2020-12-27 - Much Ado About Nothing In Particular

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : So, has Gray Harbor burned yet?

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : ...mostly no?

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i kinda exploded a turkey

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Hey, just checking. I've had a pretty weird Christmas so far.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : You... exploded a turkey.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : yeah. that wasn't how it was meant to go.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : the cookies came out good though!

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : You're with family, or in Huckleberry?

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : well, the only family i really know is bax and he's in england and also doesn't really do christmas i dn't think? so, huckleberry. but that's cool 'cause if i was somewhere else they'd probably be pissed about the turkey thing.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : why's yours so weird?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Hah. Yeah.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Uh. I thought I was going to spend it alone too but uh. I'm still not entirely sure how it happened but I spent today watching Hyacinth Addington go on a date with my family's house.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : she's like... the tall pretty scary one with the cool leg-things? how is she dating your house? and did she just like turn up on the doorstep?

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : would turning up on the doorstep be like first base with a house?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : That's the one. Dark haired Addington heiress with chrome butt, in her own words. I slipped that the house is from the 1700s and I think they're getting engaged. 😆

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Anyhow, I had an idea while I was sitting on my arse with a bottle of whiskey in a hotel room.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i'd ask where the wedding's gonna be but i can prolly guess. i think other people have married the berlin wall and hte eiffle tower though so it's not unheard of!

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : what kinda idea?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Hey, I wish them the best. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Anyhow, idea.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I'm thinking about maybe not staying in Huckleberry indefinitely. I mean, it's been OK but if I'm going to live in GH on a more permanent basis, I want somewhere I can drop books and not worry about somebody eating them by accident.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i mean it's still gonna be gray harbor

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : ...it is, right?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Yes, yes. Just, maybe somewhere slightly more permanent.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Except, I actually plan to kind of live on my bloody boat most of the year, as much as I can -- but I need somewhere I can stash books and such. So I'm thinking of maybe renting some place that isn't on wheels.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : But since I will be on my boat a lot -- I was also thinking of maybe renting it with somebody.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i guess most harbory things would probably be eating them on purpose anyway. okay, so, that makes sense. but-- yeah I was about to ask about the boat thing.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : So I guess I'm asking if you'd be interested in something like that. I mean, the perk for you would be that when your girl comes over, odds are you can have the place to yourself most nights.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i mean you could always stash books here if you wanted, it's not that crowded.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : ohhhhh

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I don't want to rent or buy an entire house to just myself.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : huh! that could be kind of cool. i mean i like my trailer a lot? but it's kinda, i dunno. just me is weird.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : It's not an 'answer this second or the offer is off the table' idea.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i'm pretty sure i can't afford anywhere else totally but i could maybe do half of somewhere. though that seems maybe not fair if you're not even living there half the time? but yeah, i don't hate that idea, I'll think about it. would it have a fireplace? 🔥

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I can afford it. I mean, we could do a trade-off. I pay the rent but you make sure to feed me. 😉 It's not so much a money issue for me as it's a have somewhere I feel ok with. And someone I feel ok with.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : If it doesn't have a fireplace we could get one of those small ones that run on alcohol -- not sure what you call 'em in this silly language, but they can kind of go in a living room and don't actually need a chimney

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : that's basically what mine is except it's not alcohol so that's cool! and definitely i can feed you. i promise almost nothing i make explodes!

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Turkeys may be up for negotiation. 😆

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I guess we can both keep an eye out for some place. I know there are houses for rent and purchase on Elm that might be worth looking at, and Itzhak mentioned something about someone he knew having a nice basement for rent as well. He used to live there. I don't want to end up somewhere I feel like I need to wear a tie to cross the parking lot, you know?

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i might not be very good at turkeys

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Look at it this way. You exploded a turkey. If it'd been me cooking, the turkey would have exploded me.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : yeah elm has some pretty nice places! also i dunno how much those new a-frame places are but they look cool and aren't, like, huge. though. i dunno how many books you have.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : okay i definitely won't let you be the one to try it next time

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : that'd be a lot harder to clean up and also more of a bummer

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : A metric buttload, but I don't intend to bring my entire collection. Just, some of my books would be an arsepain to replace, and -- people do keep telling me to not have anything even worth looking at twice in Huckleberry. I'm not talking first edition Hamlet folios here, but university text books are kind of expensive.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i mean even if i could still fix it right away exploding really hurts. also being exploded on. do not recommend.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I... kind of don't want to try it?

