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Hᴇx - ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏᴅ ᴍᴀᴄʜɪɴᴇ ([personal profile] modmachine) wrote in [community profile] cityofhex2016-12-05 08:43 pm

WEEK 03

Preparation for the holidays continues at a steady - if slow - pace. Almost all traces of Halloween are gone by now, except for a few rotting pumpkins shoved into compost heaps, but with over a month until Christmas and the Day of Lights, nobody is yet in a hurry. Still, a few early holiday shoppers are out and about, usually in pairs if they aren't families with children, happily chattering about gift plans.

Weather forecast: The rain has passed, and days grow clear again for this week. Hex’s weather has been getting colder, and people are bundling up a bit more - even those who don’t need to, just in an effort to fit in. Hats and gloves are being prominently displayed in stores, even if they’re not strictly needed yet.

Moon phase: The moon is full on Monday the fourteenth, reaching peak fullness over the city at about 2AM. Afterwards, it begins to wane.

More employment: More decorations for the Day of Lights are going up, with some stronger-backed labor being recruited for the stockrooms in preparation for the incoming holiday rush. No one seems concerned about work history, a boon for people without a human paper trail. The park lights aren't finished yet, either, though things are on schedule to open next week.

Hitting the books: To prepare for the holidays, and raise funds for their community party, the library near the university is selling some of its used books. Most of them are fine, if an odd selection - you might find a cookbook, or you might find a book of poetry. There’s something weird about the books, though - a few of them smell faintly of mint. Watching over all of this is a sharp-eyed librarian. Don’t take a book without paying, or she’ll get up from her desk and try to block the door. She keeps having to chase away teenagers with dirty hands, too.

Bake sale: Some of the local schools are starting to take up donations for their holiday parties. One in particular in the residential district is holding a bake sale in front of the elementary school for an hour each day after classes let out. If you can fight through the sea of small children hoping someone will buy them something, you’ll find a variety of brownies, cookies, and tiny cakes. Many of them are lopsided, but a few look put together by expert hands. They cost more, of course, but it’s all for a good cause. A grouchy mother can be found near the cash box at all times, making sure no one steals the money.

Whoo are you?: Malin will notice that owls seem to be happening at her; they're hard to see, just shapes against the lesser-dark of the night sky, but they definitely seem to be watching her. They particularly seem to gather when she feeds. If she doesn't confront them, this will increase slowly but measurably throughout the week.

Time waits for no one: An old clock tower in the part of downtown leading into the Sixth has been restored to functionality... Mostly. The belltower stands empty, though there's a visible place where a bell should be hung, several stories above the floor. Ryoji might find the scene familiar. On Wednesday evening, there is some kind of reopening gathering at the church below it; the brief service and meet-and-greet is not particularly unusual, save that the young Acolyte handing out papers in the entry won't step into the congregation hall itself.

Like a dog with a bad...: In the Sixth, the construction is ongoing, still with the same handful of men, who rotate through almost like randomly generated NPCs. Lurking around outside is a thickly built man, who watches the whole goings-on with suspicion; strangely, he seems to be watching it mostly through the camera on his phone. On Friday morning, though it shouldn't be cold enough for frost, three of the strangely similar men slip on patches of ice and fall behind a half-finished wall... Where they vanish completely. They reappear after lunch, if it's even the same men, with no signs of injury. That afternoon, the man with his phone looks smug.

A touch of the season: And speaking of ice, passage into many of the city's Avernian Gates is blocked this week by a thick frost that seals the entries shut. An Unsettling Youth and his girlfriend can occasionally be seen investigating them; though they're constantly together, they don't seem much inclined to talk to each other. Occasionally, she'll drape her arm over his shoulders and giggle, while he looks confused; other times, she seems almost to shy away from him.
runs: (considering all that)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-11 09:14 pm (UTC)(link)
"How do they get the shelters and buildings warm?"

Issues that she's never had to deal with, but there have been a few damn cold nights since she got here, and there is a difference between working in icy weather and trying to go to sleep in one.
notachickenhawk: (bird: free)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-11 09:57 pm (UTC)(link)
"Stuff up the windows and cracks, run generators to power some heaters, and use a lot of blankets." He's... had to find some blankets, himself, lately. The cold is always awful for him.
runs: (I got this)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-11 10:04 pm (UTC)(link)
"We could set that up in one of the buildings in the 6th."

There are a lot of abandoned buildings there, after all.
notachickenhawk: ([birdboy])

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-12 02:02 am (UTC)(link)
"Sounds good to me." He sighs and tugs his legs in a bit. He won't fall. He almost never does, anymore. "I can look into how much a generator will cost."
runs: (considering all that)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-12 04:44 pm (UTC)(link)
She pulls her knees up against her chest, mirroring his shifting, and butts his shoulder with her head, but doesn't verbally comment on the sighing.

"...How big are they?"

Things are so weirdly high-tech and low-tech at once here, she can't really make guesses on anything.
notachickenhawk: (bird: what?)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-12 06:10 pm (UTC)(link)
"I'm not sure... depends how efficient it is. Fuel will cost us, so I'll try to get the most efficient one I can, but I think it's a few feet big at least." And if fuel's too expensive...

Shit. This is more complicated than he thought.
runs: (I grew up down here)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-12 06:13 pm (UTC)(link)
"So we'll need a lot more money while it is cold."

