[PRP] This place is terrible and endless (Eve & Aleksy)

[shibrogane]

Aleksy pulled himself out of the decorative mirror in Eve's main room and tripped over the frame, like, faceplanted. Only not, because he caught himself, but it still made a noise. He said a particularly nasty cuss under his breath in Russian involving things the frame should do to its mother, and dusted himself off. He peeked into the mirror, straightened his hair, and did not step back through into other ashdown. It was just that the only mirrors he could see himself in anymore were ones that led to the hellworld. Otherworld. (Whatever.)

Then he returned to Eve, and said, "Leila will be late. She's gone to find Biscuit. May I sit with you?"

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

Aleksy would be greeted by a concerned Clover, who'd trotted over to assess the noise upon his entry. As she sniffed good-naturedly at the vampire, Eve approached -- she'd been rightfully spooked by the thump he'd made on the floor and ready to text one of the Mercers until she'd ascertained who it was.

"Of course," she replied. The breach in security had her a little miffed, but she skipped the banter she could have made about it. Whatever she could say he'd probably heard before, anyway. While leading Aleksy to the table, she continued, "Thanks for the update. Of course she'd go dashing off to the rescue... it's like she loves that bird more than me." This was, of course, a joke.

But sometimes Eve did get a little jealous.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Clover got an approving nod. It was good that the doggo was protective of Eve; Eve needed protecting from her own better nature sometimes, in Aleksy's opinion. He was a cagey guy with strong opinions about stuff like reaching out to help people if it wasn't morally obligatory. (The fact that he had long intrapersonal debates with himself about when an action was obligatory and when it was supererogatory said a lot about him, but he didn't know this.) "She doesn't," said Aleksy. "But a chicken is substantially less capable of protecting itself."

He sat across from Eve, black eyes scanning the papers. "It is about moonwalkers," he said. "I would not ask, but I trust none of them as much as I trust you. I can ask someone else, if it is too painful."

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

Eve's expression dimmed somewhat at the mention of moonwalkers, but it didn't give her as much pause as it may have in previous weeks. "I still have the family it gave me," she said, after a few seconds of thought. "And that's enough for the time being. What do you need to know?"

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"One of them gave Finn a bite," said Aleksy. "When he transform, it was on this side. He became lost, and disappeared for five days. He was very scared when he came home. This is normal? What do I need to do to make him safe?"

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

"Oh," said Eve. Then she stared at an empty part of the table for a second, recollecting the Blackfriars incident -- had that not happened here?

"Moonwalkers have to return to the other side on the night the full moon rises," she explained. "If you're on this side during the moonrise, you... lose your mind, and it's very painful. The animal part of you takes over until the phase is over." Then her frown deepened, and she looked up at Aleksy. "I'm sorry Finn went through that. I'm sure he'll be welcome to go along with the Pack next time, if he'd like."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"That explains much," said Aleksy, brow furrowing. He covered his mouth with one gloved hand. What must it have been like for Finn, not knowing what had happened, only knowing he was in pain and afraid? It was enough to make Aleksy regret his callousness even more, not that he was going to share that with anyone. "I am sorry to ask you," he continued, as if he hadn't had to pause for a moment of inconvenient empathy, "But what is it you would recommend to best help my Finn with this? He seems very bothered. The internet is not helpful."

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

Eve smiled. "It sounds like you've been worried about him," she said. Recognizing the Spark of Gay Affection never failed to put her in a better mood. "Finn's lucky to have you. I think he'd be able to answer that better than I can. Unless he's the type to not want to admit what he needs."

shibrogane

gay

 

[shibrogane]

"I don't think he knows what he needs," said Aleksy doubtfully. "He is always asking to snuggle, and for me to feed off him to help him sleep, it seems unhealthy."

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

"It could be," Eve agreed, her brow knitting a bit.

She thought for minute before speaking again.

"I think it might help if you... spent time with him while he's transformed, here or in other Ashdown." Her voice had gotten a little quieter, but she relaxed and smiled again as she recollected, "Leila and I would do this, after I was done with the Pack."

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[shibrogane]

Aleksy said, "Like while he is a rabbit?" It wasn't doubtful, just he was trying to make sure he understood correctly. His grasp on English was shakier than the Aleksy that Eve had originally known. "That seems like it would be strange," he said, but mostly to himself.

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[cibarium]

"Or just halfway," Eve shrugged. She'd relaxed a bit into talking about moonwalker things, in a bittersweet way. Now she was idly looking at another list in Renard's planner. "You could leave that part up to him." She was trying to figure out if it was just another shopping list.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"Do you need a hand," asked Aleksy. You could hear the air quotes around a hand. This was an idiom. He was using it in an attempt to sound more like a native speaker. "I know Renard well."

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

Shifting the notebook and some of the papers so they were more readable from Aleksy's vantage, Eve said, "By all means. I think there's another pen on the coffee table."

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[shibrogane]

"That," said Aleksy, "is a shopping list." He pointed out a specific item on the list. "This is something he brews into tea for Liam. It calms them both."

He browsed through the papers. "What are you looking for in these? These are all from a calendar?"

cibarium