ArchivedLogs:Real Answers

Real Answers
Dramatis Personae Jackson, Sebastian, Shane, Shelby, Spencer
In Absentia	2013-04-26 '
Location <NYC> 303 {Holland} - Village Lofts - East Village
This apartment is cheerful, in its way -- bright and airy, its floor plan open and a plethora of windows providing it with an abundance of light. The tiny entrance hall opens into a living room, small, though its sparse furniture and lack of clutter give it a more open feel. The decor is subdued and minimalist; black and white is the dominant theme, with occasional splashes of deep crimson to offset the monochrome, though of late bright coloured sealife has made its way into being painted on the wall. The couch and armchair are upholstered in black corduroy, the low wide coffee table central is black wood and glass-topped, and a few large pillowy beanbags provide additional seating by the large windows that dominate the back wall. Towards the back, a couple of doors lead off into bedrooms and bathroom, and to the right, the kitchen's tile is separated from the living room's dark hardwood floors by black countertops. Above the bedroom to one side, there is higher space; a ladder climbs up to a lofted area looking down on the living room. Standing in front of the partition between living and cooking area is a large fish tank: one lone Betta, blood-red, swims regally among several species of black and silver fish. A hallway beyond the kitchen leads further into the apartment. Another bathroom stands just into the hall and the farthest door leads to the apartment's final bedroom, the door usually kept shut to hold in the acrid fumes of turpentine and paints from within. Check it out! Shelby's dressed up for the occasion! And not at /all/ because she was intent on seducing a certain upstairs neighbor before visiting. Really. Honest. The teenager rolls up to the front door on her board in a white sundress, faded Converse sneakers, with make-up and a cartoon daisy on her cheek. She's even "done" her hair, pulling it back from her face--why not show off the freckles, right? After a pause to scoop up board and settle bag on her shoulder, as well as arrange her expression into something Happy, she boots her toe against the door. "Open up, this is a raid! For /cookies/! I know you're in there!" she bellows. "Dude we have no cookies we are all cookied out." This comes from somewhere inside; it notably does not come with an opening of the door. "There's pie," is a little quieter, and then, moire /boisterous/ (and considerably younger): "/I/ had /half/ a pie." "It was more like a third really." And YET the boys are collectively too lazy for door opening. And so the task falls to Jackson. Hello door. He is brightly-dressed, purple top with flowy-wide butterfly-esque sleeves, a dark denim skirt, knee-high mismatched bright socks. He pulls the door open with a quick-bright smile. "Hey, Shelby! They're right about the cookies, sorry. You could try Ryan's I guess." That longlong way away across the hall. Jax slides back a step, pulling the door wider and gesturing Shelby inside. Happy Face attempts are helped to hear all /three/ of those voices, even if the door doesn't open. Shelby's grin is quick but spontaneous. "/Dude/," she says when Jax appears to open the portal, "you got your /kids/ back." And she is happy for him, even though she probably only has a tiny fragment of understanding of everything that means. Notice how she's quick to just sidle inside after congratulating him. "Is there any pie left? I could totally go for some pie. I feel like gettin' fat." "Yeah there is /all the pie/," Shane is sprawled out on the floor in the living room, lying on his belly with elbows propped on a beanbag and a Nook open in front of him. Sebastian and Spencer are nearby, with a partially-dismantled Jerusalem on the floor nearby and a laptop open in fron of Bastian. "There's not /all/ the pie," Spencer says insistently, "I /ate/ half it." "-- more like a third," Sebastian corrects reflexively, "how much is half?" Spencer actually has to get up to answer this, hurrying over to the kitchen to /examine/ the pie in question (peach-basil.) "Oh," he decides, after looking at it, "OK, a third." "So how much can Shelby have?" is the next question from the more /studious/ of his older brothers. "Two thirds." Spencer is /presenting/ the two-thirds-of-a-pie to Shelby with this. Shane is glancing up from his book, looking Shelby over. Bastian is /very/ studiously looking at his computer. "I did." That is all Jackson says to this, but he says it with a wider-warmer smile. "Uh. Sorry I missed class today." His fingers scuff through his hair. "Two thirds of a pie might make you /sick/, um, but you're welcome to it. You had