ArchivedLogs:Brooding

Brooding
Dramatis Personae Tag, Tian-shin
In Absentia	2017-11-12 "Pulling yourself up by the bootstraps, as it were."
Location <NYC> {Funhaus} - Harbor Commons - Lower East Side
The house might have started out looking capacious and respectable, but it has since moved through various incarnations, always colorful, but never colorful the same way for longer than a few days. There is little in the way of what most people would call furniture: a sectional couch buried in fluffy cushions, three bean bags of varying sizes, a scattering of bookshelves, what looks like a human-scale cat tree in one corner, and a low, square table surrounded by zafus. The floor plan is largely open, criss-crossed by rope bridges linking small elevated platforms to the landing of the second storey, beyond which lie the bedrooms. The kitchen is separated from the living room only by a long counter, lined with stools. Even the appliances are decked out in unexpected hues, edged with designs that change on a daily basis. A row of tins and jars runs the length of the breakfast counter, none of which match and all of which bear brightly colored text describing their contents: teas, coffees, mates, and various herbal blends. Funhaus is still haunted, the Halloween decorations not yet taken down. Wispy fake cobwebs hang from the rope bridge that crosses the living room, and dark, tattered cloths partition it into a kind of maze. There's leftover candy and toys in large bowls by the door with cheerful signs declaring 'Free For All!', though both are dwindling fast. It's early on a gray and rainy Sunday morning--early, at least, by Tag's standards. He is flopped sleepy-eyed across a beanbag chair currently patterned like a large and somewhat squashed Jack-o-Lantern. He's wearing a somewhat oversized t-shirt that looks currently like a night sky filled with aurora and black cargo pants with yellow lightning bolts down their outseams. His phone is in his hand, its screen gone dark from disuse as he is mostly just doodling on the floor at the moment. Colorful, organic-looking curlicues appear and morph against the currently black floorboards. Tian-shin has been in the kitchen, turning leftover stirfry into scramble for breakfast. She hangs up her apron, her not-so-casual weekend attire--pale lavender blouse and a gray pencil skirt--spotless underneath, and carries a tray laden with food and tea over to the couch. "{What's up?}" she asks, her Mandarin gruff and casual. "{Up this early and this quiet? You're brooding.}" Tag rolls onto one side and levers himself upright in the beanbag, snagging a mug from the tray before his sister has a chance to even put it down. "{I'm not /brooding/,} he protests before taking a long drink of his tea. "{I'm just.../thinking./}" He looks just about on the verge of leaving it at at that before he adds, somewhat off-handedly, "I think maybe Theo was right." "{You're totally brooding. Maybe it's the weather...}" Tian-shin had taken up her own mug and was just about to drink from it, but stops short at this last declaration from her brother. "Wait...what? Theo /Fegenbush/? The /third/?" She frowns slightly, taking a sip of her tea. "{I'm sure the man's been right about /something/, at some point.} Even a stopped clock..." Tag puts down his tea and takes up a bowl of scramble, though he doesn't immediately dig into it. "I mean about getting mutants fair compensation--fair/er/, anyway, than a lot of us can manage on our own. Like he said he wants to do what I did with Neon and Chrome, but on a larger scale. I don't think he'd really thought through /how/ I did it, though, or why that's important." He toys with his food idly, stirring it and watching the steam rise. "{But what if we /could/ sorta systematize the kind of community support and mutual aid that made Neon and Chrome what it is now?}" Tian-shin raises her eyebrows. "{I'm pretty sure he imagined Neon and Chrome was solely the fruit of your hard work.} Pulling yourself up by the bootstraps, as it were. Not that you /didn't/ put in hard work, but..." Her slender shoulders shrug once. "Hard work is rarely enough. So, what are you thinking? Microloans, collective benefits, mentorship..." Tag nods eagerly. "All of the above--and maybe more! Like I already provide services on a sliding scale, and I know there are other business owners in the community who do, or probably would be willing to." He takes another sip of his tea. "But that's not as accessible to people who don't know us personally. They may not know it's even an /option/, and if they do they're probably still reluctant to ask because it feels like putting someone else out. But what if we actively offered discounted or free services? It could just be through a community listserv, bulletin board, whatever, or it could even be like..." He scoops up a large spoonful of scramble, waves it kind of vaguely in the air. Just before shoving it into his mouth, he adds, "...a co-op?" Tian-shin smiles, small but clearly appreciative. "That sounds like it would definitely be a /project/. But, perhaps a worthwhile one. And it wouldn't really even be /competing/ with Effective Staffing. In fact, people who are working for Effective might benefit a lot from joining a labor co-op, anyway." She also picks up her bowl, now. "Anyway, I definitely think you're onto something there. {I shouldn't have doubted you. If this is the sort of idea you're going to hatch, then brood away!}"