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: (Default)

[personal profile] maximumcake 2024-09-15 12:53 am (UTC)(link)
He thanks her for her mercy by slumping back in his seat. Trying to come up with something to say took as much energy out of him as a four-mile run. He should be more careful about what he promises.

Regardless, he's still ecstatic to see her when she comes by his table after. "Told you!" he says, proudly. "You were great up there."
maximumcake: (head scratcher)

[personal profile] maximumcake 2024-09-17 05:18 pm (UTC)(link)
"Not at all," he admits all in one breath, like letting the air out of a balloon. But the nose boop does make him laugh. "Never let me offer to do that again."
maximumcake: (head scratcher)

[personal profile] maximumcake 2024-09-25 08:39 pm (UTC)(link)
"I, at least, promise to boo those people if they're too mean to you," Max offers. God, he's really relieved though. He'll be very content just to sit and watch from now on.
maximumcake: (Some reservations)

[personal profile] maximumcake 2024-10-01 01:28 am (UTC)(link)
"I can be mean to mean people." It's true. That's one of the few ways to activate his inner mean guy.

"But I'd hate to take the pleasure of roasting them away from you."
maximumcake: (Default)

[personal profile] maximumcake 2024-10-06 04:41 pm (UTC)(link)
"Teamwork is definitely more my style," and just like that, his smile is back in full force.
maximumcake: (playing innocent)

[personal profile] maximumcake 2024-10-07 09:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Max is just about ready to let himself deflate for the night when she throws in that last little tidbit. What that? Juicy office drama? He's listening. (He grew up on sitcoms, so sue him.)

"Uh oh? What was the argument about?"
maximumcake: (curious)

[personal profile] maximumcake 2024-10-14 05:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Max's eyebrow slowly lifts as the metaphor goes and keeps going. Huh? Boomerang?

Oh. Oh. They're exes, now that he follows. Hm. He wonders if maybe there's more to this. All those romance books he read can't be wrong, right?

"What kind of stuff were you arguing 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?"
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?"
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?"

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