may we stay lost on our way home [closed]

[peacefulexplorer]

For the life (or death) of him, Daniel can't decide what it is he did to deserve a friend like Seth, who has apparently been devoting time to finding Daniel a new place of residence. What's more, unlike Daniel, it seems like he's actually succeeded in locating something feasible. With some of the creative dodging of the building management he's had to do, it's very likely that Lucy's old place won't be tenable for much longer. It'll be frustrating no longer having friends like Bee or Spike or Melanie in easy reach, but the potential consequences of the Rebels forcibly evicting him or, even worse, deciding he could be an asset of some kind, aren't ones he can afford to ignore.

He's putting a lot of faith in someone else's judgment over a potential new living space, but he trusts Seth. He trusts him, and he likes him, and it'd be nice to have a place Seth could visit once in a while instead of Daniel always crashing at his, if only for reciprocation's sake. He already likes the location, far enough removed from the Rebels or ROMAC's respective bases of operations while still within a reasonable radius in relation to the Rift center. The latter wasn't a necessity, but Daniel more or less feels like he needs to have some means for access to it, if only for the sake of any other rifties who might come through. And it's only a few blocks away from the bookstore he may have landed a job at, no less.

Daniel re-checks the address texted to him by Seth, then crams his phone back into his pocket and waits.

Comments

[powerdealer]

"Well, you mentioned before that you wanted to be close to the Rift," he answers with a shrug. Back when Seth had mentioned he used to live down in the Financial District, wasn't it? So not entirely unintentional. Plus it's a very good neighborhood, and close to the Rift without actually being that close to either faction. He didn't know about the job, though, so that's just lucky. And, well, finding this place was pure luck anyway. Which, they really need all the luck they can get in this ridiculous city.

[peacefulexplorer]

Daniel holds the door open for the place when they get to it, standing back to let Seth go in front of him. It's not the nice, self-brewed stuff he prefers but it's not Air Force day-old grounds either, so Daniel will settle well enough for the heavily branded run-of-the-mill caffeine that places like this will get him.

"I did." He shrugs and orders something simple and black, which is about all he needs and also all about he thinks he can afford. "I feel like that'd, you know, be a good place to be. So yeah, pretty great location on all counts, I think."

[powerdealer]

Seth orders himself an iced coffee, since he could really go for something cold, because as usual for August in New York, it is obnoxiously warm, which is really inconvenient when you insist on permanently wearing long-sleeves. Thankfully Daniel doesn't, so Seth gets the benefit of seeing those nice arms.

"Well, assuming you want to get in the fray rather than just avoid it like I do," he answers with a shrug. Of course they both know he has very legitimate reasons for wanting to steer clear of the Rift and its associated factions. But even though it's reasonably close to the rebel base, the location of the apartment isn't really in an area heavy with rebels, so as long as Seth doesn't take the subway, it's all fine.

[peacefulexplorer]

It's a reasonably occupied space but it's thankfully not overcrowded, so Daniel can easily claim a small table and drum his fingers unconsciously on the edge in anticipation of the soon-to-arrive caffeine.

"Mm." He half-shrugs. "I just think any rifties coming through should, you know, get some awareness before signing up for either faction. Just to know what they're getting into." He's still grateful Lucy didn't make any attempts to press him into either party, and that every rifty he met had been refreshingly honest about the ambiguity of both groups from the get-go so he could avoid involvement.

When the barista calls their respective orders, Daniel hastens to retrieve both, briefly enjoying the disparity of heat versus cold in separate hands before sliding Seth's iced across the table to him. He lifts his paper cup in a vague toast. "I really - can't thank you enough for all of this."

[powerdealer]

Seth nods in agreement. It's definitely a good thing for Daniel to be doing, and if he's capable of it then all the better. Although it's one of the many things that makes Seth feel selfish by comparison, but that's hardly new. The fact he literally just went out of his way to find Daniel an apartment doesn't seem to factor into it. (And if he thought about it, he would just chalk it up to the selfish desire to have Daniel like him.)

"Thanks," he says as he gets his coffee, and immediately takes a nice cooling drink, his face scrunching momentarily at the brief brain-freeze. Not as bad as if he'd gotten a frappuccino, but still.

"Don't worry about it, mate," he answers, once his brain has cleared up. Nice and platonic. He doesn't want Daniel to think it's a gesture of something other then friendship, except for the part of him that does want that.

[peacefulexplorer]

After popping off the lid in a smooth, practiced motion and giving the cup's contents their cursory sniff, Daniel starts gulping down his coffee of moderate quality. It's certainly better than the instant he's been forced to live off of on such a tight budget, and he's had to pare his caffeine intake down considerably to make even that work. His brain has so far not appreciated the reductive budgetary measure and has expressed its displeasure through a stream of eternally fierce, incredibly persistent headaches.

