Front Porch and Entry Way

Not too long after he left, Mitch returned to the entryway, wearing a new, blue striped cardigan and some fitted slacks. His hair was tied back, albeit not totally clean, and his bifocals were somewhat more straight on his nose. His face seemed a bit more somber than when he left, but he quickly recalibrated and smiled warmly at the newcomers. His eyes caught the tall, somewhat lumberjack-ish man and his daughter.

"Well, how are we all today?" He beamed at the two, and extended his hand for a handshake with the man. "Mitchell McCowell, but most people call me Mitch."
 
"Let her sniff you first," Dark urged Ivy, who quickly told her father she already knew that's what she's supposed to do when meeting a dog, and then shook Mitch's hand, "I am G.M. Dark, this is my daughter Ivy-Qadira--" again, Ivy interjected to impress upon everyone that, really, just Ivy is fine, "and we are... fine. We are here, which must count for something." He frankly was not quite sure how to answer the question posed to him, and he almost wished Ivy was not quite so focused on petting the dog so she could speak for him (a fact he felt a bit guilty about, because it certainly was not a ten year-old's job to do so, and he really did not want to force her into a situation where she needed to behave like she was not simply a child), but he was an almost fifty year old man moving his entire life into one bedroom of a boarding house, which was not exactly what he had in mind.

These were the internal conundrums of Mr. G.M. Dark, a man who in the end of June was wearing an all black three piece suit, who had strange hands, and who was carrying a little wooden box which he would not set down. But externally he only stood and stared intensely at everyone from beneath his heavy, inky eyebrows. When his eyes fell on her, Rose felt rather like she had done something wrong, and was being scolded by her school's headmaster. Nonetheless, he spoke softly and courteously, and he asked Ivy if she would prefer to see their room first, or see the house first.

She looked up, still petting Sophie, and asked, "Are there any secret passages?"
 
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Mitch could recognize the firm, unbending handshake of Dark being one of quite some resolve, as he expected from a man of his stature and dress. It made Mitch feel a bit of a chump as he attempted to return the same solidity in his handshake. He took a brief glance and noticed the discoloration between Dark's hand and what he assumed to be the rest of him, but he thought nothing much of it. "Dark and Ivy," he echoed back, "it's a pleasure."

Dark's eyes gave Mitch a bit of unease. He's had plenty of superiors with the same steely look in their eyes, and they weren't the most amiable. Nevertheless, Mitch nodded and maintained his initial geniality. "Well, the rest of us are inside and we'd be happy to help you both settle in, I'm sure." He looked over to Ivy and hunched over as if he were telling a secret. "Believe me, there are plenty of secret passages all over the house." He spoke in a loud whisper. "Just don't tell Luka and Ishade that you know, or else they'll get rid of them." He grinned.
 
Ivy's eyes lit up and focused intently on Mitch, which for a moment made her look ever more like her father, because she was focused, and it was incredibly real to her, "If that's the case," she said, "I want to see my room first."

"Why is that, Hummingbird?"

"It's a secret."

"A secret?"

Ivy nodded, and Dark glanced quickly at the brothers, and at Mitch, before he knelt beside her and whispered something. Then he kissed her cheek, and stood back up, brushing invisible wrinkles from his pants as casually as anything, "Well, Mr. Lukais, it would seem we prefer to see the room, first, and I think, I would like to..." He placed one hand on top of the box, but didn't finish his sentence. Ivy stopped smiling then, for a moment, and stood a bit closer to her father.

But then she looked at Mitch, her lovely blue eyes shining, and said, "Baba said when he builds our house, it's gonna have--"

"Going to have."

"--Going to have a ton of secret passages, but he isn't going to tell me where any of them are, so that I can find them by myself!"
 
"If you do find any secret passages, and I'm not confirming or denying their existence, don't go in alone." Said Lukais', on account of whatever could be lurking in there. After all, this house did have some intricate hidden segments that were closed off after its last renovation, along with an entire basement that was sealed off more than a decade ago. It almost made him shiver, to think about it, about why it had been closed off in the first place.

"Yeah you can take Mitch on an adventure, since he's so interested" Said Ishade, talking to Dark and Ivy for the first time. He'd been watching them with interest, them and that box the man held so dearly. He wasn't as forthcoming as his brother, but he did notice more details. Ishade walked closer to Mitch, giving the newcomers a bit of a forced smile. He was more concerned with the way his friends' mood had subtly changed since he went away for a few minutes. But it wasn't the right time to ask if he was alright just now.

"Good! Secrets to the side, I'll show you your room and you can rest a bit if you need it. Anything else I can help you carry or should we go?" Asked Lukais', eyeing his brother with suspicion. Still, the painters' purple eyes have nothing away. His moody smile did, what was eating at him?.

