ArchivedLogs:Radioactive

Radioactive
Dramatis Personae Joshua, Tag, Tian-shin, Tian-yi	2016-07-16 "The /angle/ is that your mutation is killing your mother."
Location <NYC> {Funhaus} - Harbor Commons - Lower East Side
The house might have started out looking capacious and respectable, but it has since moved through various incarnations, always colorful, but never colorful the same way for longer than a few days. There is little in the way of what most people would call furniture: a sectional couch buried in fluffy cushions, three bean bags of varying sizes, a scattering of bookshelves, what looks like a human-scale cat tree in one corner, and a low, square table surrounded by zafus. The floor plan is largely open, criss-crossed by rope bridges linking small elevated platforms to the landing of the second storey, beyond which lie the bedrooms. The kitchen is separated from the living room only by a long counter, lined with stools. Even the appliances are decked out in unexpected hues, edged with designs that change on a daily basis. A row of tins and jars runs the length of the breakfast counter, none of which match and all of which bear brightly colored text describing their contents: teas, coffees, mates, and various herbal blends. This week, Funhaus is a vibrant tropical rain forest: the walls verdant with flowering epiphytes and vines that cover the trunks of the towering trees. Upon closer examination, a startling number of animals are hidden in the tangled growth: a troop of spider monkeys high up, a tucan perched by the bookshelf, a herd of peccaries rooting through the undergrowth, a sleepy jaguar draped along the top of the cat tree, and a potoo staring down at the living room from the second story balcony. The verdant canopy painted on the ceiling gives a truly impressive and persistent illusion of depth, and the floor is a mosaic of leaf litter. The sweltering heat of the day has given way to -- well, in all honesty, a similarly oppressive humid muck of a night, sticky and muggy. In the face of this pleasantry, Joshua is currently electing to puddle on the floor rather than any furniture, half-melted alongside the living room table with a large glass of agua de jamaica resting on his chest. Off-work, he's dressed in khaki cargo shorts and a ribbed black tank, a spritz bottle (still a little rattly with half-melted ice, condensation on the outside of the plastic) close at hand. His other hand is occupied with Phone, holding it up to peer at it -- on its screen, a Ninetails is busy admiring itself, evidently seated on a lower platform of their cat tree. Tag has been drifting around the house restlessly, foraging in desultory fashion. His messy shoulder-length hair obscures most of his face, and changes colors at a somewhat unsteady rate--icy blue, at the moment, with an iridescent sheen. His t-shirt had been sky-blue with puffy white clouds all day, and with evening twilight had descended upon its cotton sky, now fading to a hazy, starry purple. His skirt, on the other hand, has remained more or less the same wavy tie-dyed rainbow all day. He has just finished making tea and dumped it into a pitcher full of ice, from which he decants one cup before putting the rest in the refrigerator. Padding into the living room with his tea an a large bowl of potato chips, he sinks down to sit on the ground beside a beanbag rather than on it. A twin of the Ninetails on Joshua's screen appears on the wall now, stalking along the vine-choked branch of an immense tree. The chips go on the floor between him and his housemate. The front door open quietly and Tian-shin slips in, her gauzy blue sundress damp with sweat. She kicks off her strappy black sandals at the door and stows them with more care on the shoe rack. The youngest Hua sibling, Tian-yi, troops in behind her and does the same with his glossy patent leather Oxford shoes. He is dressed in a long-sleeve white pinpoint shirt and light gray slacks, even donning a red tie with auspicious geometric designs despite the heat. He glances at Tag (eyes lingering pointedly on his rainbow skirt) and gives Joshua a curt, small bow--little more than just a nod. Tian-shin heads straight for the kitchen, walking faster than really altogether necessary. "Anyone want a drink?" She's already poking her head into the refrigerator. "Or a snack?" "I want candy for my Venonat," Joshua replies, thumb flicking at the screen. He stabilizes his glass in the crook of one arm, wriggling back slightly along the floor to rest his head on one side of Tag's beanbag. His chin tips up to Tian-yi as he sets his phone down on his chest. Picks up the spritz bottle instead to idly puff a mist of cold water droplets onto Tag. Tag gives a floppy wave to his younger siblings as they enter. His cheeks burn and he shifts minutely at Tian-yi's obviously judgemental glare. "I'm good, thanks. There's some coconut oolong in the pitcher, I just made it." He sips his tea, stuffs a stack of potato chips into his mouth, and chews slowly. And emits a happy sigh when spritzed, his hair fluttering into a cooler, darker shade of shimmering blue. "Sup, Tian-yi?" Tian-yi shrugs and says, "I'll have some of that if it's cold" before walking over to plant himself on the couch. "I don't know why we couldn't talk about this over email, you know I don't wanna leave Ma alone too long. Not sure what you think you have to tell me about her health that the doctors haven't already told us." Tian-shin had already taken the pitcher out and begun to pour herself some, and simply grabs a second mug for Tian-yi. "Mom isn't made of glass. She's between treatments and anyway, Mrs. Wu is going to drop by after mahjong. But this..." She returns to the living room and gives her little brother one of the mugs, keeping the other for herself as she settles on the other end of the couch. "Okay. So you know that Dad was a mutant? And me and Tag? Well. Um. You are, too." Tian-yi accepts his tea with a bob of his head and takes a sip. He watches his sister with slowly widening eyes as she speaks. Then glances at Joshua sharply. "Bullshit. I don't know what your angle is, but I ain't a /freak/ like