ArchivedLogs:Nice

Nice
Dramatis Personae Dusk, Flicker, Jax
In Absentia	2015-01-19 '
Location <NYC> {Geekhaus} - Harbor Commons - Lower East Side
There's an open airy feel to the floorplan of this unit. The door opens up into a wide expanse of common space that is not so much divided up into rooms as it is simply multipurposed. Ash-grey resin flooring underfoot runs up against the paler grey of the exposed stone in the walls; between the stone support there are wide floor-to-ceiling windows looking out at the river on one side of the home and the Commons' central yard on the other. Half of the space has a ceiling at one-floor height, though half of the space is left open with a balcony up on the second floor overlooking the living space below. A slatted stairway heads up to the second floor balcony; on the other side of the room, a fireman's pole running straight down to the basement provides a quicker way /down/. The wide open space here is combination living and dining room; near the windows there are a pair of couches and large armchair around a wide coffeetable; further off a steel-and-glass dining table is surrounded by eight tall black chairs. A full bathroom behind the stairway is done up in dark granite; the glass-doored bathtub/shower is rather expansively large. The kitchen is tucked off in back, beneath the half-height ceiling; in here the appliances and cabinets and shelving recessed into the wall are in brushed steel, wide grey sweeps of tempered glass countertops running around the edge of the room and a large central island holding stoves and oven and deep double sink. Adjacent to the kitchen, beneath the ceiling as well, is a sitting area structured largely around the enormous television against one wall, a wealth of video games for a number of consoles held on the shelves around the television. Crates and beanbags and one low futon folded against the floor are arranged in good viewing distance; opposite the television, a sturdy large pen built out of wood shrines a couch amid a sea of brightly colorful playpen balls. A door in one wall opens up to the apartment next door; a door opposite leads down to the basement. It's half-dark in here, the sun starting to set but not quite set /enough/ to have warranted turning lights on -- or maybe just at that time of day where nobody's /noticed/ that it's getting on towards evening. At any rate Dusk is far too engrossed in gaming to pay much attention to the house's state of Dark, his attention locked on the enormous screen where he's focused, currently, on /The Last of Us/. He's half-buried in the technicolour ballpit, a thermos resting on the wood frame and the sounds of combat filling the room. Flicker could probably use the light more than Dusk. His eyes aren't as adapted to the dark, first of all, and second he's reading and not gaming. But he seems content at the moment to read by the light of his laptop screen where he's tucked into a beanbag. Scanning over the contents of a notebook in between peeping glances at Dusk's progress. Maybe shivering just a little at the zombie-creatures. Just a little. Jax brings light with him when he comes. Not a /lot/, just a very faint ambient glow, soft around him like a halo in the dim-dark house. "Look, I know y'got this whole creature-a-the-night thing goin' on but this is silly an' you're gonna hurt your eyes like that honey-honey." He leans down to press a kiss to the top of Flicker's head, sliding around to set a plate of cookies on a crate and climb into the ball pit with a rustle of plastic. Dusk glances up with a sharp hook of a smile, a small rustle of plastic as well as one wing shifts out to curl around Jax and pull him in close. He pauses his game, hooking the other man in close. "Figured it was better -- ambiance." He waves his controller towards the screen. "Jeez when did the sun go down." "Still going. But you've been playing that for --" Flicker glances briefly to the clock on his computer. "Four hours now. Hey thanks." He sets aside his computer /and/ his notebook, stretching slowly as he gets to his feet. Snags two cookies. Meanders over both to turn on the lights and get milk. "You want?" He's waggling the carton of almond milk in the general direction of the ballpit. "Oh! Please." Jax would probably get up and get some /himself/ but he is looking tired, /feeling/ tired, a little too chill where he nestles into Dusk's side, a little too shivery. A little too comfortable for moving as he snuggles into the wing that curls around him, tucking his cheek against the other man's side. "Creepy ambiance." His hand snakes around Dusk's waist, curling there for a firm hard squeeze. "Glad you're home. S'it for good?" "Hell yeah." Dusk sets his controller aside -- promptly losing it in the sea of balls -- and shifts position just a little to curl Jax in more snugly against his chest, returning the hug in a firm squeeze of wing. "Eh, good, who the hell ever knows. Still have to wait and see what /new/ bullshit they come up with. But it's for now. That's something, right?" Flicker pours /three/ cups full of milk, blipping rapidly back and forth between kitchen and TV room to set the other two cups down on the crate with the cookies. Push the crate up against the ballpit. Return the milk to the fridge. He hops back into the kitchen with his own milk, dunking a cookie into it to take a bite as he settles back into the beanbag. "Definitely something. A lot of something. Kinda nice having our home back." "Have you and Hive both. Sorta hitting the jackpot. It's been --" Jax presses closer to Dusk, shivering briefly. He exhales, shaky, eye squeezing shut. "... a rough. Month. But things're lookin' up, right? I --" He shakes his head, sitting slightly upward to give Flicker a thankful smile when the milk arrives. "Thanks, honey-honey. An' yeah. Things -- things feelin' more homey, now. Though I got the feelin' Hive ain't -- entire --" His brow furrows, head shaking again. "I don't know. /I'm/ glad y'all are with us." He bites down on his lip, dropping his gaze briefly. Looking up hesitantly at Dusk. "An' I -- m' -- Dusk, I -- m's --" Dusk's wing squeezes tighter around Jax's shoulders; he cuts the apology short with a shake of head, a tiny-light peck on the lips. "I should be the one apologizing. I was scared as fuck. I sure as hell wasn't thinking straight. I shouldn't have dumped that all on you guys. I didn't mean to send your life into such a fucking tailspin, you know?" Slowly his wing rubs at Jax's back. "... means the world to me that you'd step up like that for us. But you should never have had to. I just -- thank you. And I --" His fist rubs against his heart. After this he leans forward, snagging a cookie to dunk in his milk, too. Crunch a hungry bite. "Hive's -- adjusting. Things aren't always cut-and-dry, right? But. But it is nice. To be together again. Missed you all." Flicker just smiles at all this. Soft and pleased. Watching the others. Curling back into his beanbag with cookies and milk. "Yeah. S'nice."