ArchivedLogs:It's a Small World

It's a Small World
Dramatis Personae Micah, Dusk, Corey
In Absentia	1 October 2014 ...after all.
Location <NYC> Busboys and Poets - East Harlem
A quiet, artsy spot nestled away on a side street in East Harlem, Busboys and Poets combines cafe and bookstore in a way a Starbucks tacked on to a Barnes & Noble could never achieve. The food is a solid, multi-national cuisine menu that caters to all kinds of dietary choices, and its fair-trade tea menu is extensive. Its weekend brunch tends to draw a large crowd, but there is ample enough seating both at tables and on its many comfortable armchairs and couches that at other times of the week there is never a wait. The walls are adorned with the work of local artists, and tucked in among and alongside the couches are rows upon rows of books, with a definite slant towards the political and the bohemian. It is one of those grey-rainy fall days that makes it seem colder and drearier out than is typical for early October, the rain steady and soaking but not reaching storm status. The blanket of clouds makes it seem later than the early evening hour for the premature darkness. Such a day begs for hot tea or cocoa and books to curl up with. Appropriately enough, Micah finds himself in the stacks of books, as always ending up poking through the children's and young adult fiction section at some point in his search. Keeping Spencer's shelves stocked is a /pleasant/ challenge. His auburn hair is damp, whether from his evening shower or the rain or a combination thereof. He has quit his rain-wet hat and olive jacket, leaving only sneakers, bluejeans with a few darker-specked spots from the rain, and a chocolate brown T-shirt on which a stegosaurus curses a T-rex for its 'sudden but inevitable betrayal'. The bundle of damp outerwear perches atop the messenger bag at his hip, settled half on the floor as he crouches by the lower shelves. Dusk is clearly /looking/ for Micah as he meanders through the stacks, though -- not looking very arduously. He detours past sci-fi and fantasy before actually making his way towards where Micah is likely to /be/, a to-go cup of chocolate chai (the best of both worlds!) held in each hand. His clothes -- tan corduroys, green windbreaker -- are rather dry, considering the weather, though his dark hair and dark /wings/ are even darker with the damp they have been coated with. He lowers himself slowly to a crouch beside Micah, too, offering one of the cups out without actually saying anything. Just peering curiously at the titles Micah is perusing. The weather could be worse, but the large man making his way into the facility doesn't seem terribly bothered by it. A light zip up sweat shirt in a damp grey is left open over his chest, showing a New York City tee shirt in blue and white beneath it, and his khaki pants are a little soggy at the hem where splash has gotten up on it. Running a hand through his hair to get the damp at least moderately even through blonde hair, he lets out a soft sigh with the coffee smell coming to him. "Right, this won't take too long," Corey murmurs to himself as he heads to the counter to order, with a yellow notepad page with a list in some scribbled handwriting. Micah is only too happy to be /found/ when Dusk arrives with chocolate chai. He sets the newest Tamora Pierce book on top of the small pile growing on the floor (a few clearly /replacements/ for books that were lost in the bombing) before accepting the cup and just /leaning/ back into Dusk. "Ohgosh. You're amazin' an' you bring me spicy chocolate an' I love you." He is rather free with his affections, generally, but there is also chocolate chai involved, here. There may be a little bonk of Micah's head into Dusk's shoulder on the side no longer holding hot beverages. The /inside/ of Dusk's wing is at least dry in contrast to the damp outside; he curls one wing out when Micah leans back, wrapping it halfway around the other man's shoulders. "Oh, shit. /I'm/ borrowing that one." One thumbclaw flicks down to indicate the Tamora Pierce book. His head tips down, brushing a small kiss to the top of Micah's head. "I'm pretty amazing," he agrees. The wing around Micah tenses up when he glances back towards the counter and sees Corey, his cheeks flooding with crimson as his eyes lower to the ground. After putting his order of a number of drinks to drown a small pony, Corey settles in to the side to wait. Hearing some recognized voices amongst the aisles, he perks up and glances about then smiles as he locates the voices he had heard. Taking the more polite route than to just shout, he huffs to himself and waits impatiently for the order offering a small wave to the glancing Dusk. Finally having his two cup carriers of beverages, he scoots around other customers carefully so he doesn't spill or bump. As he approaches he inclines his head. "Hello there my friends. I thought I