ArchivedLogs:Excuses

Excuses
Dramatis Personae Dusk, Kay, Regan, Toru
In Absentia	2013-11-13 (Part of Infected TP.)
Location <BOM> Common Room - Main Lodge - Ascension Island
The common room's rustic-lodge feel has been somewhat mitigated by the modern amenities inside its sturdy wooden walls. It has comfortable couches, several chairs, a refrigerator (stocked with snacks and drinks!), a pool table, a pinball machine (METALLICA!), an assortment of books, a television -- with several game systems! -- and a splendid view out the windows (when their lacy yellow curtains are drawn open) for the rest of the island. The pale wood floors have been covered in places -- by a pair of soft thick blue rugs, by a large squishy pair of beanbags that stand in front of the stone fireplace. There's also a board up on the wall, half corkboard, half whiteboard, with a variety of community notes (and occasional insults) to other Brotherhood members. Large doors on the right-hand side lead off to the kitchen and dining room. In the back of the room, the council room's heavy oak door bears solid locks that are almost never actually barred. A short hall adjacent to the council room's door leads to a trio of multi-stalled bathrooms; these might once have been marked with the typical man-woman-handicapped signs, but someone has given them new plaques on the door; a stick figure with horns and a long tail, one with wings. One -- the large single-user toilet -- has instead been given a helmet and a cape. Somewhere across the water, the world is falling apart. There's looting and riots, buildings on fire, hordes of flesh-eating dead and many of the living not much safer to be around. That's there, though. In here there's a fire, to be sure, but it's roaring merrily in the fireplace and the television -- a shiny new enormous flatscreen -- is playing Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame. Quietly, at first, and then all of a sudden blaring much louder from a (also shiny-new) speaker up in a top corner. Many speakers, actually, strategically placed around the room. Regan is up a ladder, currently, just finishing situating one of the speakers in its place. Kay, dressed in absurdly /nice/ knee-high steeltoe boots, fine black silk shirt, fitted slacks and his mother fucking ragged leather MC kutte, is currently singing Hellfire along with Frollo in the movie, dropped dramatically to his knees in front of the fire while it unnaturally ROARS to his moods. Fists THRUST up at the air, "This /burning/! Desire! Is turning me, toooo..." His voice drops low. So does the fireplace, "SIN!" Fwoosh up the chimney. The opening of the door stirs those higher flames into briefly erratic dancing in the gust of cold air that whooshes in from outside. Dusk makes a beeline for the fireplace, turning his /back/ to it when he crouches down to flex out his enormous wings somewhat, letting the heat bathe them. He's shivering badly, but his expression is relieved once he's inside. He starts to peel off outerwear -- at least hat and gloves, for the moment he doesn't bother with the /hassle/ of getting his coat off over the wings. "Man I'm never finished being amazed they let this rapetastic song in a Disney movie but it's still one of the best songs in the whole Disney -- whatever. Pantheon." /Toru/, on the other hand, is not in the lodge. At the moment. He's actually been hiding in his /own/ cabin, but the sound of /things/ happening elsewhere have stirred him into making his way over /here/ just a bit of a ways behind Dusk, and he pulls down the hood of his sweatshirt to run a hand over his hair in a lazy, fidgety gesture. "What the hell is goin' on over here? This place is shapin' up into some kinda fancy clubhouse." Out of habit he slides his shoes off at the door, tromping in on fuzzy-socked feet to slump into a chair. "Like a whaddayacallit. Golf... place. Thing." "Oh. Wonderful," Regan answers lightly from atop her ladder, "does that mean you're all going to start paying me dues?" She turns around, descending a few rungs to perch halfway up the ladder, booted feet resting on a lower rung. "Apparently, movies are going on. Later I expect it'll be dinner. And drinks. How are you feeling?" There's a pointedness to her thoughtfully narrowed eyes that suggests this question /isn't/ a polite formality. "/Right/?" Kay greets Toru with his scratchy-sharp cry, throwing a warm, warm headlock kind of absently around Dusk's neck when he turns his back to the fire. Come on, it was /practically/ an invitation for a little lazy choking-the-shit-out-of-you..ing. Just without the choking. /Bask/ in his infernal warmth, "Like the god damn Hellfire Club. You should see /our/ room. Me 'n Ion got spare sound systems for when he blows out the fuckin' powercords." Or Kay catches them on fire again. At least he can put it out. The MC duo's shared quarters so often radiates the smell of something burning or another. "Nothing says villain like pervy rapetastic asshats. Your remember when whatshisbucket, the guy in Aladdin had that princess all got up in that red little outfit? There is a fucking /generation/ of kids that slept guilty for the next decade thinkin' about it." Hi, Regan! Kay is showing you the top of Dusk's HEAD