ArchivedLogs:Tonight

Tonight
Dramatis Personae Flicker, Melinda, Tola
In Absentia	2014-12-14 '
Location <NYC> Harbor Commons - Treehaus - Lower East Side
A spiral of sturdy slatted wooden stairs winds up the trunk of an enormous oak, leading the way up to this treehouse positioned between a pair of trees at one side of the Commons yard, abutting the river. It's clear enough upon ascending that this is no ordinary treehouse, built sturdy-strong and with a polished finish that would rival most /regular/ residences. Spanning the distance between the pair of oaks, the treehouse is a long one-story building, equipped with both plumbing and electricity. The stairs lead up onto a wraparound balcony that projects out at one side to overlook the East River rushing by below. The doorway inside leads to a furnished sitting room, long low futon-couches on the pale wood floors, walls painted in leafy shades of green, exposed-beam ceilings that seem to have worked some of the actual branches of the tree into the curvature of the roof. The front room is bright and airy, large windows looking out on the Commons grounds and the river outside. Recessed lanterns in the wall give the room a warm glow, come nighttimes, and in the center of the room amid a stone-tiled patch of flooring there is a squat glass-encased gas fireplace providing warmth in winter. Off to one side of the room there is an elevated loft up nearer the ceiling, accessible by ladder and furnished with pillows and plush futon mattress and lots of blankets. The adjoining room is decorated in watery river-blues instead of leaf-greens; in here there's a small kitchenette to one side with sink and stove and toaster oven and counter space, cabinets on the walls. A long dining table in this room seats eight; by the windows, plenty of cushioning sits in the wide window-seats. Off in the very back, a tiny half-bathroom holds a sink and toilet. No stove in here; the wintertime tends to find this room much chillier, but there's generally plenty of warm blankets lying around the house. Evening starts to roll into night and dinner in the Common house is hitting the halfway point. At this point, everyone has already been served, so Mel is comfortable putting together a couple plates and heading out of that building and crossing the grounds to the Treehaus. She takes the steps carefully and arrives at the door, using an old serving trick to balance the second plate on her forearm as she opens the door to step in. "Hey, Flicker. Dinner time. Time to take a break. Hope you haven't just started working." She heads for one of the window seats and sets her plates down on one of the cushions before settling down to a kneeling position beside that. She takes the time to start unbuttoning her coat to let the infant underneath get some air. She strips off her coat and then starts to remove the little squirmer from her binding. When the child is set down, she is up on all fours immediately, looking like she might take off crawling any minute. Flicker's eyes are looking just a little bit glazed when he looks up from the nest he's made for himself on the futon. Books, notebooks, laptop, thermos of spiced cider. He's in corduroys and a warm grey sweater, boots shed beside the futon. He's blinking slowly when he reorients, hand slowly lifting to rub against his eyes. "... food. /Food/. Man. I feel like lunch was -- ten years ago. Time does /not/ fly with orgo. Hey, Tola." The glassiness in his eyes is slowly-slowly-slowly fading into a warmer smile. He gradually shifts his shoulder, letting his mechanical arm move stiffly at his side. "You're not a mirage, right? I think by now I /would/ hallucinate. Food and friends." Once the wrap is put to one side, Mel gets back to her feet, leaving the child on the floor, safely away from the food. The poor kid isn't so good at pulling herself up onto surfaces the height of the window seat. She moves over to Flicker's nest and leans in to press a kiss against his temple. "Not a hallucination, or perhaps the best one. Either way, I think you should put the books down for a while and eat. If you find the food tastes like cushion, then I am a figment of your imagination and you should get yourself to a kitchen." She straightens up and presses her hands to the small of her back. Her happiness in spending time with Flicker is genuine, but thin after so much sorrow seemingly on the horizon. Tola has settled herself on her bum for the time being and decided that flailing her hands up and down is the best way to greet her pseudo-uncle. She giggles and claps at him before making grabby hands in his direction. Flicker lifts an arm, curling it up around Melinda for a squeeze. "/You/ don't feel like a cushion." Thoughtfully, he closes his mouth around Melinda's shoulder. Nom? His smile has reutrned in force by the time he stands to scoop Tola up and boop his nose against hers. "/You/ feel just like a little flower, though. Mel, maybe botany is making me hallucinate flowers." His smile seems plenty warm enough. Bright-bright-bright. There's a weariness to his tone, though. Shadows around his eyes. "Did you cook? I'm sure it won't taste anything like cushion." Melinda shivers a little when she is nommed, but turns away to hide her blush. Luckily, Flicker is distracted by Tola