Dex Easton

Dex Easton || 28 || Witch - [Arcanist]

[dexter-easton]

Do you think your brother should be locked away or be allowed to have free roam of the house?

Locked away. 

[exorcistmitchell]

If the situation as a whole wasn’t something he took so seriously he’d almost be amused when he does ask a question. Out of everything he could’ve asked, he’s not sure he would have put that at the top of the list, but it’s probably one of the safer ones. And if he feels anything about it then it’s that he should educate himself better. He should know what he’s doing and the kinds of powers he’s messing with beforehand.

"Some grimoires, some reference books, but most of it should be fine." Though there are some outside the locked and warded room that maybe shouldn’t be there, for the most part he doesn’t think there’s too much damage he can do simply by informing himself. The question is less what kind of power he has and what he intends to do with it. 

"The only ones you shouldn’t be touching are ones you don’t have access to. However you’d like to educate yourself in the meantime is your business. Though it should go without saying that I expect you to exercise caution." He’s not one for warnings or threats, and it’s true enough that he shouldn’t necessarily have to mention it. But he’s new, so he does this time, and if he needs a better definition of what caution means then he hasn’t been paying attention to his own circumstances. 

[dexter-easton]

Dex nods, because at least he has that. With Dominic locked away in a room on some different floor, it gives him some much needed time without having to look over his shoulder, like he's constantly waiting for that knife to be driven into the middle of his back. But it's left him with almost too much time. Time to think, time to wonder, time to really want to make himself more powerful so that holding onto a demon's leash didn't seem like such a stretch. 

"I will," he agrees at the mention of exercising caution. He has no intention of trying anything too dangerous and if he does, he'll do it outside of the manor. Off the grounds and that's for multiple reasons. Mostly because he doesn't want anyone to get hurt by something he does, but partially because if it doesn't work, if Mitchell here decides that any attempt at harnessing power isn't good enough, there's the possibility that he could imagine controlling a demon isn't in the cards anymore. He doesn't want to threaten that. Doesn't want Mitchell to make that call based on some other failed spell he tried to do out of a grimoire he found in the library. 

A calm kind of quiet falls over the office after that and Dex runs a hand across his mouth because yeah, there are a thousand other questions that could be asked but most of them are similar. Most of them are nothing he wants to voice and so the only thing he does is something personal and goes against everything he thought he'd keep from Mitchell. It slips out anyway. "He's all I have, you know." 

[exorcistmitchell]

Mitchell nods his head and accepts the answer for what it is. It’s not trust, necessarily, but he has expectations and that Dexter will recognize his limits is one of them. There’s an awareness that this conversation is vastly different from the one he has with most people when they come to Greystone, but the circumstances are too unique and too dangerous for them not to be. As it is, he’s finding it hard to shake the doubt that this is the right choice for either of them. And there’s no doubt in him that the moment the situation changes he’ll take care of it.

He sits back, watching him for a moment because it’s no secret to either of them that he’s out of his league here. He can’t ignore that there’s potential there though, because the demon he managed to bind isn’t a low level one. He doesn’t know his name, and that much bothers him, but he knows something powerful and dangerous when he sees it and he doesn’t know if he’s exorcised worse before, only that he can.

The answer doesn’t wholly surprise him, but he thinks it’s a lie all the same. He gives a small shake of his head, letting his attention drop back down to his desk, though despite it he never stops being aware of the other man in the room. He’s a self-taught witch, he’s new to the Tenebrae, he wonders if it’s not just an overwhelming amount of ignorance that makes him say it. “You should. If I were you I’d have a thousand questions.” It’s an invitation if he wants to change his answer, but if not that’s his business and he’ll expect him to act accordingly. “Let me know if you change your mind.”

[dexter-easton]

He does have a thousand questions. There's no doubt about that. They're running through his mind so quickly he can't focus on just one of them. Most of them are in regards to his brother and that's why he keeps his mouth shut, because Mitchell is the one who will ultimately decide Dominic's fate and any question he can think to ask leads down a path of mistrust and the option to put Dominic down. it's not something he wants. It's not something he knows what to do with and while yes, he'd like some questions answered, he can't help but admit that he's absolutely terrified of it. 

