Encounterlogs
Liams Odd Encounter Sr Livia 250304
Liam and Evan encounter a disheveled man named Roy in Rosie's Diner, who appears distressed and is seen talking to someone invisible. Concerned, Liam and Evan decide to engage with Roy, suspecting he's experiencing something beyond the ordinary. After observing his behavior and hearing him mention a presence following him, they invite him outside for a private conversation. Once outside, Roy reveals that he's been seeing and hearing a girl no one else can see or hear, leading him to doubt his own sanity. Sensing Roy's genuine distress, Liam and Evan, with the unexpected arrival of Siofra, decide to delve deeper into the matter. Siofra, bringing her unique perspective and a bone charm, suggests they check the "nightmare," a term indicating a realm or situation beyond normal perception.
In the alley beside Rosie's Diner, Siofra and Liam step through to another plane of existence, leaving Evan to comfort Roy. They discover a college-aged girl named Allie, who reveals she's been trapped in a state where she's invisible and inaudible to the real world, explaining her desperate attempts to communicate. Allie's relief at being seen and heard is palpable. Siofra and Liam guide her to use a mirror in the diner's bathroom as a portal, successfully restoring her to the tangible world. Allie's gratitude is immense as she experiences the physical world once again, from the solidity of walls to the sensation of running water. This act of kindness not only helps Allie but provides Roy with a semblance of peace, proving that his experiences were not figments of his imagination.
The resolution of Allie's predicament brings a sense of closure to Roy, who had been tortured by the reality of his perceptions. Siofra, Liam, and Evan's willingness to step beyond the bounds of the ordinary to assist both Roy and Allie highlights their compassion and understanding of the supernatural. As the group decides to return to Rosie's Diner, Roy heads off, visibly relieved and thankful for the intervention that allowed him to find peace with his extraordinary experience. The encounter underscores the mysterious and often unseen challenges individuals face, and the importance of empathy and action in helping those in distress navigate their way back to reality.
(Liam's odd encounter(SRLivia):SRLivia)
[Mon Mar 3 2025]
In Rosie's Diner
Filled with nostalgia, this diner is a step into the past - to a time of swing and jive, and one would claim, simpler times. The walls are cream toned, letting the pink and turquoise neon striping along the ceiling give the space more vibrant coloring. Pieces of kitsch and memorabilia are posted here and there, providing character and retro style.
Behind the counter, cooks work the main line, allowing customers to watch as their meals are prepped. A soda fountain and a glass domed freezer is set away from the heat, where the soda jerk creates speciality floats, sundaes, malts and shakes.
Meanwhile, waitresses on roller skates gracefully take orders, their uniforms chock full of bling.
It is night, about 46F(7C) degrees, and the sky is covered by grey clouds. There is a waxing crescent moon.
(Your target encounters a human who's become stuck in the nightmare, lost and frightened.
)
Liam and Evan are chatting in Rosie's as people flit in and out, new faces are met and old friends caught up with.
"I'm still thinking she's wrong," Evan informs Liam. "That counted as a skirt, but still just barely."
In Rosie's Diner, the atmosphere feels strangely discordant tonight while Evan and Liam chat. In a corner booth, a disheveled man in his thirties sits hunched over a coffee cup that's long gone cold. He looks out of place. His clothes are rumpled, his hair unkempt, and his eyes dart frantically around the diner. A junkie, perhaps? Homeless, more than likely. But the way his eyes dart is less random, more... following something. The few other patrons seem to deliberately avoid looking at him. "That guy's been here for hours," a teenage girl whispers across to her friend, nodding toward the man. "Keeps talking about shadows following him and how nothing is real. We tried calling someone for him, but he got real upset." Their conversation lowers to murmurs again while the disheveled man's dark eyes track across to Evan and Liam. Not watching them, per say, but right next to them.
Liam' sharp ears catch the whispering fairly easily, and the man pauses mid debate with Evan. He lowers his own voice to say "Four o'clock there might be a problem. Maybe we should invite him somewhere more private to avoid a scene, Evan?"
Liam pushes himself to his feet, glancing over at Evan, then strides directly towards the 'junkie' in the corner of the room with a friendly smile on his face. "Hey, man. Why don't you, me, and my buddy here take a walk? You seem like a guy who's got somethin bothering him. Maybe we can help."
As the two men observe the disheveled stranger, the truth of his situation becomes clearer to them. His darting eyes are most certainly tracking something, or someone, invisible to ordinary perception. Most telling is how his gaze keeps returning to a spot near Evan and Liam, as though something stands beside them that only he can see. The man's thin fingers drum nervously on the tabletop, his eyes widening suddenly as though witnessing something alarming. He half-rises from his seat before slumping back down, muttering to himself, "Not real, not real..." He rubs a thick knuckle against one eye then downs the rest of the stone cold coffee. When he looks up again, Liam is there in front of him. A darting look back towards the counter before he tongues the inside of his cheek. "Can- can ya see her?" he asks, voice gruff and gravel.
Evan searches around a little bit, cocking his head to a side, but nodding towards Liam's invitation. "Yeah, sure man," he tells the rather disheveled man. "We can see her too. Let's go outside and talk about it."
"Its not the place to talk it over. Better to do it outside, man." Liam places a hand on the man's upper shoulder, tugging slightly at the guy in an only mostly friendly motion.
