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Asbolus: After the events at the Autumn Hollow Asbolus had been taking it relatively easy for his own sanity's sake, taking a day or two off from work to allow himself to settle into a vaguely level state before venturing out into the world at large once again. Even so those jaunts were short, quickly returning to the safe space of the future motley's home at his earliest convenience.
That evening's return from work had been blissfully uneventful, and as the Darkling crossed the threshold into the home he relaxed visibly, hanging up his coat by the door and heading into the house proper to see who might be about.
Alex Shaw: Alex is awake a lot more than she used to be, but she spends all of her daylight hours locked away in the basement, working on whatever projects she has going on at the time. Once the sun goes down she tends to stop working and come up to hang out, or to go out. When you're awake 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, you start to find that you have an awful lot of time to get things done.
Things like doing a little baking. Alex is in the kitchen when Asbolus comes home, sitting at the table and flipping through sites on her phone while she waits for the cookies that are currently in the oven to finish. When she hears the door she looks up, then calls toward the front of the house, "back in the kitchen, whoever just came home!"
Asbolus: Asbolus perked up at the call, making his way towards the kitchen and giving Alex a nod and a smile. Even at a glance one could tell he was off-kilter, the usual laser-like focus of his gaze clouded and his posture hesitant. "Evening. Things going well, I hope?"
Alex Shaw: "Yep, things are..." Alex starts out sounding chipper, but trails off and squints her green eyes at Asbolus slightly. "Things are just fine for me," she says a bit more softly. "You look like you're having a rough time, though. Anything that you want to talk about?" She reaches out with one foot under the table and pushes the chair out in invitation. "There are chocolate chip cookies in the oven, they should be done in a couple of minutes."
Asbolus: "That obvious?" He gave a wry little smirk at that, moving to take the offered seat. "I had my mental foundations rattled very thoroughly recently while taking part in bringing Buidhe back to the freehold and haven't had a chance yet to repair them. Hoping to do so soon, however."
Alex Shaw: "I'm pretty good at reading people," Alex says as she puts her phone down on the table, leans forward to rest her arms on it, and laces her fingers together. Giving Asbolus her full attention. "I'm a little out of the loop on what was happening with Buidhe. I can't get into the Hollows, so the only time I know what's going on is when one of you all fills me in, and I've been busy lately so I haven't done nearly enough catching up. What happened?"
Asbolus: "The details are still being sussed out, but from what I know he made an agreement with a hob in the Dark Market in Asbury Park for a list of names in return for a hollow deed that had been stolen from another hob that Bailey had dealings with. That deed passed hands a few more times and is now in the hands of someone at Rose Red, but in the midst of all that Buidhe was blamed for stealing the deed in the first place and is now saddled with so much Debt and bad faith that he lost his ties to Autumn and was hiding in the Hedge for months." Asbolus sat back in his seat, a faint frown crossing his features. "He's still in bad shape last I heard, but recovering slowly but surely, and others are looking into what needs to be done to clear his name."
Alex Shaw: Alex listens with interest and concern, wincing at some of the details. "Sounds like he dug himself into quite a hole. That's kind of out of character for him, from the little I know. It's not like he and I were particularly close, but I'm surprised he let himself get trapped in a corner like that." She hmms softly. "And how did you get rattled in all that? If you don't mind my asking? We can talk about something else if you want to, but I'm here and happy to listen if you want to talk about it."
Asbolus: "My thought as well...he mentioned something about the hob who approached Bailey possibly stealing the deed himself, but he was very disjointed himself so more information may be found once he's settled more."
"I don't mind, no. I took part in the search in the Hedge to find him, and I haven't done that sort of retrieval run since I got back so it hit home more than I expected. That was exacerbated by the fact that one of the other Lost who aided in calming Buidhe down enough to talk with us had been in the City as well and served as Her voice." He paused, looking off into nothing for a moment before snapping back to and shaking his head as though to clear it. "It was no fault of hers, of course, but it was like a sledgehammer against what stability I had left."
