The first place she thinks to check is, of course, his house. Valo trots alongside her, whining every now and then with what she assumes is worry as they make their way down the street. His nose goes to the ground to sniff, trying to pick up Eustace's scent, and when he finds it, he runs ahead, beckoning for Ilsa to hurry! Maybe he really is still at home...!
Except when they arrive...
???
Why does it look like he had just been gardening? And why is there a giant wheelbarrow that's half filled with dirt and plants sitting in the middle of it all, like he'd just upped and left while taking care of it? So, so many things have been unlike him today, but this is certainly more proof that something is amiss. She never knew him as much of a gardener, but he would never leave a mess like this behind, no matter what it was.
While she looks over the terrible mess that is his lawn, Valo rushes up to the door to paw and claw at it to see if Eustace is home. He leaps up, whining and barking still, before he gives up and returns to Ilsa's side.]
No luck...?
[But they didn't see him on the way, which means...
Ilsa sighs.
He went somewhere else. Even after I told him not to.
Groaning, Ilsa turns on her heel and stalks out of the yard, leaving the wheelbarrow and the pile of blueberries behind. Valo picks up his scent once more as they make it back onto the road, and his nose leads them further into town... and to a... bakery? What the...? First the plants and the blueberries, and now, when she heads inside to ask about him, the bakers tell her that a man in a very good mood had come in to order two dozen cream puffs and left.
UGH!!!
Valo next leads her to a café down the road.
To no surprise, Eustace had been here, and he had still been acting very unlike himself, according to the baristas. They explain that he had run off after he was given his order of food. From behind the counter, they hand Ilsa a large box from the bakery and a bag of the now-lukewarm meal that he asked for. She doesn't want this!? But she takes it anyway...
Now Ilsa is not only confused, but she also has two dozen cream puffs... Okay then.
She's about ready to give up, and she leans down to give Valo a scratch behind his ears for a job well done, and an apology.]
I'm sorry that I couldn't find him... or stop him from doing anything crazy.
[She stares down at the box and the bag in her hands...
Maybe she should try calling him? Or even messaging him at this point? She feels like she's at such a loss at this point, and even Valo seems to be downtrodden about it. Why didn't she think of it before? Though, with how his mind is at the moment, she wouldn't be surprised if he was so scatterbrained that he completely forgot it at home, or worse... somewhere else.
Pulling out her phone, Ilsa flips through it to grab Eustace's number and—]
Hm? What's this?
[There are a ton of notifications on her phone. More than she's ever seen. It's for some kind of "game" that seems to be happening at the nearby pub. Something called "Never Have I Ever"? Scrolling through, she sees people on there that she recognizes, names that are familiar to her... more and more and more... and the further that she scrolls, the more dread she starts to feel in her gut. Please, primals, please do not let Eustace be on here.
...
.....
......
Fuck.
There he is.
And she almost chokes on the air in her lungs when she reads his message. Out loud. Because that's how terrified she is of what she's reading.]
"Never have I ever... slept with someone I didn't know"...?
[Her look of surprise fades into disgust, her stomach now turning and twisting around itself as she reads it over and over again. What in Alandus' Saggy Tits?
Eustace!? Participating in a stupid game like this? With something like that? If all the other things didn't just confirm that there was something terribly wrong with him, then this certainly does.
With a great amount of urgency, Ilsa looks down at Valo.]
We need to find him. Immediately.
[The dog senses the direness and immediately lowers his nose to the ground, trying to sniff out Eustace's scent again before he gives a loud bark.]
Do you have something?
[Valo whines, and the two of them break into a run. They need to save him before this gets too out of hand. Eustace has already wounded his pride with the townsfolk, and now he's about to do it with the others!?
The scent must be fresh, which would mean that they are hot on his trail. Down the road they go, through the main part of town, past all of the shops and the businesses, and the further they move, the more Valo's tail begins to swish back and forth until they finally reach a pub.
She peers through the window first, and she sees a large crowd of people inside, and it's just as she feared—all of them drinking, laughing, looking like they're having a good time. It looks a bit rowdy in there, which she knows is not to Eustace's tastes, so why...? But Valo's barking confirms that he is indeed in there somewhere.]
Wait here.
