2021-01-27 - The Small Hours

(TXT to Ravn) August : hey. how you holding up. that second hit you took looked bad.

(TXT to August) Ravn : I'm getting all the fun feel-good drugs. And all the anti-anxiety drugs too because I bloody well hate hospitals. How are you? I sort of missed the last bit of the party, I think.

(TXT to Ravn) August : not great. they patched me up.

(TXT to Ravn) August : (...) [for some time]

(TXT to August) Ravn : Honestly not quite sure why I figured I was supposed to follow de la Vega and his people in there but uh.

(TXT to August) Ravn : Hey, I have enough lead for a pair of earrings now. Silver linings?

(TXT to Ravn) August : your friends were in danger and you wanted to be there for them. that's as good a reason as any.

(TXT to Ravn) August : are you really going to keep it and make earrings

(TXT to August) Ravn : ... I don't think I am. For one, I don't wear earrings.

(TXT to August) Ravn : Also, when I said I'd decided to stay and I was probably going to die in Gray Harbor? I DIDN'T MEAN RIGHT THIS WEEK

(TXT to Ravn) August : I'm not judging. some people do that sort of thing and I try not to judge how people cope.

(TXT to Ravn) August : this place is good about taking that kind of thing literally, be more careful IMO.

(TXT to August) Ravn : I'll be ok. First time I've been shot but not the first time I've seen people try to kill each other.

(TXT to August) Ravn : Mostly annoyed that I'm running out of reasons to not carry a bloody piece.

(TXT to Ravn) August : it's better you weren't awake much for the rest. itzhak was in a bad way. the...ringleader, whatever his name is, he started hammering on people's emotions until Thorne blocked the room so our powers went away

(TXT to August) Ravn : Bloody hell. Is Rosencrantz ok?

(TXT to August) Ravn : Reyes, his name is Reyes. Was Reyes? I hope it's was Reyes.

(TXT to Ravn) August : it wouldn't have helped with this. too many innocent people. it's better to have something like a knife, and use movement.

(TXT to Ravn) August : is. not for lack of trying, but they took him in.

(TXT to August) Ravn : Yeah. Uh. Sorry about your petunias.

(TXT to Ravn) August : and itzhak should be okay. got him stabilized. and if I have to spend a week being hammered on by Them because I come by every day and heal him well I'll do it and he doesn't get a vote.

(TXT to Ravn) August : it was for a good cause, no apologies needed

(TXT to August) Ravn : Good. I'd kind of miss the asshole.

(TXT to Ravn) August : ha. I'm telling him you said that.

(TXT to Itzhak) August : when you wake up: ravn called you an asshole.

(TXT to August) Ravn : I call him an asshole to his face all the time. Have you noticed? He's kind of an asshole. 😆

(TXT to Ravn) August : eh, once you get to know him he's not so bad

(TXT to August) Ravn : On the contrary. I got to know him, then he got bad. Jokes aside, guy's probably the best friend I've had, and I'd be severely pissed if the Them got him.

(TXT to August) Ravn : Pawn shop lady looked like she took a bad turn too. Half the town's in here with me, aren't they.

(TXT to Ravn) August : pretty much. Lil should be okay too. eventually. and this wasn't Them, just good ol' fashioned asshole people being assholes. at least, I don't think Reyes is in league with Them.

(TXT to August) Ravn : I have Opinions and Theories about that. But nothing solid.

(TXT to Ravn) August : oh?

(TXT to August) Ravn : Just that I am 110% convinced that They nourish and encourage people who are capable of batting against the team like that.

(TXT to August) Ravn : So, no, he's probably not on the payroll but I bet he's wondered sometimes why his power works better when he's screwing someone over.

(TXT to Ravn) August : that I could believe. or...I think Alexander told me this, or maybe it was Gina. that people like Reyes, because they're causing pain and harm, aren't harassed by Them. we are.

(TXT to August) Ravn : Yeah, they get a free pass as a minimum. Did Clayton tell you about our friend Dan?

(TXT to Ravn) August : doesn't ring a bell

(TXT to August) Ravn : Dan liked to go out in his shed and paint horribly gory pictures. Clayton was investigating him for the wife who thought he had a porn nest or something out there. Turns out the other side was grooming him for some sick-ass serial killer fantasy.

(TXT to August) Ravn : Dan's the guy who put a meat cleaver in my arm. I should feel honoured, I got to be his first actual human instead of dream construct.

