"-Well, yeah." Jude beamed, this was the first time someone had properly shown excitement over something he'd worked on. His mind strayed, He's never seen anything like this. It's only special because it's something new. "It was just a little project for school– technically a failed one, but still,"
"It's still cool." Nyx replied with a smile. "And I'm the one with the robot limbs." he raised his hands as if to demonstrate, then remembered that the metal could no longer be seen. So he pulled up the pant legs a little bit to show the metal that formed his legs.
Jude chuckled softly, leaning against a crowded wall of framed photos, “Well, i’m glad you think so.”
He turned a bit, averting his eyes and fiddling with the leaf of a potted plant, “But you’re more than just a machine. You know that, right?”
Nyx let go of the pant legs, studying Jude for a moment. "Technically, I'm not." he pointed out. "Since I'm roughly 65 percent machine, I am mostly just machine." he shrugged slightly, looking around the apartment.
“Just…never-mind,” He smiled, shook his head, and gestured for Nyx to properly come in, nodding his head approvingly at the walls packed corner-to-corner with photos, movie memorabilia, art, and oddities.
Nyx came in when Jude gestured, still looking around curiously. He ran a hand through his hair again, catching his lower lip between his teeth for a moment.
"Make yourself at home," Jude smiled, "I've got tons of records and tapes and CDs for music, just pop one in whenever you like. I'm probably the only person in New York who's got a VHS player and…oh!–" He grinned, pulling a crate of tapes, CD's, and memory sticks off of a high shelf and huffing at the dust.
"These–" He said, setting the box on his dinner table, "–are the videos I took while I was travelling." Northern Italy, Paris, Vienna, London, Los Angeles, the memories were golden, the air; rose-coloured like their day on the field– with laughter-filled evenings under a new sunset, the clouds swirling in a dance of celebrated youth.
Nyx nodded, looking around curiously. He examined the records, tapes, and CDs, tipping his head slightly to one side as he did. He smiled slightly as he did.
Jude smiled at Nyx's little smile, loving the way he was interested in every little thing– he made life seem so much more interesting. It was almost like he was rediscovering all these aspects of life, experiencing the beauty of the world for a second time.
Nyx hummed softly as he looked at everything, curious. He cocked his head just slightly to the side as he looked at them, careful not to break or damage anything.
(bump)
( i thought i replied XD sorry)
"Most of the ones from L.A. are just skateboarding and us foolin' around; that's where I made the most friends, and the rest are mostly pretty sights." He shrugged, picking up a few and examining them as if he could relive those moments just by touching them.
(it's fine!)
Nyx nodded, still looking at them curiously. "Oh." he had no idea where or what L.A. was. "Uhm…what's L.A.?" He finally asked after a moment.
Jude's eyebrows shot up, "Ohh– it's a place in California, on the west coast where it's just–" He shook his head, too excited, grabbing a tape marked 'L.A. 1' and rushing to the living room, turning on the television and popping it in, "I think it's easier if I show you."
Nyx nodded a little, following Jude quietly into the living room. He bit his lip for a moment, watching Jude carefully. He put his hands in his pockets.
The video began, and a blurry sight of the wheels of a plane touching down was shown. "That's through the window of an airplane," Jude said, and the video cut to a shaky view of a busy street littered with tourists and street performers, a sea of sunglasses and phones held high.
"Hollywood; one of the main places where movies get made. This is the walk of fame, the Chinese theatre; where famous actors sign their name or leave a handprint."
Nyx nodded, sitting down on the couch to watch the video. His eyes examined it carefully, and he listened to Jude. He didn't ask any questions, as he wasn't even sure how to phrase the ones he had.
It skipped to another clip, evening at a skatepark, the only light from the orange streetlamps and their burning cigarettes. Rock music was faded in the background, and they all cheered when a tall and tattooed man landed a giant leap off a railing. "That's Randall," Jude chuckled, "He's wicked good at skateboarding. We drove up to Malibu, one time. Solid guy."
Nyx nodded a little bit, watching the video with his head tipped just slightly to one side. He ran a hand through his hair, eyes flickering around the video, to Jude for a moment, then back to the video.
"Malibu's a bore, but I– oh! There it is." Jude smiled softly as the image flickered to a new landscape of beach, Jude filming from a speeding car with the top down, the sunshine cutting into the crashing waves like highlighting stripes of gold against bright blue. Music poured out of the car's stereo. A woman sat in the driver's seat, her dark hair swimming in the rippling air as she grinned, singing along with the rest of them. "Are you filming? Jude, c'mon." She laughs, her gaze flickering from the long road to the camera. "There isn't much to do there, other than surf or lay on the beach."
"It's pretty, though." Nyx replied softly, meaning the beach. Of course, he wasn't sure that his joints would do well in sand, but he still would love to visit the beach someday. He glanced at Jude.
"Beautiful," Jude agreed, nodding his head and smiling when Randall stuck his head out of the rear seat window, his dark hair roaring back as the summer wind sped past them. "I stayed in L.A for nearly the whole summer. I went to Vienna after, and then London." Jude explained, "But Los Angeles– I really thought about moving there. It's–" He froze, transfixed on the new clip playing. "Judy, come on–" "Don't call me that, it's dumb." "I'll call you whatever I want, idiot." A smiling man was in view, armed with a sly smile and adoring eyes, laughing with a shorter-haired version of Jude. Oh.
Nyx raised an eyebrow a little bit. "Who's that?" he asked softly, glancing at Jude, then the video again. He didn't quite understand what was happening now.
Jude swallowed, studying the man like he was a painting he couldn't figure out. "Neil." He said plainly, his expression the opposite of how he'd felt in that moment; alone with him, wandering the boardwalk of Venice Beach at six in the morning, trying to catch an early tide and tasting saltwater on their lips as the sun rose behind them.