D A Y 9

[founds]

CHAPTER 2

NOV 08TH | 47℉☂

▸ --*CHSKSSS--*-Breaking News! In the light of yesterday's hunt on Black Rock Lake, a body has been found. It has not ye--*CHSKSSS--*-n identified, but has been confirmed to not be either of the missing children.

▸ Another fall storm is roaming through today,--*CHSKSSS--*ed to pick up after dark so stay safe or stay insi--*CHSKSSS--*-

▸ Blackwell's First Methodist Church is holding its annual Thanksgiving food drive from now until Thanksgiving. Donate now! Anything but turkey,--*CHSKSSS--*-pped over on the interstate the other day and donated hundred--*CHSKSSS--*-urkeys to feed people for the holidays. What luck!

▸ Back to our regular--*CHSKSSS--*-uled programming

HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT

Comments

[espish]

What?

[looks up, a little surprised. stalls for a moment, blinking, then picks up again as though he hadn't interrupted himself with a few seconds of dead silence.]

No, she used to live in my building, right when she moved to New York. She's the reason I'm here, I guess—she gave my number to the Samsons.

[eternalboy]

[ pulls back in and puts on work clothes. it was just a normal story. ]

Oh New York friends.

[ ... oh. oh. New York. pauses. ]

Did you say New York?

[ New York? ]

[espish]

Yeah, New York. Where I'm from? Noah lived there for a while... Might still live there, actually, though sure as hell not my building anymore.

[his building is a real starter apartment building, for people who can barely afford more than a refrigerator box in an alley. nobody stays there more than a year if they can help it.

he's been there for ten.]

Anyway, I guess Izzy knows Noah.

[in a purely biblical sense.]

[eternalboy]

Yeah, she used to live there too. Guess they met there. Small world.

[ finishes making himself representable and pushes the box back to the other boxes. checks his phone and walks back to the kitchen. ]

Noah told you about her?

[espish]

Small world.

[looks back up when ben comes out of his room and hesitates, making a face that's going to make it difficult to pretend he's got nothing to say.]

Not exactly. More like she showed up at the bar I went to night before last, yelled at Noah, broke a glass and left.

[ben you're dating a hysterical lesbian. and not in a fun, ellen sense.]

[eternalboy]

[ going through the cupboards while Sam talks. finds only ramen. hm. ]

Really? No fistfight?

[ laughs to himself when he imagines it. that Izzy is certainly something. ]

She's got a temper.

[espish]

Uh.

[a little sidetracked by what he feels is an underreaction. well kid, it's your funeral.]

Not right then and there, no.

[eternalboy]

[ she can run around punching people and breaking glasses, it's pretty hot. ]

You think something happened between them?

[ takes one of the ramen packages and opens it. cracks a piece off it over the sink and puts it in his mouth. breakfast. ]

That's her business.

[ chews. ]

[espish]

Noah introduced Isabella as her ex, there was yelling, Izzy stormed out. Yeah, I'm pretty sure something happened between them.

[as dry as the noodles ben is currently crunching. takes a sip of his terrible instant coffee and still feels he has room to judge ben's horrifying breakfast choice. ]

How on Earth did you live to... However the hell old you are.

[gestures at the ramen.]

[eternalboy]

[ he's eating over the sink give him some credit. ]

This is yours. 29.

[ points the ramen at him. besides, he's in a hurry. "hurry". ]

An ex, huh? Sounds like she better stay out of Izzy's way.

[ he hopes there's gonna be a brutal catfight where he gets to hold Izzy back. ]

[espish]

Oh, so you did notice. It's mine, but I usually cook it.

[sam likes to say he's made it to 34 because alcohol is a preservative. well, he used to say he'd made it as far as he had because cigarettes were full of preservatives, but since he stopped smoking that joke doesn't work as well.

"joke."]

So you're not... Concerned, at all?

[eternalboy]

Don't worry, I'll hit the store after work today.

[ waves the subject away. he's definitely going to buy something healthy and fresh and. yeah. if he ever remembers to go to the store. ]

It's in the past and from what I heard they don't get along. I don't see any reason for concerned. [ shrugs a little. yesterday was so amazing he doesn't even care. BUT MAYBE HE SHOULD. ] Or is it because her ex is a girl?

[espish]

[tries to imagine someone calling salvi a girl to her face.]

Little of column a, little of column b.

[shrugs and chews at his coffee a little more. mostly he meant column b, actually. the. woman thing. whatever, maybe ben's okay with it. good. great.

also there's no way in hell you break glasses in a bar and storm out crying over an ex you don't still have feelings about.

he would assume.]

[eternalboy]

So she likes both. It's not a problem.

[ assumes it was a bad break-up. those happen. maybe she took her money. it's not really his business so he'd rather not think about it at all. also not think about Izzy dating anyone else but him. nope. impossible. ]

[ leans against the sink and puts the ramen away. ]

Hey.

What are you not telling me?

[ he's not as bad at this detective thing as everyone likes to think. really, he can tell Sam's onto something here. he knows Salvi and witnessed the scene. ]

[espish]

It's– What?

[looks up from his coffee and for a second he actually does look alarmed, but then he thinks back on what actually made it out of his mouth and his expression sort of fades back into puzzled.

no, he's pretty sure he covered all the salient points of the story. ben apparently doesn't actually care, or convincingly pretends it.]

Nothing? It wasn't a long conversation. There was introductions, a little yelling, and then leaving. That was it.

[eternalboy]

You had the face.

[ points. there. ]

The face that there was more to the story. Something I'm not getting.

[espish]

That's just my face. Didn't you have a dead body to interrogate?

[instead of me?]

[eternalboy]

[ your turn will come later. your and your constantly sad face. what happened detective. ]

[ drops the rest of the ramen in the trash. ]

I'll ask Izzy today.

[ even though he's sure it's nothing. ]

[espish]

[i dunno. you're such a detective maybe you should detect it.

gazes sadly at the trash can for a few seconds, then back up to shrug at ben.]

I wouldn't, she seems pretty upset about it. Or she did when she was three sheets to the wind, so maybe it's not so bad by daylight.

[stands up and walks over to the sink to rinse his mug.]

[eternalboy]

Yeah, we'll see.

[ he doesn't think it's such a big deal. watches him without moving from his spot. ]

Are you going to be here later? They're bringing in the flatscreen.

[espish]

I hadn't decided.

[shakes the mug upside down because he doesn't have anything to dry it with, then sets it on the shelf next to the other mug. both were left in the place by the previous owners. looks back at ben.]

The flatscreen, are you serious?

[this was a bad idea.]

[eternalboy]

[ they need so much stuff... but the tv is most important. ]

Yeah, I ordered one. What do you think?

[ great, right. ]

[ he's that sims player who uses a lot of money on the best tv when a family moves into a new house and then gets bored with the file when all his sims do is piss themselves and starve. ]

[espish]

[i think it's a bad idea. looks at ben.]

It's your house.

[well technically sam's name is on the lease. sam's is.]

If I'd known I'd have brought some of my movies, I guess.

[haha. if he'd had any idea blackwell would be like this he'd defiitely have stayed in brooklyn, but now he has to know and so it's much too late.]

[eternalboy]

I was thinking of getting cable. So we can watch the Formula One races.

[ bet you just love those. watching the cars drive by endlessly when you can't even tell them apart. ]

And porn.

[ he's being mischievous here. just a little. ]

[espish]

Ah.

[manages to sound both noncommittal and disapproving in just one non-word syllable.]

Well, if they can't deliver the thing when nobody's home, I guess I can stick around until then. Get my notes back in order.

[get my red string re-strung.]