Luckily, today's departure from that minimalized intake has eased the pain in his temples considerably.

"C'mon, you know me." Daniel smiles, warm and wry and implacable in equal parts. "Worry's part of the package. As is - endless gratitude, many promised dinners, and free reign of the coffeemaker I'm definitely getting with my first hypothetical paycheck."

[powerdealer]

"You don't have a coffeemaker?" Seth asks in mild surprise. He would've thought Daniel valued that more than having a bed really, but probably the bed came with the apartment and a coffeemaker didn't. And selling the bed would've been impractical. Still, Daniel's been managing on pretty much no income (something Seth is hardly unfamiliar with), so honestly Seth feels a little guilty even getting a coffee off him, even if it is a gratitude coffee. And it's also why their dinners where Seth pays and Daniel cooks have been pretty beneficial for both of them.

"Maybe I should buy you one as an early housewarming gift," he says, which definitely seems like a good idea. And several bags of grounds. At least that way Daniel could spend his money on things like food rather than his caffeine addiction. Wasting money on an addiction isn't exactly unfamiliar either.

[peacefulexplorer]

"Er - been surviving off instant." He ducks his head ruefully. "Which doesn't technically require a coffeemaker so much as just, you know, an esophagus of steel." It's still several miles better than the poor excuse for the stuff that was always kept specially for briefings. Instant, at least, will taste marginally like coffee, and not sulfuric acid.

"It's been a month of adaptation," he finishes with a noncommittal tilt of his head. "An important phase to partake in when establishing a new life, but now I think I'm ready to move on." More than ready. The building is fine, but Daniel doesn't want to tie himself to the ideology behind its sponsors.

[powerdealer]

"My sympathies," Seth answers playfully in response to the news Daniel's been living off instant. Oh, maybe a French press rather than a coffee maker, you get way better coffee out of that. He's not sure how common that is over here.

The next part brings out a bit more sombreness in him though. Daniel's been here a month now, right?

"You doin' alright with that? Establishing a new life?" he asks seriously. Seth was still having trouble with that idea after being here over a month. Really, it was his failed escape from the city and following imprisonment that really drove home the fact that there was no getting back.

[peacefulexplorer]

"Oh, you know." The subject shift injects a little more solemnity into both of them. It's hard not to think about it now that Seth's brought it up, or rather, followed that particular line of thought to its logical conclusion. Daniel swirls the contents of his mug, and doesn't look up. "I won't pretend I don't miss home."

More specifically his work, and the people he met doing it. Manhattan is full of its interesting quirks, for lack of a better term, and there's no shortage of intriguing events going on at any one time, but compared to literal exploration of the universe and the freedom that allowed him - and the people that had become something of a family to make up for his lack thereof - it isn't quite the same. It probably never will be, though Daniel's started to look at this as more a new stage of his life rather than a temporary diversion from it.

It's where the universe directed him. He isn't really in a position to argue.

"But here's got some nice things too." The smile is a little too forced but the sentiment is genuine. "Can't argue with a universe that has people kind enough to help unfortunate souls like me find living spaces."

[powerdealer]

Seth smiles at that. It's good to know he's making the transition to this universe a bit easier. Lucy probably fits into that category too, having given Daniel her (admittedly free) apartment.

"Well. To be fair, this universe stole me as well, so there's really no guarantee it would have nice people otherwise. You never know, maybe the original residents of this world are all arseholes," he jokes mildly, to keep the conversation from becoming too serious.

[peacefulexplorer]

"Well, true. It isn't completely populated by generally nice individuals."

Like Satan.

Hmm. Let's not think about Satan.

"Either way." He drains half his paper cup in one too-large gulp and sets it down again. "And this is bordering on redundant at this point, but thank you. Would've been a pretty hard month of acclimatization without you." That little moment of unhappy nostalgia lapses into one of cheerful sincerity. "Besides, I've been stuck in worse places a whole lot longer, and with way fewer checks in the plus column."

[powerdealer]

Well, without him there would probably also be a lot less traumatising dreams and painful conversations and having to keep him company while Seth sweated out the morphine in his system... Seth doesn't exactly feel like he's been doing much beyond trying to make up for all the shit. So he shakes his head a little at the umpteenth 'thank you', dismissing it again.

"Pretty sure you would've got by just fine without me. Like you said, you've dealt with worse things," he answers with a smile that isn't quite as cheerful.

[peacefulexplorer]

One eyebrow tilts up in a look that falls between withering and weary. "You know, 'dealing with' kind of roughly equates to the bare minimum? Which this," he caps that off with a small circular wave at their general surroundings, "isn't. It's me actually enjoying where I've ended up, as opposed to simply disliking it on principle." But his smile softens a minute later as he points at Seth from across the table.

"Like it or not, you're a contributing factor. Sorry, that's science. You're just gonna have to accept it."

[powerdealer]

Seth's smile becomes a bit more genuine at that. "Well, how can I argue with science?" he replies.

