ArchivedLogs:Take The Second

Take The Second
Dramatis Personae Jackson, Micah, Aloke, Mallory, Cage
In Absentia	9 March 2014 Many visitors checking in on Jax. Not so many eating food...
Location <NYC> 303 {Lighthaus} - Village Lofts - East Village
This apartment is cheerful, in its way -- bright and airy, its floor plan open and a plethora of windows providing it with an abundance of light. The tiny entrance hall opens into a living room, small, though its sparse furniture and lack of clutter give it a more open feel. The decor is subdued and minimalist; black and white is the dominant theme, with occasional splashes of deep crimson to offset the monochrome, though of late myriad bright-coloured dragonflies swarm across the living room wall. The couch and armchair are upholstered in black corduroy, the low wide coffee table central is black wood and glass-topped, and a few large pillowy beanbags provide additional seating by the large windows that dominate the back wall. The living room and kitchen both hold a rather inordinate number of lamps in addition to the ceiling lights; standing lamps, small lamps on each counter, large sunlights in the corner. More often than not, they're largely all turned on, too. Towards the back, a couple of doors lead off into bedrooms and bathroom, and to the right, the kitchen's tile is separated from the living room's dark hardwood floors by black countertops. Above the bedroom to one side, there is higher space; a ladder climbs up to a lofted area looking down on the living room. Standing in front of the partition between living and cooking area is a large fish tank: one lone Betta, blood-red, swims regally among several species of black and silver fish. A hallway beyond the kitchen leads further into the apartment. Another bathroom stands just into the hall and the farthest door leads to the apartment's final bedroom, the door usually kept shut to hold in the acrid fumes of turpentine and paints from within. Jackson has not been home all that /long/ from Baby Shower. Long enough, though, to start fretting about the state of his (... admittedly pretty much clean) house, which he is subsequently making efforts to clean /more/. By this time of evening the pleasant dose of painkilling Lucien had done for him earlier in the day has long since worn off -- this at least means that he has a very /clear/ reminder of just how little he should be using his left arm, muscles giving very /wrenching/ protest at attempts to use them. He's dressed comfortably, baggy sky-blue and black mesh UFO pants, black sweatshirt that reads HERBIVORE in a yellow cross over his heart, green t-shirt with an image of a child hugging a cow, bright metallic-green nailpolish and a hint of glittery shimmer on his lips, enormous black mirrored sunglasses on his eyes, brightly patterned mismatched socks. At the moment he is brushing down the corduroy fabric of couch and armchair to remove the quantities of pet hair this fabric tends to pick /up/ with a dog and cat in the house. Slowly, with his less-used right hand. There are signs that the twins are home -- at least one of them anyway, in the form of quiet violin music playing from the bedroom -- but their door is closed. Micah, likewise, hasn't been home long from Mel's shower. He is just returning from the kitchen with the extra tray of finger-food nibbly size vegetable rice paper rolls, largely featuring sweet potato and cilantro, with a ginger-soy dipping sauce--held back in the refrigerator from the morning's party food preparation for the occasion. "Jax, you're supposed t'be restin'," he very nearly /tuts/ as he arranges the appetizers with some small serving plates and napkins on the table. "I was thinkin' of makin' a pot of tea t'put out. Is it too late in the day for a Darjeeling for most folks?" He, too, is dressed casually: Batsignal hoodie over Reading Rainbow-dash T-shirt and rainbow patched bluejeans. His socks are also a pale blue with Dashie cutie marks on them. The only truly visible sign of his part in yesterday's ordeal is a scab on his lower lip that is rapidly healing. The truly observant might notice some ongoing favouring of his left shoulder, as well, but the stitches on the back of his scalp are pretty well hidden by his tousled auburn hair. Aloke and Mallory arrive in a soft flash of light on the roof. They're still experimenting with doing this and having Mallory /not/ explode into a fireball, so arriving outdoors is for the best. The night air in New York is still cold enough to stifle her energy exchange. They arrive holding multiple cloth shopping bags full of biodegradable paper restaurant containers. Who knows what Aloke was thinking, but he had his sister prep enough