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i don't think most of the people here who'd steal the stuff would go for the books. i mean i wouldn't've and i even read stuff. but still, more things explode here than average and sometimes something floods, i can see that trailer not being best for them.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : But I figure that if we can find somewhere with two bedrooms, a bath and a kitchen, and some kind of communal living room -- neither of us are the kind of people who need huge amounts of stuff.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i have living room furniture!

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Yeah. I will need those books since I'm stepping up tutoring a lot now that I don't work at the Twofer anymore.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : well, you know that. but yeah. who're you tutoring? people over at the college?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Some college students, yes, but mostly veterans. People who are being put through university by the state to help them reintegrate in society -- but since most of them came home pretty messed up, they need some hand holding.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : that's pretty cool. they're college student too though then, yeah? are they studying folklore?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : History. Folklore's my special field, but I tutor history in general. My vets don't really need a specialist -- what they need is someone to gently nudge them in the right direction and help them stay focused. They have lectures and textbooks over here in Denmark for the specifics of whatever era they pursue. But a lot of them struggle with keeping a clear overview and concentrating for long.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : A lot of them struggle with insomnia as well, and it actually helps that a lot of correspondence is in email and chats where they can read back. So it's actually not a bad thing that I'm on US time.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : OH you're tutoring people over there! i thought like, hoquiam. or however you spell it. yeah, the time would be weird otherwise, like i know england's i think 8 hours ahead? so denmark's gotta be close to that. what time is it there?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Yeah, I'm nine hours into the future from you and sitting in a hotel room in my home town while Hyacinth is in the room next door, doing whatever American heiresses do when they're stuck in nowhere, Europe. 😆

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I think she had a field day. And I came to the realisation that I definitely don't know enough about architecture to keep up with her.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : now i'm wondering what american heiresses do do.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : also i don't think i even know what i don't know about architecture

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : everything?

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : maybe she's also drinking whiskey and texting people

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : though

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : probably not about maybe being roommates somewhere

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : No, that's what -I- am doing.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : how do you know she isn't also though? did you take all the whiskey? 'cause, rude.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Even though I'm pretty certain I'm not an American heiress.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : it'd be a really good disguise

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I don't think I can achieve the required levels of imperious. Hyacinth's great company but holy heck, I'm glad I'm not her PA. She tried to get her PA to fly over here too, in case we needed somebody to cook. I'm amazed the PA hasn't murdered her. Although I suspect that the PA just rolls her eyes a lot and goes 'no, boss lady' in a patient voice.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i was about to say i don't even know what you do with a pa but i guess you ask them to come cook things for you in europe

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Beats me, I never had one. It's a kind of glorified secretary and personal shopper, I think?

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : if i had a personal assistant i'd probably just learn to cut them in half.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : To be honest, my mother had one. And this is probably why I am a little biased. It's kind of... I'm pretty sure that Hyacinth Addington actually does bust her backside running the family business, and that she probably needs someone to handle some of the practical stuff but her, but on some level, I can't help think 'bloody rich people manners'. Which is probably a bit unfair.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i wonder how you end up being one? like does anyone say 'i wanna be a personal assistant' when they get asked as a kid? but it could maybe be kind of cool if you were helping someone interesting do something interesting, right?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I'm pretty certain that it's a job you apply for, like anything else. A kind of glorified secretary? Probably something you get headhunted for by some recruitment agency... To be honest, I've never even thought about it. Remind me and I can ask Hyacinth sometime where she found one -- except that she'll probably start sending me names if -I- want one. 😆

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : (To be honest, I like the idea of just cutting them in half better. That's such a neat trick).

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : if the pa did come cook you guys dinner you think hyacinth would've paid for the flight and hotel and stuff? 'cause if so i could see someone being down with that kinda thing. like, i'd do that, prolly. though i think i'd be crap at the proper secretary stuff. i dunno how great i'd be at the cooking either really but i can make chicken parmesan!

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : ...it totally is a neat trick though, yeah. also levitating. i'd levitate 'em too.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Yeah, she offered. But oddly enough, the PA wanted to spend Christmas with her family. 😆

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : oh right, i guess there's that

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I'm told it's a thing normal people do. And then there's folks like us, eh? How about once I get back, we get our butts together sometime, go out somewhere with good food and act like we're totally not jealous of people with happy family lives?

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : think she'd've said yes if it was like, late feb or something?

