[008]

[bloodsugar]

A): phone - mid-morning.

[OPEN;]

[one hazard of spending a good deal of your time lurking on the phone lines is that one might become prone to forgetting that people can HEAR you while you listen. so, it's entirely innocent, of course, when the half-absent and somewhat petulant mumble comes across the phone lines sometime this morning.]

...all this talk of Valentines Day... honestly! As if they're rubbing it in some of us are destined to be forever alone. 'Vow of celibacy'? More like vow of perpetual and ongoing boredom.

[...a pause.]

It's not like I wanted to find out what a romantic holiday with another human being is like, regardless... eh? I'm sure edible underwear isn't all it's cracked up to be, anywa--

[...]

Eh? [wait for it.]

AH--

[...there's a rather flustered squawk, and a hasty CLICK of the phone into the cradle.]

[filter to Charles Fei-Ong]

Alright, so maybe I'm a little late in checking in. You'll forgive me, right? After all, I'm sure you've been busy collecting recipes and taste testing! [no really are you okay... :| last time he saw you, after all, was... uh, colorful, to say the least.]

...I don't suppose you'd be up for a cup of tea, Charles? [he has a feeling you'll just bs him even if you weren't alright over the phone, anyway. CLEARLY HE MUST BE NOSY IN PERSON.]

[filter to Esther Blanchett]

Esther-- do you have a minute? There's... ah, something I wanted to ask you. [AND IT DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH EDIBLE UNDERWEAR HE SWEARS DEAR GOD.]

[filter to Django]

How are you holding up, partner? I hope the radio silence is because you've been gloriously enjoying the sunshine, hm? Making up for lost time and all that...! [are you okay partner? :(]

B): action; 1648 Albright Lane - lunchtime.

[there's the smell of something burning, late in the morning approaching lunchtime -- and if Rachel or Cain follows their nose, they might find the source in the form of one (1) Abel Nightroad with his drone wife's FRILLY PINK APRON several sizes too small draped around his neck and haphazardly tied back in the process of butchering... grilled cheese. yes, he is a total failure.

...somehow, he's gotten butter all over the counter and is trying to catch an overturned bottle of orange juice that is apparently spilling its contents over and onto the floor. the pan is burning and he's jostling cups and plates, trying not to drop EVERYTHING EVER as he fumbles to cease the spill of juice fruitlessly.

NO ONE SAID YOUR DAD WAS GOOD AT BEING DOMESTIC. this is why.]

C): action; around town - afternoon.

[the tall, lanky, and often times clumsy priest is among your streets today, Mayfield! anyone similarly prone to hitting up the bakery quite often might recognize his face, or simply wish to gape at the way he's leaving cheerily with a bag under his arm and so engrossed in the effort of inhaling the vanilla frosted doughnut in his hand he is clearly not paying attention to anything else. ...like the sidewalk. which, he may or may not inevitably trip over at an uneven crack and WOEFULLY lose his doubtlessly precious bounty as the bag tumbles to spill the fruits of his labor everywhere...

...and maybe his doughnut might happen to ah. misplace... itself from his hand and end up on your face. WHAT DO?]

D): action; church - evening.

[Abel's day eventually brings him to someplace to seek solace, to rest a weary soul... or something of that effect. one who enters might be hard pressed to FIND said priest who should be more or less easy to spot on the regular, right? how many 6'4 lanky bastards in cassock ARE there in here?

...but if one is apt enough, they might notice that the Father's side of the confessional is occupied. do you care to confess? ...or notice that said Father might just be lightly snoring if you listen hard enough...]

Comments

[kinship]

That depends on if you're going to cry if it's not?

[bloodsugar]

What does that matter...?

[kinship]

[Siiigh.]

It was a compliment, you know I'd never insult my baby brother.

[bloodsugar]

[except for like the entirety of their conversation today amirite...

he smiles none-the-less.]

Ahh. I'm basking in the light of your approval, big brother...

[kinship]

[It's all in jest, he could never be more devoted to anyone than Abel.]

You must have been basking your whole life, then.

[Because he's always approved!]

[bloodsugar]

[h... haha... nope.avi]

Sentimental, all the sudden... aren't we?

[kinship]

Would you rather I go back to teasing you?

[bloodsugar]

A-ah. Well, I'm not complaining! Just an observation!

[kinship]

...It's nice to be sentimental and not get pushed for it.

[It's nice to get affection back now, as opposed to crazy psycho bro.]

[bloodsugar]

[...;; bro. that makes his chest tug -- in a good way, if a little bittersweet. sometimes he still worries that Cain would rather he were that ten-year-old, angry and bitter child rather than this man he is today, here and now. maybe even resents him or separates them in his head. to hear a reason that he prefers Abel's company like this, rather than it had been when they were younger... is comforting.

even if it's also a reminder of how bad a brother he had been so long ago. has a lot to make up for. he's still trying, hard as he can.]

It is nice, isn't it...? I didn't know what I was missing.

[kinship]

[Abel would be right to think that, Cain does separate them in a fashion. They're both his brother and he loves them both dearly, but he would prefer that ten year old angry and bitter child. The man Abel is now is alien to him, too much like Lilith and almost an entirely different person... he misses his brother a lot, deep down. But at the same time, this is still Abel and he adores the affection between them, something he had always craved more of from his twin back home.

Though again, there are down sides... at home, even if it was less frequent, the affection shown was precious and for him alone. Now Abel gave it out as freely as anything, to family and stranger alike - it was threatening and saddening and wonderful all at once. Not that Cain's obsessive and weird about Abel at all.]

...you're not really going to eat two whole cones of ice cream, are you?

[bloodsugar]

[;( forever alone...

he notices the change of subject. and, maybe his heart sinks a little. it doesn't show.]

You doubt my bottomless pit of a stomach?

[kinship]

[Just another thing for them to NEVER DISCUSS and keep buried healthily deep down. They rock.]

No stomach is bottomless.

[bloodsugar]

Mine assuredly is.

[kinship]

Two cones will hardly prove that. Maybe ten cones would.

[He's just trying to give Abel a tummy ache now.]

[bloodsugar]

[why... would you do that you know he's a dog...]

...Ten? Is that a challenge?

[kinship]

[To see if he's really that dumb as to willingly give himself a stomach ache.]

Better make it fifteen.

[bloodsugar]

Fifteen. What do I get if I tackle them all? With ease? Like I'm going to?

[kinship]

I'll perform any forfeit of your choice.

[bloodsugar]

Any, hm?

[kinship]

[He's trusting in Abel to not use that forfeit for evil.]

Any. From skydiving in my pajamas to telling you the truth about my deepest embarrassing moment.

[bloodsugar]

You're on.

[kinship]

Then what are we waiting for?

[ONWARDS TO THE DINER!]

[bloodsugar]

[trucking right along!!! ...you know if you give him a horrible stomach ache this will only backfire on you enduring ceaseless whining and melodrama...]

Not a thing! Let's go--!!

[kinship]

[He will just foist Abel off on Esther if that happens. Heh. And soon enough they're at the diner!]

One hamburger and fifteen ice creams, please.