One Last Visit

Who: Dorian and Eury
Where: Stone Eye Antiquities
When: Evening

After talking to Aiden, Dorian was curious to see how Eury was doing. He hadn't called cause he wasn't entirely sure what to say, but dropping by seemed like an easier option. Besides, he wanted to stop by Nevermore and make sure everything was going okay, and was pleased to note that it was. That made things so much easier. The whole 'not working' thing was right up his alley. Pushing the door open to Eury's shop, he noted the familiar scent of the store, the layout the same even if the artifacts had changed. Quietly he made his way to the back of the store, wondering just where Eury was. So often she would be in the back, or seemed to pop up out of nowhere.

Eury was in fact, in back. She was mostly still going through a lot of things that had come in and just sat while she'd been away, and that was a fairly big project. It was even larger when she had absolutely nothing in the way of concentration. So...that totally didnt' help. But, she looked up when the bell rang above the door, and she waited, smiling when she saw Dorian appear. "Dorian!" she said, hopping up from where she'd been sat on the floor. "God...I didn't expect to see you--" she started, going over to give him a hug. Sure, she was aware things had been Weird before, but it had been a long time, and weird didn't mean she didn't care.

As always, her enthusiasm was contagious. Dorian grinned as he bent to give her a hug, lifting her up off the ground for only a second. "Eury," he smiled. "It's good to see you. I was just wandering around and I thought I'd drop by. Hope you don't mind the company." She never had before, but that was before things had spiraled out of his control. That seemed like a long time ago now, with all that had happened since then playing such a huge part in his life. Things had changed. Hopefully for the better. "How are you?" he asked, setting her down and taking a step back.

Her injuries pulled a little bit, but she ignored that. It wasn't like he'd known they were there, and really, even if she was handed the choice, she'd go for a good Dorian-hug any time. "It's good to see you too, sweetie." she told him genuinely. It was actually almost a relief, in a weird way. "I never mind your company." she told him. Any animosity she'd had towards him before had evaporated. Eury wasn't very good at keeping a grudge up even at the best of times. "Have a seat..." she said, looking around before she laughed a little. "Pull up a crate." She sat down on one herself, and gave him a tired looking smile. But then that was Eury's default look lately--tired.

"I can do that," Dorian said, finding himself a crate to sit on and taking a seat. It looked like she had a lot to unpack, but then she'd been gone recently herself. It made sense that the work would pile up. "Before I leave, remind me to help you open all these," he said, thinking that he might as well assist when it could be so damn easy. Eury knowing about his telekinesis made a few additional things possible, but he'd rather wait till it was a little later in the evening. "So, what's up?" he asked, looking her over. "Is everything okay?" Because... she didn't quite look her best, but he knew better than to say that.

"Oh I will defintiely take the help there." Eury said gratefully. "Some of them have been a pain in the ass." she admitted. But then some dock workers were like grandmothers wrapping presents. Only they used excessive amounts of nails as opposed to tape. "And...actually everything's kind of emphatically not okay, honestly, hon." she told him, not about to lie.

"I'm sorry," Dorian said, frowning slightly. "I knew you had a lot going on from the last time we talked, but I didn't know if the situation had improved any." From what she said, Dorian had the feeling that the statues had continued to cry. He still considered it a bad sign, but he had no idea what it meant. He'd looked into it on her behalf, but had been unable to find anything similar. "How's your mom doing? Were you able to calm her down any?"

"Not really." Eury said. "So she's still...flailing, basically. Not that I know where she is right now." Because her mother, after hearing about her brother and all, had gone completely radio silent. She could be anywhere by now. "I hope she's alright." Not that she expected her to be. Her mother...tended to take things personally anyhow and was emotionally a landmine field, so this was just really really getting to her. Much like it was Eury.

"Do you need help tracking her down?" Dorian asked, though Eury hadn't said that was the plan. "If you need help, with anything, please let me know." He was bored as it was and anything he could do for a friend he'd be up for. Plus, he hated seeing her this unhappy. "Got a lot of time on my hands," he said with a little smile.

"Her, no. My uncle...yes, though Aiden's said he would help me with that...if you want to help, maybe talk to him? Maybe you could both work on things...I'm not sure." She didn't know how Aiden generally worked and didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. But she still wanted the bastard hunted down and decapitated. "How're things with you? We were both out of town...what's been going on with you, sweetie?" she asked, trying to focus past herself for a while to see what was up with him. Maybe it would help.

"I'll let him know you mentioned it," Dorian said. He wasn't sure exactly what hunting down Eury's uncle entailed, but if Aiden already knew the details, then she didn't need to go over them again. "We might be able to work together on things, split the work." He'd just have to ask. Since it was Eury, Aiden might want to keep this one to himself. Dorian had no idea. "I'm good," Dorian said with a little nod. "Just kind of getting back into the swing of things. Hired a daytime store clerk. Changed the way the store works. Now I've just gotta find something to do with my time that doesn't entail sitting behind a counter."