dinner?" Some time is spent lightning-fast in noting each person present, their position, their expression. Otherwise Shelby plays it cool. Like a good little guest, she slips the bag down and sets it with the board against the wall before toeing out of those ragamuffin sneakers. This ritual is timed almost perfectly to Spencer's presentation of the pie. "Oh man," she says as she solemnly accepts the pie gift, "you're like...the best host ever. You gotta fork too?" What? She can't eat with her /fingers/. The pie is carried with all due ceremony to the couch where she sits within leg-reach of Shane. Or rather, Shane's foot, which Shelby nudges as she gets settled. "You guys look good. Not pruney at all." "Yeah, I'm the best host ever," Spencer will happily agree with this. "It's a /peach/ pie," he also offers, as proudly as though he had made it. And then he /darts/ off to the kitchen because there has been a fork requested and by golly he is going to fork. "Did you know I went to the /hospital/?" he tells Shelby. Also proudly. "I pretty much /reverse/-prune, dude, have you ever seen us after a whole day out of water it's kinda gross." Shane's toes curl when Shelby nudges at his foot, and then he sits up. He closes the coverflap of his fakebook, dark eyes looking over Shelby for a long while. "Yeeeah we gotta get you working on not just jumping /anywhere/, hon," Bastian says to Spencer, frowning at his laptop. "But I /found/ you. /All/ by myself even the /police/ didn't find you." Bastian wrinkles up his nose at this. Only now does he peek upwards, taking in Shelby. "We get flakey more than pruney." "Best host ever, you wanna see if maybe Shelby wants a drink, too?" Jackson's tone is also casual-light, though his gaze is flicking over each of the teenagers in turn. "/I/ need about a gallon of coffee I think. You look nice." "Holy /shit/, the /hospital/? Did you get to ride in an ambulance and everything?" Shelby is of the mind that enthusiasm is a perfect substitute for a simple thanks, given the way she gushes while the fork is accepted. Of course, once she has both pie and fork, she sets both aside. And scootches to the edge of the couch. And raises eyebrows at Shane--because Bastian isn't looking at that moment--as she opens up her arms to suggest a hug. "Reverse prune is flaky?" Go figure. Her cheeks might color up a little with Jax's compliment but her only response to that is, "Special occasion. Y'know." "Yeah did you hear there's a party for us and everything tomorrow. We should go missing more often," Shane says. He wriggles upright and eeeeeyes Shelbyarms, but though he opens one of his own he does not MOVE closer to the couch. Shelbyhugs have to come to /him/ apparently. "Reverse prune is horrible yeah our skin starts to crack and then peel the fuck off you never want to see it." "/Yeah/ -- no," Spencer is forced to reconsider his initial excited answer, "but I rode in a /police car/ with the /lights on/ and a /real policeman/." "Eric is barely a policeman," Sebastian mutters. He looks up again at Jax's compliment, eyes flicking over Shelby. "Spence tried to visit us. In the water." "Eric's /definitely/ a policeman," Jackson says with a slight grimace. "And /no/ you should /not/ go missing more often." This is /just/ the tiniest bit sharper. "Shelby, hon, you want anything to drink?" He is slipping over to the kitchen, getting himself a coffee. But never really looking /away/ from the kids for long. But the pie is over heeeere. Shelby gives a token sigh before she oozes off of the couch and crawls over to flop against Shane. Limphug. That was so much effort. "Gross...you're not like all cracked and peeled under your clothes, are--whoa, Spencer. You jumped into the ocean." She finally gets it! "Man, you shouldn't do that," she goes on, looping an arm around Shaneshoulders, "they've totally got like, sharks out there. Didn't you hear?" Okay, that was a terrible joke. She tries to make up for it with a mannerly, "No thanks, Jax. I wasn't gonna eat all your pie either, I just wanted to...y'know..." Her unoccupied arm goes wide too. This time Bastian gets the eyebrows. "I /know/ isn't that /awesome/?" Spencer doesn't really get the /warning/ about sharks, maybe he thinks this is /more/ reason to jump into the ocean. "There are /so many sharks/, I found /two/ of them but you know they were hunting /another/ shark?" "Not to eat," Sebastian says, a little uncomfortably. "To be /sharks/ with. I want to build a shark. After we make Jerusalem better." Shane drapes himself back down against the beanbag after curling one arm limply around Shelby, too. Most apathetic hugging evar. "It was a mako shark. We were going to have a race." This may or may not be true. Sebastian is