Participants:
| Scene Title | Home Warming |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | The three chat about life and how they should have a housewarming party for the Lanthorn. |
| Date | August 30, 2019 |
Fulton Park, Williamsburg
The “event” in Fulton Park isn’t really much of an event. The park isn’t quite big enough to fit a full on swap meet or fair, and there wasn’t even a lot of advertising for it, just a few flyers near places books might be found in the first place: Red Hook Market, Prufrock’s Books, and so on. So to call it an event is a little generous, it’s more of a makeshift gathering—which tends to be true of a lot of things in the Safe Zone these days. In the clear spots of greenery, people have mostly been laying down blankets with books spread across them. It’s the type of books advertised that’s the real draw: unusual, rare, and foreign books. Not anything expensive, but just the sort of fare that’s hard to find. There’s certain to be a few gems in the bunch.
Messenger bag slung over one shoulder, Silvia’s one of those hunting through the field of books. She crouches next to a blanket full of brightly-colored covers, a book in her hands as she flips it over to examine the back of the book. “How much?” She asks the seller as she holds up the book. “Did you want to trade or…?” She trails off, glancing at her bag already stuffed with books she was willing to relinquish. But she’d brought money… just in case.
Book fair big or small, there's always a reason for them that Delilah finds to swing by. This time it's mainly to find some age-appropriate non-comic reading for her son, notably absent, likely by virtue of being in school already. It starts early, all things considered. Frankly, she's glad to have him out of the house again. The redhead has a backpack of her own, one shouldered over her faded t-shirt. She is coming fresh off of a trade with someone when she hovers to a stop near the same blanket as Silvia and the colorful covers. Her brows hike a little at spying the one in the teenager's hand.
"Oh, hey, that's a great one. Have you read her stuff before?" It's an innocent curiosity, the best tool of young ladies but also of moms of little dudes.
Joe is… being Joe. He's walking around with a backpack slung over one shoulder, meandering through the crowd. But in reality he's actually making his way through the crowd, looking for parents with kids and pulling children's books out of his bag and handing them over to the parents with a smile before he moves on. The books are new too. Well mostly new. There are a few used ones, but most of them look brand new, like they were just taken off a store shelf. He pauses at a couple that has three kids in tow and he unshoulders his bag, digging through it and hands over three books, one for each, though it takes him an extra moment to find one for the youngest of the kids, the little girl.
Then his backpack is up on his shoulder again and he's moving through the crowd once more. "Pearl?!" A Joe exclamation of surprise and happiness wrapped up in one shout. And then he's beelining through the crowd, ducking around a couple of groups, and nearly colliding with one person's table before he hops around it and skids to a stop about a foot or so away from Silvia. "Pearl! How have you been?" And then Silvia is getting a hug. Cuz that's just what people get from Joe. They get hugs.
And then! He spots a Delilah too! He slow blinks and then Silvia is abandoned and Delilah gets a huge hug too! "Delilah!" Yup. Hugs for everyone. Big bear hugs. Not that Joe is all that big or imposing to be doing the whole bear hug thing. "How are you?! I haven't seen you in forever! Like a long long time!" Does Delilah even recognize a Joe after all this time?
“I haven’t,” Silvia says regarding the book in her hand. “I thought I would try—” and whatever thoughts about the book or Delilah were in her mind go flying out in a whirlwind of Joe. The young woman accepts the energetic hug wholeheartedly and is about to say something before he’s on to hugging Delilah. She gives the redhead a minute to get her bearings before she pipes in. “Delilah, is it? I think we’ve met before. I remember a very charming little redheaded boy who was trading for some markers at a swap meet once. I’ve always wondered if he’s been creating art with them.”
She turns her gaze back to Joe. “I’m doing okay. Are you? Staying out of trouble?”
Delilah barely has time to make conversation with Silvia before she gets interrupted; she also barely has time to register who's done it before it's her turn to get wrapped up. She is still that smidge taller than him, so for the first few seconds all she gets is a cheek smashed into brown hair.
"Hhk- -" He does manage to squeeze a noise of hello out of her. Delilah would recognize that chatterbox anywhere, of course- - plus she's seen him poking around at the market plenty. Perks of business. "Oh, Jo-jo, hey you- -" A laugh, and a hug in return, then Lilah's brows arch up at Silvia, and the duo get a shared grin.
"Oh, hell yes he has. He's running out of wall space. Doesn't help that he's got mounds of art supplies…" As much as it might seem she is complaining, she really isn't. She's beyond grateful that Walter has something he is so interested in. Something safe, too. Dee shut down the skateboard until he's a little more coordinated.