Alex Shaw: Alex continues to listen while Asbolus describes how things hit him. Part way through she unlaces her fingers and extends one hand across the table, offering him her touch if he wants it. Since she has the Blush of Life going, like she pretty much always does, her hand is warm if he takes it.
"I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do to help you find your stability again? You all have things that help you feel connected, and to find your balance, right? I understand if you don't want to tell me how you do that, but if there's anything that might help and you need assistance making that happen, I'll give you whatever help I can."
Asbolus: Asbolus took the offered hand with a small smile, giving it a squeeze as she spoke. "He knows we need to speak, but our schedules haven't meshed properly as of yet. Hopefully that will happen soon, but until then I'm managing."
Alex Shaw: Alex squeezes back, but before she has a chance to answer the timer on the oven starts beeping. "Cookies!" she says, carefully drawing her hand back as she starts to get up. "'We should probably let them cool a little bit before we try to eat them. I guess you're familiar with letting things cool down to safe levels before touching them, though. At least we don't need an annealer to keep them from falling apart, right? I hope you get the help you need soon. Let me know if I can do anything to help."
Asbolus: His head snapped towards the oven at the unexpected sound, letting out a slow breath as he forced himself to relax and gave a nod as Alex got up from the table. "Usually not a bad idea, no. And thank you. Talking helps, in truth, if only to push back on the urge to shut myself up in my room where it's 'safe' until this all passes."
Alex Shaw: "There's nothing wrong with needing some alone time, but you're safe with the rest of us, too," Alex says as she bustles about, taking the sheet of cookies out of the oven and swapping in a second sheet, which was already prepared. "Do you want anything while I'm up? A drink, or whatever?" she asks, glancing back at him for a moment. "You know you can lean on me if you need help, for whatever reason. Especially for your mental health. I don't mind at all. I'm here and happy to support you."
Asbolus: "Some milk to go with the cookies once they're cooled, perhaps?" Asbolus replied with a small smile, nodding when she looked his way. "Much appreciated, and the same goes for you as well."
Alex Shaw: "Sure, that's easy enough," Alex says, already moving to get out a glass and the milk. "I've been doing pretty well recently, just busy with some of the various projects I'm working on. I do think I've figured out a trick that might open some interesting doors for me, and I'm not really sure how to deal with some of the things that might result." She brings the glass over and puts it in front of Asbolus, then goes to lean against the counter near the cookies while she waits for them to cool off.
Asbolus: "Oh?" His eyebrow arched curiously as he took the offered glass, having a small sip before setting it back down again. "What sort of things are you concerned might come up?"
Alex Shaw: "Can I rely on you not to tell anyone who doesn't live here about what I'm about to share with you? There are some limits to what I'm supposed to talk about with people who aren't vampires, and I'm going to skirt the edges of them a little bit," Alex explains with a thoughtful pause. "I won't be able to go into detail, for sure. But I can tell you what I figured out how to do."
Asbolus: "Of course." He nodded, his hand moving to mime turning a key in a phantom lock in front of his lips for emphasis.
Alex Shaw: "I thought so, but I figured that I would ask so that you know this is important," Alex answers. She turns around to get a pair of plates from the cabinet, and then quickly grabs up a cookie for each plate. "I think I've figured out a technique for temporarily un-embracing myself. To make myself stop being a vampire, at least for a few hours." She brings the plates over and puts one down in front of Asbolus. "They're still pretty hot," she says as she sits down with the other plate.
Asbolus: Asbolus' eyebrows shot up at that particular revelation, looking both surprised and rather impressed. "That would be something...what's involved in that, if you can say?"
Alex Shaw: "I'm not sure how much of the details you want me to go into, if it works like I'm expecting it to," Alex admits with wry smile on her lips. "But it should result in me going back to the way I was before I became a vampire. I'm not entirely sure if that will leave me human or Avowed, since as far as I know nobody like me has tried the technique. I'll lose all of my resilience, vampiric powers, and everything else for six to eight hours, and then when it's done I'll have to go through all of the agony of the Embrace all over again. But I'll be able to go out in the sun, for instance. Or sleep actual sleep."
