ArchivedLogs:A Real House

A Real House
Dramatis Personae Dusk, Micah, Jax, Melinda, Tola
In Absentia	12 June 2014 Settling in.
Location <NYC> Harbor Commons - Sunroom - Lower East Side
Bright and warm, this room is set up to enjoy a little bit of the outdoors even year-round. Tall glass panes make up most of its wall in between wood supports, providing a wide three-sided view of the garden and yard outside. As well as the inner doors leading back into the kitchens and dining room, an outer door leads out to the outdoor gardens, as well. Inside, the room is airy and green -- a plethora of potted herbs and plants hang from the ceiling, as well as ring the room in a series of narrow wooden raised-beds that provide growing space for a selection of herbs year-round. Outside of the herb beds that ring the room, this place is designed simply to come and relax; quiet and simple, with clean stone floors and neutral-toned wicker furniture adorned with comfortable cushioning. Some of the chairs ring stone-and-glass tables for eating or conversing; a few more solitary seats come in the form of rocking chairs or netted hammock-chairs hanging from the ceiling. There have been quite a few deliveries made throughout the day to the Commons, again. Furniture and furnish/ings/ and though the last of the trucks is gone there's still the matter of making sure everything gets to where it is supposed to be. The Sunroom at the moment has a box full of cushions yet to make it to their chairs, tables that are /mostly/ in place though the panels of glass that make up their tops are still stacked atop each other rather than on their respective tables. In the hours after dinner Dusk is in here, in black jeans, no shirt, no shoes, standing on a stepladder to affix one netted hammock-seat to a sturdy fixture in the ceiling. There's a small pile of net beside him that /probably/ is Other Chairs, though un-hung it mostly just looks like a messy pile of cords. Micah is back in his typical after-work uniform of late: T-shirt spattered in paint and smeared in grease and coated in sawdust (this one plain white under all the mess) with faded-patchy jeans to match. He has managed paint in his hair this time, the /real/ red bright against the auburn. He looks a little exhausted and a little like a shower is the presumptive next stop for his night. Coming with a Jax in tow to a place where he is /physically separated/ from doing more paintings or mosaics, intention is clear in the tea thermos tucked under his arm and the plate of chocolate chunk macadamia nut cookies in his hand. Lacking a free hand, he waves the plate vaguely at Dusk. "Hey, hon. How're you?" Jax is also looking Kind Of Tired, pale and worn in his similarly paint-splattered jeans -- also no shoes, also no shirt, fresh bright ink still sore and itchy on his chest. His tired expression brightens into a quick smile seeing Dusk, though it comes with a hint of a blush as well. "Hey, honey-honey. Y'want a cookie? They're good." He says this /around/ a mouthful of cookie, tongue swiping crumbs from his lips after. "Oh gosh look furniture s'like a real house an' everything." Melinda comes wandering in from other areas of the Commons, looking around and exploring a little. She has been home long enough to change and grab a baby, fingers still adjusting the sling that keeps the child against her chest. Her hair still smells strongly of coffee, but the rest of her smells lightly of lavender, an orange and white striped shirt peeking out from under the maroon wrapping, loose yoga pants in dark brown coming down to mid calf. She's wearing flip flops as her feet look a little swollen from standing up most of the day. She follows the sound of voices, ending up in the Sun Room with the others. "Ahhh, there's where the people are," she coos quietly to Tola. Dusk wobbles on the stepladder, wings flaring slightly outward as he glances down sharply at the new voices, teeth baring. His mouth closes a moment later, an echoing flush dusting his pale cheeks as well. His fingers curl tight against the netting, other hand dropping quickly to sign. 