2021-11-12 - Friends, Frenemies and Firefighters

Isi stands against a rail that looks down at the board walk, bundled up into a semi-warm jacket against the early November cold. Her hands are ungloved, but that's probably out of pure local stubbornness to admit that yes, winter is here, and yes it will be frozen for the next four months. In her hand is a bit of wood that she's slowly destroying into small bits. When separated from the larger piece the bits get tossed down at the boardwalk below. No deliberate malice in place, but if it hits someone... well. That's their fault.

"Ow."

It's a little surly, but soft-spoken, coming from somewhere below, where all the bits are going. Another bit comes down, and again, a bit louder, "Ow!" And then the pit of wood comes sailing back up, thrown back at her from below as someone steps out from where he was standing at the edge of the boardwalk, to glare up. He looks a lot like one of the homeless that sleep under the Boardwalk, with his raggedy old army jacket and ugly sweater (both several sizes too large for him), although he /does/ look like he took a shower today, and he makes eye contact. Which the homeless usually don't, unless they're asking for money. He brushes a splinter or two out of his hair and says, "You could put someone's eye out."

Isi arches an eyebrow upwards as she gets shouted at by some hobo from under the boardwalk. There's not a trace of empathy on her expression. "Then you should probably look away." Very deliberately she breaks off some bark and flicks it off into the air. To her credit she DOES flick it into the air to one side of him. She can't control if the wind picks it up and sends it drifting elsewhere.

Alexander's brows draw down in a thunderous expression and he draws in a breath to yell something - then stops and with visible effort, puts himself back under control. He flinches reflexively away from the falling wood, and kicks a rock towards the sea. Then he turns and disappears under the Boardwalk. Returning to the Land of the Hobos.

Or not. There's the sound of heavy footsteps taking one of the side stairs up to the top of the boardwalk, and then there he is, slouching his way towards Isi, still looking irate. His hands are stuffed into his pockets for warmth. "I don't know you. New to town?" His eyes are narrowed at her, staring without leering, but still rude and creepy.

The second Alexander disappeared Isi banished him from her memory. Back to flicking pieces of wood down on poor unsuspecting people. Her gaze is out on the ocean beyond and she honestly isn't giving a single thought to people approaching. So she jumps in startlement when someone talks right at her side. She looks left and right before pointing at herself. Is he talking to her?

"So you're creepy as fuck looking."

Because why would hello be used when one can say something insulting?

"Am I?" There's a pause. Alexander looks down at himself, distressing fashion choices and all, and shrugs. "Guess so." At least he doesn't smell! Thank whatever power you like for small favors. His dark eyes shift back to her. "You're an asshole. What's your name?" His voice is conversational, like there's absolutely nothing wrong with making that observation and then asking that question like they're gonna be buddies.

Seee, this is fun. Enough fun to have Isi turn away from picking things into the void. Instead she leans a hip against the railing and looks Alexander up and down. "I've been called worse." She takes the name in stride and will just claim 'asshole' for herself, kthanks. "Isi. You could tell me yours, but I'll forget it in about thirty seconds."

And who would happen to be out on the boardwalk except new property owner, Perdita Leontes, wearing a pair of wedge booties, her long dark hair up in a high ponytail, her blunt cut fringe curled under to give her a bit of a vintage pin up vibe. Dressed in a pair of winter thickness black tights, a miniskirt and an obnoxiously red faux fur coat that obscures the rest of her outfit, she really, really doesn't look like she belongs in this town.

"I've always thought he was kind of cute... though his fashion is a little tragic." Says the woman who looks like she both stepped off of a runway and off of a low rent street corner in a major city, both at the same time. She casually walks up to the pair, tilting her head slightly with a smile. She knows them both, after all.

"Isi." Alexander's nose wrinkles. "That sounds like a nickname." He says it like someone might say that looks like a pile of shit on top of this ice cream you just served me. Still, after a moment, he says, "Alexander Clayton. You can forget if you want." He takes a step back, defensively pivoting as he hears the sound of footsteps approaching. If he has any reaction to being called kind of cute...or to his fashion sense being tragic...it doesn't show other than another furrowing of his brows. "Perdita. Hello. Any other corpses in your building, yet?" He looks mildly hopeful.

"You got a little something," Isi says with an air of manevolent innocence, pointing to her head then gesturing on Alexander. Right there, it's wood. "Then again - maybe it's just your style to walk around-,"

Mid insult is when Perdita comes in and Isi turns, "Oh hey! I have a dress to get back to you. Is he always a creeper?" Isi asks, cocking a head towards Alexander. "He always walk around like he wants to be a thug but got kicked out because even they didn't want him?"

"No, just the one, so far... but I'll let you know if I find anymore. Have... were they able to determine a cause of death on that poor kid?" Perdita asks, her mask slipping just a bit. Finding a hundred year old corpse is bound to mess up most peoples' weeks. In Alexander's case, though, for the better.

"No worries, it's not one I wear much." She had, honestly, forgotten that she gave Isi the dress, since, well... she seems like kind of a clothes horse, to put it politely. The woman rolled into town with a car full of clothing, make up and accessories, after all.

"No, he usually walks around asking people questions they may not want to answer because he has a driving need to get to The Truth. Just from what I've seen." she favors Alexander with a fond smile, like one might give to the strange neighbor who rants about alien abductions, but is always down to get your mail when you're out of town. "You two okay?"

Alexander sidles a little farther from Isi when she gestures at him - but he reaches up and grabs the splinter of wood, glaring at it, then at Isi herself. But, hey, dead kids! That's a pleasant distraction so his attention swings back to Perdita. "Not entirely," he says, with a frown. "They're assuming that he died of asphixiation, but mostly - after almost a hundred years, not a lot left to do a real autopsy on. I think he got Lost. Maybe it dumped him in the basement and he couldn't get out afterwards. Maybe he died in the Dream and it dumped the body. I don't know."