for food for a /dozen/ people - korma, masala, and a half dozen other dishes. Aloke leads the way down the stairs from the roof, to where they can knock on Jax and Micah's door. After a few minutes of pained gasps for air after their sudden arrival on the rooftop, Mallory has her breathing and reaction under control enough to head inside. Following behind Aloke, Mallory hangs back a step, apparently still working on catching her breath properly. For those who are familiar with her typical style of dress, she looks to be downright slacking off today, wearing a pair of nicely fitted blue jeans that accommodate her tapering tail and flare to mask the shape of her unusual legs, a black t-shirt declaring 'the book was better' in white lettering tucked in and belted neatly. Her long hair is pulled up away from her face in a basic pony-tail, doing absolutely nothing to hide the otherness of her appearance, only accentuating her angular features and curling horns. Over one shoulder, she carries one of the cloth bags, likely keeping the food piping hot just by proximity. When Aloke knocks on the door, Mallory stays a step behind him, fidgeting anxiously with a loose string on the bag while trying not to loom too much. "Oh -- gosh well we're still /havin'/ dinner an' all so I'm pretty sure black tea is alright for most folks still. Ain't near so caffeinated as coffee." Jackson is totally ignoring Micah's tutting in favour of continuing to brush down the couch. He straightens with a start at the knock on the door, paling and wincing at the sudden motion. "Oh! Oh gosh I was expecting the -- oh /right/ that must be Aloke." He'd been glancing towards the intercom but his cheeks flush dark with the realization. Reflexively he starts to hurry off towards the door before /further/ paling reminds him that hurrying is not in the cards for him today. "... y'want to get that, honey-honey," he says instead, ducking his head sheepishly as he heads instead (slowly!) towards the bathroom to put his lint-brush away. With a nod and a little hmm, Micah moves into the kitchen to measure out tea for the pot and set the kettle to boiling before returning to the living room. And frowning slightly that Jax is still working. "I've got it, sugar. You...just sit, okay? That was a good number of winces all at once. You're gonna make your recovery take /longer/ if y'don't settle yourself down for awhile." He moves to the door to open it for the guests. "Aloke, Mallory! Thanks for comin'. An' for bringin'...wow, so much food! Let me take those bags from you an' set 'em up in the dinin' room. There's a little bit of nibbly-food on the coffee table an' tea soon t'follow." Aloke appears on the other side of the door substantially dimmed than normal, though he seems to be brightening by the moment. By the time he's walked in through the door his skin has returned to its normal luminosity, though with the help of his new sunscreen, it is substantially diffused and reduced so as to make him easier to actually look at. He's also not dressed for going outside. He's just in a blue button-up, half buttoned with a black t-shirt underneath, along with jeans and white cloth deck shoes with no socks. Aloke hands over the bags and smiles broadly. "Sure, thanks Micah. It's good to see you." He leads the way inside, hands his bags to Micah, and then takes the bag from Mallory to follow Micah to the food-depository. "It's so good to see you. After the news... I can hardly believe we're just having dinner at your house tonight." He shakes his head but sounds genuinely grateful. Mallory offers a sedate smile in greeting to Micah, nodding to each man as she greets them, "Hello Micah, Jackson." She passes the bag off to Aloke, following him into the apartment, perhaps a little uncertain of where to go, but she chuckles softly at the food comment. "I am afraid we may have overdone it just a touch with the food," she says with a sheepish smile, "But the selection there is just so amazing it is a bit difficult to just pick a few things." Nodding in agreement, Mallory says, accented voice soft but happy, "It is good to see you both doing well, after all that happened." Luke Cage has arrived out front in his black humvee, and steps out into the cold night. He's wearing dark jeans, biker boots, and a pale yellow collared shirt under a puffy brown jacket, and a blue beanie with a red Mets logo on the front. In one hand he carries a rectangular corningware glass dish covered in foil. He studies the buzzer box for a long moment, and gently presses the right button, announcing himself when prompted. "Oh -- gosh," Jackson returns from the bathroom moving a little stiffly, a little paler than usual; his smile is bright