ArchivedLogs:The Dumb Limit

The Dumb Limit
Dramatis Personae Iolaus, Shelby
In Absentia	2013-04-15 Shelby comes home to daddy.
Location <NYC> Iolaus's Apartment - East Harlem
Down a hallway and overlooking a open air market in El Barrio, Iolaus' apartment is not particularly a large one. It is three rooms - the main room shaped like an L with kitchen at one end, a small bedroom large enough for a full bed and a dresser, and a bathroom barely large enough to fit the bath inside it. The walls are a light yellow in the main room, with a large bookcase sitting against one wall and occupying much of the space, stuffed with books as it is. Two couches sit across from it, pressed up against the corner of the L shaped room. The kitchen is separated only by the transition from wood floor to grey tile and is sparsely filled with food and cookware both, and the bathroom is equally sparse of accouterments. In fact, were it not for the full bookcase and the clothing hanging in the closet, it would look almost as if the occupant had moved out and left some few things behind in a hurry. Wonder of wonders, Shelby has remember twice in a row instructions given to her more than a week ago. There is a knock at the front door! Well. More of a thud thud thud as she bangs the heel of her fist against the barrier. She remembers how heavy the door has become too. Anyone peeping through the peephole will be treated to the sight of one tired looking teenager in a hoodie and jeans, with skateboard, backpack...and a bit of an attitude, because when the peephole shadows, she gives it a narrow look. "It's me, c'mon already. Jesus." There is a soft sound of metal grinding, and the door swings open. Jane is standing there, frowning down at Shelby. She pauses for a moment before she takes a step aside and opens the door wider, silencing the squalking chirp of the alarm with a press of a button. As soon as Shelby is in the apartment, Jane is closing the door firmly behind her and winding the bolts in place. Looking up from his seat on the couch, Iolaus is dressed simply, in a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, computer on his lap. "Who is it, Jane?" he calls out, peering in the direction of the door. "Oh, Shelby. Come in, come in. Make yourself at home," he says, smiling warmly at her as he gestures to the couch. Jane crosses behind her and heads for the bedroom, back to her nap. "How are you doing, Shelby?" he asks, folding down his laptop screen. Much the same look is returned to Jane. Shelby sees her frown and raises her a nose-wrinkling! Then she is occupied in offloading her possessions. Even the hoodie comes off, revealing her much-loved Marilyn face t-shirt, indicating that she intends to stay for awhile. Once everything is shed, she pads over on bare feet to walk up onto the couch before curling beside Iolaus. His laptop is given the selfsame glare Jane received--but it softens a /little/ when she glances at the doc. "Life pretty much /sucks/ but that's okay. How's work?" Iolaus looks a little bit surprised when Shelby comes and sits beside him, but he places his laptop forward onto the coffee table and turns to look fully at Shelby. "Work is work. Why does life suck, today?" he asks, gently. One of his hands reaches out to gently catch one of hers, squeezing it reassuringly. "What's going on, Shelby?" Shelby's forehead crumples when her hand is taken by notably she does not attempt to retrieve it. Instead energy is spent gnawing on her lower lip before she very /very/ carefully tips towards Iolaus. Shoulder barely to shoulder, she waits for a moment and then seems to decide this posture is fine. "I think I broke up with B. And maybe cheated on him. Kinda. Except he was...gone. For awhile. And I don't fucking /know/, it's stupid kid shit." Iolaus takes this information in silence for several moments, face frowning, and he blinks several times. "Alright. That's a lot of questions, right there, and a lot of maybes. Let's take it one step at a time, alright?" he says, eyes flickering over Shelby's face. His hand squeezes a litle firmer at hers, reassuringly. "Alright. So, let's go in order. You maybe cheated on him before or ater you maybe broke up with him?" "There's no /one step/ in all this bullshit." But there's a note of normal Shelby in there, one part aggrieved, two parts snotty humor. A good sign? She is willing to try, at least, even giving his hand a press back. "Like...I went to see Hive, right? 'Cause he's been fucked up since he had to let everyone go. And I was making him eat, 'cause he doesn't /do/ that and he like..." Her fingers wiggle. "Okay, so I've liked him /forever/, and sucking on someone's fingers, that means they like /you/, right? So we kinda. Kissed." Her gaze darts up at Iolaus' face. "/You/ know what it's like, you like him too, right?" Iolaus' face freezes slightly, but it is only for a moment. "Yes, sucking on someone's fingers usually means that they like you." he says, calmly, a faint smile spreading on his lips. "And so does kissing someone. That's certainly on the edge of cheating, if not actually the thing itself. It would depend on the relationship you had with Sebastian." he looks over Shelby's face once, and does absolutely not answer her question. Shelby rumples at him again, somewhere between troubled and confused. Given the way her eyes are searching his expression, it is most likely the latter. "I guess. B and I, we've been dating. And I like him but...ever since Shane told the CPS lady he didn't wanna come home, it's been weird. He didn't text or call me most of last week, just...poof, gone. And when he /did/ show up again, he was just...nnngh!" Now she /does/ pull her hand free of his, so she can wave both before slumping back against the couch. /Boys/. "Most of last