fiddling with Jerusalem. But eventually he puts the spider down and crosses over near Shelby. For a hug. "S'aright. There's always more pie. I bake like a fiend. Or a sugar addict I guess." Jax pours himself a large mug of coffee, sweetening it liberally enough it is probably more like coffeesyrup. Something in him seems to relax, slightly, when Sebastian goes towards Shelby, and he lifts his mug to all of them. "I've got some designs to finish, I'll be in my room." He glances over the children one last time, then takes his coffee off to go ART. "I dunno, they're not all nice sharks like these guys." These guys being the brothers Shelby is hauling into a much less lazy hug. C'mere! With an arm looped around each, she /squeezes/ with her skinny arms. "I swear to /god/," is all she mumbles for the duration of the hug. Then they are released, to flee or lounge as per personal tastes. Though she is reaching around Shane to make a bid for that beanbag. "See you, Jax." Shane lounges. He is so loungey. He lounges ON the beanbag as Shelby reaches for it, though it's big enough to share. He'll likely just get dragged along with it. "They're the best sharks." Spencer nabs a piece of peach out of the pie, eating it with his fingers (oops, fork, what fork?) and returning to the laptop. He does not /touch/ the laptop, though he looks at its screen very intently, picking up one of Jerusalem's detached legs to toy with as he does so. Sebastian does not lounge. He doesn't really flee, either, though; he sits cross-legged beside the beanbag, fingers fidgeting with a hem of his purple yoga pants. "Hi," ie quiet, as is, "how've, um, things been?" After a minute of tug o war, Shelby gives up and flops onto her side to rest arm across beanbag, head on hand. Shane will just have to /look around her/. She keeps an idle eye on Spencer and the Jerusalem repair. Not through any real interest in robotics, but because it saves her from peeking at the awkwardness that is Bastian. "Best sharks I know...um. I dunno? You want the real answer or you want the boring answer?" Notice neither of those is the /truthful/ answer. "Um." Sebastian frowns. "Usually don't ask things unless I want the real answer." "Not true," Shane protests. "/You/ ask things because it's polite. /I/ ask things because I actually want the answers. -- how've things been?" His smile is sharp-thin. Sebastian frowns, reaching over Shelby to bap Shane in the forehead. Shane bites up at his hand. But misses. "I want the real answer," Sebastian says, more firmly. "I --" He hesitates. "I'm sorry that -- that was really -- shitty of me. The whole past -- however long it's been." "... yeah, I don't actually even know," Shane admits. "Maybe it's like one of those movies where I think I've been gone a day and then it turns out it was /ten years/." "It was ten /days/," Spencer says with a faint trace of exasperation, "I'm not even ten years /old/ yet." Shelby is not positioned well to do the tennis audience back and forth head movement but she /tries/, while the twins converse. She is attentive until the end, expression cast in a faint half-smile. At the end, she draws a breath...and says, "Oooh, sick burn, Spence. Score one for the little brother." She finger-guns at the kid, complete with 'clikclick' gun cocking sound. What, dawdling? Her? /Never/. Okay, maybe a little. "It's been pretty shitty," Shelby finally answers. "Everyone's been like...scared to death 'cause you guys were gone, and we got this nasty bitch teacher at the school who decided she was gonna tough love me into shape, and...just. Shitty. I guess you guys had your reasons though." "If you want tough love I can /totally/ give you tough love." Shane flexes his claws as he says this. "It's because he loves you," Spencer helpfully explains, "/and/ he's tough." He points Jerusalem's leg back at Shelby, with a vocalized, "chk-chk" because he's not entirely certain on that tongue sound. "That's not generally --" Sebastian is starting to correct, but then doesn't. He just frowns. His gills flutter, but only for a moment. "That sucks." "Yup. But. Life pretty much always sucks," Shane says cheerfully, "you should punch that teacher." "You can't punch a /teacher/." Sebastian and Spencer both say this, wide-eyed. "You'd /definitely/ get expelled for that." "I bet you could punch Logan and not get expelled. What's this bitchteacher like?" Spencer /also/ gets wide-eyed when Shane says bitch, but he has lived with Shane long enough not to bother saying anything about it. Shelby reaches backwards to swat at whatever portion of Shane happens to be closest. "Tough love is a /bad/ thing," she explains helpfully for Spencer's sake. "She stuck me and Ivan in this sim where like...mobsters were