as ever, though. "T'ain't no such thing as overdoing food with my pups around, they can pack away --" He stops, glancing briefly towards the closed door. "Well. I guess jus' Shane now. Eats enough for /five/ teenagers an' that's a lotta teenager. Um -- hi." Contrary to his usual warmth, he does not offer anyone hugs. Just a small wave as he moves over to sink slowly down into one of the enormous beanbags in his living room, leaving Micah to handle the buzzer. "An' thank you. So much. For alla --" He uncurls fingers towards the food. "That were real sweet." His cheeks flush dark at the mention of seeing them both well. "M'doin' better'n Ghost is." He sounds -- distinctly guilty about this, fidgeting uncomfortably in his seat. His smile returns a beat later, neat and warm as ever. "-- Oh gosh did you say y'all were goin' to /India/ tomorrow, though, that's crazy-excitin'." Meanwhile, Micah has gotten to work unpacking the bags onto the dining room table. "Y'all go ahead an' have a seat in the livin' room. Snack a little if y'like an' I'll have tea out in a moment. We got another couple of guests we're still waitin' on." The alarm on the phone in his pocket interrupts him to go fetch the tea. He hurries to the kitchen to remove the strainer from the pot, bringing it and sweeteners (sugar and agave) on one pass, a half dozen cups to join on the second, and settling all of these on the coffee table. Just as he's straightening back to stand, the buzzer sounds. "Oh, that'll be Luke an' Chelsea, then." Scurrying again, he makes his way to the intercom. "Evenin', Luke, come on up. I'll have the door propped open for you so's y'don't have t'knock again." True to his word, he unlocks the door and props it open slightly with a little wooden doorstop to await the others' arrival upstairs. Aloke nods and heads for the living room, wincing when he sees Jax and Micah both moving about so stiffly. Standing in the living room he speaks up so Micah can hear him in the kitchen, "Micah, you sure I can't help out in there? You guys should be resting..." Aloke can't quite settle down, looking awkward and concerned. Not wanting to refuse hospitality, she does take a seat in the living room, if for no other reason than to keep herself out of the way of Micah doing food preparation. Mallory chuckles and nods to Jax, fidgeting with one of her horns sheepishly, "Oh, I know a bit about that. Suppose it's somewhat of a miracle Thomas and I didn't eat our parents out of house and home as teens. And beyond." Perhaps a bit demonstratively, she snags one of the finger foods off the tray and nibbles on it while listening to the conversations. She winces at the mention of the injured student, nodding slowly and looking thoughtful for a moment, "I hope she has a speedy recovery. A hospital ward is a lousy place to spend a break." Her dark gaze follows Aloke as he frets, nodding an affirmative to Jax's question about travel plans, "That is the plan, yes." There is a slightly hesitant edge to her voice, perhaps betraying her nervousness. Her head tilts curiously at the mention of Luke and Chelsea, puzzling out why those names sounded familiar, before a look of realization dawns on her features, an amused but quiet, "Ooh," her only comment. A moment later Luke is pushing through the door, glassware in hand, but no Chelsea. His smile is hesitant and then a little confused when he sees the extra people here. "Uh, hi," he says. He nods to Aloke and Mallory, and holds out the glassware awkwardly before finally setting it on the counter in some empty space. Under the foil is a flat of brownies that he didn't think to slice up into squares. At least he followed the recipe on the box! "Uh, kind of random, I know, but Chelsea said you were asking about what I might like. So I figured I'd return the favor considering... what happened. With her, and then at the rally." Luke shrugs, probably assuming the strangers-to-him in Jax and Micah's house know why the two men are injured. "She's with her grandma tonight. I wanted to come by and... Is your boy... Look uh, if this is a bad time, I can see you guys later?" "It -- ain't a good place for anyone t'be, no. I hope she --" Jackson trails off, head briefly bowing. He looks back up a moment later, fingers resting on his knees and fidgeting with a zipper on his pants. "Aloke, honey-honey, you brung us /dinner/ that's bought us plenty-enough restin' time. It's a blessing, really, thank you." He gives Mallory a brighter smile. "-- Oh, m'sure it'll be /wonderful/. Ohmygosh are you gonna go for like -- meetin' his folks an' everything?" His hands clap together in some delight, though he turns his head to shoot Micah a -- look that is admittedly hard to read behind his sunglasses, teeth scraping against his lip afterwards. He's derailed from whatever thought he had by Luke's arrival; he starts to get up, instinctively, but then just settles uncomfortably back into his beanbag. "Oh wow thank you -- oh gosh that was gonna be a surprise." He blushes, dark. "This ain't a bad time at all, we got /so/ much food needs eatin'. An' B's --" His head turns briefly towards the twins' closed door, violin music still playing behind it. "Doin' -- pretty okay, actually." "Oh, ain't hardly nothin' happened t'me. Jax'n Ghost took the worst of it by far. I can handle a little hostin'. 