Strike a deal

Who: Harlow and Isobel
Where: The Island
When: Afternoon

Isobel had the books she’d gotten from Alexandra spread out on the picnic table she sat at. The wind was light and she kept her fingers resting on the pages to keep them from fluttering. She probably would’ve gotten better information from Emmit or even Harlow but she couldn’t talk to them about this (especially Harlow). All she could learn was what she already knew and she sighed, rubbing her face tiredly. She needed to figure something out and she needed to learn more about the Mourning Star.

Harlow wasn't really sure what she was doing at this island but she'd decided to go there and just figure out if she even wanted to talk to Isobel like s he thought she did before. It was about something she could probably figure out on her own, right? If she observed more birthday parties, maybe rented a few of those birthday party movies that were out. And by rented, she probably meant just borrowed without asking.

But then when she looked up, there was the woman she was seeking out but didn't exactly like. No time like the present, apparently. "Isobel," Harlow said as she walked up to the woman, watching her for a moment. "...You waiting for company?" It was her way of asking if she could sit, though she probably just would anyway.

The blonde looked up from the book, surprised to see Harlow there. At least today she wasn’t in floral print, which she knew had really bothered the other woman the last time. Today she was in jeans and her red leather jacket, boots on her feet and gun nestled in a holster against her side. Things felt more even now. “No, I’m not. Everything okay?” Isobel closed the book and gathered the rest to her in a show of making space.

Harlow tried hard not to scowl at the woman. She’d made a decision to try this and even if she was rethinking it moments before, Isobel was here now and she might as well go through with it. It seemed stupid not to now that she’d engaged. “Fine, fine. Everything is fine,” She said as she sat down, watching Isobel. She didn’t do small talk so really she figured she might as well dive in. Otherwise she’d ask about the book, but honestly Harlow didn’t care much about that book or why Isobel was reading it. “I want to throw Emmit a birthday party, but apparently parties that I am used to are not parties that other people are used to. So I want to know what a normal birthday party for Emmit would be like.”

Well that was… definitely not expected and Isobel blinked at Harlow a couple times in surprise. A birthday party for Emmit. Had they ever had a party for him? There were a few years where birthday exchanges had been limited to silly text messages and others where they’d gone to some exciting event to forget their troubles. “Laser Tag,” Isobel said after a long moment. “Laser tag or bowling. I think he can roller skate but I’m not very positive on that front. She studied Harlow and it occurred to her that if she was going to make a deal for Emmit, Harlow would have to be included too. Those two were a package deal and while Isobel might not like it, this wasn’t for her. This was for Emmit who had actually shown cracks at the prospect of aging. Emmit who still did dangerous things without the safety of angelic perks. “There’s a bowling alley or something around here, I think. I’m still getting used to this place.”

Harlow made a face as she pondered that. What the hell was laser tag? Whatever it was, Harlow wasn’t going to admit to not knowing about it. Not to Isobel. So she went with bowling, which she definitely knew about and sort of hated but sounded more reasonable than lasers and tags. “Bowling...All right. Bowling. That’s a normal birthday party thing to do?” It sounded sort of normal. “Have you had birthday parties where you’ve gone bowling?”

“I haven’t had a birthday party since 1913,” Isobel said honestly. “Friends have done things for me from time to time but not any parties.” She missed them sometimes but it didn’t bother her very much anymore. “I have been to bowling parties though and they always look like a lot of fun. Everyone seems to love bowling.” She’d drop into them enough times to protect victims that she’d gotten a good idea of what people liked to do through the ages.

Everyone seems to love bowling. Was that true? Maybe it was just a universal thing, like people loving to eat. Harlow couldn’t be sure. “...Bowling,” She said again, deciding that that was probably the best idea she was going to get. Standing up, she nodded and found herself about to leave, but somewhere in the back of her mind she realized Emmit would be upset if she wasn’t polite. Like real polite, not just this kind of polite. “...Thanks...” She managed to get out. Should she invite Isobel to help her with this birthday party? She was going to have to invite her to the party anyway. Probably. “So...you know..don’t tell him about this.”

Isobel had only just gotten used to talking about birthday parties with Harlow of all people and already the woman was getting up to leave. Isobel really didn’t think Harlow knew how to put on a party, or even where to start and she nodded. “I’m guessing Christer and Annabell will be there?” she asked.