"I noticed in the library there were spellbooks? Or grimoires or...-" he trails off because maybe this is just as dangerous of a question. Nothing to do with Dominic, but what he is and what he can possibly do with the power he possesses isn't something he's fully explored out in the open like this. Before coming here, he hadn't come across much. One grimoire in a house they'd dispelled a spirit from and after that, he'd learned everything there was to learn in the book. Small things. Healing and protections mostly. The resurrection and demon binding had been scrawled towards the end of it, as if in someone else's writing. 

Clearing his throat, he keeps his head down and the timidness in which he asks is hard for him to overcome. "Is it alright if I look at them?" He looks up at the man and wonders what it is Mitchell does. If there are other people in the house with similar talents as he has, though he wouldn't consider himself talented in any way. 

[exorcistmitchell]

Mitchell nods his head but he doesn’t say anything for a moment after that. There’s a note in Dexter’s file, that if things were to go badly with the demon he brought with him that he’ll no longer have a place here. It could mean eliminating him as well, it could just mean closing their doors to him. Either way, looking at him now he’s not sure it’s a thing he’d follow through on. He’d like to think he’s good at reading people, but even without observation, he knows what he is and he knows what he’s not. The demon was a mistake, and he doubts if it were in anyone else’s body he’d be interested in binding one to himself.

"Having a demon bound to you doesn’t just give you control over him. He will try to use that to get into your head, and I don’t just mean through manipulation. There’s a link there, and it will wear on you. I expect you to let me know before it becomes something you can’t handle anymore." He doesn’t know him well enough to say if he can handle it right now, but he has to assume it’s somewhat under control. Otherwise there’s no point in this conversation at all.

There are a number of things he still wants to see, lectures he wants to give him about fucking with that kind of power. There was only one other person under this roof that knows more about demons than he does, and it’s only some vague unease at the thought of them meeting that ensures he keeps Valentine out of this conversation. He doesn’t necessarily expect a repeat of Shore, but it’s nothing he’ll ever risk either. “Do you have any questions for me?”  

[dexter-easton]

Dex nods at that. It's nothing he hadn't figured. He knew the demon was capable of manipulation, he could see that on clear days when the thing did too well of a job wearing his brother's face. When Dex would break under the strain and instead of twisting the knife, the demon would pull him into a hug instead. He knew it was all building up to an ultimate betrayal and some days he could see that clear as day, but some days it became foggy because he just wanted to believe Dominic was steering some of it in there. 

"I will," he says and he means it. If it ever becomes too much, he knows what the risks are. He knows it's a risk not just to himself but to everyone in this house and he won't put other people's life in danger if he can help it. Right now he thinks he has a good enough grasp on the demon, a good enough head on his shoulders to know that there's betrayal coming, but it's not here just yet. If that ever changes, he knows that Mitchell will be the first person he tells because so far, Mitchell is the expert and the person who knows the most about the situation. It means he's not floating there in the ocean without anyone to throw him a life vest. 

When he asks if he has any further questions, he sits and thinks about it for a while. Thinks about any sort of question he has and it all just comes full circle back to one: help me, please. The words repeat themselves over and over in his head and if he didn't think Mitchell would take the words as put down my brother because I can't, he may have just said them out loud. But it's there, right there on the tip of his tongue. Please help me, I can't do this anymore, I don't know how to do this without him, I need someone to help me through this, please. They're all right there and it's an effort to get anything else out of his mouth. "No, not really." 

[reinette-dartois]

Reinette had taken to wandering the halls of the manor, less interested with the people inhabiting the space. What are they to her? Teammates, apparently, but she has little need to speak with them. Humans are just sacks of blood, still tempting despite the long years spent refining the skill to not tear into them. And she’s good at it, quelling that hunger. Vampires are a nuisance or treat her with disdain. Dogs reek. Marius had been her only constant companion, the one person who had cared for her.

And then he was gone.

Her fingers breeze over the spines of the books before she sits herself in an arm chair, gazing up at the titles, or lack thereof, giving hints to what might lay within the pages. All information, all about the supernatural. All things she couldn’t care about.

"This is the worst library I’ve ever had the misfortune to sit in," Reinette tells the air, legs dangling over the edge of chair, all hopes of ever reaching the ground dashed over two hundred years ago. Marius should’ve waited just a few years before he turned her. For as much as she would’ve thought he loved her, he had bestowed upon her the ultimate curse. A child forever. And, yet, a fairytale would be a comfort right now.