As the disheveled man stares up at Liam and Evan, a spark of hope flickers in his bloodshot eyes. "You can see her?" he repeats, his voice lowering to a conspiratorial whisper. His gaze darts again to that empty space beside them, tracking something invisible that seems to circle around the two men. The man rises and his hands tremble visibly as he stuffs them into his jacket pocket. "She's been following me the whole freakin' day," he mutters, leaning closer. "At first I thought it was the meds... or lack of 'em. But she keeps trying to tell me something." A nearby waitress rolls her eyes dramatically as she skates by, clearly having written the man off as another troubled soul passing through. "Name's Roy," he offers suddenly, extending a grimy hand before thinking better of it and withdrawing it. "Sorry. Been rough lately." His eyes dart again to the invisible presence. "Yeah. Yeah... outside... sure." He turns to walk out with the other two, the waitress mouthing a silent "Thank you!" in gratitude.
Evan was definitely lying, he doesn't see shit - but he's happy enough to help usher Roy outside. "Let's go," he says, taking the lead just a bit as they begin to go outside - popping open the door for Liam and Roy both.
"Nice to meetcha, Roy. I'm Liam." Liam introduces himself freely to the man as the pair walk out, and he steers the trio once out the door towards an alleyway between buildings, aiming to get a smidge of privacy. Liam leans up against the building and asks Roy "Tell us a bit more about what you've seen, man. Its a she, right? She still here with us now?"
The cool night air hits their faces as they step out of the diner, the transition from the artificial warmth and neon glow to the crisp darkness of the alleyway marking a boundary between worlds. Roy's eyes continue to track something the others cannot see even once they stop in the alley. When Liam asks his question, Roy's gaze snaps back to the men, suddenly more focused than before. "Yeah, she's still here," he confirms, pointing to a spot between them. "Girl, college student I think. She's been like cryin' and ragin' but I ain't making out what she's saying." He mimes a gesture around his head. "Like she's lost or something?" He looks over at Evan to confirm. After all, he said that he could also see what he is seeing.
Evan blinks once, then twice and glances to Roy and then Liam. "Oh," he murmurs, "Yeah, I was lying about that." He gestures. "I can't see what you're seeing," he turns a bit, narrowing his eyes. "I just wanted to get you to cooperate and get out of the Diner," he shrugs then, "People looked like they were getting freaked out a bit."
Siofra, engine screaming, pulls in from prospect and notes a little alley-fun happening adjacent as she pulls into the Diner.
Siofra checking her reflection in her rear-view mirror to make sure her skin's
checking her reflection in her rear-view mirror to make sure her skin's 'pure feek,' Siofra ambles out and onto the alley with a wave. "Mot and Evan! What craic takes ye' two into the alley, I ask?"
"That... was blunt." Liam comments to Evan, wincing, doubly so when Siofra arrives quite so loudly. He sighs, then catches up Siofra with "Roy here is seeing... a ghost? I think. Suppose you'd be the expert on those, with where you live." Liam turns his attention back go the dirty looking 'junkie' and has to ask "Have you taken anything recently, Roy?"
Evan shrugs at Liam in tow. "No point lying to him any more." He looks to Siofra who pulls up and then defers to Liam here, letting him take control - since he's already been blunt enough for one night.
In the secluded alleyway, Roy's face falls as Evan confesses his deception. The brief spark of hope in his eyes dims, replaced by a familiar resignation. "Should've known," Roy mutters, shoulders slumping. "Nobody ever sees what I see." His gaze continues tracking the invisible presence, flinching slightly as though responding to sudden movements. The moment is interrupted by the roar of an engine and Siofra's arrival. Roy startles at her appearance, backing toward the wall, suddenly wary of this new stranger with her peculiar accent and energetic entrance. "I ain't on nothing," Roy insists defensively to Liam's question, though his hand reflexively touches his jacket pocket. "Not for days. That's why I thought maybe this was... real, you know?" He glances between the three of them, then back to the empty space. "She's getting more upset now," he says quietly.
"Nope." Siofra answers easily, setting her hands on her hips to regard this 'Roy,' hippy from some fuchsia hell that she is. "I my way around ghosts about as much as anyone knows their way about their car engine. They just happen. Why, how's this one getting on?"
Siofra takes a moment to hold her hand out, looking at the sky, testing for a shiver more than the night warrants.
"Mmm. This one appears to just be mostly bothering our friend here, and I'd rather he not make it everyone else's issue." Liam scratches at his chin thoughtfully, trying to track Roy's gaze and failing to see much of anything. "Have you considered the Clinic, Roy? I know its not the nicest place, but they'll have the tools to help you out."
Siofra flicks a polka dot gaze to Liam. "Loveen, me dear mot- if he's seein' shite and 'tis a ghost, it's liable to swallow people- remember yer couch?"
Siofra sets her hands on her thighs and leans oh-so-condescendingly to Roy, "To make it g'wan ye' have ta kiss it."
"Liam's got a point," Evan informs Roy, staring at Siofra - clearly he has almost no idea as to what she's saying. "Is she saying anything in particular now?" Evan asks Roy curiously.
In the dim alleyway, Roy's expression grows increasingly dejected as the conversation continues. When Siofra mentions ghosts, he watches her hand testing the air, a flicker of disappointment crossing his face. "I dunno shit about ghosts," Roy mutters, eyes still tracking the invisible presence. "Say looks... stuck." He rubs his face wearily, the stubble on his cheeks making a scratching sound in the quiet alley. At Liam's suggestion of the clinic, Roy's posture stiffens defensively. "Been there before," he says, voice hardening. "They don't help. Just drug you up till you stop talking about what you see." His eyes dart between the three of them, then back to the unseen. "You think I'm just crazy, but she's right there. Getting more panicked by the minute. I can see her but I can't make out what she's sayin'..." Roy backs further against the wall, a cornered animal sensing threat. "Look, forget it. I shouldn't have said anything. Nobody ever believes me anyway." His fingers fidget with something in his pocket, eyes still following the invisible figure as she apparently moves around the alley.
