2022-03-08 - It's The Popular Place!

(TXT to Ava Perdita) Ravn : Today a good day to look at empty offices? I had a student but they cancelled. I have free time. And I don't want to miss out on the celebratory daiquiri.

(TXT to Perdita Ravn ) Ava : I have the next two days off, so today is the perfect day.

(TXT to Ava Ravn) Perdita : I'm up on the 4th floor doing some cleaning, just come on up and find me whenever!

(TXT to Ava Perdita) Ravn : I'll pick you up, Ava. Provided you don't mind riding in a side car.

(TXT to Perdita Ravn) Ava : I don't mind at all. See you soon.

Lola Bianca is the name of Ravn's girlfriend, at least if you ask around town (and don't ask the people who will tell you that it is Kitty Pryde). A white vintage motorcycle with a side car, lovingly restored and cared for -- somebody in town is a skilled mechanic with an eye for the older gold. "I don't have a car," he tells Ava as he pulls up outside and gestures for her to hop in. "I used to rent one but it kept breaking down. Besides, Kitty Pryde loves riding in the side car. Mind the cat hair."

She purrs like a dream. The vintage Triumph, not the cat. The cat does not grace us with her presence today.

The ride to the Bauer Building certainly is not far; nothing much is in Gray Harbor, not exactly a sprawling metropolis. It's far enough to remember that the wind has bite, because it is not yet officially spring.

"I don't recall if you and Perdita have met," the Dane tells his passenger as they pull up in front of the early 20th century building in all its Art Nouveau glory. "But if you haven't I think you'll like her. She's managing to turn this old, sleeping giant into quite the happening place. Which is really kind of a feat, given we're in Bloody Gray Harbor."

"Oh! She's lovely. I can see why you wanted to take the bike rather than my car," Ava offers with a brief smile. She made sure to change into pants upon realizing that she was going to have to get into a side car, not quite sure how well a skirt would do for such things. "I've never done this before, so bear with me please." It takes a few moments but Ava does eventually settle in without too much fuss and tuck herself in neatly. The cat hair doesn't seem to be too much of an issue. Besides, there's a lint roller in her purse. Of course there is.

"We've spoken over the phone about the building, of course, but this will be our first face to face meeting. Our schedules haven't lined up very well, I'm afraid. You know how I tend to be popping in and out of places thanks to my work. Makes it tough to schedule things sometimes." Riding behind someone on a motorcycle is one thing, but this is a completely different sort of feeling. Needless to say, her hands are wrapped around the doorframe for the whole trip. They manage to peel off once they've arrived as shaky legs wobble upwards and she steps out of the side car.

"I remember what it used to look like. She certainly did an amazing job turning it around. She must be quite a lady. Plus, you speak very highly of her, so I know she's good people."

Ravn laughs softly as he pulls the bike into the hall below; trust in your local community is all well and good but he's not leaving it sitting outside in the busiest part of town. Lean it against the brick wall of the Pourhouse some Friday night in the old industrial park? Sure. The lumber mill workers and other salt of the earth respect the bond between a man and his machine. Nosy tourists and office workers downtown on the other hand -- don't trust 'em longer than you can throw 'em.

He dings the penthouse button on the door phone twice and then heads towards the elevator. "We're going all the way up. Perdita's built herself quite the little oasis up there. I don't think I have a secret dream about a penthouse place, but if I did? This could work. Half the building is still empty, of course, and we found a labyrinthine network of tunnels and a dead body in the basement shortly after she took it over, but what do you expect in this town, indeed."

At least the elevator ride is soft and steady. In a building a hundred years old that could be a lot more disturbing.

"See? That's what I was thinking of doing, originally. Getting a place above the clinic. That's why originally thought apartment. Easy commute to the clinic, and people can drop in at all hours for healing. But then you guys had to go and show me how beautiful houses can be. Then the garden thing. Now I can't picture not living in a house." Ava sets one hand on a hip and balances her weight. "But we're going to get upstairs, I'm going to take one look around and probably think, I should have gone with an apartment." She laughs, shaking her head.

"A dead body? In Gray Harbor? No," gasps the coroner. "I'm kind of interested in the labyrinth of tunnels, though. Did you figure out where they led to? Other buildings? The sewer?" The ride is much more steady than she thought, which is pleasing. It isn't too much longer before it hits the Penthouse floor with a soft ding.

