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Mearc lives in a small apartment complex outside the city's busier areas. It's a quiet neighborhood, a peaceful one, with kids outside drawing with sidewalk chalk and people walking their dogs. It's not fancy, by any means; the building's been around since the 70s, but the general atmosphere is one of calm. It is in his apartment on fourth floor that Mearc is waiting.
Michael hums to himself, the fox pacing along in thought. Dressed in a colourful striped shirt, he heads on up through the complex, seeking out the door number Mearc provided him with. Finding it results in that old classic of the barber surgeon's knock.
Mearcstapa answers the door in his usual cargo pants and a t-shirt. The inside of the apartment smells like coffee (good coffee, for that matter), but as Michael is welcomed inside, there's something sort of stark about the decor of the apartment. The inside of the apartment is very tidy--not in the sense of being completely spotless, but there's a sort of minimalism about the place. No art on the walls, which are still a pleasant neutral off-white, for example. It doesn't really feel personalized, and might even feel a little cold or austere.
"Shoes off at the door, please."
Michael nods, toeing them off and offering a bag of doughnuts. "I hope you like jam." He notes, giving a smile and stepping his way inside to look around. Ears and tail twitch in thought before he looks back to Mearc, regarding the other Changeling quietly a moment.
For what it's worth, Mearc seems to be relatively at ease, his freckles in a neutral position, a bit of a smile on his face. "Bring them into the kitchen. Also, yes, I like jam. My mother used to make jelly donuts every year for Hanukkah."
The kitchen is just as tidy as everything else, but with more gadgets, like a very nice coffeemaker, and an electric kettle (which is rare as fuck to see among Americans), and some other nifty kitchen things.
"I'll bear that one in mind." He smiles, padding after Mearc. "And you've got a whole lot of gadgety in here. Feels real modern." A keen nod. "And clearly the coffee bug's bitten you."
"Hm? Oh, the good coffee's something I keep on hand for when Memento Motherfucking Mori comes calling. Have you met her yet? She's another fox, though maybe more of a kitsune."
He pulls mugs out of the cabinet and pours the coffee. "Milk and flavored creamer are in the fridge. I think I might still have some of the Peeps flavored stuff, if you're adventurous."
He stops, eyes going wide. "Another fox?" He hums thoughtfully, , tail twitching before he collects himself. "Gonna be fun to meet her, going by your nickname. And, you know me. Always room to adventure."
He moves over to the fridge to rummage. "So, are we just hanging out, or did you want to talk over some of that more personal stuff?"
"I did want to talk. It's not...I'm not in crisis, and I don't need solutions, necessarily, but I wanted to feel heard by someone outside the polycule. If...if you're okay with that?" Mearc only uses a splash of milk and a tiny bit sugar in his coffee, before moving over to the kitchen table to sit.
"Yes." He nods simply, moving to take a seat himself and sipping at his coffee. "Mm.. this is really good. And I'll hear you Mearc, of course. You're a friend."
He nods, letting out a bit of a heavy sigh. "So, Lux and I...ran into a stumbling block in our relationship a while back, because they lied to me about how much of their durance they remembered. Which is important, because we happened to share a Keeper. It was a blow, both to the relationship, and to my grip on reality. And in response to Lux's apologies, I Sealed them to a promise not to lie to me."
"Oh." The Fox's ears lower and he nods, expression pensive. "I can think of a number of reasons for them to have lied, but, yes, I can understand that pain." He taps claws on the table carefully. "Everyone lies Mearc." He points out gently. "Not in harmful ways, but lots of little white ones. That was a good meal. I really like the gift you got me. I'm gonna assume that Seal was broken?"
"Yeah. It was stupid of me. I know, especially because Lux is a Winter. And it was some Winter bullshit that broke it. So they're an Oathbreaker now, and...I'm an idiot."
"Everyone's an idiot at some point." Michael nods. "Lux agreed to it however, you weren't the only one who made a mistake." He leans back, hands wrapped around his coffee mug. "What do you plan on now? Situations like this, it's likely on Lux to approach you and to try restitution. And how are things between you?"