Sophie was happy to be petted, and was ready to follow them around.

If they had anything else to take, Luka and Ishade would help with the luggage. Otherwise they'd be heading upstairs. Of course anyone else was very welcome to tag along.
 
Ivy frowned upon being told not to go into secret passages alone. That was the whole point. Secret passages were no fun if you needed to take some grown-up with you, especially a grown-up you didn't even know. She wanted to say she didn't want to take Mitch anywhere, but her father was looking at her, and he had told her just before they got out of the car she needed to be on her best behaviour. He was always worrying about something, and it didn't make any sense to her, because when he explained it, it never seemed like something to worry about in the first place.

"I have my own flashlight." She mumbled, but she had a sinking feeling her access to a personal light source wasn't going to change anyone's mind.

"Do not worry," Dark murmured, because he did not desire Ivy to be upset the first time she stepped into her new home, "we can build a blanket fort in our room, and nobody will be able to enter without the password, and your flashlight will be a wonderful chandelier. And maybe next week we can find all of the secret places in town."

From the deck, Rose interjected with, "I know a few, if you're hip enough to keep them secret."

"See? Everything will be alright," this promise only seemed to comfort the child slightly, but then Dark said something to her in Arabic, and she seemed far less bothered. Crisis averted, he finally responded to Luka's question, "Thank you for the offer, but we can manage. We packed the car ourselves, we will unpack it, too. We would not want to put you out, I am sure there is other buisness you must attend to."

He and Ivy then followed Luka and Ishade inside the house, but Rose stayed on the porch, and when the front door shut, she laughed lightly, "Well they're certainly interesting," she said to Mitch, before he went inside, if it was indeed what he was planning to do, "but it's nice they seem very close. I think Luka's eyes about bugged out of his head when you told the sweet girl about the secret places in the house."
 
Mitch smirked to himself as he managed to derail the entire welcoming ceremony with the premise of secret passageways and other such oddities. He was about to step inside with the rest of the group, but something kept him from following, and instead he leaned over with his elbows rested on the wooden railing, looking out over the property with a ponderous look in his eyes.

He looked over to Rose and nodded with a light smile. "I know how kids can be sometimes," his voice was noticeably more mild-mannered and reserved than it was just a couple of seconds ago. "They always tend to like the things that the adults don't want them to know about or get into," he said with a laugh. "I would know, my ma would just about have an aneurysm whenever I went climbing trees."

He glanced back at the door, and then pulled the hair tie out from the back of his head, shaking his head to even his hair back out. He lowered his voice a little bit. "They do seem nice, if a little bit intimidating. I thought Dark was about to tell me I failed my English test for a moment there." He chortled, "the Lord knows I don't need that stress in my life again."
 
"My pa was always the more fidgety one. My ma taught us archery, my pa spent years in a panic watching his daughters scramble around with bows and arrows when we were small," Rose laughed, "but back home, there was nothing t'do except for mischief."

She sighed, and flipped her hair over her shoulder, "I thought he was about t'scold me too. I was beginning t'wonder if I was being rude staying up here instead of going down t'greet them. You have t'wonder how those of us who don't respond well to authority will feel about him." It all felt uncharted. She wasn't great at guessing ages, but the newcomer looked to be the oldest tenant she had encountered thus far, and of course Ivy was the youngest she had met--the fit Ikanov had thrown was proof enough of that. But Ivy, so far, didn't seem like one of those kids who ran everywhere and screamed their heads off, which would hopefully soothe at least some of her friend's anxieties.

"Are you alright?" Rose asked, finally, "you seemed... different, when you came back outside. I hope dressing up didn't tamper your spirit too much." She always spoke lightly to show she cared. It was an odd sort of incongruity, because it seemed like if you wanted to show you hoped someone wasn't upset, you would be more direct, but she wanted to give them an out, in case they weren't ready, or willing, to talk about it.
 
Mitch exhaled sharply. "I tell ya, my ma had issues enough with me using scissors. I would hate to find out how she would've felt about me getting my hands on a bow and arrow." He shivered at the thought. "I've no idea how my pa would've reacted, though." He brushed over the topic of his father dismissively with a shrug.

"Despite all the fear of God my parents gave me, I haven't the foggiest how to carry myself politely or with the manners of high society. I worry he may have gotten a bad impression of me." It may have been a bit of an exaggeration just how proper he needed to be for new company, but... "I've never even worn a three-piece suit."

