Logs:⊑⍜⋔⟒ (Home)

⊑⍜⋔⟒ (Home)
Dramatis Personae Alestair, Ren
In Absentia	2024-06-22 “Welcome to my home.”
Location Alestair’s Esoterica and Floristry
Alestair’s Esoterica and Floristry was a clearly a gas station at one point, but has underwent some pretty drastic remodeling starting with a fresh coat of black paint and green accents splattered around. Where rows of coolers once sat are now bookshelves filled with everything from gardening advice to the proper way to read tarot cards. Bones and charms litter the floor space in glass cases, as well as divination tools and bundles of blue sage and items for an altar. The other half of the store is dedicated solely to flowers, carrying everything from roses to delphinium. Those with a keen eye and knowledge of magical runes would also know that outside of the mundane this store also carries genuine alchemical supplies and enchanted items. The shop hasn’t officially opened yet, but glimpses Alestair can be caught as he flits around dusting and facing the various products. He’s over dressed as always, this time in a full white suit, the jacket covered in lavender roses around the collar and down each arm, his white gloves oddly stainless despite the dusting. Suddenly he straightens up, turning expectantly towards the door. Ren enters the store at a leisurely pace, cane in hand, with the same long dark coat he wore last time the two had met. His mask is a burgundy color, which matches the plain t-shirt he has under it. He’s definitely sweating in the coat and long pants he wears from the early summer heat, but doesn’t seem to be taking any action to remove the coat. Upon entering the store, his eyes spend only a moment taking in the bones and charms, before catching the flower half. He stares at that half of the store for a moment, and a tension seems to leave his shoulders at the same time his jaw clenches under his mask. He’s quick to look away, and spot Alestair…already watching the door. He takes one, long deep breath, out of need from the walk or to simply emotionally prepare, who’s to say, and waves a hand as he approaches. “Hey, uh- long time no see. Cool shop you’ve got here.” “Thank you very much.” Alestair says with a warm smile, “I’m delighted you took up the offer.” He steps away from the shelf he was at and over to the counter to stash away the duster he was holding. “Are you here to browse or perhaps you and your friend came seeking advice?” Ren holds up Alestair’s card he has in his hand, “Yeah wasn’t too hard to find.” He slides it back into his pocket. “Not browsing at the moment, but maybe another time.” His eyes flick once towards the flowers, before resting back on Alestair, “Just looking for advice for today, if the offer is still there. Figured I’d take you up on the offer to take a better look at my…friend.” He says that last part reluctantly. “Maybe if all goes well you two can become permanent friends. Add it to your shop, or whatever.” “Of course.” Alestair waves his hand and the door behind Ren locks with an audible click and he takes a step over to the door marked “Employees Only” and cracks it open, “You’ll give your word to keep what you see here to yourself, yes? I’m sure you’re familiar with industry secrets.” Ren doesn’t startle as the door locks behind him, but his hand does grip his cane tighter. There’s a movement under his sleeve that he doesn’t bother attempting to hide. He tilts his head, eyes narrowed slightly between the cracked door and Alastair, “I sure am. Maybe I’m curious how you know that.” He nods towards the door, “But yeah, sure, I won’t say anything. Do I have your word you’re not gonna send me off to be studied in some government lab?” He asks, only partially joking. “You have an air of professionalism, so I just made an assumption.” Alestair explains nonchalantly. “You have my word, and I can assure you I do not break it.” With that Alestair opens the door and slips inside. What’s on the other side makes no sense. This should be where the entrance to the coolers and back storage are but instead it’s a grand foyer with marble floors and a curving staircase that leads to a second floor. A massive chandelier hangs in the middle illuminating the space with eternally lit candles and ancient looking paintings of people wearing even more outlandish outfits than Alestair adorn the walls. “Welcome to my home.” Ren sighs, and follows Alestair through, “I swear if you’ve got some freaky torture room back here I’m gonn-“ He stops mid word as he takes in the other side. His head whips around, clearly not comprehending what just happened, and takes a small step backwards. “What the hell? Wait-” He looks back at the door they just came through, then to Alestair, alarmed, “How did you do that? Oh fuck am I drugged. Shit- I might already be in the back of some government van being crated off to who knows where.” His words begin to grow a little less clear as his speech quickens in his impending panic. He quickly grabs the handle to the door they entered through and opens it, closes it, opens it, looks around the space, closes, opens and closes it one more time before promptly turning back to Alestair. “This is real…The shop was not this big on the outside.” He says in question, despite it being phrased as a statement. “We’re not in the shop