Siofra blinks. "Ohhh. Ye' cannot hear her?" She looks around, head wandering like a compass back down the alley, and she takes hold of her cardigan to clasp as she jogs back to her car.
"This one doesn't seem quite so pissed as the ones in your house or my couch, Domino. I can't think of anything else that'd be invisible and annoying." Liam sighs, then shrugs at Roy. "I'm sorry bout this, Man. If its not causing trouble, maybe you should just ignore her...." Liam blinks as Siofra heads out. "Or maybe Domino had an idea?"
Siofra says, opening up an arsenal in her trunk, muttering, "Start with that, ye' scut.."
Siofra says "Tch. "
Siofra returns back into the alley with a bone charm waggling around her neck. "Check the nightmare with me?"
"Sure. Keep Roy company, Evan? Maybe we'll find something to take care of his issue." Liam offers to Evan.
Siofra holds her hands out, palms up, to receive Liam in her hands.
"Yeah, can do," Evan tells Siofra and Liam both.
Siofra takes Liam on a trip to Nightmaaaare!
"So," Evan begins trying to make small talk. "When'd you start seeing her?" The lad moves to lean against the wall next to Roy. "But, hey man, I didn't say I didn't believe you're not seeing something. I just can't see or hear her."
The alleyway takes on a new tension as someone returns with the bone charm dangling from her neck. Roy's eyes follow the object with wary curiosity. someone and someone step through disappearing to the sight of both someone and Evan. The dishevelled man shudders with deja vu, rubbing at his face and looking about confused. And it is here that someone and someone find the answer to the puzzle. In the space between the world there is a college-aged young woman standing. She looks like she's been weeping for hours, both frustrated and panicked. "Jesus fucking christ, finally!" she whines when the other two step through. "Get me out. Please. I swear to god, I'mma kill my brother. What an arsehole."
The alleyway takes on a new tension as Siofra returns with the bone charm dangling from her neck. Roy's eyes follow the object with wary curiosity. Siofra and Liam step through disappearing to the sight of both someone and Evan. The dishevelled man shudders with deja vu, rubbing at his face and looking about confused. And it is here that Siofra and Liam find the answer to the puzzle. In the space between the world there is a college-aged young woman standing. She looks like she's been weeping for hours, both frustrated and panicked. "Jesus fucking christ, finally!" she whines when the other two step through. "Get me out. Please. I swear to god, I'mma kill my brother. What an arsehole."
The alleyway takes on a new tension as Siofra returns with the bone charm dangling from her neck. Roy's eyes follow the object with wary curiosity. Siofra and Liam step through disappearing to the sight of both Roy and Evan. The dishevelled man shudders with deja vu, rubbing at his face and looking about confused. And it is here that Siofra and Liam find the answer to the puzzle. In the space between the world there is a college-aged young woman standing. She looks like she's been weeping for hours, both frustrated and panicked. "Jesus fucking christ, finally!" she whines when the other two step through. "Get me out. Please. I swear to god, I'mma kill my brother. What an arsehole."
Liam blinks at the college girl, and raises his eyebrows. "Well, damn. How about that. Good catch, Domino." Liam scratches his chin thoughtfully, then asks the girl "Guess you've just been following poor Roy out there since he's the only one who can see yah, huh?" Liam glances back to Siofra. "Where do you think the nearest mirror is?"
Siofra lets go of Liam's hand, romantically reserved enough not to flaunt a relationship about and make the woman a third wheel.
Because surely, that's the worst of her troubles.
"Alright, mhm. Fer what 'tis worth, cailin, ye'll always be found eventually in this town-"
Siofra points into the wall of Rosie's.
Siofra says "Bathroom. "
"I've been caught without me compass because I've been shiftin' all abouts." Siofra explains to Liam, patting a cardigan pocket that *CLACK*s.
Siofra says "That Roy? He's sensitive, makes him weak in the head."
Siofra casually ignores the woman they've just found as she rattles on to Liam.
"A mirror? That's it?" The girl's voice rises with hope. "I've been trying to figure this out since yesterday! Let's go, please. I can't spend another minute trapped between like this." She looks back and forth between Liam and Siofra as the latter carries on, blinking and biting on her lower lip. "Uh... thanks.. I guess?"
Liam sighs at Siofra, then chuckles, and bumps into her with his hip. "C'mon. We can make fun of Roy after we get this girl out." Liam waves to the college girl and starts walking off, disappearing through a wall with the expectation he'd be followed until the trio reaches the bathroom.
"Mhm-" Siofra 's head tilts over to the woman but her eyes don't leave Liam. "Anyhows- how're ye' getting on, tonight? Oh- here." She scoots past Liam without too much need- it's a wide alley, and casually presses herself into the wall. There's a moment of resistance- the delay of passing through before her cognition reinforces that she can in fact walk through walls, and then she slips through.
The college girl follows Liam and Siofra through the wall, her movement carrying the hesitant awkwardness of someone still unaccustomed to the nightmare realm's physics. As they pass through solid matter, the world around them shifts and blurs, walls becoming mere suggestions rather than barriers. "This is so messed up," she mutters, glancing back at the alley they're leaving behind. "I've been stuck like this since that party... wandering around, screaming at people who can't hear me. That homeless guy was the first person who even noticed me." The interior of the bathroom in Rosie's Diner takes on an eerie quality in the nightmare and the girl stays close to her rescuers, clearly unnerved by this in-between existence. "My name's Allie, by the way," she offers as they navigate toward the bathroom. "I didn't even know stuff like this was real. Are you guys, like, ghost hunters or something?" Allie stares at the mirrors with a mixture of hope and trepidation. "So I just... look in the mirror and I can go back?" she asks uncertainly. "What if it doesn't work? What if I'm stuck here forever?"