'Fine. I'm fine. No thank you.' He glances at the cookies more than he does at Jax or Micah, looking away with a faint widening of eyes at Mel and Tola. "-- They have cookies," he offers Mel in greeting. Micah moves forward quickly, not out any intense need to feed Dusk cookies /stat/, but rather out of concern that he might fall. He steadies the ladder with his free hand, a foot wedged up against it for good measure. "Apologies, hon, didn't mean t'startle you." He giggles at Jax's observation. "We ain't got high standards, considerin' the ongoin' lack of furniture at our place. Though that's /very nearly/ done with. I been puttin' on some finishin' touches an' /paintin'/ Spence's rocket bed fort. Gotta little more work on it t'morrow, I think, then hopefully it'll be /usable/ by Saturday night." His eyes drag down to the plate in his hand, realising the dilemma of occupying both hands again. He finally hooks his arm around the ladder so he can utilise the hand as a cookie delivery system to his mouth. This leaves him /nodding/ greeting at Mel and Tola when they arrive, at least until he can finish chewing. "Hi, Mel! Tola! How's the little flower doin'? The cookies /are/ awesome but you'll hafta come to 'em if y'want one right now." Jax's blush deepens when Dusk startles, and he hangs back away from the other man, finishing up his cookie in tiny nibbles and drifting closer to Mel instead. "Unfortunately," he tells her, "now that Spence's stuff is near done /I/ jus' want t'steal his room. Still gotta build stuff for our own bedroom then a dinin' set an' some chairs an' oh gosh I want to make like a tiny li'l table t'put in the tiny li'l attic an' my studio needs some more --" His blush deepens, head bowing. "... 'pologies shuttin' up now how's work been? You settlin' back in aright?" "Oh, cookies sound good." Mel smiles, but doesn't go anywhere near the possibility of a ladder falling over -- even if Micah is managing it fine at the moment. "Tola's good. She's just getting some snuggles at the moment, getting used to my over caffeinated smell." Her eyes widen as she shakes her head, turning toward Jax as he comes to linger by her. She leans in a little and kisses his cheek. "Hey, unload all the organizational stuff you need to. It's fine. Sometimes saying it out loud helps." She wets her lips. "Ahh, it's a whole different headache. It's good, really, but things move faster than I remember and I feel like a bit of a fish out of water. I'll get used to it, once my multitasking kicks back in." Dusk pulls his wings back in tightly, steadying as Micah holds the ladder in place. He finishes up with hanging the chair, shaking it out slightly so that it sits properly before he hops down from the ladder. "Our house is looking pretty housey. But we just cheated and bought furniture. Kind of need to decorate, though." He's looking down more at the floor than at anyone else, picking up a second chair and dragging the stepladder away several feet to position it for hanging the other. "It's a good -- smell. Caffeine. And with enough caffeine assistance you'll be back in the swing of fast-paced in no time right?" "Yeah, I think everybody kinda wants t'steal 'is room as don't wanna steal the twins' or the treehouse," Micah observes with a chuckle. "An' don't worry 'bout listin' the things t'do yet. There's a ton of 'em, but ain't none of it on a deadline once Spence's room is sleepable. The rest of it we get done when we get done an' use boxes for furniture in the meantime." When Dusk climbs down, Micah passes the cookie plate and tea thermos off to Jax, closer to Mel and safer than by the ladder. "Ain't cheatin' t'buy furniture. S'just what folks /typically/ do these days. Think /we're/ the outliers on this'n." Limbs freed for the task except for the cookie he's nibbling on, Micah steadies the ladder a bit more easily for Dusk to climb it again. "Oh gosh Mel have you /seen/ the treehouse? It ain't furnished yet but I putted some kitchen-things in its kitchen -- Mel our /treehouse/ got a /kitchen/. How cool is that?" There's a faint shimmer of light around Jax as his excitement grows. He reaches to take the cookies from Micah, offering the plate towards Mel. "Oh gosh organizational? No, I ain't unloadin' nothin' useful I'm jus' kind of /bubbling/. Everything feels excitin' lately. But on the organization front I'm kinda useless. -- It'll come back t'you, m'sure. The work thing." His eye skips over towards Dusk, tongue wiggling at a lip ring. "Do y'all need any help with -- no probably I guess /decorating's/ kinda a. Personal thing." "We haven't gone up there yet. I got Hive's email, but things have just been busy and thus far, I kind of just want to sit down all the time. But if I sit, Tola gets fussy." Mel shakes her head as she takes a cookie from the plate, turning her head away from the head lump under her wrappings to take a nibble. "I am not sure it's a competition to see who can get their home the most home like the fastest. I think we - well, I'm just anxious for everyone to move in. Kind of feels like summer camp and I'm just waiting on the rest of my friends to arrive." She grins as she nods to Dusk. "Yeah, the coffee helps, but I'm trying not to drink too much - otherwise Tola's