2021-04-16 - Come On Baby, Light My Fire

Place got a make-over.

That is the first thing that pops into Ravn Abildgaard's mind as he stumbles into the Poor... Wait, the sign says Pourhouse now?

Guess the Gyres resolved that argument, then.

The Dane glances around and realises -- to his relief -- that while things have been changed, the overall atmosphere has not changed too much. It's still one of those hole in the wall places where you find yourself arguing about the latest baseball game with mill workers in flannel lumberjack shirts. Recent renovations did not cause the Gyres to turn the place into a hipster wine bar or worse, something steel and glass and fake industrial.

Not that Ravn himself wouldn't fit into either of those two better than he does here. Black jeans and turtleneck under a ditto blazer -- add the omnipresent black kidskin gloves and he does bear a resemblance to the kind of thirty-year-old who should have a man bun or at least an undercut, and live in Seattle, rather than Gray Harbor. Hobo hipster is clearly a Thing with this one.

He heads for the bar where he scampers on to a bar stool and looks at Chelsea the bartender -- a blond girl in her early twenties. He must be a regular; she goes right for a bottle of not too cheap scotch. On the rocks, and served with a smile; Ravn has a distinctly European accent and Chelsea has a thing for those. Whether she has a thing for the rest of the man has never really come up. "Thanks," he tells her with a smile and reaches for the copy of the Gray Harbor Gazette lying on the counter.

Quite unlike Ravn, Isi is the furthest thing from a regular one could ever ask for. She pokes her head though the doorway then gives that little nod which indicates that YES, she has gotten the right doorway and so this isn't going to be awkward as she edges backward with a lame excuse about being lost. Entering fully she gravitates toward the hobo hipster over there that is one of the few faces in town she recognizes. "Ravn, right? Of the trick lighter?"

Ravn dips into a blazer pocket and takes out both a packet of cigarettes and the lighter in question; it is a battered old Zippo engraved with a logo or brand resembling a medieval coat-of-arms -- probably a vintage affair, it looks quite old. "This one? Feel free to tell me what the trick is, then." With a wry little grin he lights a cigarette with it, and then plops it on the counter, almost like a challenge. "How's settling into town coming along for you, then?"

"I have a theory that involves thin strings, but damned if I know exactly how it happens." Isi settles herself on a stool next to him and hovers her hand over the lighter for a second before picking it up and rubbing her finger over the engraving.

"Well, let me know if you find the strings," Ravn says with a small grin. "It used to belong to my grandfather, I probably should have it attached to me with an invisible string -- be a shame to drop it somewhere and lose it, anyhow. That's my name, by the way." Then he puts the newspaper down and motions for Chelsea to wander in this direction; presumably, Isi's going to want to place an order as well.

He nods at the lighter, and the engraving on it. The 'shield' depicts three apples and some sticks that could be some kind of fence if you squint hard enough. "Abildgaard, it translates to 'apple orchard'. My grandfather must have thought it looked fancy. I keep it because all else aside, it's a really good lighter and I haven't managed to lose it yet, strings or not."

Isi brings it closer to see what Ravn's describing and nods as she kind of sees it. Then she sets it back on the counter top before him. "Surprised if it means that much you don't have it on a chain or something. Not a criticism," Isi is quick to interject, "Just a wonder. So. I asked my coworkers where to get a drink and they pointed me here? What is your preference?"

"I'm a scotch man -- I like to keep it simple. But Chelsea can whip up most things well enough as long as it's not something exotic and artisanal. I hear she does a pretty mean margharita, not that I am very fond of those myself." Ravn sips his whiskey -- which is indeed as plain as you can get by adding whiskey and ice together and calling it a day. "The other bar in town is down on the beach. They've got more variety and more tourists -- this place is more, the local watering hole. I used to work there for a spell before I got back into tutoring online. How's Town Hall treating you? I have a friend who works there too -- in city planning, I think."

"When in Rome," Isi says, leaning forward to order whenever Chelsea comes by, pointing at Ravn and asking for what he is having.