His eyes flick back and forth between the two women. "Dress?" The fond smile is studied with an air of wariness, like a stray dog might study an outstretched hand with a bit of sausage on it. Then he snorts. "We're fine. I'm creepy, and she's an asshole. Baseline established. She threw wood at me." He lifts the splinter between his fingers to show off the evidence.

"Only in Gray Harbor is 'oh, by the way, I found a dead dude' something that comes out of a pick-up conversation on the side of the street." Isi says, the words cast out to no one in particular. She does smirk slightly when he plucks the shard from his head, the smirk of someone totally satisfied in oneself.

"I get that some of the people here can probably dragg the wind and make it bark like a dog or whatever, but hey, can't control where things fly once they leave my hands. Maybe if Mr. Creeper over there wasn't sleeping under the boardwalk this wouldn't be an issue." Alexander is settled in Isi's mind as a hobo.

A weathered red pickup pulls up to the edge of the boardwalk, the thing has certainly seen some better days, the entire drivers side of the clunker replaced with a contrasting rust spattered blue door and front end, dents lining it up and down. After a parking space is finally located the driver makes her way down, the process taking a bit of time since she lacks the step ladder anyone her size would probably require to get into the lifted abomination.

Standing in a casual grouping are Isi, Alexander and Perdita. Isi has been... whittling, while Alexander, looking a bit like a homeless person, has taken exception to it, and Dita, looking like a higher class call girl, is chatting with the pair, expression wavering between amused and vaguely concerned. Which is, all things considered, normal enough.

"I bought a building downtown. We explored the basement and... found a body. A kid. He'd been down there for a hundred years or so." She shakes her head slightly, hugging herself against the chill in the air.

To Alexander, she explains, "Isi, Ravn and I got attacked by... goblins, I guess... on Halloween? Her dress got ruined. I had a spare in my trunk, and we're of a similar size. I was dressed as Elvira, so I'd brought a few changes of clothes. Incidentally, a set of fake boobs do wonders for keeping you from getting road rash."

"One of the few redeeming qualities of the town," Alexander deadpans to Isi, in regards to street-side conversational topics. Then he scowls. "My name is Alexander Clayton." Yeah, that's what bothers him, not the suggestion that he was sleeping with the town's homeless population. He listens to Perdita's explanation with an air of resignation. Just yeah, that happens written all over his weary face. His mouth quirks upwards a bit on the last. "Halloween is the worst fucking holiday. Summers are usually a little better. But winters can be rough. And fuck Halloween."

He's a twitchy, paranoid sort of guy, so his gaze wanders back and forth, coming to light on Fae's truck as it pulls up. This time of the season, the Boardwalk doesn't have a lot of traffic, so it stands out. And it looks like it's going to fall apart. He rolls the splinter between his fingers as he idly watches the woman climb out.

Fae takes some time gathering herself, there's a fair amount of fixing her hair in the rear view mirror of her ride, her fingernails raking through the half curled mess that her birds nest has become over the course of her journey. "Seems as good a place as any to start..." she murmurs low-key to herself, not seeming to have a lot of direction in whatever she's got planned. A chipper wave makes it's way from her as she starts to clop down the boardwalk, her lips quickly curl up into a lighthearted smile as she starts heading over to some of the locals. "...Heya." she simply simpers out, her eyes owlishly darting around taking in the view and the various rides and such.

"Alright Lexy," Isi says, apparently determined to stay on Alexander's bad side. She's not going to last long in this city if she pokes bears like this. A stiff breeze kicks up and Isi drops her stick so she can gather her coat a little closer.

"It was helpful," Isi interjects, glancing over at Dita, "My dress was torn to shreds with the road burn from the little monsters, so it was much appreciated. I don't get out much and it would have been a shame to miss out. Why do you carry clothing in the back of your car?" She tosses out the last abruptly.

When Fae comes pacing up Isi raises a hand in brief greeting.

"Hey! Even if I get get dragged on my tits by a bunch of horrifying little goblins, I still like Halloween." Perdita responds to Alexander, though she's not got any real heat behind the defense. "Just... get inside for the night before dark, I guess."

"Just in case of, you know. Getting road rash, baby pukes on you, a toddler spills a drink on you at a restaurant, you end up stuck out all day and need a change of clothes because the weather's changed, wake up in a strange man's house and need a quick change before you head home, that sort of thing." Uh huh. She had enough clothes in her trunk to clothe half the homeless population under the boardwalk... if they didn't mind incredibly feminine, mostly impractical clothes. "Plus it's not like I was planning to stay dressed as Elvira the entire night."

Fae gets a warm smile and a slight tilt of the head, "How's it going, Red?"

Fae flutters her fingertips over to Isi, beaming out a bright expression that's almost as sickeningly sweet as her donut themed outfit. "I thought everyone carried extra clothes in their car...you know, just in case." she yammers out casually Interjecting herself into the conversation at hand as if she'd belonged in it to begin with. "Oh, um, I'm Fae by the way." she belatedly introduces herself, her touch reaching into her novelty donut shaped purse and digging around for something. "This is probably going to sound really weird and I'm sorry to interrupt your hang sesh, but..." an old folded picture appears from her bag

"...do any of you know this woman?" she queries, getting right down to brass tacks. The photograph is of a woman that has a notable family resemblance to the duchess of donuts, the same truck behind her and parked near the local high school, judging by the age of the pic it was probably taken back in the 90's "I guess you two are probably too young to really know." she mentions peeling the clue from Perdita and Isi's eyes after they gather a quick glance and displaying it more readily to Alexander. "Not too bad, how about yourself?" she replies to Perdita aside, high-spirited flashing her teeth.

