ArchivedLogs:Sleep

Sleep
Dramatis Personae Jax, Flicker, Micah, Spencer, Eridani	6 January 2015 Followed in a couple hours by mental chats.
Location <NYC> {Lighthaus} - Harbor Commons - Lower East Side
Bright and sunny-light, this house lives up to its name. With a plethora of enormous windows flooding the place with light and an open layout, the ground floor feels more spacious than it is. The small entryway has a closet space for shoes and coats, and doors at either side leading to the neighboring apartments. Past this it opens straight into the living room, a wide expanse of space bordered on one side by a curved set of stairs leading up (with colourful glass tiling on the risers between each stair) and next to these, the half-wall into the kitchen. Cool pale tile underfoot and many dark cabinets with a small walk-in pantry, plentiful custom granite countertops, black and speckled faintly with rainbowy flecks, lots of hanging space overhead for cookware, a large double-oven. There's a strip of rather detailed mosaic-work in the kitchen backsplash, colourful glass tiling depicting strange fantastical herbs and small faeries and firelizards darting among them. In back of the kitchen, a door opens up to a small sunroom, wide and two-stories high with a balcony overlook from the second floor; two of the windows here have cushioned windowseats, and there's a wealth of herbs growing in hanging pots and small window-boxes. The back wall of the living room is nearly entirely dominated by windows, huge and allowing a view of the river beyond with bench windowseats lining the sills. There are plentiful paintings on the wall, surreal and fantasy-inspired, mostly in shades of blacks greys with bright bursts of colour that are mirrored in the decor -- monochrome upholstery on the couch and armchair but colourful throw-pillows, black and white huge corduroy beanbags (and one large red doggie-bed,) soft throw rugs also in mostly black and white with splashes of rainbow woven in. The hand-built furniture -- tall chairs by the kitchen/living room counter, dining table and chairs in the kitchen, low coffeetable in the living room -- has been hand-painted as well, black with bursts of colourful abstract designs. Along the living room's other wall, doors branch off to a full bathroom -- in white and deep blue with one wall of the shower done in colourful intricate mosaic too, an underwater scene full of strange mythical water-creatures; tiny water-sprites have been interspersed at random points in the rest of the wall tiles, as well. There's a small studio space beside the bathroom, large windows as well and a gratuitous amount of shelving and cabinets along the walls; this room has very /little/ colour in it, just white walls and black furnishing. It's getting on into the night, life around the Commons largely winding down. The ridiculous bright decorations have mostly been taken down -- mostly, though there's still copious amounts of /glitter/ sparkling around the common areas. Inside Lighthaus there is still a Christmas tree, still roping hung over doorframes and mantel, still string-lights all around -- though they're turned off, now. There are many sunlamps dragged into the living room, though those are also off. Just one tall stick-lamp with its dimmer turned down to mute the light to half its strength. There's a bowl on the coffeetable, a helping of black eyed peas with kale spooned over rice, but these have gone largely untouched and been left out to grow cold. Jax is curled into a beanbag, pale and haggard as he has been this week, a little bit shaky, a little bit slumped, dressed in black skinny jeans and a fluffy lavender sweater. He's pushed one sleeve back up above his elbow; the arm beneath is a mess of reddened bite marks and half-peeled-away bandaging. Some deeper than others; in one place there's kind of a /chunk/ missing. Eridani is in his arms, fidgety, quietly click-click-clicking as one wing bats out against Jax's chest and their head lolls back to thunk against the sweatered forearm. Off in the kitchen, Flicker has been pouring two glasses of juice. He returns with them to sit one down by Jax's beanbag and settle himself in a (... distant) beanbag with the other. "You have to eat too, dude. Barely touched dinner. At least put some sugar into you if you're going to keep losing blood." About this time a key can be heard in the door. Unlocking sounds continue, but a small, bundled-up Spencer just /appears/ in the living room. "I'm gonna join the circus with Sera!" he announces gleefully, bouncing up on his tiptoes. The result of the unlocking eventually produces a Micah through the more conventional doorway route. He closes the door and locks up again before stripping out of boots and outerwear. "Boots off, please, Spence-honey. You're gonna track snow on the floor." He walks over to the bouncing child to collect the boots once Spence tugs them off, carrying them back to the appropriate spot to dry in the entryway. "Should get t'cleanin' up for bed soon, hon," he adds as he returns, ruffling at the boy's hair with one hand. "Hi, Jax, Flicker. How's the night been?" He eyes the uneaten food on the table. "Why don't y'let me take Eri so's y'can get some food in you, hon?" It takes Jax a delayed moment before he reacts to either of these things -- a slow shake of head for Flicker, but a brighter smile for Spence. "Are you? The both'a you together? Should we /warn/ the circus? Seems like they might wanna be prepared for an invasion'a /that/ magnitude." Jax tips Eridani's head a little bit more upright, looking over to his husband once Micah appears, and then back to Spence. "Was the show good? -- It's. Okay. You can get Spence t'bed I ain't. Real hungry anyway." "Must be, you haven't eaten all night." Flicker's eyes narrow. Suspicious. Displeased. At Jax's claims of not being hungry. "When /was/ the last time you ate?" He flops his head back against his beanbag, giving Micah a quick smile and holding a fist out to Spencer for tapping. "Circuses love freaks. Good show?" “/So/ good!” Spence exclaims, stretching his arms out wide as if to illustrate. “Sera's gonna do the silks an' we'll do trapeze and I'll /throw/ her. And also I'll juggle and do magic.” He doesn't seem to be in a hurry to go get ready for bed. “Was a good show. Luci missed you but understood