modmachine: (Default)
Hᴇx - ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏᴅ ᴍᴀᴄʜɪɴᴇ ([personal profile] modmachine) wrote in [community profile] cityofhex2016-11-16 10:32 pm

WEEK 02

With Halloween past, the weekend of November 5-6 brings the beginnings of holiday trappings, as businesses begin to put up lights and other decorations for Monday. Residential areas, too, begin to pick up on the trend; throughout the whole month there will be a slow but steady increase in front lawn decorations.

Interestingly, though some are close parallels to the Christmas decorations that those from Earth will be familiar with, many aren't quite right. Locals, if asked, talk about something called the Day of Lights as much as they do Christmas or any other holiday; it's easy to find out that the amber-yellow and blue lights common in shops are for this holiday, and that it takes place on the last night of autumn, before the solstice. Snowflakes and candles are the most common motifs.

Changelings seem especially into the Day of Lights, and it is a near-assurance that they will be picking up blue candles for it as the month goes on.

Weather forecast: In a word: dreary. Small showers through Monday and Tuesday grow into full rain throughout Wednesday, continuing on Thursday and as a light misting on Friday. The weekend looks clear of rain, but is still chilly and cloudy. There is still no frost, though it's expected by the end of the month; gardeners are moving potted plants inside and putting cover over the more fragile ones for winter.

Moon phase: The moon reaches a first quarter on Monday the seventh, and continues to grow throughout the week.

Employment Opportunity: Those who are of adult age in the city can get work collecting holiday donations for charity, or, for those more inclined to physical labor, a park in the residential district is putting up lights for a holiday attraction. Additionally, plenty of shops are hiring for the upcoming retail season.

Free lunch?: Though there doesn't seem to be an equivalent to Thanksgiving in Hex, food banks are brimming with holiday spirit right now, and in addition to their usual offerings, many are handing out warm lunches to those in need, usually soup or hot sandwiches, sometimes pizza. While those at any given food bank will side-eye someone who tries to come in more than once, it's easily possible to make a circuit of them and get quite a bit of food, especially if you're familiar with the bus system.

Photo finish: Hajime gets a mild of small publicity for his candid photos of celebrations throughout the city, and on Friday will get a call about a potential contract for photos of decorations throughout December. He also gets sent an email about a campus-sponsored holiday fashion show at the end of the month - something Ryoji will hear about mostly via various rumours among the students.

Fueling the Art: At a coffee shop on the fringes of the campus, an Art Student can be found most every morning, sipping a latte and working on sketches. The Coffeeshop Manager, a man in his late thirties with a pair of small sunglasses perched on his cheeks in spite of the grey weather, occasionally offers her tips. Those with a keen eye will notice that walls made of gears are a common motif in the art that hangs around the shop.

The Ides of Fall: Out on the Island The Summer Queen is called before her Autumn peer and taken to task for her unauthorized gathering. She leaves his court fuming quietly to herself, and later in the week Makoto will receive a message - "Watch the falling leaves, but don't go chasing them." Several others of the Summer Court get the same message.

Sweet Loot: On the morning of the tenth, Kitty will find a locket and a note in with her stashed clothes. The locket is full of orange glitter that seems to stick to the inside, and the outside is worked with leaves. The note simply says TREAT in letters that are all distinctly different. When Kitty uses a finger to apply the glitter to something, it leaves glowing orange marks that only she can see, unless someone else sees her apply them or she intentionally shows them to someone.

Richter and Corwin, meanwhile, will each find a piece of candy hanging from their doorknobs the same morning, tied on with a ribbon that trails glitter on any surface it touches. The candy is wrapped in clear plastic, and has a strange flavor neither will be able to place.

Right on Schedule: The trains in Hex are going nowhere fast, but they do seem to have changed routes, frequently passing alongside an area of the wall that they used to avoid. New Arrivals, as well as Hajime and anyone else who can see Infrastructure, will note strangely runed plates of metal under this section of track - plates which seem to be directly attached to the Wall via cables. Every time a train passes over them, the plates spark with bright green, though nothing about the train itself seems to change.

Through the Grapevine: Though Network Zero is usually considered a Hunter organization, plenty of supernaturals also make use of it to keep their eyes out for threats - and their eyes on each other. One or two of Hajime's photos of the changeling gathering is making the rounds, with the odd horned skulls in the bonfire circled in Photoshop, but perhaps more relevantly, there's a couple photos of Malin from a distance that have fallen into the grasp of a current meme ("Is this bat ok?") and three photos of men doing construction work on a building in the Sixth that seems innocuous until it's pointed out that most of the men are completely identical.
notachickenhawk: (boy: casual)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-10 05:20 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah." On that note... mm. He's gonna have to hit up the food banks again today. "A lot of people don't want to hire me for much. They don't want to cut into my study time."

