ArchivedLogs:Have Your Cake

Have Your Cake
(And eat it, too!)
Dramatis Personae Micah, Jackson
In Absentia	21 June 2013 Small, quiet birthday 'party' on the roof.
Location <NYC> Village Lofts - Rooftop - East Village
It tends to be windy, up here, but the presence of plastic table and folding chairs suggests that nevertheless building residents occasionally make their way out to this rooftop. With a good view of Tompkins Square Park less than a block away it's a good spot for city-watching. There's a railing around the edge, though it might be possible (if /unwise/) to climb over it to the narrow concrete ledges beyond and from there to the fire escape. Centrally, someone has broken down crates and constructed a small raised-bed garden up here, barren in winter but filled in three other seasons with a small assortment of herbs and vegetables. The concrete wall that rings the roof has been decorated, painted in vivid bright shades by some artistic hand to add colourful cheer to the rooftop. The mural shifts in terrain. One wall sports a beach, flecked with grass and seashells and driftwood and shore birds. Beach transitions into meadow, colourful with wildflowers and butterflies and dragonflies; meadow shifts into snow-capped mountains, subsides into piedmont and sprouts into a verdant forest on the fourth, alive with animals. Micah has left a /note/ for Jax to meet him up on the roof when he gets back from work! In the spot where shoes go when you enter the apartment. It is a neon green sticky note, to guarantee it is easier to see. For some reason, this seemed like a better plan than a text. The sun is just starting to make its climb down toward the horizon, creating gradients of blue across the sky. Micah has set up a table with plates and /containers/. One of them is a covered casserole dish, the other a large white pastry box bearing the cheerful Happy Cakes logo. There is a line of what looks to be a metalwork sculpture forming a sort of runner centrepiece. On closer inspection, it reveals itself to be a series of handcrafted small metal-and-glass-bead flowers, desert plants, dragonflies, ladybugs, and more fantastic beetle-type creatures attached around a string of lights. The lightbulbs have been changed out to maximize the variety of colours and to fit shapes and sizes to the metalwork pieces. Micah is dressed in an almost-newish pair of jeans and a sage green button-down shirt. He is standing by the table, engaged somewhere between fussing at the set-up and being distracted by looking out at the skyline. Given the shelf-life of Jax's phones lately the colourful stickynote is probably a very good thing. He is out on the roof in short order after returning from school. He's dressed from work still although in his case that doesn't really mean a whole lot! Silver-edged black capri jeans, a thin red tank top underneath an open black button-down with silver pinstripes. He's eschewing shoes at the moment; his footsteps are softer than the heavy creak of the roof door as he slips out. He looks up at the sun before he looks at Micah and there's a quick smile on his face as he slips over. His arms curl around Micah's waist, interrupting fussing with a kiss to the back of the neck. A little uncomfortable, a little too hot as he nuzzles in against Micah's neck. "Oh, wow. Those are -- that's gorgeous, honey-honey." Micah presses back into the contact from Jax, nuzzling gently. "Happy birthday, hon. I was tryin' to...it's kind of /loosely/ based on that mural that Lucien made you scrub off. It seemed too much a shame for it to be gone, so I tried to...very...abstractly...recreate it a bit. I don't do much two dimensional outside of technical drawin's, so...this is what came of it! I'm hopin' the lights reflect as colourful as I was aimin', in the dark. I haven't turned 'em on without other lights around, yet." He turns to flash a bright smile Jax-wards. "I made dinner! I borrowed Ryan's kitchen so it would be more of a surprise. Left more down there than I brought up, I think! Are you hungry?" "Oh -- oh /gosh/ you /made/ all these?" Jackson squeezes Micah a little bit tighter, but then releases him to lean against the side of the table instead. He extends a hand, fingertips brushing lightly against one of the sculptures. "There's dragonflies," his tone is bright, at this. He picks one up, resting it on his palm. There's a long quiet moment as he just eyes it, smile fading into something more thoughtful. It returns a moment later, quick and warm. "Starvin'. Bet Ry an' everyone'll thank you, too. Y'have an alright day?" "Little bit at a time, yep." Micah replies, blushing faintly. "An' yes, my day was good! Was pretty easy t'get back here early because it's the first full week of no school most places, so most of the kids are off at camp or on vacation." When Jax moves to inspect the sculpture-string more closely, he retrieves a bowl filled with salad from a small cooler below the table. This he sets next to the casserole dish before pulling that open as well. "So.../everythin'/ is kinda a testament to my own indecisiveness today. Salad's the only thing I managed to settle on simply!" Micah dishes out small servings of the mandarin orange and toasted walnut mixed green salad, with a light citrus