09:00. Tuesday, December 5th, 2023. Alexis’s Condo.
Beep Beep Beep. Alexis’s alarm rang. She silenced it. Next to her, buried in a bunch of Alexis’s blankets, Jen stirred. Alexis had ample spare pajamas which Jen had all refused, opting instead to only wear an extra long t-shirt. As great as it feels to wake up next to a cute girl, it sucks to know that meant everything that happened last night was all real.
She really did spend hours talking to a ghost who was apparently asleep downstairs. Not a ghost. She reminded herself.
She was already late to clock in, so at this point she didn’t see the point in rushing. Alexis got up to pee and go brush her teeth.
In the bathroom, the lack of sleep had her head pounding and feeling more than a little dizzy. After she washed her hands, she took her meds and washed her face. In part for hygiene reasons, but also to wake herself up a bit.
She checked her work phone to see if she could clock in on it. Mercifully, that did end up being the case.
Man, I still have my presentation on the costume game I gotta give tomorrow.
Alexis debated the feasibility (and especially) the morality of asking the self-described super villain who she was now acquainted with if she had any suggestions for places she could learn more about the subject. In that vein, she decided to check down to see if Pam was awake.
Unsurprisingly, Alexis couldn’t find her. She wondered if there is a ghost of an equivalent of those bells you put on cats. Not a ghost!
Last night, they had mostly been using the lantern as their guide to know where she was, but with it being the only thing to look at it made Pam feel more inhuman than she really was. There has to be some solution.
Alexis couldn’t think of a solution to that problem, but she was able to brainstorm some next steps, but she would have time to move on them later however.
For now, Alexis decided to make some breakfast. This was, of course, coffee. The coffee she had at home was not as good as the stuff from Duncan’s, or the fancy espresso she had at that one restaurant in Midport. Alexis had always wanted to get into making her own espressos, but she could never find the time.
Instead she pulled out a bag of instant coffee and began assembling the only drink that made sense in such confusing times. When it was ready, she poured in some french vanilla almond milk creamer she had. But no matter how much stirred it, the cream kept floating to the top, which she wasn’t sure whether or not that was a sign the creamer had gone bad, but she was definitely gonna drink it anyway.
Is Jen gonna want a cup?
She prepared a cup just in case, this time skipping the creamer. For a moment Alexis debated if it would be rude to not have a cup for Pam, before deciding that a ghost definitely doesn’t need coffee.
Not a ghost, not a ghost, not a ghost. Ghosts aren’t real, no matter how much Pam seems like she is one.
Once Alexis had her coffee she went back out into her living and dining room. Although at the moment it was more like a living and tarp room. There were plastic candles everywhere, some glass from the broken planchette, and her couch was where her table would normally be. That last bit was a little disorientating for her, but thankfully she liked to work on the couch anyway so the table wouldn’t be too missed.
Alexis checked out the TV, which thankfully wasn’t broken. The candle that hit it however was not as lucky, and was laying in broken pieces on the floor.
I definitely could have skipped out on the candles and no one would have noticed. It was not worth committing to the bit if it meant I almost had to go without having a tv.
She knew Jen appreciated the effort, and they didn’t cost that much, but was the ambience really worth the trouble? Either way she was glad she hadn’t sprung for real candles or her place may have burned down.
Alexis got her computer from her room, sat on the couch, and began her work day.
----------------------------------------
An hour or two later, the next one up was actually Pam. So much for sleeping like the dead.
The lantern floated in front of her on the couch, which made Alexis a little nervous because she had put her TV back on the stand, meaning Pam was now in front of her TV. Alexis wasn’t religious anymore but if she knew what saint to pray to at this moment she would have.
[“HEQ SPPY DOUT THE GAFF”]
The bright flashing did not help alleviate Alexis’s headache, but thankfully most of that had gone away with the coffee.
Instead of grabbing the white board, Alexis pulled out her phone and opened a new message. She typed, “You have your letters mixed up, FYI.”
The lantern flashed rapidly while moving up and down, like Pam was shaking it. It was too fast for Alexis to keep up with. Alexis figured that Pam was not happy about the lost progress. Thankfully she wasn’t hitting her walls or floor this time.
Wait, is that it?
She moved some dots and dashes around in her head. ‘G’ and ‘W’ were backwards, same for ‘F’ and ‘L’.
Alexis typed, “Were you talking about the wall?”
The lantern settled back into place.
[“C”]
According to the system from yesterday, this meant ‘correct’ or ‘yes’. Alexis typed back, “Oh, because you hit my wall a bunch yesterday?”
[“C”]
Alexis thought about how to respond. On one hand, it isn’t like I am rich.
She didn’t have a lot of expenses, but if every night was as bad as these past few nights in terms of repairs and replacing her stuff, her savings were eventually gonna run dry. Even if in the short term, she could afford it.
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But there was also a question of why she should be the one paying and taking on the risk. It reminded her of the local highschool kid with the flyers who wanted psychics removed from school because they could pose a danger to other students. The reason she had been sympathetic was because it wasn't reasonable to expect someone to risk themselves just so you can be free to do whatever you wanted.
On the other hand, what am I supposed to say? Please stop hurting my home?
Alexis couldn't help but feel bad for Pam. She didn’t want to hurt her feelings. It felt like kicking someone when they weren’t just down, but may literally be dead.
Alexis typed, “It’s fine. I know you can’t really help it.”
The lantern sat still for a second. Alexis wondered if she was trying to find a way to respond. But Alexis wanted to move on from this conversation, so she changed the subject.
Alexis typed, “By the way, we need to get you a buzzer or something that makes a sound. Staring at a flashing light is really starting to hurt my eyes.”