It's not like there's people downstairs to complain about the bike being in the building anyway. Most of the tenants are businesses with their own interests, and a few offices on some of the lower floors.

The 'front door' of the apartment is open at the moment, giving the elevators a clear view of Dita's living space. Since Ravn last has been up, more furniture has been restored from the basement or from estate sales, and it's actually starting to look like a home. A small fire crackles in the fireplace, having only recently been started to take off the cold in the air.

When she hears the elevator ding, Perdita steps out from the kitchen with a smile, wiping off her hands on a dish towel. Long hair is pulled into a high ponytail, and she's wearing a cream colored chunky knit jumper beneath a pair of oversized men's overalls that have been rolled up at the cuffs, and a pair of Chuck Taylors that have seen better days. For a change, she actually does look like the sort of person who might tackle a big project like this and be able to handle it. She's not even rocking a faux fur coat, though one hangs in a corner.

"... Dead bodies?" she caught that last bit, just barely, it seems, and she raises her eyebrows slightly. "Don't tell me you found another one on your way up."

"Fortunately not," Ravn grins in response. "I was just telling Ava about the one we found in the old armoire, and about the smugglers' tunnels. We never did finish exploring them because something on the Other Side decided to get creative. Or well, that's the assumption, given that it's not very likely that there is actually a tribe of lost hominids in the Bauer Building's basement."

He steps out of the elevator and to the side so that the two women can meet. "Ava Brennon -- Perdita Leontes."

Ava gets her first glimpse at the living space, and takes a few moments to take it in. It's clear that she's actually giving it a full once over to really appreciate the decor and the effort that went into it. "Very fortunately. Finding a dead body myself would have meant the end to my day off, more than likely." There's a chuckle and Ava's eyes finally drift from the room to Perdita herself. She takes her in much the same way she did the room.

"It's wonderful to finally meet you in person. Your outfit is adorable. You actually managed to pull off overalls and look cute! Every time I try I look like a farm reject. It's a nightmare. But I keep trying anyway." She offers a hand out towards the woman. "Thanks for meeting with me today, sorry my schedule has been so crazy."

"We need to get back down there, but in the meantime I'm just... very happy that they haven't apparently come up to say hi. I don't want to meet them unless they're very friendly neighbors." There's a slight pull of a face, but swiftly corrected.

She laughs at Ava's compliment, and takes the other woman's hand, "I feel like I look like Farmer John, myself, but thank you. And it's no problem, I remember what it's like having a busy schedule." Is that... a hint of wistfulness? Does Perdita Leontes miss the go-go-go of the bustling big city life she traded in for the Weird Shit Capital of the Pacific Northwest?

Probably. She's not bonkers. "Please, have a seat, I'll get the drink cart and we can have Ravn mix us up something. He's a better mixologist than I," her eyes glance out to the veranda and the rooftop, where there's a firepit and what looks like the start of early gardening and the promise of actual greenery atop the Bauer Building this spring and summer.

"Which unfortunately doesn't say a lot," Ravn murmurs. "I did a month or two bartending. I was still learning when I quit. I should really talk to Vic Grey sometime, maybe get the rest of the course."

The man can mix a mojito, though. Just the right amount of mint and sweetness to preserve the taste of alcohol as a subtle reminder that this is not only sweetness and light in a glass. "We probably should, yes. And we may find that there was never such a thing as a network of neolithic tunnels and things that were trying to ward us off like we were the monsters. Or we might find that this time, there are real monsters. Or even more likely, there's nothing at all. Ever get the feeling that a lot of the time, what we find in a dark place is exactly what we expect to find?"

"It's always a good thing when the bad things stay where they are supposed to and don't come out to play. I much prefer it like that. We can always go to them when we are feeling bold. But otherwise, I like them sticking to their dark corners." Once she's invited to have a seat, Ava glances towards the gestured to area and begins to move in that direction.

"Don't they have those apps on your phone now that you can cheat with that have all the instructions for which drink has which? You could use one of those." She settles comfortably, a leg crossing over the other. "Is it terrible that I'm here to look at the offices for my clinic, but instead I kind of want to get a little liquid courage inside of me and then go poking around in the basement? Or does that just mean I've lived in this town for too long?"

"Which is why I always expect to find a gorgeous man. If I don't find one, I'm a little disappointed, but if I do... Well." she laughs, "That's how I got my boyfriend."

