Tweak

InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Misha Collins is God"

MADAME XANADU // n i m u e (i_look) wrote in we_coexist,
@ 2009-04-06 16:20:00

Entry tags:

blind seer, charlie crews, firekeeper, madame xanadu, ted earley

Blind Seer meets blind seer [Firekeeper, Charlie, Ted?]
Xanadu fell asleep on Ted's bed and lay there for nearly a day. It felt safe and warm and she was loathe to leave it. She'd tried to feel her way toward a washroom but exhausted, tired and still hurt the blind seer refrained. The wounded slyph chose her steps carefully out of the bedroom and using the bannister as a guide, slowly took the steps down into the main entry way.

"Hello, Ted?"

Not unlike a hangover, Xanadu's head pounded from dehydration. She felt ill wanted to attempt drinking and perhaps eating something. The seer did not feel hungry, but she had stopped feeling the desire for food a week into her torture. She must have looked like a wreck. Her hair was matted in some places and she was still covered in green and purple bruises, slow to heal, dried blood and other cuts and marks decorating her body like a voodoo doll.

She couldn't wait to step into a shower, wear fresh clothes and feel normal again. The fate of the shop was far from the soothsayer's mind. For now she was safe. The doppelganger would be dealt with later and by someone else.

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i_worknumbers
2009-04-15 01:44 am UTC (link)

He wasn't sure he'd seen Charlie this angry since prison. And even in there, he'd been pretty in control of himself. This was new, and would be scary to somebody who didn't know him well. Didn't know that Charlie would never take that anger out on somebody who didn't deserve it.

"I think we need to get some furniture. Set up rooms for people if we're going to have them living here."

Ted didn't particularly want to become a halfway house, but actual roommates he didn't mind.

"Charlie, where did you find the wolf? And the girl. But mostly the wolf."

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i_zen
2009-04-15 01:50 am UTC (link)

"Furniture. Yeah, that'd be good." Ted seemed to always know when they needed a topic change, or when Charlie needed a slight topic change. Then again, Charlie was capable of obsessing over things even when he seemed to have a focus elsewhere. "We should probably have beds."

Charlie was about to add something about sharing beds with the women, or at least one of them, but he realized that Ted might not like that. Ted hadn't brought anyone since they'd lived together. Ted needed to bring someone home; Charlie smiled slightly at the thought.

"The girl and the wolf are a package deal apparently; found them in the snow. When there was snow. They needed a place to stay that isn't the Park. People should live in houses or tents, not in parks. We should get her a tent, or buy some land near the Park for her and the wolf." They had names, but the girl and the wolf was what they were being called for now.

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i_worknumbers
2009-04-15 01:55 am UTC (link)

"I could go out tomorrow and get stuff for them. Have it sent here." He wasn't sure how to pick furniture for adult females. The last time he'd had any furniture input was when his girls had been very young. Pink, rainbows, unicorns and cuddly things had been good then. But he could likely find some elegant unisex style things.

"I think the wolf is smart. Like people smart. He was trying to turn off the water in the kitchen sink when I found him. Which means that he turned it on in the first place. Then he nodded at me. In answer to a question." Ted looked out the window. "We have land here. We could give her a tent outside. Maybe build her something like those old boyscout tents where the floor is wood and there's a canvas covering. Or maybe a little cabin like out of The Parent Trap."

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i_zen
2009-04-15 02:04 am UTC (link)

"Good. I think wood would be good, wood furniture. They'd probably like things that are natural." Charlie liked natural, simple. He liked clean, plain, classy. He also liked having money to buy those things that would last a long time, even if he didn't care if he wouldn't have them for very long. Shifting a little in his lean against the kitchen island, Charlie looked to the living room where they'd left the two women.

"No, I think she'd like to live at the Park or near it. We've got land, but she wants to be free, no ties." Charlie could understand not being tied down, not being stuck in one place. Ted could too, but there was a small difference. Ted liked having connections; Charlie was rather particular about who he connected too, who he bonded with. "Ted, I think I want to find a date."

Charlie hadn't had any "fun" since he'd come to the City, and while he wasn't a Lothario, he could probably use some fun. Ted could too. "You should have a date, too. After we find who ever did that to Xanadu, or before. It might help us think."