Settling more firmly Isi turns sideways so she can look him full on. "Still getting situated, training, how the systems work, all that. I think I've decided that the local habit of warning new people is a pretty elaborate hazing ritual. You guys probably get a lot of laughs out of new people like me, don't you?" An eyebrow is arched upwards as if to invite Ravn to fess up.

Ravn toys with his glass, watching the golden liquid swirl a bit and the ice cubes clink. "I thought the same thing," he says after a moment. "Came into town last August -- hadn't been here ten minutes when the first person told me to get on the next bus and keep right on moving. Then they told me about strange dreams and disappearances. Next person? Same, and same. Third person? Same, same, and then that demonstration of what she could do to me. I was convinced it was some kind of -- marketing deal? This is a foggy small town in Washington State near an Indian Reservation -- maybe they were just trying to ride the Twilight idea a decade too late. Or maybe it was some kind of Castle Rock, Maine thing they had going -- make a struggling town a little more interesting to the tourists, that kind of thing."

Isi takes Ravn's words to mean that the gig is UP. "It is a pretty terrible ploy. I don't think I had ever even heard of this town before stumbling across the job ad. They need to hire a better advertising agency if they want people to come investigate the ~spooooky~ town." She even does the finger wiggle to add extra spooky to her words.

Pourhouse or Porrhouse, the name doesn't matter much to the new arrival as he makes his way inside through the door. Pausing at the entrance as he normally does to survey the surroundings, Seth looks around at the new decor, his only commentary on the 'new' look is a shrug of his shoulder and a low grunt that might signify 'huh'.

Regardless of his verbose expressions on the new decor, the enforcer strides forward towards the bar, giving Ravn a slight upnod in greeting as he takes a stool before turning his attentions to Chelsea, "Whiskey. Neat."

Talkative fellow tonight Seth is, it's going to be hard to get a word in edgewise.

Ravn shakes his head. "Won't work. The spooky here -- it does that. Things happen here all the time, and no one ever hears about it. Most people here don't hear about it -- or rather, they do, but they don't remember. When you get back to town hall? Go take a look at the statistics. This town has a murder rate that's higher than all of Washington State put together but the FBI never looked in this direction even once. The Veil edits it out. You've joined a pretty secret society that would actually love to go public but -- it doesn't work. Trust me, people tried -- social media? Most people here aren't even on Facebook or Twitter, town has its own social network instead."

The Dane pauses in his doom saying as the redhead stomps up. "Looking great today, Irish. Found another shipwreck full of gold? Come say hello to Isi -- she's new in town and still in the 'you are so full of it' phase."

Isi's eye gets caught by Seth's entrance, so she misses some of what Ravn' describes as what she'll translate into the town being ass backwards and in SERIOUS need of a new PR team. "I may live in numbers for my job but heeellllll if I want to go look at more on my off time unless I get something out of it." She replies about the murder numbers.

After Ravn's introduction she raises her hand in a tiny hello. "Ravn seems pretty determined to hold the line on his story. What's that old country song - "that's my story and I'm sticking with it'? or something."

"Well to be fair, you are full of it Darth," Seth mutters as he rubs his forehead, casting a glance over the Danes way. "I'm sure she will change her tune when she ends up naked with a talking pregnant frog giving birth all over her chest. Worked for me."

When Seth's whiskey arrives, he gives Chelsea a nod and lifts the glass to his lips for a quick sip before he rises from his seat, drink in hand, and makes his way over to join the others. "Seth," he introduces himself with a nod. "Ravn's full of shit most the time, but that doesn't mean he is wrong about any of it."

The Dane can't help a lopsided smile at that description. "Keeping track of Gray Harbor's weird shit is kind of what I do," he cedes. "This town? In its own fucked up way it's a paradise for a folklorist. My theory is that the Veil makes up its crazy from our stories. You probably got your pregnant fairy frog off me, Seth, at least it's a pretty common Scandinavian trope."

Does he look guilty about that? No, not really.