"That isn't my name. Alexander is my name. Alexander Clayton." Alexander's voice goes sharp, and he glares at Isi. "I don't like nicknames." His teeth snap against each other, like he's having to literally bite the words off that he wants to say next, and his shoulders hunch, his whole body retreating into itself. There's a huff of air at Perdita's defense of Halloween, although he gradually relaxes as she continues.

Fae is given a suspicious look as she approaches and starts to talk. "Hello." It's grudging, but not immediately hostile. He even looks at the photo, eyes narrowing. "Yes. Hope Casady. Class of 1998. She was a couple of years ahead of me in high school. Athlete. Pretty. Popular. We didn't get along." No, really? His eyes flick up and he stares at her too long and too directly for politeness. "You must be her daughter. Is she missing or dead?"

He's super friendly and tactful.

"Testy little bugger," Isi says under her breath, not bothering to keep it quiet enough so that he doesn't hear it. A hand comes up to tuck hair behind her ear as Perdita's comment makes her snort at all the eventualities. "I guess that makes sense - Gray Harbor will Harbor." Whatever that means.

Fae's abrupt question gets a shrug from Isi. "I've only been here a few months. Know that shit goes sideways at a drop of a hat. That might not be a bad idea - actually... the whole extra change of clothes." Her eyes flick to Alexander, "You should take note."

The girls eyebrow raises as Alexander rattles off what he remembers, actually pretty surprised that the first guy she asked happened to at least recognize her mother. "Class of 96." she corrects him ever so slightly. "And...uh..." there's a twist of her lips to the side as she answers his own inquiry. "...she died a long time ago actually, I just never knew she was from here." the picture is tucked safely back into her purse as the armature Nancy Drew collects her thoughts and continues in on her lead. "Does she have any more family around here that you know about?" her eyes flicker back to the man, a glimmer of hope that their might be some more to the trail.

While Fae is digging in her bag, Dita's lips silently form the words 'hang sesh' like she can't quite believe people actually talk like that, but she doesn't say anything about it. "Sorry, I've only been here since February, and I'm honestly missing a gap of like three months of that. I wish I could help, Fae. I'm Perdita. Is she missing, or...?" she trails off, gesturing faintly. Her nails are perfectly manicured, the same shade of red as her faux fur coat, and look like they could be used in self defense to great effect. "Oh... I'm so sorry."

"My clothes are clean," Alexander snaps back at Isi. "And I have other clothes." Another grumpy huff before he turns his attention determinedly to Fae. "Ah. Right." There's a long pause, before he says, "I'm sorry. I don't think she was a bad person. Just a kid." The last question causes him to shuffle one sneakered foot on the boardwalk while he thinks. Then says, with a hint of reluctance, "Yeah. There are a few Casadys left in town. I suppose they'd be your cousins."

He glances to Perdita. "It's a fair question. Lot of people die or go missing here."

"Oh, it's okay, it was like, a super long time ago." Fae assures Perdita with a slightly forced smile, it would seem it's still a rough subject for her to talk about but she at least makes an attempt to not be a huge downer. "I love your nails by the way." she hums out, slipping her attention from Alexander as she's distracted by the other girls on point manicure. "Do you do them yourself or is there a nice nail salon around here? Not that I could afford to have my nails done anyways." she blabbers, rounding her eyes as she reveals her monetary issues that were probably already apparent by her vehicular choice. "A girl can dream though."

She quickly drifts her vision back to Alexander as he throws out the possibility of family ties. "Oh really? That's great news." all of that sadness seems to shed away in the blink of an eye as her hands giddily applaud the find. "Thanks a bunch!" she coos merrily, taking a moment to let her first step victory settle in. "I guess coming out here was worth the 17 hour drive after all." that certainly is quite the journey.

"Is he always like this?" Isi replies, jerking her head at Alexander. "It seems like he's got a stick shoved all the way up his ass - gods, I feel you on that sooooo much Dita." Does she use the nickname just to piss of Alexander? Why, yes, " That dress the goblins took down? Don't know when I'm going to replace it. Less I start skimming from the tax rolls..." She shakes her head but her tone is only half joking.

"Sorry about your mom." Is about all Isi can add for Fae, falling quite about serious biz.

"Oh, these? They're acrylic. I swap them out whenever I get bored or if an outfit needs an extra pop of color. I used to bite my nails, and my ex was always fussing at me about it, and fake nails were the only things that made me stop. Can't chew through these." Perdita holds up her hand, the red polish catching the light. "There's a beauty shop next to my apartment, she sells all sorts of nice things there." Yeah, Dita looks like the type who'd move in somewhere just because it's near a beauty shop.

"I've found him to be quite helpful and kind. And I don't recommend skimming, they always catch that. What you do is find a rich older man who's desperately clinging to his youth, marry him for his money and then, you know... wait for him to die of old age before he realizes you can't handle the feel of his leathery flesh on your skin so you've been slipping him melatonin with dinner." Perdita trails off, smiling in such a way that it's impossible to tell if she's joking or serious.

"Her name is Perdita," Alexander corrects, through gritted teeth. "And that would be theft."

So, yeah. He's probably always like this. He makes a teakettle sort of hiss under his breath, before running his hands through his hair - not exactly improving what could be charitably be called his 'hair-style' - and shifting to clearly try to give Isi the cold shoulder. "At least it isn't arsenic," he sighs. "That would be murder. Not even interesting murder."