had heard you. Been awhile," he says looking somewhat sheepish that the fault was on him. Oh, wing-snuggles. It may take some /convincing/ to get Micah moving ever again. He settles into the warm hug. "Prob'ly should just hand it off t'you on the way home. S'always best t'borrow things from Spence when there's a new pile of books comin' in. S'the best guarantee that he's maybe got enough things t'keep 'im occupied 'til y'can finish the one y'borrowed." He turns to regard Dusk, brows drawn together in concern at that tension. "Somethin' wrong, sugar?" Corey's voice tips his head back further (and further, the guy's /tall/) to regard the new arrival. He lifts his cup with a small greeting smile. "Evenin', Corey. /Has/ been a minute. I've taken up some new, pretty time-consumin' hobbies. Got a biweekly thing where I get arrested now, y'know how it is." "He's only half joking. /Twice/ this man lands up in jail last month. I like to think I just set a good example for him." Dusk's wing rubs slowly against the outside of Micah's arm, his blush gradually receding as he looks up at Corey. "You been good? Lately? Hopefully more downtime now that we're not constantly flooding you with --" His brows wrinkle, head shaking briefly. "Yeah, I imagine that would be a pretty time consuming hobby," Corey chuckles and shakes his head. "I was blaming myself more. Finished up and got my EMS certification. I mean it's not much, it's not like its an EMT, but gotta start somewhere right?" He nods reassuringly at Dusk. "It's alright really. It was more draining to Kate than me, and it was plenty of time for me to sit and study. What better way to learn medicine than getting to see all you bleeding folks so often?" He shakes his head though letting the smile fade. "Though truly, I'm glad you all have been well lately. I just would like to have the chance to hang out with you guys some time now that you /aren't/ full of holes." The wing petting draws a quiet-pleased hum from Micah's throat. "School'll sap your time, too, for sure. S'Kate doin' alright, too?" He nods along with Corey's speech. "Glad enough t'have fewer injuries t'offer. Still have /some/, but they've been minor enough t'handle conventionally." The last comment tugs his lips into a lopsided grin. "You're /totally/ allowed t'set up non-emergency hangouts. We'd be more'n pleased not t'be bleedin' on you for once." He lifts his cup to his mouth for a tentative sip. Dusk's wing tightens against Micah's shoulder again, head tipping down briefly to hide his face against the other man's hair. He huffs out a quiet laugh, only slowly lifting his head again. "Hey, congratulations. And I'm glad we could, uh, be -- of assistance," he says a little wryly. "You know, we have a -- game night thing every Tuesday down at our place. Lots of food for people who aren't into games. And we kind of just have group dinners a lot. They're usually pretty light on the bleeding." Nodding, Corey replies "I'll avoid any references to the word play date then." Glancing between the two he smiles. "I think I like the phrase non-emergency hangouts though. I'll see about coming over some night then. I don't know how much good I'll be at gaming. I haven't really done much with a video game controller since I was a kid, but group dinners would be pretty nice." Raising a brow at the light on bleeding comment, his brain fills him in after the fact. "Oh, right. Blood. Gotcha." Again, looking like he feels stupid for not realizing previously. “Hm.” Micah's eyes brighten with amusement. “Actually tends t'be more tabletop games than console those nights, though both happen. A lotta the board games an' all are pretty quick t'pick up, if that's somethin' you're into.” His free hand reaches back first to pet at Dusk's wing, then to do the same to the other man's hair when he hides his face. “An' there's always ridiculous quantities of food.” "Awesome. This one," Dusk indicates Micah with a claw, "and his husband do a bunch of cooking so it's usually pretty great. Daiki, too -- uh, Shane's boyfriend. And In... actually, shit, we're just blessed with a plethora of kitchen wizards. Reason number seventeen million to be glad for our home." He lifts his chai, now, finally taking a sip himself. "Video games are /every/ night. Tuesday is tabletop. I'm not sure about non-emergency, though, don't you ever just get a /wicked/ bad need to play some Smallworld?" "Oh board games like Monopoly and stuff. Man, I used to be so good at Mouse Trap," Corey says nodding. "And I can't complain about good food options. I had gotten used to just quick premade stuff, I gotta say I'm glad I don't get like high blood pressure or anything." Raising a brow at Dusk, he tilts his head. "Small world? Like that ride in Disney? No, I really never have an urge to play that song. It gets stuck in your head for like ever." "We do got a lotta good cooks lyin' about," Micah returns with a