[dexter-easton]

Dex is headed back down to the library to look through some more of the books. He refuses to believe that in the vast selection they have there's not a thing that talks about demons. He wants the knowledge, it could help him understand what he's dealing with and there's a question for Mitchell that maybe he could get the man's help finding something that he could look at, but he doesn't want to come across as though he's not in complete control over the situation. It's a precarious position to be in right now and he doesn't want to tip himself one way or another just yet. 

When he enters the library and hears the voice, he lifts a brow because there's a child sitting in there, but the words are older than he thinks should be coming from a girl of her age. He tips his head around the corner to peek at her before stepping out, clearing his throat. "It's not all that bad," he says, though he would have to agree to some extent. A library full of books on the supernatural and not a one of them that talks about demons. 

There are several questions that spring to mind and he doesn't know which one to really ask her. Is she someone's kid? Is she a hunter? Hell, she could be a ghost haunting the house for all he knows and he's not really sure how to breech that sort of subject. So he just gives her a wan smile. "Hello. I'm Dex." 

[quirky-emily]

Emily’s head whipped toward the voice behind her. She wa so focused on the room that she failed to heard his footsteps. Either that or her was very good at walking silently, which she hoped was the case so that she didn’t appear to be the foolish one in the situation. Regardless of her mistake, she smiled at him and nodded. “Sounds good to me.” She walked up to him and pulled one of her hands out of her pocket and offered it to him. “I’m Emily, one hundred precent human.”

She gave him a quick look over. He was attractive, although as a personal preference she could do without the facial hair. She could tell that he wasn’t a vampire at first look and while she wasn’t very knowledgeable when it came to the wolves, she figured he wasn’t one of them either. She thought he might be a normal human like herself when she noticed the book uner his arm. A spell book—he was a witch. Emily had always been particularly wary of the species, given their vast amount of power, and she knew that she had to keep her guard up, no matter how attractive he was.

Her eyes left him and began to take in the manor once more. “So this is Greystone. I’m not gonna lie, I imagined it to be bigger.” Of course, it was big enough as it was, but from what she heard about it, she thought it would be greater. At least she wouldn’t get lost in this manor, unlike at Vanderbilt.

[dexter-easton]

Dex gave a small smile when she offered him a hand. He shook it and tried not to find it odd how she introduced herself. 100% human. He found it an odd thing for her to say, but he wasn't used to the Tenebrae and maybe it was just customary for people to introduce themselves that way. He hadn't spent much time with anything that wasn't human and although he'd lived with power in his veins for quite some time now, it was still odd for him to think of himself as being labeled a witch. It wasn't something he quite knew how to deal with. 

"Dex," he gives back, but he doesn't offer her much else. She can make her own assumptions about him, though he thinks the book beneath his arm probably gives him away. It doesn't matter. People don't need to know what he is just the same way he doesn't need to know what they are either. 

At the mention of how big the manor is, he lifts a brow, looking around at the place like he's trying to see it through those kind of eyes. Bigger? What could possibly have been bigger about it, this place could have easily been turned into a hotel or resort considering how many rooms it had. It was huge, but it was also his own opinion coming from small apartments, motel rooms and before that a small ranch house that had barely fit their small family. "Seems big enough to me," he says and turns to head towards the hallway with the rooms. He's only been here a short time, but at least he can show her where they are. 

[exorcistmitchell]

The answer makes him snort in some dry amusement. Desperation makes people do stupid things and he thinks it’s the most succinct way to sum up the situation the man finds himself in now. At least he admits it, and it counts for something. Not much, because while he can understand the motivations that got him this far, he also understands that he’s fucking with things he’s got no business dealing with. “You brought a demon into my house.” The words are equally as blunt as the question preceding it, but he goes quiet for a moment after to see if he has anything to say about that. Maybe nothing at all.

He doesn’t wait long, either way, eyes still on his face when he says the next words because they’re important ones. Harsh, perhaps, but true as far as he’s concerned and he wonders if half the problem is he just hasn’t owned up to it yet. “Your brother is dead. I don’t expect you to come to terms with it immediately, but I want you to understand that’s how I will regard him. The thing you brought in with you is a monster, and will be handled like one. He’s currently locked in a cell on the West Wing’s ground floor, and he is not to be released without my supervision or yours. And I fully expect you to request permission first.”