Fae's bright applause seems to startle him, but after a moment, he offers a brief, tentative sort of smile in return. "No problem." Another hesitation, before he reaches into one of the jacket's oversized pockets and pulls out an honest-to-god business card. A cheap one, with just his name, an email, a phone number, and a web address. "Here. If you have trouble tracking them down. Give me a call." Another pause. "Where'd you drive up from?"

A soft-spoken "Thank you for your condolences by the way, ya'll are good people." climbs it's way from Fae's mouth, some of that country twang leaking out with it. She hastily enough goes back to masking her accent, that she probably isn't too proud of, after taking a moment for all of Perdita's words to sink in "Missing a gap of three months? What do you mean?" she wonders, scratching her head. "Were you, like, in a coma or something?" she assumingly widens her eyes, looking shocked. "That's crazy..." her words trail off looking sympathetic and entirely believing that her guess has to be on target.

The line about goblins seems to still not entirely click in or it's written off as a colorful way to talk about something less supernatural than the real goblins that are being discussed. As Perdita lays out plan to drug some rich old man Fae echos out a resounding snort as she cracks into a peircing cackle. "You're funny." she dubs the dark-haired Dita. "That's funny." it's taken as a joke, even if it wasn't meant that way.

Fae's little mitts snatch up Alexander's business card with a level of eagerness that rivals a cat pawing at catnip. "Oh wow! Are you, like, a real private investigator or something?" she interestedly tilts her head to the side, examining the cheaply crafted card like a cashier would a fake twenty dollar bill.

"Missouri." she chatters off to Alexander, flicking her hair over her shoulder and eventually stowing his contact information in her bag. "I haven't really been out of the state much though, so this is probably the furthest I've ever been from home." the donut clad siren states, rambling on incessantly as she becomes increasingly comfortable with the company. "I guess we went to Disney World once when I was younger...so maybe that's further? I don't know. Either way, I'm a -loooonnnng- way from home." the word long is drawled out for a very long time if that wasn't already thrown out there.

Yes, there's something about Alexander's irritation that's just making Isi feel all bright eyed and bushy-tailed. She beams at Alexander for all his hissing.

"Oh sweetheart," Isi says, some real empathy in her voice. "You'll learn." REaching out to pat strangers like Fae is not weird, is it? "Meh, I'm not ready to have sandpaper between my hips. It's too bad Cassidy didn't swing for my side... alas." Yes. She did just say 'alas' out loud.

"Dita is okay. Perdy, however, is not. And if Ravn calls me that one more time I'll launch him into the ocean by his turtleneck." And Perdita's strong enough to do it, as Alexander well knows. "Um... I'm honestly not sure. Honestly it was probably just a fugue state. I don't mind, I lost seven pounds and I got a cat." she pulls out a phone and taps the home screen on, showing folks a picture of a tiny black kitten, about four months old, with big yellow eyes. "I have tons of pictures of her, she's freaking adorable."

"Oh, is that who the date was with? Did she at least like the dress?"

Somewhere on the fringes of the boardwalk, having abandoned the first responder firetruck in the parking lot is a rather put out Chris Baxter. Decked out in his navy overcoat for the chilly coastal November day, he's been making the rounds searching for something-- anything unusual.

"Command, not seeing anything unusual at my location," he leans in toward his shoulder to radio in, "Seems like another prank call. Will continue to monitor the situation." Another lieutenant on the force might have written off potential hobgoblins on the boardwalk as obvious nonsense; not so, the force's shiniest responder.

He turns the corner at a concession stand, putting him face-to-face with the group, of which at least a few are familiar.

"Oh, hey," he calls in a friendly-enough greeting.

Alexander snatches his hand back, visibly startled at the eagerness. "Yes," he says. "I'm an investigator." Another of those tentative smiles. "It's not as exciting as it sounds. Mostly." He points down the beach towards a motel. "That's the murder motel, if you're looking for a place to stay before going back home. Just avoid the junkies and it should be fine, though." He's a helper!

His...mildly...friendly demeanor sours immediately as Isi beams at him, though, and he gives her a dark look, before muttering to Perdita, "It's not okay. Names are important and you're mutilating yours." He looks one moment from working himself into an unhinged rant where aliens or lizardmen might feature before he actively stops himself, closes his eyes, and breathes deep and slow. So when Chris steps around the corner, he doesn't get snarled at or accused to be a member of the Illuminati. There's just a gruff, "Baxter. Hello."

"Awe, your kitty is so cute." the cheerful girl expresses matter-of-factly as Dita showcases her feline friend.

"Well, I think it's pretty exciting, like, how cool is that right?" Fae jabbers her jaw at Alexander seeming vastly more thrilled with his line of work than he does. "Wait? What? Murder motel?" she blinks about half a dozen times as she flashes her eyes back and forth between said murder motel and Alexander. "Maybe I should just sleep in the truck..." she murmurs under her breath, folding her arms as she considers the options of freezing her butt off overnight or being assaulted by those junkies that were mentioned.

Without yet coming to a solid conclusion about sleeping arrangements she shifts gears and wags her hand over to the firefighter "Hi." she offers out with a toothy smile. "Everything alright?" she double checks, peeking through her hair to make sure the boardwalk hasn't suddenly caught ablaze while she was busy assaulting the locals with her ceaseless voice.

"Man - I would go sacrifice all fashion like Mr. Kindness over here, Alexander Clayton," there is a limit for how far she's poke a total stranger. "to see you throw Ravn to the water spirits." Her smile is beatific as she treasures in her imagination what COULD BE.

Also out of the blue, "If you decide to stay longer - I'm on the look out for a roommate. You look clean enough," she bites her lip briefly and digs around in her pocket for a business card that she holds out to Fae.

