ArchivedLogs:Oatmeal Cookies

Oatmeal Cookies
They're nutritious!
Dramatis Personae Micah, Tess, Jackson
In Absentia	1 December 2013 Sharing some food in the park. (Part of Infected TP.)
Location <NYC> Central Park North
Central Park North is slightly quieter than its southern counterpart, being further uptown and slightly out of the bustle of the City - insofar as one can escape the bustle of the City even here, in the acres of green and blue that make up Central Park. The reservoir is in the northern half, providing miles of jogging and biking trails along the clear water, as well as benches for people to sit and rest. By afternoon, the City fortunately reaches almost reasonable temperatures outside, considering it is now December. The sun is doing its beaming best to warm the chill breeze that still comes nipping through. With the biting dead finally under control, it is about the best time for a family outing. Thus are Jax and Micah to be found walking an energetic beagle down one of the sparsely populated jogging trails while Spencer and the twins have rabbited off to a more exciting corner of the park. Micah has Obie's leash in one gloved hand, intermittently calling the pup back when something interesting makes him scurry too far forward or forget to follow along. The green gradient-striped glove matches well with the man's olive green coat, but less so with the bright orange Jayne hat perched on his head with just a hint of messy auburn hair peeking out from beneath it. Tess was sitting on a bench, just looking around. She then spots Jax, Micah, and company, and so she pushes herself off her bench to head their way. Not because she knows them, though, for other reasons. "Got some spare change?" She asks when she gets closer. Pup leashed in one hand and on Micah's other arm is a second pet, far more brightly plumed. Jax is a /colourful/ bird, bright purple and black skinny jeans tucked into black knee high boots. Silvery jacket unzipped over a rainbowy hoodie, peacocky blue-purple-green scarf and hat and fingerless gloves. Huge mirrored dark glasses cover his eyes. His floppy hair has been freshly dyed, blue and green as well where it peeks out beneath the hat, and a black FreakAngels messenger bag hangs over a shoulder. He squeezes at Micah's arm for no real reason past cheerful familiarity, pausing to tip his head curiously when they are approached. "Oh -- oh gosh, I /don't/ actually got much'a anything t'my wallet lately." He sounds quite genuinely regretful here. "... I got some food, though, are you hungry?" Micah convinces Obie to sit next to them while they pause to speak to the girl, though the beagle /clearly/ would much rather go inspect New Person. The pup settles for nosing at Micah's jeans where they tuck into his hiking boots instead. "Yeah, sorry, hon. Cash's been on the thin side even more'n usual these days," he seconds Jax's statement in a loosely enunciated southern Virginia accent that doesn't seem to be giving any ground to a year spent in New York. "We brought lunch along with us, though. You're welcome to a share of that, certainly." Tess is pretty clearly a native of New York, by the way she speaks. "Since I was planning on buying lunch with it, that's fine." She looks around and kind of gets ready to follow them a small distance behind, "Thanks." "It's jus' some noodles an' tofu an' broccoli an' peanut sauce. An' chocolate oatmeal cookies too though those ain't exactly got much /filling/ t'them." Jax's own voice marks him as non-native clearly as well, heavy Georgia drawl clinging thickly to his words. He slips his overwarm hand from the crook of Micah's arm, flitting over towards the bench Tess just vacated to set his bag down and pull out a large tupperware tub of noodles. "I got hot tea but no cups jus' the thermos," he frets as he sets the tub down. "An' of course, honey-honey," he answers Tess with easy cheer, "As tough as things been lately -- well. Think folks can do with a bit'a warmth wherever they can get it, yeah?" He offers Tess a choice of fork or chopsticks a little sheepishly. "... informal kinda lunch, I didn't really pack /dishes/. Just kinda brought food to dig into." "That works out well, then," Micah responds with a smile, leading Obie over to the bench after Jax. The beagle sneaks a snuffle at Tess's shoe as they pass. "Nonsense. Oatmeal's whole grain goodness an' chocolate's just /good/. Can't go wrong there." He does think on the food for a moment. "Y'don't got any peanut or soy or other such allergies, do you hon? An' you're more'n welcome. Times's been extra hard 'round the ci--here, recently." Tess