Rather than answer Allie's question, Liam plants a hand on her back as she examines the mirror and pushes the girl forward, and through it, following along shortly after. "Eh, things are so so. Could be better, could be worse. Meeting new people and catching up with the local drama. How bout you?"
"Hi, Allie. I'm Miss Smith." Siofra gives her legal fake last name as she hop atop the Nightmare sink, through the mirror, and balances out on the real-sink on the other side.
We're in the bathroom. Siofra texts to Evan, Girl named Alley was in an alley. Ha, get fecked.
As Liam pushes Allie forward, she gasps with surprise as her body makes contact with the mirror's surface. Instead of meeting a solid, she experiences a brief sensation of cold liquid passing over her skin before emerging on the other side and the bathroom of Rosie's Diner snaps into focus around them. Allie staggers slightly, reaching out to touch the tiled wall with trembling fingers. Her expression transforms from shock to wonder as her hand meets solid resistance. "Oh my god," she whispers, tears welling in her eyes. "I can feel it. It's real again." She touches her own face, then turns to the sink and turns the water on, letting it run over her hands with an expression of pure relief. "I thought I was going crazy... or dead... or both." She turns to Liam and Siofra, studying them with new curiosity. "Oh my god. Thank you. Thank you!" The bathroom door swings open and a waitress walks in, startling slightly at finding three people clustered around the sink. She gives them an odd look before choosing a stall, muttering something under her breath about "weirdos." Allie's eyes widen at being seen and acknowledged, even in this small, judgmental way. "She saw me," she whispers with quiet joy. "I'm really back."
Siofra gives a so-so hand herself. "Business. That Takeshi caused a bit o'trouble fer President Sam. Lots-lots-lots..." She trails off, sighing.
Siofra says "Minus craic. Haven't seen Lisa since this morning. She's probably fine or she's bein' poppet-persuaded to suck Lenny-cod in a pig pen."
Evan looks at his phone and snorts a laugh at something on it, nodding to Roy. "Anyway, yeah," he gestures to the door a little bit. "My friends are back, I think," he tells Roy easily. "I think they're gonna come back outside or something? They said they found a girl," he smiles at someone. "So, you're not crazy after all."
Evan looks at his phone and snorts a laugh at something on it, nodding to Roy. "Anyway, yeah," he gestures to the door a little bit. "My friends are back, I think," he tells Roy easily. "I think they're gonna come back outside or something? They said they found a girl," he smiles at Roy. "So, you're not crazy after all."
Siofra gives theater snaps of applause for the young, Allie, arms slowly spreading out to curtsy a long invisible dress. "Anyhows, Allie. Get somethin' made of enough bone and ye' can get in here fer as long as ye' wish- and mirrors are yer pals."
"Best answer to your questions is we're nobody important, Allie. Best to keep it that way." Liam allows the girl to continue her... emotional breakdown/relief and makes his way out of the bathroom before someone calls him out for being a perv. Assumedly, Siofra follows. "I heard a smidge of that. Something about Ritsuka putting Sam and Colt into the clinic? Then calling in like, four other people to complicate things? All comes back to Takeshi these days, I'd bet. He annoys people."
"Well, when yer main goal in life is to undermine the word 'no," and this, Siofra heavily air-quotes, "-but only with cailins in conscience to slag, I daresay ye' make enemies as the fool ye are."
Evan fires off a text to Siofra that reads. 'u guys good? get it all sorted?'
As Siofra lands at the door outside, she pauses and turns to Liam, "Ye' know, I were dread set on gettin' YOU to ignore 'no' from my mouth. Huh."
As Liam exits the bathroom with Siofra, they leave Allie to her moment of relief. The young woman stands before the mirror, still touching surfaces as if to reassure herself of their solidity. Back in the diner proper it is as if nothing ever happened. Roy and Evan are still in the alleyway. Roy appears confused but notably calmer, his eyes no longer darting around tracking invisible entities. "Did you... did you help her?" he asks quietly, his voice carrying the uncertainty of someone used to doubting his own perceptions.
Evan doesn't have all the answers but he nods to Roy, "Yeah," he mentions then, waiting for Liam and Siofra both to exit the diner. "From what I can assume from this text, I think she's good."
Liam swerves out of the door and into the alleyway, waving at Evan and Roy. "All clear." He then turns back to Siofra and winks at her, "We're made of different things, him and I. It'd have been too easy a game for you if I wasn't."
Evan grins at Liam's words. "Hey, see?" he tells Roy. "We're all good."
Siofra contemplates Liam's back and arrives contemplative. Quiet. "Mmm."
The alleyway feels different now, as if some tension has dissipated from the air itself. Roy still looks disheveled and uncertain, but his eyes have stopped their frantic darting and he breathes easier. When Liam emerges from the diner Roy's shoulders visibly relax. "What was she? What happened to her?" He glances between the three of them, seeking answers to experiences that lie beyond ordinary understanding. "Or should... should I just be walkin' away now?"
"I don't know. I suppose ye' can g'wan into the jacks and ask her." Siofra chirps back practically, without humanity.
"The latter, buddy. Go grab a shower and a nap at the longhouse." Liam hooks a thumb to the south, gives Roy a smile, then suggests to Siofra and Evan "Back to Rosie's?"
Evan nods at Liam, "Yeah, let's head back," he says tilting his head at everything.
Siofra accepts this suggestion with motion rather than words, slowly stepping and turning to follow after the gang has passed her.