Chris coming up gets an eyebrow lifted. "Firefighter?" Just checking she heard that right.

"I would scold you about running off new people in town, but... honestly that might be for the best." Perdita murmurs at Alexander, tilting her head a little as she does. "The junkies are fine, just buy them something from the vending machine and they'll watch out for you... but don't leave your door unlocked. Or your truck. They will rummage through your stuff and steal any money or anything they think will get them money." Perdita warns Fae, about the Murder Motel. What the hell kind of town as this girl found herself in.

As Chris approaches, Perdita gives a little finger wave, tilting her head a little, "There's no fires running wild around here right now, Chris. Chris, meet Fae, she's looking for relatives in town." she turns her attention to Alexander, eyebrow quirking slightly. "Her mom any relation to the Baxters?" she asks softly, with just a hint of worry.

His eyes continue to scan the area as if he's looking for something. "You haven't heard anything unusual, have you? Little brown creatures jumping out of a crack that threatens to destroy the city, maybe?" He continues without any hesitation, "Or do you have any leads on the whereabouts of a Mister Benjamin.."

What was that contact again? He clicks the button on his radio to query, and the result is an audible groan. "Dover." A beat. "Well, fuck." Any sense of investigative concern for the immediate surroundings flies out the window, and he gives the overly fried concessions over his shoulder a second thought.

Back to the subject at hand, he gives Fae a second, more empathetic look, "Oh, I know what that's like. I don't even know who mine was." He stuffs his hands in the front pockets of his coat for protection against the nipping chill of the wind. "I have a spare bedroom that I'm trying to rent out."

"Don't sleep in your truck," Alexander tells her, quietly. "It's not safe. Stay with people. You're less likely to get Lost if you're with people. And if you get Lost anyway, it's easier to get back alive." It's not hard to hear the capital letter in Lost, and it's clear he believes what he's saying. But then again, he sort of looks like he believes a lot of things. His eyes flick back to Isi, and he raises an eyebrow. "You don't like Ravn?"

When Isi digs out her business card, nosy Clayton sidles closer and leans in, trying to get a peek at it before it's passed over. A wordless shrug is his response to Perdita, along with a muttered, "A lot of them married out or changed their names. But no, I haven't seen Casady on the family tree."

"No little brown creatures so far," he tells Chris. "It's getting the time of the year for rogue Elves on the Shelf, though, so keep an eye out. Little fuckers bite." He doesn't appear to be joking.

Being the avid collector of business cards that she is Fae's head bobbles up and down as she catches her second one of day. "I might take you up on that. I really don't need to be back home until around April when we start planting the corn and whatnot." she rubs her finger and her thumb together in the universal sign for makin' that chedda'. "I actually wanted to head this way a little bit sooner but it's really hard to pass up the money I make off those silly hay rides from the pumpkin patch...Pa lets me keep all of that since it was my idea to start it up." she brags, super proud of her accomplishments.

"So I've at least got enough to ride out a couple months while I get a job, I mean...depending on what the rent is like. If you guys have a Dairy Queen here I could probably get my old boss Raul to give me a referral, I usually work for him after Halloween is over." all of these words are spit out at the speed of a southern auctioneer, somehow they're understandable but they practically fly out at mach speed.

"Oh? So they're basically like the junkies back home then? I mean, that's not so bad, as long as they're not the stabby type" Fae voices over to Perdita, feeling like she's got a better lay of the land given the description of what type of addicts Grey Harbor is sporting and she isn't going to get shanked in an ally somewhere for her heels.

Fae sympathetically furrows her brow to Chris, big feels. "I'm sorry to hear that." her fingers tuck her hair behind her ear as she adjusts her posture in a more comfortable position. "Lots of open roommate opportunities around these parts huh?" she grins widely over her features, her palm finding a place on her hip. "Do you have a business card too?" she queries Chris, hoping to increase her collection.

Alas, Isi's name ACTUALLY IS Isi. With a Cameron on the end. Auditor.

"Well, give me a call. The number's on the back," Isi winks at Fae before stepping back.

"It's not that I don't like Ravn," she correct Alexander, "it's just that every time shit hits the fan he's around. I'm starting to think he's a magnet for trouble." She glances at her watch and shakes her head. "If gremlins end up showing up to blow shit up I'd rather not be about."

Stepping away she tosses out a last, "I'll bring that dress around some time -" Eventually.

"So wait, let me get this straight. Little brown things, leaping out of a crack, and Ben Dover called it in. Did Mike Hunt make a follow up call?" Perdita asks Chris, smirking faintly... Until Alexander starts talking about Elf on the Shelf, and her expression turns Concerned. "Wait, really?" she whispers, not sure if the man is being serious or not, now. Knowing Alexander, he is, but... she has to check.

"Plant... the corn? Hay rides... Oh, honey, no. You're safer here with the goblin children and murderous Shelf Elfs. That... sounds torture."

Dita waves to Isi, smiling as the woman heads off, "No worries, I'm pretty sure I have one or two just like it, I tend to buy in multiples." This girl seems to have more money than sense. Or brain damage. Maybe both. As Chris offers Fae a room, Perdita quirks an eyebrow, glancing between the two of them with the faintest of smirks.

Chris gives a sag nod to Alexander's warning. "The holidays are always crazy," he laments, "It's a marvel we're still filling our homes with dry, flammable trees and then stuffing the bottom with colorful kindling. And those shoddy Chinese electrical cords on those cheap lights they sell at the MegaMart?"

The question quickly reminds the fireman that he isn't, in fact, around one of the watercoolers at the station. "Oh, yes, of course." He digs into his overcoat's front pocket to produce a modest business card, which he hands over to Fae. "Lt. Chris Baxter, Gray Harbor Fire Department." Naturally, it includes his phone number.