“Why would they be there?” Harlow knew very little about Christer or Annabell but she sort of just assumed that people would know she was throwing a party and show up. “If Emmit would want them there, then they’ll be there. Whoever Emmit wants at this party will be there...” Though it would be difficult to find out his list of people to invite without telling him there was an actual party being thrown. This was starting to shape up to more than a big headache.

“Because Christer is a good friend of Emmit’s and Annabell would come by extension,” Isobel explained. She wasn’t exactly surprised by Harlow’s assumption, but then, she didn’t spend much time getting to know demons. Or Ascended demons. “You’ll need to send out invites if this is supposed to be a surprise party. He’s been in town for awhile, right? I imagine there could be a lot of people to track down.” She said it all very casually, not wanting Harlow to think that she thought she wasn’t very prepared for this.

Yeah, Harlow wasn’t going to be able to do this. She didn’t know any of his friends. She knew the one she was talking to now, she’d heard of Christer, and that was that. That was all she knew. And Annabell was a totally different story. “I don’t think Annabell should be there.” She said, glancing at Isobel. what was it with the ‘bel’ people and her just not liking them? “...Have you ever thrown a birthday party?”

“Yeah, I don’t want her around either but sometimes you’ve gotta suck it up,” Isobel sighed a bit. “And yes, I have. It’s been awhile but I know the mechanics. They never change.”

Harlow lifted an eyebrow, biting her tongue hard to keep from snapping at Isobel. Where did she get off, sitting there telling her to just suck it up. "Well you invite whoever the hell you want and I'll do the bowling thing," She said, annoying knowing that she wanted to yell at this woman but she was going to actually need her help with this party.

Isobel had no idea why Harlow was giving her that look and then the tone was pretty much outright hostile. “We should probably air all this out while we’re alone, shouldn’t we?” Isobel asked, straightening in her seat. “Because I don’t know about you but I don’t want to have the possibility of us having an all out brawl at Emmit’s party. He’ll get annoyed and he’s gets that kind of annoyed that makes you feel guilty.” She was annoyed with Harlow as well, but she was controlling it pretty well.

“I don’t have anything to air out with you, Isobel.” Harlow watched the woman seriously, totally annoyed that it had come to this. Really? She was making her talk about this now? Harlow was genuinely being nice here. Or as nice as she got to people that weren’t Emmit. And she was seriously trying to keep it under control but if Isobel went down this road, Harlow wasn’t sure what she’d do in the end. “I’m simply trying to make a party for Emmit.”

“When someone talks to me in a hostile tone, I get the feeling that they have an issue with me,” Isobel said, just as serious herself. “You’re trying to make a party for Emmit, sure, and that’s a very nice gesture and I’m more than glad to help you out, but your flippant, passive aggressive attitude is pissing me off and I have done nothing whatsoever to deserve it.” Was she poking the dragon? Yes, she probably was, but Isobel also didn’t want to have to keep looking over her shoulder. “So what can I do? I’m not going to hurt you and I sure as hell am not going to hurt Emmit. I am no threat to you.” I’m trying to save you two…

Oh, that was it. Harlow had been trying to play nice the whole time but Isobel was just digging, digging, digging away and this was the final straw. “Ok, you listen up. I came into this today deciding to be nice to you but you were the one who started this bullshit. You were the one who sat there and told me to suck it up and I, personally, don’t appreciate your holier than though attitude. So if you’re going to act like a bitch, reign it in and keep it to yourself. And if you think you could ever hurt me, you have another thing coming. You’re out of your mind if you think I’m frightened of you one bit.”

Isobel watched as Harlow vented, not exactly appreciating being called a bitch but she was used to it. “I didn’t tell you specifically to suck it up,” Isobel said calmly after Harlow was done. “I said ‘you’ as a general ‘you’, although I was referring mostly to myself when it came to that. Also, speaking in a calm, casual tone isn’t ‘holier-than-thou’. If you want me to talk to you like that, I’d be more than happy to, but you can’t condemn me for sounding normal.” Admittedly she did start to sound a little superior at the end but Isobel tended to get that way when she was annoyed. “And I don’t care if you’re scared of me or not. I’m just saying you don’t have to worry about me trying to shoot you in the face. But that’s it. I would like us to reach some kind of tolerant understanding because you’re my boyfriend’s partner and I’d like him not to worry that we’re going to get into a Battle Royale every time we’re in a room together.”