"You're welcome to go poking around the basement, just... bring back up and make sure the basement door is locked with the bar when you're done." Perdita drapes easily into a tufted armchair, "For that matter, if your office needs furniture, there's a lot of stuff abandoned from previous tenants, and a bunch of it's still perfectly serviceable, or just needs a good sand and refinish. The last owner was a very meticulous, tidy packrat. Kept everything that wasn't soiled."

"And some that was -- or at least which had not been properly inspected for a very long time. A hundred and ten years is a very long time for a body to lie in an old armoire, you know?" Ravn settles on the nearest available surface with his own mojito after passing the other two to their respective recipients. "But yes -- it probably mean we've been here too long. Come to the realisation that if we go looking for adventure, at least we have some kind of agency. It's a little different from waking up in a dream and realising you're somebody else, somewhere else. At least when we head out on our own, we get to pack the basics. You know -- first aid kit, compass, a sharp knife."

He rests one leg across the other, making himself comfortable. "I don't know. I never find myself able to refuse. Maybe I should. It would certainly be the sane choice -- ignore everything that allows you to ignore it. But if I ever get to that point of jaded, please remind me that I can go home and live my own life. The same every day humdrum is what I went here to get away from, after all."

"Well, it's strangely not hard to find gorgeous men in Gray Harbor. For a small town, we're chalk full of them. Home grown or driven in." A hand gestures over towards Mr. Cheekbones planted on the nearby table. Ava smirks. "The Veil must like to look at pretty things just as much as we do." Ava laughs. "1-800-dial-a-boyfriend? It was pure manifestation on your part, then? That's a very good trick." Her glass it tilted in Perdita's direction.

"I will absolutely go furniture hunting down there, then. If I'm going down anyway, I might as well get something out of it." Her eyes drift towards Ravn. "I'll bring the first aid kit, you'll have to bring the knife. I'm afraid the only knife I'm halfway decent with is a scalpel. My Y incision is beautiful. But something tells me They won't sit still long enough to allow for that." A shame, really.

"With everything that happens in this city, it wouldn't surprise me to find out that armoire wasn't actually down there any time the owner was, because they might have looked in it, and then that poor boy wouldn't be there for us to find." Perdita's face softens, saddens. She took finding the kid's body about as well as anyone can, on the outside, but inside... nobody likes finding something like that. Just the sort of trauma to hit someone like her.

"For that matter there's no shortage of gorgeous women who breeze into town, fling themselves at Ravn, then disappear. Which makes him sound like a serial killer, I realize." she winks at Ravn, raises her glass and takes a sip. "Mm, you do make a good mojito. Manifestation, I don't know, but one minute room 404 was empty, the next a half naked, half starved man was barreling into me. He's been living with me ever since. I wasn't planning to date him, but... abs." she laughs. Clearly that isn't all she sees in Garrett, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

"The Veil does seem to like good looking people," Ravn muses, thoughtfully. Maybe this has not occurred to him previously -- and he is the man who formulated the theory that the Veil traps people who are some combination or other, of FAD (fighter + artist + damaged goods). Is pretty or handsome a fourth qualifier? He thinks back. Then he shakes his head. "No. I mean, there is an obvious trend that way -- but not everyone with the shine is young and gorgeous. It's probably safe to assume that good looking people are often self conscious about it, though -- and that's as good an opening for breaking someone's spirit as any."

Then Perdita makes that serial killer comment and he can't stop himself from laughing before he shakes his head. "You make me sound like I wade through an ocean of lonely women. Trust me, I don't, and I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I did. Besides, I'm Rosencrantz' straight boyfriend, remember? People usually assume I'm just comfortable in my closet."

"Oh yes. It certainly has an eye for the attractive all the way around. Maybe The Veil is a perv?" Ava chuckles a little at the thought. "Or, again, maybe it's something about the genetics of things. It just happens that the genetics that links us to these gifts also tend towards better aesthetics?" A counter offered towards Ravn's suggestion based off of what she's working on herself.

"You stud! Just going around breaking all those poor women's hearts, sending them back home crying to where ever they came from." Her tongue clicks against the roof of her mouth. "A sea of lonely woman would be quite a nightmare, but you do tend to be surrounded by women," she points out before taking a long sip of her drinking, glancing from him to Perdita with a sparkle of amusement in her eyes.

