A New Life: Action

David let out a yawn as he rolled out of his room, heading for the kitchen to grab something to eat before getting ready for work.

He stopped suddenly, looking into the kitchen. The fridge was open, and someone - a girl someone - was peering inside of it. He couldn't see who it was, since the fridge door was blocking her, but whoever it was had on boyshort underwear and what looked like a t-shirt of Bruce's.

Just as he was about to say something, the girl stood up and closed the fridge. As she turned slightly, David saw that, yes, she was wearing Bruce's shirt, and that she was Andi Gentile.

"Um, hi?" he said, still trying to process everything, as they both caught each other's eyes.

Bruce opened up the door to the apartment with a yawn. Blah. I need a Coke, immediately. "David, are you here?" he yelled out without actually looking into the apartment.

David pushed open the door to his building as Mari sat in his lap, leaning against his side. So far, the night had gone great, even if he didn't really like the dinner all that much. The sake was pretty good, at least. But he still wished the restaurant had some American food.

He headed slowly through the hallway and glanced down as the flourescent light up ahead had caught the gold on Mari's necklace that he'd given her earlier.

"The necklace looks great on you," he told her, giving the side of her face a soft kiss.

Bruce opened the door to the apartment and closed it with a small smile. He glanced at his phone calendar. Right. Work isn't until two. I can totally catch up on sleep.

But a sound startled him and Bruce looked up quickly. "David? I thought you'd already be at work."

With a sigh, Mari picked up the remote and clicked off the television. "David. It's not that I don't love being with you and hanging out and letting a comfortable silence fall between us. But seriously. What is wrong?"

David headed into his building, feeling releived to have gotten off work early after what felt like a really long week there.

He fumbled for his keys, then, just as he was about to put the key in the front door lock, he heard muffled yelling from inside the apartment.

With a groan, he leaned forward, resting his head against the door.

It was hard to tell exactly what they were saying, but he'd heard enough of their fights to be able to mostly figure it out.

He reached into his pocket for his phone, thinking maybe he could just call Mari or Howie or somebody to hang out with instead of going inside, when he started hearing his name in the fight. That wasn't too surprising, Sherry often got on Bruce for hanging out with him too much and staying up too late playing video games. But he wasn't hearing any of that in there, he didn't hear any of the usual words like 'video games', 'gay', '3am', or anything else that was typically in arguments over him.

What he was able to pick out through the wall was words like 'uncomfortable' and 'weird'.

He unlocked the door and started to open it, now just feeling curious.

It was an unusually warm day in the city, and David was sitting on a bench in Riverside Park with Mari, looking out at some kayakers on the water.

"I bet I could do that," he said, pointing out at them. "Kayaking. Maybe we should try it sometime, once the water warms up more."

From: hmzweig@freenet.de
To: thescherminator
Subject: Hello!

I hope this is the right Bruce Schermerhorn. This is Hanne, from Berlin. I'm working at one of the universities in Austria now, and they're sending me as a representative to a few universities in New York City, which is where I heard you're living now. I'll be flying over on 26 March, staying for about three weeks. Would love to meet up with you if possible.

Email back to confirm that this is the correct Bruce, and we can exchange details.

Love from
Hanne x

Sherry was peacefully working away on some paper or something in the bedroom, and Bruce idly flipped through their channels (which reminded him that he needed to speak to his roommates about chipping in to get some freaking cable already, seriously. And how about some real internet while they were at it, instead of depending on Mr and Mrs Upstairs not to secure their connection. Or tell them to upgrade their internet connection, because it was shitty), enjoying the relative peace of the apartment and his thoughts rabbiting all over the place.

And then the door opened, and when he saw it was David, his thoughts centered. "I believe this belongs to you," he said flippantly, shooting a bra he presumed to be Mari's at David's head. "Sherry says it's not hers."

"Ok, we're in my dorm, are you going to tell me what's up now?" Jamie asked David as she held open the door to her dorm room for him. "You and the domestic life partner have a fight or something?"

"No," David told her, feeling annoyed with her just within the twenty minutes since she'd picked him up at the train station.
( Read more... )

"I swear," David said in between kisses. "I really did invite you over to watch a dvd. It wasn't just for this."

He was lying on his back on his couch, Mari on top of him, making out while a dvd of 'Bones' played in the background.

"This is better than a dvd though," he assured her as the scarf she was wearing brushed up against his face.