Instead, he glances at Isi. "Seth here is one of us as well, obviously. He heals injuries."

Isi got NOTHING for the description of a pregnant frog giving birth - upon a boy part is just going to illicit a serious set of eye-blinkings. Right. So. Seth's crazy a fuck too, this is fiinnneee. Dryly, "Next you're going to tell me to be careful where to step or I might trod on land sacred to the Ste-ye-hah'mah." A small shake of her head and she thanks Chelesa when she brings over another of what Ravn is drinking for her.

Misunderstanding what Ravn's saying she asks, "So you're a doctor?"

Seth sighs, shaking his head with a glance over at Ravn. "Ok, I guess it is time for proof. Ravn, do your spoon thing, or if you want I can light a cigarette for you, or we can cut you and heal it up, or all three. Sometimes the bullshit gets cleared away by a bit of show and tell."

The mistaken profession causes the enforcer to laugh, "'Fraid not. Most of the time I am sending people to go see a doctor. I work as a bouncer over at the Firefly. However, that doesn't mean I don't know how to mend someone if I need to, and I am talking about without the use of bandages or first aid. I know, sounds like a bunch of horseshit. I thought so too at first."

"I don't bend spoons. That's Uri Geller's domain." Ravn smirks lightly. "And as you may recall, they found out eventually that he was a fraud. However? Come on, baby, light my fire." He picks up a cigarette and sticks it between his lips. If that was supposed to be a Jim Morrison impersonation, there has been better. He doesn't look particularly worried -- whatever Seth is about to do clearly isn't scary. Maybe he's just a shitty showman who doesn't know how to excite an audience.

Behind the counter, Chelsea glances over and then in the direction of the fire extinguisher. Such confidence there -- or maybe it's just that Seth just admitted to being new to his thing too, and Maggi Gyre might be the only person allowed to set the Pourhouse on fire.

Isi sits back and leans an arm against the bar, one arm coming up in a 'bring it at me bro' invitation for the pair of them to do their trick. Her upraised eyebrow hints at her FIRM disbelief in whatever is about to happen. "I came for a drink, but free entertainment, sure." Go for it.

Seth shakes his head. "If you hold it she can try to explain it away as some sort of parlor trick we have pre-arranged. Let her pick out a cigarette, or if she doesn't trust that have her pick something of her own that she doesn't mind getting a bit singed. I don't care what."

Seth looks over at Chelsea and grins, "I've gotten better."

Ravn laughs and tucks the cigarette back in the pack before nudging it towards Isi. "The man's right. You pick one. You want to hold it too, be my guest. He will light it for you."

If he looks a little sheepish for a second there, at least Seth might know why; someone who claims to have been a professional grifter really should have considered this. The Dane sips his whiskey and pretends that he's not getting rusty. It's just that he's not really in the habit of thinking like a grifter anymore. Right? Right.

"Didn't move with much, so you'll have to forgive me if I don't offer for any of it to get burnt up in your parlor trick." Isi says, reaching forward for the cigarettes. She examines the box from every side then tilts out on and examines it. She even sniffs it because that will somehow help show the trick, right? Seeing nothing she holds it out on her palm towards Seth.

Seth shrugs a shoulder and sips at his drink, "Personally I would have held it with the tip up, but whatever."

The enforcer doesn't do anything fancy like utter a magic word or snap his fingers or by all accounts do anything different than just sit there like he was, but the tip of the cigarette bursts into flame as the cherry glows red-orange.

If it burns, well he can just heal that right?

Ravn opens his mouth to suggest exactly that -- hold it up, don't get burned.

Oh well.

He just holds on to his glass instead and tenses, ready to teleport to the side if -- probably when -- the rookie yelps and flails. Being elbowed would be bad. Losing his drink would be worse.

"Shit," Isi yelps as the flame crosses per palm. NOT FAILING, tyvm, but the cigarette gets flung out of her hand and soars towards Ravn's cup. Hopefully he remembered to cover the top of it too. Shaking her hand out Isi inspects the red mark in the middle of her palm before shaking it a few more times. "Seriously, how did you do that?"