vinaigrette. Then he gestures to the casserole dish. "I made avocado boats, but couldn't pick which /kind/, so I made all of them that I knew how. It's uh..." He points out each of four different types in turn. "Black bean and sweet corn pico de gallo salsa, fire roasted tomato lentil, lime-cucumber-mango, and quinoa-bell pepper with tahini dressing. This is where lots ended up downstairs, 'cause I only brought up one avocado worth of each." "First week /of/ school for us," Jackson says with a small wrinkle of his nose. "Oh -- oh, /gosh/. Honey, you really -- wow." He plops himself down in a chair, tucking one leg up beneath him. "-- Lime cucumber mango that pretty much sounds like heaven." His chin drops to rest on his knee. "/Only/ one avocado worth'a -- you know, I'm just decidin'," he informs Micah, "that every day is gonna be a birthday." He stretches out an arm, plucking a wedge of orange out of the salad. "Kinda glad for a little bit'a heaven right now, too." He stares at the orange a long time before he takes a small nibble. His eyes shift out towards the setting sun at the horizon. "Longest day'a the year." Micah settles into the chair opposite Jax, once he has seated himself. He serves one of the mango avocado halves to Jax, taking a pico de gallo for his own plate. "I can cook for you more if y'want. /Cook/. Not bake. You don't want me to bake. I just didn't wanna steal your spot in the kitchen so much... It's actually nice. I been kitchenless for /months/." He picks at a bit of walnut and lettuce, munching at this quietly for a moment. "Yeah, I thought...just a little simple, quiet kinda night might be the order of the day. With all the madness that keeps goin' on." "It's gettin' madder again." Jackson's fingers have curled into a loose cage around the dragonfly. He sets it back down, beside his plate, now. "Had a couple days'a quiet, though." His tone shifts back to light. He sucks the rest of the orange into his mouth, then takes a bite from the avocado. "Y'know you can use ours any time," he says with amusement; he corrects with a small blush, "-- use mine. Mmm. I mean, /'specially/ if this is the kinda thing you turn out." He takes another bite, gaze shifting back out towards the sun. "I like simple." "Should I ask or not ask?" Micah inquires, brows twitching in an internal fight over whether to /raise/ or /furrow/. Interest or concern? "I s'pose I could, at that." He blushes more noticeably, himself. "Just...got used to it sorta...bein' /your/ space for..." His look shifts a bit sheepish, realising that this is somewhat silly. Fingers from his free hand spider-crawl their way closer to Jax's, now that it is empty, resting his fingertips against the back of Jax's hand. "You okay?" he checks in before taking his own bite of stuffed avocado. "The woman who took Ivan. With, um, the dung beetle. Kind of." Jackson still looks out towards the setting sun. "-- Blew up City Hall." He takes another bite of his food. His hand turns over, fingers curling up around Micah's hand now. His attention shifts back to the other man, and he lifts Micah's hand to kiss the backs of his knuckles. "I'm alright. I'm good. I'm kinda crazy 'bout avocado." His cheek rests against Micah's knuckles. "But it's /also/ -- I mean, I invited you. You should feel welcome." "Thea? Blew up...City Hall." Micah blinks repeatedly, trying to process the information. "Is. Ohgosh. Did...I guess there's no way there weren't casualties." He shakes his head, teeth meeting with his lower lip before he continues speaking. "Have they released a statement as to /why/? I thought...she was just tryin' to get enough money t'get /away/. Not. Explode things." His frown melts away again with that kiss. Right...enjoying a simple night. No fretting. "I may have utilised some insider information on the ingredient choices," he stage-whispers conspiratorially. "I know...I'm glad you did. It was kinda...just a silly thought, I guess. I get those sometimes." "Not sure on casualty reports yet but -- no doubt." Jax's cheek stays, resting against Micah's knuckles. His voice is very quiet. "Not sure on the /whys/ either. Angry, I guess. Who ain't. She seems like a woman been through a lot of pain." Against Micah's hand, his cheek tightens. "Seems to be a lotta that going around." His eye slips closed, and for a brief stretch there is silence. It is broken after another quick smile; he lifts his head to look up at Micah. "/Insider/ information? It's bad how these days that jus' makes my mind jump to telepaths. Hive knows /everyone's/ tastes. -- I guess there's other ways to learn about people too, though," is added with a touch of amusement. His lips brush Micah's knuckles again. "I like you silly. I jus' -- also like you --" his cheeks colour again. "Here." "Yeah, I guess that is the way of things lately," Micah sums up with a bit of a sigh, before pushing back that information for /later/. "In all fairness, we /were/ kinda connected by a telepath for a /minute/ there," he reminds with a playful grin. "But I did figure that one out the old-fashioned way in that you /told/ me." The red tinge to his cheeks darkens again. "Me, too. I mean. Bein' here. Not /me/." He giggles at his own fumbling. "We /were/. -- Oh gosh I did didn't I? Actually probably