died on it.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : ...ugh, you'll never get that out of leather

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I might have to cave.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : as badass as the chop in the sleeve would be

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I KNOW RIGHT?

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Ahem.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I have mixed feelings about this experience.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : man I'd get laid for years on that story lol

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Stopping serial killer before he actually killed something that wasn't a dream construct? Good. Still able to pick locks? Good. Take meat cleaver to arm? Not so great. Watch really big things trying to eat Seth? Not great. Watch serial killer come at me with said meat cleaver? Probably have nightmares for a while yet. Kick arse all over dreamland? Fantastic.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : ... Yes, well, you know me, getting laid is not really a priority. Besides, not sure whom I'd try to impress.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : hell yeah that sounds like a fucking great time to me man

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I was terrified. But also kind of wildly excited, yeah.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : see, you're a badass

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Am not. But I think I might be the rogue of the party.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Sneak, sneak, sneak.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : that's actually a great way to put it. I'm the tank, Roen is the healer, de la Vega is the sniper, you're the rogue...

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Misdirection and sneaky stuff IS kind of what I'm good at.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Heh. Picked that guy's pocket. I mean, here, in the waking world.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : God knows getting everybody's attention is what I'm good at

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Before we met him in dreamland.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : You say that like getting attention is easy. Or rather, getting it isn't hard but keeping it is. You're a performer. Don't sell yourself short.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I'm flying home for Christmas, by the way.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : haha niiiice hey I really wanna see you do your stuff, you got to see me perform, it's gotta be my turn

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : yeah? gonna see your folks?

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : What, you want to see me pick some guy's pocket? remember when I tried to pick yours?

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Naw, my folks are dead. Just need to sign some papers, say 'carry on' to some people, and pick up some books and other stuff from University, maybe even meet with a couple of people I might be tutoring after New Years. Now's a good as time as any.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I don't care about the 20 year olds who just need X credits on the humanities. But I kind of want to meet the veterans face to face so I know what kind of issues they have.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : oh yes I remember, I remember you grabbing my ass! I mean I wanna see you do your thing for reals, work a three card monty table or something.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I guess we could go to Seattle sometime? I mean, wouldn't work so great in Gray Harbor. Half the marks know I used to do that sort of thing. Half the marks will steal the bloody nut right back.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : ...yeah I think I remember you telling me your folks are dead now. but I didn't know what it meant then.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I was never very close to them.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Hey, want me to bring you something from Denmark? I have no idea what's so archetypically Danish that an American guy might want it.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : I got no idea what's archetypically Danish to be real honest with you

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : (besides a proper Danish, but I don't think it'd be very interesting after 20 hours in transit)

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : I know what Roen would love though, if you got some of those cool old fashioned veggie seeds that're from there. Or flowers or stuff. You know, plant stuff.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Tell you what, I'll pick up a bottle of red Aalborg. Danish schnapps, good brand, tastes like fire.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : hell yeah can't go wrong with booze

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Huh. I could probably pick up something along those lines... I don't know the first thing about vegetable seeds but it can't be -that- difficult, hitting a plant shop here and asking for something traditional.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : The only part of this plan that I hate is having to book a hotel in Copenhagen this late before Christmas. Gonna end up far out in the suburbs unless I want to stay somewhere full of tourists wanting to celebrate a 'genuine Danish Christmas' courtesy of your Chinese or Japanese travel agency.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : haha really? that's a travel destination?

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : We're H. C. Andersen's fairytale country, or at least that's how Denmark gets marketed in the Far East, yeah.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : man, what do I know, I couldn't point out Denmark on a map. product of the NYC public education system right here

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : That's not just an American thing, dude.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : I mean, yes, obviously I can find Denmark on a map.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Now ask me about Nicaragua.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Or Botswana.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : hah okay okay, fair enough. aight I gotta take a piss and jerk off and pass out

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Or Kazakhstan, or anywhere else that's not in the first world.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Please don't send pictures. I've got another hour or so until this skype call. Might spend 'em looking for hotels.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Sleep well. Send me a picture when your engines win everything, ok?

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : oh I'll send pictures. not to you but I'll send pictures. okay but you can have pictures of when we win everything.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : Yes, fine, that works. Send all the sexy pictures to the boyfriend and all the victory wreath pictures to us both.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : see you on the flip side bro

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : (gif of waving panda)