LOOK LOOK. Apparently mauling one of his fellows is how Kay demonstrates he's... totally getting over his bouts of plagueaggression. Dusk's (still kind of /chilled/) wing lifts up to thwap Kay on the back of the head with this. "That movie came out before I was born," he informs Kay with a crooked smile, "... but I'm not gonna deny that outfit was, uh --" He BUTTS his head up against Kay's chin, squinting out from this semi-headlock position at Toru. "You'd prefer we hole up somewhere without furniture or electricity? Personally I wilt after too long without wi-fi." Toru waves away the 'concern' with one hand, shaking his head a few times. "I'm good. You think I'm gonna be out in this shit with all this... shit goin' on? I get sick, even if I don't end up fuggin' zombie-- like-- I dunno how it's goin' on but pretty much anything that makes you lose control of your powers, that'll probably kill me before anything else does and /that/ ain't anything I'm lookin' to get involved with anytime soon." He shakes his head another time, then tilts it as he looks over to Dusk. "It just was a little surprisin', jeez. Fuggin' Disney terrorists." "I imagine many people would have similar concerns, if they lost control of their powers," Regan murmurs, eyes drifting over towards Kay at the fireplace. "Still. Some people go out. There is always business to attend to, after all. Some work carries risks. Besides --" Her teeth flash in a very brief smile, "-- there's no danger of catching ill if you just don't talk." Kay exchanges that look with Regan, the fire settling down in the fireplace - /kids/, amiright? "Not even born - shit, I was already in juvie- ah ah!" Kay ducks down under Dusk's thwapping, "Dude, let me LOVE you. This BURNING!" He's singing again, watching out, "DESIRE!" His face is all /twisted up/ and GRINNING, head twisted at an odd backward angle because Dusk's head is butting up under his head. "Shit, not /talking/, Bones's fucked. Don't worry kid, the sickness is already /here/. I am a bon-i-fied plague dog." "I think we got /more/ than enough sin between us. -- Oh shit dinner I could eat a -- /all/ of you." Dusk's teeth chomp briefly, first in Regan's direction and then Toru's. "And hey if this medication doesn't work well enough maybe I /will/. -- I think you're like goddamn Typhoid Mary, anyway. Uh. Maybe me too, shit. Spreading plague wherever we -- speak?" "Yeah, tell that to my fuckin' roomfriend. Roommate." Toru waves that dismissive hand again, spreading out comfortably in that chair of his and twisting a bit to hook a leg over one of the arms. In the process, he also very languidly shows Kay a bird. Just the one. "Anyway I been stayin' indoors, my work place closed a while ago and my /roommate/ has been handlin' outside shit. Food and stuff." He glances to Dusk, there, raising an eyebrow before continuing. "We ain't like eatin' gourmet or nothin' but y'know. Canned fuggin' tuna." "/Do/ you need to eat someone? I'm sure we could find someone to oblige." Regan's lips twitch upwards. "Roomfriend. That's a new one. We're having squash and roast chicken. Needed a break from canned-food stew." She pushes herself partway up so that she can climb down the rest of the ladder, eyes sweeping over the others. "We could always institute an island-wide moratorium on speaking. Just to be on the safe side." "Tell 'em /what/, that you're a grown ass man an' you can go outside with the zombies if you wanna? We're god damn superpowered terrorists, bro, this is our /time/." This is sort of Kay's version of a pep-talk. He /points/ at Regan for her offer to ban speaking, clumsily hand signing 'I can-' (something unintelligible - and his furrowed expression suggests he KNOWS it ohgod what are my hands doing) '-sign now.' HAH. He's kind of doing it at Dusk like OH GOD STOP ME. "-from when those HAMMER bastards blew my god damn ears out." He offers Regan a hand. Or kind of a forearm, if she wants something to support her weight while climbing down. 'I can sign always. Ban EVERYTHING see if I care.' Dusk combination signs this and THINKS IT LOUDLY at Regan. 'I will give all the lessons.' His fanged teeth bare quickly in a sharp grin. "I always need to eat someone." One corner of grin hooks upward further. "Staying indoors? What, like a housewife? While he brings home the bacon? /Roomfriend/, man that is a new one. Hey. Hey Kay." His elbow digs into Kay's side. "You and Ion /roomfriends/ now, I /know/ that cabin of yours gets hot." Toru shakes his head briskly. "Tell 'im not to goddamn /talk/, guy keeps fuggin' /talkin'/." Both Kay and Dusk get another fresh glare, and /two/ birds this time. "Dude you think I /wanna/ be outside with the goddamn zombies and shit? If I gotta goddamn excuse to be lazy I'm gonna be fuckin' lazy, the only reason I'm even /here/ is 'cause of the drugs and on accounta the fact I been so goddamn scarce lately. Turns out livin' with people makes it harder to sneak off to do crime, /who'd have fucking thought/." "How many people do you live with, Dusk?" Regan does take Kay's arm, hopping lightly down off the ladder; she's looking at Dusk and Kay though her /mind/ is quietly training in on Toru. "And how often have you been out in the streets doing some /good/? I think this is not, perhaps, the place for people looking for excuses to be lazy. And your /roomfriend/ sounds like something that's very much not my problem." "Oh, we're /roomfriends/ a'right," Kay elbows Dusk right back with his tongue POKIN' out from between his teeth, gyrating his bony-ass hips. At Toru. "You saw us sharing a bike before, dude. That means he's practically /pregnant/ by me already." Not married. Pregnant. Then his grin falls away. His mouth drops open in an O! shape, eyes widening. He claps a hand over his mouth, staring at Toru. His other hand begins flapping, "Oh my god. Oh my god, are we hearing this? Little Bones is now the /lil woman/." The act drops. And he says flatly, "Y'know this isn't just a free healthcare clinic right." "A few," Dusk answers with a small hike of his eyebrows. "-- Every night." He doesn't say this like bragging, just slow and thoughtful with a rub of his hand over his dark scruffy beard. "Kid, I get this looks like a fancy clubhouse but you might want to reconsider the wisdom of telling your /boss/ you're looking for excuses to be lazy. Especially if those excuses are that you're a kept boy and your dude'd make a fuss if you didn't make it home by curfew. New York's gone all to hell. It's dangerous as fuck. We all might die if we go out. /We know/." "First off," Toru begins, defensively, just /ignoring/ the fact that his face is all but beet red, "he ain't in charge of my fuckin' /curfew/. Jesus, he's just some /guy/ who needed help with the /rent/. /Secondly/," and here he's pushing himself to his feet, fussing with his hoodie with some frustration, "Sue me for not realizin' that with the cops and the fuckin' Red Cross and the fuckin' National Guard and the goddamn U.N. and the friggin' military and Luke Cage's guys and the KGB and the FBI and whoever the hell /else/ is out there that I'm supposed to be out there doin' shit too." He glares at the floor this time, frowning. "Christ, I meant /house/ lazy not fuggin' /here/ lazy, it legit didn't fuckin' /occur/ to me." "Aside from that very large Uncle Tom, exactly which of those organizations do you imagine is overly inclined to help /our/ people?" Regan gives her head a small shake. "The thing about commitment is that it /should/ occur to you. Also unlike those organizations, I don't run a charity. -- Dusk, Kay, take Bones with you when you return to town. Kay, you Ion look after our safehouse in the Lower East Side, till morning. Dusk, you and Bones can keep El Barrio's clean." "We're a family, man." Even serious, Kay has a casual way about him, unpolished, sort of distracted, sort of callous-hard. Looking past Toru for a moment before swinging amber eyes to meet his. And they're warm, too. Not in temperature - but temperament. He reaches out a long-fingered hand to give Toru's shoulder a clap, "That doesn't just come'n go. This -- having to sneak in and out of your own damn home? That's gonna /worry/ us, yeah? You forget about those cops that grabbed you off the street? 'Cause they're still out there. And that shit's still /happening/." "Every day. There's cops out there still who'll just shoot us because this time nobody'll even /notice/ to call them out on it. Dead on one side and the people who're supposed to protect us from the dead on the other --" Dusk's wings both lift and fall in a quick shrug. "S'just bullshit. We have to look out for each other." One wing stretches out, briefly bumping lightly against Toru's other shoulder. "C'mon, let's eat. Gotta long /cold-ass/ shift ahead of us." "Christ, boss, you're actin' like we're fuckin' married." Toru attempts a good-natured chuckle at his comment, then shakes his head at Kay, waving him off with a hand. "Shit, I didn't mean to make it sound like I'm a fuckin' /hostage/ or somethin', I just meant -- I dunno, maybe I'm just bein' fuckin' paranoid assumin' he'd think somethin's up if I vanish for a while, I don't even goddamn know." He takes in a deep breath, letting it out in a sigh. "Sure, whatever, that's my old neighborhood anyway. I could use some actual food if we're doin' shit." "We didn't just call ourselves the Brotherhood because it /sounded/ nice." There's a faint twitch at Regan's lips, but it soon fades. She takes a last look around the room, and then heads off into the kitchen. Roast chicken awaits. "Think it's more weird if someone /didn't/ go out now and again," Kay sidles in behind Regan, though his long torso has plenty of space to turn partly around to go right on and add, "You're a god damn /young man/ - you go missing a few days, say you went on a bender, snorted some crack and got in a fight with a /lumberjack/. Woke up in a Macy's display window wearing nothing but a Santa hat. Christ, live it up. It's New York!" Where anything can... happen?? Kay picks up the pace, clapping his hands behind Regan like I'M COMIN UP BEHIND YOU, and then banks around her, entering the kitchen at a full-on /vault/, crying out 'yow!' as he vanishes inside. "Glad that wasn't the rationale because we could totally have done better than that. -- Dear Lord, Kay, /tell/ me you plucked that from experience?" Dusk is back to grinning again, wings folding in at his back as he sprints along behind the others for food.