ArchivedLogs:Not a Question

Not a Question
Dramatis Personae Aloke, Ivan, Jackson
In Absentia	2013-10-08 '
Location <XS> Gardens
From indoor gardens to outdoor, though without the protective greenhouse glass the back gardens do not last all year round. Still, the gardens out here are well-tended and well-worth spending time in, as well. The paths wending through the beds of flowers and herbs and vegetables spread out through the school's back grounds, tended by students as a credit class. Benches offer seating and a small pond is home to koi and turtles, as well as a few frogs. At the far back edges of the garden, a droning buzzing marks a few stacked white boxes as beehives. It's lunchtime and Aloke is in the garden with a smallish sketchpad, only 9"x12", as opposed to his usual painting easel. He has a couple different kinds of pencils with him, one tucked behind the ear, the other busily working on a skilled sketch of a blueberry bush. There's also a big wadded putty eraser stuck to the top corner of his page. He's sitting on a small folding stool, wearing bright green chinos, a black Ramones t-shirt, and no shoes. For those who haven't seen him in a while, the light coming from his eyes is significantly brighter than before, and actually creates small pools of soft light on the surface of his pad that shift with his focus. He also has a little tupperware of some kind of green pasta sitting nearby, and a travel mug with a tea bag hanging out of it, but these items look all but forgotten as the artist frantically works at drawing the intricacies of blueberry blossoms. Jackson /has/ been out here, but then briefly vanished; he's only recently returned, with a tupperware of cookies and his own thermos of tea. He doesn't say anything as he (re)joins Aloke, just tucks himself in the grass alongside Aloke's stool. He's bright, as ever; baggy sky-blue UFO pants with black detailing, a pale purple t-shirt with illustrations from the Lorax on it, black Converse sneakers with rainbow laces. Black and red sweatshirt with silver butterflies down the sleeves. Vividly flame-coloured hair, red and orange and yellow, and a bright blue eyepatch with a silver dragonfly stitched into it. He has his sketchpad, too; he opens it up once he takes his seat again, picking up his charcoal pencil. He's not exactly drawing anything in the garden -- /exactly/; instead he is working on an army of bees. Tiny bee-helmets. Little battle-axes. A few wayward warrior bees appear to flit around his knees. He uncaps the cookies -- pumpkin oatmeal, with chocolate chips -- and sticks one in his mouth before silently offering the tub up to Aloke. Is it Halloween already? Nope. And yet, there are spiderwebs in Ivan's hair. And spiders. And moths and gnats? The few of them that have managed to get themselves captured there, at least, because there's a collection of them aimlessly trailing through the air behind him, as if they've been summoned to the boy but none of them was quite sure why. So they just /hang/, in a vaguely cloud-like formation, constantly shifting. Moving considerably less is Ivan himself, dressed in simple faded jeans, a white dress shirt and blue converse sneakers. He is certainly not a stranger to these gardens, far from it, which explains why he's here in the first place. But less so why he's taken to slowly wandering closer to both Aloke and Jax, slowly and from off to the side, head angled ever so slightly and eyebrows twitching once in an expression that never quite manages to manifest before it's disappeared already. Probably just curiosity. His eyes are decidedly on /people/, rather than arts. The moths and gnats follow obediently! "Oh hey," Aloke says brightly when Jax returns (no pun intended). He accepts the cookie offer with a grateful smile and also stuffs pretty much the whole thing into his mouth so he can free up his hands. Lunch can wait, apparently. Aloke eyes the bee army with a full-mouthed grin, and continues to chomp cookie. He turns when Ivan approaches and tries to say something, but cookie-bits fall out instead. His eyes go wide, and his expression is /probably/ apologetic, but his mouth is still too full to say so. Jax shifts his posture slightly after Aloke takes his cookie, leaning to rest his head lightly against the older man's shin. He straightens, though, at the approach of a student; there's a brief moment of blank thoughtful expression before a smile flits quick and warm across his face. He lifts the tub of cookies, offering it out to Ivan. "Cookie? S'pumpkin. Chocolate chip. Y'had lunch?" There's a wave of quicker motion that passes through the cloud of moths behind Ivan, before the student even reacts to either Aloke or Jackson. But the bugs calm soon enough, and