Trust Joe to disrupt a perfectly good conversation. Delilah gets the big hug, but Joe lets go when he realizes that he's probably hugging her a bit too tight. He steps back with a wide grin looking up at Delilah, then over to Silvia, then back to Delilah again. "P… Silvia. This is Delilah. She might as well be another one of our aunts. I haven't seen her in forever but she's awesome people too. Delilah this is my friend Silvia. She's Lynette's daughter."
Joe looks back and forth between both of them about six times in rapid succession, following the course of their conversation. "Silvia is an artist. Dang primal one too. It's so good to see… both of you!" Joe bounces in place a little bit, from foot to foot and then from the heels of his feet to the balls of his feet, eyes darting back and forth some.
"Oh! Pearl! You gotta come by the firehouse. We got a place! Brynn named it the Lanthorn in honor of the Lighthouse. It's an old firehouse that was converted into living space. Aunt Gilly cosigned with me and Lance and Brynn and Hailey and… you know I'm not entirely sure who all is on the lease. But we got a place! YOu and Brynn should totally decorate the walls together!!!" Joe looks over to Delilah then eyes widening even more. "Walter could come help! You could come see the gang and Walter could help with the art too!"
Joe seemingly quite pleased with himself goes quiet. For all of like… five seconds. “Lot of people showed up here. That’s awesome. Safe Zone is really coming along. Bit by bit, step by step. People are resilient.”
“It’s good to hear he’s enjoying it. I found art a good way to express my feelings when things were very rough for me, especially when language failed me. I hope he sticks with that,” Silvia says before she looks back to Joe and laughs.
She turns the book idly over in her hands. “I’m glad you all found a good place to live, you deserve somewhere nice that is your own. I don’t know that I’m so good at creating things that are wall-sized, though, Brynn might be better at that. I’ll just draw you a comic honoring your new home. The Adventures of Lance and Joe in home ownership, I’m sure it would be very popular.”
She looks at Joe squarely. “You think I can come over a few times? I don’t want to intrude but it’s very loud at my house sometimes, hard to work. I’ve been borrowing a workroom at the college but I think they’re getting annoyed I use it so often.”
"I think it's coming back to me." Delilah asides to Joe and his introduction. She just smiles while he prattles, brow bent in a look of understanding past his shoulder to Silvia. Yes, she knows how this one works. She'll wait til he runs out of breath. It's only a few seconds. Brown eyes twinkle when she tips a smile at Joe's comment on Safe Zone life.
"He would probably love that. Maybe if you lot ask him instead of me it'll feel more adult." Always looking for chances to boost the confidence thing. Dee seems to sympathize with Silvia, given the matching expression. "God knows Walter likes to talk, but he says it's easier to draw too. You don't need to explain it, is how he phrased it? I'm not much of a pen-and-paper artist, so…" There are times when she doesn't quite see the same things he does. It is clear that she tries.
"I'll have to drop by too, you know that, right? I'm nothing if not an expert at housewarming."
Joe looks over at Silvia with a confused look on his features. "Sure you can. You're a great artist. Pretty sure thinking up murals with Brynn would just be another afternoon for the two of you. And of course. You're welcome there Sil. We have extra bedrooms any time you wanna crash over. I can't promise there's beds in them yet, but we have extra bedrooms. There's bedrooms downstairs and upstairs. Lots of room. That was on purpose. So we'd have space to take people in, or just have people crash over. I mean… we know a LOT of folks." Joe flashes a wide grin at Silvia, more than happy to extend the invitation.
"Sure thing Dee. I'm sure he'd have fun. Brynn is an artist too. I mean she always was but she's gotten a real handle on her power now. Anything they dream up she can throw on a wall. It's pretty primal." Joe blinks eyes going a bit wide. "Oh yeah! Of course. We should probably do like a house warming thing. Invite everyone we know. Everyone who helped out at the Lighthouse, and all the Ferry people and our friends. It'll be a packed house but it would be fun. But also yes, aside from the housewarming party feel free to drop by. We want it to be like… well like the new Lighthouse. We plan to take in people that need help. And we plan for it to be a safe haven or hangout for whoever needs somewhere to go. Brynn came up with the name Lanthorn. I guess it's the actual like… lightroom for the fire or later the light itself. It comes from old british or something basically meaning lantern but… yeah. You should both come by."
“Everyone tells me I am a good artist but until people buy my art I’m still just a…” Silvia struggles for the word. “… wannabe?” She rubs the back of her neck, but she nods. “I don’t need a bed or anything, a couch or even a corner is fine if I stay over. I don’t require much. But I do feel a little bad inviting myself over, which is why I asked.”
There’s a small smile from Silvia as she imagine Walter. “Have Walter come by the… Lanthorn?” She tries out the word. “He can draw something and I’ll make the backdrop for him so it looks like a complete drawing. I saw someone do that once, he turned his child’s art into more. It looked fun.” She looks to Joe. “If you do a housewarming, let me know. I’ll make some decorations.”
