Usually a break means "not working so long you can't believe it's April already." [He's teasing her, keeping things light even as he follows her into her office. She knows him well enough to be aware of how he'll behave in her vicinity. He wants to pick up the books, wants to sort through things, but he solves that by busying himself with his backpack instead to pull out said-thermos.]
But maybe that's fair. She covered when...your eyes, right? [He remembers that conversation.]
[the eyes. the eyes that are still that bizarre color that she's not quite used to despite it being a month.]
Yeah. I called out sick then and when I came back, she mentioned something about how she'd helped - not to get me to promise to pay her back, just offhhand. But fair's fair, she mentioned wanting to get off early and I said I'd simply make sure she wasn't behind.
[sitting down in her chair, she puts her elbows on the desk, propping up her head and peering at the thermos. did he? he didn't have to, she'd said that enough times, but he did, and she was grateful.]
And you? I know you've been staying busy, don't try to pretend like you're a great deal better than me in that regard.
[To his credit he thinks nothing of it. Well, all right, untrue, but given his own circumstances it's easier not to freak about the eyes. While Grell's settling at her desk he's also pulling out what looks like a tea cup (and how he got it here without breaking is its own mystery) and pouring her a cup of black tea, sweetened the way she likes it.
It's something that comes natural from being a bartender, really.]
You're too good of a person that way, but if that's the case then sure, fair's fair. [It's a pause to not go straight into...well, everything.] The bar's been doing okay. There are some slow days, but I think opening it during the after school hours was actually one of my smartest moves. A lot of the regulars seem to come through but I never mind. I like being busy.
[It's easier to ignore everything when you're busy. Luke's a hypocrite, but what else is new?]
[the cup is accepted when he's done pouring, and she visibly relaxes when she takes a sip.]
You descended out of the blue at the perfect time. An earthbound angel.
[by now, Luke should be used to her train of thought.]
But, I hope that busy means that you're not crushed. I thought the after school hours was a creative move, so I'm glad it's panning out well - it's different, and I'm sure there's more than a few kids who like the thrill of being inside a bar. I mean, if I was sixteen again, I'd totally feel like that. Like I was doing something illicit and slightly dangerous.
[There's a light snort as he folds himself into one of the chairs in the room, legs hooked over one arm of said-chair and back leaning against the other.]
You are probably the only person in this whole city that would ever call me an angel. But sure. I'll take it.
[He shrugs a little in response.] That's a lot of why I did it, Grell. Didn't feel like giving kids a license to make the mistakes I've made sneaking into places that could totally get them busted. It's been a steady enough endeavor. [There's a short pause then.] …also keeps my mind preoccupied so I can stop thinking about all of this weird shit going on all the time.
Which part? The part with impossible transformation, species replacement, or the near intelligent social media platform we've been signed up for?
[she shrugs, knowing that even if her coworkers were to open the door, they wouldn't understand the conversation. not one of them she's seen on the app.]
Tell me what's on your mind, before you end up bottling it up.
Can't I go for broke and say all of the above? [He looks up at the ceiling, unhappy with the notion but knowing Grell's right. She knows him well enough that he can't even bullshit her and keep everything to himself in this case. His hand's dangling toward the ground and near his backpack, not quite dipping into the opening but enough to keep it close.]
Which part? The impossible images, the creepy items, or the myriad of questions I've got thanks to all of this?
Pick one at random. We'll start there and address the rest on the way.
[part of knowing Luke like this is knowing that he knows her in response. if he asks, she'll confess what she's been thinking and remembering beyond what he knows. there can't be lies when they both know how to look through them.]
And they've always been blue as far as you remember, right? Nothing weird like...gold, maybe? [He hates sounding uncertain, but he definitely knows what he saw.] I haven't been able to figure out how these things work yet.
No, they're still showing up blue in the mirror, it's not that. It's...you ever get an image in your head, and no matter what you do you can't get it back out? It's something like that. [A pause.] ...one of those weird flashback things. Gold eyes were the highlight.
Remembrances. I like it. [He nods in agreement if only to stall on answering the question.]
Uh. I remember gold eyes and a scythe. I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to feel or what I was feeling at the time because everything just comes back to being "confused."
I sure as hell hope not. [Wait.] No offense or anything, but I don't know if I want to deal with that on top of everything else that seems to be coming up. It's not normal for people to be carrying around a scythe, is it?
A scythe? Not in my reckoning. Why would you have that?
I mean, you could say that about the eyes as well, but a scythe is a little likely to be noticed first off.
[shrugging as she drinks more of the tea.]
There's no pattern to how people are changing. No prior signs to it either. If it happens, it happens - we can only pray it doesn't start going after the children.
I wish I could figure it out. I've been trying to think of an excuse for days but I'm getting nothing. And I know it's mine. I remember holding it in my hands. I remember it belonging to me. Do people even use scythes in this day and age? Maybe I was cosplaying the grim reaper or something.
[But he nudges his hand at his backpack again.] It's going after everybody, Grell. It's already hitting Annabeth, too. [Who isn't a child, given she's seventeen, but she's still his baby sister.] It's anybody with that stupid app, and there's no way to get rid of it once it downloads. That's the scary part.
Unless you cut yourself off from electronics and go live in the woods.
[someone's probably considered that already.]
But there's nothing in this that makes sense, unless you start just accepting certain things as facts, bizarre as they are. It's not "someone got turned into a chocobo", it's "an entire species got changed and only we remember the difference." Meaning what, that we're special in some way?
