ArchivedLogs:A Break in the Clouds

A Break in the Clouds
It can't rain all the time.
Dramatis Personae Micah, Tag	2013-08-27 Curry and cupcakes for lunch!
Location <NYC> Village Lofts - Rooftop - East Village
It tends to be windy, up here, but the presence of plastic table and folding chairs suggests that nevertheless building residents occasionally make their way out to this rooftop. With a good view of Tompkins Square Park less than a block away it's a good spot for city-watching. There's a railing around the edge, though it might be possible (if /unwise/) to climb over it to the narrow concrete ledges beyond and from there to the fire escape. Centrally, someone has broken down crates and constructed a small raised-bed garden up here, barren in winter but filled in three other seasons with a small assortment of herbs and vegetables. The concrete wall that rings the roof has been decorated, painted in vivid bright shades by some artistic hand to add colourful cheer to the rooftop. The mural shifts in terrain. One wall sports a beach, flecked with grass and seashells and driftwood and shore birds. Beach transitions into meadow, colourful with wildflowers and butterflies and dragonflies; meadow shifts into snow-capped mountains, subsides into piedmont and sprouts into a verdant forest on the fourth, alive with animals There is a brief, sunny reprieve from the day’s warm drizzle and Micah is taking advantage to catch some outdoor time over his lunch break. Or, at least, relative outdoors on the Lofts rooftop. The heavy door to the roof opens and closes softly, admitting the blue polo and khakis clad redhead. He has a lidded container of what smells like curry in one hand and a bowl and chopsticks in the other, since it is /lunchtime/, after all. Humming quietly to himself, he makes his way over to the table, prepared to swat away any lingering puddles there. The clanging of sneakers on the fire escape announce Tag's arrival long before his head crests the wall, magenta hair still wet and looking even longer for it--past his shoulders now. His clothes--a gray t-shirt upon which a small human figure is painting a blue sky with white clouds and threadbare chicory blue cargo shorts--are also drying off from the rain, but the Happy Cakes bag in his hand looks miraculously untouched by inclement weather. His face is flushed and smiling as he climbs over the wall and lands on the roof. "Hey, Micah!" Tag is struggling out of his neon pink sneakers without the use of his hands. This involves a good deal of staggering and a few precarious hops. "Want cupcakes?" He holds the bag up like a trophy as he finally kicks off the more stubborn of his shoes and pads barefoot to the table. Micah’s eyebrow climbs upward as Tag clangs and clambers his way along the fire escape. The bright /magenta/ head rather gives him away. “Tag, honey, y’know you can go /into/ the building, right? That was the whole point behind you havin’ a key.” He finishes shaking water droplets off of the chair tipped forward in his hands, then repeats the process with another for Tag. “Do I...that’s a silly question, of course cupcakes! D’you want some curry? I brought up a big container so’s plenty t’share. Might have t’run an’ fetch another bowl an’ utensils for you. I hadn’t figured on it when I carried this up.” His fingertips drum demonstratively on the edge of the empty bowl that he has placed on the table, where it waits expectantly for food to fill it. "I was wet! Didn't wanna track water inside." Tag sets his bag down and tilts his head to squeeze water out of a handful of pink hair. "I would love curry! No worries, I come with my own utensils." He whips a collapsible silicone bowl and a pair of collapsible chopsticks out of a cargo pocket. "My sister's moving so she gave me some stuff." Setting these down on the table as well, he opens the bag and pulls out the cupcakes, naming them one by one and lining them up on napkins. "We got amaretto with lemon chiffon icing, vanilla with green tea icing, something with strawberry icing, and chocolate with more chocolate on top." It might have been difficult to identify the them without this introduction, as the frosting and wrappers are in vibrant colors completely unrelated to their respective flavors. “I think the stairwells /might/ have seen worse,” Micah says with a smirk, probably thinking about...well, /explosions/. The stairwell in that building might also have seen better days. “Did you just get those, or d’you run around with campin’ bowls an’ things in your pockets all the time?” He pushes the container of curry to Tag’s side of the table and makes grabby hands at the chocolate cupcake. Because /chocolate/. The wrapper is peeled back quickly for Micah to nibble at the edge of the cupcake, mostly succeeding in eating icing with very little cake at first. “Things seem okay at the bakery?” He pauses a beat, thinking. “An’ with you. I pretty much...feel the need t’check in constantly with everybody anymore. S’always.../things/.” "Yeah, but water is slippery on linoleum, you know?" Tag un-collapses his bowl and piles curry into it. "I guess I didn't think about it that hard, though, I'm just used to coming