ArchivedLogs:Argh!

Argh!
Dramatis Personae Sebastian, Shelby, Shane
In Absentia	2013-04-13 Teenagers. :/
Location <NYC> Evolve Coffeeshop - Lower East Side
Tucked down an alley, this out of the way coffeeshop is easy to miss if you don't know what you're looking for. Unassuming from the outside, its inside makes up for it -- spacious, with abundant seating and plenty of plush couches and cosy armchairs along the room's edges. The coffee is good, the prices are cheap, and there is a definitive alternative vibe to the room, from the music they play to the art that hangs on the walls. The real draw to this place, though, stems from its client base -- one of the very few businesses in the city that is welcoming to mutants, Evolve has become widely popular as a hangout with that crowd, and it is quite common to see them among clientele and employees both. At night, the thump of music can be heard from above, coming from the adjoining nightclub of the same name that sits over the coffeehouse. There's a faint spill of music pounding from the floor above, largely insulated by soundproofing but growing much louder with each opening of the door as people pass in and out. Down below, the coffeeshop is frequented by plenty who are /dressed/ for clubbing and a handful less flashy, too, scattered around tables with books or laptops. Sebastian is kind of straddling the line between both -- he looks bright enough, in vivid yellow sleeveless top embroidered with darker yellow butterflies, very purple skinny jeans, his usual pink and grey platform sneakers. Silver makeup shimmering over his eyes. But despite these trappings of flash he isn't aimed for the club, just curled into a corner of a couch with his phone in one hand and a book -- /Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell/ -- in his other. His attention is mostly focused on the book. Shelby is more street kid than club kid this evening. Skinny jeans, a zipped up hoodied, backpack, skateboard. With the hood pulled up, she even manages nondescript pretty well--and upon entering, she finds that is to her detriment, due to not yet drunken clubgoers not getting the hell out of the way! A few pokes with the edge of the board do wonders though and one can track her progress through the coffeeship by way of squeaks or yelps or less polite cries. Shelby's been here, and Shelby's been here, and Shelby's been /there/...and here is Sebastian. Board and bag are swung to the floor in front of the couch, while she climbs onto the other end. Knees to chest, arms around shins, she squints at him over this makeshift shield. Yeah...someone is either pissed or nervous. "Hey." Sebastian yips quietly, a startled squeak as he looks up. Apparently his book was /very/ engrossing. But the sight of Shelby puts a bright warm smile on his face that -- immediately fades to something more worried. More apologetic. "Shelbyhi. Ohgosh. It's good to see you I -- hi. I'm sorry I -- /hi/. Can I get you a coffee?" He closes his book, setting it on his lap. "Nah. You're gonna need your money if you're staying gone." She just can't seem to help herself--that knife is right there and it must be twisted. But Shelby grimaces afterward, gestures to try to erase what was just said, and makes another go at it. "So, like. I suck at this shit, huh? You're like normal kid, kinda, and I'm...not. Really. Kinda. And I'm /still/ pissed at you. Y'get why or...?" Sebastian flinches slightly, tensing as his inner eyelids shutter but they open again a moment later. "-- me, normal?" This seems to amuse him, and his nose crinkles up for a moment. The amusement fades, though, his expression turning more serious. "I --" He doesn't really look all that certain. "-- didn't text you?" "/No/." Wait. "/Yes/. But not just /that/." Augh, words. Shelby tips forward to crawl along the couch until she's close enough for low angry words to be heard without summoning attention. "Look. You wanna run away, I get that, okay? I'm like the /queen/ of running. But you run away from shit I used to /dream/ about having when I was sleeping in ditches, you don't talk to me unless I pry it out of you, make me chase you all over the goddamned city, and then drop off into the ocean without even /thinking/ maybe you should let me know you were gonna be gone a few days? And then come back like it was nothing? Oh sorry, just turned off my phone. That's /bullshit/. And you should /know/ it if you missed me all that much." "I --" That's all Sebastian says, to start. His mouth closes abruptly, his gills flaring wide. They don't close again, just flutter restlessly as he frowns down at his lap. "I did miss you, I --" He shuts his mouth again, and fidgets uncomfortably where he sits. "I don't -- think -- I'm not --" His fingers are fidgeting, too, claws scraping at the pages of his book. It is slow and reluctant when he finally speaks again: "I /don't/ know it. I don't really know a lot of things. You say I'm like normal kid but I think I'm mostly just faking it a lot." "Seriously? Seriously. That's...that's it? Because you're not normal, you didn't think maybe I'd worry. Or...or think you were running off on me too." Shelby is still angry--she's damn near vibrating with it, face red under its veil of freckles--but that doesn't keep her from reaching out with both hands. One to either side of his neck, palming the gills down before he suffocates. "That's the most self-centered fucking thing I've ever heard and I'm /plenty/ self-centered, you jerk," she grits at him. "/No/, I --" Sebastian's press up against