Ivan simply... stares. Now closer, it's obvious from his eyes alone that he's tired. But the failed attempt at speaking manages to get a weak smile out of him, before catching sight of Jackson's smile makes his own just slightly more genuine. Right before-- it simply disappears again, because then it's time to stare at Aloke once more, while he takes a few steps closer still. He nods-- then shakes his head-- then... gives up, and opens his mouth. "I have not had lunch. Yet." He admits quietly, then reaches slowly for a cookie. Mine? Chomp, chomp, swallow. Aloke takes a breath and smiles at Ivan. "Hey, sorry, usually I speak fluent mouth-fullese. He nods when Ivan takes a cookie. "I've got some pesto penne too, if you want? I probably won't eat all of it anyway." Jax may be able to identify this as a fib, considering how many calories the older man is supposed to be consuming these days. Then again, his pockets are probably full of protein bars. Aloke glances at Jax briefly, and then back to Ivan, setting his sketch pad on the ground next to him. "You ok? It's... Ivan, right? I'm Professor Suresh." "I ain't eaten, either," Jackson admits. "You want I should grab you some?" He gestures back to the door inside. "I need to get something for myself anyway." He nudges the open tub up higher, gently bumping a cookie up against Ivan's fingertips when he reaches. "I been meaning to catch up with you," he says lightly to Ivan, "maybe after class t'day you want to take a walk with me out to feed Sugar?" His head nudges lightly up against Aloke's knee. "Y'want anything from the kitchen?" The offer of pasta gets a clearer headshake out of Ivan, who retreats back a step once he's grabbed hold of the cookie that bumps against his fingers. It chose him, clearly. It is also almost immediately overtaken by two spiders that clamber down over his arm to inspect it as soon as he draws it closer. Aloke's second question gets a quick nod, curt enough to cause yet a third spider to be startled and safety-webline down off the side of his head. "I am not hungry." This in regards to Jackson's question, if his brief attention switch to said person is to be believed. But then his eyes just... slowly but steadily slide right back to Aloke, as if he just can't help himself. His expression stays largely unchanged, even as the spiders PERUSE his cookie. Absentlymindedly, perhaps in response to Jackson's last question, he notes, "I have homework." Bunch of fun, this kid. Aloke watches the boy curiously, before half-turning to Jax. "Yeah, actually, can you grab the Rockstar I have in the fridge? Big, yellow can. Thanks so much." Aloke snakes an arm around his fellow teacher's shoulders for a friendly squeeze. "It's nice to meet you, Ivan." "It was only phrased as a question to be polite, Ivan. We can talk tomorrow, though, if that's better." Jackson sets his sketchpad down, lidding the cookies and setting them down, too. He leans into the squeeze for a moment before he gets to his feet, dusting his palms against his thighs. "Rockstar. Got it. Maybe you want to come for a walk with me later?" His smile flashes quick and warm. "'less you got homework, too." This time there's hardly any movement from Ivan, who finally looks to his cookie to see it overrun by several spiders. Their interest in it seems to wane at once, and they disperse promptly over and into sleeves as their ride furrows his brow with what looks to be confusion. With maybe just a bit of something a little more... displeased mixed in. The mess of a cloud of flying insects trailing behind the student lowers and draws in slightly closer. "Tomorrow." His answer is flat and his attention remains aimed downward. Is he going to eat the cookie? It's a mystery! Maybe he'll just take it with him, because he's already shifting his weight, turning halfway as if in preparation to leave. Aloke smiles politely when Jax needs to make his teacherly request more clear for Ivan, and reaches down to retrieve his pesto. He watches Ivan curiously, and raises an eyebrow when the spiders retreat from the cookie. It looks like Aloke would probably not consider eating the formerly occupied baked good, but he doesn't comment on the matter. He just watches, flicking between Jax and Ivan. "OK." Jax nods, watching Ivan go with a faint dimming of his smile. "Tomorrow, then. I'll see you, honey-honey." He draws in a deep breath, turning to head off himself. Only for a few minutes, admittedly, returning eventually with a bowl of potato soup and Aloke's drink. He hands the can up to Aloke in silence, sinking back down to reclaim his sketchpad, though he doesn't touch his pencil. His head thumps down against Aloke's knee, eye staring off towards the beehives across the garden.