Seth rolls a shoulder into a shrug, setting down his whiskey, "It's like Ravn told you. Some people here, apparently you included, are 'special'. Now, let me see your hand."

Seth holds out his hand to Isi, moving his fingers in a 'give it to me' motion. "I'll heal that burn up for you."

The burning cigarette goes flying in a neat arc that looks almost cartoonish as it ends in a little splash -- in Ravn's whiskey tumbler. The sshhpfff is a sad little sound, matched by the expression on the Dane's face as he raises it and looks at it -- and then says, regretfully, "Chelsea, I think I'm going to need a new drink."

The bartender shakes her head at him. Boys. Antics. Showing off.

"If you wanted someone to hold your hand, there was no need for the song and dance." Isi says it almost idly, but her half grin when she looks up gives it up as a jest. She rubs the red spot for a second then figuring there's nothing to lose, holds it out to Seth.

At Ravn, "Bad break with your drink there."

In through the door comes an amazonian blonde. Vic Grey is dressed to head over to her job, in her Two If By Sea black tee and jeans with tactical boots. Ok, her 'regular' job. She'd be wearing something much different for her 'real' job. She spies Seth and Ravn and maneuvers through the space to move up behind the bearded Irish man, holding a finger to her lips to indicate to the Dane to not give her away.

Seth smirks and takes Isi's hand into his and places his other hand over it. Again, there is no magic words or any type of mumbo jumbo as he holds his palm over hers for a brief moment before letting it go. "There ya go."

He reaches over and picks up his drink again, giving Ravn a smirk as he asks for a new drink, "A real man would just take out the butt and drink the whiskey, ashes and all."

"I thought we established a long time ago that I am an academic nerd, not a real man." Ravn receives his replacement drink with a thank you to Chelsea while pretending complete obliviousness to Vic sneaking up on the big Irishman. Faking obliviousness, at least, is something the Dane does very, very well.

Instead, he glances at Isi. "So, tell me how he did that. You felt it heal, didn't you? Bloke stopped me from bleeding out that way once, when another bloke tried to take my hand off with a meat cleaver."

Her hand given back Isi turns it around to look at it, the red spot gone. She presses on it to see pain and then shakes her head. "I honestly haven't the faintest idea." It doesn't sound like she's convinced something extra-normal is going on YET, but she's willing to admit to ignorance. "Sorry about the drink-" To Ravn.

Vic looks thoroughly amused as she grabs the Irishman's ear and declares, into it, "I can't leave you alone for ten minutes before you're holding some other girl's hand." She winks to Isi and Ravn, this is clearly just play. Then, provided he doesn't freak out and set her on fire, she slides onto the stool next to him and signals Chelsea for her usual, whiskey. "So who's this?" she asks, looking to the woman with a grin.

Seth doesn't jump at the sudden tug of his earlobe, though his brows do raise a bit until that voice is recognized and he lets out a little chuckle, "Well, you knew what you signed up for when you got involved with me, Vic. I'm such a player."

Turning his head to give the female enforcer a quick kiss before she sits down, he looks over at Ravn and Isi and, "I believe I was told her name is Isi? Is that right? Ravn and I were just explaining and giving a quick demonstration of how things are here in the Harbor. She's not a believer, but she must have a spark in there somewhere.

To Isi, he tosses his head in Vic's direction and says, "She's Vic, my better half."

Ravn rolls up the sleeve of his blazer, and the shirt beneath, to reveal a bit of underarm -- across which is indeed a long, narrow white scar, as if from being slashed with a long, sharp blade. It still has a bit of that pinkness to it that insinuates that the injury is not years old -- but it is healed, and in time, it will likely become just a pale line on his skin. "Meat cleaver," he says with a small smile. It probably hurt quite a bit when it did happen.

Then he rolls his sleeve back down and nods at Seth's explanation. "Isi's new in town. I showed her a trick with a floating lighter a few days back and she's convinced we're full of it. Can't say I blame her."

