ArchivedLogs:Nerdy Sausage

Nerdy Sausage
Dramatis Personae Doug, Sebastian	2013-12-07 '
Location <NYC> Village Lofts - Lobby - East Village
Bright and sunny, the lobby of this apartment building is clean and unassuming. Requiring an electronic keycard for entry, the pair of elevators dings cheerfully when one arrives. A small sitting area has bright yellow couches and small coffee tables, though the nearby vending machine is perpetually running out of /something/. Tall windows let in plenty of light during the daytime, and the building maintenance keeps the common areas spotlessly clean. A bank of mailboxes near the sitting area collects mail for the building, a recycling bin right at hand for the unwanted spam. Beside the mailboxes, a large corkboard serves as informal meeting space for the announcements, perpetually flyered with notes and notices from the various apartment residents. It is late on Saturday night, and while the chilly streets outside are safer, they are not so much fun in the current weather. It's the wise person who is snuggled up in their apartment with a good book or movie. Apparently, smart does not equal wise, as Doug is currently snuggled up in the lobby of the Village Lofts. Granted, he's far enough from the doors that he probably isn't feeling the cold air whenever another resident enters or leaves, but the plastic-cushioned sofa is no replacement for the one upstairs. Still, the blonde is soldiering on, dressed in a pair of jeans and a grey hoodie worn over a black thermal top. Fingerless gloves offer some protection from the chill air while providing access to the laptop he's working on diligently. Next to him, a large and open pizza box sits, the pie still warm enough to offer the tantalizing smell of the special from the place around the corner. On the floor, a six-pack of Bawlz with one missing. Someone's in for some serious geek-time. The door to the stairwell is pushed open, admitting one tiny blue shark into the lobby. Sebastian looks a good deal more /formal/ than he usually does, dressed in a long pink silk ao dai, the elegant dress elaborately embroidered in yellow. He's barefoot currently, slipping across the lobby to peer curiously at the mailboxes. "... have they started delivering mail again, do you know?" He turns his head to peek shyly at Doug. "Um. How come you're sitting down here?" Doug is engrossed in his work and doesn't immediately turn his head at the sound of the door opening. He does, however, cringe a bit in anticipation of the outer door opening. When Sebastian speaks, he looks up, offering the younger man a lopsided grin. "Oh, hey Bas," he says, pausing his fingers on the keyboard. "You're looking fancy." The question about the mail get a wrinkle of his nose as he thinks. "You know, I haven't even checked my mail in the last few days, so I'm not sure." He lifts his shoulder apologetically. The second question gets a good-natured snort. "My heat's out." "Really? Do you like it?" Sebastian blushes, slightly, and his gills flutter a few times. He looks down at his dress, smoothing a hand over its intricate embroidery. "I've had it for a while but I don't get the opportunity to wear it all that often. Kind of -- fancy." His blush deepens, his smile a little self-conscious. He heads over to check his mailbox, shrugging a shoulder when he finds it empty. He turns back towards Doug with a sympatheic wince. "Oh, gosh, you too? That's terrible. It's been out in Geekhaus too for /days/." "It's really pretty," Doug assures Sebastian, his grin slipping a bit wider. "The color looks good on you. What's the special occasion?" He glances down at his laptop, then, fingers skimming the keys as he continues working, looking up periodically to watch Sebastian. He rolls his shoulders at the wince, and tips his head in a what-can-you-do sort of gesture. "It's not so bad, during the day," he says. "But at night it's kind of a bitch." Another shrug. "I might go home until it's fixed, but I'd have to kennel the cats, 'cause Mom's allergic." "It's um --" Sebastian's smile grows a little bit easier, a touch more confident with Doug's assurance. "Kind of a family -- my dads finalized all our adoptions and got married so it's like. We're really a family now. Um. I mean. We were really a family /before/ but we got taken away once and it's nice -- nice that that. Can't happen so easy now." His nose wrinkles up after this. "It's been /really/ cold at night," he frets. "I think we have a few space heaters? If you want? Or like --" His fingers scrub over his spiky plasticky hair. "Well Dusk and Flicker are already crashing at our place and we have a new stray -- girl so it's been a little cramped but if you don't mind a mattress on the floor you could probably stay with us, too. Till it's