The study time that does not exist, but whatever.
chalicejoker: (Contemplative)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-12-11 08:56 pm (UTC)(link)
"Study time?" What is this study time you speak of, human child? "If you want to work, they should let you work."
notachickenhawk: (bird: hawk)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-11 09:59 pm (UTC)(link)
"That's what I said, but they want me in school." Some of them do, at least. The ones that don't are usually the dangerous ones... but he's not afraid of them.
chalicejoker: (Perplexed)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-12-11 11:21 pm (UTC)(link)
"...you are the right age for it." Hold up, let Hajime process this. "But you do not get a say in the matter?"
notachickenhawk: (boy: in the crowd...)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-12 02:01 am (UTC)(link)
He tilts his head and laughs a little bit. Definitely not human. "Of course not. I'm technically a minor. Underage. I'm not supposed to be able to dictate things like that yet."

Should he say this? Eh, why not. They're not Family, but Ax is still family in his own weird way. "You remind me of a friend. He didn't know that kind of stuff, either."
chalicejoker: (Contemplative)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-12-13 12:59 am (UTC)(link)
Curse these human standards of when they can and can't do things. Hajime's got a little bit of that down, but the older they get, the more uncertain he is of where they're supposed to be. "...he didn't, did he?"
notachickenhawk: (bird: what?)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-13 01:36 am (UTC)(link)
"No. There were a lot of normal human things he didn't understand." And it would definitely explain the weird reaction he got off of him. Maybe he's wrong, but maybe he's not.
chalicejoker: (Mopey)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-12-14 02:04 am (UTC)(link)
"...some people don't get out much." He's just stubborn enough to keep trying to play it cool.
notachickenhawk: (bird: free)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-14 02:19 am (UTC)(link)
"True." He shrugs. It's not really his business if this guy is what he thinks he is or not. He'll probably see him around eventually...

Still. At least if he is what he thinks he is, then hopefully Tobias hasn't come across as threatening. "How many pictures do you have to take, anyway?"
chalicejoker: (Grumpy)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-12-14 02:46 am (UTC)(link)
"As many as it takes to get a good shot." Hajime shrugs, just fine with a change of topic. "You don't always know right away."
notachickenhawk: (Default)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-14 03:26 am (UTC)(link)
"... I guess it's similar to sketching in that way." How many sketches has he thrown out because they just turn out awfully?
chalicejoker: (Normal Expression)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-12-15 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
"Something like that." Hajime nods. "Art is like that."

This is a normal human thing he has learned this is art, that is art, art is a human thing, see, totally human.
notachickenhawk: (boy: darkly amused)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-15 04:06 am (UTC)(link)
"I never really got into photography. Is it fun? Outside of making a living from it." Mostly he never got into it because cameras are expensive, okay.
chalicejoker: (Casual)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-12-16 02:46 pm (UTC)(link)
"It's enjoyable enough." Look, he doesn't really have much of a concept of "fun" outside "blowing up things the God-Machine doesn't want blown up," it's a work in progress.
notachickenhawk: (boy: casual)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-16 03:03 pm (UTC)(link)
He can appreciate that. He's done one or two of those sorts of missions, even if he can't see Infrastructure. "Have you been doing it for a long time?"
Edited 2016-12-16 15:03 (UTC)
chalicejoker: (Normal Expression)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-12-17 04:30 pm (UTC)(link)
"Since high school." It's an easy, practiced lie, one he's been telling for quite some time, despite never having attended a human high school.
notachickenhawk: (boy: in the crowd...)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-17 06:41 pm (UTC)(link)
"Huh. ... How old are you now? I can't actually tell." Not like Tobias is much to look at for his age, either - skinny and kind of scruffy.
Edited 2016-12-17 18:42 (UTC)
chalicejoker: (Casual)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-12-18 12:29 am (UTC)(link)
"Twenty-three." It's what his completely legit driver's license says, anyway. "How old are you?"
notachickenhawk: (boy: casual)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-18 04:00 am (UTC)(link)
It is the most legit. No one will ever question it. "Sixteen." He's... pretty sure, at least. Birthdays stopped being important for him a while ago.
chalicejoker: (Perplexed)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-12-18 07:54 pm (UTC)(link)
"...seems like that would be old enough to avoid school." But what does he know?
notachickenhawk: (bird: what?)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-18 10:59 pm (UTC)(link)
"I agree, but not everyone does. I don't think studying at college will help me all that much." And it's not like an art degree will really help him.
chalicejoker: (Perplexed)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-12-19 12:25 am (UTC)(link)
"I thought college was optional." Dammit, so much of human education is confusing.
notachickenhawk: (boy: glare)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-19 02:29 am (UTC)(link)
"It is, but a lot of people think it's a good idea. It's expensive, anyway." No way his aunt or uncle would fund it, and even if he could get scholarships... it wouldn't pay for everything.
chalicejoker: (Grumpy)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-12-19 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
"Best to save your money if you're not sure, then." Hajime at least understands that part, the paychecks and need to pay rent of human civilization.
notachickenhawk: ([birdboy])

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-19 05:05 am (UTC)(link)
"Eh." It's not important, anyway. "Are you staying here for a long while, then?"

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