The library's ground level is one large room punctuated by even rows of pier columns that confidently hold the weight of the upper floors. The building is old but solid, its lath and plaster walls dark with age. Here and there some of the plaster has worn off to reveal the wooden slats beneath. Heavy, dark grained and decorated mahogany wainscoting runs the length of the walls, complimented by thick, ornate crown molding along the ceiling and each of the columns. It's clear from the dilapidated condition that the building's been abandoned for decades. There is a somber, sepulchral quietness to the place, even when alive with people, that is perhaps a ghostly echo of the rigid, required silence that its wardens demanded when the library was in its heyday.
Compact is the word for him: wiry, maybe 5'6" in his beat-up black combat boots, with a sense of compressed energy and imminence like a coiled spring -- or a cocked gun. Never quite still for long, balance flowing through the balls of his feet. There's a striking intensity to his narrow blue-green eyes, the colour contrasting with his fair skin and spiky copper hair; just below the left is what at first appears to be a faint mole, but closer inspection reveals as a small, long-healed scar. His features are appealing, with high cheekbones and a good jawline, but it's the confident mien and roguish smile that most often seem to draw people in.
He's in old black jeans with the rip in one knee and the cuffs half walked off, today with a blue t-shirt bearing the superman logo, the print very faded and the fabric looking thin enough that it may have genuinely gotten that way through time and not retro-merchandising. The shirt's rather snug in a flattering sort of way. Over it he's wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, unbuttoned, with a scattered pattern of tiny blue and red dolphins; he's also in possession of a pair of white plastic wayfarer-style sunglasses with iridescent indigo lenses. There's a couple leather-and-bead bracelets on one wrist and a length of ball-chain disappearing beneath his collar; his nails were apparently painted black some time ago, since they're starting to show chips. Late teens, most likely, and when he speaks it's in a mellifluous, southern-accented baritone voice.
Shaggy brown hair and darker brown eyes frames this young boy's face. Justin has a slightly tanned complexion with a hint of Puerto Rican from his mother's side, Caucasian from his father's. He has a fairly lanky build that could use a bit of bulking up as he is built like a high school track runner. He wears loose fitted 'destroyed' blue jeans, simple tank tops, and worn down sneakers that are about five months in need of replacement, and during the cold, a thick green military jacket from his Grandpa. He looks like your average, ordinary American young teen that plays outside and is fairly active. Tall at five foot ten, he is a few inches higher than most his age for now.
Thick honey-blonde hair, styled in a poofy set of curls, rings this pretty blue-eyed young woman's head. She's in her late teens, and her hair's currently left down, though it's occasionally pinned up. She stands about five and a half feet tall, and is a little on the thin side of things, though not to an extreme. She dresses mostly in informal styles, from ripped jeans and tank tops to the occasional sundress.
Currently, she wears the former, her black tank top emblazoned with a large sequined red heart, and her jeans so ripped as to be nearly indecent. About half of the heart's sequins are missing. Her feet are clad in red strappy lightly-heeled sandals that have seen better days. She wears little in the way of jewelry, just a black wooden bracelet, a stainless steel and rhinestone mood ring, and (probably fake) gold earrings. When she speaks, a fairly thick Southern accent is evident.
Felix is sitting crosslegged on a table, playing his guitar; there's a mostly-empty bottle of what actually looks like a fairly good sort of scotch sitting nearby, as well as something large and lumpy wrapped up in a plush-looking green towel. "The people I meet always go their separate ways / sometimes you tell the days by the bottle that you drink / and times that you're alone all you do is think," he sings, and breaks off, fingers continuing while he complains, "FUCK I miss my electric. Gotta do somethin' 'bout that."
Lilah's humming along softly with the music, though she attempts to keep her voice lower than Felix's. Harmonizing rather than taking over. She's leaned back against a nearby wall, a cushion beneath her, and grins as he talks about missing his electric. "We'll getcha one at some point. I ain't got the cash right now, but mebbe if I work s'more hours..." She shrugs, and leans her head back against the wall. "I mighta had a little too much," she admits, probably not talking about the hours.
Heading into the library from the street facing door is Justin. Today he is wearing a pair of loose cargo shorts that is tied to his waist with a half dozen zipties, and a sleeveless tanktop with the words: Murica' F-YEAH written across it in patriotic colors. His hair is now shaggy and long, almost to his shoulders. But, at least he is clean! Also, he got some AXE bodyspray on so he is surely beating the ladies off that are giving chase behind him, right? "Whaddup bitches?"