"Being self conscious about being pretty never made sense to me... but I've paid good money to look like this, so..." Perdita shrugs slightly and smiles, taking another sip of her drink. "It's not so much that you wade through women as it is that we dash ourselves upon your rock hard shore and never take notice of the carnage." There's a touch of something wicked in her smile, there. Apparently she's thrown herself at Ravn's shore at least once.

"I can see why people think he's closeted. His best friends are a flamboyant straight man who would gladly raid my closet without a moment's hesitation, the Wicked Manslut of the West, and a bunch of girls and women." she laughs, shaking her head slightly. "Which reminds me, I need to buy Itzhak a conical hat for Halloween... if he doesn't already own one."

"It's honestly pretty coincidental," Ravn muses and once again thinks back on the year and a half he's spent in town. "The six months or so that I was in town I only knew a few of the female persuasion -- co-workers at Two If By Sea, mostly. I can't say it's really something I care about a lot -- I mean, it only matters if you look at everybody new as a potential date, I figure."

Perdita's descriptions of his friends prompts a laugh -- in part because most of them would wear those descriptions with pride. "I think Aidan's bi, technically. But he's definitely flamboyant, and I love it -- him and Kailey, you never know what's going to happen around them, how can you not love that? "

He sips the mojito and toys with the mint leaf. "Hell, maybe I am. But if that's the case, my closet's comfortable enough that I'm just going to put my feet up and feel at home here. Life's fun this way. I get to hang out with a bunch of awesome people full of ideas and thoughts I would never have had on my own. I'm the smart boring guy: I know how to go bask in everyone else's limelight."

"I can kind of understand being self conscious about being pretty. People always expecting it of you. Knowing if you don't live up to standards that some people's opinion of you might change. Some people bear that weight on their shoulders a little too harshly." Ava waves her glass gently back and forth. "I like getting dressed up for myself. I love style, fashion, feeling indulgent in myself. I've never really done it for others. I feel bad for anyone who actually expected it from me and tried to say something about it. They'd get such a look." She offers a smile to Perdita, offering her a cheers. "You dashed yourself against his rock, but then had a man literally fall into your lap. So I'd say it turned out nicely, right?"

Her head leans back, eyes narrowing as she tilts her head towards Ravn. "If you call yourself boring again, I will flick you, sir. I am medically trained and aware of your condition. I know exactly where to hit to cause the least amount of actual damage but cause the most amount of pain. You have been warned."

There's a slight wince, "... Oh! Well, there I go, proving that accidental erasure can happen at any time, even from other Queer people." Perdita shakes her head slightly, then smiles, "Everybody new is a potential date." Or a mark, depending on her mood.

"Oh, I'm not complaining, mostly just teasing... I," the slightest hint of hesitation, as if it costs her something to say it out loud, is that a blush, "love Garrett and can see a future with him. I'd never been much for settling down before I moved here. Renting apartments, going clubbing every night, never... this." she gestures at the Bauer Building with a fond smile. "He's made making a home here less of a terrifying option and more something to look forward to. And so have my friends." she raises her glass to Ravn slightly, smiling.

Ravn makes a face at Ava at that remark, and then pretends to shy away from her, towards the edge of his seat. "I have no doubt. There's just sore spot: All of me. I will throw angry, wet cats at you, ma'am. As for every new face being a potential date? I suppose that's one place you and I are very different, Perdita. I never start to think about people in those terms until -- well, very late. Usually after they've long since given up and moved on. Or have had a set of lovely abs fall into Room 404 unexpectedly."

He raises his glass in return. "To friends, then. And to actually managing the big L and have it not end in heartbreak. And to the rest of us getting there some day, too -- or not, as our preference may be. Hell, here's to everybody getting what they want. We live in a town where dreams are literal truth and nothing is too bizarre, so why not aim for perfection? It's as likely to happen as illegal lobster fighting rings or giant magic sucking elk hippocampi, both of which are quite real around these parts."

"You are welcome to try. I have a way with cats! Even yours likes me. So nyah." Ava offers a very mature face of 'so there' in Ravn's direction. She's looking down into her drink a few moments later, considering both of the other's words. "I think I fall in between the two of you on the potential date, matter. They could be, certainly. But I don't really see it until I get to know them a little bit better. Once I have gotten to know them more, it starts to become clearer. I have to have that friendship first to build off of before I can leap into something else. Otherwise how do you know if you can even get along?"