Mitch sighed and dragged his finger along the railing. "Oh, dressing up was no problem," he spoke quietly. He paused for a moment. "I just found out Ikanov scratched one of my Fats Domino records." It was a lie, but it was more than Mitch was willing to go into. "I mean, I hide the bloody things away for a reason. He's going to buy me another one, though, I made sure of that." He forced a smile in Rose's direction. He didn't want to upset her or cause her worry, especially with some new company they were all trying to impress.
 
"You could pull off a three-piece suit," Rose hummed, "Maybe not a tie, and definitely not cufflinks, but if you leave the top few buttons undone, and the jacket unbutton, you'd be indistinguishable from an eccentric professor. But Ivy isn't dressed as fancy as he is, so I'm sure he didn't think poorly of you."

She of course knew Mitch was not being truthful about his change in mood, but she didn't push the issue, and continuing to speak casually, she said, "That's the problem with Ikanov. If you want him t'leave your things alone, you have t'tell him he has free use of it. But the three of us should go t'the record store next time, I've been meaning t'find some new music," She looked up at the bright blue sky so he didn't need to put on an obviously fake smile for her benefit, "always easier t'express yourself that way."
 
The front door creaked again, an annoying little sound that always put Ikanov on edge. He came through, now properly dressed, and giving the porch and it's surroundings one final glance before sliding out. He hadn't heard what the other two were saying. Mitch just had to be here though, apparently.

"Hey, you seen the new people yet?" He asked casually, closing the door behind him. Ikanov walked past them and off the porch while fishing in his pocket until he found a cigarette. He then lit it up and started smoking, looking at Rose and then nervously at Mitch for a second before turning to face the street and let out a puff of smoke. It wasn't that it calmed him, exactly, but his father always smoked when something bothered him. It was one of the habits he had picked up from him without noticing.
 
Rose nodded, "The little girl is cute, her father is pretty formal, a bit intimidating, but they seem fine," everyone was sad. She wondered if they thought it was less obvious than it was. Then again, she had known them for a long time. She wanted, or maybe needed, to be cheerful for them. Well, she wanted to help them, at least, and maybe she thought if she was cheerful, it would give them something nice to think about. Something pleasant. They were her friends, taken for all and all. Everyone was her friend, because otherwise she'd be an ocean away from her world.

"It really is a gorgeous day," Rose said, and she was sad, because everyone around her was, but she could tolerate it in herself, even if she wanted to eradicate it in others, "it makes me miss the ocean. And the heather will be blooming soon, back home. I was telling Mitch, Ika, that we should go to the record store soon. You look nice, by the way."
 
Mitch looked back at the front door briefly as it creaked and through came Ikanov, and then he looked back out across the land, past Ikanov. "She's a precocious one, for sure. Seems to have an interest in, uh, unconventional architectural anomalies." He spoke with a haughty tone of voice. He cracked a toothy smile to show he was just kidding around. "She's probably scavenging the house for secret passages and tunnels as we speak." He subconsciously ran his hand through his hair to attempt to straighten it. "The father seems like a pretty serious guy, but he's nice enough."

He shifted somewhat in the more nervous air, but he didn't address it and kept his cool. "I needed some new records, anyway. There's this Nat King Cole tune I keep hearing on the radio at work, and I gotta have more."
 
Given a moment, fresh air and cigarette smoke clouding his lungs, Abel put on a different attitude like one would wear a suit.

"Tsk, of course I look nice. M' fuckin' gorgeous" He'd say with a smirk, and some unconventional wording... For a man. He did mean it though, if there was something he could be sure of it were his good looks.

"And yeah sure let's go to the record store, I can get one for Luka to make up for whatever I do next to annoy him." Another drag of his cigarette as he listened to Mitch. The girl sounded like she'd be a danger but to herself, and to the Luseth's good reputation.

"Let's hope she's not too good at her architectural reviews..." Muttered Abel, more to himself than anyone. The father sounded like the kind of serious guy that he could annoy and waltz around until he found his line and limits. Then play around them. Being nice enough wasn't just plain nice.

"Anyway, m' going out. Won't be here for dinner, most likely. Any of you want to come with? I'll just look for something to do in-between meals and then go drinking. My treat." It wasn't a bad plan, but he doubted the others would come. Rose, because she probably wouldn't want to join him today. Mitch, for sort of obvious reasons.
 
"You're going t'have t'meet them eventually." Rose said, pulling away from the railing. She didn't want to make him put his walls up, or make him feel like she was against him, or like she was pushing him to adjust too quickly, or anything to make him defensive. It wasn't really her place, and she knew it, and technically, no, he didn't have to ever meet them. He technically didn't even live here. Except he did, which is why it bothered him, and it was all a risky game.