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : ha yes. i like that plan. which we totally are not.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Well, if it was late February, this might have been a chance to go to Europe and do weird things. I have no idea how often Hyacinth goes to Europe but to most of us, at least, hopping continents is still kind of a big deal? I know it still is to ME.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : But speaking of, how's you? Got a chance to Skype or Facetime with Baylee at least?

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i haven't even hopped countries except once the theatre bus got lost and we ended up in mexico for like an hour, i think. so yeah!

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I was -planning- to end up in Mexico and then head further south but eh...

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I mean, my idea was basically, head south until I hit the end of Tierra del Fuego, then find a boat.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : and yeah we got to talk for a little. she kinda doesn't love having to do the family holiday stuff also. but yeah, we did and i got fresh cookies and a sammich and there's that puppet rudolph movie on so i'm good! though i mean i've got cookies and trippy tv so i might smoke up maybe. but i prolly won't be less good then if i do so!

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : where would you go from there? like... isn't it just penguins from there? though actually that'd kinda kick ass, they're cool.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Oh yeah. Baylee's one of those stuffy European aristos too, I forgot that. Poor girl.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Yeah. Next stop McMurdo Base and then New Zealand. Could be interesting? But I guess plans changed, and I'm not really unhappy about that. It's a different kind of country I'm exploring now -- instead of geography I'm learning people.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : heh, yeah. i think her dad's a baron or something? she's 'the honorable' which is kinda funny. i mean not that she's *dis*honorable just, it's a funny thing to be officially labeled whether you are or not.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : people are cool and interesting. and there's a lot more of them than geography. i think.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : The Honorable is the British way of saying noble but not of a direct line, yes. So she's not the heir, or if she is, she does not have the right to use her father's title while he's still alive (that varies a bit).

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : (It's still all very silly).

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : isn't that pretty much always a boy thing? where the titles go? she's like middle kid anyway so...

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i think she's glad though. she doesn't really like that stuff. or she wouldn't've ended up over here being a pi.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : which is cool.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : No -- depending on when and where, the title passes via primogeniture. That means, the oldest son -- but if there is no oldest son, then the oldest daughter. There were pretty complex inheritance laws about this back in the day (and probably still are in England because they love this stuff). Here, it all got abolished in 1849. The title passes to the oldest child (either gender).

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : (Don't get a historian started on this kind of thing)

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : ok that's interesting though. i guess it makes sense to have rules so people aren't fighting but like what if the oldest one's really bad at... i dunno, whatever baron stuff is, and one of the others'd be really good at it?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : All that stuff is just business these days. Aristocrats aren't rulers. So it's like any other company, I suppose -- if the guy with the trust fund is an idiot you hope that the guy who actually runs the show isn't. A bit like the Addingtons in Gray Harbor -- Hyacinth runs most of her business hands-on, some of the others have probably never opened a ledger. Then or now, the whole idea that someone's parentage makes him more or less suited to run as much as a newspaper stand is pretty idiotic.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : seem like it would've been a better idea for them to change it back when they actually were in charge of stuff...

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Imagine if people got hired for jobs based on their actual credentials.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Anyway, job for you. Find a restaurant within an hour's drive of home that you want to go play 'we're totally not jealous of happy Christmas family lives' in. And decide whether you want anyone else along. We'll bloody well pout and eat all the -- whatever is served at the place you pick. 😃

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : if people got hired for jobs based on their actual credentials i'd be... what i am probably! unless there's a job somewhere making things be on fire maybe? so... any kind of restaurant? no preferences or anything? i mean aside from within an hour drive.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I think jobs setting things on fire probably mostly come in garbage disposal.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : that'd make sense. or undertaking. or maybe firefighter training?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : But no, well, actually, yes. One preference. No snails or frogs. I'm picky about those.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I think firefighters are supposed to stop fires, not start them. 😆

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : yeah but they have to train on something right?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Riiiight. That's it! We'll open an agency for firefighters and policemen in training. First we steal their wallets, then we set their trucks on fire -- and tell them to deal with it, it's all training.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : snails and frogs are french, right? pretty sure i could avoid that. though they 'd also have other things, probably. not like, steve's snail shack or something. snail chateau? escargot chateau. if someone wants to start a fast food snail place i think i just named it. but i like your plan better. we can use our powers for good!