He doesn’t like permitting him out at all, honestly, and he’s spent half his time just debating on that. Whether he shouldn’t make that decision for him. The Tenebrae’s taught him to use everything and anything at his disposal, but this pushes him past his boundaries, past the comfortable, moral gray area he’s allowed himself to get settled in. “He isn’t a person. He is a weapon for you to use for our cause, and somehow I don’t think you fully understand the risks you’re taking by keeping him here.”

[dexter-easton]

"Yes, sir. I did." It's a blunt thing for the man to say, so it's a blunt thing Dex gives back to him. He won't deny it. He won't say he's sorry for it or offer any sort of recompense for the action because this is where they were told to go. This is where Dex was told he could take his brother and have the Tenebrae let him live. He knows it's not Dominic they want to kill, but there's also the thought that the demon had promised if anything happened to him, he'd tear Dominic out right along with him. And though he's still not entirely certain Dom is in there, the threat, if real, isn't one he's willing to risk. Not yet. Not until he can figure out what to do about it all. 

The next words have him stiffening. Taking a breath because it's the first time someone has said them to him. Not even the hunters who'd come before had put it that way. No one had said the words out loud except for the demon and he hadn't trusted them. To hear someone on the outside, someone who probably knows more about all of this than he does, say it, there's a pain in his chest because he knows he should have been miles away from a gravesite instead of sitting in a house with a demon locked in a room. 

He listens carefully to Mitchell's terms and conditions. To the instructions because if there's one thing he knows how to do, it's following instructions. It's how he'd gotten the demon bound to him in the first place. How he'd gotten him into Dominic, though he's still not entirely sure what went wrong with that spell. He'd done everything the grimoire had said to do. Everything down to an exact match, word for word what the grimoire had said to do. So he still didn't know what went wrong. It's not something he'll express to Mitchell. Because he still needs to think this all through and believe that he has at least something under control. "I understand the rules," he says quietly and at the last part he nods again. "Probably not. But all I'm asking for is time to figure it out. Keep him in a cage. You won't get argument from me that it's probably better that way."

[clara-gable]

Guilt bites at Clara’s stomach and makes her feel slightly sick. She hadn’t meant to ask something so rudely or make it seem like Dex’s presence is unwelcome. Everyone is welcome here, and that’s what makes this home so lovely. When she thinks about it, she’d find that they’re all outcasts in one way or another. They probably all don’t belong somewhere, couldn’t find a place that feels safe. A place that feels like home. Sure, Clara loves her family, and had always called her childhood house her home. But being at Greystone, with people who seem to generally care about her, or just enjoy her company on occasion, is nice.

"Sorry, I-" Clara stops herself, gracefully hopping off the counter because she had done so frequently and only once slipped and fell on her rear. Luckily, no one had been in the kitchen to see it. "I don’t mean t-" But Clara stops that statement as well. She settles upon a kind smile, a light, embarrassed laugh as well, "Sorry."

Maybe, to Clara, Dom isn’t welcome here. And that had more to do with the interaction in the library rather than anything she had read in his file. But she also shouldn’t judge him based upon one conversation that had gone south rather quickly. It’s quite possible it had been a bad day for him. She tries to shove that fear as far down as she can, until Mitchell is here to discuss it with her. The smile stays on her face as she walks up to Dex, a gentle hand upon his forearm as she stops beside him.

"Well, welcome home then," she says with a kind smile before withdrawing her hand.

[dexter-easton]

"It's alright," he assures her quietly when she starts apologizing. He doesn't need the apology. He'd expected a less than warm welcome from most people, especially if they knew the situation he was in and about his brother. It didn't surprise him that people didn't agree. Hell, if it wasn't him and his brother involved, he'd probably take a similar stance. That demons should be put down no matter what, that things like resurrection shouldn't be played with. Maybe that's what he'd thought for a long time until it happened to him. Until he was faced with losing his brother and it changed perspective on everything. 