'Specially since y'all brought dinner 'long with you." Micah quickly retrieves plates and silverware from the kitchen for place settings at the table. "If y'/really/ want somethin' t'do, Aloke, you're welcome t'pour tea for folks as want it. S'a summer harvest Darjeeling. There's sugar an' agave on the table for those as like sweeteners." The table is fully set by the time Cage arrives. He moves to hold the door open wider, then to close and lock it once the other man is inside. "Thanks for stoppin' by, Luke. S'a perfect time. We got all kindsa food goin' on. S'nibblies an' tea in the livin' room. Aloke an' Mallory brought all kindsa Indian food for dinner, too. Have y'all met? I never know... They're both teachers at the twins' an' Chelsea's school, so y'mighta crossed paths before." Micah smiles down at the tray of brownies. "Aw, that's sweet, honey. Y'didn't have to. Here, let me put those in the kitchen. They'll make a wonderful dessert." Retreating to the kitchen again is handy for hiding his blush. He can /feel/ Jax's look, sunglasses or no, well-aware himself that /catastrophes/ have seemed to prevent every trip that has even started to be planned for visiting /his/ side of the family. Aloke gapes slightly when Luke comes into the apartment, blinking as the huge man explains why he's there. Aloke's expression is confused at the explanation for his visit, but sets about pouring tea without really asking who wants. He pours for Mallory and Jax first, delivering while he keeps up his side of the conversation. "Um yeah, they've been bugging me to bring her by, and their estate is secluded enough... Mal and me can be relatively low key, if we travel... well, my way." He shrugs and grins. He turns to Cage when they're introduced and nods, "Oh yeah, you're Chelsea's dad, of course. Nice to meet you, sir." He glances at Mallory with a significant glance of his own, and a tiny shrug. Celebrities. Mallory's dark eyes widen further at Luke's entrance, and she does her best not to stare. "Oh, yes. That is right," she agrees with Aloke's statement, offering a warm smile to Luke, "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Cage." The question about the purpose of the trip earns a flush of color to her already red cheeks, but Mallory nods and accepts her tea, a nervous smile on her wine colored lips, "Yes. The trip is to introduce me to his family. Which I'm quite looking forward to." Her voice is earnest, but there's the slightest shake of the hand holding her teacup that belies her otherwise well-hidden nerves. "Although, I do apologize, I'm rather afraid we may need to be going, soon. It is getting a bit late in the evening, and, well, a long ways to go," Mallory says guiltily, looking up at Aloke as she speaks. Luke shrugs at the invitation to stay and shrugs out of his very warm-looking jacket and tosses it across the the back of chair. It looks like his collared shirt must be expensively tailored to fit like that, hugging him as he moves. The big-and-tall store just doesn't make stuff that fits this well. The man must really love his shirts. "Oh yeah," Luke says, nodding as he looks Aloke and Mallory over. "Yeah, I remember you from the library, but... oh, the art teacher, right?" Luke makes the rounds to shake hands, and then finds a nice, sturdy kitchen chair to settle his unreasonably dense bulk into. He slouches a bit in spite of his fitness level, and reaches to unbutton his cuffs and roll his sleeves up to just below his elbows. Jackson takes the cup of tea with a small smile, but sets it quietly aside on the coffee table. "That's totally convenient. It'd be /so/ nice t'be able t'get back home more often an' -- that ain't even /half/ so far as India." He nods in understanding when Mallory apologizes, waving away the apology. "Oh, that's -- totally fine you got a /big/ trip comin' up. Just -- have a /great/ time, you guys. I think everyone could use a bit of awesome vacation. An' thank you again so much for the food." He turns in his beanbag chair, swivelling towards the kitchen though afterwards he just kind of curls over in a droopy ball. "How's /Chelsea/ doin', sir? The whole -- thing with her an' my pups it -- she was real shaken, I don't." His nose crinkles up. "M'sorry for alla that happenin' to begin with, they shouldn't --" Exhaling a heavy breath, he shakes his head. "Not that anyone coulda predicted what – happened." Micah returns in time for Mallory to announce that she and Aloke have to leave. “Ohgosh, did you guys eat 'fore y'came? Can we pack some of the food back up for y'all? I mean, I can't...just send you folks outta here hungry. 