"It's hard to discern someone's joke from someone's worst nightmare coming true around this town," he asides to Perdita with a casual shrug, "And if they demand that we come out and they call 911, we come out." He quips about farm activities earn a furrowed brow from the man. "She's not much on nature," he shares with Fae with a grin forming at the edge of his mouth. Some kind of inside joke there.

"We have...raspberries. Lots of raspberries," Alexander tells Fae, solemnly. His eyes follow Isi as she heads for safer ground, listening to the ongoing conversation. "And yes. Elves on the Shelf are vicious. Sharp teeth. Set traps. Nearly killed me." Still very serious as he glances to Perdita. But there's a twinkle of humor in the deep-set gaze as he adds, "But I did get well paid for that job."

He nods to Chris, approving of the policy. "It's good to check things out. If it's just a joke, nobody gets hurt. If it's not, and no one shows up to help, people can die." With that, the investigator looks them over. "I should go. Don't die." And then he starts slouching his way towards the shore, without another word or look at anyone.

"That's so mean, you can't call people's babies goblins, even if they aren't cute...you have to pretend like they're cute. I thought maybe you guys were talking about one of those little snorty dogs with the flat faces at first." Fae giggles girlishly at Perdita, still not really getting it. In here defense there aren't any goblins back home where all the corn lives. "Also, who is Mike Hunt? That name sounds familiar, is he, like, a professional football player or something? I don't pay that much attention to football." she confesses, that whole bit going over her head as well.

Gathering up the third business card like a mid 2000's kid finding their first blue eyes white dragon to add to their yu-gi-oh collection Fae chirps back to Chris mirthfully. "A Lieutenant? That's, like, a big deal right?" she doesn't have a clue how rank works for firefighters, or probably anything else for that matter. "Not much on nature?" that part seems to stick out, as if it's impossible that anyone wouldn't be. "A couple camping trips would fix that." a playful side eye is shot over to Perdita.

As Alexander leaves Fae watches him go, lostly trying to piece together this elf on the shelf talk. "He kinda reminds me of my Uncle Harold...always making up silly stories to try and scare people. Harold probably drinks more though." her shoulders faintly raise as she shrugs.

"Take care, Alexander. I'll call you if I find another dead body in the basement." Perdita states. And no, she doesn't sound like she's kidding.

"I have my reasons for hating nature, and they involve a certain grandparent's propensity to sing traumatic Baltic lullabies to me in Hungarian. You try growing up on the edge of a forest with someone telling you that wolves will eat you, and all of your siblings, if you get out of bed to pee in the middle of the night. Also, I watched Children of the Corn as a child. I know what happens in those fields."

"No, they were actual gobli-... Hold on." Perdita hitches her skirt a bit, tugs down the thigh high stocking she's wearing beneath it, and exposes a bit of golden brown flesh that's got a wide, long bandage on it that's looking like it might need changed soon on her upper right thigh.

"Little bastards cut me, tossed a rope around me and dragged me for a dozen feet before I got free." Perdita explains, clearly not the least bit shy about exposing her well toned thigh in front of mixed company. "Be careful out here. Especially at night, okay?" she slips the stocking back into place. "Especially because you're all... glittery." she shifts the skirt back into place as well, tilting her head slightly.

Was it a big deal? Chris isn't entirely sure. He gives Fae a bashful smile, "Well, uh, I guess it depends how easily impressed you are. But it's definitely something." He looks up and to the side a moment, thoughtful.

But the talk of camping soon has the man wide-eyed and excited, "I was just telling Ditas last week how great the camping was around here. You ever been up to the Olympics? Breathtaking." His hands slip from his coat, and he gestures grandly, "And you can be at a waterfall in the middle of a rainforest, and twenty-minutes in your car later you can be in a legitimate desert."

"I think you're more likely to run into the Big Bad Wolf on the east side than you are on a camping trip," he deadpans to Perdita with a good-natured teasing smile on his face. "At least you're healing up."

"Glittery? I'm not that glittery, it's just a touch in the eyeshadow." her hand flit through the air with her words as she attempts to explain her makeup choices for a moment before she catches Dita's wound and an animated grimace crawls over her. "Oh golly, that looks pretty bad...it was goblins?" the puzzling look in her eyes doesn't seem to show any signs of breaking. "Like, what does that even mean? I ain't too keen..." her lips glide sidewardly as that country accent shines through quite a bit at the end of her statement. "...I don't know what that's slang for." she restates, this time without enough twang for the grand ole opry. "Did you really find a dead body in a basement though? That's super scary." a tiny shiver runs through the girl as she exhales. "That's just terrible."

"You guys hold the Olympics here? Like, pole vaulting and snowboarding and stuff?" the ditzy ginger responds to Chris, still trying to shake off some of that dead body talk. "Oh! You meant the mountains." she smacks her forehead with her palm, fully aware of how dumb she just sounded saying that as she chortles. "I knew that." a piggish snort escapes as she tries to play it off with all the grace of a cat that just landed flat on it's back.

"I know how to handle the Big Bad Wolf on the east side." Perdita points out, tilting her head at Chris slightly with a quirk of her eyebrow somehow making it just a little flirtatious. "And like I said last week, hiking is fine, camping is an invitation to serial killers and dangerous animals, and I don't intend to sleep beneath the stars any time soon. If I wanted to, I could set up a tent on the roof of the Bauer building and at least be certain I wouldn't be eaten by anything mundane. I even have a firepit set up out there, now, so I can roast marshmallows. And yes, safety first." She winks at Chris.