She may be energetic, but her boundlessness of being Joe and Silvia's age has tempered enough that Dee just halfway keeps up, shifting the pack on her shoulder with a half-smile. From what she can tell, the kids- - they'll always be to her- - have found somewhere fittingly community for them. They could never really stay apart for too long.
"Hey now, you're an artist when you say you are. Nobody has to buy your stuff. You shouldn't base your value on what money you can make or how much people will spend on you…" Mother Hen advice for Silvia, with the addition of a touch to her arm, an affectionate gesture. "You love it, yeah? That's plenty." Delilah laughs softly, because she knows exactly where Silvia's coming from.
"If he had someone to draw with I know he'd enjoy himself. He always loves the community murals and the craft days at the library." One hand reaches up to ruffle Joe's hair. "As for housewarming, I'll bring food. Just tell me when, punk."
"Amateur? I think the word you're looking for is amateur. Because you're definitely not a wannabe. And you don't have to have people buy your art to be an artist. Van Gogh couldn't sell paintings to save his life when he was alive. And now they're some of the most valuable paintings in the world." Joe offers Silvia an easy smile and then a shake of his head. "You're an artist." Joe agreeing completely with Dee on that.
"That reminds me. I have an ASL class at the library tomorrow." Joe beams at the ruffled hair. "I'll make sure to reach out. Just need your contact info so I can get a hold of you. And yeah, bringing food would definitely help. I have a good line on food but I don't have very deep pockets. Most of my currency is in trade and favors right now. Which with the way the Safe Zone is right now, trade and favors… goes a long way." A wide grin then, his head tilting to Silvia. "We'll get it figured out. We like having people around. And the Lanthorn is great. It gives us all our own little space, but also means we're all still together. We see each other regularly." Joe dreads the day one of the LHK's moves away. It will happen. Some day. But he hopes it's not soon.
"So we'll get all the artists together and let them art. All the common areas are free reign where Brynn hasn't already covered. And I'm sure she'll take ideas on improving some. I think we should do a mural to honor all the Ferry that helped us get where we are today. All our friends and aunts and uncles. Do like… a superhero mural. Give them each a costume and everything." Joe winks at Dee because… she'd be on that mural too. "I'm gonna have to text everyone. This needs to happen." And so Joe… fishes his phone out, scowling at it for a few moments before sighing. "Stupid signal. I guess I will text them when I get signal."
Silvia looks to Dee. “Well if Walter ever wants some company, I wouldn’t mind. Any excuse I have to do some art, I will accept.” After that, she looks at Joe. “I suppose I’d be happy if everyone just kept enjoying my Lance and Joe Adventures comics. It’s… kind of freeing. Getting into adventures even if I’m not a part of it is part of the fun, although that reminds me…” Here, Joe is given a more serious look. “You owe me some stories of your troubles so I have fresh material to work with.” The look turns into one of appraisal as she scans Joe and then Dee.
“You know, everyone in costumes might be fun.”
"Pft." Delilah can't help herself, she snorts at Joe for his winking, though a laugh follows close after. "I remember going to cons with Magnes, I think I've had a fill of cosplay for a while." Despite there not having been one in many years. In other words, she is tempted to let them and trying to find a way out of it. A hand lifts to gesture at herself. "I already have all of this immortalized, it's no problem."
"The Lanthorn is yours, not ours. But if you really want all that…" Dee can't stop them. Her hands twist some on the strap of her bag, eyes crinkling to Silvia. It's nice to be around teenagers, sometimes- - not that she feels old. Just that usually the kids she deals with aren't old enough to do a lot. "And he gets on with you at the Benchmark, so I think you'd be a great example."
Joe puffs his cheeks out a little bit at Silvia's request about more Lance and Joe adventures for her to write and draw about. "I'm not sure that there /has/ been anymore. After everyone came home from… wherever they were, and Lance and Squeaks and Emily got their SESA internships I've barely seen Lance. Much less hand a chance to hang out with him. About the only one I can think of you'd need to know about is when Moose and his gang of thugs got their butts kicked by just Lance, Hailey and I. Moose, her ex who…" Joe's head wobbles side to side a bit. "Was one of us. He up and left and anyway he tried to apologize to her. Didn't end well. His idiot friends tried to step into things. It was fun."
Joe smiles a bit, but it's a bit of a saddened smile after the admission that he almost never sees Lance these days. "I've been spending a lot of time in the sewers or out beyond the safe zone looking for Squeaks since she went missing." Joe's shoulders lift slowly and then fall back down heavily. "It's ours yeah. But the people that are responsible for us still being alive are always going to be welcome you know?" Joe pauses, pulling his phone back out to look at the time. "Meh. I'm gonna have to go soon. Got a class later. I've got a little longer though. I'll just have to high tail it to the college when we're done."