Roy glances between Liam, Evan and Siofra each in turn then slowly nods his head. "Gotcha. I'mma go and do that." He shoves his hands into the pockets of his jacket, turning to head off into the darkness of the night. After a few steps he looks back over his shoulder, adding a gruff. "You did good. Thanks." And then he is around the corner and gone.
"NO YOU DID GOOD!" Siofra yells back.
In the alley beside Rosie's Diner, Siofra and Liam step through to another plane of existence, leaving Evan to comfort Roy. They discover a college-aged girl named Allie, who reveals she's been trapped in a state where she's invisible and inaudible to the real world, explaining her desperate attempts to communicate. Allie's relief at being seen and heard is palpable. Siofra and Liam guide her to use a mirror in the diner's bathroom as a portal, successfully restoring her to the tangible world. Allie's gratitude is immense as she experiences the physical world once again, from the solidity of walls to the sensation of running water. This act of kindness not only helps Allie but provides Roy with a semblance of peace, proving that his experiences were not figments of his imagination.
The resolution of Allie's predicament brings a sense of closure to Roy, who had been tortured by the reality of his perceptions. Siofra, Liam, and Evan's willingness to step beyond the bounds of the ordinary to assist both Roy and Allie highlights their compassion and understanding of the supernatural. As the group decides to return to Rosie's Diner, Roy heads off, visibly relieved and thankful for the intervention that allowed him to find peace with his extraordinary experience. The encounter underscores the mysterious and often unseen challenges individuals face, and the importance of empathy and action in helping those in distress navigate their way back to reality.
(Liam's odd encounter(SRLivia):SRLivia)
[Mon Mar 3 2025]
In Rosie's Diner
Filled with nostalgia, this diner is a step into the past - to a time of swing and jive, and one would claim, simpler times. The walls are cream toned, letting the pink and turquoise neon striping along the ceiling give the space more vibrant coloring. Pieces of kitsch and memorabilia are posted here and there, providing character and retro style.
Behind the counter, cooks work the main line, allowing customers to watch as their meals are prepped. A soda fountain and a glass domed freezer is set away from the heat, where the soda jerk creates speciality floats, sundaes, malts and shakes.
Meanwhile, waitresses on roller skates gracefully take orders, their uniforms chock full of bling.
It is night, about 46F(7C) degrees, and the sky is covered by grey clouds. There is a waxing crescent moon.
(Your target encounters a human who's become stuck in the nightmare, lost and frightened.
)
Liam and Evan are chatting in Rosie's as people flit in and out, new faces are met and old friends caught up with.
"I'm still thinking she's wrong," Evan informs Liam. "That counted as a skirt, but still just barely."
In Rosie's Diner, the atmosphere feels strangely discordant tonight while Evan and Liam chat. In a corner booth, a disheveled man in his thirties sits hunched over a coffee cup that's long gone cold. He looks out of place. His clothes are rumpled, his hair unkempt, and his eyes dart frantically around the diner. A junkie, perhaps? Homeless, more than likely. But the way his eyes dart is less random, more... following something. The few other patrons seem to deliberately avoid looking at him. "That guy's been here for hours," a teenage girl whispers across to her friend, nodding toward the man. "Keeps talking about shadows following him and how nothing is real. We tried calling someone for him, but he got real upset." Their conversation lowers to murmurs again while the disheveled man's dark eyes track across to Evan and Liam. Not watching them, per say, but right next to them.
Liam' sharp ears catch the whispering fairly easily, and the man pauses mid debate with Evan. He lowers his own voice to say "Four o'clock there might be a problem. Maybe we should invite him somewhere more private to avoid a scene, Evan?"
Liam pushes himself to his feet, glancing over at Evan, then strides directly towards the 'junkie' in the corner of the room with a friendly smile on his face. "Hey, man. Why don't you, me, and my buddy here take a walk? You seem like a guy who's got somethin bothering him. Maybe we can help."
As the two men observe the disheveled stranger, the truth of his situation becomes clearer to them. His darting eyes are most certainly tracking something, or someone, invisible to ordinary perception. Most telling is how his gaze keeps returning to a spot near Evan and Liam, as though something stands beside them that only he can see. The man's thin fingers drum nervously on the tabletop, his eyes widening suddenly as though witnessing something alarming. He half-rises from his seat before slumping back down, muttering to himself, "Not real, not real..." He rubs a thick knuckle against one eye then downs the rest of the stone cold coffee. When he looks up again, Liam is there in front of him. A darting look back towards the counter before he tongues the inside of his cheek. "Can- can ya see her?" he asks, voice gruff and gravel.
Evan searches around a little bit, cocking his head to a side, but nodding towards Liam's invitation. "Yeah, sure man," he tells the rather disheveled man. "We can see her too. Let's go outside and talk about it."
"Its not the place to talk it over. Better to do it outside, man." Liam places a hand on the man's upper shoulder, tugging slightly at the guy in an only mostly friendly motion.
As the disheveled man stares up at Liam and Evan, a spark of hope flickers in his bloodshot eyes. "You can see her?" he repeats, his voice lowering to a conspiratorial whisper. His gaze darts again to that empty space beside them, tracking something invisible that seems to circle around the two men. The man rises and his hands tremble visibly as he stuffs them into his jacket pocket. "She's been following me the whole freakin' day," he mutters, leaning closer. "At first I thought it was the meds... or lack of 'em. But she keeps trying to tell me something." A nearby waitress rolls her eyes dramatically as she skates by, clearly having written the man off as another troubled soul passing through. "Name's Roy," he offers suddenly, extending a grimy hand before thinking better of it and withdrawing it. "Sorry. Been rough lately." His eyes dart again to the invisible presence. "Yeah. Yeah... outside... sure." He turns to walk out with the other two, the waitress mouthing a silent "Thank you!" in gratitude.