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I'm pretty sure French restaurants offer other food, yes 😆 Hell, Sitka's a French restaurant and I had excellent duck there the one time I went.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i haven't actually gone there but sometime i will. 'cause piano bar sounds fun sometime. also, ducks are assholes and i'm pretty sure some of them were stalking me for a while last year.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : If you go, go sometime Itzhak Rosencrantz is performing. Seriously. I went this one time and I swear, half the audience wanted to drag him out back and hump his leg. The man is amazing with an audience.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i mean it's a pretty good leg. but noted, okay. he was really good on the beach.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : And there he was just playing. Should see him performing. I'm not joking about that -- they were staring at him like they wanted to bend him over their posh little tables. He came over to my table for the break and if eyes could kill, I'd have been a pin cushion.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i dunno, that could be dangerous. i mean baylee's been away kinda a long time... 🤔 nah, that must have been impressive tho. okay, i'll try and make it be a time he's playing there, then.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Don't worry, it's not cheating if you end up in hospital after fighting half of Gray Harbor's self proclaimed upper class. I think.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : technically it's not cheating anyway 'cause reasons but i kinda think really she'd rather i didn't so. also now i'm imagining like thunderdome in tuxes and ballgowns and using like those little forks for seafood and stuff as weapons. might be lucky to make it to the hospital.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Well, yeah, nothing is cheating if everyone involved is cool with it, I suppose. I was just picturing the ensuing fight. No one actually fought anyone that night but yeah. There were definitely people in the audience who would have loved to fork me in the eye for him spending the break at my table. Can we make seafood thunderdome a thing? Oh wait. I already did. Two lobsters enter! One lobster leaves!

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : do you give the lobsters little forks? they'd be like baby crustacean tridents.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Well.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Okay, so that one time I talked to Easton Marshall for more than just hi bye at the Twofer. He suggested pocket knives and duct tape.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : If I look shifty now... it's for a reason.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : did you try it?😆

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : :picture of lobster in combat gear consisting of a duct taped Swiss army knife and a little US flag on a match stick taped on its back:

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Look, the Revisionist made this happen. And I can't make it stop happening. So if I'm doing this, I'm bloody well making it absurd.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i mean... i feel a little bad 'cause lobsters are cool and it probably sucks for them. but i do also eat them when someone goes hey here's some lobster you can eat so... ahahaha that is awesome. i think the forks would be good though!

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i have a shirt with lobsters on it

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I felt bad at first. I don't much care for animal abuse.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Then I realised that there is no way I can stop this. I tried. I closed the bets down. I hid the lobsters. I announced no more fights. And people just kept coming and bringing their own bloody crustaceans.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : it's a thing now.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : it's weird to think about having that kind of power.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : In its own way this story is just as persistent as the Swedish chef one. I can't make it not happen. But I can turn it into something silly where we make the lobsters run around and act silly for a bit. They can't actually fight. Whichever lobster leaves the combat area first gets tossed in the cooking pot. Which is still kind of nasty but also exactly what would happen to it in a restaurant.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : like, just... this thing should be like this now, and then it is.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Yeah.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I don't like the animal fighting part. But oddly, this thing makes a lot of people in Gray Harbor happy. They're very into their bets and their crustacean blood lines and what do I know.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : And I figure... The Swedish chef story, that really hurt people.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : This just makes me look ridiculous.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i wonder how people got picked? like i don't think anything changed for me. but yeah i see your point. and i mean. lobsters are delicious.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I have no idea. It wasn't due to being Somebody locally. I'd been in town for two weeks. I knew like ten people.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : something about you must've caught their eye. if they have eyes. think they have eyes?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Probably just the obvious joke -- hey, he's Scandinavian, he must be like the muppet. You know, I have no idea. I wouldn't be surprised -- I've seen one of them. The Exorcist? She looked like a middle-aged lady escaped from an eighties movie.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : could be worse, it coulda made you sound like the muppet. bork bork bork. i mean presumably it coulda. ...i think i've seen her too. briefly.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i think maybe i saw her die

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Oh?