The welcome home doesn't sit right with him, though he knows she means it to be nice and inviting. It's just that this isn't his home. He's probably not welcome here and there hasn't been a place that he's associated as home in a very long time. Mostly it's been a car and a brother and beyond that, nothing really has been classified as home. Certainly not the Tenebrae because he's still not certain they're not just going to come and kill him or his brother one day. He supposes it would even be justified. Doesn't mean he will just sit there and let it happen either. 

"Thanks," he says instead of expressing any of that because she's being nice and that at least is welcome. She seems to be the nicest one here, though he's hardly met anyone else. He nods his head towards the doorway she'd just walked through. "You need any help with your garden? I'm not half bad with a hammer." 

[clara-gable]

Clara gaze pops up to Dex then, taking in the slightly uncomfortable slouch in his posture or the way he gazes at the table. She’s read the files. She always reads the files. And while it’s only simply facts and not an account of anyone’s side, Clara knows what happened. But the question then became does she tell him. It’s still his brother, she thinks, in some way. Dominic has the face of a man Dex grew up with. And no matter what happens, she doesn’t think family ties are so easily severed.

She’d protect her brothers and sisters even if they had been in the wrong. Family sticks together. You can fight about it later behind closed doors.

Her tongue darts her to wet her mouth once more, and her teeth graze her bottom lip in thought, unsure of how much she should express to Dex. “Why are you here?” Clara questions curiously and quietly, tipping her head to the side as her stare stays fixed upon the man in the room with her. She knows why she shouldn’t trust Dominic, so she won’t ask him that. But something needs to be answered.

[dexter-easton]

The question makes him pause for a moment because he's not sure how to answer. He doesn't assume she knows anything about Dominic but the nervousness in her voice and in her features means that meeting him hadn't exactly gone over well. If that means she's classifying Dex in the same category as him, then that's just something he'll have to get used to. Always the outcast because he has a demonic brother in tow and that was just another sacrifice he was going to have to take, he supposed. 

But that doesn't answer her question and he has to stop and give it some actual thought. Why was he here? He has a hundred different answers for her. Because he thought it was a sweet deal, because something thought they were worthwhile to have around -- all of them lies he could tell to try and make it sound like they'd even had a choice to be here. That he had a choice. He was the one who came, not Dominic. He was the one who'd made the decision, not Dominic because Dom was on a leash now and Dexter was the one making all of the choices. That meant that whatever happened by bringing him here, it was on his shoulders and that kind of weight was near crippling. 

"Because I had no where else to go." Honesty. It's what he winds up giving her and she can do with it what she wants, but it's the truth. Where else would he be? Still on the road fighting monsters with his brother? His brother was the monster now and maybe he'd come for help or maybe he'd come for answers or maybe he just didn't have any other choice. But the honest truth was, there wasn't a place out there for them anymore. 

[exorcistmitchell]

It’s impossible for Mitchell’s first thought not to be that the man in front of him is in over his head. He looks the part and his file indicates it, because binding a demon isn’t a small matter. It’s possible for most witches, but it’s dangerous and stupid and he’d think that even if he were an evocationist. Though it leaves him almost grateful he’s not because he doesn’t know how Valentine would react to that one. He’s enough to deal with, and now he has this. It leaves him almost bitter, but he doesn’t let emotion color his voice.

"Your room isn’t what we’re here to talk about." He dismisses the subject with his usual bluntness, because he can assume that wherever Clara settled him was probably where he was supposed to be. "First, let me introduce myself. My name is Sebastian Mitchell. I’m Greystone’s liaison to the Tenebrae and an exorcist. So every deal you made to get here is now subject to my judgement and discretion.”

There’s the thought that it’s fully within his authority to just take care of the problem now. Exorcise the demon, eliminate the risk, and whatever was left afterwards, the man in front of him would learn to deal with it. If it meant getting his brother back or burying his body. There’s a dulled and distant anger there, the thought that the dead should stay dead. “Second, are you completely stupid?” 

[dexter-easton]

Dex listens carefully as the man introduces himself, goes over his title and tells him that the deals he made to get here were basically shit if he so chose to make them that way. It doesn't make him squirm in his seat, because it's nothing he wasn't expecting. He knew that his own fate and the fate of his brother were in this man's hands and that this conversation was quite possibly the most important conversation he would possibly have in his lifetime. The outcome of which wouldn't wholly be understood or foretold until it happened. If Mitchell chose to let Dominic live, there were a hundred different ways it could go down. It could kill everyone in this house, it could be the best decision of his life to have a demon at his beck and call, or it could bring back Dominic once Dex figured out a way to separate the two without hurting his brother. 