[She orders him to sit and Valo obliges happily, begging her with a whine to please bring his dad back safe and sound and NORMAL... And so, with one last heaving sigh, Ilsa pushes through the doors of the pub, immediately wincing at how loud it is, and searches around for Eustace.....]
no subject
The first place she thinks to check is, of course, his house. Valo trots alongside her, whining every now and then with what she assumes is worry as they make their way down the street. His nose goes to the ground to sniff, trying to pick up Eustace's scent, and when he finds it, he runs ahead, beckoning for Ilsa to hurry! Maybe he really is still at home...!
Except when they arrive...
???
Why does it look like he had just been gardening? And why is there a giant wheelbarrow that's half filled with dirt and plants sitting in the middle of it all, like he'd just upped and left while taking care of it? So, so many things have been unlike him today, but this is certainly more proof that something is amiss. She never knew him as much of a gardener, but he would never leave a mess like this behind, no matter what it was.
While she looks over the terrible mess that is his lawn, Valo rushes up to the door to paw and claw at it to see if Eustace is home. He leaps up, whining and barking still, before he gives up and returns to Ilsa's side.]
No luck...?
[But they didn't see him on the way, which means...
Ilsa sighs.
He went somewhere else. Even after I told him not to.
Groaning, Ilsa turns on her heel and stalks out of the yard, leaving the wheelbarrow and the pile of blueberries behind. Valo picks up his scent once more as they make it back onto the road, and his nose leads them further into town... and to a... bakery? What the...? First the plants and the blueberries, and now, when she heads inside to ask about him, the bakers tell her that a man in a very good mood had come in to order two dozen cream puffs and left.
UGH!!!
Valo next leads her to a café down the road.
To no surprise, Eustace had been here, and he had still been acting very unlike himself, according to the baristas. They explain that he had run off after he was given his order of food. From behind the counter, they hand Ilsa a large box from the bakery and a bag of the now-lukewarm meal that he asked for. She doesn't want this!? But she takes it anyway...
Now Ilsa is not only confused, but she also has two dozen cream puffs... Okay then.
She's about ready to give up, and she leans down to give Valo a scratch behind his ears for a job well done, and an apology.]
I'm sorry that I couldn't find him... or stop him from doing anything crazy.
[She stares down at the box and the bag in her hands...
Maybe she should try calling him? Or even messaging him at this point? She feels like she's at such a loss at this point, and even Valo seems to be downtrodden about it. Why didn't she think of it before? Though, with how his mind is at the moment, she wouldn't be surprised if he was so scatterbrained that he completely forgot it at home, or worse... somewhere else.
Pulling out her phone, Ilsa flips through it to grab Eustace's number and—]
Hm? What's this?
[There are a ton of notifications on her phone. More than she's ever seen. It's for some kind of "game" that seems to be happening at the nearby pub. Something called "Never Have I Ever"? Scrolling through, she sees people on there that she recognizes, names that are familiar to her... more and more and more... and the further that she scrolls, the more dread she starts to feel in her gut. Please, primals, please do not let Eustace be on here.
...
.....
......
Fuck.
There he is.
And she almost chokes on the air in her lungs when she reads his message. Out loud. Because that's how terrified she is of what she's reading.]
"Never have I ever... slept with someone I didn't know"...?
[Her look of surprise fades into disgust, her stomach now turning and twisting around itself as she reads it over and over again. What in Alandus' Saggy Tits?
Eustace!? Participating in a stupid game like this? With something like that? If all the other things didn't just confirm that there was something terribly wrong with him, then this certainly does.
With a great amount of urgency, Ilsa looks down at Valo.]
We need to find him. Immediately.
[The dog senses the direness and immediately lowers his nose to the ground, trying to sniff out Eustace's scent again before he gives a loud bark.]
Do you have something?
[Valo whines, and the two of them break into a run. They need to save him before this gets too out of hand. Eustace has already wounded his pride with the townsfolk, and now he's about to do it with the others!?
The scent must be fresh, which would mean that they are hot on his trail. Down the road they go, through the main part of town, past all of the shops and the businesses, and the further they move, the more Valo's tail begins to swish back and forth until they finally reach a pub.
She peers through the window first, and she sees a large crowd of people inside, and it's just as she feared—all of them drinking, laughing, looking like they're having a good time. It looks a bit rowdy in there, which she knows is not to Eustace's tastes, so why...? But Valo's barking confirms that he is indeed in there somewhere.]
Wait here.
[She orders him to sit and Valo obliges happily, begging her with a whine to please bring his dad back safe and sound and NORMAL... And so, with one last heaving sigh, Ilsa pushes through the doors of the pub, immediately wincing at how loud it is, and searches around for Eustace.....]