Asbolus: Asbolus nodded quietly, the gears turning in the back of his mind. "I can see that being worthwhile, even if it is for a short time relatively speaking."
Alex Shaw: "There's one main reason I've been really interested in figuring this out, though." Alex leans back and taps her fingers on the table. "When I was kidnapped, about five years ago, I just disappeared on my parents. I've never gotten back in touch because... what do I tell them? How would I handle having to turn down every invitation to things that happened during the day? If I could only see them at night, it would be really hard to keep things secret from them. Now? I could show up for an afternoon BBQ, or whatever else. But what do I tell them about where I've been, and why I haven't been in touch?"
Asbolus: "Could go with the 'very hush-hush project' angle, perhaps, something that required you to cut any contact outside of the work." He looked to Alex at that to gauge her reaction. "I haven't spoken with my family either since I got back, and I know how difficult that can be if you were close."
Alex Shaw: "My parents would absolutely murder me if I had just disappeared for five years without saying anything or giving them any warning. I honestly think they might not ever talk to me or forgive me, for that." Alex winces at the very idea. "Did I ever tell you about my brother? If I haven't, I should, since you should probably know this, and it would explain why it would be particularly unforgivable for me to just up and disappear."
Asbolus: "Ah...I see." He gave a sympathetic look at that, shaking his head as she continued. "I don't believe you have, no."
Alex Shaw: Alex nods, like that makes sense, and takes a deep breath before she starts explaining. "My older brother was Taken," she says. "That's how I had become Fae-Touched in the first place. I went into the Hedge after him, trying to rescue him. Quite foolishly, as I know realize, but I had a promise to keep. He's still gone, as far as I know. No Fetch got left behind." She looks down at her hand where it's resting on the table, her nails too perfect like all the rest of her. "As far as my parents were concerned, their oldest just disappeared and was never heard from again. We were all wrecked by it, and if I made a choice to also disappear on them, without telling them?" She shakes her head. "They'd never forgive me."
Asbolus: Asbolus remained quiet as Alex explained, nodding slowly when she finished and offering his hand for her to take if she wished. "I'm sorry that happened, and I hope he resurfaces soon."
"Understandable. Do you think they would pry too much if you were at least partially honest and told them you were taken in your own way?"
Alex Shaw: "Well, they don't know that my brother was Taken," Alex explains with a shake of her head. "They can't know. They're human, and we want them to stay that way. I could tell them that someone kidnapped me? But I'm also a missing person to the police. I'll have to deal with their questions and all if I return. They probably have things watched, so that if I start using bank accounts or anything in my name, it raises flags. If I want my life back, even partly, I'll have to have some story that passes muster for police investigations and everything." She sighs and looks away from Asbolus. "I can probably create records to back up a lot of story, depending on what I can come up with. I'm just not sure what to say. This is not my area of expertise." She turns back to him and smiles apologetically. "I could probably use some Winter help, but I don't know if I have any right to ask for it. And I'm certainly not asking you to do anything right now, you have your own things to worry about. It can wait."
Asbolus: "Quite the conundrum indeed. The paperwork isn't my forte, but stories are...telling them, at least, if not spinning them directly." He offered a smile at that, brittle as it was in that moment. "More than happy to help where I can."
Alex Shaw: "Thank you," Alex says with a smile, before she picks up her cookie to take a nibble of it. "If you know anyone else in Winter who you might be willing to refer me to for help, that would also be appreciated."
Asbolus: "I'll ask and see what I can find. Handling one's reinsertion into society is one of our fortes, after all." He eyed his cookie as she went in for hers, picking it up and breaking off a piece to try before nodding with approval. "Very good."