She smiled a little at that. "Well, sounds like you're on the right track." she said. "Why the big change, though?" she asked. "I feel like it's been forever since we've talked properly. Anything going on? You're okay, right?" she asked.

"I'm okay now," Dorian said with a little laugh. "Things were kind of crazy for a while, but I managed to survive, which is always a plus." In this case, he was being quite literal, having honestly worried about his life for a while there. "I realized I can't handle a nine to five, so I'm working to find something I can handle. Enjoy, even. I'm a little behind the learning curve, I guess, but I'm done forcing something that only drove me insane."

"That's good, Dorian." Eury said honestly. "Very, very good. I'm proud of you." she told him. "I hope you find what you're looking for. Something you enjoy. I know that I love my work. Always have, always will, I suppose. It's one thing I don't ever have to stress over, because I enjoy it. So...find something you enjoy. It'll be worth the hunt."

"Thanks," Dorian said, though he wondered how she would take it if she knew what he was leaning towards. His guess was 'not very well'. "I'm keeping the shop open, just cause I love the concept. And I love the books. It's really just my own excuse to have my own personal library, in part. I just don't wanna work there on a daily basis." Reading in his spare time was probably his least demon-like behavior. He'd always been a bit of a book worm.

She smiled. "Well, having one's own personal library is a good thing. Particularly your kind. Plus, you're providing a service to the rest of this town. I'm sure there's a lot of people who need what you've put there. But, that, like you've said, doesn't necessarily have to be run by you personally. So long as it's there, that's the important part." she assessed. "What are you doing with the rest of your time? Or are you just relaxing for now? You deserve it, I'm sure."

Dorian mulled over what to tell her. She was still seeing Aiden, at least enough to confuse him, which meant she must not be too bothered by what he did at this point. He wasn't sure how they could maintain a relationship with that being an issue between them. With that in mind, maybe she wouldn't freak out about what he'd been up to. Or maybe she would. He'd never know unless he said something and Eury knew a fair amount already. "I'm looking to get into Aiden's line of work," Dorian said. "And relaxing a bit, since my vacation was kind of on the high stress side."

Eury's eyes went wide behind her sunglasses, but she didn't look like she thought it was distasteful. Maybe it sent nerves through her, but she didn't let that show. "A hunter?" she asked. "What brought that on?" she asked. She knew Aiden's had to do with past trauma. With his mother, things like that. And that he struggled and went back and forth on what kind of a hunter he was, but then again, Aiden tended to go back and forth on just about everything ever. With Dorian, she wondered what the defining factor was.

And here was where Dorian wondered if lying would be beneficial, because he really wasn't sure Eury needed to know that he liked the rush from killing things, from the fight itself. That usually came across as... not so human. "I have the abilities, it's good to put them to use, and I think there are some things out there that are causing far more harm than good. Mostly demons, some vampires. I'm a bit more picky than Aiden," Dorian said, remembering their rather lengthy discussion on that issue.

Eury nodded, accepting that. "So you're in it because you want to make the world a better place." she said, kind of drawing that conclusion from what he'd said. "That's not a bad thing, Dorian, I think it's noble. I...I wish that Aiden's motivations were a little purer than they are. Though I think deep down they tend to be. Just he's lost his way somewhere along the way." She didn't know how to make that better though, how to not necessarily correct it, but to alter it.

"Aiden's got an edge of revenge in there," Dorian said. "His motivations didn't start pure, and I can't say mine are completely as well, but there's always something a little fucked up about being a hunter." At least, that was his opinion. He had a tendency to worry more about the humans that took it on, seeing as they needed something whacked in their mind to handle it. "I think he means well, but he's kind of got this attitude where... it's about the money. He'll take out anything that might be a threat, and I guess I'm not as comfortable with that approach. You can't just take out everything that has a supernatural tinge to it. I just can't make him see that if he doesn't want to."

"See, I actually consider revenge to be pure." Eury said thoughtfully. "No, it's that things seem to have muddled into money along the way too...I know he doesn't really check into cases a lot...that he just gets a new job, does it, and doesn't really pay attention to if what he was taking down was something that deserved it or not." They'd talked a lot about it too. "Why would you consider your own motivations not completely pure?" she asked.

"I guess I only see revenge as pure when you're targeting the specific entity that wronged you. When you take on an entire race, or an entire way of thinking, it gets a little warped," Dorian said. He knew some hunters hunted werewolves, for example, but refused to acknowledge that the cursed ones were different from the born ones. And then they'd go and hunt wereravens or werecats as well. It just seemed... wrong. "I like the rush," Dorian sighed. "The thrill of the fight, the hunt, and the kill at the end. But I swear I'm not a psychopath."