Her glass lifts. "To that end, To friends! And to lack of heartbreak. And Perdita's love, and adorable flushing cheeks when she admits to it."

"... magic sucking elk hippos?" Perdita asks, raising both eyebrows slightly. Still, she raises her glass and smiles. "To love, whether the love of friends or the love of a good romantic partner." She takes a sip of her drink.

"I do not flush... but... Honestly, when it came to dating and romance... I wasn't much for either... as half the fire department can attest." Perdita quirks a brow with a rather self satisfied smile. In her defense, the fire department does have a lot of hunks and/or babes on it. "I was more... about enjoying a nice evening together, then never seeing each other again outside of bumping into each other awkwardly sometime in the future."

"Hippocampi," Ravn corrects. "Traditionally, horse in front, fish in the back. But our local variety are elk in front, not horse -- and they do in fact seem to feed off power. Anyhow. Yes. They're real, I've seen them around -- many people have. They tend to turn up when a lot of power is being burned for a while. You may have heard of them as elkfish instead, for obvious reasons."

He winks at Ava. "You're wrong about Kitty Pryde. It's not that you have a way with her -- it's that she loves showing me that everyone else is better than me, and she only stays with me out of pity. That cat is a bitch through and through, and it will never stop being hilarious to me."

Another sip of mojito, and the mint leaf transferred to the other hand to toy with; he'll probably end up with it stuck behind one ear or something. "The way I see it -- people should do what gives them joy. If that means banging half the fire department? Well, if half the fire department is game, then who's hurting? It's only an issue if somebody is dishonest in their attempts at conquest, that can be problematic. Which reminds me that May 1 is coming up soon, and I bloody well hope a certain someone's forgotten."

"I've seen the fire department. Good for you." Perdita gets a cheers and another lift of Ava's drink solely in her direction for that one. That is pretty impressive. Of course, a moment later her drink is being sipped, nearly empty already. For someone who doesn't drink, she has been drinking an awful lot lately. Una and Ravn are terrible influences, it must be said.

"Oh no! Don't you go using that cute little wink on me, buddy," she laughs. "I have been spoiling that kitty rotten. If I don't already have a way with her, I soon shall. And you, sir, will be eating those words. I'm willing to bet on it." A pause. "But what's May first have to do with anything?"

As an aside, her head rolls to the side across the back of her seat, those multishaded eyes settling on Dita. "You flush. It's cute."

"... isn't that part of the brain?" Perdita asks, tilting her head slightly. It's hard to tell if she's playing ditz, or she's actually confused. She does ditz so well.

"... May First?" Perdita raises her eyebrows. "Are we planning to clean your houseboat again and show off for the wharfies?"

Perdita laughs as Ava tells her she flushes, shaking her head. "It's clearly just the highlighter I used today." except she's not wearing highlighter. She's wearing a subtle foundation to (mostly) hide the smattering of freckles, and a subtle liner. For Perdita, it's makeup free.

"Hippocampus," Ravn sighs, knowing full well what Perdita's game is on that one. "And you totally flush."

Then he makes a weird little grimace. "May is when I promised Gabriella a date. I told her, I don't fall for people just like that. Be my friend first, then we'll see what happens. And somehow that became, we'll go out but in six months. I'm running out of time. Though I suppose there's no harm in taking her out for dinner and, well, leaving it at that."

"Ah yes. Just highlighter, my mistake," Ava assure with a little wave of her hand and a look of pure amusement. She finishes off her drink, face screwing up as she eyes Ravn. "Is it really that big of a deal for you to take someone out on a date? You can just go out and have a nice time, enjoy your time with your friend?" She winces and rubs the back of her neck. "If I were her, I know I'd feel kind of horrible if I knew the guy who was supposed to be taking me out, the guy who is supposed to be my friend looked at the time we're supposed to be spending together getting closer as him 'running out of time'. That's super hurtful."

Ah. Perdita's face freezes in that way where those who are particularly skilled in reading people can see that the emotion is no longer genuine, but she's still smiling. For a talented actress, that must mean the emotions are rather hard to ignore.

