ArchivedLogs:No Place Like Home

No Place Like Home
Dramatis Personae B, Micah, Daiki
In Absentia	10 August 2014 Issues of the day. Also, dinner.
Location <NYC> {Beachhaus} - Harbor Commons - Lower East Side
Enormous windows and an open floorplan give this house an airy-open feel. Much of the wood-and-stone of the walls has been left exposed, and the flooring underneath is done in a mix of sandy-stoney tile in the bathroom and kitchens and foyer and natural wood throughout the rest. The front door opens into the small foyer, an open doorway leading to a small office space at one side and a sunroom looking out over the river at the other. The office is done in dark wood and deep red accents, a desk built right up against the wall beneath a connected also-built-in arrangement of shelves; there's a pale futon sitting on the ground against the opposite wall. A connecting door in the office space, usually left unlocked, leads to Lighthaus next door. The foyer opens out in back to a large sitting room, the kitchen connecting sitting room and sunroom at their corners; the furniture here is in pale natural colours, all built low to the ground. The kitchen table is low-set, too, kneeling cushions rather than chairs set around it. The sunroom and foyer, unlike the other rooms, have no ceilings at ground-level, instead having balconies between the first and second floor. A curving stairway leads up from the foyer to the second floor, while a door between foyer and sitting room heads down to the basement. A powder room sits off the back of the sitting room, opposite the kitchen. The teenagers' house smells like /dinner/, a /massive/ amount of lemony-winey catfish currently grilling and some seared green beans and orzo already cooked and waiting for the fish to finish. Daiki is tending the kitchen, actually dressed /down/ for once in pale shorts and a white v-necked tee though these are covered in an apron dotted with Dr. Seuss fish. Out in the sitting room, B has recently returned from work -- somewhere ze's been spending /even more/ time lately. Ze has mostly stripped down, skirt and top strewn over the floor to leave hir curled onto the futon in just a pair of black briefs. Hir computer is out, though ze's abandoned work to instead lie kind of lazily with cheek pillowed on arm to watch Disney's /The Hunchback of Notre Dame/ on it. There is a slight knock at the door between Lighthaus and Beachhaus, practically concurrent with said door opening to admit one Micah before being pressed closed by a hip. Typical for a weekend, his hair is in a state of muss, feet bare, clothes simply a pair of bluejeans and a forest green T-shirt with a picture of a cartoon T-rex wielding a pair of adaptive reaching aids under the heading 'UNSTOPPABLE!' on it. Whatever Micah's original intention, he is stopped first by his /nose/, a few moments spared to that task alone. "Goodness, smells delicious in here," he comments before shifting closer to B's seat. "Hey, hon. Wanted t'come check in on you. Feel like I don't see y'much... Don't wanna interrupt if you're in the middle, though." One hand lifts to gesture toward the screen. B is singing quietly along with 'Out There' when Micah enters, one ankle crossed over the other and hir foot bobbing in time with the music. Ze rolls half over off hir stomach, tipping hir head up to peer at Micah. "Dai's making catfish," ze informs hir father, a wave of hir hand and a quick bat at the display that pops up pausing the movie mid-song. "You can stay if you want, it'll be delicious." "Ohgosh, I might hafta take you up on that. Can't remember last time I had catfish. Used t'catch 'em all the time back home. Mostly fried it up, though." Once the movie is stopped, Micah takes that as enough of an invitation to slide onto the futon next to B, a hand moving to pet idly over hir hair. "How y'been doin'?" "You could go fishing with Dai. He'd like that I think." B wriggles slightly downward to give Micah a little more room, knees pulling up to hir chest to curl into a small ball. Ze nuzzles up into the petting, gills slowly opening and closing. "I like this song," ze answers, waving a hand towards the screen. "How are /you/?" "Hm. I'll hafta ask 'im sometime." Micah nestles into the space provided, continuing the petting and adding another hand to stroke down B's gills. They're not supposed to be trying to work on land so much, after all. B's answer earns a