ArchivedLogs:Neighbors

Neighbors
Dramatis Personae Nicoleta and Toma, Tobias, Toru, Trib
In Absentia	2013-10-27 Someone in this scene should avoid people.
Location <NYC> Sunrise Apartments - Lobby
The lobby of this apartment building is shabby, to say the least. The tiling has not been replaced in quite some time, chipped and coming up in many places; there is a faint smell of mildew coming from somewhere by the stairwell. The exterior door has a large crack in it of questionable origin, and the paint is peeling on the interior walls. The elevator is often slow to arrive, though at least the thing /runs/ alright. For now. It's a cool, lovely autumn night in New York City. The kind of night that's just cool enough to allow people to leave their windows cracked to enjoy the fresh air. (Not too much -- it's still pretty cool.) Out on the street, the Saturday night crowds are just starting to gather at their respective pre-club dinners and things. Above the city, the stars peek out from behind the occasional clouds that scud across the sky in hazy gray wanderings. It's probably a good night for a date. But. Saturday night's all right for fighting, too, and that's what it looks like Trib's been doing when he rolls up the stairs of the Sunrise Apartments. Dressed in red running shorts and a blue tank top soaked with sweat, the boxer looks recently-pummeled, complete with a butterfly bandage over his left eye. He has his gym bag clutched in his half-hand, slung over his shoulder like a gunny sack as he unlocks the door to the lobby and makes his way inside. The Lupei twins are also enjoying the night, in their own special way. Sitting near the stairwell, Nicoleta and Toma are reading a book together, Toma holding the book with Nicoleta behind him reading over his shoulder, smoking. The book's title is in Romanian, and the front has a picture of some vampire-looking chick, showing it as some sort of supernatural book. And then the lobby door opens. Toma's first to peek his head up, and then peeks it back down. Nicoleta is the next to peek her head up, and when she spots the boxer entering inside, her eyes lock on him, forming an intense stare. She mutters over to Toma in Romanian. <Fuck.>. The elevator dings as it reaches ground floor, and there is a thud against the doors before they even swing open. Cursing is heard from the other side as they begin to divide and finally open. A young man steps into view, clutching a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand as he rubs his forehead with the other. He mutters under his breath as he glances around the room, locating everyone within. Tobias stares blankly at the twins, blinking a few times, and slaps himself -- clearing his head of whatever he might have been thinking. He sways as he walks, stumbling every once in a while, and heads over to the lobby couch, rolling over the backside of it and landing soundly onto the badly damaged cushions that make up the cheap sofa. He immediately jumps up, clutching and rubbing his backside. "Owwwwwww.. Jesus. Cheap piece of shit!" Trib doesn't notice the twins sitting on the steps, at first. He's intent on the mailboxes, key at the ready as he moves in that direction. But the sound of that voice halts him for the briefest of moments, his body tensing briefly before he continues on to his goal. He's lived in this building long enough that he doesn't react to the ding of the elevator, or the thud before it opens. The big man finishes collecting his mail, shoving it in the exterior pocket of his bag before he locks his mailbox and turns back to the lobby. Just in time to see the newcomer fall over the couch. He makes a small chuffing noise that could be laughter, considering the way his eyes crinkle in amusement at the young man's plight. The corner of his mouth curls upwards into a smirk, and Trib offers a slow, sad shake of his head. Unlike Trib, when Tobias falls over the couch, Nicoleta isn't shy at showing how much it amuses her, as she begins bursting into laughter. Toma looks over, worried, shouting over to the man. "Are you alright? Do you need medical attention?". Toma leaps up, heading over to check on Tobias, whilst Nicoleta just sits there, still amused. She grabs the book before it completely closes, reading without Toma. She shouts over to her brother, albeit in Romanian. <That was the most hilarious thing, I have ever seen. Possibly, I've seen a lot of amusing things.