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Tweak says, "Ja, for sure, from Sweden...."

Patrick wants a life that is (sylvan) wrote in rooms,
@ 2015-08-15 00:07:00

Entry tags:

!marvel comics, *log, clementine murphy, declan murphy, sylvie murphy

Marvel, Saranac Lake: Sylvie & Dec & Clem
[Clementine, she rented herself a big old truck in garish red for the drive out to Saranac Lake.

It was only a few hours out, but the bag sitting in the passenger's seat made it real clear that Clementine intended to stay a spell. Her work schedule was clear as crystal for the weekend, and she reckoned some time away might do some good. She was real tired of dead blonde girls, and she was real tired of folks going off and losing themselves in doors, and she was real tired of heroic menfolk that disappeared without a peep.

She'd already decided to move back on home, to her place in Hell's Kitchen. No point staying where Matt and Bucky were, not if Matt was moving around plenty. Clementine, she wasn't much worried about danger in her own apartment, not with the glass fixed and a real good alarm installed. She'd been antsy some since seeing Joy, wanting her own space back and something like centering. Her life wasn't on over in Queens, and her life wasn't Graham and Shane anymore. They had their own things sussed, and she wasn't real good at being an accessory to other folks' loving.

So, getting away some would be nice. It would give her time to think, and she hadn't seen Sylvie since they were all small, and she reckoned that might be nice too. Might be, because one never could tell with Murphys.

It was long-since dark by the time she pulled up in front of the cabin. She hauled her bag out and hitched it on her shoulder, and walked toward the door in snug denim and plaid.]

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Marvel, Saranac Lake: Sylvie & Dec & Clem

setbacks
2015-08-15 07:39 am UTC (link)

[In typical Declan fashion, he offered neither sister a ride, only an address. The travel arrangements were up to them, he felt that he'd already done more than enough by extending an invitation to his private lake house. Private was the key element here. Nobody came to this house, not ever. It'd become a mausoleum after his divorce, and the solitude of it felt fitting with trees all around and placid water that stretched toward distant mountains. It wasn't an ocean, but it was still and it was blue until the sun went down, then the water got black like the night sky. That was where he'd spent most of the evening sitting, out on the dock with a beer curled tight in his fist. He watched the water, and he figured maybe another beer might help the ache that was beginning to cause a twinge in the muscle of his thigh. Maybe he wanted something stronger, but he thought that he'd save the pills for after dinner, or until he just couldn't stand the company of his sisters with much more of a sober mind.

Fish caused ripples in the black water, and it disturbed that pristine reflection of the sky so that all of the stars seemed to shiver outwards. There were headlights climbing down the long drive to the front of his cabin, and Declan could see them from where he sat at the dock. He sipped the last of his beer and started for the house, coming on through the back and striding through the expansive living room. He opened the front door before Clementine could reach it, glancing beyond her to the red truck that was parked in his driveway.] That new?

[He wore baby blue with sleeves that stretched long, his blue jeans were a few shades darker than the shirt. The mountains and the lake kept everything a lot cooler up here than when down in the city, and it wasn't a trial to wear sleeves in August after the sun went down. He looked down at the bag she carried with her, his frown was slight and immediate. Of course, he remembered that she wanted to stay, that he'd teased her about maids making up the room. Declan really needed to stay off of the journals when he was in the deep end of some muscle relaxers. It made him too genial, he decided.]

No Sylvie yet. [A beat, and then he gestured for her bag because he might have been a grouch, but he was a grouch that was raised right.] Let me carry that.

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Re: Marvel, Saranac Lake: Sylvie & Dec & Clem

sylvan
2015-08-15 08:27 am UTC (link)

[Clementine, she never did expect Declan to offer to come fetch her. She didn't even expect her brother to send a car any, even though the man could afford it better than she could afford renting the truck. But Declan, he'd never been the kind of man to coddle. Drove her mad as could be when she was young, and he wouldn't give her a lick of smothering, not like everyone else. Truth was, Clementine always did love smothering, adoring. She wasn't sure she'd go calling it love, but it sure was attention and plenty of it.

But she didn't mind the driving. She'd listened to music the whole drive, old things reminded her of home, and she'd sung with the windows open and her heart full in it.