"That's true." Eury agreed. "But I suppose I never personally disagreed with an eye for an eye, so to speak, though that might just be old world thinking." Which she knew did impact her, really. She listened to him, sort of letting that sink in better as she considered. "So long as it doesn't start leaking into thrillkilling, or you choosing victims, so long as it stays with those you view as wrongdoers--and so long as your perspective on wrongdoing remains viable, I think that you'll be alright." she said after a long while of thinking about how to word it.

Dorian had to let her words sink in before he nodded, surprised at how well she'd taken something that even he'd viewed as messed up in the beginning. Then again, he'd gained a lot of perspective recently. It was nice to talk to someone who could actually put it into words. "Yes," he agreed. "So long as I don't let it become about me, basically. I put rules into place and stick to those. Don't lose perspective on right and wrong. And I'm not the law. I'm not going to handle humans who should be handled by other humans."

"Right." Eury agreed. "Don't let it be about you, and be choosy about what you do hunt. I agree that you leave the humans to the humans. Otherwise things get messier, and honestly, they've got their own monsters, but they have a way to deal with it well too. So it works out. Rules are good to have, so just..spend some time, come up with your own personal code, and stick to that. Should work out well for you." she decided.

"How is it that you're so accepting of something it took me a good month to understand about myself?" Dorian said with an amused smile. He'd long ago realized that Eury's brain worked differently than anyone else's he knew, but he still didn't understand it. "I'm still working out my personal set of rules, since I'm kinda new to this sort of thing, but there's really no rush. In the mean time, I'm just kinda chillin'. It's good to be home."

Eury gave him a light half smile. "I've seen a lot in my time, sweetie." she told him. Then her smile turned a little bit amused. "Also, I'm a woman. We're seen as the more irrational, emotional of sexes, but that's not what I've seen in my experience." she added. "We're really really good at knowing the score." She paused. "Actually, if you're going to be doing this, I think you should figure out your rules before you get any further involved. Otherwise you're going to get yourself into situations that you're not prepared to deal with, and you'll have to do it on the fly, and that might not work out best for you."

She always said things like that, comments that Dorian didn't quite understand because he'd always figured they were roughly the same age. Maybe she just thought she was more cultured than him, which he supposed could be the case, though he'd seen a lot himself, just of a different nature. He decided not to argue with her about the nature of women, since that could only dig himself a hold in the ground, and moved on to the subject that seemed safer. "That might be something I have to really plan out and put some thought into. I don't think it's gonna just come to me, but you're right-- decisions on the fly doesn't always turn out for the best," Dorian said. "Thanks, though, for understanding. And for listening. I really appreciate it, and I hope you know I'm here if you ever wanna talk yourself."

"Well, I kind of doubt it should just come to you, but maybe you should take an afternoon, go sit someplace where you can concentrate, and write it down?" Eury suggested. "Write down how you feel about things, how you view what you do and then from there, if you keep at it, you should start to be able to write down things that you clearly won't do. Then you can start shaping your rules system from there." she continued, figuring that it was sound advice, and she definitely wanted to help him. "For instance--and I think I know your answer here, but it's just an example--say you take a job, and find out that the person you're hunting down is someone you know. What do you do in that situation? Do you continue the job regardless, or turn it down because of the personal connection?" she posed, just to give him someplace to start. "And you're welcome. It's no problem, I'm your friend, it's sort of what I do." she told him, giving him a light smile. "And thank you for the offer. Right now, things...my life seems to have been yanked out from beneath itself. I'm attempting to learn how to deal, and I think mostly I've been avoiding, which does not help."

Dorian took a deep breath. This really was going to take quite a bit of thought. One thing that he'd noticed was that he did feel guilt when the circumstances were right. It was generally a better idea to figure out what would bring that on before getting it wrong. That didn't mean it'd be easy. "Guess I've got my work cut out for me," he smiled. "I know in that example, I couldn't hunt someone I know personally, regardless of what they might have done." And that was another thing-- Dorian couldn't hunt someone for what they were, but for what they'd done. Demons were the only inherently evil creatures, and even some of them kept to the sidelines. Every situation was different. "I know that feeling," Dorian said softly. It was probably a different issue, but... he knew what it was like to avoid something too long and finally have it come around and smack him in the ass.

"Right...well, I wish you the best of luck with it and if you need help sort of walking you through it, I'm here." Eury told him, wanting to be there for him. It was a pretty important step he was taking, so she wanted him to feel supported. "And...yeah, I just keep being entirely unsure what exactly I need to do. I have to do a lot of restructuring my entire world view, and...well, it's going to take work."