Lifting the receiver, he looked at the numbers. "Do you think if I randomly push numbers, I'll get a pizza delivery?" It was worth a shot.

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i_worknumbers
2009-04-15 02:09 am UTC (link)

"A date?" Ted tried to work this through his mind while he stowed the thought about wood furniture for the bedrooms. "I think it can't hurt to try. For pizza I mean. A date?"

Charlie did not need Ted's help finding a date.
Ted, on the other hand, was not as lucky.

"You want me to have a date too? I don't think I understand." He got the concept of dates, he got the meaning behind them. But he didn't understand Charlie's sudden concern over Ted's love life.

"Like a double date?" He'd been on those. But he'd been younger. Or it had been something that wouldn't particularly count as a date with women that certainly weren't his wife. Would it be weird to be on a date with Charlie?

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i_zen
2009-04-15 02:15 am UTC (link)

"Just a date. Might help you. It helps me, sometimes." Charlie's brow furrowed as he tried to decide if he really believed it helped. It certainly was a distraction, but then people he cared about didn't always approve.

"We could go on a date; it could be fun." The detective started pressing numbers before holding the receiver up to his ear. "Do you want to go on a date with me, Ted?"

The voice on the other end was soft and sultry, and was definitely not a pizza delivery place. Though, it was certainly a number to remember later. The smile on Charlie's lips said that he liked what he heard.

"Sorry, wrong number, and I think that's illegal in some states, but thank you." He hung up the phone and tired again.

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i_worknumbers
2009-04-15 02:20 am UTC (link)

Ted didn't know if a date would help anything. He wasn't entirely sure that it actually helped Charlie either. Not in the long term. Oh, Ted knew that Charlie had good fun with his dates, got the brief companionship that he was looking for, but actually helping? He wasn't so sure about that.

"It could be fun." Ted nodded, agreeing. "You don't think it would be at all strange for us to go on a date? I mean, considering who you are, versus who I am? You're far more charming and charismatic, I'm afraid I'd just ruin the evening somehow."

Ted had not a lot of confidence in himself, not in that way. At least, not anymore.

"Wrong number?"

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i_zen
2009-04-15 02:28 am UTC (link)

"Is there ever a really wrong number? It is one to keep in mind that could be an eventual right number. If fate has anything to do with it, perhaps it is the right number for something or someone. Just right now it isn't the one we needed." Charlie nodded and lifted the receiver to his ear. He winced as he got the shriek and moan of a fax machine.

"This probably isn't the best way to get pizza." But, that didn't seem to be stopping him from hanging up and trying more random numbers.

"That's not true. You can be charming. You would be fun. I don't think it'd be very strange, unless you thought it was strange. We could probably have a good time; we do okay when we're home alone." He thought that was logical anyway.

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i_worknumbers
2009-04-15 02:32 am UTC (link)

"I don't think it's strange. I guess I'm just nervous. My last real date was before I met my ex. Was probably with her. I mean, there were the other women, but those don't really count as dates. Not really."

Ted thought about it some more, nodding. "You're right. There's no reason it should go badly in public, we're fine at home. You just have to promise to tell me if I get something in my teeth."

He opened a drawer thinking there might be a stack of coupons in it, but there wasn't, so he closed it again.

"Where do you think we'd go?"

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i_zen
2009-04-15 02:39 am UTC (link)

"Well, I haven't been on a date date since my wife, but that was before." Charlie didn't look to happy about it, but he wasn't going to dwell, much. Plus, she probably wasn't even here. And he didn't say ex, he rarely said ex. "I guess she's really not my wife, not here?"

He kept pushing buttons, sighing as this time he got someone who didn't speak English. He was pretty sure it was a language he didn't even recognize - it didn't sound human.

"Ted, what's Graplock?" It didn't seem good. "Graklock?" He hung up, frowning a little at how uncooperative the phone was being.

"I would definitely tell you if you had something in your teeth. We would have fun together out there; we could probably go to some place expensive. Eat a big meal, go to the movies, or go dancing." Charlie could dance...probably.

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i_worknumbers
2009-04-15 02:44 am UTC (link)

"I'm unsure that anything here is what it was before." He thought about that, changed his mind. "Except being friends with you. But even that has changed some. You live in the apartment above the garage now."