There was things she missed from before the hotel, from Vegas, and feeling free enough, carefree enough to sing real loud, that was one of them things. She missed Graham, how things were then. She missed Jude like fire, because Jude had sold his soul for her, and that had gone real terrible after. She missed dancing and not giving a good damn, and it was all heavy in the way she sang mournful along that drive.] Rented it, seeing as no one offered to come get me any.

[And wasn't no denying the place was pretty as a picture. Felt like being removed from every damn thing, and she'd liked that more before zombies, but she was still fond some.

The door opening brought her back to the moment, not so lost in thinking, and she looked her brother all up and down.] You always were too damn fine to look at. [Might not be the kind of thing kin said to kin, but her family didn't follow those rules near as well as other kin did.

He gestured for the bag, and she dropped it at his feet. She hugged him after, leaning on into him and pretending she didn't know he got fussy whenever she touched him. She kissed his mouth, and then she stepped back and around him, inside like she was mistress of the place and just come to see it the first time 'round.] Which room's mine? Which room's yours?

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Re: Marvel, Saranac Lake: Sylvie & Dec & Clem

setbacks
2015-08-16 12:49 am UTC (link)

[Compliments in this family toed the line of decency, par for the course when hidden away behind a hedge maze of things unspoken. Hello kisses to the lips, hugs that lingered as touch past convention. It was well suited to their clan and Declan looked at her a little too long without saying anything, just an entertained and potentially smug tilt to his mouth when Clementine skirted him to purvey the large cabin's interior. He collected her bag, hoisting it up with thick knuckles to carry it idle from behind one shoulder, elbow arrowed forward to direct her on an unenthusiastic tour.

The cabin was hardwood floors, deep red oak that shined with affectionate polish. The living room was large with a ceiling that vaulted absurdly high where a chandelier hung, composed of intricately overlaid deer antlers and casting dim light. There was a fireplace, one of many throughout the cabin, although it was naturally left unburning this time of year. There was a carved dining table near some of the expansive windows that overlooked a stretch of trees. Chairs were carved as well, and everything was rough with imperfections. Deep grooves smoothed down and denied splinters. In the center of the table were a couple bottles of wine on ice, but there was bourbon and rye on the counter.

He stepped toward the stairs and set her bag down. He thought about carrying it up, but Declan avoided stairs when he hadn't had any pills yet.] First door on the left is you, and Sylvie if she don't run off. [And he pointed to the open doorway of the guest bedroom.]

You mind your own damn room and stay out of mine. [He sure as hell wasn't telling her where it was, but the upstairs was only one hall, it wouldn't take her long to find if she had an itch to do so.]

Now, come on. You need something to drink while we wait on the brat?

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Re: Marvel, Saranac Lake: Sylvie & Dec & Clem

sylvan
2015-08-16 04:51 am UTC (link)

[Clementine got some pleasuring out of Declan's real reluctance to play the gentleman. Carrying the bag, giving her a tour of the place that could only be called a cabin on account of all its wood, it wasn't what he was inclined to do any, and it had always pleased her real well to make him do things he didn't want to do. Might seem strange in other families, with other folks, but there was something about it that made Clementine happy as a bee with a honeycomb. And there wasn't a bit of doubt that the cabin was beautiful plenty. It reminded her of summers in the country, of their daddy's hunting cabin there, the one the man had died in, and she wondered if Declan'd taken this place on account of that.

She stared a spell, and maybe it was too long some, but there wasn't a thing for it.] You take to hunting? [She asked it like it didn't matter any, and like she wasn't thinking of that man dead in a bed, his face smashed in with his hunting rifle. His mention of the sleeping arrangement drew her out of morbid thinking, and she raised a real carefully done blonde brow.] You making me share a room with someone I ain't bedding down with?

[Chuckle, that was what she did when he said she needed to keep on out of his room. She'd do it if she was inclined, or if there was a real good lock on the door. She'd never picked up lockpicking, on account of it being work, common and something that took some setting a mind to without a whole lot of winning involved. It was easier to just pay someone to come change the lock.

She glanced up those stairs, and then she slid her hand low on his back when he offered something to drink, as she moved around him and away from that path leading up.] You got bourbon?

