ArchivedLogs:The Bigger Picture

The Bigger Picture
Dramatis Personae Jackson, Sean, Micah
In Absentia	9 February 2014 Arranging for some very unique portraits. (Part of the Prometheus TP.)
Location <NYC> Home - Greenwich Village
Nestled into the heart of the Village, Home is an unobtrusive place, with an unobtrusive name to match. A nondescript storefront opens up into an equally nondescript cafe, plain tiled floors, an assortment of veneered tables with plain wooden chairs or booths with cracking vinyl benches. What it /does/ have to recommend it is the food, hearty solid breakfast and brunch served twenty-four hours a day, with a wide variety of menu to cater to specialized diets as well. Well-known to locals and little frequented by tourists, its friendly serving staff tend to remember their regulars, giving the place a warm feel that lives up to its name. Home is bustling-crowded during the Sunday brunch rush, with a line waiting curled around the tree-lined sidewalk and a long list of names on the host's book, it might be hard to get a /seat/ for quite some while. Might be, except Jax and Micah have done their time waiting and are here already /at/ a booth. Jax is hard to miss, bright-coloured as he ever is. Vivid pink hair, deep-dark pink fading to a near bubblegum colour by its roots, rainbow striped hoodie, lavender Lorax t-shirt ('I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues', and 'Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not.' reads the shirt among various illustrations from the book.) Maybe the shirt is /topical/, with the overnight forest the city has sprung this weekend. Jax's pink tuft of hair makes him /look/ kind of like a truffula tree today. "-- Maybe waffles. I'm feelin' kind of waffly today," Jax decides, chipperly. Kiiind of decides because the next moment he is changing his mind: "/Oooh/ or tofu scramble ohmygosh with black beans an' avocado." Making his way into the place of nommings, Sean is looking down at his phone as he does. He has on a knit cap in a spiral pattern of blue and white, matching a scarf in the same yarns. Wearing a wool coat in a dark burgundy, he is unbuttoning it as he shoves his phone away, showing the black button up shirt and black cargo pants. From the looks of it, he at least seems to have come with the intention of arting, as his messenger bag is extra stuffed the point that some pens and brushes are stuck out of the edge of the flap. Looking about around and over people, he sees the bright colors and he excuses himself through the populace till he manages to flop into the booth with the other to men with a thump of the bag. "Rejoice, for I have arrived." The yawn he follows that up with shows he is a tad bit tired at least. "Everything smells good. Tell me they have espresso in vast quantities." Micah is not nearly as colourful as Jax as he sits across from the other man with an amused expression. His black Reading Rainbow-dash shirt is worn over a pale blue henley and under his unzipped Batsignal hoodie, a pair of rainbow-patched jeans and hiking boots completing the outfit. His auburn hair is a little mussed from being under his wool hat on the way over. "Sunday's pretty much always omelette day. So that's easy enough for me. I'm thinkin' mushrooms an' spinach an' tomatoes. Maybe some hash browns on the side." The redhead isn't even looking at the menu. "Hm...hazelnut coffee an' orange juice." He reaches out to adjust the holstered-together pair of neon orange crutches propped next to him, out again for yet another bout of snow in New York...an even more interesting combination with the rather /jungle/-like feeling the outdoors have in the meantime. He offers a hand to Sean when the artist appears, assuming this is the person they're expecting. "Mornin'. I'm Micah. Thanks so much for comin'. An' yeah, pretty much everythin' here is good. An' they've got buckets of coffee-things." "Ohmygosh hashbrowns." Maybe Jax is changing his mind again. "An' blueberry French toast." He gnaws at his lip, looking down at the menu with one leg jiggling up and down as he slides in further to make room for Sean. "Hihihi!" He bounces up and down in his seat, teeth scraping lightly against his lip. "Everything's /too/ good, I'm /wafflin'/." Now, instead of waffl/y/. "Sean, Micah. Micah, Sean. An' yeah they got so much coffee an' yeah thank you so much! For comin'. How're you likin' the /forest/ out there -- /that/ one wasn't me this time I swear it if it was me it'd look more like --" He gestures towards his Lorax tee. "Ohmygosh wait mushrooms. /Okay/, definitely tofu scramble. An' avocado an' mushrooms an' I'm gettin' /grits/ on the side with fake!cheese. An' a /bucket/'a coffee. /Mornin'/, Sean, how's /you/?" "Alright, I will definitely have one bucket of coffee then. And sugar. So so much sugar." Pulling off the knit cap, Sean runs a hand through his brown hair to ruffle it up back to some vaguely normal state. "And hashbrowns. And um, something, feh