lets the beagle do the sniffing, but doesn't reach out to pet the dog. "Not really, but I'll skip the tea." She sits back down on that bench, keeping a little distance between herself and those two guys. "Otherwise, I'm not really picky." She grabs the fork, when it's offered, being careful not to brush Micah's hand. "Alright," Jax agrees with a quick laugh, "the oatmeal cookies are chockfull'a nutrition. But mostly, oatmeal's cheap an' don't spoil so we got it in spades just at the moment." He nudges the container of noodles towards the girl, taking out a smaller one with cookies in to set it down alongside. He retrieves the tea thermos from the bag, too, returning to Micah's side to offer it to the older man. "You -- got any place t'stay through all this? I don't guess it's all that safe even still but lots'a the Red Cross shelters is still open all over." Micah adjusts his hold on Obie's leash to give him space to wander behind the bench where he won't be pestering Tess while she tries to eat. "Oh good. Just thought it best t'check. Makin' a body end up not-breathey is a poor way t'be helpful." He chuckles back at Jax. "Spades of delicious goodness. Can really stretch some oatmeal out a long ways with just a little sugar." Micah reaches out to accept the Thermos, fingers brushing lightly along Jax's wrist as he does so. He takes a long drink before handing it back. "D'you know if Helping Hands has gotten its doors open again?" Tess grabs some of the noodles with her fork and eats them quickly, then grabs a cookie, chomps down on it. "Plenty abandoned buildings to keep me dry." Probably not warm, though. She finishes the cookie and looks at what's left of them longingly, though she doesn't ask, "I avoid shelters, I don't feel comfortable in them." "Or a lotta sugar," Jax says sheepishly, "I got kinda a terrible addiction." His fingers curl, fiercely warm, back against Micah's, squeezing before he takes the thermos back and takes a careful sip. His nose wrinkles up at the mention of the shelters, and he nods with resignation. "They're safer than zombies but still ain't the best solution for /everyone/," he allows with a trace of regret. "Y'can have another cookie, sugar. An' as much'a the noodles as y'like. You been in New York for long? S'been a crazy rough time t'be on your own." Micah nods as Tess turns down the idea of shelters. “S'your choice, of course. Just...be careful out there. They've gotten a lotta things cleaned up, but it ain't /finished/ by any stretch.” He slides the box of cookies a little closer to the girl. “Go ahead, hon. We got more where those came from at home, so take what y'like.” Standing close to Jax, he leans into the other man's side just a little. Not that he's stealing body heat at all. Nope. Tess grabs some more cookies, as they're being offered, and eats them rapidly. "Been around here my entire life, just a couple months on my own, though." She tells in between cookies, "And I'm careful." She isn't getting physically near either of them, for whatever reason, "So I guess I've been around the area longer than you two." "Oh gosh yeah." Jax leans back into Micah, more than happy to share the copious amount of excess heat he gives off. "Ain't neither us from here originally. I been here -- /gosh/ it's been /near/ a decade now though ain't it? Come up for school an' never did leave. Then somehow got all /settled/ like kids an' everything, so I s'pose this is home now." His nose wrinkles as he looks around the park, so much quieter than usual. "Such a it is." “A lotta folks done gone missin' in this an' all. If there's anybody we can help keep a lookout for for y'just let us know.” Micah's non-leashed arm curls in around Jax's waist. “I've only been around a bit over a year, m'self,” he explains after a moment's thought. “Definitely is home now, though.” Jax gets a little squeeze at that look. “It'll start t'spring back more, honey. We just gotta give it time. Takes a whole lot t'keep folks 'round here down. People're already movin' back in an' startin' the recovery effort.” Tess shakes her head, "I don't have anyone you should watch for." She takes a bit more noodles and works her way through them, "Good luck to them. I don't think I could help." Another cookie, she's clearly hungry. "Thanks again for getting me some lunch." "Yeah -- guess it will, at that. This place has been through worlds'a hurt but folks are /surprisin'/ sometimes in how they pull together." Jax takes another sip of tea, and offers the thermos back to Micah. "And s'when things get hardest you see the worst /and/ the best of people. You seen even that