ArchivedLogs:Moon Year

Moon Year
Dramatis Personae Tag, Lia-gargoyle
In Absentia	17 February 2015 "I can't blame the Man in the Moon for this one."
Location <NYC> Harbor Commons - Courtyard - Lower East Side
This courtyard is the lush central hub of the surrounding Harbor Commons, bound in on three sides by rows of duplexes and triplexes, cutting upward at the sky with the sharp thrift of a minimalist's style, neat lines and bountiful windows, boldened with accents in wood towards the upper stories, stone towards the base, the whole of the compound sealed in by a low stoneworked wall that opens entrance gates to the streets beyond at its two far corners, smaller gates at building back doors. The fourth side of the courtyard is open to the East River, the ground forming a slight decline, controlled on one side by micro-retaining walls to form wide steps where picnic tables sit beneath the nominative shelter of a trio of dogwood trees, accessible by ramp. The other side is allowed to slope at its natural angle, a wide open yard space, until its cut off at the river's edge, where a massive pair of oak trees stand, a staircase leading away up one of their thick trunks. The yard itself is carpeted in an organic flow of emerald grass swirled through with wending channels of smooth-paved cement walkways, flowing naturally away from the building's front entrances, where some are arced by trellis, some flanked by hosta plants, fern and lilies, a few laid in gentle switch-backing ramps for wheelchair access, before forking off at matching angles to sites of small garden installments. Bird feeders and baths suspended from the necks of small lamp posts, a rock-lined koi pond, a sleek gazebo tucked to one side in simplistic varnished wood, its southern side overgrown with a mass of thriving grapevine and a caged-in barbecue pit under its sheltering roof. A play area and proper garden are within sight off another branch, until finally all paths spiral in like wheel spokes to a shared common house at the center of all traffic flow. Clouds scuttle across the moonless sky, lit more by the city lights from below than the stars from above. The remaining snow in the courtyard is far from pristine, having supplied ammunition to a few snowball fights, material to various snow statuary, and substrate for a number of unusual snow angels. A small figure bundled in a red hooded coat has just entered through the main gate and, half-way to the door of Funhaus, pauses to look back out over the yard. Tag's clothes do not look shabby in the least. The coat, the heavy black corduroy pants, and the hiking boots all look reasonably new. He carries a large tote bag under one arm, glossy red and busy with cheerful-looking figures from Chinese myth and history. One more bit of statuary lingers amongst the snow-creatures, inspecting them and even touching, here and there, as it passes. The /exceedingly/ gargoyle-like form moves oddly, given its structure. All limb and torso, with its small wings and tail completely still at its back. It bends to gather up a button that had fallen from its position as a snowman's eye, reaching up on clawed tiptoes to place it level with its mate. "You see better now. Binocular vision. Depth perception for snowmen. Maybe some day you will have a top hat and you will move around on your own. It is nice to have depth perception then," the little gargoyle natters in a girl's voice. Tag sucks in a deep breath when he spots the gargoyle, and for several long seconds seems frozen in terror. One of his hands slips into a pocket, but then the moving statue also /speaks/, and he relaxes. "Hey, Lia," he breathes out, chuckling nervously. "Taking care of the snow menagerie, huh?" He still doesn't look completely at ease, golden eyes searching the shadows from behind a half-curtain of white hair. "Oh, and happy Lunar New Year!" His smile flashes quick and bright, unaffected despite his obvious nervousness. The gargoyle twists around oddly, head almost horizontal in orientation as it peers up at the voice. "Hello, Rainbowman. You are not very rainbow today." The clawlike fingers reach up to pet at a...bald, somewhat spiky head. "Your hair. Did you grow very old?" Already rather bulbous eyes widen further. "Is it a different year on the moon? Have you been there? Are there shiny people? Did /they/ make your hair white?" "Oh! That!" Tag purses his lips and blows a puff of air up at his fringes. "Can't blame the Man in the Moon for this one, I just do it by accident sometimes." As he speaks, streaks of purple, pink, and red creep down form the roots hidden beneath his hood, returning his