words." With the introduction, Sean shakes Micah's hand and smiles as Jax provides his name for him. "Yeah, Sean. And I think, waffle maybe. I think the menu says they can vegan it? Yeah then that." He bobs his head, then frowns looking outside. "If I knew it was going to be all tree like, I would have hired a costumer to make me a Max costume. Or at least footy pajamas. Not sure if I'd want the crown real, cardboard, or cloth. Anyway. Yes, I am here. And we can business after I have had my blood replaced with caffeine." "The blueberry French toast is one of my regular fallbacks on /not/ omelette days," Micah agrees with this decision, though he's soon enough giggling as Jax changes his mind yet again. "They'll vegan pretty much anythin' outside of...actual egg dishes for you. But they do a good tofu scramble in place of scrambled eggs, at least." Because vegan is /so/ a verb. "They'll put pretty much whatever fresh fruit y'want on pancakes or waffles or just on the side, too." He returns the handshake warmly, grip firm and hand rather well-calloused in that way that suggests familiarity with manual labour. "Sean, nice t'meet you. They'll sugar the dickens out of anythin' for you, too. They're used t'feedin' Jax here, after all...pretty much just sit a giant container of sugar on the table without needin' t'be asked anymore." His expression is stuck between charmed and amused for a moment, likely picturing the new arrival in the described costume. "But, certainly. We got time for food an' pleasantries 'fore we have t'get straight t'business, of course." "You vegan too? The vegan waffle's /delicious/. The everything's delicious." This makes Jax start bouncing all over again, finally closing his menu which summons a cheerful server over to their table. (She does, indeed, come over with a large dish of raw sugar for him even /before/ she's taken their orders or even brought their caffeine.) Once their orders are taken -- he ends up forgetting all about scramble when faced with having to make decision and jumping back to French toast. But with fake!cheesey grits. And coffee with almond milk -- he returns to his bouncing. "-- Ohgosh. I made a Max costume for my youngest his first Halloween with me, he /is/ a wild thing. Paper mache crown, painted up real glitzy-sparkly. He didn't wear it yesterday though was /too/ cold to fit over all the layers. Also he's growed like a /weed/. We ran around climbin' trees all day. The pups too they're -- also kinda wild things." His nose crinkles up at this, grin wide. "I think m'whole family's just made up'a monsters." Except he says this with /pride/. "Ah good. The other night had to swap off sugar with a couple the other day." Sean gave a shrug at that, and smiled at Jax's bouncing state. "From habit, had been staying with a couple for awhile and they were, and it was easier. And then I never got around to changing. Its probably better for me long run, they don't really talk about vegans having heart attacks right?" He grins at the story of the childrens and reshifts to better face both of the two for conversational status. "Glad everything is going well. Though I gotta way if I knew all these weird landscape changes were going to happen I would have planned out a series better. Now I don't want to do it since it would just feel unfinished ya know?" Micah chuckles a bit through his own order when Jax changes his plan once again. "Ohgosh, yeah. I've seen those pictures. Doubtin' he'd fit into the thing anymore, if y'still have it." A more forceful laugh (with something of a snort to it) answers the 'family of monsters' comment. "Oh, yeah, we're terrifyin'." He nods at Seans vegan-of-convenience story. "Mmhmm, I've mostly ended up vegan on account of the shared kitchen, other than when I go out for food an' break rules like a terrible-awful omnivore. It is healthier overall, but y'still gotta take other genetic an' environmental factors into consideration on those things..." His fingers drum idly on the tabletop. "Oh/gosh/, I can only imagine all the series of arts on the New York dreamscape that'll be comin' out soon. Y'do stuff from photos ever? 'Cause there's a /lot/ of beautiful pictures comin' out of things, even if y'didn't catch 'em while they was goin' on." "I paint from photos a lot -- 'specially when I'm doin' portraits, kinda a pain t'get people to sit still for a month and oil paintings take a /ridiculous/ long time, y'know?" Jax shrugs a shoulder, drawing his tub of sugar a little closer so that he can tip a spoonful into his palm and eat it straight. "But if you want, I took /so/ ridiculous-many pictures of /everything/, I wanted references for-/ever/ t'work from." He licks the last of the sugar crystals off his palm, rolling a shoulder in a shrug. "An' our family is all monsters there's pretty dangerous cuddle-piles around our livin' room on a near-daily basis." "Vegan can be way healthier if y'do it right but I know vegans who live off tofu an' potato chips