The second part of the man's words has the corner of his lip turning up in something of a smirk but it's not a prideful one or anything to do with what he feels about the situation. It's that he's almost glad that the man is so blunt about it. That they don't have to be secretive and sneaky with each other because he feels like ever conversation he has with the demon is a test in some way or another. Is the demon playing a game and Dex honestly thinks that some days he's losing. So honesty and bluntness on Mitchell's part is refreshing even if it's a dig at his own competence. 

"Some days," he says because a question like that should have honesty in return. It'd be stupid to try and say that he wasn't. To try and say that he had everything under complete control and knew exactly what he was doing because he didn't. And Mitchell probably already knew that. "Desperation tends to have that effect on people." 

[exorcistmitchell]

He makes a few more notes, jotted in quick and sloppy script before he’s closing the folder and pushing it aside. There’s anger sparking in him, something quick and sharp because this is the kid that brought a demon here. Somewhere in his file there’s a notation which hunters told him that was a good idea, but he doesn’t know them personally and even that’s barely enough to keep him from calling them and telling him exactly what he thinks of this. He’s already had that conversation with the man above him, but as with anything in Greystone it will ultimately be his call. And he won’t hide the fact that whether or not he allows that kind of a loaded gun to be kept and carried is partially contingent on this conversation.

He ignores the question, sitting back and giving him his full and undivided attention. He looks his age, all except for the circles under his eyes, but that’s nothing that surprises him. Not considering what he’s done, what he’s lost, and where he is. There’s a wealth of ignorance on Mitchell’s part concerning how much exists in the man in front of him, what he knows about the Tenebrae, demons, the nature of the magic he wields. He’s not an evocationist, and while that should be some relief, this time it just means he’s not fully prepared for exactly what he’s tied with him, just how awful and insidious those things can be.

"Dexter Easton." It’s acknowledgement of him as much as it is a subtle clue that he already knows exactly who he is and what he’s brought with him. If it’s not enough of one, he intends to be blunt. "Sit down."

[dexter-easton]

There's slight hesitation at the request, though he doubts that's what he'd called it. A demand, more likely, judging by the look on the man's face. He chews his lip for a moment before following the order and pulling the chair back just slightly and taking a seat. It leaves him directly in front of the man and though he wants to give off the air of confidence and knowledge, he knows what a lie it would look like so he doesn't bother with it. Instead, he crossed one arm across his stomach and the other comes up so he can chew on his thumbnail, a nervous tic he'd developed a while ago when he was under scrutiny he didn't know how to deal with. 

"Clara showed me to a room she thought I could take," he starts, simply because he doesn't know what else to really say. "If you need me to move, it's not a problem. I had nothing to really unpack." He doubts that's what the man wants to talk about, doubts that's why he wants to see him and he's both aware of it and aware that Mitchell is too. He doesn't take him for anything but intelligent and he knows there's a lecture or a berating coming his way. He just also knows what else is at stake here. Dominic. That's what this will always be about and that's what has always made Dex fight the hardest for. That won't change no matter whose desk he's sitting in front of. 

[exorcistmitchell]

There’s the quiet longing for something, a cigarette or a drink, or one of the vicodin he’s got in an orange pill bottle over in his room. He doesn’t indulge in either, because the reasons he wants those things is the same reason he needs his head clear right now. There’s a demon here, in his house, and whether or not he’s got him behind a locked door now doesn’t change the fact that he’s here at all. It has his teeth grinding together in his head while he focuses on paperwork for the moment. It’s not calming, but it’s dulling, and that’s close enough right now.

They’ve barely been back a day, but this time he doesn’t have the luxury of decompressing from the hunt first. It means he’s in his office, working later than usual even for him, but there’s enough that’s gone on in his absence that it’s a valid reason and not an excuse. There’s a knock on the door, but he doesn’t flinch because there are a number of people he needs to speak to, and if he has to track them down they’re going to be unpleasant conversation. All the same, he barely glances up, unwilling to tear his attention completely away from the report in front of him, because he still has Dakota’s to review. “Come in.” 