He straightens up a little, trying to shake his mind out of the self-criticising and wallowing track it keeps ending up on. He knows he's pretty poor company when he does that, and it's hardly Daniel's job to have to keep reassuring him. It's this frustratingly needy strain in him that he keeps trying to quash and never really succeeding. And now he's overthinking it again.

"So, how much stuff do you have that needs to be moved to the new apartment?" he asks, changing the subject. "Considering you don't even have a coffee maker, I'm going to guess: not a lot."

[peacefulexplorer]

Daniel leans back and sips. "It's inarguable," he professes evenly. He considers the next question, dipping his head in acknowledgment that, yeah, he's a little pressed for actual worldly possessions.

"No," he admits. "Uh, some books Lucy left. And - some books Spike has me looking at. Er, not sure if you know him." He chews on the side of his cheek thoughtfully, but can't think of anything else. "Other than stuff like food and clothes, there's really not a whole lot, no. You know, living it large. Moving shouldn't be too difficult."

[powerdealer]

Seth shakes his head a little at the name. He feels like he's heard it before, but he can't quite place it.

"Well, suppose we can find you some furniture on Craigslist or something. Shouldn't be too hard," he answers with a shrug. There's always people looking to get rid of something, the actual challenge is basically just to bring it from one apartment to the other, which is the price you have to pay when getting things free.

"Oh! He punched Johnny!" he exclaims suddenly. That's where he knew the name.

[peacefulexplorer]

"Fair enough." Daniel can be patient when it comes to shifting everything and adjusting and purchasing actual furniture. He's more grateful to be getting out of the Rebel building entirely, which was his first priority.

"Oh. Um." He eyes Seth worriedly, concerned that he may have inadvertently befriended some enemy of Johnny's. "Er. Do I - wanna know why?"

[powerdealer]

"No clue, actually," Seth answers with a frown, taking a sip of his coffee. "Don't think it was a big deal, really. I asked him something about spiking the punch, and he said he'd been punched by Spike." The pun is still awful. "Never got a proper explanation. Bear in mind, Johnny was properly pissed at the time. Drunk." He adds the last bit to make sure Daniel doesn't think he means pissed as in angry.

[peacefulexplorer]

"Really?" The minor swell of anxiety dissolves, and Daniel grins. "I'd like to thank all the circumstances that allowed that little bit of wordplay to be possible. Though if 'spiking' were in full effect, maybe drunk punching should be expected." He pauses, smirk broadening.

"Punch-drunk, you might say." And with a satisfied, unrepentant canting of eyebrows, he finishes off his drink.

[powerdealer]

Seth lets out a groan and gets to his feet. (It's easy enough to hide how his stomach squirms at Daniel's smirk, when he can cover it with disgust for puns.) For a moment it looks like he's simply leaving in protest, but he's really just going to buy Daniel another coffee, and some croissants for them both. He tries to remember if Daniel likes croissants. Yes, they had some - in that dream where Daniel broke him out. For a moment Seth almost changes his order, then decides he's being silly, as usual.

"Don't think this is a reward for that atrocious wordplay or anything like that," he says wryly, setting the plate between them and dropping back into his seat.

[peacefulexplorer]

"Never," Daniel answers, brightly impenitent. But he shoots Seth a grateful look all the same - he's been hungry since this morning, having skipped breakfast to pore over Spike's tomes. "I protest the use of 'atrocious,' however. That one practically called to me, you have to admit. Too much for a linguist to resist."

[powerdealer]

"I stand by my use of the word," he replies stubbornly, picking up a croissant, smelling it for a second, before taking a bite. "Starting to regret my choice of friends, though. You, Gabe, Johnny, you're all terrible with this. I haven't been selective enough in my social circle, and now I'm being punished for it." He doesn't put any particular emphasis on the last word, so one could almost assume the wordplay is unintentional.

[peacefulexplorer]

"Oh, that's very good." Though whether Daniel's commenting on the croissant he's munching at contentedly or Seth's repartee is completely up in the air until he leans forward, holding up a meaningful finger. "And with that, you're officially no longer allowed to pretend you don't enjoy it."

He breaks a tiny piece off the croissant and twirls it between two fingers. "One day Gabe and Johnny and I are gonna surround you. It'll be nothing. But. Puns. A ring of them. A circle of puns. Let it not be said that I'm a one-hit punder."

Okay, he's done.

[powerdealer]

"You're horrible, is what you are," Seth replies, shaking his head. However it's pretty obviously that he's also suppressing a smile and is enjoying it greatly. Or perhaps he's mostly enjoying Daniel's amusement.

"A circle of puns, would that be a... pun pi(e)?" he asks slowly, then shakes his head in defeat. "No, sorry, I got nothing. This is what I get for going up in hand-to-hand punning against a guy who speaks twenty languages."