>. Tobias pose simply straightens his clothes and brushes himself off. He scratches his head and smiles at everyone in the room, taking a small bow. "Happy to amuse, everyone, happy to amuse.." He grimaces and turns, heading in the direction of the lobby piano that is situated in the corner of the room. He takes his seat, and hits a few keys to determine whether or not the darned thing was in tune or not. He sighs.. "Good enough." What happens next is surprisingly miraculous for one as inebriated as he was, as he bursts emotionally into Chopin's Revolutionary Etude. He is entirely engrossed in the moment, swaying and breathing ecstatically, and he notices nothing else until he is finished playing. Once he is done, he snaps out of it, blinking a little bit before burping and breaking into incredibly sloppy playing of something unrecognizable, with many notes out of key. "He's fine," Trib grunts, finally, when Toma speaks. He nods at Tobias pointedly when the young man takes a bow, and lifts a massive shoulder in a 'you see?' kind of shrug. The boxer shifts his weight as Tobias makes his way to the piano, a look of mild horror coming across his face as the keys are plunked experimentally. There's a small grimace when the playing commences, and the boxer begins moving towards the stairwell. Slowly. As if Tobias were some sort of bomb, and he's attempting to stay out of the blast radius. "Fuckin' buildin'," is a quiet growl, accompanied by a deep lowering of his brow. "Full of goddamned weirdos." When Toma notices that Tobias is fine, he smiles and begins to retreat to the stairwell. And then Tobias starts playing. The twins both listen silently, kind of embracing the music, until Tobias plays the second song. What happens next is a burst of cursing from Nicoleta. "WHAT THE FUCK, ARE YOU FUCKING TONE DEAF?". And then Trib approaches the stairwell. Nicoleta gently places the book down, a rare thing for her, and stares at him, with an intense burning stare. "What the fuck are you doing fucking near me, you fucker?" A snarl comes across the face of the performer as he is heckled by the young listener, but he soon comes to realize that there was a lot more tension between the twin and the boxer, than whatever was thought of his playing by the girl. Tobias stops for a short rest, taking a drink from his bottle, before returning to the keys. He points and winks at the boxer. "This one's for you, Rocky!" Tobias begins to play a piano version of "Eye Of The Tiger", singing along obnoxiously as he winks and nods at the group. Needless to say, he was thoroughly enjoying his Saturday night and clearly having perhaps too good of a good time. Trib frowns as Nicoleta heckles the piano player, and the set of his mouth indicates his overall displeasure at the show of displeasure. He pulls up short as the girl gives him the evil eye, and rolls his own in response. "Gimme a fuckin' break, Natasha," he rumbles, his mouth pulling to one side of his face. "You're on the fuckin' stairs -- how the fuck am I supposed to get the fuck /up/ 'em without fuckin' comin' near you?" He lifts his eyebrows, jerking his head at the stairwell pointedly. The sudden dedication from the piano draws Trib's attention away from Nicoleta, and he winces as the singing commences. "Oh, /fuck/ no," he growls, and moves in the direction of the piano, abandoning the twins as if they weren't there. "Fuckin' just /stop/, dude," he says as he nears the other man. "For fuck's sake. That's my favorite fuckin' workout song." "It's Nicoleta, you fucking racist scumbag. And you could take the fucking elevator instead of getting in my fucking way.". Nicoleta replies, kindly, well, as kindly as /she/ can. Meanwhile, as Tobias begins playing the song, Toma's ears move a bit as he raises his hand. "Ooh, I know this one!". Toma then, also badly, tries to sing along with Tobias, just out of pure fun. Nicoleta rolls her eyes as her brother, muttering in Romanian. <You're a fucking joke.>. She then picks the book back up, reading it, hoping that Trib doesn't come back towards her. Tobias tries to finish the song, but simply bursts into laughter as the boxer mentions that Eye Of The Tiger was his favorite workout song. As he attempts to gather his bearings, tears flow from his eyes. Perhaps it was not as funny as he thought, but in his current state he just didn't know. "You have GOT to be shitting me," a gasp for air interrupts his words, "that is simply too funny to be true.." It was at that point the he realized the boxer's seriousness, and not wanting to get his ass beat, he simply apologized. "Alright then.. so it is. Any requests, besides silence?" He winks and grins, having another swig -- before he offered the bottle out to the boxer afterwards. "..The girl must like you." When Toma joins in the singing, it's just too much, and Trib looks for a moment like he's considering setting fire to everyone in the lobby. His expression darkens just a bit further at Tobias' laughter, and his golden gaze turns sharp as he stares down the other man. "It's good for workin' out," he