ArchivedLogs:Improvement

Improvement
Dramatis Personae Dusk, Pedro, Steve, Tag
In Absentia	2015-11-29 "{Things. Running low on things around here.}" (Part of the Flu Season TP.)
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. Evolve isn't open for business these days, but parts of the building are serving as a makeshift shelter for mutants who can find safe habor nowhere else. The storefront has been boarded up against the undead, but here and there the timber has started coming loose (perhaps due to the efforts of the undead disgruntled at being kept out). Even in the middle of the afternoon, the day remains brisk and cool. Steve is wearing a black t-shirt too tight for him and dark indigo jeans with combat boots, and carrying a 10ft length of timber to brace the failing barricade. Dusk is wearing no shirt whatsoever, just long brown corduroys, his dark wings wrapped around himself right now like a cloak. He's by a window, right now, a steady hammering coming as he nails fresh boards into place. A wind-tossed mop of rainbow hair pops into view where one of the the boards had been torn down and not yet replaced. Tag waves, holding up a big silver thermos. He's dressed in a black hoodie half overgrown with metallic vines dotted with jeweled blossoms, and a knee-length pleated skirt in a smooth rainbow spectrum. He has a bright lime green nylon bag over one skinny shoulder. Pedro comes into view as well, showing up a few moments after Tag does. The young mutant carries an assortment of plastic bags of varying fullness. He slows to a stop to glance at the person in the multicoloured dress, and then squints, seeing someone inside working at boarding up the window. The batty mutant steps closer to the window, recognizing Dusk once he's close enough. {Hello. Not a bad day for a walk, yes?}, he says in Spanish to Tag. Pedro glances up to wave at Dusk through the unboarded window. Steve deposits the wood next to Dusk and goes to open the door for Tag. "{Hello,}" he flashes a smile at Tag, then, looking past him, sees Pedro. "{Oh! Pedro, right?}" Dusk gives Steve a fangy smile for the wood he brings. He lifts another piece, starting to position it over the window, but moves it back out of place when Tag's face appears. The smile he offers through the window is bright. "{Hey! Hey. Oh, man. Tell me there's coffee in there?}" So hopeful. He tips his head slightly to peer around Tag at the sound of Pedro's voice, lifting his chin to the other mutant. "{Hey. You guys safe out there?}" "{Hey!}" If Tag is surprised by the random bat person talking to him in the street, he doesn't show it. Only waves at him, too, fingernails glittering in the sun, each one a different color. "{It's...er it's no warm. Good.}" His Spanish...could use a lot of work. When Steve opens the door, he darts inside at once. "{I not see many dead, nearby.}" Then, bobbing his head at Dusk. "{So much coffee. Much black. Much good.}" He ducks behind the unusused counter and comes back out with three mugs, each a different swirling pattern of bright colors. Pedro nods to Steve when he pokes his head out the door. {Si. Do you guys need a hand?} He holds up the bags he is carrying. {I have a few small things I would donate to the people hiding out here.} His ears perk up at Dusk's voice. {You mean at home, or like, here in the neighbourhood? It's kind of okay out here, zombies have gnawed at the door a little outside the crashplace. Home is, well, zombies keep creeping out of the water every so often.} He slips inside right after Tag, {Yeah, not too warm outside. Hard on the feet.} He wiggles his bare toes. Steve closes the door behind Pedro. "{Oh, coffee!}" Steve does not bother concealing his delight, either. "{I want some, please?}" Then, to Pedro, "{We mostly finished with the windows, but, people staying here? Maybe need more help. Always need more things, too.}" He holds the last piece of lumber up against the window for Dusk to nail into place. "{Much black. Hah. But coffee, thank god. -- Oh. People will be glad for --}" One of Dusk's wings hitches up as the others enter. "{Things. Running low on things around here. What you got?}" He hefts his hammer again as Steve holds the wood for him, tapping the nail into place lightly but then driving it home with one clean pound. "{Had a water-zombie today. It was fucking gross. Scrubbed the filth off me for hours.}" Tag watches Dusk and Steve at work...kind of intently, covering a very lopsided smile with his hand. "{Maybe after finish, I put drawing on wood.}" Then he shakes his head, unscrews the cap from the thermos and pours two cups, doctoring one with sugar and almond milk. "{Steve, what you want in coffee?}" He flashes a quicksilver grin at Pedro, "{/You/ want coffee?