ArchivedLogs:Trick-or-Treat

Trick-or-Treat
Dramatis Personae Jax, Lucien, Matt, Sera, Spencer
In Absentia	Halloween "... well." (part of fluseason tp)
Location <NYC> Greenwich Village
A rather bohemian neighborhood and the East Coast birthplace of the Beat movement, Greenwich is the residential counterpart to its more punk east sibling. The Village has been a historical center for the important political movements-- landmarks such as the Stonewall Inn on Christopher street were here during the GLBT rights movement, and the Weather Underground had safehouses here during the radical anti-war movement as well. Historically a place for artists and hippies to flock, gentrification has driven up prices in the locale, causing Greenwich to now trend less bohemian and more yuppie, though the stereotype remains. It's early yet, still bright out, still sunny and mild. Lucien's neighborhood is packed full of tiny monsters, being hustled from door to door by watchful parents, some in costume themselves and more not. Currently one small Imperator Furiosa accompanied by a slightly larger Max Rockatansky are hastening away from a cheerfully witch-decorated door proclaiming 'BOO! Happy Halloween!'; Furiosia is, for a moment, lagging behind, though her companion stops to hook his arm through hers and bolster her along to the next house. Behind them, one pale-makeupp'd War Boy is keeping a careful eye on the trick or treaters, trailing along not far in their wake as they add to their already not-insigificant candy haul. "... ain't been entirely sure what's the best thing t'do from here," Nux!Jax is saying, his brow wrinkled in more worry than the cheerful scene should warrany as he watches Sera and Spence run along to ring the next doorbell. "I mean, he loves his school. An' since Liam died it's even /more/ important for him t'/have/ a strong Jewish community. But it -- ain't cheap. An' the Clinic paid -- way better'n my /other/ jobs." Bedecked in the glorious red curls of a masterfully styled wig and large motorcyclist's goggles, Matt is somewhat difficult to recognize at first glance. Between the graceful drape of abroad white linen shawl and a similarly styled wrap skirt, his top is a somewhat creative reinterpretation of Capable's white halter top, adapted to his rather more masculine torso. "You could try a compromise?" His bright red fingernails worry at the edge of his shawl. "Many synagogues have Sunday programs, and if there are any adults at his current school he's particularly close to, you could ask if they'd be willing to continue acting in a loose mentorship capacity." His vivid green eyes follow the children as they give a (now much-practiced) tag-team explanation of their costumes to the middle-aged Count Dracula who has just answered his door with a brightly-colored bowl of candy in hand. "As for Sera...she's missed more days of school this semester than not. They're not really equipped to handle her, I think." He chews on his lower lips for a moment, but smiles as the children beam with delight at the (apparently High Value) treats they receive. "I'm not sure /any/ school is." Lucien's wig is not too far off from his normal hair colour, though much longer, blond, flowing down around his bare shoulders and the diry white fabric of a wrapped linen tube top, gauzy fabric flowing down over a swell of rounded belly into Angharad's white skirt as well. "Well." One corner of his mouth twitches, slightly. His tone has slipped dry. His eyes focus steadily on the children. "There is one." Jax's lips press together, his head bowing. He waves to the Dracula at the door, cheerful enough, and continues on as the kids trot along, pausing at the front step of the next house to examine its undecorated door assessingly. They confer a moment before Spence shrugs and rings its bell anyway. "S'a small program, still, but -- yeah. In terms'a knowin' how t'handle kids with special abilities, there ain't no doubt -- an' for /me/, anyway, the /financial/ sense that'd make is --" He pulls in a slow breath. "I jus' don't know. On the other hand," his smile is a little forced, "maybe all this free time means I can start a /home-schoolin'/ group for 'em." "I'm not even completely sure Xavier's is ready for her." Matt leans on Lucien's shoulder gently. "The early childhood program is brand new, and her abilities might really magnify the kind of chaos that