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Re: Marvel, Saranac Lake: Sylvie & Dec & Clem

setbacks
2015-08-16 05:54 am UTC (link)

No. [He watched after her while she looked the cabin over. "Cabin," seemed like a humble term for the standing testament of carved wood and masculinity. There weren't many soft touches. The furniture was stiff leather and the wood floors were exposed without the delicacy of rugs. Despite the antlers that functioned as a modern decoration for the lighting in the living room, Declan didn't hunt.] I never cared for the ineluctable violence of it, something that disheartened our father, I'm sure. [That man had enjoyed the sacrament of a hunt, and he'd tried for years to convert Declan to no avail.]

I prefer fishing. Hunting and I… can't relax.

[Clementine asked about the bourbon and he pointed her toward the counter where a couple of bottles sat, uncracked.] There's ice in the kitchen. [He had no idea how she took her drink. Declan thought that he might stick with beer, and a brief venture to the kitchen allowed him to grab a bottle out of the fridge while he also fetched her a small glass from one of the ornate cabinets.]

Here. [He handed the glass off to her before he twisted the cap off of his beer.] You get shitfaced, and you can sleep on this table. I'm not carrying your ass up those stairs. [Hell, he hadn't even carried her bag.]

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Re: Marvel, Saranac Lake: Sylvie & Dec & Clem

sylvan
2015-08-17 08:23 am UTC (link)

Hunting saved my life some. I ended up in that zombie door, and I was real terrible at being there, but I could still shoot real good. Daddy saw to that. [It was true enough. When she first ended up in the door full of stinking dead folk, she'd been too scared to shoot a thing. But she'd gotten over that when there weren't many folks 'round, that second visit, that one over Valentine's. She'd never been keen on hunting, but her real good aim kept her alive she reckoned.] Bet you're thankful as can be on that count.

[Her grin was teasing, but it wasn't any kind of real taunting. She knew she fussed Declan plenty, but she didn't think the man wanted her dead.] Can't say I care for hunting neither. Ain't just you. Don't care for fishing any, either. Real boring, fishing.

[She walked over to the counter when he pointed out the bourbon, and she looked at the bottles before settling on one and opening it. She poured a few generous inches into the glass he fetched her, and she swallowed it back and felt the smooth burning of real nice liquor.] You think I don't know how to hold my liquor, honey? I was raised southern, and we can hold our liquor real fine.

[She poured some more, and then she took herself to one of them couches before the unlit fire, and she sunk herself down. Truth was, she worked a whole lot these days, and relaxing didn't happen near often enough. It made her itch to get back to her own apartment, being here and sitting quiet. She tipped her head back and closed her eyes, pale blonde fanning over the couch and her slouching down with that glass resting on one thigh.] You come on and tell me stories while we wait on Sylvie.

[She patted the couch, though she reckoned the man wouldn't come sit beside her.]

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Re: Marvel, Saranac Lake: Sylvie & Dec & Clem

sombria
2015-08-17 09:09 pm UTC (link)

[It was well after the sun had dipped beneath the horizon that Sylvie emerged from her Brooklyn studio. Luna had been fed, watered, and she spent more than a few moments just running her hand along the cat's back from ears to tail as she crunched on the dry kibble. It wasn't that she was procrastinating (okay, she was), but family things were never on her list of things that she got really excited for, and this one was bound to be stranger than the last.

The city sky was bright with the evening lights when she finally stepped outside with a helmet under one arm. Declan's place was a while away, but she looked forward to the drive up there, peace and quiet and nothing but her own thoughts to keep her company, and lord knew she had plenty of things to be thinking about lately. And how it would all come out to her siblings, when and if they realized what was going on.

But that was for later to think about, and before long, the road was stretched out behind her as she drove up to Saranac Lake. One stop for a bite to satiate the growing hunger that gnawed at her belly (and a heartfelt apology for the trucker at the rest area who had been so generous with her dinner), and Sylvie let the bike idle in front of the cabin the directions had led to. She killed the engine after a moment and pulled the helmet off, leaving it on the seat of the bike as she dismounted.

Yeah, part of her wanted to turn right back home and just tell them both that she had 'forgotten' or that work had come up or something, but she couldn't just do that, no matter how much she wanted. So she approached, red plaid and grey trousers, and walked up the steps of the porch to the front door. A knock, just a couple raps of her knuckles, and she stepped back, hands tucked beneath her arms as she waited, looking wholly unexcited to be there.

