2022-03-31 - Have You Ever Wrestled a Bear

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Is this the right number for Itzhak?

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : sure is, who this

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Hey, it's Ava Brennon.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Hey what's up!

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Not much! Just wanted to say sorry about the other day. Didn't mean to scare you away.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : You didn't, I went to a movie

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Besides I'm pretty sure I just came in stoned as hell so yannow

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Well that's a relief, at least. I would hate thinking I made someone uncomfortable. You were stoned, but it was funny, so.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Random question.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Have you ever wrestled a bear?

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Depends on what kind of bear

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Why?

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : What do you mean it depends?! That's a pretty yes or no kind of question.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Well if we're talking a hot burly guy with a lot of hair, yeah I have, if we're talking a literal animal not so much

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Oh. OH. I am not talking the big, furry, handsome man kind of bear.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Okay then no!

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Hah! Sorry, forgot how many types of bears there are out there.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Nah, this is the escaped from There, eating a bunch of people and needs to go back home kind of bear.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Conner called it a Nightshade Bear. Don't know if that rings any bells for you.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Sounds like something I almost fought when I was first in town, but it got away and seemed to leave people alone after that

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Nightshade doesn't ring a bell but that's cool I'll fight it and send it back home

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : I was hoping you'd say that!

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : We're getting a team together to scout the area where it ate the last group of people. We are trying to figure out if it got loose somehow or if it was set loose. Because those are two very different problems.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : First things first, shove it to its own side of the fershunkener border. I can help with that part.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Wait you were there. At the sawmill.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : I was there. I was the one with the fireball.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : The fireball that was a little too effective.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : This stuffs wild, it gets out of hand. Yeah the fireball and you helped Kailey and the moth guy.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Yeah. And you stopped me from being a murderer by first aiding the guy I fireballed. Then you opened a door to the Veil.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : But the guy was just a construct anyway, or something? Because the real version is somewhere over There. Doing some shady shit. That still needs to be stopped. I'm really mad we didn't get more information.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : I'm the guy who opens doors.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : You're very good at it.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Don't worry about it, he'll come back, his type always does.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Yeah, I am. I'm good at practically nothing else

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : That does worry me. But also means I'll get a chance to question him. So that's good. What's the deal with you two, by the way? Seems you guys had beef.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : I don't buy that for a second.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Fuck yes I have beef with him. He was here once before trying to send people across for whatever fucked up reason. I told him to stay out of my town.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Well, you know the reason now. It's pretty fucked up.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Flesh farming and slave labor is pretty much as bad as it gets.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : They all do it for money, guys like him.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : That's horrendous to me. It makes me wish I could open doors into the Veil so I could march right in there. Which is, honestly, probably why I wasn't given those abilities. Because I would absolutely have followed those guys in and fireballed that whole place to the ground.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : I'm very aware I wouldn't have gotten far. But I would have tried, damnit.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : The trick is getting back home. The veil, it ain't one place or one thing. It's infinite.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Well simmer down, ginger snap, you won't do any good if you go get yourself killed

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : I've never really been -in- outside of what the Dreams do to me.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : I'll show you ginger snap!

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Arnott%27s_Ginger_Nut_04.jpg

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : So there.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : I'll take you sometime, you can have a look if you promise to behave and do exactly what I tell you.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Well now I'm hungry thanks

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : The Lord is testing me to watch my tongue. I think I can do that for a chance to go in. You've got a deal. I bet I can ask Una to make us some homemade ginger snaps

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : You were flirting with me the other day right? Change of subject but I'm pretty sure in sober hindsight you were flirting with me

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Pretty much since we were introduced the first time. But thanks for finally noticing.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Something you oughta know about me, I'm autistic. I don't notice a lot of shit.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : I just thought I was really really rusty.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : I ain't like Ravn, he's the championship, but I still don't notice a lot of stuff about people. Trouble recognizing faces, hell when the moth guy screamed it whited me out.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Ravn's obliviousness stuns me still.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : But we love him anyway!

