ArchivedLogs:Getting Back

Getting Back
Dramatis Personae Micah, Ash, Jack, Ion
In Absentia	27 December 2014 '
Location <NYC> Evolve Cafe - Lower East Side
Spacious and open, this coffeeshop has a somewhat industrial feel to it, grey resin floors below and exposed-beam ceilings that have been painted up in a dancing swirl of abstract whorls and starbursts, a riot of colour splashed against a white background. The walls alternate between brick and cheerfully lime-green painted wood that extends to the paneling beneath the brushed-steel countertops. There's an abundance of light, though rather than windows (which are scarce) it comes from plentiful hanging steel lamps. The walls here are home to plentiful artwork available for sale; though the roster of prints and paintings and drawings and photographs changes on a regular basis it has one thing in common -- all the artists displayed are mutants. The seating spaced around the room is spread out enough to keep the room from feeling cluttered. Black chairs, square black tables that mostly seat two or four though they're frequently pushed around and rearranged to make space for larger parties. In the back corner of the room is more comfortable seating, a few large black-corduroy sofas and armchairs with wide tables between them. There's a shelf of card and board games back here available for customers to sit and play. The chalkboard menus hanging behind the counter change frequently, always home to a wide variety of drinks (with an impressive roster of fair-trade coffees and teas largely featured) though their sandwiches and wraps and soups and snacks of the day change often. An often-changing variety of baked goods sit behind the display case at the counter halfway back in the room, and the opposite side of the counter holds a small selection of homemade ice creams. A pair of single-user bathrooms flanks the stairway in back of the cafe; at night, the thump of music can be heard from above, coming from the adjoining nightclub of the same name that sits up the stairs above the coffeehouse. Saturday after Christmas is an odd mix of quiet and bustle. Many people are still away for the holidays. Others are out in force for post-holiday shopping. The general air is still cheerful, if not festive. The weather has added to this feeling by maintaining unseasonable warmth, coupled this day with bright-clear sunshine that is easing into a clear-starry night. For all of that, Micah looks a little haggard where he stands at the counter of Evolve, waiting for his double-espresso-shot mocha with almond cream. A rich-looking fudge chunk brownie with walnuts in already waits on a plate near where his hand rests. It is a night for caffeine and chocolate, it would seem. His eyes are a shade raccoon-y, testifying to several nights of missed or fitful sleep. Little attention has been paid to his mussed-mess of auburn hair, or to the rest of his attire: simple faded-patchy bluejeans, Doctor Hooves tee over matching henley, coat slung over one arm with the rest of his outerwear shoved into the messenger bag at his hip. Ash comes in clopping in, his hands stuffed deeply into his pockets. His shoulders are forward and his head is down as he makes his way straight for the caffeine line, his normally jovial expression edging more toward a dismal expression, skipping right over the blank that usually hounds him. He's forsaken his usual thermal canvas jacket and is wearing flannel over the waffle of a long sleeved knit shirt, jeans hanging baggily underneath over steel toed camel colored boots. He exhales as he comes to a stop and lifts his gaze to take in the menu. And oh, hey. Micah. He waves. Dressed in his usual hoodie and jeans, Jack's been in the city since the early morning. Sure he enjoyed the school but he felt like heading into the city for a little while and spending a little of that leftover pickpocketing cash on things like clothes. Also clad in a bright white coat that had been a gift from one of the teachers at the school, Jack's carrying a pair of bags in one gloved hand as he steps into Evolve. He's just planning on grabbing a drink and a snack before heading back to the school. Pulling his hood down with a little application of telekinesis once the door closes behind him, Jack smiles as he looks around. Stretching his neck as he heads towards the counter. A smile forms on his unseen face when he notices Micah and then Ash but it fades when it registers with him how they both look. "Uhh, hi..." he trails off, looking at the two older men with invisible concern. Micah's posture straightens, somewhat, when Ash acknowledges him, hand lifting in a wave. He doesn't ask after how Ash is; he knows better. "Hi, Ash. Chasin' caffeine here, too?" His other hand fidgets at the brownie plate, restless, spinning it in slow-useless circles. Jack earns a nod, if not a smile, when he appears. It does always take that extra few seconds to process his identity without the usual facial recognition brain-processes to kick in for the purpose. "Evenin', Jack. In town for the post-Christmas shoppin'?" Lack of energy or no, it's hard to find things to stop Micah's mouth from running completely. "Caffeine, 'ts'll I've got right now." Ash