would be inevitable there. I suppose the faculty and staff are at least *used* to it." He tilts his head, considering Jax's suggestion as the children wait with bated breath for door to open. It does not. "I'm certain that you could drum up interest from other people around the Commons, too. And I'd feel a lot more comfortable leaving her with you than..." He looks down at his boots, chuckling self-consciously, red hair falling across his face. "Well, than with anyone other than us, I guess." "Yes, only having /two/ full-time jobs now certainly leaves enough time and flexibility for home-schooling." Lucien's arms cross over his chest. The breath he exhales at Matt's chuckle is sharp. Not amused. Rather disgusted. Bluntly: "I would feel a lot more comfortable leaving her with you than with someone who teaches children while /dating/ a child predator, but you haven't the time. /Why/ has your school hired him, again?" He unfolds his arms again, curling one loosely around Matt's waist as he continues on, the children moving on to the next house; this one brightly lit, its occupants (dressed cheerfully as Anna and Elsa) already seated with large bowls of candy out on their front stoop. Jax's shoulders tighten. "I don't know," he answers, at first, with a small clench of his jaw, but after this his shoulders slump slightly. "... but I can hazard a pretty strong guess that if it'd been a different set'a kids Trib had threatened they'd take it more serious." His tone, here, is very grim. "I can't rightly say I can stomach puttin' Spence in his care, neither. But I don't quite /know/ how to afford --" He shakes his head, fiercely. "No. I done figured out worse situations before. I'll figure this'n out, too. I feel kinda selfish dwellin' on alla this when the /worst/ question's gonna be -- I mean. The /Clinic/. Without that, what --" Reluctantly, his gaze drifts back to the children, happily claiming candy from the Princesses and trotting on to catch up with a small knot of Ninja Turtles at the next house. "He isn't Trib," Matt allows, his shoulders tensing a little. "And I do not think he would in any way hurt the children, but I wish we had better assurance that he took the topic seriously. I could talk to him..." Though he does not sound particularly sanguine about that prospect. "But I really do think Jax is onto something, as far as a homeschooling program goes. Of course you wouldn't be doing it alone." He stretches out one hand, fingertips touching the Warboy's bare shoulder. "No one ought to, no matter how much free time they have. It has to be a community effort, and I feel like we've got plenty enough expertise in our community to go around." His optimism fades, however, at the mention of the clinic, and he leans into his brother's embrace as though he'd happily just disappear. "It was never enough. Mendel, I mean." His eyes fix on Sera, vacant and damp. "Not enough." "A more human set of children." It's not a question, really. Lucien's voice is quiet, pensive. "Harder to write off as deserving their abuse. -- There are other hurts than physical. If he sees no wrong in what Trib did -- I absolutely think he would." His eyes are focused on the children, cheeks sucked lightly inward. "Who else would be good, for such an enterprise? It would be -- a lot of work. A lot of -- responsibility." The house the children are currently at has its door standing partially ajar; when the Ninja Turtles knock on it, it swings more open. "Trick or treat!" the children chime, though there's not immediately an answer. "-- Hello?" "Oh!" Raphael points. "They put the candy bowl." Two bowls, in fact, one chocolates and one -- that's been tipped over and scattered across the floor just inside the door -- with Starbursts and Skittles and Jolly Ranchers. The kids step up into the house to collect pieces, Spence and Sera lingering on the threshhold after. "Oh!" Donatello waves, to a man just shuffling in from the adjacent room, "Happy Halloween, Mister! Thanks for the candy!" The man doesn't answer, though he does trudge further towards the door; he's closely followed by a woman in typical black-robed witch gear. Raphael grabs another Skittles, pushing Donatello a little bit farther back towards the door. "... uhhh thanks!" Kind of laughing, though a little more nervous, now. "A more human set'a kids." Jax just affirms this simple and bland. His brows furrow