In the Darkness of Everybody's Life

Participants:

brian_icon.gif deckard_icon.gif joseph_icon.gif

Scene Title In the Darkness of Everybody's Life
Synopsis There's a light. Some of them are more annoying and/or inconvenient than others. More coherently, Pastor Sumter swings by The Lighthouse to sparkle offer his assistance. Brian is apparently happy to have it. Deckard is not.
Date April 6, 2009

The Lighthouse


It's midday. Lighthouse.

In other news, a few trucks are pulled up in front of the lighthouse. Since news of the attack got spread around, people started feeling particularly generous. And with that, the lighthouse was getting a lot more new visitors. Today a few goodhearted gentlemen were visiting to gift the Lighthouse with a few treats for the backyard. The playground was getting pimped, with monkey bars and all, though all the men are with Brian, in the back, getting things sorted out.

Brian is also sitting in the kitchen, most of the kids, the young ones anyway, are out for the day. With him. taking a trip to the 'mainland' to go with Brian on various errands and whatnot. Since Kameron had to leave for a family emergency (kameroncomeback) the childrens lessons have become sporadic to say the least. And Brian was having a tough time figuring out what to do with them everyday. He's not a great teacher, and he would rather shoot a bunch of his copies before letting Deckard stand in front of a chalkboard with the kids.

So, while Brian is off with the kids getting monkeyed on and whatnot, Brian sits in the kitchen trying to balance out his duplicate's stress with a cup of tea, while staring out the window. He wears a plain white tee and a pair of jeans, the back two legs of the stool off the ground as the young man leans against the counter and stares out the kitchen window.

So apparently there are no roads to Staten Island, except through New Jersey, so that was a super fun discovery. Not a native to the area, Joseph wasn't going to chance getting hopelessly lost, and so he took a boat ride, one that cost him way more money than he expected but that's fine. Getting back, too, will be an interesting endeavor.

New York sure is weird.

So it's a little later in the day that Joseph intended to arrive by the time he's trekking all the way to the Lighthouse from the nearest harbor, keeping his jacket clenched around him and otherwise enjoying the scenery. Keeping to the coast has mostly let him avoid most people, which might explain the fact he's still in good spirits, despite the complications. Combed hair is now ruffled and disorderly from the boat ride and consequent hike, and there's some mud now plastered to the hems of his jeans, but overall, not too bad. His clothing is neat, proper, conservative and warm, and he looks over the Lighthouse with vague interest and curiosity as he approaches.

The trucks get a glance, and make his walk towards the building slow some in hesitation, but ultimately, Joseph makes his way towards the front door. Fleetingly, he sees someone through the window as he seeks out that door, recognising the young man as the publicised founder of the place. Brian gets a jovial wave from the pastor before Joseph disappears from view again, followed by a knock on the door.

To the benefit of all, there is only one Flint Deckard. He's currently in the living room by himself in blue jeans, socks, and a white button down that hangs open over an undershirt that is also white. Both cuffs unbuttoned and one sleeve rolled to his elbow, he's eating fruit loops out of the box of them he found in the kitchen while he watches the installation of various playground equipments through the wall between him and the back yard. Ronch ronch ronch.

"Monkey bars." Finally it makes sense, with the…ladder-looking thing and then the two other…ladder…looking things. Monkey bars! "Cool."

He is either talking to Brian in the kitchen, or to himself. Either way turns his head back to glance at the former and his tea. Which also sounds kind of good. Although maybe not so much with dry cereal. Fist withdrawn from the box with muffled sounds of the plastic bag inside struggling against his effort, he droops a few more fruity loops into his mouth, scratches at his scruff chin with the back of his wrist…and double takes at the front door the second or so before Joseph knocks.

"You're too tall." Brian says simply into his tea. Deckard on the monkey bars would just be silly. But God knows he'll probably get drunk one night and have a monkeybar adventure. Or maybe Brian just wishes that would happen. A little shrug is given at his inner voice thoughts as he takes another sip of his tea. "We're getting a slide too. One of those tunnel dealies." Tunnel slides. Smileyface. The mug is placed down at the counter. Brian arches a brow at the man coming towards the door, a little less jovial but still friendly wave is offered.

"Someone's here." Brian announces like Deckard would have no idea. "I should put on a better shirt. Could you get it?" He asks as the legs of the stool set back down on the ground as Brian slides his feet to the ground and starts for his room.

"Be nice." He reminds.

Three polite and sharp knocks in monotonous row. Then, you wait patiently, and hope someone gets it. ???. Profit! Joseph backs up a couple of steps and glances down at his shoes, which are way less polished than they were when he started, downhill and uphill dirt tracks showing no mercy. Incidentally, he's holding no pamphlets, although such things may be hidden away on his person, like in the messenger bag he has slung over a shoulder.

