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Surely there will be a thing at Lamont's house later, but for now, brother has called upon sister for a family thing, just the two of them. Since he became The Archive, he's gotten access to a lot of recipes, and he's cooked a turkey breast with apples and cloves, with dressing and cranberries, fresh bread and mashed potatoes. It's a small spread, one doesn't want to ruin one's appetite for what's to follow. Still, it's good food.
Lindon has dressed nicely, too nicely for this old Queens apartment, though he's done his best to dress it up with candles. "It's so good to see you, stranger. You've been scarce," he says as he hugs his sister.
"Yeah, um. I kind of had a thing in Persia tracking the remnants of Mesopotamian artifacts. Did you know that Persia was in modern day Iran? They aren't all that fond of random white girls digging through their historical sites apparently." Josie makes a face and then shrugs, shifting her weight slightly from left to right. Then she disappears into the hug from Lindon and tkaes a deep breath. "Hopefully Del will forgive me too. It.s um. It's good to see you too." She even lets Lindon hug her for as long as he likes.
"I did know that," Lindon says. "And if I'd known you were going there, I would have forbid it." He continues to hug her closely, almost like he's afraid to let her go. "Not that it would've stopped you, but I still have to try." He eventually lets her go and looks her over to make sure she at least seems okay. "I have so much to tell you, though nothing as exciting as tracking down artifacts." He guides her toward the table. "Did you find anything good?"
"I mean. Not really? The guy I was after was kind of a hack. That djinni he summoned was interesting, though." Josie shrugs at this, doing her best to restrain the quiet smile working its way across her lips. Then she takes a deep breath and holds it for a few beats. "Anyway. Tell me all about it." Josie moves to the table and, rather than pulling out a chair, twists slightly so that she can slide her too slender frame into the seat without having to bother.
"If he could summon a djinni, I don't know if he qualifies as a hack," Lindon says. He pours them both a glass of white wine. He's treating her like an adult at least that much. He sits and starts to dish up food, passing the plates around. "I'm not sure where to begin. I suppose first to say there's a person who's dear to me who happens to be a vampire. His name is Michael Morbius. I'd be much obliged if you didn't slay him. He's a good man, a man of science."
"He didn't really summon it. He kind of - broke. The jar, I mean. And set it free to try to defend himself. Or something. Didn't really work out for him. Anyway." There's a deep breath from Josie again and then she squints at Lindon across the table. "Don't slay him? A vampire? You know who you're talking to right?" A beat follows and then Josie adds, "Whatever. Sure. If he's not causing problems I have no reason to mess with his jive, dig? So that's cool." Josie takes the offered plate fron Lindon and examines her food for a moment before reaching for the fork. "I try not to pick fights anyway. Get into enough of them as is."
"All right, that's less impressive," Lindon says. His shoulders ease their tension when Josie says she won't hunt Morbius. "I've found that these things are a lot more nuanced than one would believe. Perfectly human people can commit horrible atrocities, and vampires can just be normal people." He smiles, full brotherly approval at not trying to pick fights. "Thank you, Josie." He takes a deep breath, then says, "The other thing I need to tell you is that, ah, Lamont and I, we're, um, we're together." He winces, coming out isn't his strong point.
"Bout fucking time. Jesus Christ riding on a DeSoto, I thought you guys would be making moon eyes at eachother until LBJ announced the Moon Landing or something." Josie just laughs and then takes a bito ef her turkey. "This is pretty good, Lin. Thanks." Ther'es a uqieter, more self-satisfied smile to accompany Josephine's pronouncement and blue eyes drop to rest on the food in front of her. "You two happy?"
Lindon says, "Josie! Language!" He's a lapsed Catholic, but still. His cheeks flush scarlet, and he drops his gaze, poking at his food. He smiles though, despite his mortification. "Yeah, we're happy. He's good for me. It's nice to have someone to come home to besides the cats. Don't worry, they're a hypoallergenic breed. Anyway, we're pretty happy."
"Then that's what matters, right?" Josie nods once and then proceeds to shovel food into her mouth. She manages to somehow be the image of propriety on fast forward, leaving behind no crumbs and even wielding her fork properly at a speed most people would be unable to match.
"Anyway," Josie contiinues after swalloing a few more bites of turkey. "Language." She swaps to French. "Jesus putain christe." Another brief pause. "Better?"
Lindon eats more slowly, but with just as much propriety. He's still so thin, but at least he's eating well. It's just their genetics. "Barely," he replies, but he smiles at her, willing to let it go. "Lamont will be glad you know. When we have you over, we can do couple things. It's unfortunate, having to be in the closet." Like everyone and their dog doesn't know Lamont and Lindon are lovers. "Where is your ladyfriend anyway?"
"Mutant Town… I think. I need to go look her up later, to be honest." Josephine fidgets visibly in her seat and then draws another of htose slow, deep breaths she uses when she's actually considering something seriously. She even ventures Lindon another brief smile. It's sufficiently out of character to be alarming. "So… Couple stuff. That's cool. Must be nice to let someone actally know what you are." She isn't trying to be sarcastic this time! It just comes out that way.
Lindon considers Josie. Maybe too relaxed to be alarmed, but definitely alert. "It's nice," he agrees. "He knows me, even the parts that aren't normal, and he looks after me." He takes a sip of his wine, then says, "What is it, Josie? You know you can tell your big brother anything."
"Nothing. I just - … Might have left without giving her a clear idea of how long it was going to be…" She makes a face. "She might not be happy to see me when I turn up over there again. I guess I just, um. Need to find out. Right?" Josie shiftsh er weight in her seat again and makes a point of lowering her gaze to the food. "This is really good. ALl that stuff you learned came with cooking lessons too, huh?"
Lindon shakes his head and says, "No, she might not." He doesn't seem angry. On the contrary, there's sympathy in his eyes. "It's better to know, and if things don't work out, now you know, right? To say something next time." He reaches across the table to give her hand a squeeze, just a little gesture to say he's on Team Josie all the way. He nods then and says, "Yeah, I have recipes dating back to ancient times, and plenty of modern ones."