(TXT to Ravn) August : ugh. please tell me that's dealt with.

(TXT to August) Ravn : It's dealt with. Clayton treated him to some rather off label mental therapy. All three of us are watching the guy but he seems to be sticking to the straight and narrow.

(TXT to August) Ravn : But the whole thing kind of confirmed my theory that the Them encourage that kind of thing. And why not? It makes the harvest easier, we do the work ourselves. It's another reason I want to look into doing something about the homeless population around here.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : When you grow eyes, tell me you're ok. Røn tells me you're in a state. Asshole.

(TXT to Ravn) August : we definitely do need to do something about that, and other, similar issues. because They feed off all of it, and for whatever reason They're thick on the ground here.

(TXT to Ravn) August : not sure if it's us, or the Other Side being so close, or what.

(TXT to August) Ravn : Pretty sure the Them draw them here just like the rest of us. Got shine, creativity, some darkness? Come on over. Just, we don't keep proper track of the homeless and the mentally ill so we don't actually notice how they're basically Veil fuel. I've been talking with de Santos about it some -- maybe try to look into some kind of community centre, help people help themselves thing. Also, how come I'm better at texting full sentences and long messages when I'm stoned on painkillers? I haven't even remembered to do all the emojis Rosencrantz wants to confiscate my phone for.

(TXT to August) Ravn : 🦝🦝🦝🦝🦝🦝

(TXT to August) Ravn : Better.

(TXT to Ravn) August : that could easily be it. which begs the question, are They the only things like that? or are there other things?

(TXT to Ravn) August : maybe that like other emotions? the same way different species feed on different nutrients

(TXT to August) Ravn : Hyacinth is pretty adamant there are entire worlds in there, and we're just unlucky that the Theys noticed us. The rest of the Veil doesn't care much about us.

(TXT to August) Ravn : Could be?

(TXT to August) Ravn : I mean, if there's Veil things that like, feed on boredom and frustration, maybe that's why this town is full of writers.

(TXT to Ravn) August : 🍃 🍃 🍃

(TXT to August) Ravn : ... I can't find a flying petunia gif.

(TXT to Ravn) August : since not all of the Dreams have been bad shit, she may be on to something. maybe They're just closer, here. again, for whatever reason, we're in Their spot. but out there is who the hell knows what else. an ocean of whatever.

(TXT to August) Ravn : Also, speaking of Hyacinth. Sometime I'm not stoned and you're not stoned and in fact, no one's stoned -- tell me about the bloody lawn gnomes?

(TXT to August) Ravn : Well, the hummingspiders you showed me didn't seem particularly evil or hostile. Fifty shades of alien, definitely, but not something I'd run screaming from if I didn't happen to be arachnophobic.

(TXT to Ravn) August : fucking christ are they alive or anything. or are they just lawn gnomes

(TXT to Ravn) August : 💮 💮 💮 💮 this should do

(TXT to August) Ravn : The seven we found on her porch were quite dead, quite regular concrete lawn gnomes that someone in the Homeowner's Association thought she wanted for some reason that eludes me, but Hyacinth sure as hell freaked about it. Called me to come over at stupid o'clock and get rid of them. We took them out in the woods for a summary execution, mob style. With slingshots.

(TXT to August) Ravn : But while that's all very funny, I did manage to piece together that apparently her brother got drafted to be the lawn gnome fertility god or something equally absurd.

(TXT to Ravn) August : good. also you need to find out who did that and plant some kudzu in their yard.

(TXT to Ravn) August : yes. this was after a small Veil experiment went ass over tits and we wound up messing up some trees the gnomes used to eat...or something like that, so we had to make a pact to fix them.

(TXT to August) Ravn : A pact in which one of the Brothers Addington had to screw gnomes?

(TXT to August) Ravn : I mean, holy hell, noblesse oblige but no bloody way, if the lawn gnomes of Denmark ever develop sentience I advocate nuking from orbit.

(TXT to Ravn) August : we being myself and her brother and Niall from the Park. Vincenzo's a nice kid, really. and, yes, apparently. although I think it was with another branch of the gnomes? I wan't there for any of this. ALexander may know more.

(TXT to August) Ravn : You ever wonder how we come across to outsiders?

(TXT to Ravn) August : if you come across any gnomes inform them they can fuck off or you'll kick first an ask questions later

(TXT to August) Ravn : "So, I went to the woods to execute gnomes with the lumber baroness"

(TXT to Ravn) August : I lived in a rain forest for 10 years because I couldn't be around people so, no...not really.

