ArchivedLogs:Familiar Scents

Familiar Scents
Dramatis Personae Shane, Sebastian, Micah
In Absentia	14 January 2014 An interesting development. (Part of the Morpheus TP.)
Location <NYC> The Sharktank - Village Lofts - East Village
Everything in this bedroom comes in pairs. Two beds (pushed together to the center of the room to form one larger one), two desks, two bookshelves, two dressers, two closets. The walls hold a scattering of artwork in Jax's typically whimsical-surreal style. The right side of the room is impeccably tidy; desk neatly arranged: often a laptop or a nook, but otherwise cleared off, everything tucked in its drawers save for a small arrangement of textbooks and music books and little colourful glass figurines or pale bone sculptures on its upper shelves. Closet neatly in order, clothing (favouring pinstripes, vests, slacks) pressed and hung, shoes on a shoe tree inside the door. Books on the shelf neatly categorized. The left side of the room is a riotous spill of colour, bright eclectic wardrobe (lots of skirts and dresses and clothing with many bright patterns) haphazardly thrown together; desk cluttered with books and notes and an assortment of bones, its shelves also holding little glass or bone sculptures, though this alongside a wealth of mechanical parts or small robots in various states of completion. The floor here tends towards clutter; more robot-parts, clothing, treacherous Legos lying in wait for unsuspecting feet. It is Crazy Early in the morning, and while Spencer is still sleeping in his room, the twins -- are not, exactly. They are tucked into bed, but Sebastian has his Nook out and open, black eyes fixed on it in silence with only a tiny reading light attached to his bedframe to see by. Though it's been quite some while since he moved to turn a page. Shane's head is resting in Sebastian's lap, covers draped loosely over him, but he doesn't particularly seem to be asleep either. His eyes are closed, but his hand hooks around Sebastian's knee, fingers working at it like a SQUEEZE toy. One that he at intervals plies sharp claws into to pricklepoke. Sebastian does not seem overly bothered by the intermittent needling, at least. Though at intervals he does drop his hand to needle right /back/, claws pressing in light scrape against the much more /sensitive/ area of Shane's gills, poking down against neck with claws slightly elongated. These prickles catch Shane's breath with tiny whimpers. And his own needling ceases. For -- a few minutes, at least. Before again: pokepokepoke. Pokepokepoke. There is a soft knock at the door that is followed mere heartbeats later by said door slowly creeping open. Micah has sleep-tousled hair and pajamas to match (steel blue henley shirt over black cutie mark decorated pajama pants and fuzzy blue socks that look like Cookie Monsters) when he slips inside, pushing the door to softly behind him. His stocking feet pad over to the bed and he climbs up to sit on the foot of it. He cradles a small, metal and stained glass dragonfly sculpture in one hand. Sebastian's eyes lock on the door, with this knock. Shane does not bother to look up. His claws do prickle in against Sebastian's knee again, though. "You should be asleep still," he tells Micah. "How's Hive?" Sebastian's eyes turn back to his book. Shane cracks an eye open, looking over Micah and then over the dragonfly. "Pa's?" he wants to know, looking between Micah and Sebastian's desk -- there's another tiny family of all-glass dragonflies sitting on one of the shelves. "Had a dream. Woke me up," Micah replies simply. "Hive's...workin' on a project. I'm tryin' t'keep 'im from over-extendin' 'imself. He wouldn't sleep so I made 'im coffee instead. Gonna make sure Luci visits regularly t'check up on 'im, too." He sighs at this ready half-code they've had to speak in since the apartment was bugged. "Not sure." This answer to Shane comes with a shrug, then holding the little dragonfly out for the boy to take. "Can y'tell me what y'get offa it?" "Yeah, he's been working hard." Sebastian's fingers press back down against the side of Shane's neck, and he watches the dragonfly with a frown. "Not sure?" Shane reaches up, taking the dragonfly carefully from Micah. He sniffs at it, first curiously and then almost /hungrily/, a small shiver running up him. He sticks one of