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Asbolus:
Asbolus didn't venture down to Alex's section of the motley house that often, in truth, leaving whatever mingling that happened to the common areas of the home as to not interrupt her work. On this particular evening there was a knock on her door, followed by a "Good evening. Do you have a moment?" from the Darkling.
Alex Shaw:
Alex lives in the basement, the easier to keep the sun out and her safety ensured, and she arrives at the basement door not long after the knock comes. There's a background hum of fans from all the computer equipment she keeps down there, but since she has to live with whatever noise they make, she's also made some effort to replace some of the ridiculously loud fans with quieter ones, too.
There's a smile for Asbolus and she says, "of course, any time you need the time. Do you want to come in, or go sit in the kitchen or the living room or something?" She's dressed casually, with leggings and a hoodie, and doesn't have on any makeup or anything, which suggests she wasn't planning to go out any time soon, but she's never shy about her roommates seeing her without her face on, so to speak.
Asbolus:
Asbolus was casually dressed himself in jeans and a t-shirt, having taken the rare night off from holding down the fort at the theater, returning the smile as she opened the door. "I can come in if you don't mind."
Alex Shaw:
"Sure thing." Alex opens the door the rest of the way and heads back down the stairs. The basement is set up mostly like a large studio apartment that doesn't have a kitchen, since there's pretty much just one big room.
There's an area with a small bedroom setup, and some curtains hung around it to afford some additional privacy if required, but since Alex almost never sleeps everything is tidy and open there. There's a small livingroom-ish area with a loveseat and a couch, a coffee table and a couple of end tables, that kind of thing, and another area that's clearly her work space, where she spends most of her time, including a desk with way too many monitors, all currently off, and a bunch of paperwork and notes and the like scattered about it.
She heads over to the loveseat and sits down, and then gestures for Asbolus to join her. "Make yourself comfortable," she invites. "I'd offer you some refreshments or something, but they're all upstairs, since I don't really have any use for them myself." This, at least, is said with a smile.
Asbolus:
Asbolus scanned the space as he came in, eyeing the computer set up in particular as he claimed a seat for himself. "I thought about bringing some tea down, admittedly, but wasn't sure if you'd want to partake." He offered with a smirk. "How have you been lately? Feels like it's been a bit since we talked."
Alex Shaw:
"I can, I just don't tend to think to," Alex answers with a smile. "I don't really get those urges, you know? But I'm pretty much always using the trick we have for making ourselves seem alive, including being able to eat and drink." She waves a hand like it doesn't matter. "I've been doing pretty well, all in all. For the most part. There's been some good and bad, like the good of my brother coming home again, and the bad of Charlie and Wren not being in my life any more." The latter makes her sigh, but shrug. "What about you?"
Asbolus:
"Noted. Will bring some next time, then." He nodded, listening intently as she continued. "Good and bad, much the same. Things have been going well at the theater overall and I've decided to open myself to the local dating scene, although without much success there just yet. The current Hue and Cry about the privateers going after Avery, my former protege in Winter, is being dealt with; I'll be going with them to talk to their fetch for the first time about an assault against them and their family, so hopefully that will go well."
"There's also a matter that I wished to ask for your possible assistance on, if you're able. One of ours who recently returned lost herself in a moment of rage against a thief at the car dealership she was working at and threw a car at him in response. I've done a walkthrough of the place and have the layout pinned down, but I was wondering if you might be able to lend your technical expertise to retrieving the security footage from the incident to help clear the record as it were."
Alex Shaw:
"I provided some help with that situation, with Avery and her Fetch," Alex responds with a slight nod and then a tilt of her head. "I haven't heard much since then, and I'm somewhat okay with being mostly out of the loop. I understand if there's a bit of a trust bridge to cross with me being a vampire most of the time."
Then she smiles. "But of course, I would be happy to help. I'll need to know what the car dealership was, when this happened, all of those details. It also depends some one whether their systems are networked, but most places are, since they're usually hiring outside help for that kind of thing, and the outside help wants to be able to get into things without driving over there."
Asbolus:
"There haven't been any notable incidents since, at least that I'm aware of, but we're all keeping an eye out for any further incursions. I have a personal theory about the privateer, I'll admit, and I'm curious to see how far-off I may be."
"Of course." He pulled a thin notebook from his pocket and tore off one of the pages to hand her, with all the pertinent information written down in an impeccable hand. "If you need anything else, let me know."