But everybody had their role to play, and so she sidled up to Ikanov, rested her chin in her hand, looked up at him, and whispered, "I'm going t'be honest and emotional, okay? Don't... freak out. You don't have t'look at me, you don't have t'say anything, you can pretend like you aren't even listening. And then you can yell at me our laugh me of or whatever it is you do: you don't need t'," she sighed, suspected he wasn't going to respond well to her next word, but chose to say it anyway, "run away. I don't want t'find you in the gutter because you thought it'd be easier."

Then she spoke louder, and stretched, "Maybe I'll meet up with you later, but I have t'go t'the nursing home today, so unless you'd like t'come and speak with Clarence and Virginia and listen to their stories of the 1800s, we may be pulled in different directions. But we'll find a day for the record store."
 
"I'd love to go out and about, but I got called in today. Again." Mitch rolled his eyes, but smiled lightly. "I gotta say, Mr. Wilkinson sure has that magic touch when he comes to his Cadillac. Every other week it's either his engine failing, or he burns out his tires, or his brake pads wear out. Treats that bloody thing like a punching bag." He turned to look at the door. "Plus, I figure Luka plans on having all of us get together for a family dinner of sorts to welcome Dark and Ivy, and I don't want to get on his bad side."

Mitch noticed Rose began to whisper something to Ikanov, but he kept to himself. Far be it from him to get into someone's business, plus he couldn't really even hear her. "We'll make time tomorrow for the store."
 
Ikanov heard them out, already knowing none of them would be coming along. Rose's words made him roll his eyes, not because he didn't appreciate her kindness but because he did, but it really didn't concern her. All in good will, but she did shove her nose into other people's business often, even when it didn't concern her at all.

"Aight. See you around then. Sorry about earlier Mitch." He said. He outright ignored Rose, only sort of flaring his nostrils and grounding his jaw when she approached and whispered. Like he was a spooked pony. It made sense though that Mitch wanted to remain on Luka's good side or whatever. He didn't say much else, putting his fag in his mouth and turning and leaving. He had better places to be, maybe crash one of his fathers' fancy lunches. Be bad, be a nuisance. He was good at that. He wouldn't acknowledge Rose and her attempt to be kind, he didn't want to. He didn't even answer Mitch's plan to go to the record store the next day. Maybe he would come along maybe he wouldn't if he was feeling sick as a goddamn dog. The other two saw him cross the street and disappear along the sidewalk, turning into some shady street the moment they blinked.
 
Rose watched Ikanov walk away, seemingly unbothered, "I would've gone out drinking with him later tonight if he told me where he was going," she said, "but the record store tomorrow sounds great, Mitch."

What a morning. It wasn't even noon, yet, but it felt like multiple days had passed already. She couldn't recall the last time tensions ran this high for everyone in this house, and for a little while she watched the still, black car parked on the street, and at the suitcases and boxes stacked within it, and more so to herself than to anyone else, she murmured, "I wonder where they lived before they came here..." There was something really beautiful, and really melancholic, about seeing one's whole life in boxes. She had seen her own belongings that way many times, and each time it came with so many questions of what really mattered to her, and what she really needed, and what she could simply let go of.

"I think I'm going t'go inside. I hate to miss a second of this weather, but I can't be keeping goodly Clarence and Virginia and all their friends waiting. Them and the little ones at the hospital are the closest I come to having an audience these days."
 
Mitch looked on in contemplation as Ikanov disappeared off into the shade. "Today has really gotten off to a strange start," he said as he exhaled out the tension in his body. "I don't think things have ever been this... on edge when we've had a new tenant move in." He looked over to Rose with a confusion in his eyes, expecting a sort of confirmation from her. He nodded in response to her affirmation of tomorrow's plans. Maybe that will put things a bit more at ease.

He silently pondered the same question that Rose posed. He'd certainly never seen anyone quite like the two, and he wasn't totally sure how to approach them without the feeling of judgement which he just couldn't shake. It must not be easy to give up on where you used to live to come into what was, at times, a home for the less fortunate. But Mitch was used to living that kind of life. Wherever he lay to rest was his home, whether it was here, across the country, or on a train. The permanence was... A somewhat unnerving thought.

"Sometimes we just need a chance of scenery." That was a gross simplification for sure, but he couldn't explain it much better than that.

He finally got up from the railing. "I'd follow you in, but I think I've left Wilkinson waiting at the shop long enough. I'll catch you at dinner, yeah?" With that, he hopped down the steps and began his walk down the opposite street towards the repair shop.
 
(( Gigabit wasn't responding, so I just skipped it over.))

Daniel finally emerged from the kitchen, arms full of plates holding scrumptious scrambled eggs. Mitch's were arranged in such a way that they subtly made a smiley face. He handed them to the people who wanted them, and he took his own. "DIg in!" He said. "It's my Ma's recipe, but I've had my fair share of cooking.
 
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