as he watches the kids, now, hand lifting briefly to touch lightly against Matt's before he steps forward further, peering towards the house. "Hey -- Spence? Sera? Uh -- Turtles? S'probably best not t'go /into/ anyone's --" He tips his head slightly to one side, his focus stretched outward as movement shifts inside the house. There's a distint tension tightening his muscles, now. "Kids." His tone isn't panicked, but it's firm, his pace quickening as he moves towards the house. "Say thanks an' come back here, yeah?" Matt nods, a bit reluctantly. "I...perhaps." Then, more pensive. "I'll do what I can, also. You might consider tapping Geekhaus, as well. Most of them work from home, right?" His eyes roam over the confused scene on the front stoop of the current house. "Just trying to spook their trick-or-treaters, I'm sure." Even so, he follows Jax, unfolding himself from Lucien's side but dropping his hand down to tug his brother along by the hand. "{I -- am not so sure.}" Lucien's hand clasps Matt's; he follows along after the others, frowning deeply at the doorway. "Sera. Spence. Children." He is standing a little bit straighter, eyes focused towards the adults past the doorway. His voice raises slightly, projected towards the adults. "Hello? Is everything alright in there?" There's no answer from the adults. Just a further shuffling forward, that turns into a grope, a lunge towards the nearest of the Ninja Turtles, the man's hands reaching to snatch at Raphael and drag him near as his mouth opens. The woman is pushing them both aside, reaching forward as well with an odd croaking sound. "HEY NO!" Two of the Turtles are scattering, Michaelangelo and Leonardo letting out small screams and darting back, but Donatello leaps forward, brandishing her stout bostaff to whap the man in the shoulder. "Let go! Hey! No!" Spencer's hand grabs at Sera's wrist almost immediately; the two children vanish and reappear by the curb a moment later, somewhat wide-eyed. "... Pa --," Spence is saying, though with Sera it's: "Luci! Matt --"; a rising sense of panic is twisting through the street. "/Spence/!" Walking forward turns to sprinting forward. Jax pauses only a brief moment when the children vanish, turning his head to gauge their new position when Spencer teleports them away from the house. "Ohn... Kids, get -- tsss." A shimmering wall appears in front of the woman, blocking her way and letting her hand thud into a solid barrier as she reaches for the kids. Jax slides in through the doorway, slamming an arm upward to hit hard into the arm that the man reaches to snatch the child with. "-- Run. Go. /Out/. Now." "{What do you mean?}" Matt's hand squeezes down tight when the man grabs for the children, and even harder when Spencer blinks away with Sera, though he does *not* turn to search for them. "Children, with us." His other drops into his pocket and comes back out with his phone, hitting the panic button. Meanwhile, Jax's powers are magnified, the shield strengthened and maintained with hardly any effort on the photokinetic's part now. "... {/that/.}" Lucien's tone is grim. Reflexively, his hand drops to his side, reaching for a knife that -- in this current costume, is not actually /there/. He swears quietly under his breath. There's a strong current of energy that swells from him to his brother, bolstering Matt as Matt energizes Jax. Donatello is dropping into a crouch, face screwed up fiercely for a fight -- at least until the man's hand is jerked away from Raphael and he stumbles backwards, grabbing at her to bolt outside and join their friends. "DUDE," he's saying to her, "dude I think that guy is /dead/." The man is, meanwhile, faceplanting forward onto Jax instead, hand swiping to claw at the photokinetic's waist as his mouth chomps down towards Jax's bare shoulder. The woman keeps lunging forward, not quite comprehending the nearly-invisible barrier in front of her. Thud. Thud. Thud. Her hands grasp for the out-of-reach children futilely. Jax sucks in a sharp breath, hissing as teeth sink into his skin and twisting away sharply. One booted foot thuds back to thump hard against the man's knees, shoving him back and away. The shield rolls outward, stretching longer to curl in front of the man's face as Jax sprints towards the door, slamming it shut behind all of them. A streak of blood glistens red and wet down his shoulder. "... well."