many times, I've written /odes/ to avocado," Jax says with a laugh. "-- Actually oh gosh if you ever /did/ read any poems I wrote you'd prob'ly dump me straightaway to get rid of the chance of stumblin' over any more, makes Vogon poetry look good." He finishes most of his avocado, saving one mouthful pushed to the side of his plate and reaching for the other half of the pico de gallo. "You /should/ like you. I mean /and/ like being here, I hope. But also /you/. Cuz. You? Pretty freaking amazing." "Goodness, I doubt your writin' would be /deadly/. Maybe not your best artform, but not as bad as all /that/." Micah's statements may be hard to make out through the continuous giggling that is only /mostly/ between the words. "If I was gonna ditch somebody over bad poetry, I'd have had t'stay single for all of high school, at /least/." He decides on a quinoa avocado half for his next one, plopping it onto his plate. "Ohgosh, I guess I like me well enough, that just wasn't what I was tryin' to say." The red takes over his ears easily by this point, so he flips back to the other part of the conversation. "Besides, I really ought t'put up with your potential for bad poetry since you have t'put up with my potential for /horrible/ baking. I make a point of /not/ doin' it, though." He gestures with his currently-empty fork at the Happy Cakes box. "I decided I wanted t'keep you /alive/ an' had Hanna make your cake. Well...cupcakes. I couldn't decide on a kind again, so it's four different types of cupcakes just iced together to look like a sheet cake." "Naw, me an' words don't get along so good. If I want to make a poem I'll do it with paint." Jackson's teeth flash bright and wide. He glances away towards the horizon, nose crinkling as he notes somewhat less sun than there was before. "We should have a terrible art off. You can bake me cookies, I'll write you a ballad." The mention of cupcakes has him immediately putting down his fork; who needs dinner when there is SUGAR involved? "-- Cupcakes? /Lots/ of cupcakes?" He lets go of Micah's hand, reaching for the pastry box. "-- I didn't date at all in high school," he admits with a blush. "Possibly 'cuz'a my poetry." "Ohgosh, you don't know what you're askin'. I'll have t'have /you/ man the fire extinguisher for a change." Micah ducks behind a hand to hide his face briefly. "Get us kicked out of the apartment for settin' off the alarms one time too many. Last straw." He moves the hand to gesture emphatically, how /final/ that straw is! Jax's sugar-enthusiasm (nothing new, but apparently still entertaining!) earns yet more giggles from Micah. "/Lots/ of cupcakes! It's a...if I can remember what I finally settled on, I think there may be a gold star in store for me." He pauses to draw a deep breath for /listing/. "Maple-ginger-peach in the blue wrappers, dark chocolate cherry in the red, raspberry tiramisu in the purple, and strawberry-vanilla in the yellow. All with buttercream frosting. An' vegan." Because it would be a cruel trick to bring a bunch of /not/ vegan cupcakes for Jax's birthday! Opening the box also reveals the icing to be coloured in a rainbow gradient, surprisingly smooth in its transitions from one colour to the next. "It's alright, if the fire alarm goes off we can just bribe the superintendent with cupcakes," Jackson replies lightly. "-- charred burnt cupcakes." His nose crinkles as he ponders the /efficacy/ of this bribe. "-- Maybe I'll bake cupcakes /first/ just to keep the bribe at the ready for when we need it. /Maple ginger peach/? That is basically like everything I love in cupcake form." He starts to reach for one of those! But then stops, reconsidering, and reaches towards a raspberry tiramisu instead. But. /Also/ stops with a: "Oh /gosh/ the icing's so pretty I don't hardly want to mess it up." The listing of the cupcakes /also/ earns. A gold star appearing bright and shiny against Micah's shirt. Micah's mouth opens to make the rejoinder about the baked goods being horribly burnt, but Jax beats him to it, so he just /smirks/ instead. "I know! Y'see why I couldn't pick a whole cake of just one flavour? Choices are hard." He tries his best to create a /serious/ expression when Jax laments messing up the icing. "Y'know, Jackson. You can't. Have your cake an' eat it, too." Okay, so it devolves into snickering almost before the last words are out of his mouth. "I took a picture of it, so it will be /memorialized/. Also, I don't think it would /survive/ all the other people who wander through the apartment, so it's gettin' eaten up one way or another. I don't think even a sign labellin' it as /poison cake/ would do any good. Might as well enjoy it since it's /your/ birthday cake!" He glances down to regard the illusory gold star, grinning again at that! "I'm terrible at choices," Jax agrees, "I just want all'a -- did you really just say that?" His mouth curls into a smirk at Micah's snickering. "You're right though, I think cake /anywhere/ 'round here lasts all of two seconds." He extends a hand, running his forefinger through the icing to trace out letters: POISON CAKE. He licks the icing off his finger afterwards. "Besides, I always have my cake and eat it too. S'why I always make so /much/." "Hm. Between the two of us, nothin' is gonna