hair to its trademark radial rainbow. "Sadly, I've never been to the moon. Not sure whether a year on the moon would be 28 days, or what. I mean..." He snickers. "But the Lunar New Year I'm talking is an Earth year, just measured /by/ the moon. Moon people can celebrate it too, though, if they want to!" As the rainbow appears in Tag's hair, the gargoyle's hands come together in a delighted clap. Though the sound is less clapping and more...knocking. Thudding. Stone on stone. "Oh, hello, rainbow! Your colours sometimes run away?" The stone figure finally straightens, turning fully to face the young man. "I do not think I have been to the moon, either. How do you measure by a moon? It is not even the same size in the sky, every night. And it moves!" "All my colors run away sometimes." Tag doesn't seem too bothered by this prospect, all things considered, his smile untarnished. "That just means I have more work to do." He bounces up onto the balls of his feet and looks up at the sky, though no moon graces it at the moment. "I guess it's more like /counting/ by the moon? Using it to keep track of time, one month is a whole cycle of the moon, all that. So tonight's a new moon, the first day of the first lunar month...well, according to /one/ lunar calendar anyway, there's lots." "Maybe they have things to do, too," the gargoyle posits with an oddly-angled shrug. "Oh, we do the moon phases in astronomy club. And when the stars are where and what they are called. I like to look at all the staaars." Little gargoyle arms stretch up at the sky, claws wide-spread up at it. "Sometimes the sky goes away for a very long time. I am going to learn all of it so that it is always in my mind. In case it goes away again." "Stars are pretty frakking awesome." Tag bounces up and down a few times, his breath puffing white in the crisp night air. "I should look at them more, too." His eyes brighten, almost seeming to glow. "The Commons should have an...observatory, or something. I guess Manhattan's probably not the best place for that sort of thing." He cocks his head and looks at the gargoyle. "The sky goes away...?" Almost as soon as the words leave his lips, his eyes widen in comprehension. "Oh! That...well, memorizing the sky has other perks, besides making it so they can't take the sky from you. Can find your way by them, and tell the time of the year, and night." He rubs his hands together briskly; the red-and-black striped fingerless gloves do not look quite adequate to the weather. "I should probably get inside soon... I'd share some New Year snacks with you, but...you can't eat like this, can you?" “Very awesome. For a long time I was not sure if they were real. Or if they only happened in stories, you know? But now I will always know. Always-always. No matter how long they go away.” The gargoyle grins a slightly too-large grin. “You could ask Ms. Israstars. She would know if a conservatory here would be helpful. She is often in Duskwing's room.” The gargoyle's head shakes a little. “I cannot eat like this, but I also do not need to. Sometimes when I get back to my body it is very hungry. This one is not, though.” "Oh, hey, yeah Isra basically lives here now." Tag shoves his hands deep into the pockets of his coat. "Surprised /she/ hasn't pushed to set up some kind of telescope. I know the sharktwins got a nice one up there." He gestures Beachhaus-ward with his head, rainbow fringes falling across both eyes. "Well, if your...meat-body comes by here anytime in the next couple weeks, I plan to be bringing many New Year foods to Common House." He sweeps the hair out of his eyes, which have turned magenta in the meantime. "Maybe we'll even throw together an organized celebration of some kind. Fun times! Anyway, it was nice chilling with you. G'night!" “Maybe. Maybe if I come with the twins? I don't like to go out alone as me. I usually send dolls.” The gargoyle taps its own chest with a flat hand. “I sent this one to come visit Obie tonight. And also Spencer. They had to go finish homework and get ready for bed. I found Obie in a bathtub after his house exploded. And Spencer stayed at my school once for awhile. After his house exploded. There is a lot of exploding, but in this case, the same house.” The gargoyle nods at the exiting young man. “I should go put this doll back. It has a garden to crouch in. And then I should be in my body again. My body is already in my room where it belongs, you know.” The claws give one last pat to the now-two-eyed snowman. “Good night. Sleep well. Enjoy your moon-year!” Then the gargoyle scampers off, presumably back to the garden from whence it came.