Alex Shaw:
"What's the theory? Or do you not want to share just in case it might taint my perspective later when I'm looking at things? Sometimes if someone thinks they have an answer, they find things to support that answer even when it's wrong, after all," Alex replies with a smile on her too-perfect features, features that look more Fae than human, for all that she has no mien.
She leans forward to take the notebook page, looks at the details, and then puts it on the end table next to her. "I'll be sure to let you know," she says with a smile. "Even if their systems aren't networked, chances are that I can go get into them physically, if necessary. Or just convince someone who works there to give me access."
Asbolus:
"I think it's safe enough to share. Not sure if you went to the fetch's house yourself in aiding them, but the privateer wrote 'Fake Avery. You and Yours are all fake' into the door, and a reading done on the door revealed the motivating emotion at the time of the carving was anger brought about by loss. They also bear a striking resemblance to Avery barring a mirroring of the coloration of their feathers. Avery lost the memories of the vast majority of their pre-Durance life while in Arcadia; I'm personally of a mind that this privateer was the recipient of those memories, and views both the fetch and Avery themselves as the fake versions."
Alex Shaw:
"Ah. That could be. That would be interesting." Alex gets a thoughtful look, smiles, shrugs again. "But I've never met Avery, and I don't think this is likely to impact me much one way or another, so I don't think it's likely to have much impact on any other help I provide, either. Good to know, but probably not going to have much bearing for me, at least as long as I'm as much of an outsider to the situation as I am."
Asbolus:
"I'll have to introduce you at some point. I consider them a dear friend, and they've taught me as much as I've taught them." He smiled warmly, giving a nod. "Perhaps. Do you want to be more involved in general? You are still part of the Verdant, no?"
Alex Shaw:
"I would like that," Alex replies, smiling wider. "I am part of the Freehold still. Or again, I suppose I should say, since my death broke my original pledges, but once I made contact and talked to Ari again, we renewed them. As for involvement? Yes, of course. I might have more than one set of people now, but the Lost were my people first, and that was a people I joined by choice, when I went into the Hedge in pursuit of the keeping a vow. In some ways, many of the Lost can't even make that claim." She grins. "Which isn't to say that I'm better than them, in that regard. Just that you are all important to me."
Asbolus:
"I'll do my best to make that happen, then. You're important to us as well, of course, especially those here." He motioned to the upstairs area with a smile.
"To rewind slightly, you mentioned being a vampire 'most of the time'. Were you able to perfect that ability you mentioned of shedding your vampiric state for a time?"
Alex Shaw:
"I know I am, but it's still good to hear." Alex shifts slightly and switches which of her legs is crossed over the other one. "I've never been made to feel like anyone here didn't care, for what it matters." Then she laughs. "Perfect? To the degree it can be perfected, yes. I've been into the Freehold Hollow a couple of times since then, but it's a costly thing to do, both in terms of my personal resources -- my equivalent of glamour -- as well as the pain I have to endure in the process. It's... a lot. I've thought about putting in some extra sound proofing to make sure the neighbors don't call the cops thinking someone is being murdered, in case I have a lapse in trying to hold back from screaming. It's pretty painful to die again, when the timer runs out."
Asbolus:
"Acquire may have been a better term there." He smirked a touch, although that note of mirth faded as she continued. "I can imagine. If you ever need someone to be there with you through it, let me know."
"I'll admit, the conversation we had on it had me thinking for a while what that might be like on our end. As storied of an individual as I am these days, though, I doubt it would be wise. There's not much left to stand on its own, and I can feel it starting to stir again besides."
Alex Shaw:
"To stop being a Changeling, you mean?" Alex inquires, leaning forward and engaging with more curiosity. "I'm not sure how you'd even go about approaching that, I'll be honest. You might find it interesting to know that when I shed my vampiric state, I actually do go back to being Fae-Touched, though. For a few hours, until it wears off and I die again." She smiles again. "And I know you'd probably be here if I asked, but it's... well, when I go back to being mortal, I definitely prefer to be alone. It's pretty disgusting. The other way is the painful direction, and it might be good to have someone around."
Asbolus:
"I'm not sure either, honestly. I know that we can dim the strength of the Wyrd when releasing one's mask to keep it from being as obvious to the nearby Thorns, but cutting it off completely would probably involve some sort of goblin's bargain or the like. On the one hand it is an intriguing thought, but it brings its own perils."