fixed." "Oh, hey, congratulations!" Doug stops working, looking up at Sebastian and offering a bright grin. "That's fantastic for all of you. I'm really glad for you." He lifts his eyebrows. "So, you just did all that today? That's pretty incredible." He drops his gaze back to his laptop with only the slightest indication of haste, and there's the smallest bit of pink that graces the tops of his ears. He shakes his head at the offer, and his mouth pulls to one side in a tight smile. "I think I'll be okay," he says, looking up again. "I don't really need to..." he trails off, his jaw working for a brief moment. "I should be okay," he repeats. "Thanks, though. If I can't find a kennel that's open, I might tap you guys to feed the monsters, though." "Thanks," Bastian answers warmly. His arms curl around his chest, squeezing in tight. "It's still kind of surreal, you know? I keep expecting -- I don't know, something terrible. It was funny we went out to get lunch and this girl ran into us who kind of -- spooked cuz me and Shane are like -- freaks. Monsters. And it was almost sort of a /nice/ reminder actually cuz like -- the day was /perfect/ and if had just stayed perfect I don't know if I'd have believed --" His blush deepens, his smile curling a little wider. "Sorry, that's silly. Plus we spent pretty much the entire day at the courthouse wrapped up in bureaucracy so it's weird to call that perfect." He shakes his head, his gills fluttering briefly again. "Okay. If you're sure. But you are totally welcome to the space heaters, they're good, they made that huge blackout a couple winters ago like. Totally bearable. We have a monster of our own though -- um I mean /besides/ me and Shane so -- it'll be no problem feeding Alt and Delete." "No, I get it," Doug says. "You were glad that girl was freaked out, because it let you know that it was real. That what was happening was actually going down." He looks up over the laptop, and offers a small, encouraging smile. "Believe it or not, even rich kids from Westchester need those kinds of reminders every now and then." His smile turns a little more playful as he looks back down. "And I think any day that you get a dream realized can safely be labeled as perfect," he says. "Even if it's full of government bullshit." He types a few more words, and looks back up as the younger teenager agrees to potential cat-sitting. "I don't think you guys are monsters," he says, the blush creeping back into his ears. "Maybe a bit...prickly, sometimes. But definitely not monsters." "Yeah." Sebastian's eyes light with Doug's explanation. His head bobs in a nod. "Yeah. I mean the past month felt like a nightmare and today felt like a dream. Somewhere in there it needed to feel like reality again." He lifts his hand, fingers rubbing slowly against the gills at the side of his neck. "We were made prickly," he explains, with a bit of amusement. "Shark skin. It comes with prickles built in, see --" He starts to hold out an arm by way of confirmation but then pulls it back wtih a deeper blush: "Oh -- oh wait you'd know." His cheeks flush deep purple. "How are things aside from no heat? Flicker was really glad when Columbia started classes again but I guess things are still -- a long way from /normal/." Doug doesn't reply to Sebastian's explanation of shark skin, but the pink in his ears flares into red, and makes its way into his cheeks. His typing speed increases, and he bows his head just a tiny bit. Probably to hide the smile that defies the obvious mortification. The change of subject gets a relieved-sounding exhale, and the blonde looks up. "Pretty much the same as they were before things went to hell," he says. "School and whatever work I can scrounge up. Not much more than that." He shrugs, and leans back to crack his back audibly. "I've pretty much stopped focusing on anything beyond getting on at Stark. How's that going for you, by the way?" "Your family made it through okay? Or -- at least alive? It's -- even now I keep. Like. Checking, you know? Just -- like a headcount of everyone I know who's still alive every day. Just to be sure." Sebastian's eyes lower, and /his/ blush deepens at the question of Stark. "I -- I got a promotion," he admits this like he feels guilty about it. "Have you -- I can't remember if you actually. Already applied or if you were just -- getting /ready/ to apply." Doug nods. "Yeah. My mom got it pretty bad, but my dad's got some kind of connections or something, so she got in on the cure early. Dad was lucky, and didn't get it." He grimaces, and wrinkles his nose. "Tell me about it," he says. "I haven't talked to Anwyn in days, and she's in one of those neighborhoods that got hit hard." The blonde frowns, and furrows his brow. "I'd go an check on her physically, but..." he