He leans back a bit to inspect the construction going on. Monkey bars. That's pretty cool.

"…I don't — " think that's a very good idea. But Brian is already headed into the bedroom, leaving Flint and his fruit loops to stare a little balefully at a door that is closed only to those who are limited to seeing in the visible light spectrum. "Fuck." There aren't any kids around to hear, and he mutters it too low to register in Brian's bedroom. Just. Sometimes these things need to be said.

Cereal box deposited on a counter on his way back through the kitchen, he drags his way over to the door with all the deliberate procrastination he can muster. No effort is made to button his shirt or straighten out his sleeve on the way. If the butt of his gun or the strap of a holster happens to peek out to say hi in event of an unexpected breeze, maybe he trusts Joseph to know better than to say something.

Regardless, here he is and there the door is. He frowns at the lock, then reaches to turn it over. The door is cracked open, two inches, five, eight. Eight more. Conspicuously, the open space is occupied by Deckard, who does not look happy to see who he already knows is standing on the other side. Maybe fortunately, the frown on his long face doesn't seem to have decided whether it's angry, annoyed, worried or embarrassed yet.

Emerging from the bedroom once again, with a long sleeve gray shirt that says 'I'm casual, but I still care about my looks' the replicator makes his way into the kitchen. He pauses for a moment, perhaps to subconsciously prolong the awkward moment at the door, but also to give those fruit loops a long baleful stare. Grabbing them, a cabinet is opened and the box is quickly deposited before it is closed. Then the young man's head is peeking over Flint's shoulder.

"Hello." He greets with a smile.

A hand comes forward. "My name's Brian Fulk, what can I do for you?" The man is quickly sized up and looked over, once Brian decides that he is not a zombie slash children eater his smile increases exponentially. Though a sidelong glance is given to Mr.Grumpy standing in the doorway.

As soon as he hears the lock click apart and the door start to open, it has Joseph's full and sparkly attention, an amicable and mild smile on his face which— promptly fades when it's Flint who opens the door. Fading not out of unhappiness, exactly, but utter confusion, as if maybe this is the wrong lighthouse, despite seeing a glimpse of the founder through the window, and the playground being set up, and the— lighthouse. Ness.

"Hi," he says, somewhat haltingly, voice cracking around the short word as he tries to glance past Deckard, without much success. "Flint." And then the order of the universe is moderately restored when Brian Fulk appears just behind the older man, and Joseph's smile appears once more.

Sparkle sparkle. "Hi, Mr. Fulk," he says, back on script, one hand gripping the strap of his messenger bag. A hesitant glance to Flint, back to Brian. Offers an explanation perhaps for Flint's benefit just as much as Brian's. "My name's Joseph Sumter, I'm a— pastor at a church over in Manhattan, and I heard about what you were doin' over here and wanted to come see, if you're not busy."

Silence. Deckard is as unsparkly as a dust storm, and absorbs the light of Joseph's smile in much the same smothering manner, all choking shades of brown and grey in grizzled stubble and darker hair. His eyes are friendlier in the midday sun than they are in the dark. Clear slate blue, with no sign of demonic light or murderous intent. So…there's that.

He does not return Joseph's greeting.

Fortunately Brian chooses the second the lack of a response on his end was getting awkward to appear and introduce himself, and Flint steps sideways and back, physically distancing himself from Multiple Man's inevitable bafflement over him knowing some random dickhead pastor.

"Pastor Sumter." Brian brightens up as if the name is being pulled out of his past, dusted off, and put out in the world again. He's never heard the name before, but Pastors are more trustable than normal people. Still a certain amount of wariness, because Brian knows there are bad ones but still, he's so sparkly how bad can he be? "Please come in." Brian says after releasing Joseph's hand and taking a step back.

A bewildered look is given to Flint. Maybe he's trying to take this guard thing seriously and look scary and mean. He ends up just looking constipated, really. 'You look constipated.' The words are mouthed quickly as Brian half turns his head away from Joseph and steps inside. "Do you two know each other?" He adds in swiftly before the inevitable, "Anything to drink?"

Handshake done, swift and professional, and he's inevitably invited inside. Good to see someone's up for giving him a warm reception. Joseph wipes his feet off on the mat before moving on in, shutting the door behind him in one short, economical movement, missing whatever it is Brian is attempting to communicate to the third man in the room.

He does, of course, catch the question though, glancing towards Deckard and coming in with an answer before the other man can. "Yes." Because hell, if Flint is going to break into his church, twice, they may as well be acquaintances. "Flint's dropped by the Guiding Light a coupla times, my church. Do you work here also?" he asks, more directly to Deckard now, confusion gone in replacement of vague amusement.