up all night, too." Dusk doesn't climb up the ladder, yet. He takes a step back when Micah joins him, hands fiddling absently with the netted chair he holds. "Anxious for -- who's left?" His brows furrow uncertainly. "Zombie's coming over the weekend and -- have Hanna and Jayna moved in yet? Oh --" His cheeks darken again, gaze flitting between Jax and Micah. "I guess /you/ guys aren't actually moved in." He looks down at the net in his hands, wringing at it slowly. "OH -- oh. I hadn't thought about -- does that make your /milk/ caffeinated, I guess -- I should've -- I mean I'll get, like, a secondhand buzz from people if they've --" He shakes his head quickly, wings twitching at his back. "It's prob'ly up there with the coolest treehouses ever," Micah agrees, though less /glowing/ in his praise. "Yeah, don't think nobody's competin'. Think everybody's just achin' for a place t'feel like /home/ again. Waitin' on their people t'get here. Nestin'." An amused grin plays across his lips. "Literally, in Horus's case." He nods at Dusk's assessment. "Yeah, despite bein' here a lot, we're not official yet. Keep goin' back t'the school t'sleep since Spence's bed ain't a bed. If all goes well, we can move in Saturday afternoon, maybe." He polishes off the last bit of his cookie, head tilting slightly as he watches Dusk fiddle with the chair-net. "Oh gosh Horus's place is /precious/." Jax's glowing brightens -- rather sharply, for a moment, before he grimaces and reins it back in to just a faint shimmer. "Only it makes me want t'climb /everything/." He sets the plate of cookies down on a empty wicker chair, restless even with his current state of tired; hands freed, now, he goes to start carefully separating the glass panes so that he can complete the room's tabletops. "S'too bad Nzinga ain't livin' with you no more. Drink all the coffee /an'/ have Tola sleep on time." "Oh, I am not sure it's entirely caffeinated milk, but sleep is a very precious and not very easily acquired when you have a young baby." Mel takes another bit, squeezing her eyes shut at the flash of brightness. They peek open once more when it dims. "Oh. I have done a bit of nesting myself, but it's less literal. Horus - is he doing the literal nest? I haven't been up his way yet." She smiles a little at Jax and nods. "Yeah, that would have been convenient. I kind of miss that sometimes. Ever since we all moved - well, Sleep has been more elusive." "We're /totally/ competing. Me and Flicker. Who's gonna finish their --" Dusk breaks off with a sharp wince, wing reflexively jerking up and around to cover his eyes at the flash of light and a low growl rumbling in his throat. He takes a step back, grimacing, too, as his claws snag against the netting trailing down onto the floor. "I haven't seen Horus's --" He shrugs, the net chair moving along with the shift of his wing. "Hive can get you to sleep but it's not. As pleasant." Micah's eyes squeeze closed reflexively as Jax's light starts to flare. "Hon, you're...flashy," he informs before carefully peeking out from between the reddish fringes of his lashes again. "Instant sleep /is/ handy sometimes. Speakin' of which, sugar, we should get headin' out. S'a long drive an' we gotta get Spence t'bed at a decent hour. Can always start in again early t'morrow." "'pologies." Jax's cheeks flush dark, the light fading entirely from around him as he nestles the glass panel into place on the table. "Jus' -- been. Kinda buggy since -- um." He signs 'sorry' towards Dusk, this time, and turns to pick the cookies back up. "Guess I'll see y'all t'morrow. Night, honey-honey." He leans in to peck Mel on the cheek, free hand lifting to brush a finger against Tola's cheek. "Yeah, I should eat more than cookies." Mel nods to to the others as they start to depart. She smiles again when Jax kisses her cheek. "Good night, all. See you tomorrow." She looks to Dusk last, raising a hand to wave, studying him before she goes. Dusk is still largely avoiding eye contact, though now perhaps it's equally because his eyes are just squinted half-closed until Jax's glow fades entirely. He shakes at his wing until he's dislodged the netting from his claws, only now climbing back up the stepladder to continue working. 'Goodnight', should really be signed with both hands but he only has one free. His wings press tighter against his back as he turns his attention back to his task. Micah's eyebrows dip down in concern as he signs, 'Goodnight,' back to Dusk. Mel gets a back-pat half-hug to avoid any contact between her and his messy clothes, and Tola a gentle caress of her cheek and chin. Then he reclaims his husband to head home. “G'night, folks.”