"Certainly. If I'm here when the change is imminent feel free to get me and I'll be there."
Alex Shaw:
"Huh." The thoughtful sound Alex makes before nodding. "That does raise the interesting question of whether you could, potentially, sell your own connection to the Wyrd at a Goblin Market. I suspect that would end very badly if someone tried, but it's an interesting question."
Asbolus:
"One can trade away their kith to the right vendor, so I imagine it is possible." He allowed himself a smirk. "Not something I care to experiment with myself, though."
Alex Shaw:
"No, since then you'd be in the Hedge somewhere and, if you even survived it, probably an ordinary mortal," Alex says with a wince, thinking about just how badly that kind of thing is likely to go. "All in all I think it would be a very bad idea, even if you found someone willing to make that trade."
Asbolus:
"My thoughts exactly. Something to effectively bottle it up for a time could be feasible, though, and not as permanent." He let that thought percolate for a moment before shaking his head. "Idle thoughts, but intriguing ones nonetheless. I'll stick to hardening the mask and molding it as needed if I feel that particular urge again."
Alex Shaw:
"That's probably the better approach, or at least the safer one for most people," Alex agrees with a grin. "It's an interesting thing to go through as a thought experiment, but probably less entertaining to try to actually implement, you know?"
Asbolus:
"Precisely. Too many moving parts and possible calamities that can ensue." He smirked a touch, wry little thing that it was. "The thought did rattle around in my head for a time after we first spoke of it, broken as I was. Likely was a want to reclaim some sort of stability, to go back to before that sort of thing would have been an issue. I've gotten more comfortable with myself as I am now since then, though, and allowed myself to flourish in ways I was hesitant to do before, so some good came of it."
Alex Shaw:
"I'm sorry for any part I played in that instability," Alex says in an apologetic tone. "I suspect I was caught up enough in so many of my own problems that I didn't notice, and I regret that, if so. I'm glad you're doing better."
She pauses, considering him. "Is that something you feel any need to talk about?"
Asbolus:
"You didn't, so no worries. I let the cracks in my own mental clarity linger for far longer than I should have, and you and the others here did a fine job of keeping me as level as I could be during that time."
He thought on the question for a moment before nodding. "For a good while I had been wary of crossing the threshold of becoming more fae than man, in part due to not wanting to lose more of myself than I already had beyond the Thorns. Eventually I took that step and have allowed my story to grow at its own pace rather than throttling it unnecessarily, which has had its benefits and drawbacks. I can feel another turn of the page coming, and know that the gulf between myself and those around me will only grow wider with it. I'm still a fairly good actor, but eventually I know something will give, and a choice will have to be made as far as how involved I can be in the mundane world."
Alex Shaw:
"I can sympathize in many ways." Alex winces a little, understanding difficulties with dealing with ordinary people. "I'm a Nosferatu, and part of that means that I just tend to creep out ordinary people. There's not really any getting around it, for members of my clan. My involvement in the mortal world has some limitations as a result, not in quite the same way."
Asbolus:
"Close enough, I would say. I am sorry you have to deal with that as well. That level of separation can be difficult to face."
Alex Shaw:
"It is," Alex says with a sigh, and a turn to look across the room at nothing in particular. "It's pretty lonely a lot of the time, to be honest. I'm a pretty sociable person, especially for a computer nerd, and outside of the supernatural communities, most of the people who are willing to spend a lot of time around me are... odd. In that they tend to find my offputting nature appealing." She sighs and looks at Asbolus again. "I think that's part of why I retreat into work and studies so much."
Asbolus:
"Charming." He offered a sympathetic look. "Understandable. I'm much more of an introvert myself, and for a good while after my return I self-isolated to the point where my fellow courtiers expressed their concern, and you know how much it takes for a Mirror to notice such things." He chuckled quietly at that. "It took becoming closer to Jack, Mearc and Lux to realize what I had been depriving myself of, and have been doing my best since to break out of that habit. Of course nowadays my own development has put up boundaries to those efforts, but I make due as best as I can."