Evan was definitely lying, he doesn't see shit - but he's happy enough to help usher Roy outside. "Let's go," he says, taking the lead just a bit as they begin to go outside - popping open the door for Liam and Roy both.
"Nice to meetcha, Roy. I'm Liam." Liam introduces himself freely to the man as the pair walk out, and he steers the trio once out the door towards an alleyway between buildings, aiming to get a smidge of privacy. Liam leans up against the building and asks Roy "Tell us a bit more about what you've seen, man. Its a she, right? She still here with us now?"
The cool night air hits their faces as they step out of the diner, the transition from the artificial warmth and neon glow to the crisp darkness of the alleyway marking a boundary between worlds. Roy's eyes continue to track something the others cannot see even once they stop in the alley. When Liam asks his question, Roy's gaze snaps back to the men, suddenly more focused than before. "Yeah, she's still here," he confirms, pointing to a spot between them. "Girl, college student I think. She's been like cryin' and ragin' but I ain't making out what she's saying." He mimes a gesture around his head. "Like she's lost or something?" He looks over at Evan to confirm. After all, he said that he could also see what he is seeing.
Evan blinks once, then twice and glances to Roy and then Liam. "Oh," he murmurs, "Yeah, I was lying about that." He gestures. "I can't see what you're seeing," he turns a bit, narrowing his eyes. "I just wanted to get you to cooperate and get out of the Diner," he shrugs then, "People looked like they were getting freaked out a bit."
Siofra, engine screaming, pulls in from prospect and notes a little alley-fun happening adjacent as she pulls into the Diner.
Siofra checking her reflection in her rear-view mirror to make sure her skin's
checking her reflection in her rear-view mirror to make sure her skin's 'pure feek,' Siofra ambles out and onto the alley with a wave. "Mot and Evan! What craic takes ye' two into the alley, I ask?"
"That... was blunt." Liam comments to Evan, wincing, doubly so when Siofra arrives quite so loudly. He sighs, then catches up Siofra with "Roy here is seeing... a ghost? I think. Suppose you'd be the expert on those, with where you live." Liam turns his attention back go the dirty looking 'junkie' and has to ask "Have you taken anything recently, Roy?"
Evan shrugs at Liam in tow. "No point lying to him any more." He looks to Siofra who pulls up and then defers to Liam here, letting him take control - since he's already been blunt enough for one night.
In the secluded alleyway, Roy's face falls as Evan confesses his deception. The brief spark of hope in his eyes dims, replaced by a familiar resignation. "Should've known," Roy mutters, shoulders slumping. "Nobody ever sees what I see." His gaze continues tracking the invisible presence, flinching slightly as though responding to sudden movements. The moment is interrupted by the roar of an engine and Siofra's arrival. Roy startles at her appearance, backing toward the wall, suddenly wary of this new stranger with her peculiar accent and energetic entrance. "I ain't on nothing," Roy insists defensively to Liam's question, though his hand reflexively touches his jacket pocket. "Not for days. That's why I thought maybe this was... real, you know?" He glances between the three of them, then back to the empty space. "She's getting more upset now," he says quietly.
"Nope." Siofra answers easily, setting her hands on her hips to regard this 'Roy,' hippy from some fuchsia hell that she is. "I my way around ghosts about as much as anyone knows their way about their car engine. They just happen. Why, how's this one getting on?"
Siofra takes a moment to hold her hand out, looking at the sky, testing for a shiver more than the night warrants.
"Mmm. This one appears to just be mostly bothering our friend here, and I'd rather he not make it everyone else's issue." Liam scratches at his chin thoughtfully, trying to track Roy's gaze and failing to see much of anything. "Have you considered the Clinic, Roy? I know its not the nicest place, but they'll have the tools to help you out."
Siofra flicks a polka dot gaze to Liam. "Loveen, me dear mot- if he's seein' shite and 'tis a ghost, it's liable to swallow people- remember yer couch?"
Siofra sets her hands on her thighs and leans oh-so-condescendingly to Roy, "To make it g'wan ye' have ta kiss it."
"Liam's got a point," Evan informs Roy, staring at Siofra - clearly he has almost no idea as to what she's saying. "Is she saying anything in particular now?" Evan asks Roy curiously.
In the dim alleyway, Roy's expression grows increasingly dejected as the conversation continues. When Siofra mentions ghosts, he watches her hand testing the air, a flicker of disappointment crossing his face. "I dunno shit about ghosts," Roy mutters, eyes still tracking the invisible presence. "Say looks... stuck." He rubs his face wearily, the stubble on his cheeks making a scratching sound in the quiet alley. At Liam's suggestion of the clinic, Roy's posture stiffens defensively. "Been there before," he says, voice hardening. "They don't help. Just drug you up till you stop talking about what you see." His eyes dart between the three of them, then back to the unseen. "You think I'm just crazy, but she's right there. Getting more panicked by the minute. I can see her but I can't make out what she's sayin'..." Roy backs further against the wall, a cornered animal sensing threat. "Look, forget it. I shouldn't have said anything. Nobody ever believes me anyway." His fingers fidget with something in his pocket, eyes still following the invisible figure as she apparently moves around the alley.
Siofra blinks. "Ohhh. Ye' cannot hear her?" She looks around, head wandering like a compass back down the alley, and she takes hold of her cardigan to clasp as she jogs back to her car.