lofted brow and bemused look. "You're turnin' 'round a question on how you're doin' by askin' how I'm doin'... Y'been spendin' a lotta time 'round Lucien's lately?" He pauses a few beats, hands moving with a steady rhythm. "I'm okay. Things've been...s'always somethin', right? Question still stands for you, though." "I hang out with Desi a lot after work," B answers, faintly puzzled until ze realizes with a deep blush that this question is rhetorical. Hir gills slowly press down flat, and with the extra pettings ze wriggles closer, tucking hir head against Micah's thigh. Ze shrugs a shoulder, pressing hir cheek to hir father's jeans. "Busy, I guess. Kinda always is something. What is it now?" "S'good you're still seein' your friends even while you're away from school." Rhetorical question or not, there is some information provided in B's reply. "Just...guess y'have been busy. Like I said, felt like I ain't seen you 'round much is all." Micah waits again to answer, just letting his fingertips press against hair and gills. "Gen'ral state of things, I guess. An' the specifics it filters to 'round here. All the...new changes t'the laws for usin' abilities in public. I really oughtta give Elliott an earful on that one some time. She's not exactly /easy/ t'pin down anymore, though. Then all the things with Themis. An' the murders. An' Dr. Leone... An' Neve bein' here. 'Parently there was a tussle 'tween her an' Kay an' Dusk a few days ago. Gonna have a meetin' 'bout it t'morrow. Should get the e-mail out 'bout it after dinner." "Haven't been around much is why." There's a small shiver that accompanies this. B burrows a little closer to Micah. "The mayor was pushing registration pretty hard. This isn't all that /surprising/." Hir lips thin at the mention of Themis, though Dr. Leone's name puts the smallest smile back on hir face. "I did hear about Leone." Ze sounds ever so faintly pleased. The smile vanishes after, though. "She /tussled/ with Kay and Dusk? And is still alive here? They must be going soft." Micah nods, teeth meeting with his lower lip at that answer. He wraps an arm around B, pulling hir up more solidly into his lap. "She was very eager t'meet with folks an' hear their point of view an' all, though. Essentially criminalisin' a state of existence is /quite/ the step beyond just...tryin' t'keep track of people." It's Micah's turn to shiver, with the smile and pleased tone combined with the gruesome details of the news stories on Leone. "Was mostly a verbal tussle. Dusk was keepin' Kay from makin' it more of a thing. But...seems she's been kinda rubbin' folks the wrong way whenever she runs into 'em. Then there was that incident. So we need t'get the group t'gether an' figure out a solution." "I'm not really looking forward to September," B admits. "The cops aren't /supposed/ to arrest us just for existing but they've ticketed obvious mutants plenty before just for looking freaky." Ze nestles happily into Micah's lap, a brief small purr rumbling out of hir before ze speaks again. "Oh." Ze sounds /disappointed/, at the clarification that it was only verbal. Hir gills flutter, this time quick and agitated. "Right." Hir brow furrows, eyes shifting back towards the paused screen. Hir shoulder hitches up quickly. "I haven't run into her." "Me neither. That's...I do wanna talk t'Elliott. 'Specially t'bring up cases like Horus. 'Cause they can definitely ticket 'im for flyin'. But what else is he s'posed t'/do/? Ain't like he's hurtin' nobody." The tension in Micah's jaw eases at B's purring, but finds its way right back as the conversation continues. "That's a /good/ thing. We don't /want/ folks fightin' one another here, not for real." His fingers are quick to seek out B's gills again and tend to pressing them flat. "That's...prob'ly for the best. I'd asked her specifically t'give you an' Dusk space. Didn't seem t'help much in Dusk's case, though. You're still welcome at the meetin', as are your opinions on the matter. S'an open meetin'." "Horus's legs are pretty mutanty legs. I don't get why he's allowed to use them to hop around but not his wings. /Neither/ are particularly natural human-movements." B frowns, curling a hand up around Micah's knees. "Maybe what he's supposed to do is just never go outside. That'd be my guess. He's been ticketed like a half-dozen times already. He'll be in jail before a week is through." Hir gills are fluttering again, quickly. "I