When Fae seems confused about everything, though, she just... decides to go the most mundane topic, though the saddest. "I bought an old building, and while Alexander, our friend Ravn and I were checking out a leak in the basement, we... accidentally solved a missing persons' case that was over a hundred years old. The police got involved, my basement has crime scene tape in it, I can't get anybody in to fix the leak until they clear it, but... at least we can lay him to rest when the police are done, right?" She sounds like she's trying to put a positive spin on it, and a cheerful face, but the normally poised young woman looks a little shaken. She looks out over the water, hugging herself.

There's nothing quite like dead bodies and crime scenes to dampen a man's enthusiasm for his hobbies. Chris regards Fae with an appreciative look, opting on neither correcting her nor overtly laughing at her statement about the games.

The news she delivers seems to be news for him as well. He whistles lowly. "I didn't know you had that kind of funds to throw around. I guess that makes you a bonafide real estate developer unless you intend on burning it down by roasting marshmallows in a trash can like some kind of alleyway vagrant."

The solemn moment seems to come and pass, and after a deep breath, he's back to his easy-going, smiling self. But then, he doesn't have a building with an active water leak. "Sleeping under the stars is the best. Reconnecting with your animal self is the key to staying sane, I say."

Fae's eyebrow reaches up towards the sky as Perdita further describes the scene of finding a long lost cadaver in her place of business "That's seriously just, like, nightmare fuel." her ankles cross as her hands nervously slip into her jacket's pockets. "I think I'd just scream for three straight days if I saw something like that." she confesses, not having much of a hard time admitting her cowardice. "They should let you fix that leak before your basement floods out though too." she tosses in her two cents.

"Animal self?" Fae hums over to Chris. "All this talk about goblins and gremlins I'm half expecting that you're the big bad wolf now..." she playfully glances up to check the sky in case it's a full moon. "You guys are weird, but, like, in a good way." says the girl who adorns herself in fully matching set of donut inspired fashion, as if she has any room to call anyone else weird. "Please don't turn into a werewolf, I'm not sure I can take that right now." she requests with a sly smirk.

"I was thinking I'd wait a few months, you know, throw off the arson investigators. Which would probably be someone in your department, so I should be careful about joking that way." Perdita laughs, shaking her head slightly. "I sleep under the stars every night. I have a skylight in my bedroom... which has steel bars on it. Which should worry me more than it does," Dita admits, "since I'm eight floors up."

"Oh, I'd say he's a big bad wolf, alright. You should see the fire department's calendars." Dita quirks an eyebrow at Fae, grinning. "It's well worth the donation."

"Now I'm just envisioning a fire department calendar with furries on it." Fae yaps over to Perdita jestingly, her fingernails gliding through her hair as she idly considers the true contents of that calendar. "What kind of donation are we talking about here?" she queries openly, entirely ready to haggle down the price like any good midwesterner would. "Wait...I don't even have anywhere to put a calendar." she reminds herself, snapping back to reality for a moment.

It is, alas, not a full moon; it's just a chilly November evening on the boardwalk. "Yeah, like... surviving in nature. Finding your own food. Not losing touch with the artificial constructs society's created for us," he starts to explain, working his way toward another enthusiastic spiel on the outdoorsy things that he so enjoys.

Whatever witty comment he might've been about to quip to Perdita's building comments, though, are lost when the man's gaze drops to his shoes as if he was suddenly wearing an anchor for a hat. His cheeks turn bright red as his leather work boot scuffs the boardwalk underfoot. "It's for a good cause," claims Mister April.

"... I mean that would probably sell... but I imagine there'd be a lot of fursuits that were different types of Dalmatians." Dita responds to the other girl, looking amused. Once Chris is ducking his head, though, Perdita leans forward to tap Chris under the chin just a bit. "Chin up. You've got nothing to be ashamed of, hakyares so phenav? You're a handsome guy, and it was for a good cause. But even if you were a full time sex worker, there's still nothing to be ashamed of, in my eyes."

"I mean, how many firefighters do you guys have here?" Fae conversationally prods, trying to make sure she'd be getting her moneys worth before any donations are handed out. "And do you really have enough -good looking- firefighters to justify a calendar?" her eyes narrow, a shade of doubt creeping over them.

"I'm not even sure there are enough good looking men back home in my whole little town to fill out a 12 month calendar." brutal, absolutely brutal, also probably true. "By the time we got to March we'd have to start photoshopping more teeth into their mouths." she sighs half-jokingly while her eyes nearly round from her head. "There's just something about a man with all of his teeth." she chuckles, staunching the laugh with her palm but knowing full well that part isn't a joke, dental hygiene is important kids.

"I don't think I'm in next year's, and they're not going to be selling 2021's anymore," Chris points out, venturing a look upward once he can manage his embarrassment. "It's for the whole Olympic Penninsula region, not just Gray Harbor," he points out not long after, to not allow his pride to be diminished in any way. Toothless old men, they were not. "Anyway, I have one at home someplace, if you wanted to check the room out. That is," he gives Fae an uneasy glance, "If you're actually able to pay rent. Do I need to give Raul a call?" a playful smile emerges.

Fae rounds her mouth feigning offense. "You think I came here without any money at all? I can pay rent..." her words trail off as she glances this way and that before low-key murmuring "...how much is rent though. It can't be as much as staying in that cheap motel for a month right?" her thumb juts over towards the previously discussed murder motel. "Do they have extended stay options? I need something with a kitchenette preferably." she isn't looking for the Hilton but a Fairfield would be nice.