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : but maybe not? it was when the ferris wheel collapsed

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I saw her in Addington House, arguing with Thorne and his fiancee and a ghost who was very pissed at them. Clayton and I pretty much just stood there and looked confused at each other.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : what was she arguing about? though i guess if i was a ghost i might be pissed at an exorcist too

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : shit, i wonder if you can just like call her up to get rid of ghosts?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : It's complicated. Not as in I won't tell you but as in, I didn't catch half of it. Apparently, Thorne's fiancee -- Lilith, don't know her last name -- borrowed or stole or somehow acquired the ghost's wedding dress. And it wants its dress back.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : huh, okay. but what's a ghost going to do with a dress anyway?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Probably nothing, but traditionally, ghosts do get very upset if you take something that they feel belongs to them. Cue all the stories about disturbed graves, Indian burial sites, and so on. Gray Harbor runs on stories, have you noticed?

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : okay, true i guess. and... maybe? some things seem really storyish but others not so much. like gilligan's island is a story of a bunch of stories but a monster made of half the cast throwing exploding gingers at people...?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Some of the more modern stories fall outside the parameters a little because they are deliberately constructed to surprise and mystify an audience. But the older, more archetypical stuff? If you find yourself in a red hooded cape in the woods and you run into a talking wolf, you know what to do.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : compliment it on the size of its features, get eaten, and wait for a woodsman to show up?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Don't forget to ask why its mouth is so big, but basically, yes. Go find the guy with the axe. Fast. Brain it with the basket and the wine bottle if you can't.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Every dream I've had but the last one has been some kind of familiar story. That last one was admittedly more straight on violence.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : can i just try talking to it first and see if it might be okay with not trying to eat me? and then i guess set its fur on fire if it won't stop trying to kill me 'cause being friendly doesn't work so much as you might kinda wish. 😕 sometimes though.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : what was the last one?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Last one was a mess. Got sucked into some guy's power fantasy about building creatures out of flesh and having them eat each other. So there's me, Clayton and Monaghan, armed with Monaghan's firearm and a bic pen. I mean, we managed, but I'll admit, the part where the guy landed a meat cleaver in my arm was not the best part of the experience.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : having them eat each other. k yeah that's some fucked up shit. another messed up thing is i can't actually be sure taking a meat cleaver to the arm was the worst part of the experience.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : ... Maybe the worst part of the experience was trying to get all that blood out of my hair and my leather jacket.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i mean sometimes getting hurt bad is but other times...

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : your arm is okay now though? someone healed it?

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : 'cause if not and you didn't come here imma be kinda mad.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Oh no. I'm not one of those people who get off on getting hurt. And yes, it's all right. Monaghan heals, as it turns out. Probably would have had to hit the ER if he had not been there. Going to have a nice scar but that's all right -- not like I usually walk around showing off my skin anyhow.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Like I'd forget that you heal. Just, it was a bit of a rush job. As in, well, either somebody heals this just about NOW, or I'm calling an ambulance because I'm losing a lot of blood here.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : oh ha no i didn't mean like that, i mean... like the worst part might've been having to see how he got the flesh or built with it or what he was making them do or how someone was screaming or, you know, things.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : but good. i'm glad someone there could do it!

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Oh yes. That was pretty bad. But not as bad as it could have been because we knew it was a fantasy. Those bodies were not real. He was getting off on the fantasy. That was pretty damned terrible but still, fantasy. No worse than playing a very, very realistic first person shooter game -- at least not until he went for me.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : yeah that helps. not-real, i mean.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i'm sorry you had to deal with that

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : It's life around here, isn't it?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I don't mean to sound like I have the emotional depth of a saucer, just -- it is how it is. If I was going to have a breakdown about it, I should probably stay over here where there are no or few thin points.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : yeah, but i mean, people we care about dying is life too and that doesn't mean it doesn't kinda suck and it doesn't kinda help to have people acknowledge that now and then, yeah?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Yeah. It's all about having each other's backs and trying to just -- make things as good as we can. But it's also about maybe accepting that we've made a choice to stick around when we could leave. I'm not saying we're all macho men who need to pretend we have no emotions and are never affected. Just maybe, save the dramatics for when we actually can't cope with the things that happen. I mean, some of them are pretty damn bad.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i don't think sorry you had to deal with that is all that dramatic?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : It isn't. I'm an idiot about emotions.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : That one's on me. I'm not very good at accepting the idea that someone might feel sorry for me or worry about me. I never know what to reply.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i usually end up saying, like, thanks, it did kinda suck or you know it actually wasn't as bad as you'd think or i think i'm gonna try and not do that again or... i dunno, i never really thought about what i say before. huh. i mean we do get weirdly kinda used to the stuff that goes on but not... always?