Don't joke about that, I'd be perfectly happy in a cabin in the woods. Probably. [He's too social for that so maybe not.]
As much as I want to be special, what do you think we could do to reverse the effects? For all we know someone did get turned into a chocobo and we just don't know it yet. Almost everyone I've spoken to lately over the app has experienced some weird thing. And we know that they're capable of impacting different groups at different times. Annabeth and Thalia got the app at a different time than I did.
What other facts are there though? You know. Other than someone forging my handwriting pretty damn well. [Wait, what?]
[He's frowning a lot, but all right. He'll dig through his bag and pull out a small journal, tossing it unceremoniously on her desk to let her look it over. The first several pages appear blank, but eventually she'll see exactly what he means.]
Present from the creepy club, if you can believe it.
[for a minute, Grell's quiet, flipping through some of the pages to read and to think about Luke's handwriting as much as she remembers it. it's an exact match, and it's too extensive for a prank. before she can get too sucked into the story, missing pieces and all, she looks up to him, concern in her eyes.]
I can, even if I can't understand how. What'd Thalia say when she saw this?
[And here he goes quiet.] I, uh. Haven't shown her yet. Haven't really shown anybody yet...I just got it a few days ago. Figured it'd be better not to freak her out just yet until I had a better idea what was happening. Plus I haven't told her about all of the memories in that book yet.
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But maybe that's fair. She covered when...your eyes, right? [He remembers that conversation.]
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Yeah. I called out sick then and when I came back, she mentioned something about how she'd helped - not to get me to promise to pay her back, just offhhand. But fair's fair, she mentioned wanting to get off early and I said I'd simply make sure she wasn't behind.
[sitting down in her chair, she puts her elbows on the desk, propping up her head and peering at the thermos. did he? he didn't have to, she'd said that enough times, but he did, and she was grateful.]
And you? I know you've been staying busy, don't try to pretend like you're a great deal better than me in that regard.
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It's something that comes natural from being a bartender, really.]
You're too good of a person that way, but if that's the case then sure, fair's fair. [It's a pause to not go straight into...well, everything.] The bar's been doing okay. There are some slow days, but I think opening it during the after school hours was actually one of my smartest moves. A lot of the regulars seem to come through but I never mind. I like being busy.
[It's easier to ignore everything when you're busy. Luke's a hypocrite, but what else is new?]
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You descended out of the blue at the perfect time. An earthbound angel.
[by now, Luke should be used to her train of thought.]
But, I hope that busy means that you're not crushed. I thought the after school hours was a creative move, so I'm glad it's panning out well - it's different, and I'm sure there's more than a few kids who like the thrill of being inside a bar. I mean, if I was sixteen again, I'd totally feel like that. Like I was doing something illicit and slightly dangerous.
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You are probably the only person in this whole city that would ever call me an angel. But sure. I'll take it.
[He shrugs a little in response.] That's a lot of why I did it, Grell. Didn't feel like giving kids a license to make the mistakes I've made sneaking into places that could totally get them busted. It's been a steady enough endeavor. [There's a short pause then.] …also keeps my mind preoccupied so I can stop thinking about all of this weird shit going on all the time.
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[she shrugs, knowing that even if her coworkers were to open the door, they wouldn't understand the conversation. not one of them she's seen on the app.]
Tell me what's on your mind, before you end up bottling it up.
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Which part? The impossible images, the creepy items, or the myriad of questions I've got thanks to all of this?
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[part of knowing Luke like this is knowing that he knows her in response. if he asks, she'll confess what she's been thinking and remembering beyond what he knows. there can't be lies when they both know how to look through them.]
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Grell, what color are my eyes?
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[if he's asking, then something must be suspicious, and her tone reflects that.]
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[still blue even as she stares at him right now. not a flicker of gold in their depths.]
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[but enough on that.]
What do you remember, aside from the gold eyes? How'd you feel at the time?
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Uh. I remember gold eyes and a scythe. I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to feel or what I was feeling at the time because everything just comes back to being "confused."
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Do you think, one day, your eyes might change like mine did?
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I mean, you could say that about the eyes as well, but a scythe is a little likely to be noticed first off.
[shrugging as she drinks more of the tea.]
There's no pattern to how people are changing. No prior signs to it either. If it happens, it happens - we can only pray it doesn't start going after the children.
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[But he nudges his hand at his backpack again.] It's going after everybody, Grell. It's already hitting Annabeth, too. [Who isn't a child, given she's seventeen, but she's still his baby sister.] It's anybody with that stupid app, and there's no way to get rid of it once it downloads. That's the scary part.
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[someone's probably considered that already.]
But there's nothing in this that makes sense, unless you start just accepting certain things as facts, bizarre as they are. It's not "someone got turned into a chocobo", it's "an entire species got changed and only we remember the difference." Meaning what, that we're special in some way?
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As much as I want to be special, what do you think we could do to reverse the effects? For all we know someone did get turned into a chocobo and we just don't know it yet. Almost everyone I've spoken to lately over the app has experienced some weird thing. And we know that they're capable of impacting different groups at different times. Annabeth and Thalia got the app at a different time than I did.
What other facts are there though? You know. Other than someone forging my handwriting pretty damn well. [Wait, what?]
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[Luke.]
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Present from the creepy club, if you can believe it.
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I can, even if I can't understand how. What'd Thalia say when she saw this?
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