says, his voice low and dangerous thunder from deep in his chest. "You got a better one?" Which is apparently rhetorical, since Tobias is suddenly taking requests. Trib blinks, and throws a suspicious look around the lobby. Because there's got to be a hidden camera somewhere. "How 'bout somethin' that don't have no fuckin' words," he suggests. "You was doin' all right with that first shit you played." The assessment of Nicoleta's secret love gets a wry-sounding snort. "Yeah. She's a fuckin' /peach/." He jabs a finger in Toma's direction. "Boris is okay, though." "Toma, actually. Though I knew a guy named Boris, back in Romania.". Toma quickly points out to Trib, but isn't able to say anymore before suddenly, Nicoleta slams the book shut, placing it down on the stairs, and standing up. "What the fuck did you fucking say. Me? Like that fucking bitch? You must be asking for a fucking fight, asshole, to say such shit. I'd rather skin 'roid freak over there and hang him on a wall than even think of..ugh, liking him or what the fuck ever.". She approaches Tobias, basically getting in his face, ignoring Trib. "So, I suggest you fucking take it back, right fucking now.". The musician sighs and slumps in his chair as he is confronted, by both the boxer and then the ragingly violent twin. "Rough crowd", he mutters. He rolls off the chair and ducks beneath the piano, appearing eventually after some awkward scuffling and muttering as he peeks slowly above the piano from the other side. "Natasha.. Perhaps you should talk about your feelings to him and not myself, get some catharsis or something. Or so my shrink would say." Tobias giggles and throws a peace sign. Realizing that he is on the other side of the piano and unable to play a song, he simply begins to whistle and drum on the piano as he nods towards Trib, honoring his request. It was all he had. The look that Trib give Toma for the correction clearly indicates that he has no real concern for actual names, but his chin jerks to his chest in a silent nod. Then there's no time for other responses, because Hurrican Nicoleta suddenly descends. Trib rubs a hand over his mouth, probably to hide his sudden grin as someone else gets the brunt of the girl's affections. And slooowly he slides towards the stairwell. Ever. So. Slooooowly. Nothing to see here. No idea /who/ Tobias is nodding at. "Don't you fucking move, I'm not done with you either.". Nicoleta quickly turns her head over to Trib, who is approaching the stairwell. "But first, to take care of this fucking punk.". Nicoleta turns back to Tobias at the lobby piano in the corner, anger in her eyes. She then draws from her pocket, a small switchblade. Instead of turning it on Tobias, she turns it onto the bandages covering her entire left wrist. "You fucking asked for it, piano boy.". Slish. She swipes the switchblade through the bandaging, through her scarred wrist. Toma, who is standing in the middle of the lobby, flinches as this happens, slightly panicking. "Oh crap, oh crap.". As blood flies from Nicoleta's wrist, it stops, floating in midair. And then it begins to solidify, in the form of large spheres. Floating. Aiming straight at Tobias. Nicoleta speaks, still controlling the spheres. "Fuck you.". Tobias looks on in wonder as the young lady cuts herself. He raises an eyebrow and scratches his head as the blood begins to form into the air, and can't help but think that he's about to be royally fucked at this moment, somehow. He sighs, takes a last swig of his bottle of Jack, steadies himself -- all before throwing the thing directly at the young girl in an attempt to distract her. In that moment, he darts suddenly across the room, eventually diving behind the lobby desk for cover. <<What have I gotten myself into?>>, he wondered before shouting, "Hey, hey, HEY! I'm SORRY? JESUS, FUCK." Now probably seems like the perfect time for a distraction, which conveniently comes in the form of Toru entering the apartment lobby, blue hoodie zipped up to his neck, a skateboard over one shoulder and a white takeout bag held in his other hand, both gloved. He also apparently wasn't expecting to be walking /in/ on anything, judging by his reaction - he stands upright, raising an eyebrow, but his gaze snaps up to Trib when he notices the boxer near the stairs. "Hey, Fish!" Apparently deciding to /ignore/ the other proceedings, he slips through the lobby, past those spheres - which he apparently doesn't realize are blood, because he smacks one of them with his skateboard on his way past, with a look over his shoulder and a, "Hey, people're tryin' to walk here, y'know?" directed at-- nobody in particular. "Fuckin' chill, Natasha," Trib growls when Nicoleta turns on him. "And leave the guy alone. It