"This one doesn't seem quite so pissed as the ones in your house or my couch, Domino. I can't think of anything else that'd be invisible and annoying." Liam sighs, then shrugs at Roy. "I'm sorry bout this, Man. If its not causing trouble, maybe you should just ignore her...." Liam blinks as Siofra heads out. "Or maybe Domino had an idea?"
Siofra says, opening up an arsenal in her trunk, muttering, "Start with that, ye' scut.."
Siofra says "Tch. "
Siofra returns back into the alley with a bone charm waggling around her neck. "Check the nightmare with me?"
"Sure. Keep Roy company, Evan? Maybe we'll find something to take care of his issue." Liam offers to Evan.
Siofra holds her hands out, palms up, to receive Liam in her hands.
"Yeah, can do," Evan tells Siofra and Liam both.
Siofra takes Liam on a trip to Nightmaaaare!
"So," Evan begins trying to make small talk. "When'd you start seeing her?" The lad moves to lean against the wall next to Roy. "But, hey man, I didn't say I didn't believe you're not seeing something. I just can't see or hear her."
The alleyway takes on a new tension as someone returns with the bone charm dangling from her neck. Roy's eyes follow the object with wary curiosity. someone and someone step through disappearing to the sight of both someone and Evan. The dishevelled man shudders with deja vu, rubbing at his face and looking about confused. And it is here that someone and someone find the answer to the puzzle. In the space between the world there is a college-aged young woman standing. She looks like she's been weeping for hours, both frustrated and panicked. "Jesus fucking christ, finally!" she whines when the other two step through. "Get me out. Please. I swear to god, I'mma kill my brother. What an arsehole."
The alleyway takes on a new tension as Siofra returns with the bone charm dangling from her neck. Roy's eyes follow the object with wary curiosity. Siofra and Liam step through disappearing to the sight of both someone and Evan. The dishevelled man shudders with deja vu, rubbing at his face and looking about confused. And it is here that Siofra and Liam find the answer to the puzzle. In the space between the world there is a college-aged young woman standing. She looks like she's been weeping for hours, both frustrated and panicked. "Jesus fucking christ, finally!" she whines when the other two step through. "Get me out. Please. I swear to god, I'mma kill my brother. What an arsehole."
The alleyway takes on a new tension as Siofra returns with the bone charm dangling from her neck. Roy's eyes follow the object with wary curiosity. Siofra and Liam step through disappearing to the sight of both Roy and Evan. The dishevelled man shudders with deja vu, rubbing at his face and looking about confused. And it is here that Siofra and Liam find the answer to the puzzle. In the space between the world there is a college-aged young woman standing. She looks like she's been weeping for hours, both frustrated and panicked. "Jesus fucking christ, finally!" she whines when the other two step through. "Get me out. Please. I swear to god, I'mma kill my brother. What an arsehole."
Liam blinks at the college girl, and raises his eyebrows. "Well, damn. How about that. Good catch, Domino." Liam scratches his chin thoughtfully, then asks the girl "Guess you've just been following poor Roy out there since he's the only one who can see yah, huh?" Liam glances back to Siofra. "Where do you think the nearest mirror is?"
Siofra lets go of Liam's hand, romantically reserved enough not to flaunt a relationship about and make the woman a third wheel.
Because surely, that's the worst of her troubles.
"Alright, mhm. Fer what 'tis worth, cailin, ye'll always be found eventually in this town-"
Siofra points into the wall of Rosie's.
Siofra says "Bathroom. "
"I've been caught without me compass because I've been shiftin' all abouts." Siofra explains to Liam, patting a cardigan pocket that *CLACK*s.
Siofra says "That Roy? He's sensitive, makes him weak in the head."
Siofra casually ignores the woman they've just found as she rattles on to Liam.
"A mirror? That's it?" The girl's voice rises with hope. "I've been trying to figure this out since yesterday! Let's go, please. I can't spend another minute trapped between like this." She looks back and forth between Liam and Siofra as the latter carries on, blinking and biting on her lower lip. "Uh... thanks.. I guess?"
Liam sighs at Siofra, then chuckles, and bumps into her with his hip. "C'mon. We can make fun of Roy after we get this girl out." Liam waves to the college girl and starts walking off, disappearing through a wall with the expectation he'd be followed until the trio reaches the bathroom.
"Mhm-" Siofra 's head tilts over to the woman but her eyes don't leave Liam. "Anyhows- how're ye' getting on, tonight? Oh- here." She scoots past Liam without too much need- it's a wide alley, and casually presses herself into the wall. There's a moment of resistance- the delay of passing through before her cognition reinforces that she can in fact walk through walls, and then she slips through.
The college girl follows Liam and Siofra through the wall, her movement carrying the hesitant awkwardness of someone still unaccustomed to the nightmare realm's physics. As they pass through solid matter, the world around them shifts and blurs, walls becoming mere suggestions rather than barriers. "This is so messed up," she mutters, glancing back at the alley they're leaving behind. "I've been stuck like this since that party... wandering around, screaming at people who can't hear me. That homeless guy was the first person who even noticed me." The interior of the bathroom in Rosie's Diner takes on an eerie quality in the nightmare and the girl stays close to her rescuers, clearly unnerved by this in-between existence. "My name's Allie, by the way," she offers as they navigate toward the bathroom. "I didn't even know stuff like this was real. Are you guys, like, ghost hunters or something?" Allie stares at the mirrors with a mixture of hope and trepidation. "So I just... look in the mirror and I can go back?" she asks uncertainly. "What if it doesn't work? What if I'm stuck here forever?"
Rather than answer Allie's question, Liam plants a hand on her back as she examines the mirror and pushes the girl forward, and through it, following along shortly after. "Eh, things are so so. Could be better, could be worse. Meeting new people and catching up with the local drama. How bout you?"