"Well. That's where it's complicated." He lets out a bit of a humorless laugh. "We're...going to figure out how to work this out. We both want to."
"That's the most important thing." Michael nods. "You both want to fix this, you both still love each other. When did you last talk?"
"Texts, last night. I'm definitely not asking you to get involved, by the way. Lux is...well, Winter. They don't feel like a lot of what's between us is anyone else's business. And I'm inclined to agree. I'm talking to you because of my needs, not our needs." He dips a jelly doughnut into his coffee before taking a bite.
Michael nods. "I won't take part in this past talking to you here, unless I'm invited to do otherwise later." He smiles. "Your own business, yes. Do you think you've both learned from this, painful as it was?"
"Yeah. Jack pointed out to me that I've spent...the past week, really...punishing myself because it doesn't feel like anyone's upset enough at me for my fault in the situation. So I'm trying to, sort of, take a little bit of time for me. Like inviting people I care about outside the scope of the situation over for coffee and donuts?"
"I do like coffee and donuts with company." Michael smiles, nodding. "And you do have a habit of holding yourself to very high standards, yes. Some time when it's just quiet, that's no bad thing." He muses. "And thank you, fro saying you care about me." Another smile. "Remind me to sort something for house warming when I can, I'd love the chance to do some tinkering."
"Housewarming? I've been living here since October, the house is plenty warm." He tilts his head to one side.
A wry smile. "Granted, but it's my first time seeing it, and even though I'm late to the party, I'd like to dive in. And in terms of house warming, I mean a gift in this case."
"Oh. You, uh. Don't have to." His freckles warm into red, the green dimming out of his mien briefly.
"I know, but I'd like to." He smiles. "I'll leave that thought for now though, to save you your blushes."
"It's not actually blushing. I do it when I'm emotional to any degree. Just like the green isn't an emotional response, it's a sign that I'm thinking, rationalizing, calculating or processing." He holds up his arm, watching his freckles normalize again.
"Ah." He nods in that. "I'll remember that. Have both ever happened at the same time? I mean, EQ and IQ are sometimes considered separate, but.. and I'm going off topic, right." He nods. "Basically, I like to tinker, and I like gifts for friends, so if you'd like something for here, I'm happy to be doing that."
"I'm usually a mix of both; shifts tend to happen when one's more intense. I'm told there's also circumstances under which most of my freckles go dim all at once, but I don't tend to be paying attention to myself when that happens."
"For me, well, you can read most in my tail and ears. I'm pretty much an open book, after all." He chuckles lightly. "And yeah, if you're in a quiet mood, I can see that. It's the sort of time you're not paying too much attention.
Mearcstapa smirks, looking over the rim of his coffee cup at Michael--though it's very hard to tell, with his vantablack eyes, if he's making direct eye contact or not. "I've been told that it can be uncomfortable for people, sometimes, when I'm paying them too much direct attention."
The fox winks. "I've never been troubled with you paying me attention Mearc. A few people rattle me, like Vorpal or Marjorie, but that's because they pretty glow with power. And I'm only a small fox. You looking my way is no bad thing."
"Ah, and because I'm not as Wyrd, I am 'safe'. Noted." Shlurrrrrrp.
"Oh, I reckon you could be unsafe if you wanted." He grins. "But you feel, uh.. more tranquil. Less like a raging sea." Michael gestures, trying to underscore his point.
"I don't think you've ever gotten to see me get to a point where I would be raging." He chuckles quietly. "Which is likely for the best. I'm not sure if you'd like me as much, like that. I know...the version of me that shows when I'm struggling with my grip on my Clarity is unpleasant enough."
"Hm." Michael cants his head. "That does stir my thoughts back to that pretty personal question from before. But no, I've never seen you really angry."
"It's going to sound so superficial, if I answer that question." He rests his chin on a hand, smiling slightly.
"Sometimes it's the simplest, most down to earth things that are important when we need to ground ourselves," Michael smiles, considering Mearc.
"No, no, it's not simple or down to earth." He laughs. "It's, um. Working on my Youtube channel. Which sounds so shallow, that something like that matters so much to me, but...I like feeling like I'm able to spread the word and educate people."
