ArchivedLogs:Making Lives Complicated

Making Lives Complicated
Dramatis Personae Micah, Lucien, Spencer
In Absentia	6 January 2015 A rather different version from the alternate timeline Logs:Making_Lives.
Location <NYC> Dogtown - Midtown East
A small nook of a joint in Midtown, Dogtown is decorated with little thought to class or style. Cheerful, with black and white tiled flooring, bright red tables, bright yellow walls, menus plastered on peeling sheets over the counter, the walls are papered in an assortment of photographs -- smiling patrons who hold records for successfully eating six or more hot dogs in one one-hour sitting. The menu here is simple and solid -- hot dogs both beef or vegan with a huge array of toppings, fries, slaw, chili. It's not haute cuisine but the dogs are good enough to draw large crowds, especially late at night. It is /cold/ outside, the ground re-freezing in the places where it had been cleared of its coating of snow as the temperatures plummet along with the sun. By this hour, it is well on its way to seeking overnight lows in the teens. Spence has been bundled to a ridiculous degree in a TARDIS laplander hat, bright red winter coat over blue button-down shirt, stripy red and black mittens, black corduroy pants, and snow boots. He is the first into the restaurant, dashing ahead of his adult companions to haul the door open with a merry jingling of the sleigh bells tied to its handle. "Wipe your feet on the mat!" Micah calls after him, trying to encourage the boy to avoid spreading snow into the restaurant /and/ keep from skidding into a fall as he runs in the wet. His own steps are far slower, supported by a pair of neon orange forearm crutches to keep him from sliding around in all the wet and slippery that has taken over the ground. He is bundled, too, in his Jayne hat, Fourth Doctor scarf, olive puffy coat, convertible candy corn striped mittens, snow boots, and his own pair of corduroys in a chocolate brown. "'pologies we can't stay for too long. School night an' all," is much softer, directed to Lucien. "That is quite alright. It was a school night for mine as well." Though the small Tessiers are not in evidence as Lucien slips inside, already escorted home after the show by Matt. Lucien is less bundled than the others, trim black peacoat, green scarf, a black hat. No gloves, though his hands are in his pockets; he pulls them out of his pockets as he steps inside. "I suppose I should not be surprised Jackson could not make it. We were not dressed quite so -- /winter/-ized the last time that we --" His brows furrow, briefly, tone a little distant as though trying to remember something. It slips away, shifts into a small curl of smile. "Thank you. For coming." "I want curly fries!" Spence announces to the entire restaurant as he beelines for the queue. "An' a veggie chili dog! An' a root beer!" Micah spends a moment negotiating the door and disentangling himself from his crutches. "Spencer. Inside voice, please, sugar. They'll ask your order when y'get up there. Promise." He chuckles a little as he works to catch up to the busy blonde youngling, tugging his hat and gloves free to stuff into his pockets as he goes. "He's a little excited. I think his mouth was hangin' open for the better half of the show." The nod at Lucien's comments about Jax is accompanied by a brief frown. "No need for thanks, sugar. Thank /you/ for havin' us. Wish Jax could've made it, too, but yeah. He was afraid he'd fall asleep this time of year. Said he'd catch it later on when he can actually enjoy it. He an' I can trade out who gets to go an' who stays home next time." One of his hands lifts to trace along the small of Lucien's back, briefly. "S'no commentary on your performance. /That/ was perfect. He's just...so tired lately." "Ah -- yes, winter does get. Rough on him. Though the days are getting longer at least." The small curl of smile grows a little wider at this, as Lucien slips into line along with Spencer. "Trade out?" This puts a briefly puzzled look on his face. "You could both come next time as well. Believe me, they will not grudge me the ticket. I do not have an extensive comp list." He looks somewhat amused at Spencer's excitement. "Sera was glad you were there," he tells the boy. "Since I began rehearsal she has got rather set on becoming a circus performer when she gets older. I am looking into good aerial arts classes." "Sera's gonna be in the circus? Ba, can I be in the circus? I wanna do trapeze! And juggle! And magic!" To his credit, Spencer /does/ curb his volume, if not his enthusiasm. Micah chuckles, shaking his head slowly. "I hear Mr. Wagner at the pups' school teaches some circus-related things in a class. Maybe we could talk him into lettin' y'get a taste of a thing or two sometime," is about as close as Micah comes to answering Spence's question. "Can't I go to school with B an Shane /now/? Then I could just take his class! I can stay in Shane's room. Nobody would even need to make space!" Spencer's hands wrap around the tassels of his laplander, giving them a little tug along with his pleading. "Sugar, we've talked about this. Y'just gotta wait 'til you're