manages a smile when Micah begins speaking to him, sticking to the line for the time being, waiting on that dark and enticing brew. He blinks when he hears someone say hi and turns to look at Jack's clothes, his brows rising. "Oh. Jack. Hey." He gives a quick smile, but the tiredness returns. He turns to the register and pulls out his wallet to order espresso infused coffee with a touch of cream and sugar. "Did you, uh, want anything?" "Yeah, I came to grab a few things. Mostly clothes," Jack replies, lifting the bags in hand slightly. Mostly just things like packs of socks and boxers in them along with another pair or two of cheap jeans. Jack doesn't have a lot to spend so he's just getting a couple things he'll need. "I thought I'd get a coffee and maybe a muffin before I went back," he replies to Ash. The invisible teen is quiet a moment before taking a breath. "Are you guys feeling okay?" /Thump/bang; the door to the cafe isn't pushed open so much as slammed open, shoved by a slamming /thud/ of shoulder that is -- probably unnecessary, really. Ion isn't walking in, he's kind of /toppling/ in, leather jacket crisp-singed around its edges (but when /isn't/ it) and mud-splattered, tall shitkicker boots similarly encrusted, jeans crisped, knuckles scraped and scuffed, a bruise darkening the line of his jaw, eyes /lively/ with a manic too-too-too-bright energy. It carries over into his /bright/ bared-teeth grin, into the exuberant /bound/ that carries him across the cafe towards the counter (and pulls him up short so fast that you can practically /hear/ screeching brakes, when he sees Ash and Micah), into the drumroll-tap of hands against countertop when he does stop by them. "Eyyyyy-/yo/, ey-yo," one arm slings around Micah's shoulders, one around Ash's, each touch coming with a sharp /zap/ of electric-shock energy. "Ain't nobody told you sadsacks there's some holidays on?" "Gotta pretty tall cup headin' m'way soon enough," Micah agrees with Ash. Speaking of which, there's the mug meeting the counter for him now! The redhead manages a small slip of smile in thanks to the barista. "S'been a rough...few days. Nights. Nightmares, mostly." This is meant to serve as explanation to Jack. If more was meant to follow...it is quickly lost in the commotion of Ion's entrance. Micah's eyes fly open /wide/ with the arm around his shoulders and the zap and the...all of it. There might be a hint of glistening to them as he falls into a tighter hug, wrapping both arms around the electrokinetic. "Ohgosh. Oh/gosh/, I can't describe how happy I am t'see you." His arms squeeze that much more. Were they stronger, he'd likely lift the other man off his feet...as it is, he's safely on the ground for now. Ash adds Jack's menu choices to his order before slipping cash to the cashier to pay. He is stuffing his wallet into his back pocket, just about to start explaining to Jack what is going on when the figure starts making his way inside. "Bad sleep," he offers to the teenager. "Rough nights." These responses grow quieter as he finds himself very quickly in Ion's embrace, which contains Micaharms shortly after. "Mierda." Yep. He's eloquent today. Jack starts to say something about how Ash doesn't have to pay for him but the talk of bad sleep and nightmares makes him pause. "You mean...like the one we were in or something more...uh...normal?" he asks carefully. He hasn't had any more of the worse kind. Ion's energetic entrance makes Jack jump and look over quickly. He just stares at the electrokinetic and his greeting to Ash and Micah. When his brain catches up, Jack can't help but give a quiet little laugh. "Hey, Sausage man," he greets using the nickname. "/Woah/hey," the hug startles a laugh out of Ion and a sharper-stronger zap, twitch-jerk of muscles that suggests Ion is not immune to it himself. "Ain't been /that/ long, huh?" When his arms drop from the others he staggers a half-step back, elbows thudding against the counter as if to hold himself up -- but a second later he's straightened, bouncing rapid-jittery on his toes. "Huh-huh-huh?" His brows furrow, eyes locking briefly on Jack then widening with an amused /yip/ -- "/Oh/-ho-ho, /right/-on, Phantasm, you need you some theme music or something, people know which ghost you are." "Both. Those...future ones've been bad enough t'start little /offspring/ nightmares. All the time, now. For me at least," Micah explains further. But now he's wrapped up in hugs and /zapping/, hair perhaps a little more stick-outty than it was before. No matter, he's not letting Ion /go/. Not completely, anyhow. His hand stays on the other man's arm as he moves to the counter. "Ain't been /long/. But it's been....haven't seen you since that last dream, an' it's...not logical but... Needed t'see you. S'good t'/see/ you." "Dusk got out. Then he came back. Got others of us out, but the machines..." Ash takes a deep breath then reaches up and grabs Ion's head, pulling him forward so he can plant a kiss on his forehead. "Fuck." He swallows hard and looks over at Micah, then takes a step back, gesturing to Jack with one hand. "This is Jack. Wait. Sausage man?" He looks over to Jack then turns his attention back to Ion, brows furrowed. "{ Just what