chuckle. "On the scale of emergencies in our lives, I think boardgame need gets t'rank /preeetty/ low." He shakes his head at Corey. "Monopoly only exists t'destroy relationships. We'll definitely hafta get y'by t'learn some new games. Break y'in easy on somethin' like Ticket to Ride." The Smallworld question earns a snort. Thankfully he wasn't attempting to drink at the time. "Less singin', more warfare." "I think that's just a sign /your/ priorities are wrong," Dusk answers Micah. "Never been to Disney. This version has orcs and wizards. Actually, I'm getting a hankering /right/ now." Not that he's going anywhere. Just sipping at his chai. "Ooohkay. So warfare and orcs and wizards in a board game?" There is a slight look of disbelief and bemusement as Corey looks between the two. "That certainly sounds interesting at least, but I can't say how precisely it would work out. I mean, do you just roll a die and move your piece then it's raining orcs and goblins?" Shaking his head he chuckles. "And I sorta grew up a mile or two from the one in Florida, so I kinda have it ingrained. I could probably sing you the ride theme songs still, and it's been years." "Man, we just /played/ a game /yesterday/." Micah giggles, bonking his head into Dusk's shoulder again. "Um. S'a bit more complicated than all that. Prooobably we should start you out on a less involved game first. An' keep Flicker away from you so maybe y'can feel like you're doin' well." He manages to swallow his mouthful of chai before the next laugh comes through. "Question is how many /languages/ y'got it down in." "Dixit. Everyone likes Dixit and it takes basically no explaining. But you can't play it with Hive --" Though here Dusk stops, brows creasing deeply. "... I guess you can right /now/." His head shakes, and slowly he drops his wing from Micah's back, pressing down against the ground to push himself back to his feet. "Speaking of, I should pick up dinner for him. But you should stop by, man. Pretty much any evening there's /someone/ around doing shit. And often brunch on Saturdays." "Small world In probably half of the languages they have on there, just from how many times you get stuck in certain sections when the ride backs up. Most of the other rides I only really know in English or Spanish. And of course I can do the monorail spiel, but I mean even a Disney newbie picks that up on their first trip though." Corey nods a bit at that part. Raising a brow at Dixit, he frowns. "Isn't that that elf from that book? No wait, that sounded like drizzle." Glancing at the drink carriers he's still holding, he lets out a sigh. "Yeah I should get these back to the others. The hot drinks get cold, the cold ones get hot, and then everyone gets tepid caffeine. But yeah, I'll definitely swing by sometime. Uh, I guess I should probably call first before I come over though." The tight twist of Micah's lips /might/ imply that he's imagining Corey singing multiple language versions of "It's a Small World" just now. It isn't long into the other man's continued commentary that he starts to look a little wince-y. "Ohgosh. You're just hurtin' me now. Go, take drinks t'your folks." He gives an exaggerated sad headshake as he waves Corey off. "Can't hurt t'drop a text, but there's usually folks about at any point." Micah /finally/ starts to disentangle himself from Dusk and gather his books. "I'm definitely on team Feed Hive. An' drivin' folks home, considerin' the weather. You get food while I check out." Dusk drops a kiss atop Micah's head, and holds a fist out to Corey for knuckletapping. "Call first, whoa. Getting all /fancy/ on us. I'm more used to our guests just dropping in -- sometimes literally," he muses, with an amused twitch of smile. "Anything else you want food-wise?" One wing nudges Micah with the question. "Because otherwise it's going to be a crapton of soups and sandwiches all around. It's a soup kind of day." Regardless of Micah's answer, he's tucking his wings back around himself and heading off for the counter. Corey shifts the drink holders to one arm to properly apply the knuckle tap before rebalancing it. "Visiting when your hosts aren't at home is a somewhat awkward position to be in ya know. And whatever is fine food wise. I don't have any allergies, and I'm pretty non picky when it comes to the omnivorous thing." Smiling, he nods to the two again. "Alright gentlemen. Have a good evening, and enjoy dinner. Send my well wishes to Hive. If you guys need me to visit for the Usual reasons I'm needed, just let me know alright?" He nods as if that explains it all, then glances towards the door. "Oh good, swings out." “S'long as there's somethin' vegan in the mix for Jax, I'll just put m'self in your hands on this one, sugar.” There's another grin half-hidden as Micah finishes collecting his books and shoves up to his feet. “G'night t'you, too, hon.” Now for the hauling of books to the register...