Participants:
| Scene Title | Puppies Fix Everything |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | The after effects of a dysfunctional Christmas on an awkward household. But the newest addition to the Puika home makes it all better for now. |
| Date | December 28 |
Dorchester Tower Apartments - Yana's Apartment
Only a few more days until New Years. Christmas was tragic and is a holiday that should be eradicated from the face of the Earth. Christmas seems to make people crazy and irrational and often downright mean. It is no wonder, with terrorist acts and family tragedies. So far, Yana has survived, and no sooner was the holiday over did she dive right back into work. She was more than thrilled to be back, and it once again continues from her home. The apartment is quiet, save for the pots and pans cooking today's dinner, there is no sight of Yana, except, her study door is open.
Keagan did his best to enjoy Christmas, anyway. It's Jesus' birthday, he contested to Yana's sour mood. How could you not be happy about that? Not only that, but he's seemed even more incurably hyper than normal the last two days. It's far past a normal time to get out of bed, but with school out still for the holidays, Keagan has spent the night playing on his computer. So at the crack of 1pm, he's getting out of bed. No shirt and a pair of sleeping pants with pirates on them, Keagan ambles out of his room, and looks around the room with the glazed gaze that only someone just waking up can do. His hair stands up on one side, revealing which side he slept on during the night. After scratching his chest, he wanders to the study to find out whether Yana is home, or if he is here all alone.
Things have recently not been going Yana's way as of late, which is about the most frustration facts that she tries to endure. Of course she is biding her time, until she can actually do something that will make the world take notice, but these things require patience, and in her case.. patients. This afternoon, she much would rather prefer the sanctity of home, rather than taking herself out into the elements. She is in her study, scribbling through some of her notes, the light from her desk providing illumination in an otherwise slightly dark room. Her eyes busy themselves with her paperwork, and almost like a sixth sense being extended, she speaks. "So you've decided to join the land of the living." Without raising her head, or her expression much. "I was beginning to worry that you might have taken root in the bed, it is pretty late, you've missed almost half the day."
"Mhmm," Keagan answers. "Don't worry," he answers, "I think you've probably been productive enough for both of us." He doesn't like that Yana's always working, but there is little he can really do about it. "Not like there's anything to miss." He ambles back to the kitchen, and there's the sound of cabinets opening, and soon afterward a bowl can be heard filling with dry cereal. "What time is it?" he asks, noticing the cooking food after the fact. Oh well, he's a teenager, he won't have trouble running out of room.
It is enough for her to pause in what she is doing, and set a paperweight ontop of the first page. There is a thoughtful expression from the woman as she rises from her desk, and drifts into the main area of the apartment, "You know, I get the impression Keagan, that you have something on your mind." Yana comments, slipping her arms to fold at her stomach as she leans in the frame of the door. Her dark eyes watch him inquisitively for a few moments, "Now, I apologize for this Christmas not exactly being very family oriented, but your grandfather has been too busy to gather everyone together this year, and situations happened that have made this season a little less than desirable. I almost lost my life the other day, in a terrorist act. On Christmas Eve." A fact that she plans to get revenge on still. "I got you everything that you asked for. I thought perhaps that would at least make up for everything that happened."
"Yeah, I know," Keagan answers, adding milk to his cereal before replacing it back into the fridge. He closes the door with his foot, and pulls a spoon from the drawer. "I thought maybe you'd take a few days off or something. I'm sure the Institute wouldn't mind you taking a vacation or something." He didn't really care about his Christmas list that much. "You like, never take a day off, even when somebody tries to kill you." He plunges his spoon into the honey nut cheerios, and shovels the spoonful into his mouth.
Especially when someone tries to kill her. There is no rest for the weary or the wicked. The sooner she pieces together this research, the sooner she can start fiddling with Evolved abilities, and the rest will just fall into place for her. It isn't something she can make him understand at the moment. "Hm. I suppose not." she points out, yet not giving it too much thought. Silently, her feet cross over the marble floor in the kitchen, just not realizing that there is dinner going. She was so wrapped up in her work that she didn't realize the attendant had started it. She does tend to work as much as he says. "Well, I had wanted to take you to the party along with me. There were kids there, though there wasn't time to get your hair cut, and it was a suit and tie event, so I figured I would spare you the torture for Christmas. It is a very good thing that you didn't go. Which brings me to another thing.." Yana's lips press together, "There are some very dangerous people out there. With you going out on your own the way you do, I worry that perhaps you will run into trouble. Humanis First is starting to rear it's head far more as of late, and Evolved are the target. I don't want you getting caught up in one of their acts."
Keagan rolls his eyes. "I can sink into the concrete in a heartbeat if I have any trouble," he points out, which clearly makes him invincible. "Besides, there's people I want to hang out with." One young lady particularly, though he hasn't mentioned her, is the cause of his rather excitable mood lately. I only got beat up that one time." One of the times that somebody was more interested in solving the theft of their money themselves rather than calling the police. "Besides, how would they know I'm Evolved? I don't even tell my friends that I'm Evolved. You're like the only person that knows." He shoves another spoonful into his mouth, and hops up to sit on the counter. Hair cut? No comment.
Well that is good at least. The less people that know, the better. She is proof of that. "Keagan, you might not think that I do, but I worry. Perhaps I internalize my worries different than most people, but I still do it." It isn't done very often, but Yana actually reaches out to settle a hand on the top of his head. He would look so much more handsome with it shorter. Though human contact isn't her only reasoning for touching him. Being out in the streets and cold, he picks up the usual viruses that try to invade his system naturally. Yana uses this to purge his system occasionally, so that his own immune system doesn't have to. "You're 15 years old, and your life hasn't even begun yet. I lost my brother, your father, and we were lucky to have you safe. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you. That is all I'm saying." There is something she does remember however, and a second later she is moving away from him, moving over to the balcony/patio area. "By the way, I don't think you got everything on the list that you made. There were some things that took a little more time to acquire."