Which was still a little bit strange for him. But he was getting more used to it every day. Slightly. Sort of.

"I don't know what Graplock is Charlie, but it sounds angry." He took the phone away and tried dialing himself. It rang and rang and then an elderly woman picked up. "Sorry." He said to the phone and held it out for Charlie to take it.

"I don't know about dancing. Unless we go ballroom dancing. I can do that. But that stuff the kids do in the nightclubs? I'm no good at that. But dinner and a movie sounds nice. Very relaxing. Should we wear matching outfits? Or colors?"

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i_zen
2009-04-15 03:02 am UTC (link)

There was a shrug as Ted didn't seem to have any luck with the dialing either. Finally Charlie decided that he'd have to be a little more logical, a little more reasonable in getting what he wanted. He pressed three numbers.

"Yes, I need a number for a pizza place, please. Yes, that's fine. Thank you." He covered the mouthpiece with his hand. "They're connecting me to a Luigi's Pizza."

He waited for the other party to pick up and thought about Ted's questions. They were good questions and needed to be addressed. He supposed he could do so while waiting for the pizza place to pick up.

"No, I don't think matching outfits are good. But, you might want to buy you a nice suit. I liked the one you wore that time...the one with the brown tie, looked good with your eyes." Anything else he might say was put on pause, his finger went up to tell Ted that he finally got someone on the phone and they could continue their talk in just a moment.

"What kind of pizza do you have, then I might know what kind I want to order."

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i_worknumbers
2009-04-15 03:10 am UTC (link)

"Get a plain cheese one." he said, thinking of the girls and worrying that if they didn't get a cheese one, somebody would hate all the other choices. Even though if they did get a cheese one, they'd likely have it for leftovers. Murphy's Law made such things happen. Ted didn't want to know what Murphy did in a place like the City.

He leaned against the counter to think about things. The suit with the brown tie. He didn't have that here, but it should be easy enough to replace. It wasn't horribly fancy in the cut, and was only mildly expensive. It was one of the suits he wore when conducting Charlie's financial matters, when such things required suits.

"You're right. Matching outfits are bad." He said it softly, but knew that Charlie would hear him. "Being out on a date with somebody in matching outfits is not and never has been in style."

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i_zen
2009-04-15 03:15 am UTC (link)

"We'd like a cheese pizza and one with everything on it. Bring it to the mansion..." Charlie paused as he actually got a question he wasn't prepared for. "No, not Wayne Manor. It's the other mansion. No, we aren't a castle." He opted for giving the address that had worked in L.A. That seemed to make the person on the other end happy, which meant he could hang up the phone.

"It'll be here...when it gets here." It really was the best way to judge time in the City, and that was usually how it worked. Things were always where they were when they got there.

"Not unless you're twins and working on a commercial date." That didn't sound right either; his brows furrowed, his lips pursed, as he thought of it, but then with a shrug, the thought was gone. "Or jeans. Jeans could work if we keep it low key."

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i_worknumbers
2009-04-15 03:20 am UTC (link)

"George said Batman was here." Ted reminded himself when he heard the words Wayne Manor. But he was taken a bit aback when he heard Charlie say something about a castle. Ted sort of wanted to see it. "Did I tell you Norman Bates is here?"

That seemed like something important Charlie should know. Him being the law and all, and Norman Bates being a murderer. Even if he was just in a movie. Or movies.

"Jeans, yeah." Ted thought about jeans. "If we're going to a fancy place though, I don't think they want us to wear jeans. I think you get kicked out of fancy places for that. Well, not you. You could probably walk in naked." Charlie had a way about him that usually got him what he wanted pretty easily. Ted didn't disparage him that. He just knew he couldn't get away with half of what Charlie did.

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i_zen
2009-04-15 03:25 am UTC (link)

Charlie put the phone away and just took a lean against the further counter, brow raised. There was a slight smirk at this. Batman was here. Well, not here here, but here, which certainly put some interesting thoughts on the table. Vigilantism was illegal, but sometimes the law had to be handled by private hands, in private places, in dark and mysterious ways. Or not so dark and mysterious ways.

