[Accidental Visual] Hotel Carmilla-- Don, Long is copycatting you

[imperial_long]

The tablet had been very helpful in letting him know when it might be wise to leave his rooms. When the coast was clear of possibly hostile dots, Long shouldered a satchel containing a few books and notebooks he had thought it simply unbearable to leave behind (and what a trial it had been, deciding that, winnowing it down to what he could carry).

Comments

[visual]

[garg_elisa]

Elisa had, in fact, meant to get a hold of Long much earlier, but the zombie thing had kind of pushed that to the side for a while and while she'd wondered what had happened to the dragon, she'd put the rest aside for assuming the worst.

The comment about mankind was unusually phrased, though she didn't give it much note. Long's current drunkenness--something she couldn't have imagined--held most of her attention.

"There's a part of me which suggests mailing them a bomb," she said, but humor gave way to concern. "You all right, Long? This... doesn't seem like you."

[visual]

[imperial_long]

"A pity we do not have an address," Long said with a gusty sigh.

He blinked at the question, head still weaving a bit as he tried to resolve the tiny screen in his vision-- he could easily identify Eliza by hearing, at least, but the picture was not cooperating at the moment.

"I am drunk," he said, very solemnly. "An inegg-- an inelegant and temporary situation to the miseries of existence, but one with a... a very time-honored tradition. You must forgive my lapses of voc-- vocabulary. The lapse of dignity I will only feel tomorrow."

Re: [visual]

[garg_elisa]

Elisa'd gotten herself pretty messily drunk a few times over the years, and as a cop, had seen plenty more. She was already wishing she'd gone in person instead of just firing up her tablet. She liked Long and didn't want anything to happen to him.

"Any particular reason for this bender? Beyond just general alien jerkassness?"

[imperial_long]

Long gestured loosely at the air with his spidery fingers, and arched one shoulder in a shrug.

"My landlord has app-- apparently gone from a laconic Doctor Jekyll to a fanged Mr Hyde. I am evicted so that I am not eviscerated, haha... or eaten or butchered or tortured of any of these other rumoured, charming hobbies of his.

"It has rather been the final straw of a-- a-- well, it has been quite the last two weeks, shall we say.

"And how are you, my dear?"

[garg_elisa]

"Doing all right. Zombies didn't manage to get to my apartment, at least, and I got out before they could have anyway."

"Frankly, I was worried about you. I saw the... dragon, at sunrise, but by the time I woke up, it was gone. And then the zombies..."

[imperial_long]

"I'm very glad of that," Long said sincerely. It was a bit easier not to try and focus on the tablet and simply treat it as a telephone call.

Of course, that didn't prevent Elisa from seeing the sheepish expression that crossed his face at her mention of the dragon.

"Oh. Yes. The dragon." Throat clearing. "A, a terrible sense of humor, our captors."

[garg_elisa]

Hmm. Very interesting. Elisa's instincts told her there was more going on, but considering she was keeping secrets herself, she realized prying was at the very least, impolite.

"I'm glad nothing worse happened than property damage then."

[imperial_long]

"Hrmph, yes, and it is something I suppose that the weather is mild just now, but..."

Long made a face. "I will likely need to move, or attempt to see the room repaired. Neither prospect is, is, cheerful."

[garg_elisa]

"Not that housing is hard to get here, but you're welcome to crash at my place if you need it in the meantime," Elisa offers. "Not like I use the bed anyway."

[imperial_long]

Long laughed, resonant even if a bit drunk. "People will talk," he said archly, then shook his head.

"Most likely they would not, honestly, but I have always wanted to say that... the offer is gracious, but I intend to see if the Hotel Carmilla can rent me a, a room. I am spoiled by Housecleaning, you see."

[garg_elisa]

Elisa smiled a bit at that. "A married woman, a dignified stranger... what would people say?"

"Understandable, though," she went on.

[imperial_long]

He nodded very sagely. "Exactly. Precisely. The scandal. We should have to-- have to leave the country to escape it, madam, and unfortunately the borders are closed."

He paused a moment, took another sip from his glass. "My books," he said darkly, "are going to be a moss-- monstrous hassle to move."

[garg_elisa]

"Now that I can probably help with. I'm good with carrying heavy stuff."

[imperial_long]

Long's eyes grew comically wide, and he said in a warning whisper: "Be very careful, Elisa-- if you start offering to help me move, I may actually take you up on this. And you do not know how many books I own."

[garg_elisa]

"Hey, not like I've got that much else to do. I'm happy to help."

[imperial_long]

This time he laughed. "I will hold you to this. If I move. Air freight, then?"