an' that's pretty much a terrible so -- I think a whole lotta diets can be pretty healthy if you're mindful'a your needs an' what y'put into yourself. I'm pretty obsessive about --" His cheeks flush /deep/ crimson as he tips another spoonful of sugar into his palm. "-- even if it don't look like it just right now. I burn sugar like a hummingbird so this /is/ proper healthy -- for /me/. -- Oh!" His eye lights again. "/An'/ I go to school with like a bajillion an' two art students who are crazy-better photographers than me. So if you want even better photos of the crazy-dream-world I can hook you up I bet." Snickering at the talk of being a terrible-awful carnivore, Sean shakes his head. "It's not a big deal to me. Everybody eats what they eat, why should I be pressuring someone else on what goes in their mouth?" He grins at that, knowing how it sounds. "Yeah, I can use a photo reference for my drawings. Used to do it all the time in school, but then it was pictures we took ourselves. Using someone else's, well it just doesn't feel right you know? You're trying to capture someone else's vision then, something that they thought was important enough to commit to film rather than what you were drawn to." Nodding a bit to himself, he ponders. "I'd probably do it in a more impressionistic if I had to work, kinda Monet like ya know? Would be really awesome doing it in chalks though. Specially doing it like a sidewalk art chalking /At/ the place that the picture was taken. But thats not something you can really do till the weather is so much better." He nods a bit and glances over towards the kitchens. "Hrm, maybe they'll bring an IV out and I can just jack it into my veins." "Shoot, Jax, if /anybody's/ gonna capture that tattoo dreamscape right, s'gonna be you. Kinda got the unfair advantage that y'started the whole thing t'begin with." Micah nods at Jax, smiling at the other man's blush. "Ain't nothin' /wrong/ with sugar in itself, hon. S'just when people start puttin' too many cheap calories into themselves usin' it. An' you /need/ t'have those so y'don't go fade out in a corner somewhere. Ain't nobody judgin'." The smile broadens at the thought of redoing the whole thing in chalk. "That'd be a whole other kinda interestin'. Sorta...remake art. The same but really different." His eyebrows lift at the IV request. "Not been gettin' much sleep, or just a general fan of the caffeine? Pretty sure they can't do IV's, but they'll bring ya a /big/ old mug an' refill it as often as y'like." "Don't think they can hook you up with a caffeine IV here but funny enough I did get hooked up into a caffeine IV before. People always talk about jackin' caffeine straight into your veins but sometimes," Jackson says with a lopsided twitch to his smile, "they actually do." As if on cue, their drinks are delivered, which triggers another round of bouncing. Jax scoops a rather /inordinate/ amount of sugar into his coffee. "Yeah, I can't wait till /warm/. I --" He blushes again, deeply, "-- chalk the heck outta places in nice weather. New York can always use more." His nose crinkles up again. "Colour." Bounce, bounce, bounce. His expression lights again. "-- The tattoo dream was --" His blush deepens another few notches. "-- I mean I don't even know if I /can/ capture it right. The style maybe. But not what it /means/. -- Ohmygosh you still gotta show me more of your art," he says excitedly to Sean. "Like what you do just cuz you like doin' it an' not like the card you gave me even though that's /crazy/-awesome too." "I wanted to finish up the previous stuff so my head would be clear for this." Sean pats his bag with a smile. "It's like clearing the memory card in your camera between uses. And well, the email kinda made things seem important? Or did I read it wrong." As his coffee arrives, he pours a steady stream of sugar into it, stirs it up with his spoon and lets out a sigh. "But yeah, totally finished up my painting and it is happy and drying. Soooo I'm free to do whatever it was you wanted me to do. Well not /Whatever/, but ya know, this stuffs." He chuckles at Jax's request and smiles. "Sometime then. It's probably not as colorful as you'd like it, but it's why I love to go on road trips. Planes are all well and good, but like a road side corn stand, or the vending machine line at a pit stop. Just ya know, Life. The things that make it worth living and all, the little things you take for granted." When Micah's coffee arrives he tips about a teaspoon of sugar into it, nothing near so impressive as the others. "I /do/ miss not-winter pretty hard by now. S'been too much snow an' ice an' slushiness for me this year." The mention of importance has Micah nodding again. "It /is/ important. I'm sure...you're prob'ly more used t'artin' for art's sake an' less gettin' used for missin' persons cases, but we got three friends who've been missin' an' we got no better way of lookin' for 'em, no real leads. When Jax showed me what y'could do, I thought