"Well, can y'still walk?" Felix asks Lilah, sounding fairly unconcerned, "...I'll hit the pawns and see how much I gotta get hold of. 'less I can find one just waitin' for me somewhere." He looks to the door at the flicker of movement that is the beginning of Justin's entrance, and grins, lifting his chin to his packmate in greeting. "'sup?" he replies, and sets the guitar aside in favour of pulling out his cigarettes to light one up. "Got somethin' for you."
"I 'ssume so, but let's not be too hasty," Lilah smiles over at Felix, shaking her head. "I got next to NO interest in leavin' this spot. Maybe none at all. An' that's a good idea, 'bout the pawn shops. Give us a target t'aim for." She turns her head to look at Justin as he arrives, giving him a grin and a lazy wave of her hand. "Howdy." She turns to Felix at his last words, and her grin grows wider.
Justin gives a pause at the sight of their grins being passed back and forth to each other. Quirking a brow upwards, he unfolds his arms and gives his shoulders a rocking to loosen them up. "Oh? That's cool. Uh - whatcha get me?" He asks curiously. "Also, whatcha looking to snag from the pawn shops?"
Felix grins back at Lilah, then looks back to Justin and gestures to the towel-bundle with his cigarette. "All nicely wrapped and everythin'," he says, before picking up the bottle and giving the contents an appraising glance before taking a good swallow of them and setting it aside again. "Electric. ...an' an amp, ain't much good havin' one without the other."
"Don't you go an' ruin the surprise by askin'," Lilah says to Justin, wagging a finger in classic 'no no' fashion. "S'a lot more fun to go into stuff not knowin'." Her mood seems to be light and happy, and the scotch bottle probably has something to do with that. Despite claiming she had no urge to leave her spot, she laboriously makes her way to her feet then, and walks over unsteadily to settle into Felix's lap without another word.
Squinting again at the pair, Justin heads over to the towel-bundle of surprise. "Uh.. thanks?" He asks as he starts to unwrap it. "If you're looking for a guitar, I know there is a bunch at the junkyard I can probably fix up for you or something. Or at least throw parts at it until we get it to work. Should not be too hard."
Felix helps Lilah up onto the table and complains not at all about having his lap colonized, wrapping an arm around her waist without comment. "Open it careful," Felix advises, and there's a certain amount of sort of clinky noises when the towel's moved at all which suggest the contents, or at least some of them, are metal. "If you think we could get somethin' workin' from the junkyard stuff, I'm down with that. Amps also?" He rests his chin on Lilah's shoulder, which does require lifting it a bit in the current position, but what the hell. Inside the towel is another lumpy bundle wrapped in (much thinner and older) fabric, and an old leather-covered briefcase-like box. When THOSE are opened, the latter proves to contain a good-sized set of silverware, each in its own place in the case; there's a few serving implements, but also a few pieces missing. The former is a silver teaset, with a teapot, silver bowl, creamer, and tray.
Lilah smiles broadly at Justin's hesitation and squinting, which is entirely comforting, I'm sure. She pats Felix's leg gently, just a general fond gesture, and then nods to his suggestion that Justin open it carefully. "It's mighty kind of you to help fix up stuff for us," she comments, and then quiets to watch his reaction to the gift.
Blinking his eyes at the silverware set, Justin leans back just a bit. "Woah, is uh... is this... real silver?" He asks carefully in a nervous voice as he covers them back up quickly, keeping his voice low as he looks left to right quickly to make sure that they are alone.
"Wouldn't work real well for your silver bear-trap kinda thing if it wasn't," Felix points out; he doesn't seem inclined to lean real close to it either, but maybe that's why the particularly plush wrapping. "I figured you got somewhere to put it 'til then, somewhere in the junkyard maybe? Like I said before, easier to get holda shit like this than that many actual real silver dollars. So, there ya go. Dunno if it's enough, but." He shrugs.
Much as Lilah seemed amused by Justin's squinting worry before, she seems to grow a bit more serious as she watches Justin's reaction to actually seeing the present. She glances over at Felix, looks back to Justin, and says nothing, for the moment. Still, she reaches for the scotch bottle, so she can't be all THAT worried.
Covering the present back up, Justin sobers quickly. "Nah man, we need to sell it and make money off it. Donate it to a homeless shelter or something. Look, I appreciate the offer, but I talk a lot of shit just to hear my own voice. Big dogs find out we got this and we're weaponizing it, they'll come down hard on us. Bad enough we're coyotes, right?" He says as he rubs his nose with the back of his hand.