Lindsey paused at the gift shop for a moment. There was a book in there that looked kind of cool. No! Don't get distracted! Lindsey silently lectured herself. She was here to meet David and not get distracted by something she really didn't need.

Pushing herself on, Lindsey spotted David and hurried over to him.

"Hey David," she said, bending over to give him a hug.

David didn't want to admit it, but he was a little freaked out after getting the Haunted New York tour.

However, seeing Mari giving the tour had been great. Even if he was pretty sure he'd have some kind of nightmare later on tonight.

"You did great," David told Mari. He reached up and took her hand a moment, realizing once their hands touched that his was a little clammy.

Ellie downed her coffee and sighed, rubbing her eyes. She'd been either hunched over a computer or sleeping for basically the past three weeks, and she was still no closer to either breaking up with Jay or to capturing the woman (surprisingly) who was harassing this poor high school kid. "Fuck," she muttered, sitting up straight and stretching.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out. "Hey David," Ellie greeted him, yawning slightly.

Bruce flopped down onto the couch and kicked his shoes off. "Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-viiiiiiiidd," he yelled towards his roommate's door. "You hoooooooooome?"

"That was actually really good," David said as the waiter cleared their empty plates, giving them a few minutes to decide if they wanted anything else. "Wasn't sure what to expect with that meal, but I liked it."

Grinning like an idiot, David pushed open the door to his apartment and headed inside. I'm going out with Mari this weekend. I'm going out with Mari this weekend.

"Hey," he said, greeting Bruce and Sherry who were both in the kitchen fixing dinner. "How's things going?"

It had taken every ounce of self-restraint Mari had to not chainsmoke the entire way to Rose. I am trying to quit, she reminded herself sternly every time her hand clutched the pack.

That, and she didn't want to stink of smoke the first time she met David in five years.

She took a deep, shaky breath, and crossed her arms, looking - but trying not to look like she was looking - for David in the crowd.

David headed into the apartment, having just finished with his first physical therapy appointment at the new clinic he was going to in the city.

"Hey," he said, waving his hand in greeting to Bruce and Sherry, who were on the couch in the living room. He continued on into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. Therapy had been rough, the last time he'd gone in for therapy was back in Florida just before he'd left there. Between moving and finding a new clinic to go to, he hadn't exactly stuck to his 'once a month' appointments, so today's had to make up for missing some.

"You guys both off today?" he called out to them as he grabbed the bottle, along with an apple, and shut the door to the fridge.

It had been a long, stressful, sucky day, but at least it was a normal shift. Ellie sighed and kicked off her shoes by the door. She ducked into her room, changed into her pajamas and laid down on her bed, cell phone in hand. She started to dial Jay, and then ended it. And then she started to call Stacey - but then she ended it.

Maybe I should see if Lindsey's in? Ellie started to sit up - and then laid back down.

And then she dialed David and actually let it ring.

Congratulations, Logan and Annie!

The Lion's Head Tavern in Morningside Heights is the scene for the shindig; Dawn (and Richard and Sharon) rented the private party space, decorating it with a ceiling of silver balloons, their strings hanging down like a canopy of silver streamers. With orchid lights hung around the room, there is a slightly romantic vibe...though there are also two large HDTVs playing the Saints/Vikings game and a bar, which brings things back down to earth. It's an open bar for beer and there are appetizers available, though if you want a meal, you need to grab the waitress and order it yourself.

Logan and Annie are already there--Mary Anne would rather swallow glass than walk into an already-packed room and have all eyes bore on her--but with SHSers, friends from college, some of his minor-league teammates and some of her friends from the city, the place is hopping with tons of people to talk to. Between the exciting football game, the beer, and the happy occasion...there's a lot of great energy going here.

If your character is in attendance, add their name to the tags...and as always, have fun!

"Well, dudes!" Howie announced firmly, setting down the sticks for the Rock Band drums delicately and then exuberantly knocking on one of Bruce's knees, then one of David's. David couldn't feel it, he knew, but at least he could see it and wouldn't feel left out.

"I gots to get some shaving done if we are going to this engagement dealie tonight. Ya mind if I use your bathroom, yo?!"

As soon as Sherry closed the door behind her that morning, Bruce's eyes flew open and he flung the covers off the couch.

He swung his legs off the couch and padded to David's room and pounded on the door. "Davidddd... Are you awake?"