That is a problem. She's been scraping by with ...essentially no money at all - free food, some donations from Tobias or food pantries, a few shopliftings. And it has been made rather clear to her that there will be no legal (or at least working a job) way for her to earn money. And Tobias might be a bit better at earning money than her, but not enough for that amount of it.
notachickenhawk: (boy: in the crowd...)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-12 06:18 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yes." He glances at her, before nodding. "I'll make sure you have enough. Don't worry." He can always sleep somewhere colder... but he won't let a kid go cold and hungry. She might have abilities, but he's not going to be like them. He won't just abandon someone her age.
runs: (fuck this and this and that too)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-12 06:43 pm (UTC)(link)
"No." She frowns at him. "We'll make sure we have enough." He's become someone she cares about, so cares about his well-being too. She might be less useful in this than him, but she'll still make sure that he doesn't neglect himself.
notachickenhawk: (bird: hawk)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-12 07:14 pm (UTC)(link)
"... I can get by on less, though. You're still growing." Not that he has a lot of fat or energy stores to deal with... but then again he can also just go into his Lair if he has to.
runs: (I got this)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-12 07:19 pm (UTC)(link)
"And you're bigger so it evens out." Bigger people need more food because they go through more in a day, Simon explained to her at one point when she asked him in fascination at how much he could eat. "...I should be able to get you food. But I can't get money." Not without reverting to pickpocketing, which sounds too risky to her as long as there's another way, or searching bodies, which... no. She's still shaken by the sheer amount of vampires running around this place, and would rather stay far away from them.
notachickenhawk: (bird: what?)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-12 07:26 pm (UTC)(link)
"I... okay. I'll see what I can do about money." There should be someone who's willing to hire him, at least. Somewhere. Even part time.... he knows generators are expensive... he'll have to see just how much. Probably way too much.
runs: (considering all that)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-12 07:31 pm (UTC)(link)
"If not, we can maybe get an oven and burn things." There should be enough stuff to burn in the abandoned houses, and an oven might be outdated but recent enough to come by cheaply. Or for free, even, if they can find one in one of the abandoned houses...
notachickenhawk: (Default)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-12 07:51 pm (UTC)(link)
"That's an idea. There's got to be an oven somewhere in one of those places that still has a working gas hookup." Or maybe they can find a standalone one and just make a fire on a concrete floor... depends where they end up crashing.

Cautiously, he reaches over to put a hand on her shoulder, leaving her enough time to move away if she wants to.
runs: (considering all that)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-12 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
She keeps still when he does so, eyes darkened by contacts turning up to watch him with... not alert. Just watch him. What's this?

"We should look at houses in the Sixth first." It's much more likely that something abandoned can be found there, and that nobody will care about them setting up camp there.
notachickenhawk: (boy: casual)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-12 08:38 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yeah." He smiles gently, patting her shoulder a little bit. He's... not good at physical comfort, but there is an Effort.

Ugh... the day's starting to get on. He can't sulk all day - well. Okay. He can, but he shouldn't. "We should get going. You okay getting down, or do you need a hand?"
runs: (I got this)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-12 08:41 pm (UTC)(link)
"I could get up, so I'll be able to get down, too."

Would he be better at petting a cat shaped person than he was at ...whatever this was meant to be? Maybe. But she'd have to reveal herself to find out, probably, and she still doesn't want to. She's never told anyone without a very good reason - her teammates, Ryoji, and that's about it.
notachickenhawk: (boy: glare)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-12 09:26 pm (UTC)(link)
"I thought so, but I also thought I'd check."

He shimmies to the edge of the roof, dangling off of it for a moment before slipping over the edge, grabbing for a windowsill to check his speed.

He misses entirely, landing hard on his leg and letting out a yowl. "Shit, shit, shit!"
runs: (I got this)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-12 09:38 pm (UTC)(link)
After the first moment of shock and seeing that he seems to have broken nothing life-threatening, Kitty just giggles and decides to levitate down instead of climbing, just to demonstrate that other people are totally safe getting down from houses. Her ears twitch as she jumps over the ledge, arms stretching out to the side like a gliding bird.

It looks like a very slow jump, with both arms stretched out to the sides for effect, and lands smoothly next to Tobias. And then staggers for a moment and shakes her head in annoyance, feeling the familiar wave of dizziness the backlash of having done more than she should have wash over her. Ew. She still grins when she looks at Tobias. "Look, I could get down okay."
notachickenhawk: (bird: what?)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-12 10:17 pm (UTC)(link)
He rolls his eyes a bit and struggles to his feet, putting weight on his ankle gingerly. "I think I sprained it... I've probably been pushing myself too hard. I didn't want to spend energy I barely have on trying to fly." Even now, his Beast stirs at the mention of food.
runs: (duh)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-13 12:04 am (UTC)(link)
"Then you should make sure that you have enough energy to fly again soon." She doesn't have a medkit, or any medical knowledge, but maybe she can help him in some other way.

Like... Something. "You can lean on me if you need to."
notachickenhawk: (Default)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-13 01:43 am (UTC)(link)
He eyes her for a moment, and then nods, leaning on her as little as he dares. It helps that he's not exactly heavy. "I'll see if I can get some ice or something from one of the cafes. I think it's just twisted or sprained, nothing serious."
runs: (considering all that)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-13 02:54 pm (UTC)(link)
She makes no sign of him having leaned on her too much, and he hasn't - she might not be strong compared to an adult, but being a kid that is just very physically active, she is fairly strong and well-balanced for her age and size.

"I can go and ask. They'll give children more than older people, most of the time." Well, as long as it is playing with their pity and not intimidating someone into giving you things. "Then you won't have to walk around that much, too."
notachickenhawk: (bird: free)

[personal profile] notachickenhawk 2016-12-13 05:07 pm (UTC)(link)
"... Thanks, Kitty. That'd be really helpful." He still needs to work on his art... if he can get a little bit of money from it, then he will. They need some sort of steady income... maybe he can find someone who will hire him for stock work.