'Specially not when y'/brought/ dinner...” He flounders a little, weight shifting toward the dining room a couple of times as if he means to go and fetch food /right then/. “I mean...it's fine if y'have t'leave, just don't leave hungry.” Oh, the perils of Southern hosts. He nods as Jax speaks of Chelsea and the boys. “They all got told /real/ clear they shouldn't've been fightin' unsupervised. Or /at all/ 'less Chelsea had your permission t'be in their /controlled/ an' /supervised/ fightin' arrangement. Hope she isn't too shaken by it still? It was all...still real new an' unexpected when I spoke with her last.” Aloke stops his fretting, still having completely avoided sitting down, and checks his phone for the time. "Damnit, yeah. We have to..." He looks embarrassed and just shrugs. "The estate staff gets in mid-morning and mom and dad asked us to come in before they get there, so they don't make a fuss about /how/ we got there. This way it looks like we got in over night. Somehow." He shrugs again, looking several shades of embarrassed, about the estate, about having staff, about who knows what else. But when Mallory sets her tea cup down and stands, ready to go, he nods. "I wish I could hug you both, but I don't want to make anything worse." He grins and nods at Luke. "Sometimes I don't know my own strength." Aloke moves to kiss both Jax and then Micah on the cheek, leads Mallory over to the window and winks at the southern hospitality. "It's ok, Micah. It's not a long trip. See you soon, guys. Love to you and yours." And then they're gone. Just, in a soft flash of yellow light, they've traveled through the window, and arrived on the roof of the mansion to pick up their bags and make the next leg of their journey. "She's recovering," Luke says. "But it wasn't nothin' physical with her, you know? She just feels guilty about the whole thing and-" Luke pauses when he gets a sense that the other guests are making an exit anyway and waits. Luke sits by quietly as Aloke and Mallory take their leave. He doesn't seem overly concerned one way or the other by their presence, but seems a little confused why they would make their goodbyes and then go to the /window/. He nods his own farewell, and then jumps half out of his seat when they vanish. "Oh /shit/!" he shouts. Then a guilty look when he glances around at the closed doors of all the kids who live here. "Fuck I'm so-" Then he realizes he just cussed /again/ and sighs. "{I'm sorry,}" he says in Spanish. "I'm pretty new at being a dad. And being around kids. My bad. I just... mutants should warn a brother before pulling something like that. Damn." Jackson tips his face up towards the kiss, lifting one arm carefully to give Aloke a gentle squeeze of hug. "Travel safe, you guys. An' have a really great time. An' eat so many mangoes for me." For his part he's unsurprised by the sudden flash, though he does startled at /Luke's/ startlement. "Ohgoshwhat?" Around him, the air brightens immediately at the shout; there's a shimmer of translucent light that blossoms reflexively to spread in protective barrier across both kids' doorways as he looks around. It vanishes in time with a quick laugh when he realizes the /cause/ of Luke's surprise. "/Oh/. Oh -- gosh. That's -- he's just --" He waves a hand towards the window like this explains /everything/. "Half of /everyone/ who comes through this apartment's got some pretty startlin' tricks up their sleeves. -- M'pretty sure my oldest boy generally packs around twenty /times/ as many swears into most of his talkin' though you don't, um, gotta apologise." "Safe journey. Apologies for fussin', I'm sure y'all will have more food'n y'know what t'do with as soon as y'get home." Micah returns Aloke's kiss with a one-armed hug. He jumps a bit at Cage's exclamation as the pair make their exit, though he quickly realises the source. "S'okay, Jax, I think Aloke just surprised 'im with the light-travel thing." He chuckles at Cage's apology, moving to sit on the couch and take up an unclaimed cup of tea for himself. "Oh...honey, Shane lives here. You've...talked t'Shane before, right? Boy could make a whole ship fulla sailors blush." Smiling, he sips at his