Deckard's, "No," crosses with Joseph's, 'Yes,' and loses out on account of being the quieter and less true of the two answers. Brian's critique of his irritated distraction firmly ignored, he scrubs a hand up over his face and trails back towards the kitchen for lack of anywhere else to go that makes more sense once the man of God at his back has ratted him out.

"Just visiting," trails crossly back from the cabinet he's parked himself in front of. The one Brian just shoved his fruit loops into. He retrieves them.

Brian gives Deckard a double take when he disagrees with the new man. A little hum is given. Believe the new pastor that he has never met before in his life, or the man he has entrusted the lives of children with and depends on a daily basis. Brian clearly goes with the former, giving a little nod. "Oh. Guiding Light?" He asks, tilting his head a bit. "I haven't been in a while. To church that is. Makes me feel bad, but I've been busy with the kids. Try to get quiet times in and all that but.." He gives a little shrug, as if Joseph was here to take spiritual inventory for Brian.

Ushering Joseph in towards the couches, Brian gives a little nod and answers for the older man. "He's our guard here. You may have heard about that attack? A few kids were hurt, we've hired Flint here, and put in a few more security measures to ensure that that never happens ever again. Ever." He adds in for good measure. "Please, take a seat."

"Well it's a Southern Baptist church, up in, ah, Greenwich Village. A bit out of your way but you're more'n welcome to come see. I can't begin to fathom how full your hands must be though." Apparently unperturbed by Deckard's blatant lie, Joseph moves towards the couch but doesn't immediately take a seat as suggested, as if maybe too energetic to do so, caught up in glancing around the interior of the place.

Likely he's done his research on the place a wee bit, so admiring the work that's been done isn't so strange, wandering towards the center of the room and peering around without seeming too nosy. "It's amazing, frankly, what you've done up here. I did hear too about the attack, such a terrible thing to have happen. It's what drove me here, actually. There ain't much we can do in the way of security, and you got that covered, clearly," he says, turning back to Brian with a glance towards where Deckard's headed, in indication that doesn't seem in the least bit mocking. "But I was wondering if you couldn't use an extra hand."

What's it say about the state of things that Deckard's been to church more than Brian in the last month? Stony silence from the region of the kitchen prevails while he gets a bowl for himself as well. And a spoon. And some milk. So that he can at least pretend like he knows how to eat like a civilized human being while Joseph is here telling on him. Various clinkings and siftings and sloshings occur within the context of cereal for lunch. He frowns a lot. Maybe he is constipated.

"Right." Brian says with a little nod. "I went on a trip with CBI to Indonesia once, little.. relief.. thingie." The man reports, to make it seem like they're closer than they actually are. Then he tilts his head a side to the bit his lips drawing back. "That's awfully nice, Pastor Sumter. I really do appreciate the offer,—" The but is implied in the tone more than it is said. "We've had Pastors come here before. And not just pastors. I mean.." He gives a little shrug. "I've had to turn people down because, despite their best intentions, sometimes there are hooks involved that we don't want to be snagged on. If that makes sense." Brian adds in quickly, hoping to make his semi-rejection seem nicer.

"Flint, could you grab a bottle of water for Pastor Sumter? Please?" Brian asks glancing over his shoulder, delivering a semi-sharp look at the man for all his frowns and constipated looks. Didn't he say 'be nice'?

"No, that's— fine, I shouldn't stay too long probably," Joseph says, having the decency to be sheepish as Brian goes to ask Flint to get him a drink, an apologetic look cast towards the older man, than back to the younger one. "That's understandable, sure. I guess what I can offer is volunteers to come help with the children— "

The ones that aren't at all present, it seems, but he trusts they exist. They just must be on an outing of some description. "— and so forth. You wouldn't be owin' us anything, if that's your concern." His smile returns, kind of awkward but well-meaning. "If I may say so, it's what we're here for, and certainly what I came to do. To help. So far we try and preach the good word to refugees and of course, we have sermons goin' on back at the church. If there's anythin' we can do for you, the offer's there." And he's babbling, so he stops, promptly.

Having just closed the refrigerator door after putting the milk away, Deckard stands with his cereal bowl balanced in the open splay of his left hand and a lonely metal spoon grasped at an awkward angle in his right. Awkward because he just kind of stands there when Brian asks him to get a bottle of water for Pastor Sumpter (please) with his brows hooded down low over the frigid blue of his eyes. It's the same caveman look Teo got before he caught his fist with his face. A slight turn of his head accounts for Joseph's denial of the offer. Then his glare ticks back to Brian again.

