ArchivedLogs:Getting Fishy

Getting Fishy
Dramatis Personae Kyinha, Lyric, Ororo, Shane	2016-01-19 "It's worse than IKEA..."
Location <XS> Boathouse
Perpetually filled with the quiet background noise of the lapping tide, the boathouse is a cozy escape from the mansion proper. The few boats docked here are small, but suffice for sails around the lake (or, in the case of the one swift powerboat, a speedy motor around it) -- posted signs by them remind users of the regulations required for their use. Tucked away in the back half of the boathouse are living quarters, small and spartan and snug, with a kitchen, bathroom, small sitting area, and a bedroom fit for two. It's cold out tonight, a brisk biting wind whipping across the grounds and blowing icy-chill through the propped-open door to the boathouse. It whips fiercely at the edges of the long flowing green skirt Lyric wears, the tail ends of the green and pink headscarf neatly tucked and folded around her head, the gauzy sleeves of her black blouse. She has a second long-sleeved shirt on underneath that, a heavier cloak draped around her shoulders, though at the moment it's only buttoned around her neck rather than all the way down. Her eyes are scrunched up against the wind, currently, pulling her sharp-winged eyeliner even sharper as she hauls an unwieldy-tall stack of boxes in to the boathouse to set them down in a corner, adding them to a /collection/ of boxes already there. Repressing a shiver, she untucks a box cutter from the folds of her cloak, starting to unbox the packages -- enormous aquariums, it seems, in these ones, at least. Shane is a short ways behind Lyric, carting in a final load of gear from her father's shop to dump them with the rest. He's not dressed quite so prettily as she is -- faded jeans, hiking boots, a heavy peacoat over top of his sweater. He also doesn't bother with boxcutters, just lengthening his claws to start slicing open packages. /Supplies/ to go with the aquariums. He sniffs thoughtfully at a pH test kit, flat nose twitching against the box. Already in the boathouse waiting is Ororo, clutching a large mug of coffee, having arrived earlier to clean up a bit and make room for their project. She wears a thick black trenchcoat, a knitted scarf wrapped around her neck and matching mittens, her white hair hanging loose over her shoulders. Once the others appear, she offers them a smile before pulling a boxcutter out and helping open and unwrap the various boxes and supplies. Kyinha arrives a couple of minutes later with a very vital component of this operation: a big silver thermos. He's swathed in a 3/4-length turquoise coat, has a knit scarf with dizzying rainbow geometric tessellations wound around his neck, tan canvas work pants, and brown hiking boots. Though he wears a broad, fiery grin, the cold snap this week has clearly not been kind to him. His black, black skin looks strangely dull without the faint aura that usually surrounds his body, and the light that shines from behind his eyes and through his mouth burns dim orange-red. "{Chocolate!}" he declares in Spanish, signing the word with the thermos in his off hand before setting it down. Rubs his hands together briskly, looking over the others' shoulders at the items being unpacked. "{Where to start?}" He is still sim-comming, though the next part he muddles through more with pantomime than proper classifiers, "{Assemble the stands?}" Lyric bobs her head in a grateful nod as Ororo starts helping them unbox. There are a /lot/ of supplies to get through, not just the (many) (large) aquariums and their stands but pumps, aerators, food, test kits, heaters, filters, substrate, food, bottles of chemicals. Lyric is unpacking these all as the boxes are opened to line them up on a shelf along one wall. She bounces on her toes at Kyinha's arrival, though, shaking her head emphatically. 'Where to start?' she echoes back in sign. Her brows lift, hands reaching out. Grabby fingers. For the thermos. '/Chocolate/.' As though this should be /obvious/. Shane's brows knit together as Kyinha arrives, huge black eyes levelling on the older X-Man. 'You look like shit,' he informs Kyinha, 'do you need a spare sunlamp or something? We have. Several.' He get to his feet, starting to break down emptied boxes and flatten them. Stacking them against a wall. 'Kind of figured I'd follow Lyric's lead on this, she's the expert. So if she says chocolate is essential to fish farming who am I to argue?' "{Polite as always, Shane,}" Ororo says in Spanish with a teasing grin. She continues to unbox the items but also takes the time to logically organize the supplies and assist Shane in setting aside the boxes and unnecessary packing materials. At the offer of chocolate, she merely raises her own coffee, indicating she is taken care of for now. "{Now, I am far from the expert in fish farming but I hear water plays a vital part?}" Kyinha's smile grows wider, if not actually brighter. He hands the thermos to Lyric and ducks into the kitchenette for three old-timey dark blue cermanic-coated metal cups. "{You're the expert,}" he agrees, signing one handed as he presents the mugs to Lyric with the other. To Shane he shakes his head. "{I have so many in my room, it's like a forest of lamps. But can't stay there /all/ the time.}" He /tries/ to keep his signing up to his speaking, but with longer sentences he starts getting kind of sloppy. Fortunately, Spanish grammar lines up with ASL slightly better than English. He offers a small shrug to Ororo. "{Water is easy...and probably should come last? It's very heavy.}" Lyric's smile is kind of amused at Shane's greeting. 'How about time machine,' she offers Kyinha. 'Fast forward to spring. Better than just the lamps.' She stops signing so that she can curl her hands around the offered cup, breathing in the chocolatey scent happily. Her brows only furrow, eyes scrunching up narrower as Ororo speaks, but once Kyinha speaks again she nods, setting the cup down. 'Many parts to put in place first. Then water. Hard to move after the tanks are all full. Shane gave me an overview of what sort of fish you're getting? But I already forget. For this kind of thing, the setup will be pretty much the same anyway.' Shane spreads his hands out wide. Briefly. Then tilts his head, nodding towards Ororo and interpreting her words into sign before tacking on his own: 'What, it's true. And maybe he needed lamps.' Shrug. 'Water doesn't come last,' he tells Kyinha with a very toothy grin. 'Fish come last.' Ororo shakes her head with a faint smile. "Yes, I know water comes last...sorry, second to last. Just a bad joke to the comment of chocolate important to fish farming. Lost in translation?" She then turns and looks at the various supplies, pieces, and other...things that need to be assembled. "It's worse than IKEA..." The chocolate is much thicker and darker than the Swiss Miss variety of hot cocoa common in the US, and is loaded with spices. Kyinha pours another cup and holds it out to Shane, his raised eyebrows more visible by the widening of the eyes beneath them than anything else. "{Fish -- I think we can start with five kinds: largemouth, smallmouth bass, brook trout, lake trout, and pumpkinseeds.}" He fingerspells the fish names with perhaps surprising fluidity. "{And it wasn't a /bad/ joke,}" he offers to Ororo with a sheepish smile. "{I'm just not on top of my game. Let's get to work, yes?}"