"And better looking half," Vic quips after Seth, returning his kiss and scruffing her fingers through his beard. "A non-believer eh?" she asks, peering at Isi. "She has the shine though, so she has to have felt the pull here. I can take her for a ride on the express train to belief if you want, but not in here." She picks up her delivered whiskey and takes a swig.

"Yep," Isi replies when Seth gives her name correctly, then nods to Vic in that universal hell-new-person kind of way. "I'm willing to admit that you all are strange, but further than that....?" She shakes her head and lifts up her drink with eternal skepticism firmly in place. "You're welcome to try, So far I've seen a lighter hover, a cigarette be lit on fire, and a red spot banished from my hand. The first could be strings, the second some clever pyrotechnics and the third... heat activated dye?" She doesn't sound totally sure on that one and eyes her hand before looking up again. "I'm sure the shine is just my glowing personality."

Ravn gets glanced at for that long scar and there's a hiss of sympathy. "That must have been gnarly, when it happened."

Seth smirks. "You felt the fire burn. It was real and you know it, not just some dye." Taking another sip of his whiskey, he continues, "But I was once a skeptic as well, so I can't exactly blame you for not being a believer just yet. As I said, it took my first dream to really believe in everything. I just hope yours is better than mine was, and I pray it isn't any worse."

Seth grins back at Vic, "Yes, and better looking. And mas macho. Just better all around, except for maybe being able to pee standing up. I might have you beat on that one."

"As I recall you too thought I was full of shit," Ravn tells Seth good-naturedly. "And then you came running a few days later, talking about that pregnant fairy toad giving birth in your lap while you were butt naked but for Joey Kelly's barbecue apron."

He smirks. "I mean, if there is one dream here I'm actually sorry I missed out on..."

Vic barks out a laugh at the talk of the toad incident. "Poor Seth. But yeah, I can confirm you missed quite a view of him in nothing but an apron." She wasn't there in that Dream either. She tosses her whiskey back in one go and sets the glass on the counter, along with payment for it and a nice tip. "You want to see the truth? Let's go over behind the Diner." She tips her chin towards the exit and heads that way. Crash course in the Veil? Coming up.

"You guys know these talks of toads are ~not~ helping, right?" Isi drinks while shaking her head slowly and then arches an eyebrow as Vic invites her over behind a building. "You know, my mother always warned me about getting into cars with strangers. I'm going to assume that includes alleys behind buildings in unfamiliar towns."

Seth points to Chelsea, "At least if anything untoward were to happen, she is here as a witness with who you went away with, but I get it and you are right to be cautious. And believe me, the toad wasn't my idea of a good time either, but compared to other things it was so much better than what I have seen since."

Ravn glances at Isi but doesn't get off his barstool just yet; having spent several years travelling randomly he certainly gets not trusting anyone at first glance -- and particularly not anyones who look like they can fold you down the middle and turn you into origami art. "It's just around the corner, yeah. But I'm not going to lie -- if Vic's planning what I think she's planning, you're going to get your mind seriously blown. There really is another world out there, and she can show it to you."

Vic sighs and slides back onto her stool. "Your loss. You could have had the best preparation possible for what will eventually slap you in the face in this town." She gives a shrug and leans against Seth lightly. "But when you change your mind, these two can always find me."

Isi looks between the trio than sets down her drink. "Why not then. Ravn was here before me and the two of you after, so unless you have some serious code words and signals..."

She doesn't finish her drink because she would prefer to be mostly sober for whatever is going to happen. "You two coming?" She says as she stands and gestures at the doorway.

Seth downs the last of his drink as Isi makes up her mind to go through with the psudeo-initiation into the secrets of Gray Harbor. "Ok then, let's go do this."

The enforcer pulls out a money clip from his pocket and drops a few bills, more than enough to cover everyone's drink and then some, onto the bar, and gives Chelsea a nod. "Tell Maggi I said hi." He offers his hand to Vic, and waits for her before heading outside.