a little older. You're almost there." Micah's head shakes slowly, brow furrowing slightly with this worn reply. "Oh, m'not sure we could both arrange t'go at the same time. Not likely we'd be able t'find a baby-sitter, truth t'tell." His eyes slowly widen, the effect nearly cartoonish as something dawns on him. "Ohgosh, Luci. We ain't had a chance t'tell you. We...didn't really have a chance t'tell much of anyone it's all been happenin' so blinkin' /fast/. But Jax an' I adopted a baby. On Friday. We been a little...occupied since then." "Wanna go now," Spence reiterates with just a bit of a pout, quieting at the baby talk. "I do not know if she is going to actually join a circus," Lucien answers, though this is thoughtful rather than dissuading. "If she finds she enjoys it, perhaps. Maybe next summer there can be circus camp in the mix." He is still looking amused at the requests to go live at the school -- ones he is well used to hearing from Sera as well -- though this fades in light of Micah's announcement. His eyes open wider in a look of surprise. "On /Friday/? Ah --" Somewhat cartoonishly as well, his mouth goldfishes open and closed. "But. How. Did. Adoptions are -- not. Generally. A speedy – process." Spencer gets distracted easily enough by reaching the front of the line. Given he is at the head of the group and the cashier was very much privy to the order announcement and subsequent conversation regarding said announcement, the young woman looks to Spence for the order. It takes him a second of blinking at this uncustomary attention to remember and spit out the list of food items again. "Not gen'rally with strangers. But this was...dif'rent." Micah hesitates a moment before continuing his explanation. "Isra an' Dusk accidentally had an'...egg. They didn't think Isra could /have/ kids, but it turned out she could. Just...egg. But didn't neither of 'em think they could handle bein' parents. An' Dusk's in jail again over those ridiculous terms for 'is probation. It just...we'd barely decided we'd take 'em in for 'em when the egg /hatched/. Wasn't even three months from /existin'/ t'hatchin'." When Spencer looks back to him to see if he wants to add anything to the order, Micah just waves a hand to indicate he doesn't need anything. "Did you wanna order a thing, Luci?" "Isra and Dusk." There's a small pinch to Lucien's lips with this echo, eyebrows lifting a little higher, weight shifting back onto a heel. "Ah. But surely, if they did not think they could handle being parents..." He trails off here, tipping his gaze to the cashier. "Thank you, no. I am -- quite alright." He takes a step back away from the line with this answer. "I can see how that might be tiring." Spencer's excitement picks up again at the prospect of impending Food, a little bounce in his step as he makes his way to the pick-up area and leaves the adults to handle payment. Micah passes a credit card back and forth with the cashier, scribbling on a receipt before shifting back along with Lucien. "They was in kind of an impossible situation. But, yeah. Middle of winter plus newborn sleep schedule's been wipin' Jax out. /I/ been draggin' a little an' I ain't got all the solar power stuff t'worry about." His brows lift a little at the other man's incomplete sentence but he doesn't address it directly. "I see." Lucien's hands fold behind his back; he drifts after Spencer once the ordering has finished, leaning against the back of an empty bench at a nearby booth while they wait for the food. "A new child. Congratulations are customary, yes?" The smallchild has become a steady bouncing form with a bobbing pompon on top as impatience sets in even for the fast food delivery. Micah watches this with a faint, fond smile before turning back to Lucien at the other man's question. "Customary, yes." There is an odd tone to his voice, head tilting slightly to regard the other man. "Thank you." More than the usual level of gratitude catches itself up in the sincerity of this thanks. "That's. I'm not sure anyone else's actually /said/ that. To me. I mean, m'momma freaked out in an excited kinda way. But I don't think nobody's said...that." Lucien's expression is quietly neutral, composed and placid as he watches Spencer's bouncing. "You did not," he reminds Micah (just as quiet, just as neutral), "actually /tell/ us you had a new child. Birth announcements are also customary. And, I believe, typically when the congratulations come in." "I've been makin' 'em up," Micah informs with a little dip of his head to acknowledge the point. "Just need t'get 'em out. We've been a little occupied with gettin' Eri into a routine. An' /we/ wasn't prepared for nothin'. Hadn't so much as started turnin' the spare room into a nursery. A lotta the folks we'd even /tell/ kinda live with us, so...it got 'round that crew in the Commons gossip, at least." He pauses, a slight blush accompanied by a sheepish half-smile. "Eridani. That's their name." Spencer gives a pleased little yip as the tray is set in front of him, equally pleased to be carrying it /himself/ back to the table. Casually, Micah collects the soda from the counter to take along as Spence chooses a