the hell did you do to this kid to make him call you that? Please don't tell me - you got naked? }" The Spanish appears to flow more freely than Ash's English, confusion coupling with something disturbed. "Theme music? Got a suggestion?" Jack asks Ion with an unseen smile. It doesn't last long though, the expression fading despite being unseen as Micah and Ash explain. "Oh man..." he trails off, not sure what else he can say. "Just...oh man," he mutters, shaking his head. "We've met," he speaks up when Ash introduces him to Ion. He's about to explain the nickname when Ash switches to Spanish. Jack stares for a moment, cheeks heating up and then he laughs. "{ It's nothing like that, }" he switches to Spanish too. "Last dream last dream which what -- /oh/ that," Ion's eyes widen, faintly surprised, as though he's maybe forgotten it already. "Pajarito, Darkwing, Demona, that invisible guy, huh, they brave. Brave-brave -- {what in the fuck, no, this motherfucker stole my damn /lunch/.} -- You spend all this time let some make-believe robots haunt you huh? Waste of a good Christmas, yo." All the Spanish goes right over Micah's head. He collects his mocha, finally letting Ion go, if not out of his sight. "S'hard not t'let these dreams take over a bit. Keep havin' more an' more of 'em. Keep thinkin' each one's as bad as things could possibly get. Then they prove me wrong. Even if I try t'ignore it durin' the day, start havin' nightmares 'bout it at night. Even if they aren't /those/ kinda dreams, they're enough t'make sleep...hard t'come by." He shivers a little, bringing his drink to his lips to sip at. Were it not so hot, he'd likely be gulping already for the warmth and caffeine it has to offer. "{Your lunch had better have been sausage}" Ash replies, shaking his head. He looks into Jack's hood and then over at Micah. "Oh. Micah. This is the guy I told you about." He clears his throat and moves over to get his drink and Jack's order. He turns back to him. "Dunno, hermano. There's this whole sense of seriousness that comes with people waking up and wanting to talk about this future in which everything is terrible and... esposos. Did you see the lights, though? We made some pretty lights." "I'm...glad I haven't had any more of those nightmares. And I wish you guys didn't have to put up with them either," Jack eventually replies, thinking over word choice. "If there's anything I can do to help..." he trails off hopefully. He blinks and glances at Micah curiously when Ash makes that comment, wondering what the other said. "What? Who in the fuck you think I am, vato?" There's a sharper edge to Ion's tone at Ash's reply, his bright grin dropping away with a small click of tongue against teeth. "Lights, I ain't seen no light, I ain't been --" He shakes his head, backing up another jittery-bouncing step as his arms cross tight around his chest. "Maybe you all take everything too damn serious. /You/ can sit, yeah, stew in terrible all you like. Me, I got a /present/ to be living. Bright and --" Something. Whatever it is, the sentence doesn't actually /finish/ -- or if it does, it finishes somewhere /else/, because smack in the middle of the sentence, leaning down against the counter again, Ion just shakes his head and vanishes. Pop. Leaving behind little but an ozone scent to the air. "Oh, Jack an' I've met. He was /livin'/ at the Commons for awhile there," Micah says in reply to Ash's sort-of introduction. Perhaps that would be enough to cover the sudden onset of blush in his cheeks. "You're right." This comes with a little easing of the tension in his shoulders. "Can't keep...it's not happenin' /now/. Maybe it'll...ease up on the nightmares now's it's been a few days. Y'should see the lights, though. Commons is decorated like /mad/. I should be gettin' back soon enough. Just...desperately needed caffeine first." Then Ion is blipping away. Micah's brow furrows deeply, eyebrows dipping toward one another. "What in the world were y'all /sayin'/ to 'im?" Ash is cowed, his scowl returning slowly. He opens his mouth to speak again, but then there's no Ion to speak to. He clenches jaw before closing his eyes and exhaling again. "You know. He has a point." He scrubs his face with his free hand and runs his fingers through his hair afterward. "Too much present in front of us to focus so much on the distant future. I'm really sick of these dreams, anyway." He stares at his drink and then looks to Jack and Micah. "I should probably go, too. Gotta... go do something." Jack just shifts awkwardly as Ion pulls an angry vanishing act. He sighs after a moment. "Yeah, like a friend told me recently...should focus on life now and not worry so much about the future," he says, paraphrasing a bit. "I should probably go too. Got a long ride back," he says. "Thanks for the drink and the muffin, Ash," he says, pulling his hood up before accepting both. "It was good seeing you again," he adds. "And it was just...a misunderstanding," he answers Micah. "I'll see you guys another time." “Misunderstandin', right. Hope everybody's okay. Um. Have a good night.” Micah waves the barista back to request a to-go container and cup for his goods. “Guess it's time for ev'rybody t'be gettin' back.”