A slow nod is given. "I do bible studies. With the kids." Brian says quietly, "As a matter of fact. One of my staff." His whole staff. "Had to go back home for a family emergency. So it turns out we're out a teacher for our little ones. If you happen to have teachers, or people who could pretend to be teachers in your congregation." His hands splay out, "That would be really great, actually."

Another glance is shot back to Deckard. What's wrong with him? Then his attention returned to Joseph.

There's a bright smile at 'pretend to be teachers' and an amused chuckle, Joseph nodding once. "Senior Pastor Ashby's wife is an elementary teacher," he says. "She has a couple of contacts with young people looking to be teachers too, so they can— maybe pretend once in a while and get a few extra points for helpin' out with your kids if you think that'd be a good idea. Best I could personally offer is what you got covered, but if you'd like help in that department too, feel free t'say the word."

There's a considering pause, hands not quite nervously grasping the strap of his messenger bag. If there's any nervousness at all, it's probably due to Deckard's presence, feeling irrational under scrutiny from a cynic who probably sees his efforts here as futile as the ones he makes in Manhattan. Or that could all be in his head. Joseph's focus stays on Brian, however, although he does glance inclusively towards the other man as if maybe his opinion counts also. Remembering Brian's initial hesitation, Joseph offers, "I'd encourage you t'stop by the church sometime too, if y'want, come see for yourself we're doin' up there."

A lot of things are wrong with Flint on any given moment of any given day. All of which he's too busy being silently standoffish to vocalize. …Not that he really does a lot of vocalizing about them even when he isn't standing in the kitchen pretending to be the Hulk or Bizzaro World Superman or whatever it is that he thinks he's doing.

Eventually he eases off enough to start eating his cereal, but he stares at them while he does it, so. The clinking of spoon to bowl and crunching of his teeth around increasingly soggy loops of fruitiness does not actually do much to negate his creepy, looming presence.

"We'll be sure to stop in." Brian inwardly winces. With Kameron gone, Deckard is the closest thing Brian has.. at all. A slow glance is given over to the old man stooped over the bowl of fruit loops and Brian's features sag a bit at the realization before he returns his attention to Joseph. "We'll be sure to stop by, soon. Thank you very much Pastor, for your offer. And coming by, personally, to boot." The man steps forward, offering his hand again. "We should do lunch sometime."

"Maybe in a Sunday or two we can bring the kids by to church. That will be good for them." Though the thought of Bai-Chan sitting through a church service makes him want to cry or laugh or both at the same time. He would probably steal the communion cup or something.. A slow shake of his head wards off the thoughts before Brian summons up a smile again. "That will be great."

The hand is clasped, shaken in a friendly, parting manner. Just as he said, he's not going to stay long. There are other things on Staten Island to explore, after all— which will likely be sending Joseph running quickly for the nearest harbor anyway, but. It's an adventure. "Great, I'll look forward t'seeing you again, Mr. Fulk," he says once the shake is done, stepping back. And here we go, an inevitable pamphlet is extracted from his bag, offered out for Brian. Not that he needs convincing, but it has useful things like phone numbers, names and addresses written inside, the words GUIDING LIGHT BAPTIST CHURCH written on white paper.

Joseph looks back towards Deckard and offers a partial saluting waving. "Nice seeing you again, Flint. 'Til next time?" Smile! Malicious friendliness, could best define it, before his attention swerves back to Brian. "I'll leave you back to what you were doin', thanks much for seein' me all unexpected."

We'll be sure to stop in. We'll. We. Deckard slows in his chewing, as he has a way of doing when he desires to say something regrettable, but at the sag he notes around Brian's stupid face, he exhales the breath he was going to cause trouble with and goes back to eating. The sick stray dog to Brian's Robert Neville. If…the kids are vampires. And. The Lighthouse…keeps them instead of out…

Ok, so. It doesn't actually work that well. Maybe if it's narrowed back down to just the thing with the dog and how it sticks around because Neville feeds it and is nicer to it than evil vampire people.

Whatever.

At Joseph's salute, Deckard closes off still further, expression black over the milk white and cheerful pinks and orange of his 'loops. His spoon drips in its hover over the stuff. Drrriip.

The pamphlet is taken and a smile is given to Joseph as he makes his retreat. Folding up the paper, Brian tucks it into his back pocket whilst seeing Joseph out through the front door. Once closing it, and locking it the young man turns to face Deckard. "He seems really nice." The replicator starts while heading through the kitchen past the man with the dripping fruit loops. "I'm going to take a nap. If you need me, I'm awake outside." A little shrug is given. "Oh and.."

"Laxatives are in the very top cabinet." FULKER OUT.


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