"... you haven't met that 'friend' in particular." Perdita says softly, with a sigh, the fake smile fading now. "She's one step from a sex pest, frankly. I mean... maybe it's just that she reminds me of myself when I was a lot younger and a lot more ruthless, or maybe it's that she and Garrett got involved right as things were getting serious with he and I, and I'd never been the jealous type, so I'm projecting, but... " she shakes her head, finishing off her drink, "I don't trust her."

"Mnah, going out for a good time with a friend is not a big deal. This one is -- how am I going to explain this without coming across like I am presuming a hell of a lot of things, huh. She's a romantic. She really wants to find that one bloke, the right bloke for her. And I am pretty certain I am not that bloke -- I walked into that kind of situation once in my life, and once is one time too many. You can't rearrange yourself to be somebody else's perfect someone. This girl needs to meet the right guy -- and he's not me. It'd end in disaster -- so I'm a bit worried about making it look like I'm leading her on in any way." Ravn makes a little face. "It's easy to give someone the wrong impression."

He shoots Perdita a side look and then winces. "And I guess the fact that I feel I need to justify feeling weird about it does speak for itself. I don't want to start something that gets out of hand."

Ava glances towards Perdita, spotting the look, along with the forced, fake smile. The words, especially, have her brows lifting. "Oh, I see. That certainly changes things. It was less of a you being a good friend and hoping it'd work out and now you're dreading it kind of thing, and more of a you felt backed into a corner and have always been dreading it kind of thing."

The rest of her drink is finished before she just lets the glass dangle from her fingertips as she considers. "No, you can't rearrange yourself to be perfect for someone else. You either are or you aren't. I could handle it really easily for you, if you wanted me to," she offers with a devilsh sparkle starting to light behind her eyes. She wiggles the empty glass towards him in hopes for a refill in exchange for her terrible idea.

"It takes time and a lot of hard lessons for some of us to learn that." And a lot of unlearning old habits, in Dita's case. "It's hard to just be yourself when you're afraid of letting the world see the real you, when the real you's been rejected so many times you can't count anymore. So you put on a mask, and then another over that, and soon you're not sure what's you, and what's you trying to be everything for everyone. It gets old. It's fucking exhausting. She probably just wants someone she can take the masks off with, and I get that. More than most." Perdita's expression softens with sympathy, "But until you can take those masks off on your own, and let people see below those layers, you'll never find a good solid relationship."

"Now I'm afraid to ask and curious enough to do it anyway." Ravn can't help a chuckle in Ava's direction -- even as he gets up to make another set of mojitos. He'd better stop after that one though -- at least if he's driving after. The man may have a rather lackadaisical attitude towards the law in many areas, but that one isn't one of them. He does not drive drunk.

He mixes the drinks in thoughtful silence, and then returns to his seat on the table -- chairs, what are chairs -- after distributing them. "You're probably right, Dita. I've spent a lot of my life that way -- wearing a lot of false faces, pretending to be people I'm not. It does become habit, and you do lose yourself somewhere along the road if you keep it up long enough. I realised that upon coming into this town and not moving on -- that I actually had very little idea who I am. Only who I was in the eyes of other people. I still struggle with that on some levels."

"Fake, angry girlfriend. Or ex-girlfriend returned to town with jealousy issues and willing to fight? Something along those lines. Hazy details we can work out." Yup, terrible plan. That doesn't mean it wouldn't work. But that doesn't make it good, either.

"What if we like our masks?" Ava wonders of Perdita. "What if they make us feel nice and safe and cozy?" There's a beaming smile offered up to Ravn as he takes the glass to make her another drink, but her attention quickly shifts bback towards Dita. "What if we feel with the masks? See, I know who I am with and without them. I know, kind of how to take them off. Maybe. I just feel stronger when I'm fooling myself."

Not that Dita would let him drive drunk, when she has multiple spare rooms to dry out in. She accepts the drink from him and just holds it, while she ponders Ava's question.

"I don't have all the answers, obviously. It's important to know why you wear the masks, and to have a sense of who's beneath it. The Perdita Leontes I let most of the world see is a carefree party girl who likes ridiculous faux fur coats, insanely high heels... you know, frivolous girly things."

"But with a romantic partner, or a close friend, you want to build something with, you can't have as many masks, as many walls. You need to allow yourself a degree of authenticity and vulnerability that you wouldn't give to the world at large. I think masks can be useful in a professional setting, when facing the world at large, but I'm increasingly of the opinion that all they do in interpersonal relationships is hamper connection building. I'd rather have two or three friends who really trust and know me and all my flaws," the slight tug at the corner of her mouth seems to indicate that she knows she has her share, "than have hundreds of people who only see one small facet of who I am."

