Log: Somebody Broke the Rules - September 24, 2004

Jan emerges from her room, drying her hair with the back of a towel; she's dressed, otherwise, and her mostly-dry locks are sticking up in vanilla-scented cockatiel spikes.

There is a Miles in the kitchen, making angry coffee. Angry coffee is, apparently, signified by doors and cups and pots slamming, not -quite- hard enough to break.

Jan pauses in her towel-drying, then heads in that direction, leaning up against the doorframe as she says quietly, "Miles, if you break the kitchen, it still won't stop the singing, sweetheart."

"Oh, I'm not trying to stop the singing. I'm mostly doing this because it's better than hitting the person who is apparently responsible." Miles glances up. "And nothing's broken, yet."

"Cool," Jan says, with a small nod, and pushes away from the doorframe to walk over to the table, and sit. "We don't know that Timothy did it on purpose, you know. This could just be...an insane accident."

Miles shrugs. "True. Though it's...I mean, it depends on the circumstances of why he played the instrument. I'd still like to hit him."

Jan nods. "Fair. I mean, I'd like to skin him alive and then regrow his skin. Badly. With lots of nasty ridgy bits."

Miles mmms. "That's a happy thought. Coffee when it's done?"

Jan nods. "Please. Condensed milk and honey."

Miles nods, and sets to work preparing the coffee with a sigh. "There's also the the possibility of cutting off his lips and replacing his hands with flippers so he can't ever play an instrument again..."

"The selkies might take offense, sweetie," Jan says, watching him, half-anxiously. "They tend to frown on people surgically creating kithmates for them."

Miles mmms. "Point." He rubs his face. "I'm sorry. This just...y'know. After -everything else- that's happened in this town, you'd think people would know than to poke strange magical stuff outside of lab conditions."

Jan shakes her head. "And yet that particular lesson never, ever seems to sink through their thick little skulls, now, does it?"

Miles gets down a can of condensed milk...and oh, look. There's music starting to play. Slow and folky, with lots of guitar. He groans, and grits his teeth, apparently trying to fight it off. He's also apparently failing, as he starts to sing along. Appropriately enough, he's a kitchen baritone.

"I never asked to be stranded in this town
I never looked for glory, never quested for renown.
Or did anything to make the people stare.
I never wanted to be anything but me --
I just wish someone could tell me who that meant I'd be."

Jan winces at the obvious fight, and -- as Miles begins to actually sing -- rests her cheek against her palm, looking concerned.

The music starts to transition; acoustic becomes electric, and the chords are harder. Miles sighs, and looks to Jan, with a shake of the head, and sets the coffee aside.

"I keep looking for answers
but these days, they're never there."

Transition complete, he continues, voice growing louder and slightly angrier to match the song.

"Somebody somewhere broke the rules
Somebody somewhere left me here
Somebody somewhere was a fool
Somebody, somewhere -- it's not clear."

Jan winces again, and looks down at the table for a moment before looking up at him, still silent. At least she doesn't seem inspired to sing backup.

Miles steps over to Jan, rest a hand on her shoulder; his expression's bleak...but the singing doesn't stop, either.

"I never asked to be subjected to their whims,
I never wanted to be running through these sims,
Or be stuck with morons working at the switch,
I never volunteered to run this maze of lies
Where all the doors are locked and everyone tells lies
And people here seem surprised when I..."

There's a pause, and Miles drops his eyes, looking down to the table as well.

"This isn't fair.
This isn't how the story goes.
Why should I pay, yes even now,
For all of those
Errors and slipups that other hands make
Why should I repair what I never did break
Why am I still paying for all their mistakes?
Why is this how my story goes?"

Jan pushes her chair back, gingerly, and rises to move next to Miles, putting her hand lightly on his arm. She still doesn't say anything.

Miles closes his eyes; the music's starting to slow down again.

"Never claimed to be smart, never said I was wise
But at least chaos doesn't catch me by surprise
If these people are clever, I must be a god<
Because I know when it's time to stop baiting the odds."

As the music starts to fade, Miles actually embraces Jan, with another sigh.

Jan embraces him back, tightly. "Breathe, sweetheart," she says, voice light. "Breathe."

Miles nods, slowly, and rests his head on hers. Look! Damp chin. "I -really- hate this, have I mentioned, yet?"

Jan hugs a bit tighter, even though it's not easy to get her arms entirely around him, and nods. "You have. At least it happened here? With me? Instead of somewhere public."

Miles nods. "Yeah. But, well, I've been staying out of public as much as possible. I mean, it's bad enough that...I might have done that. But I don't -want- to know other people's secrets."

Jan offers, with a small, wry smile, "At least I don't have any for you to not want to know?"

Miles nods. "Yeah. I mean, what're you going to tell me, that you're a mad scientist who created life in the lab? Already know that."

Jan nods. "Yeah. Or, oops, sorry, I'm gay, and that means you probably carry the homo gene."

Miles asks, "So I'll have gay kids? Because...um. Pretty sure I'm straight."

Jan grins. "Only one in ten, honey; don't worry. And if you do, you'll have lots of tutors around to help you with 'em."

Miles nods. "Yeah. And that's if I have kids. Which is gonna be a -long- time off."

Jan grins. "There is that. I am _so_ not ready to be a grandmother. Although..." She pauses. "You like Li, right?"

Miles nods. "Yeah. She's nice."

Jan nods. "So...no Li-based issues. No trauma."

Miles shakes his head. "Nope. I mean, we do complementary research a lot when this stuff comes up, so."

Jan smiles, brightly. "Okay, good. Because, I mean, you know I like her a lot, right? A _lot_."

Miles nods. "I sort of got that impression." A tilt of the head, and he asks, "Did Ole give you Marriage cooties?"

Jan shakes her head. "No. Haven't been dating _nearly_ that long. But I do have 'might ask her to move in in a few months if you and Hope don't mind, because it would make logistics easier' cooties."

Miles blinks. "Oh. Cool. Though...doesn't she live above the place she owns, though? Though if it does make it easier, cool."

"Makes it easier, and she needs the space for her flowers," Jan says, with a shrug. "She's running out of room, from all the roses."

Miles says, "Ohh, the weird stuff she bought at the estate sell, or just normal flowers? Either way, cool. We could do something in the backyard besides the swing...though I'd probably have to stop jumping off in mid-air..."

Jan shrugs. "Well, currently? Blue roses -- _actual_ blue roses -- and some preserved rosehips I got from the House. I think the back yard's too shady for roses, but thank you for the thought."

Miles blinks again. "Oh, -cool-. But anyway. You've got my vote if you ask her? I won't mind."

Jan smiles. "Cool. Now I just need to talk to Hope."

Miles nods quickly, then steps over to the counter. "Oh! The coffee! Stupid music."

Jan laughs, retaking her seat. "At least it'll be strong?"

Miles nods. "So, since we're not sleeping for the next three days...you'll have plenty of time to ask her."

Jan grins. "Assuming I can catch up with Hope, yeah."

Miles hands her her coffee. "I think she's hiding from school so she doesn't tell them what she thinks, so."