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Re: Marvel, Saranac Lake: Sylvie & Dec & Clem

setbacks
2015-08-17 11:35 pm UTC (link)

[Naturally, Declan didn't go joining Clementine on the couch, obdurate cur that he was. He did, however, circle to the back of the couch, elbows tacking deep in the leather spine near her left. He bent against it, beer bottle dangling from his fingers and dripping condensation onto her shoulder before Declan bothered switching it to the other hand. She demanded a story, and Declan smirked in taking a swig of his beer.] Don't you start in on that until I've had another drink.

[He pressed the cool bottom of that bottle against the back of her neck, an idle tease to pass the time. With any luck, Sylvie would soon arrive, giving Clementine somebody else to go poking at about stories and other such conversational nonsense. And, like producing a very queer rabbit from an old familial hat, Sylvie was suddenly at the door. Declan moved to open it before Clementine could, not that he expected her to feel inspired about rising from the leather. Door open, and he caught Sylvie around the shoulders before she could think about fleeing. He recognized the telltale contemplation of escape in her furrowed brow. Out of all their siblings, Declan figured that Sylvie and himself had a certain penchant for scowling evasion in common.]

Perfect timing. [And he dragged her over the threshold with minimal effort.] Come entertain your sister so she stops pestering me. [He got the little one in a brief hug, casting Clementine a wink from over the top of Sylvie's dark head.]

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Re: Marvel, Saranac Lake: Sylvie & Dec & Clem

sylvan
2015-08-18 05:05 am UTC (link)

[She reckoned the earth would stop turning before that man sat himself down on the couch. Even if he'd been planning on heading right there, to that cushion beside her, the fact she'd asked would've made the thing unpalatable as a sitting place, and Clementine knew it real well. Still, she watched him move and lean, beer bottle dripping like nothing between fingers, and she swallowed down her bourbon and laughed easy at his chastisement 'bout not starting yet.

She was kind enough not to start, not just yet, no pushing for that story as she set her glass aside. He was cooling himself off with a bottle, and she was thinking on shucking her plaid in favor of the black tank beneath. Not that it was horrid warm inside, but she always did run hot when she drank.

It was good timing, that knock at the door, and Clementine just laughed as Declan moved. Clementine, she did move, but it wasn't to open the door. She didn't think on crossing the room to do that, and that was probably too many servants and too much loving on folks doing things for her. But she did move, fingers working at plaid and letting it hang open over black trimmed with pretty lace.

Delcan hugged Sylvie, and it had been so damn long since Clementine had seen the dark little girl her daddy made himself. She remembered Sylvie quiet, not much caring for all the things that Clementine thought were pretty, but the girl hadn't rubbed her wrong. Maybe it was a thing 'bout all those children born on the wrong side of the blanket feeling a fondness, something tying them together in the face of those Murphy children with right bloodlines.

But she knew, too, that Declan and Sylvie, they had their own kind of close, on account of Clementine's momma being their daddy's official mistress, included in the will and with holidays shared and all. But, it was still nice, and Clementine was feeling partial to kin these days.]

Declan won't tell me even one damn story, Sylvie. Man's just awful as a host. [She grinned, and she set herself back down on the couch.]

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Re: Marvel, Saranac Lake: Sylvie & Dec & Clem

sombria
2015-08-24 07:36 pm UTC (link)

[Well, that took care of that. She had wondered, idly, how she was going to explain why she needed an invitation over the threshold, but there was no resistance given when he dragged her over, and Sylvie? She let herself be dragged with only a moderate amount of grumbling. There wasn't even much grumping at the hug that followed after, and even though she might have been wearing a scowl like it was her favourite accessory in the world, she gave him a hug back, brief and tight before she squirmed away and attained the appropriate amount of personal space once more.]

If you think I've come here to be the evening's entertainment, I think you're going to be disappointed. [She gave him a lift of her brows before looking over towards Clementine, a wiggle of her fingers before she went and flopped on the leather couch with little regard taken to being gentle or ladylike.

Dark hair and pale skin, that pale was something unnatural, something that even makeup didn't do a good job at hiding. But she could explain it away, if they started asking too many questions. Or at least she'd try explaining it away.]