booth to settle them at. He slips the drink in front of the boy after Spencer has taken a seat. "Curly fries are /so/ much better than regular fries," the boy observes, picking one up to let it spring back and forth before dragging it through an impressive pile of ketchup to deposit the lot in his mouth. "Ah, right. I suppose it is convenient, keeping so much of your social circle close at hand." Lucien slides into the bench opposite Spencer, hands resting lightly at the edge of the table. "That must be exciting for you," the comment comes with a small lift of brows, "having a new little --" There's a faint beat of hesitation before he concludes, "sibling around." "It is at times," Micah says simply, sitting down himself and waiting for Spencer's reply. The boy takes some time to clear his mouth of the massive quantity of potato he'd just stuffed in it, swallowing hard and drinking a huge swig of root beer to follow. "It /was/." He glances sideways at Micah before continuing. "They don't let me play with them. And Shane and B don't come over to play with me now, either." Smallchild fingers poke at another curly fry without making attempts to eat it. Micah's shoulders curl in as Spence continues to speak, though one hand reaches over to pet at Spence's back. "They...take after both their parents," he explains to Lucien, softly. "Sharp claws an' teeth an' no real idea of when it's appropriate t'use either yet. They're also at least a partial haematophage, like Dusk." His teeth sink into his lower lip before he proceeds. "The pups're upset over...a lot. T'do with the whole thing. They're not avoidin' /you/, sugar. They're just mad at me an' your pa right now." "They're a goblin vampire," Spence elaborates rather glibly, at first. The talk of the twins soon has him stuffing more fries in his mouth and staring down at his plate. "They still don't come around anymore," comes out as a mumble around a still partly-filled mouth after some time. "They're a -- ah." Lucien's expression doesn't change much, just a very small twitch at the corner of his mouth. "The pups are mad at --" /This/ does make his eyebrows lift again. "Was this a /surprise/ sibling, that seems. Well. Distressing." "Depends what y'mean by surprise," Micah admits, cheeks darkening again as /his/ gaze drags down to his other hand propped on the table in a manner not entirely unlike Spence's staring at his plate. "There was a lot t'work out with...me an' Jax. An' Isra an' Dusk. Figurin' things. It was complicated an' we ended up...informin' 'em. Just after we'd figured it. They weren't pleased." His fingers rub at the tabletop, purposeless nervous movement. "We didn't really get a chance t'even talk it through 'fore the hatchin' happened." Spencer just listens to this, alternating stuffing his face with hotdog and fries. "Complicated. I imagine so." Lucien's fingers lace together. Unlace, relace. He studies Micah's expression, thoughtful, but past this says – nothing. "Let me know if y'wanna meet 'em sometime," Micah finally offers into the prolonged silence of Lucien's finger-lacing and Spencer's steady destruction of his late meal. "'Pologies, sugar. Feel like I stole the spotlight y'done earned an' then some. Should be congratulatin' /you/ on your amazin' performance." "That is," Lucien answers mildly, "quite alright. You said nobody had congratulated you; I have already received my share." He adjusts his scarf around his neck, slipping out of the booth with a small roll of shoulders. "I should return home, though. Matt is going to ply me with cake and champagne, I need to prepare to act surprised." "That sounds nice," Micah says softly, sliding to his feet as well to offer Lucien a parting hug. "Have a good night, hon. Enjoy the celebration. S'well deserved." Spence stops eating long enough to ask, "Can I have cake?" "Sugar, you're gettin' more'n enough food right b'fore bedtime. We gotta get back t'your pa an' Eri an' get you t'bed for school t'morrow soon as y'finish up what y'got. I'll put one of your cookies in your lunch for t'morrow, okay?" Micah reaches over to ruffle Spence's hair but is blocked by Hat...which he ruffles instead, batting at the pompon a little. Lucien lifts his arm, curling it back around Micah in a very brief squeeze of hug. "Thank you, again. Both of you." His head inclines just slightly as he steps back. "Have a good night." His eyes flick briefly down to Spencer, jaw tightening just slightly, before he slips his hands back into his pockets and heads for the door. "Love you, sugar," Micah returns during the hug. "An' thank you, too." He settles back into the booth with Spence. "If y'can't finish it all now, it's okay to ask for a box. Sometimes the eyes get a little bigger than the stomach when you go out for a special treat." Spence looks down at the half-eaten hotdog and decimated fries. "I think I could use a box," he replies. "Be a good snack when I get home from school tomorrow. Somethin' t'look forward to." Nodding, Micah collects the box to put the food remnants in, assists Spence in re-bundling before doing the same himself, then follow a ways after Lucien out into the frigid night. Heading back home.