"If you want to call and talk to Raul you can though, I was employee of the month last November." she boasts comedically raising her chin to show off how overtly impressive that title is. "That basically makes me the Lieutenant of Dairy Queen." she quips, a shining sparkle of very intact teeth fluttering through her lips. "Full disclosure Raul makes everyone employee of the month at least once a year because he doesn't want any of us to feel bad...but I earned it, I totally earned it. I can sling icecream with the best of 'em."

"From experience, there's at least enough to fill a calendar with good looking guys." Perdita responds to Fae, before pausing. "... Uh. Because a bunch of them hang out at one of the local bars, not because I've slept with the entire calendar." she clarifies... though Chris knows she's hooked up with at least one of his coworkers, from past conversation.

"Well, they've just lost a sale for next year's." Dita teases Chris, playfully, but then her phone is suddenly going off with a lively ringtone and a soulful voice singing in a foreign language. "Shit, it's my cousin, one sec." She steps away from Chris and Fae with a wincing smile. Dita doesn't have a good relationship with most of her family, apparently. She brings the phone up to her ear, speaking softly, "Alo? Dhvani? Ya. Sáyek si problémi! Sargodi kai keres- Beyechi! Because I'm busy! Na! He did what?" There's a low groan of frustration from the girl, "Fine. I'll call you back."

Returning to the pair, she sighs. "I've got to run. My cousin's boyfriend just kicked him out, and I have to wire the little shit some money for a hotel room... I don't even know how he got this number..."

How much to actually charge for the room wasn't something Chris had figured out yet. "The monthly on a hotel is usually pretty crazy for not very much space, but it's a bit different than renting a room in a house." He lifts his shoulders before brushing a hand against his cheek. "But, I'm sure we could figure something out if..."

This is about when Dita's phone rings, and Chris casts a look over his shoulder, chuckling quietly at the ensuing conversation. Or at least the tone of it. "It's amazing who comes out of the woodwork when they need some money," he groans. Oh, the joys of extended family! He casts Perdita a faint smile and a quick head nod, "Take care."

His shift at work was nearly done. Technically, he was still on the clock. He glances toward his phone screen a moment before stuffing it back away. If anything was on fire, they'd be screaming on the radio.

"It was really nice to meet you Perdita" Fae kindly simpers, feeling for the girls family trouble. "Sorry about your cousin issues." she adds in with a waffle of her fingertips wiggling over her way. "I'm sure they'll work it out pretty soon, it's really good of you to help them." she optimistically mentions, even if Dita doesn't much care for her family it certainly speaks a lot of her character to help take care of them anyways so there are some notable points in Fae's book for that.

"You throw out some numbers and I'll pretend like I have less money than I do to talk you down." Fae responds to Chris already in negotiation mode, it's like it's just built into her, deeply ingrained into her psych, of course she's kinda played her hand on her plan to talk him down at this point...or has she? Yeah, she probably has, what a rookie move. "A house though? That's nice." she paints her face with a warmhearted beam. "Like, a real house with a real kitchen?" she double checks, because you never know who is living in an barn and calling it a house, that's a serious thing back in Missouri. "And a toilet." that's also important.

"He's my baby cousin, and the little brat seems determined to follow in my footsteps." she mutters, sighing, "But only the bad ones. I'll see you later, Chris." she sketches a wave to him, "Be careful out there, Fae. If you go out anywhere after dark, do yourself a favor and text someone you trust where you're going, okay?" she's walking backward now, clearly worried about the other young woman, but off to rescue her Gay Disaster Cousin from his own bad decisions.

She hurries off toward a new looking cherry red car in the parking lot that ever so conveniently matches her faux fur coat, beginning to jog in her heels like it's something she does every day, cursing under her breath as she moves.

Chris gives a slow, thoughtful nod. "Yeah, it's on Oak. A three-bedroom home. I'm using one of them for my weights, but the other's just sitting there empty," he explains, watching Perdita head off into the distance with a small sigh. "She's in good hands," he tries to reassure the woman as he takes another glance at his phone.

"Want to see it or something?" he asks with a subsequent shrug. "I know you have a few options, but it's not like you need to sign a lease or anything like that." His expression softens, "Especially if you need something for tonight? I mean, it's late out there already."

"Is it really that dangerous around here? I mean, back home we don't even bother to lock our doors." Fae voices, though part of that is just from being so distant from any nearby civilization. "My Uncle Harold always says 'let 'em try me'" she does her best hick impression tossing in a "Yeehaw!" afterwards before falling out of the character and slipping a grin up her cheek. "My Dad would totally get mad at him for shooting a gun in the house though, even if some robber came in. He grounded me for a month that time I shot the toaster...that wasn't my fault though." the context around the comment isn't any further described. "Sure! I don't see why not." she says, agreeably nodding as she begins to clop over towards her beat up old truck.

Chris leads the way toward the parking lot, giving an appreciative smile over his shoulder for her stories. "Spokane was kind of like that too." He adds, with some wisdom, "Shotguns are for indoors." A few steps further down, he notes, "Gray Harbor is a very different kind of trouble. Not a place you'd want to be out alone. There's... a lot to learn." He pauses to allow her to catch up with him and nearly shoots his hand out before realizing what he's doing and promptly stuffing it back into his coat pocket. He drove his own truck here, a newer white F-150. "I guess you can follow, yeah?"

"In my defense it was a shotgun, also I wasn't expecting the toast to just come out right when I walked in the door. I was also, like, 12. I'm not sure I'll ever live it down...my Uncle mounted the toaster on the wall like it was 8 point buck or something" She calls over with a fun-loving laugh, as she recounts the specifics of her tale. Her hand reaches out as she hops up to grab the door handle and pull herself up to the truck. "Yeah, I'll follow ya." she chatters out, toothily shooting Chris a smile that could probably destroy a toaster.