( To the bride and groom, Anne Spier and Logan Bruno )

( The following people received this invitation )

Bruce paused Kingdom Hearts 2 as the front door opened and David came in. Damn you, Hollow Bastion! "Hey man, you caught me at a great time because I am about to throw this fucking game out the window. I thought I was within twenty hours of finishing it, and I'm already up to hour nineteen and I've still got two more levels."

He put down the controller and moved to the couch. "On the bright side, we've got the apartment to ourselves, 'cause Sherry's gone out with some of her freaky friends for the night. You know, I think we might actually last, we've been excellent this week."

Stop blabbering, Schermerhorn. You're overcompensating.

David threw open the door to their building, letting out a frustrated grunt as he tried to get his wheels over the threshold. It was something that hadn't been a problem in the week that he'd lived there, but now in the state of mind he was in, everything seemed harder. In his head, all he could see was his bedroom, and all he could think about was how much he wanted to be shut up in there alone for god only knew how long.

Work had sucked, more than he even thought it would. He'd been able to put on a good front most of the day, but on the inside, he was miserable.

He hesitated a moment as he got outside the door to the apartment. He hoped that maybe Bruce and Sherry had gone out somewhere, and that he could be alone. He hated that there was no way to tell if they were there or not until he actually went inside.

He took a deep breath, still fighting off the tears that had been threatening their way out all day, and then opened the door.

Bruce and - unfortunately - Sherry were on the couch in the living room, watching tv. He glanced towards them for a moment, knowing he should at least say something, but couldn't bring himself to do so. He quickly turned in the direction of his bedroom and made it in there as quick as he could, slamming the door behind him.

Bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet to combat the NYC chill, Howie pressed the buzzer for David and Bruce's apartment six or seven times in succession. At least he was pretty sure this one was David and Bruce's apartment. He had buzzed someone else first - how could he be expected to remember apartment numbers!?

He hoped David or Bruce was home. Perhaps he should have called first before venturing into the cold.

Well. Except he didn't know where his cell phone was, yo.

David rolled out of he bathroom, dressed in a hoodie and jeans, with a towel draped around his neck from the shower he'd just taken. He'd spent the whole morning unpacking, and finally felt like he'd made a dent in things.

Of course, the 'whole morning' was really just the two hours he'd been awake, since he and Bruce had been up til 2:30 in the morning playing Wii Sports. But he still felt accomplished.

Just as he was about to head into the kitchen, he did a double-take, seeing Sherry sitting on the couch watching tv. He knew she was home but she'd been in her room ever since he'd woken up, they hadn't even talked. Which was fine by him, but they were living together, he figured he should put forth some effort towards her.

"Hey," he said to her.

David grinned, spotting Lindsey walking into the pizza place where he'd suggested for the two of them to meet. He called out her name and waved to her, then rolled out from behind the table as she got closer.

"Oh man, it's so good to see you again," he said, extending his arms for a hug.

Bruce flopped down on the couch next to Sherry and squeezed her knee. "Hey. Dinner was good."

"Thanks," Sherry replied, stiffening slightly as she heard David roll into the room. "Did you enjoy dinner, David?" she asked slowly and loudly. "Ow!"

Bruce, whose elbow was deep in her ribs, coughed loudly.

"Okay, don't laugh at the uniform," Ellie said as soon as David let her into the apartment. "Because I just worked a twelve hour overnight shift and I definitely need coffee before I can take any more ribbing." She took off her hat and shook her hair loose as she also shed her coat.

"You didn't tell me he was handicapped," Sherry hissed in Bruce's ear as Bruce dropped another box in David's room. He sighed loudly and rolled his eyes at his - wife.

"Is that a problem, Sherry? By the way, how's your job and studies as a social worker going?" Bruce asked pointedly, taking the glare easily.

"You know that's not what I mean."

"Of course not. David's cool, okay? What are you so freaked about?" Bruce watched Sherry tug at the ends of her hair for a moment before she opened her mouth and replied,

"Well, what if he needs, like, help or something, and you're at work?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You're not willing to pull a can off a shelf?"

"No! I mean, yes! I mean, that's not what I mean. Like if he needs... help." She widened her eyes at Bruce as though he was supposed to, like, get something.

"Like what? He can wipe his own ass."

"Whatever."

Bruce opened his mouth to pursue the question, but the front door opened again and he glanced up with a grin. "Hey man. So this is the apartment."