IC Contact

[fiveagainstradley]

You've reached the answerphone of David Allard.
I'm not here right now, so leave a message with your name and number and I'll phone you back as soon as I'm able.

Text|Call|Video|Action

Comments

Action

[fiveagainstradley]

[ It had seemed so simple: inviting Luke's angel friend over to show her the flat; bringing her into each room in turn, ending up all three of them in the bathroom; closing the door to show her the nifty towel rack hanging from the back of it. Then the door wouldn't open again. ]

I swear this doesn't normally happen.

[ David tugs on the door some more, throwing all his weight behind it, but it won't budge. ]

Action

[justamessenger]

Have you tried jiggling the doorknob? Sometimes that helps. There's also a thing with credit cards that people do in movies but I've never actually managed it myself.

Action

[infernoandhearth]

I think a credit card might only work with latches that actually lift... [But what does he know, really? He walks over turns the knob, and tries to force the door himself. Then he kneels down, jiggles the knob, and turns it a few more times, checking to see if the latch is moving as he does. Finally, he stands again and does his best to lever the pins out of the hinges.]

Either this is a curse, or it's the landlord's way of punishing me for squatting so many times.

Action

[fiveagainstradley]

I don't have a credit card anyways.

[ He sits on the closed toilet seat, letting Luke have his go at the door. ]

Oh, maybe this is my first curse!

Action

[justamessenger]

[Cool Dulcie is going to join you on the edge of the tub.]

In which case, this is a nice one to start off with. I can think of a lot worse than getting trapped in a bathroom with two other people.

Action

[infernoandhearth]

Very true. [Getting down on his stomach, he checks on the gap between the floor and the bottom of the door, and then walks over to take a look at the bathmat. Seems clean enough. Folding it a couple of times, he steps over the rim of the tub and lies down in the tub, sticking the mat behind his head as a pillow.] What do you think, David?

Action

[fiveagainstradley]

I think... you're both perfectly nice people to be stuck in a bathroom with.

Action

[justamessenger]

Really? That's totally sweet of you to say, David.

Action

[infernoandhearth]

David's like that. [A brief moment of being very earnest.] How long do you expect we'll be in here? A day? Did you eat before coming in?

Action

[fiveagainstradley]

Oh, yes, that's a good question. I had some lunch and--

Who's going to feed Chew? [ He stands, knocking on the door and calling for the dog. ] Chew? Are you alright? Hang in there okay, be good and try not to mess anything up.

Action

[justamessenger]

[Dulcie stands again and moves to the door next to him, leaning into it with both hands.]

My vorp isn't working either. Poor doggy. Oooh, maybe you can call someone to come get him? I'd say they could let us out too but Imma thinking this may not be anything a key will solve.

Action

[infernoandhearth]

[Chew walks over outside, meanwhile, and his claws rattle along the door as he paws at it. PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT HIM. Luke just kind of looks sideways.] Yes, all the regular pathways are missing. I'm sure there's someone not locked in a room?

[infernoandhearth]

[Thankfully, neither David nor Luke are cursed today, which is good, as it means it's only a matter of avoiding being talked to all that much. Indian takeout bag in hand, Luke leads the way into Xanadu, as there's bound to be somewhere terribly interesting there.]

I do hope no-one makes a comment with any sort of wide range. [Oh, hello, what's that? Luke makes a left turn into an opening in a hedge.] On the weather, or on how all men are pigs, or something like that. [It leads to a sort of hedgey clearing, and Luke makes a beeline for the opposite exit.]

[fiveagainstradley]

No, that would definitely ruin things. [ David sniffs at the bag he's holding, the unfamiliar smell of curry tickling his nose and making his stomach grumble. He follows Luke through the gardens, off the beaten path into dimly lit sections where the plants have begun to grow over old swing sets and slides. They're in some sort of abandoned playground, it would seem. ]

[infernoandhearth]

[Luke wanders right through the swings, pushing one of them into a creaking sway, and one-handedly climbs a ladder onto a wooden platform with a slide at the other end. He has to push some vines off of it to clear a sitting place. It's all still green here, where they've found themselves. Patting the platform beside himself, Luke starts the business of tearing open the bag and setting containers in a central area.]

This is nice. I wonder if it was made, old, or if it used to be someone's.

[fiveagainstradley]

[ David walks his way up the slide, tossing his bag up top once it becomes too steep for one hand. ] Dunno. It looks old, like it hasn't been used in years. Are there many children in the City to play on it?

[ Once on the platform, he kneels next to Luke and looks at the food in front of them. ] So, what've we got?