its metal legs into his mouth, sucking on it until Sebastian pries it away from him. To smell, as well, and then offer back to Micah with a shrug. "Smells like you and Hive mostly," he offers, offhand. "Little of Pa still." "Everyone else's smells are taking over all of /his/ smell," Shane complains, head stretching after the little statue to sniff again as it is handed back. "I took one of his pillows," Sebastian admits, with an awkward-shy smile. Kind of sheepish. "But then I hugged it too much so it just smells like me now." Micah fails to answer 'Bastian's question at first, instead watching the twins quite closely. His breath catches when one mentions the figure smelling like Jax. He lets it out again shakily as the other confirms. “I didn't think t'come here first. Hive's light was on an' he sees ev'rybody's dreams,” he murmurs. “Are you sure? It's him?” His hand scruffs through his already-mussed hair. “I know. Did the same thing with Wish Bear,” he admits softly. "He sees a lot." Sebastian grimaces. "Kind of been --" "-- trying to spare him. /That/." Shane shrugs, eye slipping back closed as he nestles down into Sebastian's lap again. "Not that it takes a lot of work, we haven't really been --" Sebastian stops, folding the purple-and-pink cover of his Nook closed. "Anyway of course we're /sure/," Shane cuts in, "it's /Pa/ he's kind of --" "-- we know his smell better than anyone's. Why wouldn't it be him, it's his, isn't it?" Sebastian glances over the dragonfly's brightly colored wings. "Those colors, his hands must have been --" "-- all over that." Shane looks wistful. "It's pretty." "It wasn't a bad dream," Micah clarifies, shaking his head just a little before moving on to answer 'Bastian's initial question. "Well, it was, but then it changed. Had a long dream with Jax in it an'...it really felt like he was there. Hive got that feelin' from it, too. An' these little metal dragonflies was there at one point, then...I woke up an' /this/ was sittin' by me. I ain't never seen it before. An'...it has this look like. There ain't no uneven spots t'the glass. An' there ain't no weld marks holdin' pieces of metal together. S'like everythin's all one perfect piece. Like it just /happened/ 'stead of gettin' made." The twins exchange a look. Sebastian bites down on his lip. Shane furrows his brow, wriggling up from Sebastian's lap to scoot closer, take Micah by the hand. Geeently pull Micah down towards the bed with them. "Ba, do you think you maybe could use a little more sleep?" “Hive said maybe you'd tell us we was crazy.” Micah looks a shade /dejected/ at this. He lets himself be pulled down, curling up on his side in the bed. “Does that mean you two'll try t'get some sleep, too?” he bargains, eyes already heavy-lidded. "I don't -- think you're crazy," Sebastian hedges, "it's just -- we've /all/ been /really/ stressed and --" "-- and I really want him here, too," Shane whispers. Sebastian leans down to set down his e-reader on the floor beside his bed. "We haven't -- really slept yet," he admits. Shane tugs at Micah, pulling him closer and pulling the covers back to tuck Micah under them as well. "Will you stay?" he asks, hopefully. Micah nods. “I just don't know...how it showed up an' how it /smells/ like him an' how it's so...perfect. He tucks in close to Shane's side, tossing an arm across him. “Hive told me y'weren't sleepin'. Y'all should sleep. Can...hold each other an'. Sleep.” His eyes drift closed as he nuzzles against Shane's shoulder. “I'll stay.” "It does smell like him." Sebastian still eyes the dragonfly, biting down harder at his lip. But then he tears his eyes away to look at the other two. "Perfect," he echoes, soft and wistful. He switches off his reading light, nestling down alongside the others and /nosing/ at Micah's hand where it lies across Shane, much in the same manner Obie's cold-wet nose tends to nudge when he wants attention. Shane just snuggles in closer, relaxing when Sebastian nestles in, too. "It's easier when you're here. Otherwise nothing feels -- safe." His cheek tucks against Micah's head, gills flaring open just once before slowly closing again. At the nosing, Micah lifts his arm to extend it further, flopping over both of the boys a bit limply. “It was perfect,” he repeats. “S'good to feel safe.” And his breathing quiets as it slows.