tea. "Just let Chelsea know that don't nobody /blame/ her for what happened. An' as far as we can tell, there's been no adverse health effects for 'Bastian. It's really just this...physical change. Otherwise alla Hank's testin' has found 'im fit as a fiddle. Maybe /more/ so since he seems t'have your daughter's healin' capacity now. Still anyone's guess how long this all will last, though." Luke eases back into the chair he claimed looking more than a little sheepish. He takes in Jax's explanation and Micah's expansion on it with a nod, and when Micah mentions Shane by name he holds up an understanding hand. "Well I wasn't sure about Shane. The few times I seen him, he's had every reason to be cussing at or around me, so that never bothered me." Luke sits back, still very careful about not breaking the chair. "I just feel so bad about what happened. I mean, sure I'm new at this, but they definitely shouldn't have been off sparrin' unsupervised. I probably gave her a little too much leeway. She told me she was just riding back with the boys to 'save me the trip' and all that." Luke rolls his eyes at how gullible he was. "But on the flip side, I'm goin' kinda easy on her this time, considering the consequences she's already dealing with." He sits forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "So, the school doctor checked Sebastian over? Does he think it'll, I dunno, wear off or something? Chelsea's just been feelin' so bad about the whole thing, she hasn't been returning the boys' texts or nothin'. She kinda spilled the beans about your surprise, Jax, when the story came all out." He shrugs, nodding at his attempt at brownies. "They smell kinda burnt to me, but the box /did/ say they're vegan." "They shouldn't'a been," Jackson agrees with a small frown, "an' I apologize for that. The boys run a group every Friday nights for practicin' fighting. But those we have adults at, an' folks on hand with healin' abilities, an' -- they shouldn't'a just gone off on their /own/ to --" He shakes his head quickly. "We done talked t'them about that, too." He lifts a hand, slowly scrunching it into his hair. "I ain't -- always so great at knowin' how much leeway is too much, m'self," he admits. "Ain't really no kinda guidebook on this." He pulls his legs in beneath himself, nodding at the question of the school doctor. "We ain't -- sure if it'll wear off or not yet. Don't seem to be -- just yet. Doctor McCoy's lookin' into some possible --" He hesitates a moment over his next word choice, "-- ways t'reverse it. If -- B decides he even wants that. Though he still ain't /certain/ it won't jus' fade on its own. It just -- sounded real painful, I imagine it won't be /more/ fun goin' back the other way /without/ Chelsea's healin' to compensate for the change." He blushes at the mention of Chelsea spilling the beans. And /vegan/ brownies! "Oh gosh, honey-honey, that's /so/ -- thank you. That's real thoughtful. An' with /everything/ you done for the Commons, we really wanted to jus' -- say thank you somehow. I mean, that place is gonna be home for us. An' -- an' seein' the way Hive lights up when there's real progress on it --" He looks down at his hands with a shy smile. "Kinda deserve a /huge/ lotta thanks." "Oh, no, honey, it ain't your fault. Not sure any of us could've predicted that our kids were gonna run off an' /beat/ on each other. That...kinda came outta nowhere." Micah shakes his head at his tea, as if /it/ did something wrong. "I'm sure the boys wouldn't mind talkin' t'her, when she's ready. They ain't been harbourin' no ill feelin's far as I can tell. Y'can tell her that." He nods agreement with Jax. "Thank you...for the brownies an'. Yeah, for all of your help gettin' this thing off the ground. S'gonna be a blessin' for a lotta people." "Well I'm glad, um," Luke tightens his jaw. "I mean, I know he's not /ok/, but I'm glad B isn't any worse off than he is. I wish there was something we could do to make this right." He shakes his head when both men mention his help with the Harbor Commons. "No no, don't need any thanks for that. That all would have gotten worked out one way or the other. All I did was pull in some favors from people I never woulda called on again anyway. Tricked them into doing something /good/ for a change." Luke shrugs and picks up the tea left out for him. He takes a sip and looks at it, stopping just shy of frowning at the tea. His look says volumes though: Who are you, and why aren't you coffee? He tries to hide the look, takes another sip out of politeness and sets it back down again on the table. "I mean, I don't blame her or them for /wantin'/ to fight. Push themselves. Learn how to defend themselves. Makes /sense/. She said