ArchivedLogs:Best-Laid Plans

Best-Laid Plans
Dramatis Personae Lucien, Matt
In Absentia	2016-05-04 "{This city is a constant tumult of violence. This entire country is on a steady path to genocide.}"
Location <NYC> Tessier Residence - Greenwich Village
Understated opulence claims this spacious and well-kept townhome, the decor throughout the whole of it of the highest quality and carefully chosen. The front door opens onto the entrance hall, a closet close at hand to receive coats and shoes -- the pale hardwood floors gleam underfoot, unsullied by tracked-in mess from outside. The living room beyond the entrance is all dark woods and pale earth tones, comfortable couches and armchairs and a thick soft rug laid down beneath. Two large and painstakingly aquascaped aquariums flank the entrance to the dining room, with several brightly coloured species of fish within. Most of the rest of the wall space, notably, is taken up with shelves -- shelves crammed with books of every subject and genre. A study branching off of the main hall is cozy, small, done in pale blues and lined with books as well around the large computer desk and smaller futon, though these rarer books are cased behind glass. Another securely locked door leads to the basement, and another to the full bathroom downstairs. The kitchen connects to the living room; in contrast, it is sleek and modern and well-appointed, stocked by someone who takes their cooking seriously. And takes their alcohol equally seriously -- to one side of the kitchen there is a fully-stocked bar. The back door to the kitchen looks out on a small well-kept garden. It's about midnight and a light but chilly rain is falling on the city. Even inside the Tessier house, it's not as warm and toasty as it would be in properly cold weather. Matt is curled in his armchair around a library book (\The Night Circus\ by Erin Morgenstern). The mug on the table near him is long empty, but he shows no signs stirring from the comfortable folds of the soft green blanket he's wrapped around himself. The door to Lucien's study has been closed for some time, but it opens shortly. He's dressed neatly -- grey slacks and vest, button-down, though he's shed his tie and unbuttoned a couple extra of his shirt's top buttons. It's /like/ casual. He is quiet as he detours through the living room, scooping up Matt's mug and vanishing into the kitchen. He returns in a little while, now with two mugs both full and steaming -- some hand-mixed blend of jasmine dragon pearls and Mao Feng white tea, light and faintly floral. He kneels beside Matt's armchair, setting one of the mugs down on a coaster on the table and keeping the other held close to his chest. Matt's power stretches out and enfolds Lucien's in one lazy swoop when he emerges from the study. When the tea arrives he greets it with a pleased hum, setting the book aside. He sits up as if to reach for his tea, but his hand settles on his brother's shoulder instead, fingers kneading gently there. The omnipresent mental tension in Lucien eases, mind relaxing into Matt's to let his brother take over its careful regimentation. He eases back into Matt's more physical touch as well, leaning back into the other man's. His head tips down, eyes fluttering half-closed as he draws in a slow breath of steam. Reaching past Lucien now, Matt finally takes up the tea in his free hand. "{Thank you,}" he murmurs softly, rubbing just a touch harder at his brother's neck. His first sip is careful, the next bolder. "{Do you think you will sleep tonight?}" "{I am quite tired.}" Lucien's head tips to the side, leaning against his brother's knee. "{Do you ever want to move?}" Matt's hand shifts and strokes Lucien's hair. He does not answer for a while, nursing his tea instead. "{From time to time, I suppose. Do you?}" Lucien exhales, quiet and sharp. "{This city is a constant tumult of violence. This entire country is on a steady path to genocide.}" "{There are a lot of people here I love. We both do work that is worthwhile and needed.}" Matt holds the mug close to his chest. "{But if the situation deteriorates further...we have to consider Desi and Gae's safety. Should we make contingency plans?}" His hand stills on Lucien's head. "{Or have you already?}" "{I always have plans.}" Lucien's eyes close the rest of the way. He lifts his mug, taking a slow swallow of his tea. "But somehow plans don't always work out quite how I would hope." He holds the tea close, still, beneath his chin where the steam still rises warm against his face. "{Do we? Both? Your school certainly has a valuable mission, but I...}" "{If you want to go...}" Matt's hand is shaky when he resumes petting Lucien's head. "{I am with you, of course. We can go over the plans. Make plans for meta-contingencies. Desi and Gae can be mad at us both.}" He sips his head and sighs softly. "{All the strings you pull, all the minds you change -- it's important.}" "{So no change of status for Gae, at least.}" Lucien opens his eyes again, staring down into his tea. "{Perhaps. I never know. Sometimes I think it is pure hubris. Thinking I could ever...}" He trails off, head giving a slight shake beneath Matt's hand. "{What do I ever /really/ change?}" {What do you change?}" Matt echoes. "{Gods, Luci, where do I start? I'd have been dead long before cancer ever found me if not for you, and the others --}" His hand drops back down to Lucien's shoulder again, presses there, heavy and bracing. "{It may be hard to quantify the effect of your media wizardry and your smoky backroom deals, but the cure to the zombie sickness--/both/ cures--saved tens if not hundreds of thousands of lives, that is pretty straightforward.}" He stops, his hand gripping his brother's shoulder tight. "{So, maybe it /is/ hubris, but...I think this world...needs a little hubris.}"