Carruthers woman was makin' statements 'bout how New York had civilian humans an' mutants t'thank for helping set things on track again." He gives Tess a warm smile. "Oh, it weren't no problem at all. An' /everyone's/ got somethin' they can offer, honey-honey. Maybe not right today, but y'get back on your feet some time, an' maybe you'll find folks'a your own to help." “Y'got plenty enough t'take care of, hon. Don't think anybody's t'be faultin' y'for it. An' you're welcome.” Micah accepts the Thermos with a grateful look, sipping from it again and passing it back over to Jax. “Elliott's actually a nice enough person t'talk at. I've run into her a few times just around. Didn't really get into /that/ conversation with 'er, though.” His teeth find his lower lip, worrying at it briefly as he looks over at Tess. “There anybody y'can call if y'get into a real spot of trouble, hon?” Tess shakes her head, "Nah. I got some guy's phone number, but I dunno if I can trust him. Don't have a phone anyway." She takes another cookie, but her rate of eating has slowed down. "But I'll manage. I've gotten into a few scuffles, handled myself just fine." "S'pose it would be kinda awkward to bring up. Like hey impressive service record also I hear y'hate mutants. I don't doubt she's nice enough, though, she always seems so -- /earnest/. Like she's tryin' t'help, not jus' tryin' t'kill us all." He worries at his lower lip, too, teeth clicking on a lip ring. "Imagine y'kinda gotta learn how t'handle yourself, out here. Had more'n a few friends go through it. Y'be careful, aright? An' I know y'ain't fond of shelters but there's one --" He gestures to Micah as if the other man's mention of the shelter half the conversation ago would be evident. "-- In Chelsea called Helping Hands. Friend of ours helps out there, they're good people. An' out in the East Village some folks I work with serve hot meals in Tompkins Square Park every Sunday an' Wednesday an' Friday dinners." “Yeah. I'm always curious what the motivations are for the folks as /aren't/ out there just spoutin' hatefulness, though, y'know? Just for the insight. But that's 'xactly why I didn't bring it up. Relatively short conversations with a new person...didn't want 'em t'go like /that/.” Micah chuckles again with light amusement. “Mostly just ended up talkin' prosthetics.” The mention of which has him freeing up one hand to dig through a pocket. He pulls out a business card and pen, then writes the address and phone for Helping Hands on the back of the card. The front is a rich blue with white lettering advertising 'Gorilla Adaptive Tech.' over 'Micah Zedner, MSOP, CPO, ATP', two phone numbers, an office e-mail, and a P.O. Box. The pen also swipes a quick circle around the second number before he holds the card out to the girl. “Just in case y'get stuck an' find a phone, the circled number's mine. Info. on the back is for the shelter. Again...just in case.” Tess grabs the card, her literally ice-cold fingers briefly brushing Micah's. By sheer accident. "Thanks, might as well keep my options open." She tries to keep a calm face, but something about that brief brush seems to have upset her, a very brief frown. "May as well," Jax agrees with a small concerned frown at Tess's evident discomfort. When she has the card he moves a little bit back towards the other end of the bench, his arm around Micah to gently nudge the other man along with. He picks his bag back up, reaching over to reclaim his food containers. "Stay safe, hon." His nose crinkles up at Micah, and he nods." Is interesting knowing where folks're comin' from with this all. Not 'zaktly best new-friend talk though I guess. I just don't always got a /choice/ 'bout not leadin' with it. Though she lost her leg to mutants, I bet she don't get a choice about jumpin' right into the heavy talks too sometimes." He tucks the food back away, sunglassy gaze turning out to the rest of the park. "Should find the boys, make sure Spence eats too." Micah's gloves don't give him a full appreciation for the chill of Tess's touch, but he does look concerned that she feels cold. “Yeah, I'm sure...she gets a lotta that,” he replies to Jax's ongoing commentary. He calls Obie back from where he was snuffling at a bush. “Stay safe,” he echoes to Tess with a nod. “Yeah, should make sure they ain't found their own trouble t'stir up.” Whatever the cause of Tess's discomfort is, she seems eager to end things, too. "Thanks again. Have a nice day." She pushes herself up from that bench and slowly starts to walk away, leaving a thin and brief imprint of ice where she sat, though it fades quickly.