2020-12-26 - Did ya hear the news?

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Dude. You missed one hell of a NYE party. Fun and drama. There was something for everyone!

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Ha! And let me guess, I know everyone who slept with everyone they shouldn't, got into fights over it, and are now planning on avoiding each other for six months ahead?

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : I don't know about all that, but Dante (the guy that owns Sikta, the place we had Thanksgiving with the Grey's) and Cristobal got engaged, and de la Vega was not pleased

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : He made a bit of a scene before storming out when he saw it happen.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Dante Taylor was there with me in the very first Dream I had. He's all right -- bit posh, but what'd you expect from an English nobleman if not posh?

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Huh. Makes you wonder what went down there. Pretty sure Taylor's been with his boyfriend for some time. I don't know the boyfriend, but I recall that Revisionist thing. A girl in town supposedly had twelve kids by the two of them.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : I honestly don't know. I don't have a program with all the players to keep track...but in other news Cris also lent Alexander his car. He and Isolde are going on a road trip to Seattle. I was going to follow along in my car just in case Alex had a wreck, but then I got a better offer. Vic is watching over the Twofer for a while Bennie and Easton go off and have a vacation, and wanted someone to keep her company. Alexander is on his own.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : So now you're the apprentice bartender and everyone but the two of you are out of town, pretty much?

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Hyacinth and I fly back in soon at least. Gotta see if you can pour a neat Glenfiddich. 😉

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Well, I'm not doing any bartending. I'm not working at the Twofer. I'm just keeping Vic company...but I will still pour you a neat Glendiffich better than you did. 😉

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : You should. Make her give you bartending lessons, I mean. It's bloody well FUN, and she's very good at it.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Meanwhile, I've been third wheel on a date over here.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : My family's house and Hyacinth Addington. They're definitely a couple now.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Maybe I will. That could be fun.

What. The architecture steal your girl?

HA! I was typiing that before you said anything

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Well, for one she's not my girl. But yes. 😆 They hit it off immediately. It's the onion turrets, man.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Pretty good trade-off for Hyacinth. Got to dodge the formal Addington brouhaha in Gray Harbor, spend the day with a house from the 1700s. I was tempted to give them a little alone time but then she and the groundskeeper started discussing the finer points of the balustrades of the main staircase and I realised that I may be a historian but I'm sure as hell not an architectural historian.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Sounds like a good time. For them. what have you been doing?

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Oh, you know, getting grilled on who's the girl, and where have you been by 850 years' worth of ancestors. The usual.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Seriously? Not much. I mean, it's good to see the place is standing and it's doing fine, but I don't live here anymore. It's a school now, it doesn't feel like home. Bit of nostalgia but, my life's on your side of the pond now. How did Vic feel about the whole being left in charge of the Twofer thing?

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Sure she'snot your girl? Sounds like your family wants it...lol. Srsly though, The woman just flew across the world at the drop of a hat to visit. Who does that? There might be somethign there.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Well, if there's something there that something will also be there when we get back to Gray Harbor and she's not dodging unwanted family expectations, so no reason to jump to conclusions. As for my family? They want me with pretty much anyone who's got a uterus, it's all about passing the name on.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Didn't really talk much about it, TBH. We, uh, had other things on our minds. The two sentences it took to talk about that portion of our night she seemed cool with it.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Other things, eh? Sounds like you managed to resolve the 'is she my girlfriend or not' bit. Well done. 😃

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : I am not putting labels on anything, so let's not dive too far down that rabbit hole other than to say I am keeping her company. See above, Alex is on his own...etc.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : She is totally cashing in the shirtless install coupon though...lol

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Yeah, I know that feeling. Don't worry, I won't start referring to her as Mrs Monaghan just yet. I have no doubt that when we get back, half the town's going to assume that Hyacinth and I are a couple. Hyacinth is the local rich heiress, half this town's jobs depend on her so obviously, people do give a few figs about what she does and doesn't. Or who.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Hah, good on her! Vic's been on her own for a while. Glad she's met someone.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Also, someone who's maybe a bit like her in some respects. I imagine it's easier when you've got a few things in common. One of the reasons I don't do relationships, really -- I'm far too much of a stray cat, I get distracted and forget everything for a week. Women want some kind of stability and attention.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Yeah, we have some things in common that likely make things a bit easier for us...you know what I mean

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Yeah.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Same for me and Hyacinth. I mean, even on a friends level. There are some aspects of her life and situation at the moment that I guess are easier for me to relate to than they might be for some. The whole The Family Is Watching thing.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Harder in some ways though. That has been one of the barriers. Feeling sometimes are a problem.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Yeah, you get it.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Doesn't make it easier when you have to negotiate what you can pretend to know or not know, I imagine. Try to keep work and private life separate, is my advice.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Yeah. Heh...ever see Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Look how well things worked out there. Not that I am saying ... You know what I mean.