shooting at us. And she kept squirting me in the face with water every time I cussed so /you/ better watch out." That's for Shane too. "Except I think maybe Jax yelled at her 'cause she said she was sorry in front of everyone. /After/ she made me look dumb again 'cause ugh." Teachers. Eyes are rolled, before she flops onto her back with her head on the beanbag and her feet crossed at the ankles. "I guess maybe the ocean was more fun, huh?" "There's octopuses in the ocean. They change colours. I don't know if there's spiders, are there spiders?" Spencer looks up from playing with Jerusalem's parts to look to the twins for answer on this. "There's -- sea spiders," Shane ventures, after a pause, a thoughtful frown, (a light return /bap/ at Shelby's swatting hand.) "They're not true spiders. Not arachnids. They're chelicerates, though, that's the same phylum as spiders." Sebastian curls a knee up towards his chest. Then the other. His chin rests on them. "... Mobsters were /shooting/ at you? Um. What. Were you and Ivan supposed to /do/ about that?" "Attack them with cockroaches," Shane suggests. "Draw penises on their faces. Seriously, the fuck? Mobsters shooting at you that sounds bogus. Want me to bite her for you?" Sebastian rolls his eyes, but it's hard to see. "The ocean is --" He quiets again. His chin digs into his knees, his gills fluttering. "It's quieter. There's whole big stretches you can just -- there's just /nothing/ it's just dark and water and more dark and. It's quiet." "And then octopuses try to /kill you/." Shane /might/ make spookyfingers towards Spencer with this. Sebastian wrinkles his nose. "I don't know if it's more fun." He shrugs a shoulder. "It's different. It's /easier/. But I don't know if that's -- more fun." "She didn't let Ivan bring any bugs. I think she didn't want us to use powers but I blinded a dude with graffiti. That's when he started shooting." Shelby can't really shrug, being prone, but she tries anyway. The beans in the bag hiss at the effort. "She said the bullets would've turned to water if they hit us but I dunno how we were supposed to /know/ that. I fucking /hate/ guns. /And/ bugs. I bet I'd hate octopuses too." Now that things have settled down into something approaching normal, she rolls her head to the side and takes her first solid look at Sebastian. "Easier sounds pretty nice, sometimes." "I dunno. Taylor's nice." Shane shrugs at Shelby's potential dislike of octopuses. "You should've bitten her, sounds like she deserved it. Also what the fuck was she /thinking/ why was she taking you to fight mobsters in the DR if she didn't want you to use your powers?" "To use /thinking/," Spencer informs Shane solemnly. "Shhh, traitor," Shane says in return. "We're being angry right now." "Oh!" Spencer nods at this, looking back to his computer screen. "OK what was she /thinking/." His tone mimics Shane's very closely. Sebastian presses his knuckles to his lips, stifling a smile here. "You don't have to be angry you can be whatever." He bites at his lip, for a moment looking up to the ceiling. "Easier's kind of nice. I mean, there's nobody there expecting us to be -- anything, you know? Not homework or not chores or not class or not -- not being normal kids. Not even being human. There's just nobody there who cares what --" But here he hesitates, shrugging again a little stiffly. "But, you know, there's nobody there who --" "-- cares," Shane finishes, wriggling a little closer to settle more against Shelby's side. "I did plenty of thinking. It just wasn't what she wanted to hear," Shelby claims, not bothering to hide her grin at Spencer's parroting of Shane. "Don't think I'm gonna get invited back in there any time soon. I'm not badasses like all ya'll." And yes, she'll go ahead and include the youngest in that. Why not? He survived a trip to the ocean! Taking her cue, she drapes an arm out to act as Shane-pillow and seems to find the ceiling a good thing to study right then too. "Maybe the trick is to give none of the fucks, wherever you are," she suggests, "I think maybe I'ma try that. You should give it a go too." "That's a shitty trick," Shane says with a shake of his head. "Seriously, what, just stop giving a fuck about people, might as /well/ go live in the freaking ocean forever." "You can't live in the ocean forever!" Spencer looks up at this thought, alarmed. "Not until you teach me to have gills." "-- I don't -- think you can learn that, Spence," is Sebastian's slow answer (Spencer looks crestfallen, but only partly so; this is likely an answer he has heard /many times.) "But we can get you a scuba suit or something." He's looking over at Shane now, then at Shelby. His cheeks puff outwards. "/Easier/. But I don't know about /better/." "Easy for you guys to say, you had your easier break." Shelby spares a glance for Spencer--and neither of the others--before facing upwards again. Like Bastian, she puffs out a breath then slips into an easier smile. "I'm glad you guys're back though. Oh..." The arm she hasn't given over to Shane is lifted and aimed in the direction of the (far distant) backpack. "I brought you some stuff. Books 'n shit. Homework." This makes Sebastian brighten. Shane /scowl/. "/Good/ books?" asks Spencer, hopefully. "Homework books," Shane grumbles. Spencer stops looking at them with interest. "You should have your pie." Shane lifts a hand lazily, gesturing towards the pie plate on the table. "It's sitting there smelling all /peachy/." "Peachy," Sebastian echoes, with a crinkle of his nose. "-- I'm probably failing all my classes." Shane scowls again. "Fuck you. /You'll/ probably come back and pass all your classes with flying colours." "Thanks," Sebastian glances towards the backpack. "For the books and sh -- stuff. Um." He looks towards the ceiling now, too. "Are you staying? I mean like. The night?" But the pie is all the way over theeeeere. Unh. It takes Shelby a moment but eventually she begins to haul herself to a seated position, depriving Shane the bony pleasure that is her arm as pillow. "I'm pretty much failing everything except your dad's class," she says as a way of cheering up the less academic twin. Slow progress is made towards the pie plate but once there, and once she has the fork in hand, she picks up the pace. Mmm, peachy indeed. "You're welcome." Mumbled through a mouthful, cheek poked out. Several more bites are taken before she answers--or is able to find an answer--to the question. "Ummm, was gonna head back to the doc's place, I guess. Don't wanna cut in on family time or whatever. But I can maybe come back for the party, for a bit." "You'd better come back for the party," Shane says. "There'll probably be a whole new pie." "There'll /probably/ be booze," Sebastian doesn't sound quite as eager about this as Shane would. "There'll be chalk!" Spencer /does/ sound excited about this. "For /drawing/," in case Shelby was unclear as to its reason. "All the best flavours of chalk," Shane agrees. "Red is the best flavor." This pulls a very tiny quirk of smile from Sebastian. "You can eat chalk?" Spencer's eyes are widening again. "No," both the twins say, together. "You gotta help us, dude." This is Shane, to Sebastian, his thumb jerking towards Shelby. "I mean, I /so/ don't want summer school /again/." "One pie's enough for anyone," Shelby maintains, though halfway through the next bite, she mumbles, "Three-quarters." See? She /can/ be taught. Kind of. And when she's had her fill, having rapidly demolished about half of whatever percentage was left, she stands up to return pie tin and fork to the kitchen. "Some people eat chalk." Hopefully the distance means Spencer doesn't hear this! On her return, she veers towards her stuff instead of the couch again. The bag is left, the shoes are pulled on. "I think I'm stuck with summer school anyway." "Summer school's not so bad," Bastian says with a small frown. "I'll be in summer school. But I'll -- help you guys. With classes /now/." "/I/ want summer school," Spencer decides the moment Sebastian says he is doing it. "Oh god no you /don't/. It's /classes/. During /summer vacation/." "/Robotics/ classes," Sebastian pulls out as a /trump card/. Spencer hugs Jerusalem. "We'll see you tomorrow?" Sebastian sounds hopeful, as he looks over at Shelby. "I mean, I'd -- like that." Shane is flopping back onto his belly during this re-enstuffenating process. He is gropey-reaching for his Nook again. "'course we will." "It's gonna suck but hey. Free food, right?" Beggars cannot be choosers. Shelby hoists her board up under one arm, all set now. Hopefully it has not gotten cold again because she is lacking in things like a hoodie or jacket. Still, the sundress looks /fabulous/. "I'll be there, sure. I mean...chalk? Hell yeah," she says, pausing to give Bastian a small smile. It isn't necessarily an encouraging smile, and certainly not a shy smile, but it seems genuine. "See you, guys. Thanks for the pie, Spence." Sebastian returns the smile. It's small, too. But it's smiley. "Okay," he says, quiet but warm. "See you tomorrow." "You're welcome!" Spencer chirrups. "I'll bring you /more/ pie tomorrow and we can draw /Jerusalem/ can you give me a Jerusalem /tattoo/ Pa won't do it." Shane just -- scrubs at his face. Flashes a toothy smile doorwards. And returns to reading. "You're on," Shelby says to the youngest, "I'll do you up a full body Jerusalem tattoo." And on that note, she then makes her escape--before Jax reappears to argue.