closureisformovies: (danger)
closureisformovies ([personal profile] closureisformovies) wrote in [community profile] ph_logs2024-08-31 11:46 pm

[OPEN] Scream, it makes no sound, I could testify

Who: Alice Dyer ([personal profile] closureisformovies) & you!
What: Catch-All for Alice
When: Late August, Early-Mid September
Where: Town hall, oak & iron, empty pockets, around
Warnings: Possible Blight discussion, others as they come up



1. Explaining how time has bled me dry [town hall]

Those who work in Town Hall probably know Alice as the cheerful, tallish woman who spends the vast majority of the work day chattering and making jokes of varying levels of quality. She's the kind of person that's always talking to someone and it never seems to meaningfully impact her work, as she continues to be a pretty damn decent clerk despite all her many complaints about the concept of working at all.

But after the Blight mess is all said and done, Alice seems... a little off. The first few days are the worst; her work suffers and she's clearly still frayed around the edges, but given the fact she spent a lot of the time holding down the Town Hall shelter on her own it's excusable enough. She even perks up a little, after the day Gerry picks her up to drag her straight to drinks, but she never quite gets back to full form and if you look closely enough it's hard not to spot. Her jokes are more strained, she chatters a little less, and she keeps making stupid mistakes she wouldn't have before.

And her weird behaviour is especially obvious when Dahlia's around. Wonder what that's about.

2. You say I'm vacant now when it's justified [oak & iron]

Typically Alice stops by the O&I twice a day: once, in the morning, to get coffee and breakfast before she heads into work; second, in the evening after dinner to drink and hang out where the people are. This pattern remains much the same even when her behaviour shifts elsewhere, though the observant might notice she's drinking more than she usually does in the evenings and staying longer in the process.

It's in the evenings, especially after a couple drinks, that she's at her most social, inserting herself into conversations or joining people at tables with empty seats. Maybe you're one of the lucky people she jumps in to talk to, maybe her loudmouth charm has caught your attention, or maybe you just want to tell her to shut up. Either way, she's around. Soaking up the ambient energy, trying to ignore both her own chronic loneliness and the panic that's been threatening to consume her every waking moment since Aster walked into the office.

3. If you called my bluff, I could lose your love [empty pockets]

Alice joked about something like this a couple months ago, but it's only now with her mood in the gutter that she decides to go for the drastic measures: subjecting innocent people to her attempt at stand-up comedy.

It's not exactly a polished routine or anything, and anyone from the 2010s onwards that's at all internet savvy is going to recognise some of her humour as blatantly ripped from tumblr, but she is genuinely very quick on the draw and has plenty of her own material (even if it is, also, tumblr-flavoured).

And she has fun. Despite everything, she has fun.

4. And I know I'd be fine [Wildcard]

Hit me up to plot something or just throw something at me. She's out and about.
maximumcake: (head scratcher)

[personal profile] maximumcake 2024-10-15 08:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Max sits and diligently listens, but you better believe that little slip sent his eyebrows rocketing to the moon. Friend? Is that really all though?

"Sounds like the kind of fight that has some history behind it," he comments as diplomatically as possible.

"I'm not judging, okay, just saying... how much of that have you explained to him. Like. Calmly?"
pineapplesalmon: (hmm oops)

[personal profile] pineapplesalmon 2024-10-16 07:16 pm (UTC)(link)
"Wrong genre. Superhero. My baby brother's a teenage superhero." César jokes in a flat tone, but only mostly. "Although he wasn't left to deal with everything on his own like most teenage superheroes. He's a part of the same international government agency that responds to such emergencies, and has adults that handle all the adult stuff while he does what only he can do. Things have finally calmed down enough that he'll be going to high school in the fall, so now he gets to still do the whole balance school-and-saving-the-world thing."

A pause, then. "So what sort of things does your world have to deal with?"
Edited (wrong hmm icon) 2024-10-16 19:16 (UTC)
maximumcake: (pic#14146323)

[personal profile] maximumcake 2024-10-18 01:42 am (UTC)(link)
"Mmm," he hums in mild disapproval. Yeah, that doesn't exactly sound like what he was going for.

"Have you tried getting a mediator? Someone to talk you both through it?"
pineapplesalmon: (a quick suggestion)

[personal profile] pineapplesalmon 2024-10-22 03:36 pm (UTC)(link)
"Superheroes sometimes have magic, so not always. I'm mostly being pedantic; mine would be sci-fi." César shrugs with a wide grin. "I mean, you're here. So it's likely real. Ordinary folks don't often show up here, I'm learning."
pineapplesalmon: (confidence)

[personal profile] pineapplesalmon 2024-10-23 11:14 pm (UTC)(link)
César gives a short laugh, half in surprise and half because he gets the sentiment. "Tall, dark, and a handsome fur coat."
maximumcake: (playing innocent)

[personal profile] maximumcake 2024-10-24 12:39 am (UTC)(link)
Max squints at her. "Okay, be honest. Do you still like him?"
maximumcake: (pic#14146335)

[personal profile] maximumcake 2024-10-24 01:22 am (UTC)(link)
The longer she spins out her denial, the further one of Max's eyebrows climbs up his forehead, inching along like a furry little caterpillar of doubt. Even after she stops, he's still giving her that look.

"Alice..." he says as he desperately tries to keep the grin out of his voice, "You know it's okay, right? If you still like him. You don't have to pretend."
maximumcake: (curious)

[personal profile] maximumcake 2024-10-24 01:39 am (UTC)(link)
There goes the other eyebrow to join its brother. Brothers in doubt.

"Okay..." Yeah, so admittedly some of that is pretty awkward. But still! Stop pretending, Alice, Max can see right through it. Put the shovel down.

"So, is it not okay because he doesn't like you back?"
maximumcake: (playing innocent)

[personal profile] maximumcake 2024-10-24 01:53 am (UTC)(link)
Girl... the defense is six feet underground already.

"So he was the one who broke up with you?"

Is it fine? Is it?
pineapplesalmon: (a chin touch moment)

[personal profile] pineapplesalmon 2024-10-26 05:33 pm (UTC)(link)
"And they could probably lift you, too. My girlfriend can lift me. Underrated experience." César's pretty sure he's enjoying this new experience. Pretty sure.
pineapplesalmon: (a long explanation)

[personal profile] pineapplesalmon 2024-10-26 06:43 pm (UTC)(link)
A flash of understanding before a wince of sympathy. "Mmm. Magne's an inch shorter than me, taller when she's wearing heals, three times as strong, and way better at fighting than I'll ever be. So her pool is similarly small. I'm her first boyfriend."

He shakes his head with a disapproving sigh. "Men with frail egos don't know what they're missing!"

César won't out his girlfriend, but he can talk about her similar experiences.
pineapplesalmon: (a quick suggestion)

[personal profile] pineapplesalmon 2024-10-30 04:35 am (UTC)(link)
"The people around here are a lot more open, too. Magne keeps pinging people enough that I've been told repeatedly that I'm a very lucky man." César's smile is proud and amused. "If she hadn't met me so quickly, she'd definitely be dating someone else. So your dating pool is probably bigger here than it was back home."
maximumcake: (playing innocent)

[personal profile] maximumcake 2024-10-30 05:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"Sort of?" Pressing X even harder.

"So, why did you break up to begin with?"

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