talk a little softer

“Walking away from me is ill-advised,” he responds with a roll of his eyes, easily keeping the pace. He glances up at the umbrella above his head and then the man beside him, somewhat touched at the courtesy. Of course he hasn’t actually felt the rain since his untimely demise, but at least he didn’t have a face full of umbrella.

“Frustrating is one word for it.” The Bridegroom peels away and begins to pace. “It’s there. I can see it with my own eyes.” The North mansion, standing just as it did when he was a boy. The smell of his mother’s baking wafting toward him through the open front door. “How can you not see it? It’s right there.” He gestures toward the house, but finds it blinks in and out of focus a few times when it does. If he stands a little further to the right, it seems like the house disappears entirely. “Seems I might be mistaken…”

     “ Yes, I know you were mista-- Wait,why did you say it was ill advised? “

     The pacing had been distracting.  Actually, everything about Mr. North had been distracting and would continue to be for the foreseeable future.  Toby pulls the umbrella back down over his own head when the ghost finally seems to settle out of his reach.  The rain doesn’t matter to them, he knew that much.  It didn’t dampen their hair hair or soak their clothing, nothing could change the way the looked after they met their untimely fate, but it still pokes at a need to be polite all the same.

     So he steps forward again, lifting the umbrella to cover the both of them.

     He’d given up a long while back in pretending he wasn’t a strange man.

      “ Just because I can hear you doesn’t mean I have to respond. “

     It’s a foolish and petulant response, one he didn’t give any consideration as he adjusts his umbrella once again.  The man an arms reach away was a grey, he knew that, he knew he knew that, but it didn’t keep him from holding the umbrella just a touch higher so it was over the grooms head as well rather then clipping through him.  He might as well be polite, and the image of things moving through greys was always a little unnerving.

      “ --- That’s the most recent sketch, right ?  From the body pulled out of rogers pond?  Or -- Or is that the one from behind the welling property...? “

      It’s not the worst way to start a conversation, certainly not the best, but it was just going to have to do.  He knew who it was already, perks of being able to see the dead, or at least hallucinate so well you were sure you were seeing the dead.   But again, that wasn’t a good conversation starter either, so he’d gone with asking about the sketch rather than just blurting out the name of a man missing for an extended period of time.

          brow furrows when he doesn’t get a response immediately and alfie’s left to watch toby adjust his appearance and stumble for something to say. it’s not out of the ordinary to see this from his friend. really, it’s not all that concerning - but that fact in itself doesn’t stop the detective from tilting his head and trying to get eye contact - anything. it’s all he can do to stop himself from reaching out and pulling that strand of hair back into his friend’s face. 

          it looks better that way.

          “do.. you need a hand? we can… go somewhere quieter - less populated? i’ve already cased the scene - there’s nothing here for us.” a pause, fingers shifting to brush over the back of tobias’ hand ever so gently. “besides… this rain ain’t gonna do anything for my hair, you know - i didn’t bring a jacket…”

      With Alfie tilting his head this way and that, Tobias realizes that he’s looking for eye contact, and while it wasn’t necessarily an uncomfortable thing for him when it came to the living, the idea that he might look up to see his friend and lock eyes with something else instead.  It’s a prospect he’s not too excited about, but the little touch to the back of his hand is enough to have him picking up his head and looking directly at the other detective.

      Just Alfie.

      Mr. Egress had gone from his line of sight, but not out of hearing range.  Better but not solved.  Tobias takes a deep breath and shifts his stance, reaching again to grab the handle of his umbrella and right it, seeing as it had sagged to an odd, somewhat useless angle.  It really doesn’t take much thought on the matter for him to shift to hold it over both of their heads, holding rather low on the handle so it could be tall enough for the larger man.