[infernoandhearth]

Not all that many, I suppose. [It's getting dark. It's going to be difficult to see in a moment, which is exactly why Luke snaps a sort of will o' the wisp into life, hovering up above their 'table'.]

Shahi murgh korma, tikka masala, butter chicken--those are all chickens--a beef vindaloo, and I got naan bread and rice because I think you'll need both, and there's a decent amount of sauce. You'll want to start with the butter chicken and work your way up to the vindaloo. [He's been opening the lids off of steaming containers as he names them.] I suppose I might have ordered a vegetable but I didn't see the need. Oh, right, and: pakoras.

[He takes those and the forks, spoons and napkins out of the bag and then unfolds paper plates from his jacket pocket. It's probably juuuuuust enough food for them. Luke, naturally, goes straight to heaping vindaloo onto his plate. He's always regretted that Scandinavian cuisine was as comparatively bland as it was. He didn't quite wish to be an Indian god, but he did prefer the spice over the salt.]

[fiveagainstradley]

[ David stares absently at the dishes, then tentatively reaches for the most familiar item-- bread. Er, naan. Ah, who is he kidding, it's bread. He takes some naan and some rice and a bit of the butter chicken, which is... actually quite good. He takes more now that he's confirmed he likes it. ]

This is good! [ He smiles at Luke, liking the way his little light makes his ginger hair glow red. He's doing that thing again where David can't quite tell whether he looks very old or very young, the way he does when he's not concentrating on looking any certain way, David knows. It's a good night, David thinks. Things have been good between them ever since that weekend, when Luke made him feel loved even as a girl. Even through the mess of maybe being engaged or pregnant, there was still-- is still-- Luke and David, the two best mates who care more for each other than the whole wide world. That's what tonight is really about, David thinks; not about introducing David to ethnic food, but about being the two of them just together. ]

[infernoandhearth]

It is, isn't it? [Luke does mean the food, of course, but also just this, this little dinner adventure between the two of them. He doesn't tend to love by halves, he puts all of himself into anyone he finds that he can trust. And David is the very first to have chosen, all by himself, to support Luke, no matter what, not letting a thing anyone else orders get in the way.

Luke hasn't trusted like this since he was very young, and he would never have assumed he'd find such loyalty in a human. Not even that, a young human, fully aware of what Luke had done. David doesn't even properly understand just how much Luke owes him.]

What do you think Mrs Thirsk would have made of Indian? [He grins, highly amused by the concept, and mops up the rest of the sauce on his plate with some naan.]

[fiveagainstradley]

Probably runny orange sauce with chewy, flavorless chicken. That is, if she allowed it anywhere near her kitchen.

[ David moves on to the next dish, and the next, before deciding that the rest is probably too spicy for him. Still, he enjoys what he does eat, and heaps pile upon pile of rice onto his sauce to scoop up with the naan.

Later, when all the food's gone, David lies on his back on the platform, looking up at the moon through the trees. ]

It's a nice night out, tonight.

[infernoandhearth]

I doubt she would at all. Perhaps I ought to have spilled curry powder in a meal while I had the chance.

[Luke easily finishes off everything David doesn't eat, and burns the garbage after them in a sort of easy cleanup. He watches David in the moonlight a moment, once David lies down, and then smiles, and lies down beside him, taking his hand easily.]

It is, even if Xanadu is cheating the seasons a little. Not that I mind in the least.

[fiveagainstradley]

[ David laughs at the thought of spilled curry powder in Mrs. Thirsk's cooking. He rubs his thumb along the inside of Luke's palm and smiles. ]

I don't mind the cheating either. We couldn't do this if it were cold.

[infernoandhearth]

Oh, I don't know, I think we'd find a way. [He rolls into his side, moving their grasped hands up between them to better mould himself to David's side.] I'm a fire god, remember. I've all sorts of ways for keeping people warm.

[fiveagainstradley]

Yes you do at that. [ David smiles into Luke's hair, kissing the top of his head. ]

Action;

[infernoandhearth]

[On Wednesday, Luke joins the crowds in handing David an almost entirely white and yellow bouquet, wordlessly. He needn't say anything, of course, the flowers are saying everything for him. Sort of.

Alstroemeria: Devotion, Loyalty
Blue Violet: Faithfulness
Deep Pink Rose: “Thank you for being in my life”
Dwarf Sunflower: Admiration, Gratitude
Fraxinella: Fire
French Willow: Bravery and Humanity
Ivy: Friendship
Lily of the Valley: Return of Happiness
Peach Rose: Appreciation
Yellow Rose: Happiness, Affection, Joy
Yellow Tulip: Hopeless Love

There's quite a lot of all of them.]