"Norman Bates. There is someone named Hannibal Lecter here too. He isn't a good guy from what I understand." Charlie nodded, putting yet another person on his list to watch. Could any of these men done that to Xanadu? Norman Bates didn't seem like the tie them up and torture them kind. Just the hack and slash. Hannibal...but why?

"I don't think I'd walk in naked, not unless it was a nudist fancy place." His eyes narrowed as he thought about it. "No, that's not a good place to go on a first date. Maybe a second one, but not a first. And jeans at a not so fancy place might work. A good steak joint?"

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i_worknumbers
2009-04-15 03:30 am UTC (link)

"Nobody wants to see me naked." Ted said it very firmly. He reminded most people of their dad. Sometimes their grandpa. And he didn't really have the money to back himself up with anymore, or the status.

"Hannibal Lecter? You mean the guy who eats people? The psychiatrist with a thing for .... eating people?" Ted didn't like that. Not one bit. "He's definitely not a good guy, Charlie."

He read the look on his friend's face and shook his head. "What was done to Xanadu isn't the sort of thing that Hannibal Lecter does. She wouldn't be alive if he'd done anything to her. She'd also probably be missing parts. More than just her eyes. Why is she missing her eyes, Charlie? Was she missing them when you met her?" It still creeped him out a little bit, the way they looked.

"You're already planning to go on a second date with me."

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i_zen
2009-04-15 03:35 am UTC (link)

"Then no naked resturants." Charlie nodded, letting that go. He didn't see any problem with Ted's nudity, but if Ted had a problem, he wouldn't push it.

"Right, and they were missing when I met her. For a little bit. She can grow them back for a time, but they don't last long. I don't know exactly why they're missing; I don't think I asked." He was trying to remember his first day in the City. He had met her then, hadn't he?

"Not planning, but I don't see why we wouldn't have a second date." Charlie smiled brightly at his friend, his very good friend. "We'll find out who did this to her, Ted."

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i_worknumbers
2009-04-15 03:40 am UTC (link)

So her eyes were always missing... wait. Charlie had just said something. "Grow them back?" Ted didn't know how that was possible. He had a much harder time grasping onto that then Batman. He wondered again if he were Robin. Or a Robin equivalent. He supposed he'd have to meet Batman and ask.

"I think it'd be a really good thing to find whoever did it. Before they try to get her back. That's what I'm most worried about. I had to get her out of there, but I keep wondering if somebody is looking for her. Mad. I didn't know there was another girl living here, or I wouldn't have... not that I would know where else to take somebody in that condition. I guess the hospital, it just didn't occur to me."

Ted thought about the date they were talking about. "You have a lot of faith that I won't goober my way through this."

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i_zen
2009-04-15 03:44 am UTC (link)

"It was some sort of potion, I think. She could do it." Charlie shrugged, having accepted that there were more things in the City and the world than he could possibly understand right away. Perhaps he'd figure them out eventually, perhaps not. He would have to be okay with whatever came; it was how one zenned.

"We will find them. But, they left her down there. Was the place unlocked?" It didn't make any sense to leave things unlocked, if Ted could get in easily..."They wouldn't leave her unguarded or able to be saved if they still wanted her. She might be lucky that she's still alive." She was actually.

"Even if you do goober your way through it, you'll do it with style." Charlie was trying to be supportive, honest.

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i_worknumbers
2009-04-15 03:48 am UTC (link)

"Huh." A potion made more sense to him than her just sort of randomly willing eyes into existence.

"Unlocked. Nobody there. Just her. Not even the door downstairs was locked." Ted realized that whoever it was might have stepped out to find something to kill her with. He felt very glad that he'd found her when he did.

"Someone's at the door." Ted turned his head in the direction of the front of the house. "Do you think the pizza could have gotten here that fast?" He looked at his watch. "That was significantly under thirty minutes."

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i_zen
2009-04-15 04:00 am UTC (link)

"They just left her there." That actually made Charlie angrier. That someone could just leave an injured suffering person, as if that person were no one, nothing, just something to leave behind. He looked up, to the side, not really focusing on anything. "She's alive, and we will find the man who did this." It was a little sexist, but why would some random woman do it?

"That is fast." Charlie followed Ted's gaze. "Always good to get fast food, unless it's not. We have any fruit? Could have that for dessert."

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