"Can I help?" Dorian asked, even though he'd already offered. "I don't really know what you're dealing with, but I can try. The worst that happens is you've got someone who'll listen." They'd been out of touch so long that Dorian didn't know what else she might be dealing with. There were the crying statues, yes, but that couldn't be causing this, could it? If it was, there was something Dorian didn't know. Something she'd probably chosen not to tell him. In that case, maybe he couldn't help after all, but he'd have to wait and see.

She thought about it, drawing in a deep breath, and letting it out slowly. "Do you believe in love?" she asked. It was a simple question, but one she wanted an honest answer to.

It was a simple question with a difficult answer, and Dorian didn't hesitate so much as take a moment to think it through. He had a lot of mixed feelings when it came to love, though his opinions on what it did to people didn't change his answer. "I do," he said, "but I don't think it's easy to come by."

"I used to. I'm not so sure anymore. I feel..." she paused, trying to figure it out. "I don't know. that maybe I've been blind for all this time. That it's a fluffy little concept that people make up to make themselves feel better, not an actual reality. And you know me, Dorian. I believed in love. I believed in it with all of my heart and soul. But...I just don't know anymore. What's your argument for it?" she asked.

It was hard to hear that something that meant so much to Eury had lost it's glow. He knew she'd believed in it. He'd heard her talk about it, hope for it, and instinct made him want to destroy whatever it was that had changed her mind. "My mother... isn't the kind of woman to love. It's against every part of her being, every thing she is. But she fell in love with my father and... and there's no denying it happened. In part, she turned her back on her people, but it didn't change who she is. Love can only change so much. The rest is part compromise, part acceptance."

She nodded, listening, she supposed, though she didn't know quite how it added up. Or if it did at all. "Thank you for the argument." she said. "I'll have to think on it, but it's a perspective that I'll be glad to add into the whole mess."

Dorian wasn't sure if what he'd said had helped or made it worse. She was evaluating love, something that he didn't feel he'd ever gotten to experience for himself, so it was hard for him to talk on it. He wanted to encourage her, tell her everything was going to be okay, but he'd only be lying. He knew no such thing. "I know it's not a happy, shiny version of love, but it's what I've seen to exist," Dorian said with a little smile.

Eury nodded. "I never quite had a happy shiny version of love." she said. "The concept I know comes with pain and suffering, hardship and everything else. People just do that to one another, regardless of anything else involved. So it's not that. I just...really have to wonder a lot, how it adds up, if there's love for some but not others...if it does anything but give us something to strive for, and never delivers."

"I don't know," Dorian said. "I can't speak from experience. I don't know that it's something to strive for, since that seems like a sure shot at disappointment. But then I don't think it's going to fall in your lap either. It all seems so hopelessly rigged to chance. Maybe two people are meant to be together, but only if the stars are aligned when they give it a shot. Instead, they just pass each other by."

Eury stared at him for a long moment. "That's...an incredibly depressing point of view to take." she said carefully. "Is that how you see it? That people shouldn't strive? Because by your own definition there, if they don't, then it'll just never happen, because it'll only happen if people are inclined to try at the same time. And yet...your first statement there...and you've automatically stated that it'll be a disappointment." she shook her head. "I think you just gave yourself away, there, Dorian. I think that right there says everything about you."

"And your view isn't?" Dorian asked, raising a brow. "I believe in it. I think everyone has a chance in it. And it's not so much that people shouldn't strive, but that they shouldn't put all their focus on something that they only play half the part in. They can't force it. No matter how hard you try, you can't make someone fall in love with you. That's the disappointment." Sighing, Dorian looked away. "Maybe I'm not making sense. I just know that it's rare that I feel so strongly for someone that I want to try. Suddenly I'm given something to strive for. But then I realize I've missed my chance. So where does that put me? And what reason does that give me to try again?"

Eury stared at Dorian for a long moment, a little taken aback with his tone. He seemed to be going on the offensive, when she'd just been stating her point of view. She thought the way he saw things made him pitiable. She thought it was depressing, and it said things about Dorian that basically completed the picture of him, it filled in the missing blanks that she'd always wondered about. "My view is completely shattered right now, Dorian. That's why we're talking about it. You asked if you could help, and this was it." she said. "If you can't handle talking about it, or can't handle a reaction to your views that isn't glowingly positive, isn't enabling a defeatist attitude that to me sounds like a cycle of self fullfilling prophesies which is by definition depressing, perhaps we should stop." she said. The other part, of course, was they were trying to help her, talk her through things. She wasn't supposed to be there to try and pump him up, tell him why he should have reason to try. Any other time she would have done it. Like any other time she would have called him on his 'missed my chance' comment, considering she felt it had to do with her. But...she didn't have the energy today. Actually, right then and there she just...lost all her fight. "Thank you for your time, I think I'm going to go lie down for a while, Dorian." she said, looking down at the floor.