up this way." He pushes the curry back toward Micah. "Thanks! I /did/ just get these, but considering they already came in handy, I might just carry them around with me /everywhere/. I feel so prepared!" Stirring his food with chopsticks, Tag glances up at the sky. "Happy Cakes? Quiet, which is kinda good, I guess. Business could be better. Pretty sure Hanna's paying me more than she maybe should. I'm okay, though. Still job-hunting. You know." Dark brown eyes snap back to Micah. "How's your day been?" “I guess so.” Micah returns the nibbled-upon cupcake to a napkin in order to shovel curry into his bowl. “It is kinda ridiculously Boy Scout-y. Bam! Bowl. No reason. Just had the feelin’ maybe someone would need a bowl.” He twirls the tips of his chopsticks through the contents of his bowl before delivering curry and rice to his mouth. “It’s kinda rough, bein’ a business that relies on foot traffic but /also/ kinda needin’ things t’be quiet for your own safety. Hanna’s got herself in a tough spot. Advertise a special t’bring in more people, at the risk of some of them bein’ hostile, or just keep pluggin’ by an’ let there be fewer sales? Not the greatest of choices.” His head nods slightly at the mention of the job search. “What sorta things y’been lookin’ into? My day’s been...okay, so far. I been comin’ up with some strategic schedulin’ t’avoid the worst of the traffic snares from Harlem’n such. Even the spittin’ rain slows down traffic, though. Can’t say as there’s much t’complain about aside from that. An’ it gives me a chance t’take a long lunch break waitin’ for the bit of midday traffic t’die down, too. So that’s nice.” "Man, I /do/ kind of feel like a Boy Scout, 'cuz she gave me so many little camping things." By way of illustration, Tag produces a tiny keychain flashlight, a whistle, and a waterproof lighter from another pocket. "I think some people are rallying to Happy Cakes by word of mouth. Like a reverse boycott. There's probably a word for that." He shrugs and tucks into his curry as if he has not eaten all day. "I've been trying a lot of restaurants and cafes. High turnover and all that. Haven't had much luck so far, though. Probably would help if I got my documents sorted out. They ask for so many kinds of ID, and I don't even have one that's current." He chuckles a bit self-consciously. “Yep, you’re definitely about set for a trip into the woods or somethin’,” Micah agrees with a light chuckle. “That’s good. I know a number of folks around here go there specific, even if it isn’t the closest place. Well, also, good pastries. Even vegan ones...that helps,” he admits, grinning. “I think it’s just...support? Dunno if there’s a more event-type word for it.” A few more mouthfuls of curry disappear. “Not helpful not havin’ ID, that’s true. S’there anythin’ that I can help with t’help y’get hold of the things y’need for it? May as well start at the part as needs doin’ before jumpin’ t’the next step an’ gettin’ held up there.” "It probably doesn't hurt that Hanna and Jayna are just so /likable!/" Tag finishes his curry and picks up the cupcake with a green and purple /plaid/ wrapper and electric blue icing swirled with silver. It is either the green tea one or the 'something' with strawberry. "I think they will be okay, especially as the weather gets cooler." He takes a big bite out of it, revealing a marbled cake, the icing powder pink under its veneer of bright blue. "I appreciate the offer, but I don't think there's a lot you can do unless you know someone who does fake IDs well! What I really need to do is get my brother to go through the safe back at home, find my immigration papers." He takes another bite, savoring it with a look of intense concentration. "Mocha, I think? It's good, whatever it is." “Also a bonus.” Micah watches with interest to see what the cupcake is underneath of its rather less-than-thematic colouring. “Strawberry and mocha? Seems plausible. An’ delicious.” He shakes his head as he alternates between bites of cupcake and curry. “Nope, not so much on the fake ID front. How...uh...risky is it t’be dealin’ with your brother, if y’don’t mind me askin’? I don’t know much about your family other than the hidin’ from your dad an’ the scary mind-stuff.” The tips of his chopsticks poke against a larger chunk of potato in his bowl. Pokepoke. Tag snorts. "My brother? No, Tian-yi is kind of a dick sometimes, but mostly harmless /for now/. Once he gets his MBA, who knows--he might start thriving on shattered dreams and the tears of the downtrodden." His fingers turn the half-eaten cupcake around and and around. "Dad, though..." He looks aside at the beach portion of the mural. The outline of a giant robot comes into being, waist-deep in the distant water. "My sister says we don't need to worry about him any more. She was real shaken up about it, but wouldn't tell me any details. I'm not /completely/ sure this isn't just another Jedi mind trick." The mech is in the act of punching the outline of a monster that looks like a cross between Admiral Akbar and Godzilla. "/Pretty/ sure, though." “Good, good,” Micah mutters before finally claiming the potato and popping it into his mouth. “Mmn...you just