ArchivedLogs:Sick Party

Sick Party
Dramatis Personae Flicker, Jax, Joshua, Kyinha, Shane, Tian-shin
In Absentia	2015-11-02 "{Are we all doing to die? I'm getting kind of sick of that.}" (part of sickyface tp.)
Location <NYC> {Geekhaus} - Harbor Commons - Lower East Side
There's an open airy feel to the floorplan of this unit. The door opens up into a wide expanse of common space that is not so much divided up into rooms as it is simply multipurposed. Ash-grey resin flooring underfoot runs up against the paler grey of the exposed stone in the walls; between the stone support there are wide floor-to-ceiling windows looking out at the river on one side of the home and the Commons' central yard on the other. Half of the space has a ceiling at one-floor height, though half of the space is left open with a balcony up on the second floor overlooking the living space below. A slatted stairway heads up to the second floor balcony; on the other side of the room, a fireman's pole running straight down to the basement provides a quicker way /down/. The wide open space here is combination living and dining room; in a recessed pit near the windows there are a pair of couches and large armchair around a wide coffeetable; further off a steel-and-glass dining table is surrounded by eight tall black chairs. A full bathroom behind the stairway is done up in dark granite; the glass-doored bathtub/shower is rather expansively large. The kitchen is tucked off in back, beneath the half-height ceiling; in here the appliances and cabinets and shelving recessed into the wall are in brushed steel, wide grey sweeps of tempered glass countertops running around the edge of the room and a large central island holding stoves and oven and deep double sink. Adjacent to the kitchen, beneath the ceiling as well, is a sitting area structured largely around the enormous television against one wall, a wealth of video games for a number of consoles held on the shelves around the television. Crates and beanbags and one low futon folded against the floor are arranged in good viewing distance; opposite the television, a sturdy large pen built out of wood shrines a couch amid a sea of brightly colorful playpen balls. A door in one wall opens up to the apartment next door; a door opposite leads down to the basement. The television room at Geekhaus has been turned into a veritable fort of pillows and blankets, an expansive and cosy nest for curling up and snuggling into. Tucked under an overhang of blankets at one far end of the jumbled structure, Joshua (kind of pale, nose reddened from too much blowing, dressed in comfortable pajamas) is burrowed under a large knit throw, fast asleep. At the mouth of one blanket-tunnel, a small blue face is peering out, huge black eyes focused on the television. Currently playing /Lilo & Stitch/. Jax is somewhere in this blanket-fort. Sooomewhere. In a nest of cushions of his own, curled up and maybe at one point he was paying attention to the movie (the half-drawn sketch of Stitch surfing in his sketchbook implies he was paying attention at one point!) but now he's kind of dozey. Just a little bit. He's more dressed than Joshua -- not in pajamas, anyway! Though the soft black fisherman's pants he's borrowed from Hive are too long for him; he has them paired with a bright red off-the-shoulder crop top and studded black armwarmers, his hair at the moment black with bright rainbow streaks. The complex melange of medicinal herb scents wafts in from the kitchen, dominated at the moment by ginger. Clad in work clothes still--a pink brocade wrap tunic bedecked with silver plum blossoms and plain black jeans--Tian-shin stands at the stove, tending not one but two steel stock pots. She wears her hair in a single neat braid that almost reaches her belt. Turning down the fire under both pots to a bare simmer, she starts ladeling soup into brightly colored bowls on a black lacquer tray. This she delivers into the blanket fort, picking her way carefully over the fluffy ramparts. "Soup's up--I've got shi chuan da bu tang...er ten herb soup. Also shiro miso soup, if you're not feeling that many herbs." Flicker is just wandering -- a little erratically, flit-flit-flit -- back from the bathroom. Settling into the ballpit with a SPLASHrattle of balls. Thud. He's also in pajamas, soft black fleece pants, Columbia sweatshirt unzipped over a white undershirt. His eyes are a little bleary as he looks back at the television, pulling a blanket up over himself, though he pulls it back /down/ at the offer of soup. "That Many Herbs sounds nice. Kind of like exactly what I need right now." His voice comes out a little rough. A little congested. "Thank you." Knock knock knock! Out on the front step, Kyinha is dressed kind of lightly for a breezy autumn afternoon. His white t-shirt has a large, simple line diagram of the golden spiral and his black cargo shorts are so faded with age that they look soft gray against the deep, featureless black of his skin. He's carrying a big blue canvas bag emblazoned with a cartoon of a pale pink boto. Joshua groans at the sound of the knock, burrowing further into his blankets. Shane pokes his head out of the tunnel, gills fluttering in surprise and a soft growl escaping him. "Door's fucking open," he grumbles, which isn't stopping him from eeling his way out of his spot and picking his way across the floor towards it. Socked feet, pinstriped