}" Pedro nods to Steve and walks over the server counter, and leaves all of his bags there, save for one. {It's not much, but it's what I got.}, he says to Steve. His eyes flick to Dusk and he hmms. {A bunch of emergency candles, some matches, tins of food. Mostly baked beans, some vegetables, a few tins of pears. Gloves and hats.} He points to the fullest back, stuffed with woolen things. The young mutant makes a face at the thought of a water-zombie. {Yeah. They kind of squish-splat when you hit them, don't they? I blew one into a tree stump pretty hard, and I threw up at the mess it made. Wish I had never done that, or seen it.} Pedro looks to Tag a moment, grinning when he mentions drawing on the wood. {That would be cool. Do you paint? Or like, draw with pencil or charcoal or something?} At the mention of coffee, he nods, {Thank you, I would love some!} "{Water zombie,}" Steve repeats, his face twisting into a grimace. "{I'm so sorry. That...not good.}" He turns around to look at Tag, "{Oh, black please.}" Pale blue eyes flick over to Pedro where he is setting down his gifts. "{Those are very good. Will help people a lot.}" "{Oh, fantastic. There's this pair of kids showed up this morning, like, not even a jacket between them. They'll be damn glad for the gloves and shit, we've had shitall to give them.}" Dusk's smile is warm and grateful. He finishes nailing a couple more nails to hold the board secure into place, just as quick as the first before following the others towards the counter. Holding out a hand for his cup. "{Tag's a goddamn amazing artist,}" he answers, "{-- oh /man/ I'm all healed up, can you fix me up now? Isra looks /gorgeous/ this week holy shit. And yeah, the water zombie just...}" His wings shudder. "{It was a weird one, though. Not like others. Seemed -- smart.}" "{What you want in it?}" Tag asks as he pours a third cup, leaving the second one unadulturated. "{I paint, draw, yes. With many things. With nothing, too.}" He bounces up onto his toes and peers around the room like a meerkat while he walks Steve and Dusk's coffees over to them. The interior of the cafe is already heavily arted, but his eyes settle on Steve's round metal shield, propped up against a table near their work area. The white star at its center suddenly turns gold, and the blue circle around it bright red while the circles of color around divide into thinner bands ranging from orange all the way out to purple. "{Like that!}" He bounces in place again, pleased with his handiwork. "{Can also paint /people/. His wings. I will paint on.}" He waggles magenta eyebrows at Dusk. "{Unless you want I do the rest of you this time, too?}" Then, dropping one eyebrow, "{Wait, 'smart' how? Say 'braaaaaains'?}" Pedro nods to Steve. {I hope so. We're running out of everything. Everyone is. People will be fighting each other more than the zombies soon. I've been thinking about flying a state or two over and seeing what I can come back with.} He looks to Dusk then and frowns a little, {I have a jacket I can donate. I'll bring it here. It's sad to hear that kids don't have stuff to keep them warm in winter.} His ears stand up straight. {Smart? I don't like the sound of that. What did you do?} Pedro looks to Tag a moment. {Oh. Uhm, black is good please and thank you. You paint with nothing?} The changing colours of the shield has him amazed. {That is so cool! And you are going to paint his wings? How... how long does it last?} "{Thank you.}" Steve turns to accept his coffee, but does not seem to notice that his shield has gotten a little less patriotic, if more colorful. He inhales the steam rising from the mug, smiles broadly. "{Coffee here, so good.}" Though the smile fades. "{Kids not have clothes, people with no food, no medicine.}" He takes a sip of his coffee, and it seems to calm him. "{Flying things in, zapping things in--need those. Not enough. Need more, soon.}" Opens his eyes again, turns to Dusk. "{Have more trouble with that one?}" "{Thanks. They'll appreciate that.}" Dusk curls his hands around his coffee, taking a small sip. "{No. Smart like -- tried to take our weapons. Tried to avoid getting attacked. Waited to bite us when it saw we were armed. Backed away when I hit it. Smart.}" His head shakes, a small furrow pulling in at his brow. "{... I locked it up. I didn't want to kill someone who was... thinking. Oh, nice.}" His smile returns bright and wide at the repainting of the shield, and he lift his mug to Tag in salute. Tag trots back and brings Pedro the third cup of coffee, plus one for himself, the last heavily heavy on milk and sugar. He hands Pedro the black coffee. "{It depends. About a month? For some people less, some people more.