Harlow could feel her teeth clench, she could feel the snarl coming but she did her best to hold it at bay. “First of all, I’m not worried by anything you do. You couldn’t worry me if you tried. And...so he’s your boyfriend now?” Interesting. He’d not mentioned that title yet. She’d need to talk to him about that. “Well you should know that your boyfriend is the only reason I’m even speaking to you right now. Because tolerant understanding or not, I’m not sure I like you yet. I don’t know that I trust you around Emmit and I don’t really give a shit if you’ve known him longer than I have.” She clenched one hand at her side, hoping she could keep from swinging it. “But I promised him I’d be civil to you so I’m going to be civil. To do the best I can and right now, that is not getting in a fist fight with you.”

While Harlow’s teeth clenched, Isobel’s eyes went black. Not just the iris but the whole eye filled up with black, giving her an unnerving appearance. It was her tell, the unconscious reaction to anger and threats. “We’re in a relationship, yes,” Isobel said calmly. That’s what Emmit had said when she’d texted him about the bookshop owner. “So you better get used to me being around, just like I have to get used to you being around because believe me, I’m pretty sure we both feel the same way when it comes to one another.” Neither of them wanted the other around. “But I really don’t fucking care if you trust me around Emmit, it’s none of your goddamn business. Deal. The sooner you do, the sooner we can move the hell on to just not liking each other because we don’t like each other.”

Harlow watched Isobel’s eyes, hating that she was a little impressed with the tell. Her own was probably showing, the shadow in the opposite direction and if Isobel ever got near enough to feel it, she’d notice that Harlow was generally running a fever all the time. But right now, Harlow was staying across the table from Isobel because it was the one obstacle keeping her from fighting the woman. “Believe me, I’m already there.” She already didn’t like Isobel purely for just not liking her sake. “And I’m gonna assume that you know what I’m going to say next, but I’m saying it anyway. You hurt him at all, even just the tiniest little thing, and I’m coming after you.”

“Completely understand and it goes both ways,” Isobel said and her anger pulled away and the black pulled away from her eyes, leaving her blinking as she came back down. Looking down at the books in front of her she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “What did the Mourning Star do when you ascended?” she asked, not expecting an answer but she had to try.

Harlow wasn’t expecting this but the fact that Isobel’s fire had quelled sort of gave Harlow nothing to use as fuel for her own. Annoyed, she sighed until she heard Isobel’s question and then she was narrowing her eyes at her. “Why should I tell you that? I wasn’t prepared for Ascension. No one told me what was going to happen. Why should I help you be prepared for a Fall?” Besides, Harlow sort of, kind of liked Star and she wasn’t sure if this was some big secret that she had to keep but she kind of felt like Star wouldn’t want someone else to know anyway.

Isobel drummed her fingers on the book in front of her and met Harlow’s narrow look. “I’m not going to fall. I’m too old to do that. I can’t find any solid information on whatever he or she is but I need to find out if anything was said that can help this.” She knew she was being vague but she was hesitant to tell Harlow her idea just as Harlow wasn’t about to tell her about the Mourning Star. “I can’t find out any information on Fallen and Ascended that agrees either, which I understand, but if I could figure out the Mourning Star, maybe it’ll all make sense.”

Harlow finally sat back down, looking at Isobel. It was nice, to be the one in power this time. To have information Isobel wanted. And something in her decided that it would be a good idea to tell Isobel the tale of what she'd been through, though leaving out any sort of information about Star. "You're never too old to Fall. And it can hit you. I didn't think it could hit me but it did and look where I am now, still Ascended. And just so you know, once it's done it's done. When I was able to change back, it was an outside force but...things change. You aren't the same after it and even if you go back, you'll never be un-Fallen. It just won't happen that way."

Surprised that Harlow actually sat down and started talking, Isobel listened. It was close to what Emmit had said. No going back, caught him by surprise. Isobel may be struggling with her calling but she didn’t think she was struggling so much that she’d fall. “When you ascend or fall, you become human, right? Fully human?” She needed full clarification of that and Harlow wouldn’t lie, she knew that much. Not about this… she hoped anyway.

"You're a fallen angel or an ascended demon, that's what you are." Harlow wasn't about to sit there and tell Isobel that someone fallen or ascended was more breakable post-change than pre-change because that would apply to her too, but she could sort of answer the question. "Why are you so curious about this?"