Anyway, less about me. Vic gave me a nice bottle of scotch. We will have to share it.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Could share it threesome?

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Sure. Even a foursome. I'm not stingy

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : That's one thing I look forward to, getting back. Just being some guy who lives in Huckleberry. Not because Huckleberry is fantastic but because here, home? Can't stop having my name.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Hey, I'll donate a bottle too if we end up having a party. I'll even donate whiskey to Mac. After I'm done whining at her.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : I can always buy more bottles.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : We could open our own destillery.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Uh, sure. Like I know anything about distilling spirits or anything

Alexander probably knows.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : That guy knows everything

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Yeah, me either, but that's the fun part of just being the investor. You don't need to know how to do things. Just how to find people who know how to do things.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Hah. Yeah. He does.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : When you back? Tomorrow?

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Something like that. I was planning to have been back already but then, house visit. I've done everything I need to do here, should be able to handle anything from now on electronically. Meaning, if I go back to Denmark again it'll be for leisure or to meet next year's batch of students. But I don't -have- to.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Cool. Sorry you missed the party, though. As awkward as it was, it was fun. At least for me. I danced. Others had drama. I won out.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : I probably would have missed it anyway though.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : But not sorry to hear that you had fun. 😃

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Yeah, I know. Not your scene. People.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : I mean, there's a reason I always signed on for morning clean-up at the Twofer. I'm not really a party kind of guy.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Nope. I used to feel bad about it when I was younger. Now I'm just... myeah, can't do crowds, sucks. And then life goes on. Could have worse disabilities than anxiety, you know?

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Put you in a lead suit. Keep people from touching ya.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : People aren't so bad about that. It's more the attention thing. I'm fine with all the attention if I'm giving a performance as a grifter. Not so much for my own sake. That's why I decided against teaching. I don't know how the fuck you guys do it -- walk into a room in a kilt, look like you own the place.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Confidence. And good calves.

I wore a kilt again tonight. It was funny. Vic wasn't there, I asked Alexander if he had seen her. He said something about her probably coming because I was in a kilt, and I said I didn't think kilt sense was one of Vic's superpowers. Not one minute after that leave my mouth she walked in. I about died laughing inside,.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : HA

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : You've clearly got the right bait and tackle, just need to put it in the right wrapping.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : I guess! Though it made swing dancing awkward. I had to keep it tame. No high velocity moves.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Hah, I'd have liked to see that.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : I like to tease Rosencrantz that I have queer envy. Not that I want to be queer but I want his confidence. Man waltzes around town in a short dress if he wants to.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Yah, he was there tonight. I didn't get a chance to say hi. He was with de la Vega and Joe. The three of them in some kind of thing? Not that I care, just trying to put name to the players.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Wonder if Cris or Dante was a fourth, and that is why de la Vega got pissed at the proposal.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Yeah, they are. Just, because this is America and one of them is on the force, they're not officially. You know how that works.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Taylor and Cristobal are a couple as far as I am aware and have been for some time. I got yelled at by that girl that the whole rumours thing gave twelve kids by them both -- I asked how the father was doing and didn't know there were supposed to be two of them. So she thought I was talking about Cristobal while I was actually asking how Taylor was doing.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : (The twelve kids don't actually exist, obviously).

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Fair enough. Good for them. I haven't really had much interaction with Cris or Taylor. All I know is what I saw tonight. The proposal went down, de la Vega got pissed and stormed out. I'd reach out to Itz, but it's really none of my business. Probably should just stay out of it.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Honestly? I would. Stay out of it, I mean. There may be some history there that we don't know about. I'm kind of... if any of them think I need to know, or they need my shoulder to vent on, they'll let me know.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : I've never met Cristobal. I've met Taylor a few times, and I know he's a friend of Rosencrantz'. He seems like a decent bloke. Kind of high class, little finger poking out, fancy dress type, but not in the way that makes you want to strangle him with his own tie, you know?

