Angel doesn't make a point of checking if Dahlia's free. He just sort of shows up at her office one day with a small basket of herbs that he and Eddie have grown in the greenhouse, pokes his head in, and sees if she'll talk to him.
Dahlia always tends to be a bit out of sorts in the days that follow Mourner’s Night, heavy ceremony that it is, but she looks up and snaps out of her haze when the door opens. "Oh--- hi Angel! Everything okay?" It's unusual for people to visit her at work.
He sets the basket down on her desk, glancing around the office before his attention returns to her.
"Yeah, mostly. Um. Mostly. I wanted to talk to you about something some of us saw on Mourner's night. Restless spirit sort of something, at the boarded-up well. Downright haunted, honestly. Um, I think I know who the ghost might have been and I wanted to talk to you about that."
"She was dark-haired and thin and pale and looked like she was hurt and...I think she might have been Linette Brenning, from the photos I've seen of her when she was alive." Angel rakes a hand back through his hair. "She went missing, your sister-in-law."
Dahlia just stares at Angel for a long moment, flabbergasted. A million questions run through her head and she has no idea which one to ask first. How did he even know about Linette? It's not exactly secret, but the fact that anyone had stumbled across word of her...
She speaks slowly. "You think you saw... the ghost of my late sister's wife Linette. At the sealed well in Fall's Promise?"
"I think it's enough of a possibility that came here to tell you personally. And even if it's not Linette, a ghost appearing on a sealed well telling riddles says we got problems." Angel tries to figure out how to put a sympathetic expression on his face, making eye contact because that is what people do, right?
"Well, it certainly explains a lot." With a groan, Dahlia puts a hand to her face to rub her temples with her thumb and middle finger, her eyes shielded by the gesture. "That well's been covered for years because it dried up and ended up becoming part of the cemetery as it expanded. But it was sealed after the barrier went up because a foul energy began coming from it and causing the dead to rise as hostile corpses. If Linette is involved... she's either a victim of that awful power, or the cause of it."
"Foul energy is right. I don't like the well, it feels...bad." Angel shakes his head a few times, as if just remembering the sensation is icky to him. "And I'm pretty sure it's something we'll need to actually deal with someday."
"We may need to figure out what's actually at the bottom of the well, somehow." He runs a hand back through his hair with a sigh. "I'm sorry. I didn't bring you all the answers, just what information I have. I'm doing the best I can, Dahlia."
"No, no, this is--- Thank you. This is important. We absolutely need to find out what's going on and, dangerous as it is, I think opening up the well is going to be part of it. I'll see if I can't get the rest of Town Council to okay it." Dahlia wrings the fingers of one hand with the other. "...I just wish Harriet could've known what happened to her."
Cerrit is polite enough to wait for a day or two after the community gathering and all the other bullshit going on at the bulletin board before making his approach. It's early evening at the Leeds estate. Cerrit has, again, brought food. This time, squirrels. They make for good eating.
There’s a quick glance around, making sure that no one else is nearby, before he speaks softly, gently.
“Heya, Dolly. I think we need to have a talk about your father.” Ah, that came out easier than expected. He gives her a long, quiet look, steely grey eyes unblinking.
And he subtly braces for any reaction she might have. But he rather pointedly doesn't move away from her. He came here, to talk to her, he didn't fly it up the flagpole, didn't go spreading rumors. He's here for a discreet one-on-one to get on the same page.
"Hey--hey, hey, hey." He moves so he can catch her if she does swoon, fast as a blink. "You're alright. You're alright. No one else knows. I only understood because I've been in your dream."
And Cerrit's response is to hold her so fucking tight, like she's one of his own children, beak tucked carefully against the top of her head to make sure he doesn't accidentally scratch her.
"Dolly. Sweetheart, I don't hate you, alright? I need you to understand that first. I'm not mad at you for keeping this secret, especially with what's going on."
Dahlia clings to him tightly and nods just a bit. "Okay. Alright. I--- Alright." Her heartbeat is so fast, realizing she has... absolutely nothing to say for herself. What could she say? How does one justify being a monster? That doesn't even get into the questions he's surely going to ask her.
Yes, tough questions like..."So. How can I help you? You're struggling, and for good reason, given the situation. But you don't need to hold it all alone anymore."
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thethirteenthchild
After Mourner's Night
Date: 2023-12-18 06:47 am (UTC)Re: After Mourner's Night
Date: 2023-12-18 05:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-18 09:05 pm (UTC)"Yeah, mostly. Um. Mostly. I wanted to talk to you about something some of us saw on Mourner's night. Restless spirit sort of something, at the boarded-up well. Downright haunted, honestly. Um, I think I know who the ghost might have been and I wanted to talk to you about that."
no subject
Date: 2023-12-24 11:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-25 01:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-25 09:16 pm (UTC)She speaks slowly. "You think you saw... the ghost of my late sister's wife Linette. At the sealed well in Fall's Promise?"
no subject
Date: 2023-12-25 09:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-28 04:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-12-28 06:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-02 12:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-03 10:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-06 04:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-10 07:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-11 08:04 pm (UTC)"Oh, Cerrit..." She takes a step back to let him inside. "It's good to see you, I'm sorry I haven't been... around much. What's the occasion?"
no subject
Date: 2024-02-11 08:14 pm (UTC)“Heya, Dolly. I think we need to have a talk about your father.” Ah, that came out easier than expected. He gives her a long, quiet look, steely grey eyes unblinking.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-11 10:24 pm (UTC)"Um... Okay. What about?"
no subject
Date: 2024-02-11 10:28 pm (UTC)And he subtly braces for any reaction she might have. But he rather pointedly doesn't move away from her. He came here, to talk to her, he didn't fly it up the flagpole, didn't go spreading rumors. He's here for a discreet one-on-one to get on the same page.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-11 10:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-11 10:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-11 10:38 pm (UTC)She just keeps repeating her plea for forgiveness softly into his feathers. What else is there to say?
no subject
Date: 2024-02-11 10:42 pm (UTC)"Dolly. Sweetheart, I don't hate you, alright? I need you to understand that first. I'm not mad at you for keeping this secret, especially with what's going on."
no subject
Date: 2024-02-11 10:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-11 11:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-11 11:33 pm (UTC)"...I don't know if I can be helped. I am what I am, there's no... changing that."
no subject
Date: 2024-02-11 11:43 pm (UTC)He squishes her tighter, warmly wrapping both wings around her body.