Shelby's hands, but then slowly flatten as she presses at them. "That's not -- I don't -- I just -- I don't /know/ what you -- I'm not used to people --" He is tense, shifting slightly away from Shelby but then not actually pulling back, just slumping against the back of the couch. The quieting of his gills does nothing to unwire the tension clenching his muscles. "I'm sorry." In contrast to his posture his voice isn't edgy-tense anymore, just subdued. Shelby waits until no more quivering is felt, then pulls her hands back. She turns, she folds her arms and she slumps back against the couch. To all appearances, gloomyteen but there's a matching tension wired through her as well. It leaves her jaw clenched, bulldog face in full effect. "Would've figured you'd maybe been seeing me long enough to...nngh." Words, man. They suck. She scrubs at her face and then a /true/ slump follows. "I'm sorry too." There's just enough time for her to pull in a breath before she says, "Me and Hive kissed." Sebastian is just pulling in a slow breath, this time through his actual lungs. He's started to straighten but slumps back again at Shelby's words. His brows furrow deeply. "Youwha--" Deeper frown. "Ar -- bu -- y --" His claws are scritching at his book again, scraping grooves into the edges of its pages. "But we -- are you -- because I didn't -- I mean I know he's -- um." He swallows. "Are you breaking up with me?" "I dunno. You want me to? 'Cause you disappearing for four days kind've felt like it. Like...you've got enough shit on your plate right now without having to deal with fucking girl trouble." Shelby sideeyes him as she recrosses her arms. "I like you, B. I like you a lot, 'n I like...kinda being. A part of everything. But maybe not enough to keep chasing you around without getting shit back. Not enough to...to stop liking other people too." "I don't /want/ you to, I --" Scratch scratch scratch. There's a small accumulation of paper dust building up in Bastian's lap, and he brushes it away irritably. "You're not /trouble/, I /want/ to have --" His mouth closes, jaw clenching tight. He stares downward at the book in his lap. "OK," he says eventually, quiet and a little flat. "Sorry. You don't have to -- I mean you can -- I don't want to keep you. From. Liking -- whatever." Shelby is eying him and eying him and then finally she is reaching out to grab his arm. Which receives a little shake. "Y'know, this is what I mean. I feel like a goddamn /bully/ just trying to get you to finish a sentence and tell me what you're /thinking/. /That's/ what I mean by not getting shit back. Argh!" Yes, she says argh. Just as quickly as she'd grabbed for him, she lets go to reach for bag and board. "It's like forward and back with you, I can't win. You figure your shit out, okay? Then if you still wanna hook up, you know where to find me." Sebastian's eyes widen at the shake, and for a moment he glances up to meet her eyes. His hand twitches, almost reaching towards Shelby but then falling back down to his lap. "OK." Just OK. He's looking back down to his scratched-up book, now, fingers fidgeting with the edges of its pages. "I -- bye." In true girl fashion, Shelby--who has been watching him closely--/huffs/ at this response. Or maybe her backpack is heavy, as the whuff of breath is timed to her slinging that back up onto her shoulder. Heavy, heavy pack. She's slumped beneath it. "Yeah. Bye." Turning to go, she manages stomping for about six steps before slinking takes over to cut through the crowd on a path towards the exit. Sebastian's dark eyes follow her out. And then stay turned in the direction she left for a long while before he unfreezes enough to open his book again, turning his gaze down to fix on the pages. Even if he does not actually turn them the rest of his night. --- The room Sebastian and Shane share is not much like their one at Jax's apartment. Smaller, dingier, barer, it doesn't much look /lived/ in; a pair of duffel bags under the pair of beds, a book on the nightstand. Not much else. There's a note on Shane's pillow in the morning, or kind of a note. It has coordinates: 40.609, -73.868. That's all. "/Dork/," Shane mutters, when he finds this. He is still dressed from yesterday, vest, dress shirt, slacks. He studies the paper a long while, then opens up his phone and a map. Grimacing as he studies it intently. He leaves the phone when he heads out, though. It takes -- a while. Late in the morning rather than early, by the time he is -- somewhere. Somewhere far beneath the bay, somewhere murky-deep and cold. By the time he is near he is guided more by scent than memory, filtering through his environment in silence until he finds the small shape curled up in a nook under a rock. He holds a fish. A bluefish, still thrashing. He holds it like a /present/ as he nudges Sebastian awake with one hand. Sebastian cracks an eye open, partway, clear inner eyelid closed and the other still firmly in place. He waves the fish away, holds an arm out instead. Shane bares his teeth, grimacing, and lets the fish go. /Frowning/ at his brother and his curled-up hiding place, frowning at the rejection of food. He slides down, accepting the offered arm to curl in against Sebastian, arm creeping back around his twin. Sebastian's eye closes again, face mooshing up against Shane's shoulder. Surrounded by saltwater, it is really not possible to feel the tears leaking from his scrunched-shut eyes. The erratic twitch-jerk of his shoulders is telltale, though. Shane squeezes harder. His teeth stay bared.