ain't his fault he's a fuckin' idiot. Anyway, ain't you got a fuckin' moose an' squirrel to hassle?" Which is probably not a good plan, but it's the one he's going with. He watches as blood rises and coalesces in the air, his expression growing a bit grim and his grip tightening on the handle of his gym bag. He doesn't seem to be creeping towards the stairs, anymore. And then Toru walks in. As soon as he hears the nickname, Trib's expression tightens, and his movement is sudden and smooth. Almost practiced. "Get the fuck down, Pup!" is a bark that barely precedes the full-weighted launch of his gym bag at Nicoleta. Then the boxer is jamming his thumb in his mouth, working the silver ring there free with his teeth as he moves towards the girl. Nicoleta doesn't expect the bottle to fly at her, her crying out. "Oh fuc-". Before the bottle can collide with her, Toma reacts, waving his hand. Several of the blood spheres fly forward, smashing into the bottle, shattering it and the spheres. And then Trib tosses his bag forward. Toma notices this before Nicoleta as well, as he slides forward, the bag smashing into him and knocking him /hard/ onto the floor. Nicoleta turns around, shouting out. "Oh shit, Toma!". She's no longer focused on Tobias, instead, her rage at Trib intensifies twice fold. More blood floats from her wrist, floating around her and forming some sort of solid barrier, as Trib rams at her. Toma flinches his wrist slowly, as he coughs up blood. Nicoleta quickly notices this, as she tosses the blood shield forward to try and ward off Trib, and makes an attempt to, if possible, dive towards her brother. <Toma!> Tobias keeps down and listens for a while, until he realizes that the focus was no longer on him, especially with a skateboard going by -- which quite confused him as he was unaware of the new person entering. He slowly and carefully rises to his feet, peering above the lobby desk to witness his surroundings. He doesn't like what he sees. "Ah, fuck I actually liked the kid. COME THE FUCK ON!" He leaps over the counter, slowly rolling up his sleeves as he approaches the group, a serious and intent look on his face. "Way to uphold our stereotype, fuckers. Can this stop now before shit hits the fan even harder? I didn't bring an umbrella." Notably, Toru does not get down when Trib shouts at him, but he does whirl off to the side of the room that has fewer people in it. His face just twists into an unmistakable expression of confusion, the teen letting his bags fall into the hook of his elbow as that hand goes up to run over his hair. "What the /hell/ is going on!?" He shifts the skateboard in his grip, holding it by one set of wheels in a threatening posture, though he doesn't do anything with it just yet. Instead he follows in Trib's wake, staying behind the larger man, but close enough to rush in should he feel the need. "Fish, c'mon, let's get outta here, okay? Get some fresh air; I brought some work home." He lifts the bag, there. "We'll hit the park or somethin'." Trib's anger only grows when Toma takes the hit intended for Nicoleta, and he chews the metal in his mouth audibly and swallows. He growls something at Toru as he approaches the barrier -- something including the word 'fuck', but otherwise unintelligible. His skin begins to shift color as he nears the floating wall of blood, taking on a steel-like shade and texture. The more color his skin takes on, the slower he moves, giving Toru plenty of time to catch up and Tobias an equal amount of time to emerge from his hiding place. "I ain't goin' nowhere until I'm fuckin' sure Natasha here has learned a fuckin' lesson about goddamned self-control," he manages to make clear, speaking to Toru over his shoulder. Then he's addressing Tobias, shifting his golden gaze to the other man. "Told you she was a fuckin' peach." As Trib slows down, Nicoleta's running for her brother, easily lifting the bag off him. Seeing Trib turn to steel, her face becomes of panic as she cries out. "Oh fucking shit.". She grabs Toma, pulling him up, whispering to him in Romanian. <Fuck, Toma, are you okay? We have to get the fuck out of here, did not expect the steroid freak to..be this. And you're injured.>. Toma nods slowly, as Nicoleta cries out to Trib. "Fuck, okay, we'll leave! Surrender! White flag, whatever the fuck you want! Just let us go!". She looks at her brother again, to make sure he is okay, as she wipes the blood off his mouth, slowly trying to approach the elevator with him. The blood wall floats around to cover them, as they approach the elevator. Toma then calls out to Tobias, frowning. "Sorry about that.". Tobias simply stands there as the twins make their way towards the elevator, his eyes staring at disbelief. "Are you fucking kidding me, /we all live here?