week." Iolaus says, softly. He glances around for a moment, looking at the door to his bedroom, then turn back to Shelby. "I can imagine that they have a long couple of weeks, since CPS got involved and they were taken away from Jax. Are you sure he wasn't just busy?" he hesitates for a second and shakes his head. "Doesn't matter. What happened when you spoke to him?" he asks, softly. "They'd have been /home/ by now, but Shane told CPS he didn't /want/ to come home," Shelby huffs, "and they're not even going to /school/. He didn't text me 'cause he said they skipped everything and went /swimming/. They need to swim but Jesus Christ...it takes like two seconds to shoot me a text that says 'not dead!'" Having retrieved her hands, she folds her arms over her stomach and fixes a narrow look on the floor. There are several rapid blinks, all in quick succession. "I told him I was pissed, and why, and he just. Sat there." "And then what did you do?" Iolaus prompts, gently. He reshifts his position on the couch so that he is facing Shelby more, also exposing more of his side to snuggle against - if the teenager wishes to. One of his hands rests along the couch back, and his eyes look over her face. "And what did he do then?" "I told him that's what I meant. I go chasing around after him, I text him, I bring him fucking /hams/ and he can't even.../talk/ to me. Or /try/. Like...if he missed me that much, he could /show/ it. Not just say it /after/ I'm pissed." Shelby eyes the provided snugglespot--and then slumps sideways into him. Offer accepted. She hikes her knees up too, curling against couch and doctor both. "He just sat there. The whole time. Asked if I was breaking up with him. He didn't even do anything when I told him me and Hive kissed." Iolaus nods, slowly, digesting this. He is slower to respond than he usually is, taking every bit of information and mulling it over before he responds. His voice is soft. "Alright. So, you two broke up. Is that what you want? Was it his decision or yours? It sounds like it was yours?" he says, slowly. "Because you don't look particularly happy with the decision." "I guess." The recitation has left Shelby tired. She breathes in, sighs out. "I told him when he got his shit together, he knows where I am. It's stupid. So fucking stupid. All he had to do was /try/. I don't get why he didn't even /try/." "It sounds to me like he might be depressed." Iolaus says, wrapping an arm around Shelby's shoulders loosely, one arm draping over her shoulder to squeeze at it. "I would not be surprised if he was. If it's Shane being stupid, as you say, and Sebastian wanted to go back..." he trails off, hesitating before he continues. "I mean, he's forced away from his parent, living with foster families who, I'm sure, don't like him so much." He shakes his head. "Can't be easy for him. Depression is a natural reaction... and it can make you feel... empty." "You think I think it's /easy/ for him?" Shelby twitches, tensing up under that arm and eventually deciding to wedge a hand against the cushion so she can push herself up. "/Jesus/, Doc. You think I don't /know/ all that? I've been going out there every chance I /get/ /and/ trying to help him /and/ trying to look out after Rasa /and/ checking in at the Lofts /and/ dealing with school. That's bullshit. I /know/." Iolaus raises a hand, halting the outrage - or trying to, anyway. "Easy, Shelby, easy." he says, gently. "I'm not saying you don't understand, or that you haven't been supportive. Not at all. I'm just trying to give an explanation for why he might be behaving the way that he is." he explains, hesitantly. "Alright? Easy, Shelby. And that doesn't make it any better for you. You're in a rough position, because he is." Shelby makes a face at him before collapsing back into a /grudging/ cuddle. /Fine/, the push of shoulder against ribs says. "Yeah, well. I /know/. And now Shane's gonna probably wanna kick my ass. /And/ everyone else 'cause I broke his heart or whatever. He's probably...off somewhere. Being sad." And this makes her sad but she grinds that out between her teeth instead of sniffling about it. "Give him some time, Shelby." Iolaus says, softly. "Give him a couple days. Give him a week. Go... flirt with Hive some more." he adds this last part with a slight hesitation of discomfort. "And then, if you decide you still want to talk to him, if you still want to be with him, give him a text. Set up a date, and see where things go. There's no sense in rushing things, you know?" he says, with a little hesitant smile. "You /really/ want me to go flirt with Hive?" She is not shy about the note of skepticism in her voice, nor in the look that is tilted up at him. "/He's/ just going to think I broke up with B so we could make out some more," Shelby decides, pulling another face. "Ugh. No...I know there isn't. It's not like we were gonna get married or anything, it was just dating. But it'd be nice if...I dunno. It's dumb. All of this is just fucking /dumb/ right now. You got any vodka?" "He's not going to decide anything." Iolaus says, with a laugh. "He is a telepath, Shelby. He's going to know /exactly/ what happened, as long as you think about it." he says, lips quirking into a warm smile. "Yes, it is dumb, and no, I don't have any vodka." he says, lips quirking into a smile. "I have a beer, though, if you want it. One. Just one." he says, holding up one finger in mock threat. "One beer? Who the hell just keeps /one/ beer around? You've got some serious weird going on, Doc." But Shelby can accept the terms and conditions of this agreement. She pushes herself up to venture into the kitchen in search of this lone inebriant. On the subject of Hive...she says nothing. Apparently her dumb limit /has been reached/. Now it is time to drink.