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : and we mostly don't wanna make trouble for our friends or worry them or anything. like, i don't. but i guess part of having each other's backs and trying to make things goodish is things like yelling at people for not getting us to come heal bad stuff and things like that. i got that one a couple times.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Will it be all right if I promise that I'll not be shy about asking you for help if I need it? Because trying to be all manly and heroic while bleeding to death just sounds profoundly stupid to me.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : yeah that'd be good. the asking, not the bleeding manfully.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : You'd find out anyway. I mean, if we end up as roomies. I'd have to go bleed really quietly on the back door step or something.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : now i'm thinking about bleeding loudly and all my brain is giving me is like a firehose of blood out of someone's arm or something and no thank you.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : also you'd have to clean up all the blood from the back doorstep too or i'd find out anyway

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Oh, I got some practise with that lately, I came out of that dream -drenched-

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : and trying to mop or something while bleeding out is just not gonna be worth it

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : yeah that happens. was it all yours?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Thank god, no. Most of it was dream stuff. Like, the factory we were in, everything was covered in blood. Very cinematic. The walls were sticky.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : it's weird how sometimes stuff comes back that kinda isn't real

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : But you know how these powers are. I'm the guy who can move tiny things. The other two assholes? They don't. So guess which two guys walked out sparkly clean, and who walked out looking like an extra from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : ...huh. i don't remember ever coming out clean from that kinda thing and i think i only learned to move stuff last year. i wonder what that means?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Beats me. It's the explanation I got. That neither Clayton or Monaghan are movers but I am, and that's why I brought this stuff back and they didn't. Maybe you always had the potential?

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i guess maybe! that'd be kinda weird. like what else don't i know i can do then?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Well, can you play a musical instrument? Because if you can, you can find out how you do with calming anxiety attacks. I want to get better at playing with others.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i dunno! i don't have a violin or guitar or anything lying around. do drums count? 'cause i have pots and spoons and i think my rhythm is kinda okay, i could try that. or i can look for something around. 'cause i'd like to play an instrument i think. ...fwiw i know i'm okay at calming anxiety attacks, though, i've done that. so i can do that again if you need it!

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : ... I may actually ask you for that sometime.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : And drums are definitely musical instruments. You can have rock and roll without a violin but try your luck at it without percussion.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : any time 💙 ...and yeah but is cookware? i guess it depends what kinda sounds happen if i hit 'em. we can find out!

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I think there are practise sets that people use to learn basic rythm which don't make much sound but... I'd go right to the drums if I were you? If we're getting a place -- I for one would not object to drums in the living room. I like the idea of a place looking like people actually live there and use it.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : there might be some at one of the thrift stores. i'll go look! also if we are don't worry, i'm not really good at making a place look like i don't live there.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Good, because I'm bad at it. I've never actually made somewhere look like I lived there. I had a dorm room with another guy when I studied in Copenhagen but I let him handle everything of that nature -- he was really big on photography so he just plastered everything in black and white photos of flowers and it was actually kind of neat.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : can i paint on the walls? i guess partly that depends on whoever it's getting rented from. but i mean if they don't care.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Assuming that it's all right, why not? You're the artistically inclined person. Could ask Bax if he wants in or has a few ideas too?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I come from a very conservative background where everything looks like it's either top notch European design or hasn't changed since 1930. -Please- make things more interesting.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : oooh. yeah, he's really really good.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I can clean up paint spills.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i can make them look like elephants? cleaning them up is probably better.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : The more we talk about this, the more excited I get. Drum set in the living area, mural walls... I think at thirty, a guy is supposed to start thinking in terms of picket fences and suburbia. Maybe I'm just having my midlife crisis early. Let me go sign a really bad deal on a sports car and a blonde while we're at it?

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : man i really hope you're aiming to hit more than 60. and not in the sports car. though at least buying one of those is legal?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Well, if I get my midlife crisis done with at 30 it means I can be grampa on the porch with the shotgun and the rock salt for 50 years. I can think of worse fates.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : okay so we need to get somewhere with a porch and knd of a long way from there to the sidewalk

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Aw, spoil my fun, wontcha.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : actually we should anyway 'cause i like my porch

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I'll talk to Rosencrantz about the place he thinks would be great -- and if it isn't, maybe we'll look into one of those smaller places in the Elm area? If we do end up with a spare room somewhere, I suppose we can always give Kitty Pryde her own.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : or we can call it the music room. or let people stay there if they don't have somewhere. oh. that's okay if i still let people crash on the couch right?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Would be a bit hypocritical of me to say no, wouldn't it? 😄 But yeah, if we end up somewhere with a spare room, we make a guest room. Sounds like a plan.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Besides, it's not like either of us are putting up a game rig worth a fortune, or parking some fancy-ass car for someone to steal.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : well depends whether you get that sports car i guess!