if maybe we gave y'somethin' from each of 'em, y'might be able t'do a detailed enough drawin' of each one that it'd give us some clues on findin' 'em. We got no idea what ends of trouble they might've found themselves in after so long..." "It's important." Jax's bouncing bounces a couple more times, then quiets as he turns to the side, opening up his messenger bag beside himself. He plucks out three things from inside. A wrapped bundle of cloth with a chess piece inside it -- a knight, carved from red granite. A very small stretchy beaded bracelet, alternating back and black-swirled-with-blue, and a slim black Stark tablet computer. He sets all three of these almost reverently on the table. "This is -- somethin' from each of them. An' it's -- they jus' each been missin' for a while. I mean. We don't actually know if they're even alive. In fact one of 'em we thought we knowed for sure was dead. Jus' -- with all this dream stuff been happenin' lately we think -- maybe we -- we got some reason to think we're wrong about that so we was hopin' --" There /is/ hope in his voice, bright and earnest. "Hopin' we could commission you. A pencil drawin' for each of 'em, seems most --" His blush deepens, eye skipping over to Micah. "Practical." "Ah, well, so you aren't sure they're all alive? I mean... yeah." Sean has a sad face on, sipping from his coffee in thought. "I've never tried doing something from someone who's..." he exhales out and shakes his head. "But well, I can try to do a quick one of their faces either way and you can decide? But like I said in the email, the bigger I draw, the more detail. The biggest I've done was a wall, and well you could count the veins on the leaves of the tree." He looks about in hopes that food would come to rescue the unahppy mood. "S'the first hope we've gotten in awhile, so pardon if we get a little...excited at you," Micah says as he eyes the objects on the table hopefully. "We just need a lotta detail. Not...teensy, but enough that, say, if the person's in a room with a window, we can see what's out the window. I don't know what media y'usually like t'use, but I figure ink or pencil'd be good for details? An'...is monochrome your thing more, or colour? Colour /could/ potentially give us more clues as t'location." He nods along with Sean's descriptions of his work. "I think murals'd be a little overboard. But...we don't want somethin' so small we miss important details, either. Maybe, like, bigger than printer paper, but smaller than your typical dorm room poster? Whatever y'have on hand that would work best. Don't need t'be real fancy materials or nothin'. Just real clear, true-to-life images." His teeth meet with his lower lip for a second. "If it...don't work when y'try, I guess that'll at least give us some...more certain news as to a status, either way." "Jus' -- let us know what's your standard rates for commissions that size. We -- got a /lot/ of friends missin' these folks, m'sure we can --" Jax's eyes linger on the knight, as their server starts to head over towards their table with trays of food. "-- can come up with cash for -- good-sized drawin's." This time, he doesn't bounce. Jus keeps his eye locked on the chess piece with a bright glimmer of hope lighting his expression; it takes him a moment to turn a warm smile up to the waitress to thank her. Take his food and /now/ remember to bounce. Because /blueberry/. "Ohgosh sugar." Sean decides to let the talk die down a moment, shoveling fuel into his face with little happy noises. "The little test pieces I'll do for you here in exchange for the breakfast. That may give you a clue on... order of importance?" He makes a face at that, and shakes his head. "Not like, any are more or less ya know. But like, well you can tell a lot about someone's situation by their face." He lets out a little sigh, nom nom noming at the waffle and potatoes. Taking down another swig of coffee and draining it down till the sugar sludge slides out, he sets the cup on the side of the table to get a refill. "And I prefer color, but well, media type is a difference in time and cost, which I kinda feel like a complete dick even hearing you guys mention it, but if I don't at least say it, my assistant would probably hit me if she found out." Shaking his head, he frowns. "If time is of the essence, I mean pencil is fastest and cheapest, and well color pencil would totally provide the extra detail if you need it. I could do paint, but that just adds more to all the factors. As for out the window well... it might just be out of frame. I only have so much viable space that I can work in at a time. About a room's worth you can say. " "Don't worry, sugar. People got a right t'get compensated for their work. Think folks forget that about artists more than most others, sometimes. Just 'cause it's /fun/ don't mean it ain't somebody's livelihood, or hard work besides." Micah accepts his plate with a smile, nodding along with soft thanks to the waitress. He