trails off with a guilty sort of sound. "I'm not sure I'd like what I'd find." The question about his applicant status gets another blush, this one accompanied by a sheepish expression. "Well, I've been prepping, because all the literature I have on the intern program says you have to be a sophomore. But then you and Peter sort of blew that to hell, so now that my brain works, I'm kind of scrambling to put together something awesome to submit." He wrinkles his nose. "It's kind of a challenge, mostly because every time I start to get it down, I get all self-conscious about how good it actually /is/." He sighs, and shakes his head. "Which I know is silly, but it's Tony fucking /Stark/. It's got to be the /best/." "Yeah, my whole family --" Sebastian trails off, his gills fluttering rapidly. "{I'm sorry,}" he says in Vietnamese. "It's always really hard." He is quiet for a moment, eyes dropping to study his feet. His toes curl in against the ground. "I think you might be overthinking --" he starts, but then reconsiders. "No, maybe not. All the other people on my team are crazy -- ridiculously awesome I don't even -- know why I -- But then I'm not really sure about the internships. I'm sure you'll do good, though. Just -- do something nuts. He's /nuts/." Doug's expression is deeply sympathetic at that gill-flutter, and he actually closes the laptop. "I just hope she's okay," he says simply. "It's probably unlikely, considering how much she enjoys talking on the phone, but I still..." he exhales again, and shakes his head, going back to a more amiable topic. "Shit, you have an actual /team/? That must have been some promotion." He rubs a hand over his face, grimacing at the confirmation of the overall awesomeness of said team. "Fuck. I don't know how nuts I can get," he says in a muffled voice. "I mean, it's not like I'm some kind of gadget wizard like you. Software doesn't generally get /that/ insane." There's a moment of consideration, behind that hand. "I wish I was further along in my A.I. That would be something, at least." "It's -- he made me a senior, um --" The end of this just fades off into a mumble. Sebastian's blush deepens, his eyes still locked on the ground. "Yeah, I got put in charge of a team," he admits bashfully, "like I said he's. He's sort of crazy. But -- A.I.'s a huge part of robotics I mean none of my robots would /work/ without some pretty intense programs behind them, you could -- I'm sure you could -- you're really smart, I'm sure you got this. But, if you ever need someone to bounce ideas off of, I'm -- usually always around here on weekends." "Wow," Doug says, his eyebrows lifting. "That's kind of...wow. Congratulations." He wrinkles his nose, and lifts a shoulder as he considers Sebastian's advice. "Oh, I know software's /important/. I just don't know how /nuts/ it is. I guess it'll be okay. I've got some good security software and stuff that I can pad out my resume with, if I can't get the A.I. worked out." He brightens a bit at the offer, and nods at the part of the sofa currently occupied by the pizza box. "You want to look at a couple of things right now?" he asks, sitting up. "I mean, if you have time. I've got pizza from Scandoni's. I'm not sure how they still have fresh ingredients, but it's as good as ever." He leans forward, dragging the box out of Sebastian's way. "Lots of meat on it." "Will you be mad if I just pick off some of the meat and leave the pizza part? Dairy doesn't really seem to get along with me," Sebastian admits with a crinkle of his nose. He takes the invitation to sit, though, moving over to settle onto the couch beside Doug. "I will so look over /all/ the things. I mean I don't need much incentive to nerd with people but if I get to nerd /and/ sausage then -- ohgosh here we are, perfect day again." Teasingly, he pokes a clawed finger /lightly/ at Doug's arm. "-- Just checking if you're real." "Pick away," Doug says, waving a hand at the pizza box. "I would have gotten the meat lovers, but I was in the mood for mushrooms and stuff too." He grins, and scoots to make room for Sebastian, opening his laptop. "I am all about nerdy sausage," he says, and it takes a moment for the phrasing to actually register in his head, and he blushes. "Or nerding /with/ sausage, as the case may be." Which doesn't seem to help, and he ducks his head over his keys, tapping furiously and attempting to pretend that he's /not/ blushing fire-engine red. "Um. Yeah," he says, coughing a bit. "I'm real. Now, let's put a cap on your perfect day, yeah? You can help me figure out why my A.I. insists on speaking like a caveman." He grins. "Betsy sounds like an extra from a Tarzan movie." And with that diagnosis, the nerding can /really/ start. And probably last well into the night. Because nerds.