"Can't say I disagree. And maybe that's one of the reasons I am not particularly looking to find true love at this point in my life." Ravn nods and sips his drink -- the second little mint leaf joins the first in his free hand. "I don't know myself well enough to let someone else that close to me. I still find that a lot of the time, I have to consciously resist slipping into one of those very carefully constructed personas. If I can't be honest with myself, how could I expect someone else to be?"

He twirls the glass and watches the grey-clear liquid for a moment. Then a wry smile breaks forth in spite of his attempt to bite it back. "My awful ex actually did turn up once. It didn't help the situation that she was a couple of years dead and crazier than she ever was in real life."

"That makes a lot of sense." Ava watches Perdita quietly for a few moments, smiling softly. "Ravn was right, I do like you," she states quite bluntly. "Having a few friends who know the true me would be worth far more to me than having a world full of people who only see me for the masks I wear. I just have to be willing to let people see under the masks. Drinking around others is a good first step, which I've been doing more of lately. So that's something." She accepts her new glass with a look of thanks to Ravn.

"Is it that you can't be honest with yourself, dear? Or that you don't want to be and it's just easier this way? If you don't look under your own masks you don't have to deal with anything, and you can keep everyone at arm's length where nobody, not even you, can hurt you."

"'True love' is a fairytale, Ravn, and we both know that. Love is real. But there isn't some magical... ONE. I love Garrett, and I see a future with him, but that doesn't mean it's forever. People grow and change and sometimes they grow apart, and that's only if you're lucky and all parties are being as honest as possible and communicating well." Perdita finally takes a sip, smiling a little sadly.

"Make sure the people you let see what lies beneath the mask are worth taking it off for, though. Of course some people are really good at seeing through masks all on their own." her smile turns fond, now. One gets the feeling that if Ravn could tolerate touch, she would pat his shoulder affectionately. "It's usually people who wear, or have worn, far too many masks themselves. You get a sense for when someone is lying, even if it's to themselves."

"Yes. And I'm pretty certain I still catch myself lying to myself at regular intervals. Most of the time, it's in the good way where we call it progress: I can walk into a crowded room , I can hit up a stranger with the Hotel California speech, I can call town hall for some unfortunate homeless bloke ticketed for a stupid reason. And sometimes it's not -- when I think I can handle things that quite frankly, I'm not ready for." Ravn nods to them both.

He hitches a shoulder. "I've convinced myself otherwise a couple of times. But coping with social anxieties is not a matter of pushing yourself into everything life throws at you. And I am happy enough to go out and have dinner with a friend, but at least in this case, I don't see myself opting for more than friendship. It's -- difficult when you can tell that the other person really does want to find that special someone, but trying to pretend that you are would be more cruel than rejection feels."

"I don't think pushing yourself into everything would be healthy, anyway. You have to have boundaries. I'm going to say that, honestly, it sounds like you need to be setting a boundary with this Gabriella girl. She needs to know now that the date isn't something you're actually comfortable with. You shouldn't be forcing yourself into that position. And if you need backup for it, even just for moral support, I'm here for you. And I'm willing to bet I know a few other people who are happy to be there, too." Ava glances towards Perdita with a little nod.

Perdita gives Ravn a sympathetic look. She doesn't deal with social anxieties now, but once upon a time she did. "Just because I'm looking for a particular brand of potato chips doesn't obligate you to hunt them down for me, or to make me a substitute if we can't find them." Dita says that softly, sympathetically. "You'd be making things worse for her if you went along with it for even a little while."

Perdita nods to Ava, "Oh, I've already offered to yeet her into the sun at least once. I don't think I could actually manage it, but if she keeps refusing to take 'no' for an answer, I'm down to try." she smiles, and it's not entirely nice. "Where I'm from, we call that being a sex pest."

"She hasn't pushed badly for that with me," Ravn points out. "It's more of a feeling of desperate need to find someone who genuinely understands, someone to connect with on a deeper level. But that's the issue -- you can't make something like that happen with a snap of your fingers. That's the point I was making back in November -- you need time to grow into a friendship or more. Or at least I do."