be decided simply /ever/. Just all the things. Always." Micah gestures expansively, to indicate /all the things/. "Mighta just." His lips quiver faintly with suppressed laughter, which escapes as Jax /actually/ labels the poison cake. "Well, at least that means the icing's a mess an' you can eat whatever you want without worryin' about it, now! Were you just tryin' to see if people will still eat it when we put it downstairs like that?" He stands, coming up behind Jax and moving as if to reach past him toward the cake. "Or are you just declarin' open season on icing?" "Be the /tastiest/ of all wars. And -- really the only one where it ain't real creepy to eat your foes." Jackson leans back in his chair when Micah steps up behind him, one hand braced against the table as his head bonks against Micah's stomach. "I definitely have friends who'd /think/ it's a poison cake, anyway. Worse hippies than me. Give 'em refined sugar you might as well be giving 'em arsenic." "Hmm...you mean you /don't/ usually consume the hearts of your enemies t'gain their powers? I thought that was just how it was done," Micah manages to say in an /even/ tone, no less! He is briefly distracted from his mission by Jax head-bonks, petting at his head with his fingertips. Then he remembers that he has /two/ hands! Another finger snags a glob of icing and deposits it on the tip of Jax's nose. If there is a little left for him to taste as well, that could be coincidence. "That just means more sugar for /us/. I won't complain." "I think you're confusin' me with Sylar," Jax answers lightly. He presses his head up into the touch of fingertips, smile brightening wide at the glob of icing. His tongue streeeetches out, reaching up -- not actually long enough to lick his nose, though. Alas. Instead he gets up, nudging his chair aside to curl his arms around Micah, lean in and -- nudge his nose to Micah's, wiping some of the icing onto the other man instead. There is no hope...everything is now Micah-giggles. "Well, it's a perfectly understandable mistake, you have to admit." No, he doesn't. Because it isn't /at all/. "Heee, icing nose-kisses! Best kind of battle." He /also/ stretches out his tongue and manages to lick the icing-blob off with the flick of a tongue-tip, giving Jax a look that reads something like, 'What, everyone can't do that?' "Woooah." Jax's eye opens wide. "Are you /sure/ you aren't a mutant?" He POKES at Micah's tongue with his finger while Micah licks off icing. "I'd get tested if I were you that's, um," he leans in closer as if he is confiding a deep secret, "kind of /freakish/." And yet he tries again. Stretching out his pierced tongue, wiggling it upwards. It still doesn't come anywhere near his nose, which is crinkling up in his attempt. Wigglewiggle. "Gah!" Tongue-pokings feel /weird/! Micah hides his tongue back in his mouth where it /belongs/. "Well, I've never been /tested/. Unless Osborn sneaked a blood sample at that creepyparty. That would be kind of a sad superpower, though." He makes a scrunchy-face at the thought. Jax's ongoing attempts earn a snicker. "Maybe everybody /else/ has defective tongues." "I think it'd be a real useful power," Jackson reaches a hand to the side to swipe another dab of icing, "if you're real prone to getting sugar all over your /nose/ all the time." His finger bops against Micah's nose, smearing the icing there. "You ain't never had no complaints about my tongue." "I didn't used to be, but I'm gettin' the feelin' this may become more relevant now." Micah does his best to look /extremely/ put out, as he accurately anticipates Jax's next move in putting more icing on his nose. "You're gonna start sneakin' up on me with icing, like puttin' butter on a cat's nose." He shakes his head, just leaving the icing smear on his nose for a bit before giving up and licking it off again. "Wouldn't be fair for me to complain about the majority of the population bein' defective. It's like...a wild type human deficit." He shakes his head sadly, on behalf of the /species/. "-- People put butter on cat's noses?" Jackson looks confused. He stretches out his tongue again but once more fails to reach his nose. In the end he gives up, just curling his arms around Micah and bopping his forehead lightly against Micah's. "I just /might/, though. You know me. Got kinda a terrible love for sweet things." "It's s'posed to help with hairballs? I think maybe people just like watchin' the cats try to lick it back off their noses. All funny-faced. Little pink tongues." Micah smiles a happy-little smile, pulling Jax in for a tight hug before rocking him into something like a slow dance step. With no music. "I know. With most people it'd be an empty threat, but I'm pretty sure you're like as not to /have/ icing around on any given day." "Like as not." Jackson kisses Micah softly, and falls into slow easy step along with him. His head rests, lightly, against the side of the other man's. His arms curl more snugly around Micah. "I like to keep my sweet things close." Micah returns the gentle kiss and follows it with a deeper one. Jax moving cheek-to-cheek facilitates nuzzling. He continues the slow, circling dance step as he replies with a lowered voice, "Good thing I'm not plannin' on goin' anywhere, then."