sprinkles a little pepper and salt over the omelette and hash browns both before breaking off a bite sized piece of each with his fork. "Simply based on the amount of time folks've been missin'...this one's been 'round about half a year by now. I'd prioritise this one." Micah's fingers close over the chess piece, sliding that toward Sean a little. "The other two...been 'bout the same amount of time as one another. They went missin' durin' the whole plague and zombies thing." "Ohgosh I'm terrible about that I don't got an assistant or nothin' I got no money-sense I am always forgetting things like remembering to ask for pay an' then /oh/ yeah I gotta pay /bills/ I am never going to -- uh. Be. Uh. Rich. Or maybe even like financially solvent." Jax's nose wrinkles up sheepishly. He dips his head downwards, lapping catlike at his syrupy-sweetened coffee. "But /I/ sure as heck know what s'like t'make a livin' off art you certainly don't gotta feel bad -- uh we want t'do right by you on this." He digs into his French toast first, eagerly sopping up maple syrup and a large mouthful of blueberries with it. "It's why I got one as soon as people started trying to buy up my stuff. I don't have a head for it, but she does. Really practical, but kinda a ball buster." Taking out a small flip sketchbook with little metal rings holding the pages in place, Sean clears enough space to work away from staining materials. "Here goes nothing." Reaching out to the knight, he rests his fingers gently on it, as he closes his eyes. "Got something," he murmurs as the pencil starts to move across the small square of paper. Line line, sketch, rub rub. The facial structure looks like Matt! But...its definitely medical in nature, as little pads and wires come from his face, head shaved as more come from his head. It's a rough sketch, but he holds up the page to Micah and Jax with a questioning look. "Uhm, this who you're expecting I hope? Sometimes there's contamination and well, I get someone unexpected." "Don't know as y'need an assistant s'much as it'd be good t'have someone t'negotiate pricin' for you. Could see if Janine'd want t'do? She's kinda /fearsome/. I know she's familiar with...all this art stuff on account of havin' been with Sam so long. He's got his own full-time guy, but he's...schedulin' engagements'n gallery stuff'n all...not just bargainin' prices. Even if she didn't want t'do personally, I'm sure between the two of 'em they could help y'find somebody else." Micah giggles at Sean's description of his assistant. "S'kinda what y'/want/ for the person handlin' your financials. It ain't exactly the /fluffy/ side of business." When Sean starts to draw, Micah's eyes widen, attention fixed on the sketchbook. Several emotions war for dominance in his expression as the image appears: hopeful elation at the fact that /something/ happens (meaning maybe Matt is alive!), excitement, anxiety, anticipation, an almost /sick/ feeling at the implications of Matt's surroundings. "No...no, that's him. An'...kinda what I was afraid of an' yet. That's /him/. Alive, Jax. Lookin' like the dream." "Oh -- oh gosh. That might be good actually. On account'a I'm /so/ terrible with the follow-up on all the financial side of /everything/ an' bargaining an' /all/ of that an' half the time I jus' give away -- stuff an' that's. No way to make a livin' an' --" Jax falls silent as Sean begins to draw. His eye widens. And widens. And widens. His face pales, fingers clenching around his fork, his breathing clenching up, too. "Oh -- oh." This second oh comes out closer to a whimper, when Sean's picture finishes. He sets his fork down, hand lifting to touch fingertips to his lips. He nods, slowly. "That's -- that's him. Yes. That's --" His next nod is quicker, though the closing of his eye is slow. "He's --" He swallows hard. "Alive." Letting out a sigh of relief that the person is alive, Sean nods. "Alright. Let me get to the other two then. And then we can eat, and you can decide. But I can take the things with me and work on 'em at home, if you don't mind me having hold of the stuff for a couple days?" He tilts his head questioningly for a moment, then decides to just get to work before his food gets too cold. He does however shovel some food into his face first, and with somewhat chubby cheeked food squirreling, he touches the bracelet next. The most prominent part is what looks like a cage bar, and what looks like a Horus face slamming into it. Even with the quick sketchyness there is fear coming across from his face, and he seems dirty. Setting drawing aside, Sean touches the tablet as he gets to work. It seems somewhat more peaceful, as the sleeping face of Anole comes across, or at least the eyes are closed and the face a little slack. There is dirt there as well, but mainly he just seems gaunt as if from lack of food perhaps? Separating that one from the sketchbook, he slides that over to be looked at as well. He seems a tad upset from what he's