[dexter-easton]

Dex stands outside of the door for a long moment. It drags on longer than he had planned for it, but he can't really get his hand to raise and give the door a knock. He doesn't know what the man on the other side is going to be like, doesn't know what he's going to say or demand for him to do and maybe the first thing out of his mouth is that he's going to put down his brother. He's steeling himself to fight for his brother's life. Hasn't that always been what this was about? His brother's life? He can't say for certain if Dominic is in there but he can say for certain that the demon is bound. Enough so that the Tenebrae assigned the two of them here and that should count for something. 

When he finally does knock, the voice inside tells him to come in and he doesn't hesitate any longer. He opens the door, glancing inside and the man is a lot younger than he pictured him to be, but there's no question he's the one in charge. He closes the door behind him, assuming always that there are a pair of ears listening where they're not supposed to be. Dex stands there for a moment and takes a breath, not even managing a crooked smile because he feels like he's up against the firing squad right now. It doesn't help that he wishes his brother was here to help out. "Sorry if I'm interrupting?" 

[clara-gable]

"You’ve never seen me in action," Clara defends jokingly, pretending like she’s something fearsome out on missions when really she’s wearing pushup bras for women who couldn’t care about her chest and standing around as dog bait. She isn’t some strong warrior or fearsome beast. She’s just a simple little human with quick, nimble fingers that are good for hacking into the places she isn’t supposed to be. It’s still a mystery to her who she had gotten mixed up in all of this.

But Clara’s also more distracted by Dex’s description of Dom’s room, because he’s definitely not where he’s supposed to be. She’ll let Mitchell handle it, of course. Because she had merely stepped into the library and expected a nice conversation. And what she had received was a broken phone screen. She tips her head curiously to the side to watch Dex. “Yeah,” she begins slowly, “He probably isn’t supposed to be there.

Clara laughs then, if only to break the awkward tension she feels settling into the room. “Everyone usually starts off in our wing,” she informs him before nodding, “Not always. But usually.”

Her gaze falls to her lap, fingers clutching onto the counter so she doesn’t fall right off as her tongue wets her lips, stalling before she continues a conversation with Dex. “I met him,” she admits, “Your brother.”

[dexter-easton]

Dex gives another small chuckle. He'd never seen her in action, true, but he doubted she'd be any threat to a plant she was trying to raise. She seemed nice enough. Plus, vegetables weren't that hard to keep up with. Weed and fertilize, water if the California weather was too dry at times. It would probably work out for her. 

The next bit has him quieting and for the most part, he keeps his head down. Just like her. He keeps his eyes on the table in front of him because this is still unfamiliar territory. He can't begin to guess how a meeting with Dom would go if someone didn't know what he was, or wasn't important enough for him to play nice with. It was a danger to have him in this house and Dex knew it, he just wasn't sure what to do about it. He could go tell him not to hurt anyone in here, but it was almost equally as important to tell everyone that under no circumstance should they mistake him for someone playing for their own team. Maybe that's why the words slipped past his lips. 

"Don't trust him," he says and it hurts because it sounds like he's talking about Dom. About his brother Dominic. Even though Dom had been a bit of an asshole to people before everything, he wasn't a bad guy. He didn't hurt people that didn't deserve it and his had always been a more playful type of banter than anything too serious or condemning. The demon was different. He knew he would be, he just didn't know to what extent. "He's...he's not himself right now so just...-" he trails off because he doesn't really know what to say or how to explain it. "Just don't trust him." 

[quirky-emily]

As she packed her bag at Vanderbilt, Emily knew one thing: she could not fuck this up. Sure, it was not a very good idea to go into that house alone and perhaps she should have mention it to someone that the ghost was in the room with them, but if she had known that it would have gotten her kicked out she never would have bothered searching for the ghost. Instead of kicking her out, like they probably should have, they reassigned her to Greystone making it very clear of their generosity.

With her bag slung over her shoulder, she walked into the manor with her hands in her pockets just in case they got some bright ideas as she stepped into the new environment. She stole a key off of the table at Vanderbilt and since then whenever something went missing, they accused her first. They must had told the people here about her, but just in case, she didn’t want to make too bad of an impression.