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : I really do love him

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : You can't not, honestly.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : He's like a little bean you just want to protect.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : That's my violin buddy ❤️

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : I wanna protect everyone, especially him

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Does he play the violin, too?

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Yeah he does, he's gonna be mad at me for narccing him out but he's better than me

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : I won't tell him you told me!

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : He can't be mad if he doesn't know.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Hah, don't worry, I can handle a mad Abildgaard

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : So what's your story?

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : I grew up here, so I'm used to the madness. I could heal since I was 6.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Thought I'd be a big shot doctor. Couldn't handle not HEALING everyone though.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Like, if there's a 3 year old with a broken arm in front of me, why wouldn't I just heal it? Right? But, I couldn't do that to an entire hospital. So, coroner.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : No kidding, six?

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Yeah, healed my cat that had been hit by a car.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Mr. Boots.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : When did you get yours?

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Wow, quite a story

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Nineteen, in prison

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : That seems like one of the worst places to get them.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Scared the bejesus out of me at first, but I figured out how to put it to work

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : What happened?

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Caught in a riot, suddenly nobody could touch me.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : In there your reputation is all you got, so I used it to build mine

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Wow. So really, it was one of the best places for you to get it. Kept you safe.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : I did some not great things with it

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : I'm torn between not wanting to invade your privacy, but also really wanting to know.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Some wasn't so bad. I could hide shit or steal anything from anyone. I was the guy who could get you what you wanted.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Are you still that guy?

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : You can still find things, right?

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Yeah I'm still that guy. Not that anybody wants to pay me to lift a nudie mag anymore

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Well, those are pretty easy to get outside of prison.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : But I can still do it. Find anything, open doors, lift a lot of weight

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : See! Didn't take me long to get a list out of you of multiple things you are good at. Don't let me catch you saying you're only good at one thing again. Or I'll swat you.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : That's only a list of power stuff, too. Bet there's a bunch of mundane stuff to add to that.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : The Song, I'm good at. Violin, wrenching, and getting my heart broken a lot covers the rest

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Oh noooo. Not the heart! That breaks my heart! Things aren't going well with the ex, then? If you give me his name I'll be happy to beat some sense into him for you.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Nnnnno you won't

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : I can try!

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : I'm feisty.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : My last girlfriend left me because she wanted to have a baby and I couldn't do it. I wanted to be a dad, just.... Not here. And I'm not leaving everybody else here. So that didn't work out.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : I'm perfectly capable of beating him myself lol

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Yes, but for you there are feelings involved and that complicated things. Also, I'm a coroner and a doctor. I have a special knowledge of where to make things hurt the most with the least amount of effort.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : I was raised here. I get why so many out of towners are against it, but it really isn't as bad as people think. Not the point, I know, but, just my two cents. I'm really sorry that one didn't work out for you. That sounds rough.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : What happened with this guy? Clearly not a baby issue. He's just dumb?

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : It's complicated. He ain't dumb but I'm not about to spread our business around. I'm not telling you who he is until we got this shit worked out one way or the other. You'll get why then.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : That's fair. You don't know me that well, either, so I can understand. But, I'm ready to box for you if need be. I've got noodle arms, but precision scalpel fingers.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Also, if you just want to talk or vent. I can help with that, too. I'm no Ravn, of course. But I'll do in a pinch.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : I'll keep it in mind, though the amount of kvetching he'll listen to is pretty damn impressive

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : It really is remarkable the amount he can listen to. I imagine it's because it goes in one ear and out the other. The important stuff gets filtered in, and the rest just pitters away on the breeze. I don't know how he manages.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : He's a smart boy like that. Okay I gotta go. Mind if I invite myself over for brunch?

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : Not at all. Come over anytime.

(TXT to Itzhak) Ava : We'll talk bear hunting.

(TXT to Ava) Itzhak : Great, talk to you then