they just got so excited for break, and she doesn't like my boxing lessons." Luke trails off, shrugging again. He doesn't seem overly upset, but more perplexed. Ah, parenthood. "No, I'm -- with you there, I don't. I don't blame them for wantin' to learn. I just, when they got this idea -- I wanted it t'be in a /controlled/ environment where there'd be some safety measures. I mean, I know they heal way better'n most folks but they still -- well. This all jus' kinda goes t'show how much anything can happen." Jackson, for his part, is looking at the tea Aloke poured him rather wistfully before turning away to look back to Luke. Slowly, he pushes himself to his feet, trudging in from the living room to settle gingerly at the kitchen table instead. "-- I actually, um. You kinda done helped so much already it feels presumptuous t'ask you for no /more/ help but --" Jackson's brow furrows deeply, and then he shakes his head. "Actually this really ain't no kinda /social/-visit conversation. But I'd like t'talk t'you soon, might be. About gettin' your help in kinda another capacity entirely." "We get the trainin' thing. It makes sense. But, yeah, that's what the whole fight club set-up is for. I'm sure they'd have no problem with Chelsea joinin' that if she wanted, an' y'were okay with it. That'd be...a much safer format. Though if her blood gettin' into anybody's system's gonna cause what it did with B, they're gonna...have to work out some kinda safeguard. Not sure what'd work yet." Micah takes another long drink from his tea cup, head shaking subtly again. The problems you don't expect to need to work out in your life... His eyebrows lift slightly, curious at Jax's change of subjects. He nods quietly after a few ticks, however, thinking he has an idea as to what. Luke takes a deep breath and nods at Jackson and Micah's assessment of their kids' shenanigans. Nothing more to add there, it's all been said. Luke sits up a little straighter when Jax joins him at the table though. "Hey, you don't have to - are you sure you're ok?" Then when Jax voices the beginning of his request, and then decides against it, Luke taps the table gently with his forefinger and shakes his head. "No, man," his voice quiet, nearly a whisper. "Don't ask, because you don't /have/ to ask." The fire and sudden earnestness in his eyes can leave no misunderstanding. Luke knows /exactly/ what Jax is talking about. "If this is about what me and Hive talked about the other day, then no. It isn't any kind of conversation. It's just a 'you call' and 'I show up'. No questions asked." Luke gives a curt nod which seems to convey that the topic safely tucked away now. He glances around and nods at the clock on the wall. "I should probably let you two get on with your evening though, don't you think?" He doesn't get up from the table. Instead, Luke reaches his huge hand out, resting it on the surface between them, offering to shake with Jax. Jackson lets out a breath, shaky and relieved. He reaches his hand out across the table, much smaller than Luke's as he clasps the other man's hand firmly. "Thank you. Unfortunately I think I will be callin', fair soon, perhaps." He drops his hand back to the table, looking from Luke to Micah. "-- Oh gosh. We're gonna have /so/ much food to eat. Can we at least send some back with /you/ for you an' Chelsea? I hear it's delicious an' even /with/ three teenagers an' a eight-year-old loiterin' around I don't know if we can finish this army's worth'a -- /everyone/ can't leave here hungry!" He's slipping instantly back into FRET mode now that Serious Topics have passed. A little...deserted in the living room, Micah finally gathers his teacup and moves to join the others at the table. He nods again as Cage seems to catch on to the unspoken need. “Thank you. We're more'n stretched thin with...these things. They keep happenin' an' it's kinda ragtag team versus the big-bad government, so any bit of help is so very appreciated.” He gestures to the /vast/ spread on the table. “An' /please/. You're more'n welcome t'stay an' eat. But if y'don't, at least let me pack some of this up for y'all t'take with you. At least save Jax the small heart attack he's workin' 'imself up to if /somebody/ don't eat.” This last is said with a hint of lopsided grin. Luke nods as they shakes hands, and then smiles to allow the topic to be swept away when the men start talking food again. "Well fine then," he says, pushing back from the table and standing. "My momma always said 'refuse the first one, but take the seconds'. Or... was it 'the second'?" He chuckles and says, "Either way, pack me up a tupperware. I promise to get it back to you. I have a feeling I'll be seeing you two soon enough."