ArchivedLogs:Neighborly Welcome

Neighborly Welcome
Dramatis Personae Gabriel, Shane, Lucia
In Absentia	2013-08-08 '
Location <NYC> Village Lofts - Rooftop - East Village
It tends to be windy, up here, but the presence of plastic table and folding chairs suggests that nevertheless building residents occasionally make their way out to this rooftop. With a good view of Tompkins Square Park less than a block away it's a good spot for city-watching. There's a railing around the edge, though it might be possible (if /unwise/) to climb over it to the narrow concrete ledges beyond and from there to the fire escape. Centrally, someone has broken down crates and constructed a small raised-bed garden up here, barren in winter but filled in three other seasons with a small assortment of herbs and vegetables. The concrete wall that rings the roof has been decorated, painted in vivid bright shades by some artistic hand to add colourful cheer to the rooftop. The mural shifts in terrain One wall sports a beach, flecked with grass and seashells and driftwood and shore birds. Beach transitions into meadow, colourful with wildflowers and butterflies and dragonflies; meadow shifts into snow-capped mountains, subsides into piedmont and sprouts into a verdant forest on the fourth, alive with animals. The rooftop today smells wet and earthy; it's recently rained, and the soil from the garden leaves a fresh growing-things smell that -- in one corner, at least, is currently being drowned out by the smell of smoke. The smoke comes from a cigarette, held by one very /tiny/ teenager perched atop the guard-wall that surrounds the roof. Shane has cigarette in one hand, cellphone in the other, very busily texting as he puffs. He's dressed rather more primly than is /necessary/ for hanging out on a damp rooftop smoking; dark slacks, a white dress shirt, a /pair/ of layered vests (a black one, slightly open but held in place by a chain connecting its two buttons, and a grey houndstooth vest neatly buttoned closed beneath.) There's a wide red fabric collar curled around his neck, and the fabric shifts slightly with each turn of his head to blow smoke out over the city below. Thunk. The rooftop door loudly swings open. From behind it, walks Gabriel and a young, teen-aged girl, wearing a blindfold and a pair of unplugged red-and-white headphones. Gabriel is helping the girl up the stairs, holding her cane for her. He is currently wearing his gray denim jacket, blue jeans, and boots, while the girl is wearing a purple lace top, short blue skirt, and sandals. He hands the girl her cane, tapping his arm for a few seconds, before looking at Shane, noticing the blue. "Ah, you must be Jackson's kid, no?". He smiles. "Pleasant day, isn't it?". Shane glances up from his phone's screen, the hairless ridge where his eyebrows should be raising as his pure-black eyes focus on Gabriel. "Who the fuck are you." His tone is blunt and flat. His lips compress as he plucks his cigarette from his lips to ash it. Gabriel laughs slightly, as Shane curses at him. "I'm Gabriel. I used to go to school with Jax, and I guess I'm your neighbor now?". He then points to Lucia. "This is my sister, Lucia. I was just showing her around, I guess.". He approaches the ledge, guiding her by tapping his arm. She quickly gets close to him. "Nice collar". He smiles, slightly. Shane narrows his eyes at Gabriel, drawing another slow pull from his cigarette. "You went to Pa's school," he repeats, head turning slightly as he looks between Gabriel and Lucia. "The fuck does she have a blindfold for?" His eyes just narrow further at the compliment to his collar. He turns off the screen of his phone, slipping it into a pocket on his inside vest. "Yes. Xavier Institute up in Salem.". He smiles slightly, but tenses when he asks about Lucia. "She's blind. She likes it. That's really all there is to it.". He taps at his arm a few more times, repeatedly. He then brushes her hair out of in front of her face. "She's also deaf too, so luckily she didn't hear you.". He smiles again, looking over the railing. "I guess you're a mutant as well, then?". "Fuck do you need a blindfold for if you're already blind?" Shane is lifting his cigarette for another long drag; Gabriel's question makes him /cough/ abruptly, grey puffs of smoke breathed out with each spluttering hack. He waves smoke away from his face, and just -- /stares/ at Gabriel. Blinking, slowly; first one clear inner set of eyelids closing sideways and then the outer blue pair. Blink. Blink /blink/. "I'm pretty offended, actually. This is my fursona and you have no /idea/ how much it cost to get these prostheses made." Even though Gabriel makes it pretty obvious, facially, that he knows Shane is joking, he replies. "Oh, wow! Who made them? I've been thinking of becoming a dragon or something.". He sighs as he mentions the blindfold again. "She wanted it. She likes it. If it makes her happy, I'm happy.". He begins tapping again, and she signs something to him this time. He taps back, and she signs back. "So, your 'fursona' is a shark, then? I'm probably going to get wings or something.". He taps something again, and she laughs a bit. "Maybe giant claws.". Shane raises his brows again, looking at the blindfold skeptically. "Uh... huh." His head shakes as he takes another drag of cigarette. "Nnneh. Actually it's a rottweiler. He just dyed himself blue." He slides down off the rail, dusting off the seat of his slacks. "Don't go for wings, I hear they're fucking /murder/ on your shoulders." Slowly tapping again, Gabriel laughs as Lucia signs something back to him. "My sister likes it when you curse, apparently. To her it feels different than when you talk normally.". He smiles. "Don't ask me, I don't understand it. She only knows your cursing because I tell her.". He stretches backwards. "I thought rotties are supposed to be big dogs, no? You're more like a blue pug.". He laughs slightly. "What's your name, anyways?". "What." Shane just sounds bland, now, not even really a question so much as one flat inflectionless syllable. He takes a last long drag of smoke, and stubs his cigarette out against the wall. "Pug," he echoes, and then, "Go fuck yourself," in the same flat-flat-flat tone. Maybe it's his name! As Gabriel taps his hand again, Lucia bursts out laughing. "Nice to meet you, Go Fuck Yourself. Pretty name.". Gabriel's voice comes out sarcastically. "I knew you seemed like a polite kid, too.". Lucia begins signing something quickly. "Okay, I'm not telling him that.". He quickly remembers that she can't hear him, and taps her arm a few times, using morse code. She signs something back, giggling. "Gah, why is she so rude?". He taps back to her, and as she signs something else, he laughs. He then faces Shane. "She says she's sad that you stopped being so snarky, that she thinks you've become a bit flat. I told her what you said though, and she thought it was funny.". He smiles again. He then grabs his own cigarette, lighting it. "Well, Go, it is a nice day, isn't it?". "/Was/ a nice day." Shane flicks his cigarette butt over the side of the roof. "She can go fuck herself, too." He starts towards the door, though he turns his head to offer an equally flat: "Welcome to the neighborhood," over his shoulder. Gabriel taps something, and then wraps his arms around his sister. She signs quickly, her face excited, but also nervous. "Well, goodbye, then. Oh fuck, this is going to feel terrible later.". He lifts his hand up, putting his index and middle finger upwards. He's then slamming them downwards, holding her tightly. She begins crying out, as his body's matter begins dashing forward, towards the door. As it stops, he gets dizzy, and she's panicking, but smiling at the same time. "Okay. Never ever again.". He signs this to her, and she pouts a bit, as he slowly helps her down the stairs. "See you around, Fuck Yourself.". "Whatinthefuckinghell." Shane stumbles backwards, startled, as Gabriel suddenly /warps/ his way in front of Shane to the door, his own steps skirting backwards /quickly/ as the other man suddenly forces his way past him. Another blink. Blink, /blink/, and then as the other two start down the stairs he -- doesn't, turning instead to return to his former perch and pull his cellphone out once more. Tap, tap, tap.