Alex Shaw: "You're too kind," Alex says with a soft laugh, after having finished her first bite. "They're good, but very good? That might be stretching it. I know what I am, and a great baker is not it. But they're certainly edible, right? Chocolate chip cookies are hard to make bad."
Asbolus: "Better than I could turn out, so very good is fitting to me." He said with a small chuckle. "Never had much talent for the culinary arts."
Alex Shaw: "Me neither, and not a lot of good reason to develop the talents, either," Alex admits with an unconcerned shrug. "I don't need to eat food any more. I can, if I'm making sure to keep my biology functioning, but it doesn't really do anything for me. I can follow a recipe, though. That's about the limit of my abilities."
Asbolus: "About the same for myself. Then again, living in the Hedge for more than a year without access to anything more complex than a battery-run hotplate did a number on what little skills I had on that front." He offered a shrug of his own, eating another piece of his cookie and taking a sip of the milk. "One does what one must, though."
Alex Shaw: "You can accomplish quiet a bit in life if you're capable of following directions, and that's really what cooking to a recipe is," Alex points out as she leans back and takes another nibble from her cookie. "How have things been with you aside from the recent events, with Buidhe and all?"
Asbolus: "True indeed." He nodded, sitting back in his seat at the question. "They've been good for the most part. The work at the theater has been fulfilling, hectic as it can be at times. It's good to be back in that world in some way, even if it's not on the stage."
Alex Shaw: "What kind of work have you been doing at the theater?" Alex asks, prompting him to talk more about what he's enjoying, then preparing to listen with the interest of someone who is asking because she actually cares. "I've been taking kind of odd jobs, but nothing that remotely constitutes a routine, so I kind of miss having something more steady."
Asbolus: "I serve as the manager for the theater as a whole, so handling the day to day affairs of the business. The owner is also of your persuasion and is more interested in enjoying the performances put on besides, and after speaking with him on a few occasions we struck a chord and I offered to help him run things."
Alex Shaw: "A vampire?" Alex asks, not sounding like she's either surprised or concerned by that revelation. "I'm glad that's working out for you. Being able to get back to doing some more normal things in my chosen field is one of the reasons I'm interested in trying to get back to my life, too. It's not like I'm not still digging around on the internet finding nooks and crannies to weasel my way into, I'm just not being open about who I am if I report my findings. Don't get to take the credit." She smiles across the table at him. "I kind of enjoy the credit."
Asbolus: "Mmm. Luigi Fabri, if you've come across him. He's been occupied as of late so I can't say how much he's been socializing." He nodded as Alex spoke, smiling a touch in return. "Not a bad thing, that. A part of me does miss it at times, being up there under the lights, but with my current situation I'll take what I can get."
Alex Shaw: After finishing her cookie Alex gets up, goes over to the oven, and checks the timer, which is almost done. She stops it and looks back at Asbolus. "I don't know him," she admits, before pulling the oven open, scooping up a hot pad, and taking the second batch of cookies out. "I'm glad it's working for you, though. It was nice to get a chance to catch up a bit, too. I should get back to the stuff I was working on, though."
Asbolus: "That it was. Hopefully we can do it more often." He took a moment to polish off his own cookie, moving to take their plates to wash them in the sink. "Best of luck, and I'll let you know what I find out as far as helping you get back in touch with your family."
Alex Shaw: "Thanks, I appreciate it," Alex says, and as she passes by Asbolus she puts a hand on his shoulder. "Let me know if you need anything. Like, even if you need someone to run out and pick something up for you, or run errands, and you just don't feel like it? I've got you. Don't hesitate to ask, okay?"
Asbolus: There was a brief tension in his bearing at the unexpected touch but after a moment Asbolus relaxed, giving a nod and a small smile. "I won't, and thank you for the offer. Have a good night."
Alex Shaw: "You too!" Alex says. "Hopefully some good sleep will do you wonders, right?" With a slight squeeze she draws her hand away and then heads off. "I'll come back up in a bit to put the cookies away when they're cooled off, but feel free to help yourself!" And then she heads back down to her basement lair.
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