Turning her head, she took in the beautiful living room, noting that they kept their place as clean and kept as they did in Vanderbilt. The vents were smaller here, too small for her to fit in, but the windows seemed easily accessable. Almost unconsciously, she picked out the best places to remain unseen within the room and noted them for further use. After she found her search sufficient, she finally took a moment to turn her attention to the people in the room. Smiling, she offered a wave. “Hey there. Anyone mind telling the newb how to get to her room?”

[dexter-easton]

There's a book tucked beneath one arm that he'd found in the library. Nothing about demons like he'd hoped, but he hadn't really looked through the whole place and there was a door blocked off that he couldn't get open. It was a spell book, of minor things and that had interested him more because he found his power only seemed to work when he had a book like this in front of him. It's how he'd brought back Dominic, or the demon that came back instead, and it's how he'd bound the thing to him. The book, or he supposed the grimoire he had used for that was stashed away with his things up in his room. It was the only one he had and now he'd found this one equally as interesting.

The spells inside were less powerful, minor things but he could see them being useful. Illumination spells, fire wielding, conjuration, that sort of stuff. He had been intent on going to his room and playing around with a few of them, seeing what he could do if there were some harmless and less dangerous spells in there. He'd been hoping to find something to help Dominic, but the book had been devoid of anything mentioning demons and he chanced a guess that it was because it was out in the open. 

When he heard the voice, he stopped on his way to his room and stepped into the foyer where the question had come from. He wasn't exactly the best welcoming committee, because he'd only been here for a short period of time. But if he just walked on by and ignored her, what kind of person would that make him? "Hey," he greeted. "The boss is apparently out right now, but I could show you to a room and he can move you later if it's not the one you're supposed to be in," he offered. 

[clara-gable]

There’s a laugh from Clara then, because simply telling Dex ‘gardening’ would’ve been her answer. But he’s already called her out on it so she doesn’t give him that answer. Instead, she strolls over to the counter, gingerly pulling herself up to sit on the counter top, legs dangling over the edge. “Gonna plants some fruits and vegetables for everyone to have, if they want. Saves on money,” she tells him, opting for the easiest answer than some long story about how the idea came about, getting Mitchell’s permission, and then deciding what she would grow. “Never had a vegetable garden before, so here’s hoping I don’t kill everything.” She laughs, but it would be the only time Clara had ever been truly deadly.

Maybe all plants have a right to fear.

"Yeah, Mitchell," Clara replies although Dex had been correct about the name. But she’s looking at him curiously, head tipped to the side as she studies him. He’s nothing like his brother, really. He’s much kinder and less forceful. He’s a warm presence in the room rather than the overbearing shadow Dominic casts. "Why do you think he’s in the wrong room?"

[dexter-easton]

Dex nods at the explanation. It's not something he'd ever think to do in a big house like this. Some vegetable garden out in the back, although he doesn't see why she shouldn't. Just a past time that'll keep her busy and should be nice to have some fresh produce with once she gets the hang of it. He'd never been into gardening, never grown anything really. When he was a kid the most they had was a couple of pumpkins that had grown in their front yard after one Halloween when their jack-o-lantern had gotten smashed by some of the kids up the street. Dom had beat the piss out of them afterwards. Funny that he should remember that memory more than the actual trick-or-treating from that year. 

"I'm sure you won't," he gives a small chuckle at that, ever so small because there's too much on his mind to do anything more. "Building an actual garden for it, so that means you're gonna give it the time it needs. I'm sure it'll be great." 

He shrugs at the question because it's hard to explain without getting into details. That he doesn't think Dom is supposed to have the free will to just walk around wherever he wants. And it annoys him that he has to think of him as Dom, because it's not. If it were Dominic, it wouldn't be a problem. But it's not, it's the demon that's wearing him. "Because he just sort of chose a room and it's fancier than mine," he smiles when he says it, but it's a mild thing. 

[dexter-easton]

If your brother was kicked out, would you follow him?

I don’t actually think they’d kick him out. Think they’d kill him. And at that point, I don’t think it would be my decision anymore. 

[dexter-easton]

Are you more worried about yourself in this place, or your "brother"?

Always more worried about my brother at this point.