Felix considers this a moment, and shrugs again. "I don't," he says, "...not a lot, anyhow. Reckon I can figure out where to fence shit hereabouts, though, chances are I was gonna hafta sooner or later. 'less you already know someone good?" Always easier.
"Prolly good points," Lilah says of Justin, presumably, and has a quick swig of the scotch. She gives the two of them a small smile, and tells Justin, "Sorry. We hear you got a plan for this shit, we're gonna try to get it for ya." He's given an apologetic smile in particular, and then she has another drink of the scotch before resting it on the table again.
Giving a wily grin, Justin nods his head. "It's the thought that counts. To be honest, I would /love/ to go ahead with that plan. I really do. I just think if we create a silver toothed bear trap it may cause is more shit in the long run." He picks up the bundle of towels and heads over to one of the filing cabinets he has up against the wall and stuffs it in, then padlocks it. "We can't tell anyone else about this. Stays with us three. I'll poke about and see if I can get someone to buy it. I'm sure there is some old fart in the rich burbs that would pay top dollar for it. I'll ask my connections."
<OOC> Justin has to crawl into bed, will be on all day tomorrow.
<OOC> Lilah: Thanks for the scene!
After Justin heads back out, Felix has another good drink of the scotch, and sighs, though he doesn't sound all that upset. "Oh well," he says, offering Lilah another sip if she's so inclined; otherwise the bottle returns to the table. Another drag off his cigarette, and he exhales away from her -- downwind, even. 'cause he's considerate like that. Sometimes. "I miss havin' connections," he muses, "It's weird, not knowin' who the guy I oughta hit up for somethin' is. Or at least who for sure knows if I don't." A fleeting grin, "...though that was always Jayce, so it weren't exactly a tricky one."
Lilah chews at her lower lip thoughtfully, and kisses the side of Felix's temple. She does indeed accept more scotch, despite having said she's had too much. But hey, she can still walk, sort of, so it's probably fine. She runs a hand through his hair, and admits, "I miss Pegs, sometimes. I was never much for connections, but still. I getcha. As much as I can, anyways." She strokes his arm gently. "You missin' Jayce?"
Felix has to think about that, tilting his head into her hand, and kissing the back of her neck afterward. "...I reckon so, some, yeah. An' the rest of the crew, an' somea the old Sept, a bit. Not makin' me cry at night or nothin'," he notes, derisive of the very idea, "but it's weird hangin' around but not bein'..." He considers. "I dunno. Tied into shit." Another moment of thought. "An'..." Whatever it was apparently doesn't coalesce properly into words, since he gives up on it and kisses her shoulder instead. "You're callin' her an' shit though, yeah?"
Lilah closes her eyes briefly at the kiss to the back of her neck, and she lightly rubs his arm a bit more. "Yeah. Tied into shit's a good way o' puttin' it," she says with a nod. "An' yeah, I call her, but there's a lot can't be said over the phone, an' a lot people won't say over the phone even if it *could* be said. Stuff you only say late at night 'r stoned 'n drunk, stuff you only say to someone *right there.* Y'know?" She shrugs though, and adds, "Ain't cryin' myself to sleep, neither."
Felix nods, smoking quietly for a couple breaths. "Reckon we oughta be findin' you more people 'round here to know? Like, other kin an' all? Gotta be plenty around, right?" Another kiss before he thinks to offer, "You c'n say shit to me if you want. But I reckon most likely you already know that, yeah?" He shifts a little beneath her; with the moon getting the size it is, it's probably more surprising he's been relatively still as long as he has than that he isn't now. "We oughta do somethin'." Which may or may not be related to the rest of the discussion at all.
"Nah, s'okay," Lilah says, and leans back to kiss his cheek. "An' I know that, yeah. It ain't like I need a... I dunno, a shrink 'r somethin'. I don't got a lotta stuff I needa pour out. I just kinda miss 'er, 's all. Not enough to go back, but there ya have it." She smiles at him, and then tilts her head at his suggestion. "Do somethin', huh? Well, I ain't up for *too* much in the way o' physicality. I mean, if it's got a lotta walkin'. But I could try. Whatcha got in mind?"
"Wasn't thinkin' you did," Felix says, "Fuck shrinks anyway. Yeah, though." He tries to shift her position in his lap enough that he can reach her mouth to kiss it. "Well, I was thinkin' something physical," he admits, "Dancin', maybe. Somethin', though, somethin' not sittin' around." He can't help shifting under her some more, leaking excess energy.