The boy does like contact. The counselors he's seen have long listed to Yana that physical touch and quality time are his primary 'love languages'. Lack of the latter makes him rather frustrated, just as the former. He doesn't avoid her hand, though, he simply shovels another spoon of cereal into his mouth. "God's watchin' out for me, didn't you listen to that sermon a few weeks ago?" he answers with his mouth full. "You just gotta trust him more. And it's okay, I don't need everything on that list." Keagan hops down from the counter, sticking more cereal in his mouth as he follows Yana over to the balcony.
Religion. Church is a mixed thing for Yana, considering the internal version of herself desires to actually play God. Day by day, Yana and Dr. Blite seem to be separating into two entities occupying the same body. Dr. Blite just doesn't have a voice yet, but she is responsible for several of Yana's actions. She considers that it would break Keagan's heart to hear that attending church for her is simply going through the motions right now. She is a troubled individual. "It didn't really stay with me past that week." Yana admits at least, "There were better, and that week wasn't really one of them." She reaches and slides open the balcony door, letting in the cold winter air, when a dog house rests in the corner, looking large and new. There is a tail sticking out of it, that starts to move as people are heard, a tiny head with floppy ears peeking out.
"A puppy!" Keagan is suddenly fully awake. "You got a puppy!" He pushes past out into the cold air, still wearing nothing but his sleeping pants. The air hits his bare chest bitterly, but he's too excited to care. He practically dives into the dog house to meet the new addition. "Aunt Yana! Thank you!" He scoops the dog out of the home and into his arms. "He's perfect!" He would be perfect whatever he looked like, though. He's a dog, and Keagan has always wanted one.
She starts to protest out about him going outside without the proper clothing, but it would be a pretty futile effort and she knows it. The dog is still a little confused about it's surroundings, so it doesn't dart out of the house immediately. In fact, Keagan's excitability spooks it back into the door for a second, before the puppy sets in, and the dogs on excitement of a new person brings it's big paws running out to meet him. He has been bathed and given dishes on the inside of his house, and is rather happy to be scooped up. "Yes, yes, I know you have been seeking some kind of other companionship around the apartment, and a dog seemed like a reasonable investment at the time. Take him inside and get him so food, before you catch your death in this weather. A dog is a responsibility, so I'm trusting you in taking care of him."
Keagan holds up the puppy to lick his face. He gets back to his feet, carrying the puppy like a football, and walks back inside. "I think we should call him Maximillian Rex, the Destroyer of Worlds." A perfectly normal name for a dog, he thinks. "I'll clean up after him and everything, I promise!" An easy promise to make before he has to actually do it. He places the puppy on the floor, and opens the fridge. "We still have some of the turkey in here, right?" he asks, moving a few containers to the side as he searches.
Maximilian is a reasonable enough name to Yana. The dog will of course be AKC registered, and probably groomed for breeding or show. They require a format for names, but those are all adult details that she'll deal with. "It took some time to track down a blue Great Dane with blue eyes, especially in this season. Ended up having to get him from out of state." She closes the door behind him, trapping the air back out where it belongs. "Turkey? Yes, there should still be some left." She will allow him to indulge the dog for now, since it is still the Christmas season. The woman finds a seat at the island in the kitchen, "Oh, by the way, I have a new doctor that you might be switching over to. She may be able to better help with your therapy, so I'm in the works on setting up a meetings."
Keagan pulls out the container with the leftover turkey, and pulls a good sized piece out. "Here you go, Mr. World Destroyer," he says to the dog, placing it on the floor for him to gobble up. "Wait, is it a boy or a girl?" he asks. Maybe he should have asked before naming it Maxmillian. Keagan sits cross-legged before the dog as it eats. "I can't wait to show him to Anna." Wait, who's Anna? Not a friend he's mentioned before. "You and your doctors. As long as they don't make me sit in one of those boring group sessions. Nobody likes those, and the girls always start crying."
"Male." Yana informs him. She can make more money off of a male. "You should also thank Christopher when he returns, he was good enough to drive down state to retrieve him. He even went out to pick out and purchase the dog house and supplies." Christopher, as she says, has gone off to retrieve some things for dinner, which is simmering on the stove. He will no doubt be back in a few. Yana is a little distracted with her own thoughts while she makes a few adjustments of a few items on the island in front of her. She does catch the mention of Anna however, and she begins to wonder just who this person might be. Perhaps she is a girl in the building somewhere. It isn't something she has to bring into discussion just yet. "No. I doubt Dr. Sheridan does group therapy. For now, she just wants to meet with you, see if she can take your case. It'll be a change of pace from your regular doctor." with whom she is not satisfied with. The group sessions is one of the things she dislikes about them. "Well, I need to get back to work for just a little bit. I'll leave you and the dog to get acquainted." she rises to her feet, making her way back over to her study, "Oh, and make sure you call your grandmother and wish her a Merry Christmas. She is probably waiting to hear from you."
Keagan looks a little disappointed that the conversation is so short, but he gets to his feet as the dog finishes the turkey, and scoops him back up into his arms. "Okay," he says. He scratches behind Max's ears, and starts back to his room. As he goes into the disaster area he calls a living space, he picks his phone off the pile of papers and books that are stacked by the door, and unplugs it from the charger. He starts to dial, and flops onto his bed, his dog on his chest. "Hey Nana."
And introducing Max