Ravn drops his pay and a tip on the counter before wandering after. Why miss the show?

Vic grins and takes Seth's hand as she leads the way down Spruce to the Black Bear Diner, which she goes around back of. There's no windows in the back, so no one inside will see them, but that's not the only reason for that location choice. There's a thin point there as well, a place she can make a door. She looks to Ravn and Seth, to make sure they alert her of anyone coming nearby. Then, the enforcer draws her finger down through the air, and it is rent, light coming from the hole she's created. She pushes the sides of the rip apart to form a doorway, showing the other side.

What is visible through there is...like this side but at the same time NOT. Such chaos, these streets! They're constantly shifting and rearranging themselves. Sometimes, it's clearly Elm Street with its rundown shadow-houses limning the road. Others, the silhouettes are homes on Oak and Spruce or businesses on Maple. The churning, morphing, changeable view is hard on the eyes and harder on the brain, no tangible purchase to be found.

"Welcome to Gray Harbor, the thinnest border with the Veil," she murmurs.

Isi follows Vic out through the doorway with her skepticism firmly entrenched and stops when they do. Then standing she just... watches. Seeing is believing but Isi isn't sure what she is seeing and thus what to believe. So all she manages is a small, "... huh?" as she rubs her eyes and looks more firmly at what is there. "I mean, I see it, but... what am I seeing?"

Seth watches as Vic does her thing. He has actually never seen someone do this before and arches a brow as she tears a hole in reality. "That is so hot..." he mutters as his SO rends reality.

"You're seeing chaos," Ravn says quietly, behind her. "The other side is -- every parallel world you can imagine and a lot that you can't. If you step across there's not much way to tell which one you step into. Some people here can control it -- but most of us are just drifting in and out. It's not hostile in itself but there are definitely hostile things in there. The murder ratio I told you about? This is what. Bodies turn up and the authorities write them off as 'normal' deaths because the Veil protects itself. You won't find a coroner signing off on 'got eaten by cat-fish-skeleton beast from the other side'. But you might well find that body sometime."

He pauses a moment and then says, "The reason we sort of hound you about this? That I am even giving this speech? We need to look out for each other and people like us here. It's basic survival."

Seth's comment gets a glance, though. "That's... not the word I'd use. Gotta admit that."

"It's the other side of the Veil. Downtown, it mirrors it fairly closely, though...differently. Out here in the side streets it shifts a lot. But still," Vic gestures through the door at a copy of the Black Bear Diner stopping to look back out at them. Yes look. The Black Bear Diner has eyes and facial features and looks a bit like a brick and mortar bear head that is...hungry. It roars at them, the sound of stone and metal scraping together to create the noise. "Think of this as...Their version of solid reality. Then there are Dreams, which are more amorphous, some existing for moments in time, others being more concrete, and something you may be returned to when you get pulled in. Some places on the other side are more dangerous than others. Like don't cross over at the Pond if you can help it." Also, because she's dumped some bodies on the other side there. Which was probably a bad idea come to think of it.

"You have the shine, the potential to do what I just did, what Seth and Ravn can do, so you'll get Their notice here, and eventually, They'll pull you into a Dream. It's us versus Them, and some folks like the Dane here, try to be sort of a Glimmer Information Booth for new arrivals, so you don't get taken unaware." She pulls her hands together, closing the door again, and untracing the rip from bottom to top to seal it up. "Any questions?"

Isi's eyes are fixed on the.... whatever that Vic has just caused to appear. Not quite under her breath she lets go of a stream of words in a foreign language. They sound half like a prayer and half a curse. Stepping back she shakes her head as if to dispell whatever trick her eyes are playing on her. "This is one of Spilyay's jokes or tricks?" She looks around, as if expecting one of them to know what she's talking about - though she quickly fixes it to be more explicitly, "The Coyote. The trickster who taught mankind how to live and prosper in this land?" She's drawing on her own legends to try to make sense of this - cuz it doesn't make sense. Even with Ravn and Vic's explanations combined together.