You expect him to be a good host? [It was asked to Clementine as she squirreled back into the corner of the couch, one leg tucked up beneath the other, narrow and dark.] You do know who you're talking about, right?

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Re: Marvel, Saranac Lake: Sylvie & Dec & Clem

setbacks
2015-08-25 08:44 am UTC (link)

[He shut the door when Sylvie claimed the couch in a flop of skinny limbs. Truly, it wasn't a very polite or ladylike means of approach furniture, but she managed some degree of femininity with narrow legs that flexed and tucked. It seemed foul to curse at femininity, even if femininity was dragging her shoes all up on the couch without a damn care for the leather. Declan frowned, and he drank from his beer bottle as the two got their kicks in in regard to his lousy hosting abilities.]

Keep it up, and I'll toss both your pretty butts out of that door. [He'd do it too. Those blue eyes said so from above the next tip of his beer. And then, he drew back to regard the bottle in his hand.] Would you like something to drink, Sylvie? [There was beer in the fridge, wine on the artisan dining table, and some of the harder stuff that Clementine was apparently fond of on top of the counter.

Speaking of being a lousy host, Declan squared his jaw while contemplating.] I didn't plan anything for dinner, so... [Cheers to liquids, he polished off what was left in the bottle.]

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Re: Marvel, Saranac Lake: Sylvie & Dec & Clem

sylvan
2015-08-25 09:05 am UTC (link)

[Clementine, she hadn't seen Sylvie in so damn long that she didn't even question how pale her half-sister was. Clem'd been self-absorbed as sirens young, and she hadn't paid enough attention to her half-sister to go noticing. Now, she just watched as the girl flopped herself down on the couch, and she noticed how Declan didn't fuss at her a lick. She chuckled at that asking about Declan being a good host, and whether or not Clementine was expecting him to be.] Honey, I know better than that. Whole point of coming to see Dec is to annoy him something fierce, and it ain't got a thing to do with his hospitality. [She looked on over at their brother.] And I can count on the man to have himself some real nice beds in this place.

[Now, she wasn't fool enough to think Declan wouldn't toss them right on out, but it didn't mean Clementine would go real easy.]

I don't even think this man's joking about food. Good thing there's delivery, even way out here, for the right price. Or do you got yourself a stocked fridge and real expensive stove that none of us know how to use any, sugar? [Truth was, the more she drank, the less she wanted eating any. The more she drank, the more that real soft bed upstairs would be calling her name. She held out her glass, real curious if Declan would take it to refill it. He was offering something for Sylvie, after all, and Clementine, she was learning herself the lay of the land.]

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Re: Marvel, Saranac Lake: Sylvie & Dec & Clem

sombria
2015-08-28 04:19 pm UTC (link)

[At the mention of nothing planned for dinner, Sylvie quirked a half-grin towards the man.] So you go inviting us over and don't even plan anything? Award for worst host, right here. [But it was said with that half-smile of hers as she eyed the wine on the table, wondering how it'd sit with her.] I ate on the way up, anyways. But wine. Glass, please?

[A hand was held out, slender and pale, eyes turned towards Declan expectantly for a moment before she cast a glance towards Clementine where she sat and drank.] So. Been a while. Sorry for not keeping in touch, blah blah blah.

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Re: Marvel, Saranac Lake: Sylvie & Dec & Clem

setbacks
2015-09-01 10:57 pm UTC (link)

[Declan was willing to take the crown for worst host. Clementine might recall that this wasn't exactly his idea, but he'd gone along with it with his usual degree of non-gusto. As long as Declan didn't counter something with vehement denial, it was practically a state of agreement. The occasional sour expression was just par for the course. He wasn't some kind of robot that could just smile all the damn time. The prospect of being the worst of anything was more relieving than daunting, because being the worst meant not having to try.

Despite that, he did pour Sylvia a glass of wine. And he topped off Clementine's glass of bourbon when it got low. The first of many refills.

It would be late when the evening was called to an end, when Clementine was pushed off to bed, and Sylvie was nudged out the door. Declan cleaned up the glasses, and he finally got to take his pills when he was sure that he was alone. He went and sat out on the front porch to wait for the medicine to kick in, sat in a wooden rocking chair and enjoyed the crisp night air while the pills turned gentle in his blood, making the idea of stairs bearable.]

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