"Hi, Allie. I'm Miss Smith." Siofra gives her legal fake last name as she hop atop the Nightmare sink, through the mirror, and balances out on the real-sink on the other side.
We're in the bathroom. Siofra texts to Evan, Girl named Alley was in an alley. Ha, get fecked.
As Liam pushes Allie forward, she gasps with surprise as her body makes contact with the mirror's surface. Instead of meeting a solid, she experiences a brief sensation of cold liquid passing over her skin before emerging on the other side and the bathroom of Rosie's Diner snaps into focus around them. Allie staggers slightly, reaching out to touch the tiled wall with trembling fingers. Her expression transforms from shock to wonder as her hand meets solid resistance. "Oh my god," she whispers, tears welling in her eyes. "I can feel it. It's real again." She touches her own face, then turns to the sink and turns the water on, letting it run over her hands with an expression of pure relief. "I thought I was going crazy... or dead... or both." She turns to Liam and Siofra, studying them with new curiosity. "Oh my god. Thank you. Thank you!" The bathroom door swings open and a waitress walks in, startling slightly at finding three people clustered around the sink. She gives them an odd look before choosing a stall, muttering something under her breath about "weirdos." Allie's eyes widen at being seen and acknowledged, even in this small, judgmental way. "She saw me," she whispers with quiet joy. "I'm really back."
Siofra gives a so-so hand herself. "Business. That Takeshi caused a bit o'trouble fer President Sam. Lots-lots-lots..." She trails off, sighing.
Siofra says "Minus craic. Haven't seen Lisa since this morning. She's probably fine or she's bein' poppet-persuaded to suck Lenny-cod in a pig pen."
Evan looks at his phone and snorts a laugh at something on it, nodding to Roy. "Anyway, yeah," he gestures to the door a little bit. "My friends are back, I think," he tells Roy easily. "I think they're gonna come back outside or something? They said they found a girl," he smiles at someone. "So, you're not crazy after all."
Evan looks at his phone and snorts a laugh at something on it, nodding to Roy. "Anyway, yeah," he gestures to the door a little bit. "My friends are back, I think," he tells Roy easily. "I think they're gonna come back outside or something? They said they found a girl," he smiles at Roy. "So, you're not crazy after all."
Siofra gives theater snaps of applause for the young, Allie, arms slowly spreading out to curtsy a long invisible dress. "Anyhows, Allie. Get somethin' made of enough bone and ye' can get in here fer as long as ye' wish- and mirrors are yer pals."
"Best answer to your questions is we're nobody important, Allie. Best to keep it that way." Liam allows the girl to continue her... emotional breakdown/relief and makes his way out of the bathroom before someone calls him out for being a perv. Assumedly, Siofra follows. "I heard a smidge of that. Something about Ritsuka putting Sam and Colt into the clinic? Then calling in like, four other people to complicate things? All comes back to Takeshi these days, I'd bet. He annoys people."
"Well, when yer main goal in life is to undermine the word 'no," and this, Siofra heavily air-quotes, "-but only with cailins in conscience to slag, I daresay ye' make enemies as the fool ye are."
Evan fires off a text to Siofra that reads. 'u guys good? get it all sorted?'
As Siofra lands at the door outside, she pauses and turns to Liam, "Ye' know, I were dread set on gettin' YOU to ignore 'no' from my mouth. Huh."
As Liam exits the bathroom with Siofra, they leave Allie to her moment of relief. The young woman stands before the mirror, still touching surfaces as if to reassure herself of their solidity. Back in the diner proper it is as if nothing ever happened. Roy and Evan are still in the alleyway. Roy appears confused but notably calmer, his eyes no longer darting around tracking invisible entities. "Did you... did you help her?" he asks quietly, his voice carrying the uncertainty of someone used to doubting his own perceptions.
Evan doesn't have all the answers but he nods to Roy, "Yeah," he mentions then, waiting for Liam and Siofra both to exit the diner. "From what I can assume from this text, I think she's good."
Liam swerves out of the door and into the alleyway, waving at Evan and Roy. "All clear." He then turns back to Siofra and winks at her, "We're made of different things, him and I. It'd have been too easy a game for you if I wasn't."
Evan grins at Liam's words. "Hey, see?" he tells Roy. "We're all good."
Siofra contemplates Liam's back and arrives contemplative. Quiet. "Mmm."
The alleyway feels different now, as if some tension has dissipated from the air itself. Roy still looks disheveled and uncertain, but his eyes have stopped their frantic darting and he breathes easier. When Liam emerges from the diner Roy's shoulders visibly relax. "What was she? What happened to her?" He glances between the three of them, seeking answers to experiences that lie beyond ordinary understanding. "Or should... should I just be walkin' away now?"
"I don't know. I suppose ye' can g'wan into the jacks and ask her." Siofra chirps back practically, without humanity.
"The latter, buddy. Go grab a shower and a nap at the longhouse." Liam hooks a thumb to the south, gives Roy a smile, then suggests to Siofra and Evan "Back to Rosie's?"
Evan nods at Liam, "Yeah, let's head back," he says tilting his head at everything.
Siofra accepts this suggestion with motion rather than words, slowly stepping and turning to follow after the gang has passed her.
Roy glances between Liam, Evan and Siofra each in turn then slowly nods his head. "Gotcha. I'mma go and do that." He shoves his hands into the pockets of his jacket, turning to head off into the darkness of the night. After a few steps he looks back over his shoulder, adding a gruff. "You did good. Thanks." And then he is around the corner and gone.
"NO YOU DID GOOD!" Siofra yells back.