you." He slams his mug down on the coffee table and rises to leave. Joshua's eyebrows just tick faintly upward at Tian-yi's glance. He sets the spritz bottle back down, picking up his jamaica instead. He doesn't sip from it, though, just trails a forefinger idly through the beads of water condensing on the glass. "Sit down." His voice is quiet, level as ever, but the words come with a firm weight of psionic pressure that turns the command a good deal more compelling. "And I'll thank you not to throw that word around in here again. The /angle/ is that your mutation is killing your mother. You might want to pay some attention." Tag flinches when Tian-yi slams the mug down, and emits a quiet groan as the younger man makes to leave. He looks as if he's about to get up himself, but holds off when Joshua steps in. Then, after another long pull at his tea, he says, "You're radioactive. Not like /very/ radioactive, but living with mom day in and day out...it adds up. And that might not be why her chemo hasn't worked, but it does mean she's likely to relapse even if the next round /does/ work." Tian-shin tenses, her jaw setting hard as her hands close in tight around her mug. But when she speaks, her voice is even and calm. "It's not your fault--you're not doing it intentionally--but you have to get this under control, and fast. Not /just/ for mom's sake." Her eyes soften a touch and she drops her voice low. "This is the kind of power that makes the government /really/ twitchy." Tian-yi hesitates, struggles for a moment to continue on his path to the door. He ultimately drops back down onto the couch, the air rushing from his lungs as if physically struck. His jaw goes slack as his siblings speak, and his power begins ramping up in uneven jerks, loosing brief but increasingly intense waves of high-energy particles. "What--what?! No, I don't believe you. This is--this is bullshit. I'm leaving." But he doesn't actually get up. Though still wild-eyed and breathing fast, his voice is a bit less shaky when he asks, "How do you know?" A few moments after it began the cascade of energy tapers off; Joshua clamps down on Tian-yi's ability with a neat and blanketing dampening that keeps it in check, for the moment. "It's what /I/ do. I can sense when other people have mutations. And copy them." Now he does pick up his glass, taking a slow sip. "I've also had a whole lot of practice helping teach people how to get their powers under control. It's not always -- intuitive." Tag pulls his knees up to his chest and tugs his skirt down, gathering it around his legs. His toes curl in as if trying to grip the colorful leaf litter painted onto the floor. "Look, I wish you could just take your time to get used to the idea, but this ability of yours? It's really dangerous to you and everyone around you, if you don't get a handle on it. But..." He nods at Joshua, vibrant purple hair falling across his eyes again. "...you don't have to do it alone." Tian-shin nods, the motion quick and mechanical. "I have some idea what it's like, suddenly discovering the capacity to...well, mostly do really horrific and destructive things by accident. It's terrifying, but I learned--am still learning. You can, too." Tian-yi is shaking his head, slowly but persistently. "Shit, you mean like that time you burned my lungs and put me in the hospital for a week?" He's grimacing, but the tremor in his voice is definitely fearful and not angry. "Okay. Okay, so if I believe you--and I'm not saying I do--how do I...what do I do? I gotta move out, right? I mean, ma's sick already, and someone's gotta stay with her once she starts chemo again." Here, Joshua just shrugs, eyes flicking between his two roommates. "... I can help your mother." This comes a little cautiously. "I mean. Help -- treat her. I'm -- less harsh than chemo, anyway." He lowers his glass back to resting on his stomach, tipping it slowly from one side to another and watching the ice shift in the deep red drink. "And I can help you figure out how to control what you do. If it's possible to control," he amends, with a small furrow of brow. "That part's going to take some practice." "That level of radiation exposure is harmful only in the long term. That damage that's been done--Joshua can help with that, and it won't make her sick like before." Tag is watching his younger brother very closely. "But it's probably still a good idea to find your own place, if you can." "Yeah. Like that." Tian-shin is quiet for a moment. "I can do more helping out around the house, too, but...probably best if you move out, yes. I had a pretty rough time learning to control my ability. It's different for everyone, though." Tian-yi slumps back against the couch, as if his bony frame just cannot support itself any longer. "Shit," he declares, finally. "Screw cancer, ma's gonna have a heart attack when she finds out about this." Straightening up just slightly, he levels an unabashedly suspicious look at Joshua. "So you're willing to teach me how to...what. Not give people cancer? /And/ you can magically cure ma. What's in it for you?" Joshua's brows hike again. For a long moment his eyes level on Tian-yi before, eventually, his head falls back against the beanbag to tip his gaze up to Tag instead. "... is this motherfucker for real?" Tag just groans and scrubs his face (the half not hidden by hair) with one hand. "Well, I keep /hoping/ he's not, but..." His skinny shoulders hitch up in a small shrug. "...pretty much, yeah." Tian-shin sighs softly. "I can tell you I trust this man with my life, or that mutants have to look out for each other, or that there is such a thing as simple compassion, but..." Her mouth twists hard to one side. "We also just all have a vested interest in not getting nuked." Tian-yi does not look any /more/ put out by this. "Whatever, I just--don't wanna be in anyone's debt." He huffs a sharp breath. "But I'd rather that than..." His eyes drop down to his hands. "...killing everyone around me, I guess." '/I guess/,' Joshua mouths this in silent echo, his brows juuust a little higher. He sits upright, giving his head a small shake. "Suppose I'll have to take that."