Alex Shaw:
"For a while things were really good." Alex looks down and picks some lint off the front of her black hoodie. "Having Wren and Charlie meant I wasn't lonely in the same ways. I'm not upset with them that they're both gone, of course. These things happen, and sometimes things aren't meant to be. I'm just..." she sighs. "Trying to make the best of everything, I guess. I'm glad you've been able to break certain habits, yourself."
Asbolus:
"I know the feeling all too well. My long-term partner at university and I drifted apart our final year, more on his part than mine, and it was painful in its own way. I was pleasantly surprised when he reached out to me a few years later to help him with a project here, and although he was seeing someone else by then we were able to reconnect on some level. He left the city not long after I was taken, however, and he hasn't kept in touch since."
"With any luck we'll both find others we can feel comfortable with on that level again sooner rather than later." He said with a quiet smile. "The community here is certainly wide enough to allow for it."
Alex Shaw:
"Indeed." Alex smiles. "At least there are a few people from my life Before that I've been able to reconnect with. I mentioned that my brother came back, right?" She laughs. "When he first showed up, that was a little dramatic. He thought I was being held here against my will or something, and showed up ready to smash everyone. Fortunately, nobody else was here but me."
Asbolus:
"You did, yes." He nodded, chuckling as she continued. "That certainly would have been interesting..."
Alex Shaw:
Alex laughs. "He scared the shit out of me. Not quite literally, but not too far from it," she admits. "Bursting in unexpectedly like that? I turned myself invisible and got ready to run, before I noticed who it was. And then I didn't really know if I could trust what I was seeing."
Asbolus:
"I'm impressed he got in without injury considering the precautions we have set up for such things." He smirked a touch, nodding. "I can imagine. How long had it been, out of curiosity?"
Alex Shaw:
"He can be scary when he wants to be!" Alex says with a grin that says she fully supports that endeavor. "How long? Years and years, I guess. Six? Seven? That was the first time I had seen him since he got Taken, and I went wandering into the hedge to try to get him back and became Fae Touched."
Asbolus:
"Quite a bit, then. It dawns on me, though, that I don't think I've ever asked you his name."
Alex Shaw:
"Evan," Alex answers with a smile. "He's a Summer, and an Ogre, and one of my favorite people in the whole world."
Asbolus:
Cue a brief pause as Asbolus swiftly went through his mental rolodex of local Lost, his eyebrows climbing up after a moment. "I believe I may have met him already, during a hedge patrol not too long after he returned. We didn't exchange names, though."
Alex Shaw:
"Could be, but I have no idea, since I wasn't there," Alex says with a grin. "A hedge patrol sounds like an absolutely terrible time to me. Slightly safer as a vampire than as a fae-touched, if not for the problem of being in the hedge. Just not a good time in general. I'll leave that to you, and stick to dominating the digital battle field over here."
Asbolus:
"It can definitely be sporting, and I don't blame you. Every once in a while I feel the want to wander somewhere I don't have to cloak my abilities, but for the most part I only venture in for the hollows and whatnot."
"Sounds like a fine plan, and you do that work exceptionally well."
Alex Shaw:
"I'm not much of a fighter, and can only fake it a bit by brute forcing things with a bit of vampiric power," Alex admits with a shake of her head. "And even then, I end up being a glass cannon. I'm probably more of a liability on hedge patrols than an actual benefit. But yeah... going to the Hollows? That I'll do, on occasion."
Asbolus:
"I fare better standing in the back and fighting from range, so I feel you there. More of a utility sort than an outright combatant. When it comes to a chase, though," he added with a sharp smirk, "I'm definitely your man."
Alex Shaw:
"Like I'm someone to go to if what you really need is to fuck someone's digital life directly up?" Alex asks with a big grin. "I'm pretty sure chases aren't really a big thing in my life, most of the time. And I'm kind of glad for that, although I can at least move pretty quickly if I need to. For short bursts."
Asbolus:
"It doesn't come up as often as a part of me would like, I admit. I did start picking up free-running again to scratch that itch, however."
He glanced around the room briefly before looking back to Alex with a warm smile. "I suppose I should let you get back to your work. It was good speaking with you, though, and thank you again for offering your assistance."
Alex Shaw:
"Any time," Alex says, getting up. "I'll do dig into things and see what I can come up with. Or delete for you," she says. "You know where to find me, and I'm almost always still awake all day too, I don't really sleep any more. And if you came knocking when I was asleep, I probably wouldn't hear it anyway, so stop by whenever."
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