with the season an' the bein' busy. Said they'll almost certainly let 'im comp you another one later on, though.” Micah's praise is sincere, if not nearly as enthusiastic as Spencer's. His brows furrow at Flicker's revelation. “Honey, y'gotta eat. Why ain't y'eatin'? I really can take Eri for a bit. Spence's gotta shower an' brush teeth an' get in pajamas an' all that yet.” He gives Spence a playful pat on the shoulder as a reminder to get about those tasks quickly considering the late school-night hour. "That sounds pretty fantastic. Might be maybe you want t'talk t'Rasa some time 'bout all that. Ze got pretty into the circusy classes. Could give you some tips, possibly." Eridani's clicking is growing more insistent, in Jax's lap. A kind of flaily batting-swipe of hand leaves sharp-clawed scratches down his forearm before he /remembers/ what he's been doing. "-- oh, right, no, here," his voice is softer as he brings his wrist closer to the infant's mouth, shoulders tensing as sharp teeth clamp down against his wrist. "Spence-honey why don't you go on upstairs an' take your shower, huh?" He struggles to sit up a little more, arm curling more snug around Eridani to hold them upright. "Jus' ain't hungry, is all." "Shouldn't /she/ maybe be the one throwing /you/?" Flicker gives Spencer a crooked grin. "Not like you'd be bothered by a fall." He's starting to take a sip of his juice, but lowers it when Eridani starts feeding. Eyes lowering, lips slightly compressing. "Beans were really good, too." "Ba said maybe I could talk to Mr. Wagner, too. To look at some of the things he has in class even though I /still/ can't go to school there yet." The excitement about the circus is crowded out of Spencer's sentence with a long-suffering tone by the end. "An' you don't /fall/. Someone else catches you." When Jax finally reminds him to go shower yet again, he does head out of the living room with another long-suffering, "Okay." He stops in the kitchen to deliver his leftover container to the refrigerator before disappearing upstairs. "Jax, honey. How many times've you /fed/ Eri today? Maybe I should take over on this one. It's really a lot t'keep doin' over an' over. With the blood loss an' the chemicals an' you not eatin'." Micah slips onto the beanbag next to Jax. "Y'should really eat an' drink an' all, too. I promise I can handle this. An' I got parts on order t'start on the first couple of blood-dolls so we don't hafta keep doin' this. Should have the prototypes within the week." "I'm /not/ --" Jax tenses when Micah sits beside him, stiffening and shifting slightly as though about to rise, though this makes him wince and settle back down as it jostles Eridani in his arm. His tone is sharper, here, but his words break off in time with the wince; he closes his eye, drawing in a slow breath and exhaling it again. "I'm fine," is softer, his eye not opening. "I'll go to sleep once they've ate. -- There's plenty more," he adds to Flicker. "In the fridge if you. Want to take. I don't know if Hive or Isra's -- had. Food." "I don't really know what you are," Flicker says with a grimace, rising from his beanbag once Spence has vanished, "but it's really not /fine/. At least have the juice before you sleep?" He shakes his head at the mention of food. "Isra eats plenty. I should let you two..." He trails off, fingers scuffing through his hair. "Get some rest." "Honey, I'm worried. I think maybe you've had too many of their bites today. Please? I can really take this. I was out for four hours. I'm fine to do this now." Micah nods agreement with Jax going to sleep. "Maybe I should sleep in the bed in the nursery t'night, hon. Let you actually get a full night's sleep. An' I'll take the night feeds an' all. Just one good night's sleep." "'pologies," Jax mumbles, shoulders curling inward as a shiver passes through him. "I jus'. Ain't feelin' quite. Myself, I don't mean. To be. Sorry." He opens his eye, nodding slowly to Flicker. "Right. Right. Thank you, honey-honey. For keepin' me company, it was. Thank you." Then closes his eye again as he sinks back in the beanbag. "Okay." It sounds a little listless. "They're /so/ quiet, though. An' you sleep like the dead." "You're stressed and tired and probably hypoglycemic and overdosing on drugs." Flicker moves closer to the beanbag, nudging the glass of juice closer to Micah since Jax has been ignoring it. He presses a kiss to Jax's forehead. "All kind of a recipe for cranky. I think we can forgive you. I live with Hive, remember? Your cranky is like his cuddly. Night, guys." He is still holding his own glass of juice as he disappears for his own house. “What he said,” Micah seconds Flicker gently. “This last feed for you. When they're done, you get t'bed. I'm takin' the monitor out of our room an' sleepin' in the nursery. Sweetie, they'll /wake/ me. I'll be in the same room. I promise I got this. You need a night of just good, uninterrupted sleep.” Taking the juice glass from Flicker, he holds it out to Jax. “You drink while they're drinkin'. Then sleep.” Jax still looks unconvinced by Micah's assertions that they'll wake him. "You sleep through /way/ more noise than they make -- in the same room -- when I'm in an' out at all kindsa hours, I jus'. It ain't like they're gonna /cry/, it's not like you jus' /magically/ --" His tone is sharpening again and he stops himself with a click of teeth, a tightening of jaw. Eridani is slowing in their feeding, meanwhile, kind of /lazily/ jawing at Jax's arm, now. He twitches, shudders, wrests his wrist away to pat the bandaging that has been taped there back down into place. He regards the glass of juice with annoyance, but takes it, sipping at it gingerly. "Okay." More resigned, than anything. “I've grown accustomed t'ignorin' you comin' an' goin' an' the dreams an' whatnot. Eri's dif'rent when they're hungry. I love you, sweetie. But you need to drink the juice and sleep an' let me do this.” Micah moves to trade glass for infant. “Please.” Jax pulls his sleeve back down into place, setting the juice glass down so that he can transfer Eridani to Micah's care; his hands are chill when they brush against Micah's in the process. "Okay. Fine." Sharper, again, kind of irritable. He doesn't touch the juice again, leaving it on the floor where it is as he gets shakily to his feet to head towards the stairs.