don't think my opinions would be that welcome." "See, that's exactly m'point. He's the perfect illustration of how ridiculous the whole thing is. Y'can't just tell people they aren't allowed t'/exist/ in places where cops might just happen t'see 'em existin'. S'essentially puttin' people on house arrest for no crime at all." Micah wraps his arm tightly around B's shoulders, squeezing in what is meant to be reassurance. His fingers continue their tending to the fluttering gills. "Y'don't have t'go, either. Isn't mandatory. If y'wanna tell me or Jax or somebody what you're thinkin' an' we can keep that in mind, that's fine, too." "It's pretty ridiculous," B agrees. "I'm just waiting for them to move ahead with rounding us up into camps. They're always inching towards it, I wish they'd just get it over with." Ze leans back into the hug, gills flattening again. "What are /you/ thinking?" "No." Micah's head shakes firmly, muscles in his shoulders bunching. "We're gonna do everything we can t'fight /anythin'/ up to an' includin' that. S'gotta be someone who'll listen t'reason." He curls in to reach B's forehead with his lips, pressing a light kiss there. "Dusk wanted t'ask her t'leave. I'd...rather not kick her out entire. She's got nowhere else t'go an' enough folks out t'kill 'er that it'd likely be a death sentence. I'm still holdin' out hope that some of the way she acts an' responds t'things is due t'her conditionin' process. So I was gonna propose that maybe she stick t'her own private home at least 'til such time as she gets the help she needs t'reverse all the brain-tinkerin' s'been done on 'er. Or at least for her t'avoid engagin' folks in common areas if she must be in 'em. S'just...too many folks been talkin' like they don't feel safe an' comfortable bein' /home/ since she got here or since she interacted with 'em." B listens to this in quiet, rolling over onto hir back to look up at Micah. "Why would it be different after she has her brain back in order? I mean -- maybe she'll /act/ different but she's not going to be a different /person/." "First off, I think it'll be more...fair t'judge her when she's more...her. More in control of her own actions without direct outside influence in her brain." Micah's lips thin as he cogitates over phrasing. "An' isn't actin' dif'rent the important part? We've had any number of folks here do terrible things, even t'one another. But once they got back to /themselves/ they apologised sincerely an' never did those things again. Isn't that what's needed, bein' able t'reform? It /is/ possible that she won't, but we'll hafta cross that bridge once we get to it." His head shakes slightly, fingers dragging gently over B's spiky hair over and again. "She also might wanna think 'bout turnin' herself over t'the police. Comin' up with the best terms t'do that. Since that press release of hers, s'only a matter of someone figurin' out where she is. Was a pretty clear confession t'that murder. So long-term solutions aren't likely t'be a real concern either way." B pulls hirself up, at this, sliding off Micah's lap to sit up again to one side of the futon. "The important part. Sure." Hir tone is light again, shoulder hitching up once. "Why have the meeting at all then? It seems unnecessary if she's going to be going soon." Hir nose twitches, eyes shifting towards the kitchen. "I think dinner's ready. Should I get you some?" “'Cause there's all the time meanwhile that other folks still need their home t'be /home/. Ain't fair t'just set them aside. An' I don't /know/ that she's gonna be leavin' soon, besides. S'just...what I might recommend given her legal situation. She could well think otherwise.” Micah gives B one last squeeze and pat on the head before releasing hir to shift as ze pleases. “I'll stay. But I'd like t'eat /with/ y'all wherever you're gonna be. If y'don't mind?” "Some folks," B replies, slightly distant-distracted as ze rises from the futon, "never get to have things like home." Hir head tips, very tiny smile acknowledging Micah's request. "I'll bring your plate into the sunroom." “But that's what we're tryin' t'/be/, much as we can.” Micah's brows knit at B's tone, but he doesn't press the issue just now. It wouldn't do to interrupt dinner. B's lips twitch. "Trying to be for who?" Maybe /this/ is a rhetorical question. Ze doesn't stick around long enough for an answer, padding off to the kitchen to get dinner.