and her cheeks cool quickly. "The minute you start finding floral attributes in me, we can take you out of school for a stress break. And no. It was Ash's turn to run the kitchen. He did a mole smothered seitan or chicken with spicy rice and refried black beans." She starts scooping up swaths of her hair to tie back behind her head. "That invisible kid kept making him blush. It was funny to watch." She shuffles over to kneel beside Flicker and her daughter, fishing a fork out of the rolled napkin and starting to cut up her food. "Invisible kid..." Flicker is busy dipping Tola upside down in a swoooooop-dip, righting her again so that he can seat her on his lap when he reclaims his seat. "Oh. The housekeepery one. Didn't know he was still here. Mole sounds /delicious/." His expression has lighted as he actually takes a look at the dinner. "Hair is kind of stamen-like. ... is it break-time yet?" Tola lets out a squeaking giggle when she is flipped and leans heavily against Flicker when lapped. Her hands reach out to pat both of his arms, mechanical and flesh, twisting in her place to look up at him. "Babababa bah bah." She is eloquent. "Either I've got terrible fly-aways, or you're stretching." Melinda pats down her hair never the less before shaking loose anything she smooths. "Yes. It's break time. Please, apply food to mouth and feel like a person again." She brings a plate to him, setting it down where the child can't dip her limbs into it. "How are you doing today?" "Black sheep, have you any wool," Flicker continues almost reflexively at Tola's series of Bahs, signing the nursery rhyme along with his words, one-handed. "I'm stretching. Way stretching. Colorful clothing being like petals was going to be my next leap." Head shakes, his mechanical arm carefully gently moving around Tola to hold her in place as he moves his other one to start eating. "... am I giving that an honest answer?" His smile's twisting crooked, now. "Then you are surrounded by flowers because boy, do we ever have colorful clothing around here. Sometimes, I feel like when I leave here to go to work, all I see is black and white - but that's only in comparison." Mel is pleased to not have an infant trying to steal bites from her food, her fork peeling away the protein and swirling it in the mole before stuffing it in her mouth. She chews and finishes before replying, her smile softer. "Yeah, as honest as you feel like giving." Tola's voice offers a "yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah" afterwards, either in answer to his question or in response to the nursery rhyme, it's anyone's guess. "Colorful everything around here. Kind of can't wait to see what the decorating party turns up next weekend." Flicker smiles again at Tola's chiming in, adding a following: "Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full." He puts a mouthful of dinner into his mouth, taking his time to chew it over before answering. "I'm glad for exams. Something to lose myself in. But..." Pause. Another bite of food. "I don't know. How. It's getting close, you know? Every day, I think --" His good shoulder lifts. Falls. Heavy. "Keep telling myself I can handle this but." Melinda doesn't have a response at first, just nodding solemnly as she fills her mouth with food and takes her time to chew. The blood drains from her face a little, but she puts on a small smile. Eventually, she swallows and looks at her food with no appetite. "Yeah." She exhales and turns her attention to her daughter, trying to put a little more smile on for her, no matter how thin it looks. "One for the master," she offers, clapping, "One for the dame. One for the little boy who lives down the lane." She licks her lips and looks up at Flicker. "It's... incomprehensible. I try to think about it and my mind stops." "Every day when I wake up. Every time I come home from school or work. I think it's going to be the time I find him --" Flicker shakes his head. "I don't think I'm okay. I don't think I'll /be/ okay. But I..." His fingers trace lightly against Tola's petals. He signs the end of the rhyme, slowly. "I mean, we have to be." "Okay is a terrible word. I want to say I'll be functional, but I'm afraid that won't happen either." Melinda curls her knees up against her chest, her eyes on her daughter as the child makes a sloppy imitation of Flicker's signs. She gives Tola another sad smile before looking up to Flicker's face. "She will need us when the time comes. That's what I end up focusing on." Tola keeps repeating 'sheep' with her tiny, but chubby hands, looking between the two adults for more entertainment. Flicker leans forward, absently pulling up images of a sheep on google. 'Sheep', he signs again. "Functional's good to aim for but I don't even -- he's so much a /part/ of --" He closes his eyes, chin resting against the top of Tola's head. One slow breath. Another. "She'll need us," he agrees. "Yeah." The smile he has to offer Mel now is kind of shaky. He curls an arm around her shoulders. "So that's how I am. Today. May be different tomorrow." Melinda leans in and gives Flicker a good long squeeze. "I'm going to be there with you, okay? Today, tomorrow, whenever we need each other." She kisses the top of his head and sighs, before turning her attention back to the meal.