Which Isobel took to mean that they became human, just like Emmit had said. “Because I have a theory and if I can figure out what this Mourning Star is like, who he or she really is when it comes to fallen and ascended… then I think I can do something. Emmit wouldn’t want to be an angel again, he already had that chance, didn’t he?” she asked rhetorically and ran a hand through her hair. “And maybe you want your wings back. I can’t imagine what it’s like not to have that freedom.” Isobel looked down at the book cover like it would reveal everything she needed to know to have this work. She couldn’t quite bring herself to say what she wanted to do when she wasn’t even sure if it would work and she already said so much that Harlow would probably go running to Emmit who would probably lose it.

Harlow watched Isobel this time, really considering the woman. "...I've spoken to Star a few times. My wings aren't coming back. I was assured of that; not matter how much I want them back, they're locked away. And you never want to imagine what it's like without them. So don't try. You won't do it justice and it won't even be one ounce of what it actually feels like to lose them." She shook her head. "Having a theory is nice and all. I'm all for plans A, B, C, and D, but I mean it, Isobel. It's not going to change. We are what we are, period."

“Being mortal, being human means that you fall under angelic watch,” Isobel said soberly, meeting Harlow’s eyes. “Jurisdiction, however you want to put it. Angels are made to protect and watch over humanity. It is our existence. Which means that being what you are, you should, technically, be under my watch. My protection. As far as I can tell, this Mourning Star isn’t an angel, which means that I should have a solid footing… but since I don’t know what kind of… deity the Mourning Star is, I can’t even tell if there’s any chance of me bargaining or demanding or fighting for you two to have something more than what you have now would work.” She didn’t want to change who they were, she just wanted to give them a fighting chance. “But I have to try. I can’t not try. It’s my calling.” And there it all was and it was probably one of the more idiotic ideas she’d ever had but her passion for it and her sincerity were absolutely clear that she wanted to help the both of them. Not just Emmit.

Harlow got it. Sitting there, listening to her, Harlow really got it. Like actually understood, because that was the same way she'd felt about Star and the rules. Actually, she was pretty certain the 'I just have to try' was the same line she'd used. "Well..." She started, biting back the urge to tell her she didn't need her protection, "Don't get your hopes up. Star doesn't negotiate. I've tried. But you have to do what you have to do. And I can respect that." She said seriously, looking back at Isobel. "The times I've needed to talk to Star I sort of just...asked her to come around and she was there. So I can't help you getting in touch with her, but she's at least...understanding. And Star is just doing what she has to do. I wasn't her biggest fan, obviously, but now I get it." Watching her, she shrugged. "But that's all you're gonna get out of me because I am not having Star on my ass again."

That was more than Isobel ever expected Harlow to say and she kind of looked at the other woman for a long while, surprised. Star was a woman, or at least appeared as one and seemed to be the listening type. Isobel didn’t necessarily feel disheartened by Harlow’s statement that Star didn’t negotiate. There was a difference between being an angel and being a fall or ascended. But that could also mean that Star just outright didn’t pay attention to anything she’d say. “No, I don’t think I can. I’m not even sure the Mourning Star will show up for me. I’m just going to have to roll with this.” Biting her lip she looked at Harlow. “Can you... not tell him? I’m going to tell him, but not until I’m sure whether or not I can even try this. He’s already... well you know how he is. But I’m gonna tell him.”

Harlow didn't like that. She didn't want to be keeping secrets from Emmit. She was in the process of winning his trust back. Clearing her throat, she looked back at Isobel. "I can't promise that. I can promise that I won't mention it but if he somehow brings it up, I'm not lying to him. That's all you get, though."

Isobel nodded. “No, I get that. That’s good. I just figured I’d ask.” She rubbed her eyes and kind of sagged in her seat, feeling the weight of this on her back. It was her own doing and if there was some way to help, she was going to do it. “And I’ll look into the party invitations, try find people to come.”

Somewhere along the lines, Harlow realized that they'd sort of stopped fighting and started talking. And it was mushy as hell and she wasn't exactly a fan of it, but she knew that Emmit was going to be proud of them both for not ripping each other apart at the seams. "...Ok. Well..Let you go back to your reading or whatever you're doing out here. I'll..talk to you again later when I figure out about the bowling alley." Because apparently they were doing this party together too. At least she wouldn't have to do deal with figuring out who to invite or not invite. "Thanks."

The same thought occurred to Isobel and she wondered if this had a chance of continuing. Deep conversations certainly couldn’t happen all the time but they seemed to reach a better truce that she hoped stuck for awhile. If this thing with the Mourning Star worked? Maybe better. “You’re welcome. I’ll let you know when… everything comes together.” Meaning both the invites and the bargain.