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Oh, I think that if I get it because of a midlife crisis I am contractually obligated to either crash it or watch the blonde that I got at the same time steal it and disappear. Parking won't be an issue. -sagenod-

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : theft is probably safer than crashing and maybe better on insurance?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : (I AM thinking of getting a car. But, you know, maybe not a Maserati).

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Let's do this. It sounds like fun. The kind of fun where we can hang out but we're not effectively married. I warn you, I sit up late at night to skype with Danish people, but I will do it in my own room. 😉

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i think effectively married would mean i had to bleach my hair so i'm good with this. also sometimes i'm up really late or early too but i'm pretty good at beig quiet usually. maybe not if i take up drums.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I play the violin. I can fight back.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I have catgut and I'm not afraid to use it.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : (Please don't tell my cat).

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : armed and dangerous

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : All strung up.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : maybe more to cats than i realised

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Bow at the ready.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : fiddle primed

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Taking notes.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : maybe i'm thinking the wrong way and should be aiming us at sax and violins?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : You should play whatever instrument speaks to you. 😃

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : (unless it says HELP HELP GET ME AWAY FROM THIS MANIAC I'LL DO ANYTHING)

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : when i spoke as an instrument i think it was an oboe

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I like oboes very much as it happens. I might have tried my luck at them if not for asthma. I mean, I can't play a wind instrument.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : those look complicated though. also pricey. but i guess if one shows up at goodwill or something...

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I think the main problem with the oboe might be finding a teacher in Gray Harbor to get you started?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Though I suppose the basics for wind instruments are all the same but still. A recorder ain't an oboe ain't a sax.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : oh yeah, that too. i think drums are probably easier to figure out.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I actually ... don't know. Which instruments are harder, I mean.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I didn't pick the violin -- my mother did. She just wanted to show me off to tennis club. But I realised I liked it so I never stopped.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i mean being good at the drums might be hard, i dunno. but sorta the basics, i feel like i could prolly work out on my own.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i'm glad it turned out you liked violining

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Drums are mainstream enough that you can probably find a metric buttloads of tutorials and videos online to save you on tutoring.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : also that!

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : And maybe have someone who plays help you out but do most of the hard work yourself.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I guess it also depends on ambition -- I mean, if you want to be the next big thing then you probably do need a lot of lessons, but playing for fun should be -- well, fun.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i find that logic difficult to argue with

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i don't exactly do ambition so i oughta be set

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Yeah, same.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I can definitely run you through the basics of music theory if you want, regardless of instrument. Should warn you I'm classically trained though.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i don't even know what music theory is if it's not like, some things sound better than others and also sometimes you can soothe a savage beast, so probably how you're trained isn't gonna be a problem? actually i dunno enough about it to even be sure about that i guess.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Naw, it just means I can get carried off with the mathematics, so to speak. Where someone with a more rock'n roll background will probably tell you to go with the feels, man.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : wait do i have to do math higher than counting? i mean i probably can, just, i didn't think i might have to brush up on algebra or something.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : For classical music, kind of. But, no. The basics aren't that complicated. And I'm tempted to argue that millions of garage bands, including a certain local one that made it rather big in the 90s, did not study musical theory before they went out and got things done.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : :gif of baby swimming after a dollar bill, like a certain album cover from the 90s:

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : is there such a thing as grunge violin?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : If there isn't, there needs to be one.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : My next project. Smells like Teen Spirit, on the violin. Won't be hard to play in itself but I may have to make some rearrangements to get the full sound experience instead of just sounding sort of weird.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i can try to figure out what all the actual lyrics are...