slacks, vest, button-down, bowtie. His nose twitches, and twitches again. "... smells like home." He tells Tian-shin this with a /frown/. And then, "I'm starving." Trudge, trudge, trudge. He stops, pulling the door open with a tug and staring up in puzzlement at Kyinha. "Hey. Door was open." As though /everyone/ should totally just /know/ that they should barge right in here. OBVIOUSLY. "Hi who'sat." Jax's words come out kind of mumbled; it takes a moment before his eye cracks open, though he has to wiggle slightly closer to an opening of Fort before he can peek out. "Oh! Woah. S'a Kyinha. How're y'doing." "Oh, I could get the--" Presumably, she meant the door, but Tian-shin's hands are actually rather full. She leaves Shane to it, since he has already gotten up anyway. Setting her tray down by the couch, she hands Flicker a bowl of soup that smells rather powerfully of herbs along with a big spoon and a fancifully decorated cloth napkin. "You're welcome. Tag hates this stuff, except when he's sick. I actually like it." Her smile is a little sheepish. "It's my great-aunt's recipe, but I imagine da bu tang tastes about the same everywhere--same ten herbs," she tells Shane as she straightens up. "Rice is almost done, too, if you want something a bit more substantial. Welcome to the sick party, Kyinha." Dark brown eyes dart from the door to Jax's post in the fort. "Herb or miso soup for either of you?" "Thanks. Good or bad I think right about now I'd drink ditchwater if it'd make me feel less stuffy." Flicker takes the bowl from Tian-shin with a quick (if slightly wan) smile. "Hey. Welcome to my... place. Our. Place. It's not," he allows, "a very exciting party. Sick party not like a /sick/ party. Once we have a /well/ party, maybe then --?" Wriggling a little bit more upright with another rattle of (very vividly multicolored! Swirled and glittered, metallic and pearled and marbled) playpen balls, he rests the bowl on the arm of the couch for stability, stirring it but eying the steam without trying it yet. "So it was!" Kyinha's grin is broad and fiery-bright, though his voice carries the unmistakable nasality born of congestion. "Thank you. I am sick...not feeling all /that/ badly, though they made a big to-do of it at school. How are all of you, then? Other than sick-not-/sick/?" He wriggles out of his purple athletic sandals without bending to unfasten them. "I have brought cocoa, extra spicy for more breathing." He pulls a big steel thermos from his bag, then another, pausing to cough into his arm. "And tacaca, which is...ah...shrimp soup? I see you already have much soup." Glowing yellow-orange eyes pass over the blanket-fort. "Is your house always also a labyrinth of blankets?" Joshua's eyes crack open, though this is accompanied with a small groan. "Sick-not-/sick/," he answers Kyinha. "We're goddamn fantastic. Now that there's cocoa. Thanks." "Always," Shane answers Kyinha, earnest, quickly leaning in to snatch up the shrimp-soup. /Other/ people can have the cocoa. "What, you mean yours /isn't/? You're slacking, man. ... Who made a big to-do? Of what now? They're always fussing over /some/ fucking thing, what's it this time?" "Cocoa?" Jax perks at this, a faint dazzle of dust-mote glitter sparkling in the air around him. "Oh, you're a /saint/, /thank/ you." Though the mention of the school fussing has him lifting his hand, fingertips pressing lightly to where clean white gauze has been wrapped around his bare shoulder. "... feel like there's a fair bit t'fuss about. Folks've been doin'... well." "It's better /for/ you than ditch water, at least," Tian-shin assures Flicker. "And we can always use more soup--I'll get some bowls and mugs." She leaves the tray of soups on an end table and returns to the kitchen, stirring her pots again before fetching the promised vessels. "Oh, school was...well, a /lot/ of people called out. But what made it /really/ chaotic was requiring everyone who's been sick to go see Doctor McCoy." She returns with mugs in hand and a few bowls in the crook of her elbow. "I'm sure they just..." Her gaze flicks to Jax's shoulder. "...erring on the side of caution." "Not /always/. Sometimes," Flicker confides (pausing, here, for a round of coughing hard enough to rattle the balls he is nestled into), "we're a labyrinth of pillows. And once a pretty elaborate spider-web of ropes, that was rad." He bites down on his lip, glancing between the others. "... s'probably my. Doing. After what happened yesterday --" Another pause. Another round of coughing. "I just figured better safe than --" Shrug. "And told the school. About --" He gestures to Jax's shoulder. Then looks to Shane. "And the skate park. With everyone sick -- I just hope it's nothing, you know? But. If it's /not/. Better they catch it early. While there's still time to -- catch it. Early." "Web of ropes! How marvelous!" Kyinha bobs his head, tutting softly. "Clearly I need to work on my room more." He takes a mug from Tian-shin with a nod of his head and pours out a rich, dark chocolate to pass to Joshua. "Hank was swamped all day, needless to say. When I went? Just a quick exam, many questions." He shrugs, pouring another mug for Jax. "He told me I should avoid to speak English if possible, which..." His frown is difficult for most to discern, just a crinkling at the edge of his glowing eyes. "That is also a precaution against the English sickness, yes?" "Oh, god, thank you." Joshua struggles upright, taking the mug with a bob of his head. "Thank you. Wait. There was soup, too? Miso?" He looks hopefully at Tian-shin. "Or herb," Shane adds, though /he's/ just beelining for the kitchen to pour himself some of Kyinha's shrimp soup. Diving right into it without waiting. "Fuck -- fuck, this is good." "{... Hey,}" Joshua is frowning, slipping into Oaxacan-accented Spanish as he curls his hands around the mug of cocoa. "{If you're not supposed to speak English, shouldn't we be... not.