"I think you're deliberately missing the point, Ravn. Just because she's not pushing for /sex/ doesn't mean she's not pushing for things that are outside of your comfort zone. Which is not okay. That's the point Perdita is trying to make." Ava sighs. "It's like in the sand time. You need to draw it, she needs to respect it. And if she doesn't, I'm giving Perdita access to some very powerful knockout medications that can be very easily injected, and we're going to have a private talk with your 'friend'.

Ava shifts on the couch, eyes focusing on Ravn fully for a moment. "How much effort has she put into growing your friendship since you told her that? Or has she jut been kind of skating by waiting until May?"

"She's taking advantage of a role reversal. You have a right to say 'no' and be respected just as much as Ava or I do. If she continues to pester after that, that's sexual harassment. You've already told her you don't think of her like that, if she can't accept it..." Perdita gestures to Ava. "Reverse the genders. If someone kept asking Ava for a date and she declined, for whatever reasons, should they be given a date as a reward for pestering her to date for months?"

At the offer for meds... "Oooh, which ones? No more bathtub chloroform for Perdita!" she's joking. Right?

"Well, that depends. If it was a Hollywood rom-com, I'd be in the parking lot with a boombox until she gave in." Ravn hitches a shoulder. "I mean, if the role reversal does anything, it's highlight how our culture seems to think that persistence and putting your own needs first are desirable traits. I will say no if it comes to that, don't worry. Going out for a steak with the girl from across the street? Sure. But then, I don't think it is more than that. As far as I know, she's seeing that construction fellow, Martin --Benny, Benjamin, something?"

He follows that with a mildly sheepish look. "Of course that's also me being a tad literal-minded. I've come to realise in this town more than anywhere I've lived in the past that polyamory is also a thing. But still."

"Ketamine. Chloroform takes way too long," Ava says with a little wave and a giggle. Yup, that's the alcohol talking right there. But is she really joking? When it comes to protecting her friends? Probably not.

"Perdita's right. It sounds a lot like harassment to me, too. Even if it hasn't reached the sexual point of it yet." Her eyes narrow. "Oh my god. If she's already dating someone, then you don't owe her anything. She's already got someone, that's your out, you dummy."

"Going out for steak with your neighbor isn't a date. If you want to spend time with her, let her know you see her exclusively as a friend and spend time with her. If she keeps pushing the boundaries... Let her know that as her friend that makes you uncomfortable and you value her friendship and need it to stop to continue being her friend, or your other friends are going to drop a house on her." Perdita nods emphatically, taking another sip of her drink. She's handling her alcohol pretty well.

"Yeah, she's with Mr. Martin. He's another tenant in the building, and is doing some work on the building for me, so I'd like to not drop a house on the girl he's seeing, because I've already had to refuse to rent him space for her, because I want the people I care about to be comfortable, knowing she isn't going to just drop by the penthouse for some coffee at random."

"Well, let's be honest -- just because I generally try to not be a dick doesn't mean I don't know how to be one if I have to." Ravn hitches a shoulder. "It wouldn't be the first time I've simply walked out of a conversation. I'm not so worried -- and I do think that Gabriella essentially just is as lost as the rest of us. The Veil isn't known to draw in people who are perfectly balanced and on top of things, after all."

He nods. "I don't really know Martin more than in passing. He and Gabriella hit it off pretty quickly. He seems to be the charming sort -- you know the kind, a bloke who instantly knows what to say if he wants to leave an impression. Unlike some of us who tend to swallow our own tongue, drop our drink, and end up going to just hide in the men's room for the rest of the evening the instant we do decide that we want to impress somebody."

"I'm not going to lie, I would kind of like to see you be a dick to someone. Not to me, obviously, because I'll whoop you. But to someone deserving. That'd be fun." Ava glances from Ravn to Perdita, focusing on the woman for a moment. "It's good to see how deeply you care about the people here. Lets me know this really is the right place for the clinic."

"Hush, Ravn. The right person won't need to be impressed. She'll like you for exactly who you are as a person. Anxiety and fumbling included." She finishes her drink and pushes herself up. "I'll be right back. Just need to step out for a second." With a little guidance, probably from Dita, she figures out where the bathroom is. Of course, she takes a little bit to explore to artwork of the place on the way there and back. And somehow she finds a nice place to sit where the light is streaming in just right. That's eventually where they find her, when it's time to go, sleeping in the sunbeam like a can. She really isn't much of a drinker.