[“C”]
Alexis typed, “I’ll look into it, for now practice your letters some more over by the tarp. I’ll leave my phone over there so you can see what you are typing. Is that okay?”
[“C”]
It is weird to kind of order around a super villainess who now may, or may not, be an unkillable ghost.
Alexis brought her personal phone on and opened up MorseMore. She had messed with the settings so the screen wouldn’t turn off unless Alexis explicitly tapped the power button. That combined with the fact that she had charged it last night, meant the battery would last for a little bit. Maybe not having the ability to see notifications from Clogger will be a net positive to my productivity.
Since she could still check Clogger on her computer though, Alexis knew it wouldn’t affect her normal working pace too much either way.
Eventually, Jen came trudging down the staircase from Alexis’s room. Still only wearing the t-shirt she slept in, but had brought down one of Alexis’s blankets. As she passed by she lazily waved at the lantern, who most likely did not see because Pam continued practicing her letters. Although Alexis figured if she had waved back Alexis wouldn’t have been able to see it.
“Coffee’s in the kitchen. It’s probably cold now, but you can probably just nuke it,” Alexis said.
Jen nodded like a zombie.
“Food?” Jen said, moaning.
“You want me to make you something?” Alexis asked.
Jen nodded, she stuck out her bottom lip to sell the act. She could be such a baby in the morning. Still, Alexis did owe her for her help yesterday.
“What do you want?” Alexis asked, knowing the answer would not be as simple like cereal or toast.
“Eggies?” Jen asked.
“Fine…” Alexis whined, “But I am just gonna do scrambled, I really can’t spend time making you a whole thing.”
“Tatos?” Jen asked, in a way that if Jen could make herself cry she probably would have.
“Okay,” Alexis acquiesced, “I’ll cook up some potatoes, just stop looking at me like that!”
“Yay, thank you!” Jen said, plopping herself down on the couch. Fully dropping whatever act she was performing to get Alexis to pity her. It would have been funny if Alexis wasn’t so done with Jen’s shit. It was the same way, even when Alexis was at her place. Even though they were both lazy about cooking, Jen was always better about getting what she wants.
Alexis wasn’t a particularly good cook. She learned how to make scrambled eggs when she was little, and that was about it. When it came to feeding herself she usually took whatever route was the most efficient for her to stop being hungry. Which meant a lot of instant meals.
As for ingredients, she still had two eggs left in the fridge. But luckily she had plenty of potatoes because Alexis liked to throw them in the microwave to make ‘baked potatoes’. Even if they weren’t technically baked.
To cook scrambled eggs she would need milk, but all Alexis had was some vanilla oat milk she used for her cereal, so Jen would just have to settle for her scrambled eggs being a bit sweet.
Once she got everything settled, the smell of the potatoes cooking started to make Alexis feel a bit hungry herself. Rather than cook more, or take some of the meal she just made for Jen, she threw a thing of instant mac and cheese in the microwave so she would have something to tide her over.
After Alexis’s mac and cheese was done, she figured since she was already doting on Jen so much this morning, that she may as well heat up her coffee too.
When she was done, she came back out to the other room to see Jen was just on her phone, scrolling through videos of cats on Sharebi. Alexis put the plate on Jen’s lap, and was rewarded with a kiss on the cheek for her efforts. She put her drink on the coffee table.
The lantern had moved over to the couch as well. It was hard to tell because Alexis couldn’t see Pam’s eyes but if she had to guess, Pam had gotten bored of practicing and wanted to look at cat videos.
When Alexis had made eye contact(?) with the lantern however, it floated over to where Alexis was standing behind the couch.
[“R U 2 DATING”]
This was kind of complicated.
Well, it wasn’t really complicated, Alexis just hated the word for what she and Jen were, even if she was fine with the actual arrangement. But Alexis also felt weirdly defensive over having been asked, and wondered if Pam was even entitled to information about Alexis's love life. Afterall, Alexis had known Aabria for three years before she had come out to her, so who was Pam to ask Alexis what her deal is after only meeting her like a month ago?
Still, considering Jen only had a singular piece of attire, and the cheek kiss just now, it was probably a pretty normal question to ask.
I could play it off like we are just close friends. Not like this situation was out of bounds for straight girls anyway.
Alexis briefly wondered if Pam was asking because she was homophobic and wanted to know if we were 'sinners', however Alexis dismissed this out of hand. Alexis wasn’t one to profile, but the one time she saw Pam when she was alive, she definitely gave off some sort of vibes. Still, even if Pam was a homophobe it would be a bit unlikely for her to immediately attack the two of them over it.
Even if it was a bit unlike her, Alexis decided she should be a bit honest. She wasn’t sure how long she would actually be spending to help Pam with her situation, but at least this way it would save an awkward conversation down the line.
Pam still had Alexis’s personal phone, so instead she pulled out her work phone and typed, “Situationship, mostly platonic.”
Jen turned around, most likely prompted by the blinking lantern behind her. “What are you two talking about?” Jen asked.
“Nothing, just eat your eggs!” Alexis demanded. Why do both my house guests have to be so nosy?
Pam handed Alexis back her personal phone. A process that was so forceful that it nearly activated
When Alexis checked the phone, she saw that she had a new notification from findHer telling Alexis that she had just matched with someone.
Oh, the notification probably came through when she was practicing her morse code and she thought there was a chance that if we were dating that I was cheating on Jen or something.
Alexis typed, “It’s cool. Jen knows I date people.”
To prove her point, Alexis held it in a place where both Jen and Pam could see.
Jen, excited to have some context for the conversation, paused her cat video to get out her own messaging app. She typed, “Yeah, were just fuk buddies lmao”
She bonked Jen on the head.
Alexis typed, “Not funny. Now finish your food and get dressed, because after breakfast we gotta talk about our next steps.”