}" And a deeper frown. "{Are we all doing to die? I'm getting kind of sick of that.}" Jax's brow furrows, expression scrunching up as he attempts to follow the shift into Spanish. He takes Kyinha's mug with a dip of his head and a small snuffle. "{Yes,}" His Spanish is stilted, far too awkward to carry /much/ trace of accent though what influence it has is more nuyorican than anything else, "{we should. Have more careful.}" He takes the mug from Kyinha, offering the other man a smile. "{Did Hank say to you? Anything?}" Uncomfortably: "{On Halloween, I found some. Alive dead. Got bit.}" Tian-shin frowns. "I thought that--" Then, shaking her head, she switches to Spanish. "{I thought that was probably the reason for the mandatory checkups.}" Her accent resembles Joshua's not a little. "{I am sure they would have told us more if they have any reason to suspect that's what's going around the school.} She picks up a bowl of miso soup in one hand and herb soup in the other, holding them up for Joshua's inspection. "{The herb one you tried the last time Tag had a cold, I think.}" "{Yes, because the school has a long history of being open and forthcoming with everyone about everything that's going on.}" Like Jax, Flicker's Spanish has a Puerto Rican influence; unlike Jax, it comes smoother, easier. "{But, no, I'm sure they would have been perfectly respectful and honest immediately.}" He snuffles again, his hand a little unsteady as he slurps at his soup. "{Me and Shane and Jack. Ran into two more biters. Skate park yesterday.}" His choppiness is less language disfluence and more mouthfuls of soup. Intermittent cough. "{Starting to look like not-a-coincidence.}" "{The tacaca? I am glad you like. Had to substitute most of the vegetables.}" Kyinha's Spanish, though reasonably good, has both Tupian and Portugese influences. "{He did not say much. Drink water, get rest, try to avoid English.}" He tilts his head in consideration as he pours himself some cocoa, as well. "{Of course, he informed me of all that.../in/ English. Also, Xavier was there? I did not think he was a medical doctor.}" He looks at Jax, then Flicker, eyes wide and bright. "{Living dead, biters...I knew the illness was still around, but you think that this is another outbreak?}" He drinks deep from his spicy chocolate. "{Not respectful, no, but I had hoped they would at least think it important to provide vital information for the safety of staff and students.}" Shane is guzzling down his bowl of soup, standing at the kitchen counter without bothering to return to the blanket fort. Pouring himself a second bowl as soon as the first is gone. "{Can this city /survive/ another outbreak? God. The first one fucking --}" He shudders, a harsh growl rumbling in his throat. "{Well. Not easily, maybe,}" Joshua opines grimly, "{but we'll survive. We always do.}" Another growl from Shane. He doesn't stop slurping down the shrimp soup, though. Not for a little bit. Eventually he stops to take a breath, wipe his mouth with the back of a hand. "{... You all fucking /know/ I'm the /first/ person to call the administration out on their bullshit, Lord knows they're a bunch of shitstain fuckups who don't give two fucks about anything but their own self-fucking-righteousness but.}" Here, he shrugs. "{It's entirely possible they aren't /sure/ yet? After the goddamn /hell/ we all lived through last time around, I sure as shit wouldn't want to start a panic until I was really fucking positive it was necessary. Maybe they don't have information to provide.}" Jax shivers, gripping his mug tightly. There's a flutter at the edges of the room, a ripple of light that begins to curl into shambling half-formed silhouettes, humanoid shapes moving jerkily and then fading back away. He pries a hand off his mug, moving it to rub slow against the bandaging on his shoulder. His gaze shifts to lock back on the movie, though it's rather fixed, not /particularly/ watching. "Hrgnh. {Maybe.}" "{I...also ran into some this weekend,} Tian-shin admits, looking around the room with a start at the beginnings of Jax's illusion. "{Ion knew them, he was pretty shaken up. But yes, the disease has been here all along.}" She nods at Kyinha and, snagging a bowl of herb soup for herself, perches on the edge of the ballpit. "{And it /is/ actually flu season, so...even if there is an outbreak, it's probably hard to discern what /kind/ at first.}" Stirring the soup with her spoon, she adds, "{So, for now. Soup and precautions.}" Flicker tips his head up. Peers upward, frowning small and brief at the news of Ion's zombified friends. "... man." His eyes close. When he opens them again, it's to the vision of Jax's shadow-monsters. His muscles tense. Shoulders coiling inward. Breath catching. He looks down at his soup, forcing a deeper breath before he takes a bite. "{Soup,}" he agrees, "{and precautions.}" A quick glance back at the shadows. "{For now.}"