“It kind of seems like everyone’s growing up and doing things for themselves,” Silvia muses, but the thought seems to have pulled at her more than just a passing fancy. “I’ll bring something by sometime. Maybe I’ll bake something. Or just bring pizza. I’ll offer something.” It’s polite to do, isn’t it? Food is always good.
“I suppose that I will just have to make up some adventures for you all to go on,” she says, her tone a little soft. “Maybe you’ll clean up the whole Safe Zone single-handedly. Well, more than one hand, there are two of you after all. If you’ve got class though, don’t let me keep you. I’m sure Miss Delilah can keep me company unless she has to go too.”
Even when Joe's going on about Moose- - Delilah has a faint recollection, if he was one of them- - he's getting a sympathetic look; when he wilts talking about Lance and then Squeaks, Dee puts an arm out to hug him around the shoulder.
"I gotcha. Yeah, Silvie's right about that. It's hard to watch people move on when you've been through so much with 'em already. And I know they'll find Jac. She's smart." The implication being… if she's alive, which Delilah leaves out. Joe knows how life can be cruel, she doesn't need to explain that to him. "You've got to set a glue trap for Lance, though, for sure. Maybe he'll be just as interested in a housewarming? Find out. Next time I see him I'll harass him anyway."
"Get your butt to class," The redhead withdraws from Joe only to relocate to Silvia, arm hugging around her next. Mine now. "Or I'll make you go look at pulp romances with me."
Well. I /am/ working on the slaver problem out on Staten. Lance was helping me with it but now that he's SESA it… well yeah. He'd get in trouble for being part of a vigilante take down of a criminal organization. I won't though. There's no law out there yet." Joe's shoulders lift in a half shrug. "Maybe I'll find someone to help me and you can do a guest star thing. Thinking about asking Magnes to help me take them down." There's a little glance Dee's way when he says that, a slight smirk on the young man's lips. "And food is always good. But you don't have to bring anything." Joe offers Silvia a quick smile before he unshoulders the backpack he's carrying.
"Would you two mind giving out the rest of these children's books? I got them from… a… source. And wanted to make sure they get into the hands of kids that need them." Joe takes the hug, leaning into it for a moment before his head bobs. "I hope so. She is very smart. Survived for years on her own in the Underneath." His lips part, then press back together again. "If not well… we'll go on. We'll carry her with us. Just like Mala and Denisa and all the rest we've lost." No, no one needs to explain to the Lighthouse Kids just how cruel life can be. They know it. Better than most. But it's also made them tougher. A hell of a lot tougher than anyone their age should be.
Joe squeezes Dee one last time before she breaks away. "Alright. I gotta get to class. You two take care of yourselves and keep in touch. Don't be strangers. And I'll try to chat at people about having a housewarming thing. It would be fun." Joe steps over to give Silvia a quick hug before he turns and starts off through the crowd, and he is skedaddling like he said, running though not in a panicked way. Just with the determined look of someone that has somewhere to be. Panicked gets people chasing you thinking you did something wrong.
Silvia hugs Joe back as he gets ready to charge off. She chuckles lightly at his talk about taking down organizations and being a vigilante. “Well, no one will question your comic versions taking down those kinds of things.” She reaches over to take the books from him as he scurries off before her attention returns to Delilah.
“I hope he’s always like that. His energy gives me hope… if that makes any sense.” Silvia offers the redhead a smile. “He always seems to have a positive outlook even if something is troubling him. And if he can be that way, what’s to say the rest of us can’t.”
Delilah isn't shy about peeking at some of the books as Joe moves to go. She gives him a parting wave before returning her attention to Silvia.
"Oh, of course it does." It hasn't left her, either. She's just a lot more realistic about it, rather than obnoxiously oblivious. "I try to be too. Don't ask some people about me, or they'll tell you how much like him I was. Sometimes it'd get me into some real shit." It's an understatement that she doesn't let Silvia linger on for long- - "Okay, okay, lets see about that one you wanted, then we can play Santa in Summer for Joe." Sil's part of a We now!
Silvia seems to like the idea of a we. She nods, flipping the book over in her hands. “I’m sure everyone says lovely things about you, especially about the ‘real shit’.” She grins. “I don’t think that kind of attitude ever really fades though, you just… I think people redirect it. Into work, into things like that.” The stack of books is given a once over.
“Santa in Summer indeed,” she says, looking around for any of the younger ones who might be wandering about. “Guess it’s time for us to brighten some days.”