drawn thus far, he gets to work destroying the food in front of him with more coffee. "You can decide priority, I...I honestly don't know?" "Ohgosh. Oh/gosh/, Jax, how d'you even...decide? What t'do with.../that/? Don't none of 'em look good." Micah pales a little, letting his fork slide from his hand onto his plate. "Matt...he's prob'ly in one of those /places/. He's been gone the longest, but that /also/ means prob'ly ain't nobody got plans t'kill 'em anytime soon, they've kept 'im this long. I...I'm real worried about that picture of Horus. An' he might be in a situation that's easier t'handle than...those /places/. Might be able t'do somethin' about that faster. But y'all need as much time as y'can /get/ t'plan...for things with those /places/." His teeth meet with his lower lip. "Anole...he at least looks peaceful while he's sleepin'? Maybe he's /just/ lost. Not...taken. The other two sure look /taken/." His head shakes slowly, fingertips of one hand reaching up to cover his lips. "We'll have t'compare what dreams we might be able t'get. From Lucien about Matt an' from Ducky about Horus...but. That /also/ makes me wanna prioritise /Anole/ 'cause ain't nobody we're real sure might be able t'dream /him/ up like the others." Jax worries at his lip, fidgeting in agitation as he looks at the pictures. "-- also makes me want t'prioritize Anole cuz'a if the other two're bein' held somewhere s'gonna take more'a a /plan/ t'rustle up a /rescue/. Anole might jus' take drivin' somewhere an' pickin' him /up/." But his fingers are scrubbing through his hair, hand a little shaky. Breathing a little shaky, as he pulls in a slow breath. "I hate t'say it, but Matt's prob'ly -- prob'ly should be last. On account'a -- if he's where we think he is, there ain't no way Prometheus is gonna let him die. His ability's worth more'n gold to them. Anole first, then. Then Horus. Then --" He scrunches up his face unhappily. "Lucien's strangle me for this decision. But." His hand drops back to his fork. "I think it makes the most sense. Maybe the dreams'll help find more info on top." With a mouthful, Sean glances between the two as they go back and forth over priorities. Swallowing down a big bite with a tilt of his head, he gasps out a breath. "Right. So, tablet first? Then bracelet, then knight? I can do it on an eleven by fourteen bristol board, since that would be a bit more sturdy, and bigger than the regular paper size." He downs more coffee, and lets out a sigh. "But ya know, I really don't know what kinda stuff you're looking for. If I just push as much...area into the page as I can, detail will drop at that size. And vice versa. Like I don't know if you want text on a page, or stuff around them, or whatnot." Shaking his head he sighs. "It's weird doing this for someone else." "Yeah, that makes sense," Micah says of Jax's drawing order. "We just...maybe shouldn't /volunteer/ that tidbit of information t'Luci. Just...let 'im know the picture is done when it is an' that it's in process in the meantime." He winces a little at the thought of what Lucien /would/ be like given that detail. No matter how short the delay in getting Matt's drawing would be. "Y'can go a little bigger if it would help. I think...for now we really want their /surroundin's/ so we can try t'figure things out. If there's stuff in the scene that we need more detail on... I mean, we could always commission a second drawin' if we needed to, right? We need a big picture 'fore fine detail's gonna mean a thing. S'the whole...not seein' the forest for the trees issue." He reaches a hand out to rest briefly on Sean's forearm. "Apologies for how...troublin' this may be. An' thank you. I can't...tell you how much this means to us. If y'don't discuss pricin' directly, could we have the number of your assistant? We can work details out with her instead." Jackson just nods along slowly, with Micah's clarifications. He pushes food around on his plate, only very grudgingly starting to take another bite. "Does mean a lot," he eventually says again, with a hesitant smile. "I mean -- alla this. Is just --" His lips press together, eye skipping back along the three small sketches. A brief curl of shadow twines dark and wispy around his hand. "Just. Thank you." Sean nods, and runs a hand through his hair. "Look, just, write a price out that you feel is appropriate to be paying. This stuff seems important to you guys, and well, I don't want money to be the difference between life and death." He inclines his head at that and finishes off the plate of his food. "I can take pictures of it every coupla hours at least and email it. Then at least before its done I know what needs to change. It'll suck, but at least it saves the time. I hope it will be enough to help, I've never done this kinda thing before really. It's all kinda weird. But I'm glad your friends are alive, and I hope that much helped already." He offers a smile as he settles back with his coffee to let it all sink in.