"You ever seen a shrink?" Lilah asks curiously. "I ain't. I just know what I see on the TV. Don't seem like somethin' worth the time, to me." She shifts her position with him, to make the kissing that much easier, and when it breaks, she nods. "I like dancin'. We don't gotta sit around." She gets a soft smile as she says, "I liked dancin' with ya the once, after all..." And without another word, she makes her way to her feet.
Felix makes a face. "Schools have 'em, or school districts, whatever. So yeah. They made me do a lot of stupid fuckin' tests. I think mostly they wanted an excuse to put me on drugs so they wouldn't hafta deal with me gettin' in the way." Another shrug, and then quite suddenly a grin, teasing, "...what, just the once? What about the other times?" He helps her to her feet and hops down after her, grabbing the edge of the table when he proves to be a tad less steady on his feet than he expected; it makes him laugh.
Tilting her head slightly, Lilah watches him for a moment, and then leans in to kiss him gently. "Screw 'em, then. You ain't in the way. Ain't *never* in the way." She reaches out to squeeze his hand. At his teasing, she grins right back, shrugging. "They was a'right, I s'ppose," she teases right back, and then giggles at his stumbling, though at least she offers a hand to help steady him. "C'mere, you," she suggests, and moves to pull him a bit away from the table, trying to put his hands around her waist.
"Well. Mama didn't let 'em," Felix says, offhand, another light shrug, and he kisses her back. He seems done with the subject, though, entirely onto the other one once they start it. "Oh, =all right= you suppose!" he says, with overdone mock offense, "I see how y'are. Tch." He lets her put her hands where she wants, stubbing out what's left of his cigarette and then sliding his arms around her waist in return. "So. Reckon we can find somewhere nice'n loud they're gonna let us in easy?"
"Good," is all Lilah has to say about that first bit for now, and apparently it requires a bit more kissage. "I s'ppose," she confirms jokingly, and nods her head. "I mean, I reckon you could upgrade that to 'purty good' if ya really *try.*" She kisses the line of his jaw, just briefly, and then shrugs. "I don't reckon so. But I was thinkin' we'd just dance here. S'quiet. S'all ours for now. 'Sides, I dunno if they'd let me do *this* there..." and she punctuates by nibbling at his neck, running one hand down his chest and over his stomach.
"Well, yeah, that's the problem," Felix complains, when she notes the quietness of their current location. He does seem to think she has something of a point with the just-them part and the maybe-disallowed arguments, hands sliding down to her rear, but doesn't seem convinced, particularly when he adds, "I dunno... ain't never had much of a problem with things like that before." Which is possibly an overstatement, but closer to true than not.
"We're gonna hafta get us a boombox 'r somethin', then. But I like it quiet right now, just you'n me." Lilah wriggles her backside against his hand, and arches a brow at his last statement, grinning fairly wickedly, for her. "Who says I was done already?" she asks, and lets her hand continue to slip downward as she meets his gaze. "I don't reckon we need a club t'have a party."
"Who says that's as far as it ever went?" Felix retorts, giving her the arched brow and wicked grin right back, and a good squeeze along with it. "I know for a fact we're capable of havin' a pretty decent party on our own. But it ain't the same thing. And I want the music." He certainly doesn't interfere with her hand, however.
"Well, now ya got me all curious," Lilah smirks, and presses her hand against him. She sighs, though, and wraps that hand around his waist, when he restates wanting the music. She gives him a peck on the lips, and then says more seriously, though somewhat carefully, "I reckon it ain't necessarily safe. Y'know. All them people, all that noise an' suchlike. Y'sure y'don't wanna just stay here?"
Felix makes a decidedly frustrated noise, letting go of her and stepping away. "=Nothin's= necessarily safe. LIFE ain't necessarily safe," he says, pacing with quick, sharp movements across a portion of the room, and then back, with the general air of a large beast in a too-small cage. He takes his cigarettes out again, lighting up with the same kind of movements, albeit smaller. "It ain't like I been goin' into hidin' half the whole last year an' some, an' there ain't no one hurt any worse'n they would've been the year before that because of it!" Though he doesn't claim there wasn't anyone hurt at all. The Rage and the tight ball of energy that seems to intertwine with it in him are both fairly high, nearly palpable, and he rakes a hand through his hair, although thankfully the empty one. It's also the one that punches the chair he nearly walks into, before he kicks it viciously. The poor chair skitters about six feet, lying on its side when it comes to rest. He stands still for a moment, watching it, and then sighs, dropping into the one that had started out beside it. "Fine."