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Preeeeetty sure those are available on the internet but deciphering them might be fun.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Polly wants a craaacker... or is that another one? I don't remember. I was a toddler when that was on the top charts.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : that's another one, i listened to a lot of radio when i was driving places

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I'm more of a folk/blues man, I admit it.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i can definitely sing something that sounds like what he's saying for most of those! just i dunno how close i actually am. especially 'cause on the bus with the theatre trying to convince people what parts of nirvana songs were was kind of a thing. checking not allowed.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : ... Wasn't there a Weird Al parody where he just yelled yada yada a lot?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Well, this is clearly a thing now. We are making a drums/violin Nirvana cover band.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : do you have an electric violin?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Maybe we could make one.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Although the idea would probably cause Itzhak Rosencrantz to convulse.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : that's too bad 'cause he'd probably have a better idea how to do it than i do. i mean cars have a lot of electric stuff.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Let's ask him. 😆

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : plan 😃

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : we can bring pillows

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : just in case

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I'll bring the first aid kit, then we ask about basement apartments and electric violins. It's a deal.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i'll bring cookies. unless i eat them all first. but i can make more!

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : We tie him to a chair and make him agree to our demands. Only, expect BDSM jokes because this is Rosencrantz.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i was a techie for a theatre group for like years. i can def handle that.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : also i have lots of duct tape

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : ... Keep this up, he may never leave.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : well not if we bring enough duct tape

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Right. So that's another house rule. No duct taping the guests unless you also feed them and clean their cages later.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i'll also take them for walks, promise

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : You know. Between the inevitable gossip about me and Hyacinth Addington, and now you want to keep Itzhak Rosencrantz on a leash... Let's just accept it, our reputation is shot.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i dunno if i had one to start with! So you're definitely not gonna start a throuple with Hyacinth and the house, then? i figure i better get my gossip straight early.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : 🤣 I'm pretty certain she's not shopping around for an admirer. You know that according to the Revisionist and the rest of the world she's married, right?

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : is she?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Nope. The supposed husband -- Justin, something, not sure of his last name -- lives with his girlfriend, Dahlia Evergreen, I think you know her.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : oh yeah, i know her. kittens.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Yeah.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Strange it may sound we just have a lot of background in common. It makes it easy to talk about some things. And there's a lot of overlap between architecture and history so we do tend to geek out.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : so... why should she be pretending to be married to someone who isn't also pretending it's true exaclty?

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : She is not pretending. It's like that whole Swedish chef thing -- people believe it, no matter what she does (or, I presume, the guy does). Just like I train combat lobsters, pretty much whether I want to or not. When people still thought I was Swedish, I had someone in the GHPD run a background check on me, and sure enough, people I literally grew up with were ready to swear that I was Swedish. It's pretty hard to unravel.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : that's cool that you have a lot of that stuff to geek out about though. i mean i bet most of it's interesting but like i'd just probably be nodding and going 'oh hey that's pretty cool' so not exactly the same thing.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : You and I geek out about magic though. 😆

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : okay but... it isn't stopping Justin and Dahlia, right? so why not just say whatever and do what she wants? if they can't get the revisionist to change it can't they just say they separated or at least are poly or something?

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : and yeah that's true. 😆🎩🐇✨

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : I don't know Hyacinth Addington -that- well, but I am pretty certain that if she did in fact want some bloke in her life that way, she'd inform him of the new status quo and reality would just have to fix itself and get on board with it. She's rather... strong willed.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : ha. what'd you do if she informed you then?

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i need to know whether any place we get needs a place to hide you

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : ... Uh. That's... actually not something I'd considered. I'm not really the kind of guy women chase around, you know?

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : well what you said sounds less chase and more capture

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : You know what I mean.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : i'm kinda surprised if people aren't interested in you that way

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Well, if they are, they don't bother me with it, which I suppose works out pretty well. I have been told a few times I'm pretty oblivious. And I don't do casual hook-ups so it's not something I really spend a lot of time considering, to be honest.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : well i'm just saying... if you think that's what she'd do you maybe oughta get around to considering it just in case. 'cause if it's not a thing cool no problem, but if it was it'd be easier knowing what you'd do. like for a shark attack. except probably 'yeah i could go with that' isn't one of the shark attack options.

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Huh. Well. Never say never, I suppose. I think -- sometimes people are a little too eager to see things that aren't there, or maybe not give them enough time to grow. I've been in one relationship that went terrifically bad because while we were definitely into our respective ideas about the other person, we didn't actually know each other. I think that if I'm to fall for someone again, I need to be their friend first. That make sense?

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : oh yeah definitely. plus i mean worst case with being friends with people first you get a friend

(TXT to Aidan) Ravn : Definitely. 😀 You're not the first to ask, though, and you won't be the last, either.

(TXT to Ravn) Aidan : yeah, prolly not. you should probably stop bogarting all the whiskey though even for friends.