"If it matters to you, it matters." Michael advises him warmly. "And, hm. I've gotta admit I've never looked into your channel, gonna work on fixing that. Tell me a little about it?"
"I do videos on topics relating to security, lockpicking and penetration testing. Explaining to people why they need a well-fitted latchplate for their doors, for example, with a demonstration of what tools I could use to get in, if there isn't one. Tricks with canned air, 3D printing keys from photographs. All the ways people expose themselves to security risks, and how they can fix them. Dismantling locks to show how they're pinned, inside. Videos about my daily carry and preferred tools. Things like that."
Michael is something of a child and does start to impishly open his mouth on the word 'penetration', but thinks better of it and nods, listening to the rest. "People often overlook what they don't see, hopefully you've gotten through to a few people there?"
Mearc sighs when he sees the thought catch Michael's attention. "Why is everyone so dirty minded? Everyone catches on that word. It is literally my job title. I am a physical penetration tester."
But the rest of the comment leads to a nod. "I get a lot of good comments from people who just haven't realized what sort of risks they're exposed to, on a daily basis."
Cough. He's not suppressing a snicker, honest. Michael takes a breath and rallies. "Maybe it's just the people you know." A grin and a stuck out tongue. "But mm, maybe I should talk to Chelle. I mean, feeling safe is something we'd both want." A thoughtful nod.
"Oh, sweetheart. I'm not sure you could afford one of my proper consultations." But he's grinning, and this sounds like pure tease.
"I can barely afford my morning coffee." He winks. "Everything seems to work out."
"You're a fox, of course everything works out for you." He chuckles, taking another donut out of the bag.
"There are so many things I want to ask you about proper consultations right now.." He grins toothily, nomming into another donut himself, tail and ears have fluffed up at being called 'sweetheart'.
"Wren and I are literally paid to break into places, and then explain how we did it, and how it could be prevented in the future. That's my job, Michael; I'm basically a thief who doesn't get to steal." He sounds like he's pretty proud of his work.
An eager nod. "All the fun, none of the fallout if it goes wrong. That doesn't sound too bad. Ever found somewhere you couldn't get into?"
"Mmm, sometimes, when people are doing their jobs right. There's a building I'm working on researching now. I can't tell details, but it's going to be pretty sticky, and if we can't get in I'm not going to be mad about it. "
"Hm." A sip of coffee. "Then I wish you luck, either you'll break it, or you won't, either way, it'll end up a safe building, if they listen to you."
"Indeed. What have you and Chelle been working on lately? Anything for that fashion show?"
"Things have been a little quiet." He admits. "I've gotta get us into meeting that contact you sent over, and get the ball rolling. Have no fear, we'll get there."
"Good. I have faith in you both." He nods. "Also, the question I texted over, it's something I'm actually thinking about. It's weird that your Court doesn't have some equivalent to a Scrivener or a Steward of the Midwinter Hearth, don't you think?"
"Someone to do the paperwork side, yeah?" He nods, chewing his lip. "I've never really thought about it before, but, maybe someone to cover that does make a certain amount of sense."
"I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I'm actually aiming to become Scrivener, myself. But...I feel like it's the sort of thing that could be handled on the court level, instead of having just two people--three if you count the Summer Quartermaster, but it's really not the bulk of her work--handling it. But I'm too chickenshit to mention that fact to Ari, myself."
"I could try slipping a word in sometime, when I get chance." He muses, before pointing a finger at Mearc. "You're already doing a whole lot, try to keep from over reach?"
Mearcstapa reaches out to touch his fingertip to Michael's. "Gee, suggesting ways to ensure the work's spread between courts sounds like a way to avoid being overwhelmed, to me. But also, yes. I'm working on that."
"It is." He agrees, tapping finger against Mearc's with a smile. "And I'll suggest it. I'm just hoping you look after yourself too."
"I'm trying, Michael. I am trying." He leans over and kisses the fox on his furry cheek. "Thank you for caring."
Michael's head tilts at the kiss and he smiles widely, fingers raising to graze over Mearc's own cheek. "Always, for friends." A thoughtful is offered as he finishes his coffee.
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