never know, when it comes t'families. They can be the best or most messed up thing. I was worried it was somethin' like you couldn't get t'your papers 'cause your brother would rat out where you were t'your dad or somethin'.” He picks up the bowl to gather the last remnants of rice up more easily. “Y'never really know where y'stand when someone's willin' t'change what's in people's heads without consent. I'm...really sorry y'all have had t'deal with that.” Once the bowl is empty, he lays the chopsticks out across its top, then looks up to Tag with a smile. “But for now, cupcakes! An' that's a happier thing.” He pinches the last bite of chocolate pastry between his fingers and pops it into his mouth, as if he needed to illustrate the process of cupcake. "He might /want/ to tattle on me," Tag agrees, "but then Tian-shin will yell at him, and he probably doesn't want that kinda excitement in his life." The mech gets filled in with a gleaming palette of industrial-looking metallic hues, while the kaiju beneath its fist gains glossy brown scales with eezo-blue highlights. "You know, I think I would rather never see our dad again, but I still sort of want to know what happened. It's probably better if I don't, though." The water surrounding the two gargantuan combatants on the mural froths with turbulence. A smile plays at the corners of Tag's mouth. "But yeah. Cupcakes /are/ pretty great." So saying, he takes a large bite of the mocha-strawberry pastry in his hand. “Are you sure? Would it be better to send someone else, or send someone with you or somethin'? I don't like the idea of you endin' up back where you were.” Micah's teeth meet with his lower lip, the memory of Tag the way he was when Hive and Mel dragged him into their apartment splashing across the insides of his eyelids. “Maybe your sister would get the things for you? She sounds more like more of a force t'be reckoned with than your brother.” Tag's watching the mural finally draws Micah's attention, and he turns to follow the colourful fellow's gaze. “Oh! That's new. Hive an’ Dusk will /love/ that,” he adds with a giggle. Tag shakes his head adamantly. "The way she was...no, I'm not sending Tian-shin back to our parents' house, whether /he's/ there or not. Hell, I don't wanna go there myself! Just going to make the baby brother do it, since he still lives there and all." This with a snicker and a renewed attack on the strawberry icing. "I've had mechs and monsters on the brain. Probably going to put up some /huge/ ones soon." He eyes the skyline. "But one thing at a time. Today, cupcakes; tomorrow, invade Manhattan." “Oh...oh!” Micah's eyes go wide with sudden comprehension. “It's /at/ your parents' house. Ohgosh, that's. Complicated.” His shoulders sag slightly. “I guess it's okay for your brother bein' there if he's /livin'/ there an' doin' okay, though. I'll just...stop...fussin' at /be careful/, okay?” He cants his head just a shade, regarding Tag like a bemused cat. “How big is big? What're you puttin' these things /on/, anyhow? Just...no giant angel statues.” His nose crinkles with amusement at the last bit. "See, I'm trying to make /better/ plans now." Tag glances back at the latest arrivals to the mural and adds just a touch of motion blur to the mech's arm and the kaiju's barbels. "I know better by now than to ask you not to worry. Or Jax, or Mel, for that matter. You're probably gonna anyway, and I really /do/ make some terrible decisions..." He stuffs the rest of the cupcake into his mouth and squints off at the midtown skyline, glass towers gleaming in the sunlight. Much chewing and mulling later, he raises one hand with thumb and middle finger extended and closes one eye. If he were looking at a person, the phrase 'I'm squishing your head' might soon follow. "Five storeys, maybe? Not all at once. I've never tried anything that big, but it's good to have goals." Tag breaks into a candid, boyish smile as his eyes slide back toward Micah. "On buildings, of course! No angel statues, though. Promise." It /is/ pretty much a lost cause tryin' t'keep us from worryin', yeah,” Micah agrees with a touch of a lopsided grin. “You lookin' t'do this giant paintin' up front or sneaky-like? Might be a bit of a challenge t'be sneaky about it. Considerin' the giant part.” His fingertips drum lightly against the edge of the table in a brief rhythm as he looks off at the building Tag is regarding. “Either way, I hope it all works out for you. Offer still stands if there's anythin' I can /actually/ help with instead of just fussin' over, okay?” Tag's smile widens into a mischievous grin. "I've worked out my own ways to be sneaky about art. If I can do it out of sight, great. If not, use a storefront glass as a mirror or something. If it gathers a crowd, gawk with them. I once did a whole mural over a month, adding something every time the train passed it. Oh, and rooftops!" He throws his arms out wide. "Not /this/ rooftop, obviously. And thanks. It's hard to ask for him, even when it's freely offered, but it really means a lot to me." He traces a purple Valentine heart on his chest, in the gray space that has not yet been painted into sky. "You're awesome people."