/" He lets out a laugh, covering his mouth as he does so. It was simply too funny to actually be true. He shouts after the twins, "I've got something for him if he passes out! I'm on floor 3! And no problem, I'm fine!" He lets out a sigh of relief as the confrontation appeared to be over, and he simply looks over the man slowly turning into steel in front of him. "A metal fan! Should have said so! I have my guitar upstairs." He cackled at his own joke, appearing to never take anything seriously for more than a few minutes at a time. "Jesus goddamn Christ." Toru pinches the bridge of his nose, not even trying to hide a sigh as he catches up with Trib, grabbing the man's now metallic arm. "Dude, c'mon, forget about it." He even turns to watch the twins leave, then flashes Tobias a bit of a weird look at that joke, and ultimately moves away from Trib, running his hand through his hair again. "Well, I guess we ain't goin' out for a while. Y'know I coulda fuckin' taken care of that without you gettin' all-- metally, yeah?" Wandering over to the stairwell, he flops down onto the bottom step, slumping over and just shaking his head as he watches the elevator. "And now we gotta wait for the goddamn elevator unless you wanna spend like the next hour goin' upstairs." Trib just stares at Nicoleta as she begins to stammer her surrender, his jaw setting as he tracks the twins' hasy retreat. "Stop showin' your fuckin' ass," he growls after the girl. "I'm tired of you shittin' where I eat, an' I barely fuckin' know you." He stands, immobile, waiting for the elevator to come. His brow twitches, and he lowers his jaw. "I hope Boris is okay," he says, and it would sound a lot more sincere without the steely rasp in his voice. When Tobias speaks to him, he turns his head slowly to regard the man with a silent, perplexed look. "Yeah, they live here," he verifies, finally. "And us. You live on three?" he repeats, and he doesn't sound terribly happy about /that/. He moves his hand in a slow motion in Tobias' direction, shifting his attention to Toru. "Pup. New fuckin' neighbor. He's a charmer, if you can't fuckin' tell." Sarcasm also loses its edge in steel rasps, since he sounds pretty sincere this time. He looks towards the stairs beyond Toru, and offers a half-smile. "It won't be that bad," he promises. "An hour, tops." As the elevator arrives, Nicoleta looks over to Trib. "No way I'm sharing the fucking elevator with you. And since my brother's the one who is injured..well, guess you're shit out of luck.". Being closer to the elevator, Nicoleta and Toma are able to get in first. Nicoleta's quickly pressing the 2nd floor button, and then the close door button. And then flipping off Trib. "See you, steely.". The door closes, as the elevator slowly leaves. With twins inside. As Tobias walks by and makes his way for the stairs, he knocks on the boxer's metallic frame as he passes. "Don't worry, it won't be so bad. The music will only be loud on every night but Sundays, I'll let you have that one." He chuckles to himself as he races up the stairs, eager for his next drink as he seems to have lost his bottle somewhere. All that is heard of him is some resounding footsteps, a couple of falls, cursing, and then nothing as he is finally gone, to the relief of everyone else. "Yeah, awesome, whatever." Toru waves dismissively at the people departing, shaking his head a few times, and pushes himself back up to his feet. "Trib, it's gettin' to where I can't take you anywhere, y'know." He says it good-naturedly enough, though, with no real venom in his tone. "C'mon." As he walks up the stairs next to Trib, he digs through that bag of his, pulling out a fork and a container, pulling it open to reveal noodles and chicken. "Here, eat and walk, maybe you'll turn into a chicken and fly up the stairs. Probably make a mess on the landing but whatever." /Such charm/. Trib growls when Tobias knocks on his body, eyes narrowing at the light-hearted promise. "It better be /good/ fuckin' music," he rumbles by way of farewell. And he remains, statue-like, until the lobby is clear. Only then does he begin to move again, bending slowly to regain his bag before he heads for the stairs. "Take me anywhere?" he echoes Toru, furrowing his brow. "Ain't we at /home/?" The revelation of the food gets a brightening (almost literally, with steel skin) of his expression, and he reaches out to claim the box. "Good pup," he grunts, inhaling the aromas of the container in a deep whiff. Then he laughs at either the idea of turning into a chicken or making a mess. "Like anyone around here would fuckin' notice," he rumbles as they plod up the stairs. "Wasn't you payin' attention? This buildin' is fuckin full of weirdos."