}" He perches himself one of the cafe's tables, nudging a upturned chairs slight out of the way. He holds his coffee close to his chin and blows on it gently, studying Dusk's newly healed wings. "{It was...fear? Knew weapons can hurt. Did not want hurt.}" Fine traceries of silver lines appear on Dusk's wings as he speaks, changing now and again, the spaces in between them filling in with various metallic jewel tones. "{Maybe not all dead?}" He starts shaking his head as soon as he finishes saying it, though. "{Water zombie. Dead.}" {Maybe I could take a few people with me.}, Pedro says, thinking out loud before nodding to Steve. {You'd think they'd be distributing stuff by now. Dropping it from planes or helicoptors and such.} He looks to Dusk, his face thoughtful. {Yeah, I would be uncomfortable having to kill something that was thinking. What do we do if we suddenly have smart zombies who want to eat us all? Or. What if zombies are starting to turn back into people? What if all we had to do was wait?} He swallows noisily. Accepting the coffee from Tag, he watches as silver starts to appear on Dusk's wings. Pedro sips at the coffee, and raises up the mug slightly. "Gracias." He turns and settles into one of the comfy chairs to watch the design as it evolves. {A month. Whoa. Very cool.} "{They send things in, on trucks. Not fast enough. Need better...planning.}" Steve watches the pattern develop on Dusk's wings, fascinated. "{But, military not trained to support city this size.}" He shakes his head. Opens his mouth as if to answer Pedro's questions, but ultimately does not. Looks away from the others and drinks his coffee instead, eyes distant. "{I don't know. I don't know. I kept it -- them --}" Dusk's wings ripple behind his back, "{To bring to the people looking into the disease. Maybe they can figure out what's happening.}" He shakes his head, takes another long sip of coffee, relaxing as he swallows it down. "{They're trying to send in supplies,}" he agrees with Steve then, "{but the city's so damn big --}" Shrug. He watches the jewel tones spread across his wings with a look of satisfaction, Tag hunches his scrawny shoulders inward, huddling around his coffee. His hair has started turning white from the tips upward as though frosting over. Gulping down the rest of his coffee, he hops off of the table and goes to Dusk, taking one of his wingbones and moving it so that he can see the other side, adjusting the colors there to match. Though the pattern is very similar to Isra's, Dusk's wings have a bit more of a metallic sheen to them, a sense of depth, thanks to the fine fairs that cover their mebranes. Tag moves around his canvas to the other side and leans into the wing even while he works on it. "{My sister and Flicker have patrol today,}" he says at last, quietly. "{Maybe back soon.}" "{Oh. I've not seen the trucks. But I agree, not fast enough. And it sounds like the military needs a bit more training. Sadly hindsight is twenty-twenty.}" Pedro raises an eyebrow at Steve. "{We'll survive though, the city I mean. You've made it so more people will see their familes again, and will make it through to the light at the end of the tunnel. The more people see you, and us, doing things, the better things will be. That is the hope, yes?}" Pedro looks to Dusk and nods. "{I hope that they are an important discovery that will help, that smart zombie. And you're right, the city is huge. It's hard to realize that sometimes when you're down on the ground.}" The batty mutant narrows his eyes as Tag's hair starts to turn white. "{Uhm. Your hair is turning white. Is that supposed to happen?}" His ears perk up straight, and he quickly slugs back the coffee, despite how hot it may be. "{Shit. I totally forgot... I will see you guys later. Thanks for the coffee! Stay safe!} Pedro pads his way towards the door. Steve watches Pedro, eyes beginning to narrow with concentration as his langugage grows more figurative. He nods vaguely, though, seeming to have followed enough to muddle through. "{Hope? Yes, good to have hope. But also, good to have food.}" He looks down at his coffee. "{Other things, too.}" Looking over at Tag, and past him at Dusk's wings, he falls pensive again, though with a faint smile on his face this time. When Pedro suddenly moves to leave, he nods. "{Be careful out there.}" He walks to the door with their visitor, snagging his shield as he goes to step outside and make sure the street is clear. It's only when he straps the shield on that he notices its color has changed, doing a double take. Then shrugging. Dusk's wing curls inward, wrapping in around Tag's shoulders in a tight hug. "{They've done this lots before. They'll be back soon.}" His other wing stretches out to flex the tip in a wave as Pedro heads out. The grin he gives as Steve snags his shield is wide. "{I think it's an improvement.}"