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Yeah, I got ya. Intel can be valuable, and sometimes I need to remember I don't need it all.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : You're not alone about that.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Everything else aside, town like this, with the shit that goes down here regularly? Knowing who's who, and who can't be in the same room as who can be a matter of life and death.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Need to know whom you can leave in a room together with guns and not come back to find them shooting at each other.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Yeah. Truer than you know.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Rosencrantz said something to me a while back. It was a joke, but it's kind of not a joke. "You haven't made it in this town until people think you're sleeping with either me or de la Vega."

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Well, I guess I will never make it...lol

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : There's a load of entangled, messed-up relationship drama going down around here. I kind of tend to ignore most of it on the premise that as I haven't banged anyone, my nose is clean.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Taylor said that to me in my first week here too. People cope with the whole Gray Harbor and the Veil thing by drinking a lot and having a lot of sex.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Things get complicated sometimes.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Probably best to just assume there's some history or other and stay out of it.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : That's just life in general. But yeah, fair point.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : (Also, for the record, people assumed I was banging Rosencrantz after I'd been here, what, three weeks? I've clearly made it).

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Gray Harbor's a bit of a soap opera sometimes. But Taylor's probably right -- it's about coping mechanisms.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Lol. Well, congratulations on making it?

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Yay me.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Making it, whatever it is.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Lol.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Let's have that party when I get back. Whiskey, unhealthy food, no particular reason.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : And the only rule is, we don't talk about work.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Possibly with some target range practise where we shoot at Mac's effigy. Or at Mac.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : I'm down. All Ravn wants for x-mas is Mac duct-taped to a chair?

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Yessss. Wait. That sounds like a dirty joke in the making.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : It does sound bad. And over an open channel. You better hope nothing does happen to Mac or you might get a knock on a door.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : I'll show them the post. It explains everything.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : (I'm not actually upset, but damnit, I'm going to milk this for every bad joke I can, she's having so much fun with it).

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Well, I mean...you did pose for that damn picture. And the one with the goat. You had to have known that would come bite you on the ass...

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : LAMB.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : I didn't pose for the one with the lamb. Somebody snapped it. But, the lamb photo is also not embarrassing unless you consider being seen in a hideous sweater to be embarrassing.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Sorry, I am not a connoisseur of barnyard animals. I'll leave that to you...lol.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Yeah, me either. I like cats.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : I am more of a dog guy, but I don't have pets.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Don't imagine pets work very well with your lifestyle, no. I wasn't planning on getting a cat either, but it's more like... She took over the boat and graciously lets me pay the rent on it.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : At least a cat is more independent. I could probably have a cat if I had an autofeeder.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Yeah. I mean, I paid the kid two trailers down to go down to the marina and feed mine on the boat. Because Kitty hates the trailer and stays down there anyway.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : I was going to board her at some pet sitter but... You know, the last time somebody pissed that cat off, apparently a woman ended up dead. I'm not taking chances.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Wait, what?

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : The Veil apparently kind of copied her. Made some sort of ghost version of her. And the woman who was responsible for her kittens getting handed in to a shelter turned up in a dumpster, chewed to death by kittens. Aidan and I found her off Main Street. It was pretty... It didn't look like a good way to go.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : That's fucked up. Being devoured by cats, or anything for that matter, is not a way I would want to go.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : So I'm a little... Several mentalists in this town have assured me that my cat is just a cat, but I don't want the Veil to get ideas and make more copy cats.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : So, no pissing off Kitty Pryde.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Well of course not. You piss off Kitty Pryde you have Wolverine or Colossus on your ass, and you don't want that.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Hee hee. Well. Yeah. I just figured, I'm not going to room her with some little old lady who pet-sits cats or a shelter or whatever, come back a week later to find half of Gray Harbor on fire and the other half chewed to death, then folded up a few times to fit into a dumpster.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Sounds like a plan. That would be a problem to come back to. People wouldn't be happy. I think I am going to call it a night though. It's late here. You take care of yourself, and I will see you when you get home.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : I'll bring a few bottles tax free for the get-together. Sleep well. If Vic is sleeping next to you, drop an ice cube on her and be ready with a camera.

(TXT to Ravn) Seth : Um...no. I value my life. Night.

(TXT to Seth) Ravn : Night. 🙂