Something else occurs to her as she looks around and steps back, "Are we on spirit grounds?"

Seth looks from Vic to Isi and shrugs a shoulder, "I don't know anything about any of that, miss," he says with a hint of a smile as he nods his head over in Ravn's direction. "But that guy there, he would be the one to talk to about that sort of information. If he doesn't know, he will find out because that is what he does."

That being said he slides up behind Vic and slips his arms around her waist, leaning in to whisper into her ear something along the same lines as what he already mentioned aloud.,

"Somebody played Information Booth to me when I arrived in town and it very likely saved my life," Ravn notes with another of his little lopsided smiles. "If I'd thought I could reason with the Headless Horseman because surely he had to be some kind of special effects actor, I'd probably have joined that murder statistic."

Ravn looks back at Isi; he at least gets that reference (yay, Ph.D. in folklore). "I'm pretty sure Coyote has not been spotted around here but -- don't be too surprised if that changes some day. This place lifts stories from our minds. The Slavic equivalent to Coyote is about lately, so don't be too surprised if an old crone with a Russian accent offers to give you a tarot reading. Also, take it -- because while she's obviously not real, the Veil did create their copy with the power and the understanding of the mythical being she's supposed to stand in for. Anything any human has ever imagined or believed in can appear -- theoretically."

He glances down at the ground at his feet. "I'm not entirely sure about spirit grounds. We are on land that has been very strongly affected by the Veil for a long time. We call it the Veil because that's what it is -- this thin fabric that separates our reality from what you might very well call the spirit world. Might say we're one step left of the spirit world at any time here, and sometimes we take that step in our dreams."

The Dane can't help laugh at Seth's little observation there; he looks back to Isi and nods. "Can't deny that. I study folk tales. It's literally my job. Tell me if I go too lecturer, I tend to distract myself and wander off on a tangent."

"I don't think Coyote has anything to do with it. He wasn't particularly malevolent, and the beings that rule over there really do not seem to be anything other than giant a-holes who want to make us miserable," Vic murmurs. "I don't think it's a spirit world in any religious sense, or afterlife. I think it's just someplace else, someplace we're pressed up against in the universe. Like all that Lovecraft stuff."

She scrubs a thumb across her forehead as the headache sets in. Ramping up that much juice tends to take it out of her. "From what I've heard from others, I recommend not sleeping in the buff. When they pull you into Dreams, you're usually in what you were wearing when they nabbed you." She tips her chin at Seth. "Thus his stark naked save for the generosity of Joey Kelly and his barbeque apron."

She leans back against Seth and grins at his whisper. "Too bad I have to head to work in a few, later tonight though? You can remind me."

"Oh don't worry, I will," Seth says to Vic as she starts to wander off towards work.

The enforcer nods to Isi and Ravn, "Yeah...what she said. I don't sleep in the buff anymore because of it. But, according to Ravn, it really doesn't matter one way or the other. If they want you in the buff, you show up in the buff. Or in some S&M leather daddy outfit...right Ravn?" Seth grins a malevolent grin towards the Dane before turning back to Isi,

"Don't worry. If you stay in town you will have odd and fucked up stories just like the rest of us, and it won't be as shocking. It will end up a casual conversation."

Isi's gaze keeps getting pulled back until Vic says that she has to go. That finally gets her to look away and focus on the people and not the... whatever that is. "My mother and father spent a majority of my childhood telling me about Whee-me-me-ow-ah, the Spilyay, and how I'd best watch out for the Ste-ye-hah'mah when I sleep. All of this sounds like the first proof that maybe they weren't totally crazy."

But they keep talking about sleeping so a very mild question get's asked, "....what?" They've said it all, it just isn't quite penetrating Isi's brain yet.

"Ah, thanks?" That's to Vic as she heads out.

"Oh Lord, don't remind me," Ravn groans. "I am still fighting this overwhelming urge to sleep in full combat gear, with a rifle strapped to my back and a first aid kit to my thigh." He waves to Vic as she wanders off.