anymore. Technically once you stepped through the threshold you left earth.” Alestair steps over to a coat hook next to the door, sliding out of his jacket and hanging it up. “As I said, this is my home. Normally I wouldn’t have let you in but I assumed you and your friend wanted more privacy than a store front offered.” Next he rolls his sleeves up and removes his gloves, exposing his own metallic prosthetic that connects under the elbow . “Now,” he takes a step forward and the room seems to shift, no longer are they in the foyer but instead a large alchemical lab full of scientific glass pieces and a massive cauldron in the middle, “how may I be of assistance?” Ren shakes his head, and follows Alestair, taking in the room, “Yeah, sure. Not on earth.” He says idly, pausing to lean forward to inspect some of the paintings, and continuing behind him. He’s about to say more, but he stumbles slightly as the room shifts, “Holy shit.” He takes a moment to stabilize, and spins slowly to take everything in, “I…how does this all exist?” He asks instead of answering Alestair’s question, “You are a mutant, right? This seems like…a lot for one guy.” “I’m a human.” Alestair lifts his shoulders in a small shrug. “Particularly powerful compared to most, but still a human. I’ve tethered this plane to the physical, it lies somewhere between the material and astral.” He waves a hand towards a nearby window with a view to a starry scape, the distance dotted with floating land masses and swirling colors. “I hope you understand now why I’ve sworn you to secrecy.” There’s a threat somewhere in there buried underneath his outer shell of politeness. Ren stares out the window at the stars for a long time. Little vines have reached out through the neck and sleeves of his coat, as if to get a better view as well, but he hardly seems to notice—or care currently for that matter. “Yeah. Of course. Lips are sealed.” He says, and turns back to face Alestair, a nervous look in his eyes. He wanders closer to the alchemical equipment, curiously peeking through. “So this is…your home. And your home is in a different plane of existence. Are you from a different plane of existence?” He asks, slowly, like he can’t quite believe he’s asking these questions unironically. “No, I really am from Colorado.” Alestair assures Ren. “I brought you here to assure you I’m not a charlatan and that when I said I had experience with unusual plants I meant it,” he takes a step around to observe the vine growth. “and with all due respect this plant is indeed unusual.” Ren laughs tiredly, “Hell of a way to do it.” He follows Alestair’s look to the vines, and shrugs, “Funnily enough, this plant is now not the strangest thing I’ve seen today. Seems small in comparison to all of this.” He gestures around. The little vines by his neck reach out towards Alestair, “You said you could figure out some things about it? Unfortunately, the books I’ve been finding haven’t been the most helpful.” “I imagine any information on it would be highly classified.” Alestair goes through the motions once more to speak with the plant, less subtly now that they’re in private. “Hello again friend, how have you been?” Ren blinks a few times when suddenly the plant noises in his mind begin to slot into his mind and translate into something he can understand. <<Hello hello hello hello friend friend friend. Missed friend. Hello friend! Lost! Sun where? Missed friend. Big plant danger? No Danger! Friend safe. Hello friend!>> Ren sighs, “That’ll never not be weird.” He flicks at the plant a little when it starts rising further than his neck and onto his face, “So…what do you need to do your thing? You need a piece of it? I’d offer to give you it but it’s all…infused in my back. Do you need to…see it?” He asks with a jerk of his thumb towards his back. He then begins to tug some of the vine pieces away from his chin as they attempt to sneak under his mask. Other little vines continue to reach in Alestair’s direction. “Depending on how it’s fused separation may not be an option.” Alestair clicks his tongue in thought for a moment before speaking to the plant again, “Would it be possible to take a clipping?” He drums his metallic fingers on a nearby table. “I have a few contacts I should be able to reach out to and see if they’re any more familiar with this. Honestly your situation seems like an inverse of the acacia ant.” Ren’s eyes catch the metallic fingers and he watches them drum on the table, “Inverse of the what?” <<Yes. Small clip! Will grow fast! Big plant makes grow fast.>> As if to demonstrate, a vine rapidly grows out from the sleeve of his jacket, much thicker than the others, and wraps loosely around Alestair’s metallic arm. <<Ta da! Oof! Tired. Tired. Big plant tired. Oof. Uh oh.>> Ren does in fact look a little winded from the sudden growth, but shakes his head after a quick shallow breath, “I’m fine. You can clip that one, if it’s enough.” He offers. “The acacia ants live inside the hollow structures of the acacia tree and defend it from predators.” Alestair explains as he draws a pair of shears from his breast pocket and carefully takes the offered sample before wandering off to a nearby pot and planting it. “In your case however, it seems like the plant has found its way inside of you and is determined to keep you alive. You’re the big plant after all. Hopefully this clipping will take and I’ll have an opportunity to study it without you having to sacrifice any more of your privacy.” He walks back over and gives Ren a once over. “If you’d like I may have something to replenish that energy. I’m not sure how well it’ll work though.” Ren flinches only slightly when the bit is snipped off. The little vines also curl in on itself for a moment. <<Ouchy! Oof. Ouchy Ouchy.