(TXT to August) Ravn : I guess people here get tossed in the deep end pretty much right away.

(TXT to Ravn) August : basically. but that gets back to what you were thinking--creative, dark, magical. a lot of us have already had our fair share of bullshit before we get here. so it's not as deep of a pool to us as it might be to anyone else.

(TXT to August) Ravn : True, that. I knew magic is real, that ghosts are real. Only thing that was really new to me was the dream aspect, and the fact that other people can do these things too. Ok, let's be honest here, other people do these things a lot better than I do. 😆

(TXT to Ravn) August : eh, you do fine. you kept some of those guys under wraps, that's plenty.

(TXT to August) Ravn : Yeah. I do what I can, thats all anyone can do.

(TXT to Ravn) Itzhak : don't tell me to grow eyes I have exactly enough

(TXT to August) Itzhak : he always calls me an asshole, he knows me

(TXT to Itzhak) August : eh fair enough. they got you on the good drugs? how you holding up?

(TXT to Itzhak) August : also. sorry I'm not there right now. turns out I'm not as far along on that as I'd hoped.

(TXT to August) Itzhak : (it takes a long time to get a reply) yeah. stuff that starts with D. feels like a warm bath of not being in pain. why be sorry? don't be sorry. unless it's for being a dumbass and coming in to rescue us and getting shot.

(TXT to Itzhak) August : excuse you I did not get shot when rescuing you I was shot when some assholes showed up waving guns at my garden show.

(TXT to Itzhak) August : I'm sorry because I should be there for you. that shitbag practically killed you.

(TXT to August) Itzhak : ...oh no. your garden show? why is that like the worst thing

(TXT to Itzhak) August : I assume they were shooting because, you know, making hell for de la vega but I dunno. (...)

(TXT to Itzhak) August : (...)

(TXT to Itzhak) August : anyways. joe's in there with you. and the bartender who used to suck. and abitha...like half the town. ravn bounced though.

(TXT to August) Itzhak : Vic. she was with Kelly and Rhys and me. We were working on something. They came in after us. we killed them. we killed them and killed them and there were still more and

(TXT to Itzhak) August : and then we came in and killed the rest.

(TXT to August) Itzhak : there were so many

(TXT to Itzhak) August : it's okay. he's alive, but not going anywhere any time soon.

(TXT to Itzhak) August : jesus I should come over there

(TXT to August) Itzhak : i understand you now

(TXT to Itzhak) August : I never felt like you didn't. just so you know.

(TXT to Itzhak) August : I want to tell you the rest but I shouldn't, you're on drugs.

(TXT to August) Itzhak : fuck I'm on so many drugs it's so awesome

(TXT to Itzhak) August : it's a good feel, hold onto it. when you're in PT you're going to hate everything

(TXT to Itzhak) August : I tried to kill him but I couldn't

(TXT to August) Itzhak : couldn't either. maybe it's for the best

(TXT to August) Itzhak : killed some of the guys. never killed anybody before

(TXT to August) Itzhak : but i had to. i had to they were gonna kill me and kelly and everyone

(TXT to August) Itzhak : they were gonna kill everyone they could and the rest were gonna belong to reyes

(TXT to Itzhak) August : I did too. I mean, hadn't killed anyone, and did

(TXT to Itzhak) August : this guy, he shot lil, shot ravn...I just couldn't take it anymore

(TXT to August) Itzhak : hurt people real bad before. real real bad. but didn't kill. because i wanted them to live knowing i did it to them

(TXT to Itzhak) August : maybe that's why it's better we didn't kill him.

(TXT to August) Itzhak : yeah. knowing we beat him.

(TXT to Itzhak) August : but look. it's like I was telling abitha. we didn't have a choice. or, we did. fight back, or die.

(TXT to Itzhak) August : or let other people die. I already know what happens when you do nothing, I did it for three years. and I am never doing that again.

(TXT to August) Itzhak : i can feel i'm fucked up. Like my chest but inside. but too tired, too drugs, can't think about it

(TXT to August) Itzhak : kept the bullets. mine now

(TXT to Itzhak) August : it's okay. there's time for that. we've got time to heal that stuff up too. just...gotta be patient with ourselves.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ravn : A third eye in your forehead would get you a lot of attention from the girls and boys alike, I'm sure. Also, good to see you're alive, asshole. Heard you're still in the ICU. Need me to bring you anything?