Then he looks back at Isi. "I don't actually know a whole lot about Native legends. If you want to educate me sometime I am all ears. Most of what I do have is Zuni or Anasazi in origin. Coyote among them."

"And I know nothing, so don't bother looking my way for any answers to any of that stuff. I'm just the muscle," Seth says with a smirk. "Good to have along in case you find yourself in an unpleasant situation, but useless when it comes to the lore and reasoning behind any of this stuff. I'm also good about buying the drinks."

Isi's got a headache growing and she rubs at her forehead slowly. "Whenever they tell the creation story of Whee-me-me-ow-ah, they say that some day the mountain will be overturned and the spirits return to the earth." It's said more to herself than TO the other two, despite Ravn's offer to tell him about some of the legends of her culture. Shaking herself, "I like the idea of buying drinks." Scratching at the back of her neck she eyes where that brief view Vic had pulled up was. "You know, I left the reservation." And the stories should have STAYED THERE, but that part goes unsaid.

"It evens out," Ravn notes drily. "I'm the last person you want along when it does get unpleasant. Can't fight, can't run, can't throw fireballs, can't heal. Knowing stuff is the only thing I'm good at. My survival tactic largely boils down to, hide behind people like Seth."

He nods at Isi. "Don't blame you. It's a lot to swallow. A little too much, often. But like I said before -- we throw you in the deep end of the pool because the alternative is worse. You need to have an open mind if you're sticking around town. Otherwise -- it gets really dangerous."

"Come on," Seth says as he starts to head back towards the Pourhouse, "Next few rounds are on me. You two can sit and talk folklore and I will sip at whiskey and nod at appropriate places.
"

"An open mind is not something I'm often accused of having." Isi admits, "Spitting out the tales? Sure, I was a good enough student. I learned the language. But believing any of it....?" She shakes her head slowly but Seth seems to have the right idea about what to do next.

"I'm suddenly glad for my college days of eight am classes to learn to deal with a hangover." Because that's probably happening. She follows Seth still shaking her head slowly. dis belief and what she's seen are waging a fierce battle in her head.

Ravn wanders back as well. "It's not real. Don't start to think that it is. What it is -- is something that can take stories from your mind and recreate them. Like sock puppets. You see Coyote or Raven or for that matter, Santa Claus coming at you in the street? It's a phantasm. A puppet. Made up. It may even think it's real. But if you want to stay sane, don't start believing that all the myths and gods are actually real."

He pauses. "But speaking of which, I need to get back to the HOPE centre and check on Denny. I left him charge of painting the bathroom and -- I'll probably find he's covered it in anti-mermaid runes when I get back. Don't ask, it's his thing. I'll see you both around? I usually hang out at the Pourhouse for a drink in the evening," he adds for Isi's benefit -- Seth already knows.

Then the Dane wanders off -- it's not far, the centre is literally across the street from the dive bar.

Seth offers Ravn a wave as he leaves before slipping back into the Pourhouse.

Upon entering, Seth makes his way back over to the bar and flags down Chelsea. "Ok, what is your poison?" he asks Isi with a glance over his shoulder towards the woman. "I'll just buy a bottle or two, it will save time."

"Whatever will make it easier to understand what is being said to me right now." Isi says with her head still shaking as she raises a hand to Ravn and follows Seth back into the bar. "I'm suppose to believe the weird shit, but not actually believe any of it is real."

Seth chuckles and tells Chelsea to hand him over a bottle of whiskey and a pair of glasses. "I don't know if anything will make it easier to understand, I'm sorry to say. I know Ravn said not to believe things are real, but fuck that. It might not be an actual god, or the actual Santa or actual gremlins, but they are real enough to be treated seriously. It isn't like an illusion where if you don't believe it, it can't hurt you...it most certainly can. See Ravn's arm for an example. Though to be fair that was done by a human, not a phantasm or whatever you want to call it."

All of this is going to take some time for Isi to wrap her mind about, and so distinctly, once they are back inside, she's going to steer the conversation literally ANYWHERE else.