>> “Maybe I should research those ants. Maybe they’re related to this thing.” He says, watching him pot the plant. “Thank you, for your help in this. I really appreciate it.” He says genuinely. He considers Alestair’s offer, then shrugs, “…Sure, why not. I’ve already given you a piece of some plant attached to my back. Is it uh, alternate dimension 5 Hour Energy? It comes in a purple bottle instead of red?” He says, and a tired smile pushes on the edges of his mask. “Close.” Alestair makes a few new gestures with his hands and his eyes glow a familiar green for a moment before a rush of energy fills the plant. “If that doesn’t work I do have some topicals, but they may cause some unwanted plant growth.” He walks back over to where he’s stored some vials and salves. “Full disclosure since you’re here, I do carry a number of panaceas. It isn’t out of the realm of possibility to restore your body, but the ingredients are rare and expensive. It would likely take a number of months to collect them all and brew it. The experience is also… unpleasant to say the least.” Finding what he’s looking for he plucks it up and walks back over to offer it to Ren. Ren eyes widen at the sudden rush of energy. <<Sun! Sunny! Dark? Sunny. Sun. Yay.>> A few flowers pop up in Ren’s hair at the added energy, some very tiny Zinnias, and he shakes his head, “Yeah. That worked.” He seems unaware of his new flowery additions. He reaches out automatically to take the offered vial, and inspects it curiously. “Restore my body? Like what, regrow my leg like a lizard?” He asks, glancing up towards Alestair’s metallic arm, before going back to inspecting the vial some more, “I think I’ll pass on that one. Thank you, though.” He holds up the vial, “So what’s this?” “For what it’s worth, I didn’t go that route. Somebody offered me a better deal.” Alestair flexes his metallic fist before continuing, “It’s a concoction of mine that assists plant growth that’s relatively cheap and easy to make, part of what makes my flowers so much better. I also offer more mundane cures if you ever find yourself ill.” Ren watches the hand flex, and hums. He raises an eyebrow at the concoction, before pocketing it, “Thanks, I’ll give it a shot.” He leans back on his heels and tilts his head, “So what do I owe you for all of this?” He asks. “I haven’t done anything.” Alestair says with a dismissive wave. “If you’d like however I can come up with some tests to run. I can’t promise they won’t make your plant stronger though.” Just like before the room suddenly shifts and they’re standing in the foyer once more and he goes about rolling his sleeves down and putting his gloves back on. “I don’t know if I can help remove it but I do think it’s possible to help you two come to some sort of consensus.” Ren hesitates, “..if you’re sure.” He follows behind Alestair, “And I think I’ll hold off on tests for now.” He manages not to get vertigo as the room shifts this time, but he does have to blink a few times. “This was already more than enough, and I wouldn’t want to risk it becoming…more than I can handle. It’s already more than I can handle.” The plant has been making happy pings in the mean time from the energizing spell. “If you’ve got any theories on getting rid of it, I’d be happy to hear them.” He says, “But anything you can figure out about it will be a massive help.” As they walk, he’s begun herding the vines back under his coat. <<Bye sun. Bye bye. Sad. Friend Sun. Sun Friend. Bye Sun Friend! Bye bye. Dark again. Oof squished.>> “It can be.. a lot.” Alestair concedes, slipping back into his jacket. “I’ll look into it and see what I can find. You’re more than welcome to come back and check up on it,” he opens the door and flashes Ren a charming and totally non threatening smile, “or I can find you. Whichever works.” Ren’s eyes widen momentarily, and some nervous pings sound off from the plant, but he nods, “Right. Whichever works.” He exits the room, huffing out an amazed breath at the sudden change in scenery. He nods to Alestair, “Thank you again. Not sure what I can do in return but…” he glances over to the flower shop side, and shrugs, “If you ever need an extra set of hands, I can help, I guess. Let me know.” <<Home now? Safe home now?>> “Yes, home now.” He responds to the plant for the first time, and acknowledges Alestair one last time, “I’ll see you again. Until then, my lips are sealed.” He reassures. He waves, and makes his exit from the shop, sending one more look over towards the flower shop side before leaving. “Of course, help is always appreciated.” Alestair closes the door behind himself and offers a wave, “Keep him safe little plant, until we meet again.” Once Ren exits he gives a wave of his hand and the sign flips over to “OPEN” and he settles behind the counter and fishes out an old journal to thumb through.