deercountry | 11 . clockhouse rebuilding!

Entry tags:

11 . clockhouse rebuilding!

Who: Those who have offered to help rebuild the Clockhouse, and anyone else who'd like to pitch in!
What: An open mingle log to repair after fires and floods.
When: Throughout September, precise dates not specified.
Where: In Gaze, at the forest's edge.

[ When the weather and chaos dies down, work on the Clockhouse picks up. The building was once an old Deerington mansion, luridly green and eccentric; age faded it into half a ruin, and July's fire did the rest. August's flooding came fast and hard, and now there's very little left to salvage.

The first step has been a damage assessment, with volunteers picking through the structurally unstable ruins, finding singed fiction novels, crisped houseplants, and a weird number of melted grandfather clocks. Demolition goes quickly, while Ozpin stands by and does not even try to control the situation.

Volunteers are needed to design the new structure, carry in materials, and build... and then to decorate and enchant what they've created. The few Sleepers with genuine construction experience provide direction, Ozpin sometimes among them, but things are largely chaotic. A few Sleepers provide snacks and cheerleading.

This is a mingle log. Please feel free to make a toplevel, and comment with your character's contributions below! ]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Hard to say if they didn't mind it or just got used to it.

[ Either way, Ford thinks his soundproofing idea is a solid one. As for the facade... ]

I think the first step should be making it less green.

It's the story I'm writing! About the life and times of all the chickens!

[It's not super hard to catch up with her or the chickens. Getting a good handle on them is another story.]

We're after all of them, but the biggest one is the General. She's their ring leader and if we take her down the rest will follow!

Don't say that too loudly.

[ Not that Michael is being loud.

But even when saying that at a normal volume, you never know who's listening here. Either one of the more chaotic of Ange's housemates, or.. ]

You never know when a Pthumerian suddenly decides they feel like dabbling in house construction.

[ And that's the worst possible chaotic force on top of what's already all going on here. ]

[ Ange feels like every single time someone says it's just a saw, it's like there's a bad end flag counter going up somewhere.. It's like inviting misfortune.

On the other hand, it seems like Battler is pretty determined to go through with this. Which leaves Ange's two options as either leaving him to his fate here, or at least making sure she's watching over him while he's working on this.

And of course she's going to go with the latter, making her answer: ]

Sure.

[ A tad uncertain sure, though, but.. well, at least she is moving to hold onto the beam for Battler. ]

Just don't lose a finger. It'd be gross.

[ And worrisome!!!

But that part is way more embarrassing to say out loud, so of course she's going to keep it to 'gross'. ]

Are you-- [ Ange starts, sounding kind of surprised, but then stops herself mid-sentence - perhaps because she's realising that she's actually instinctively expressing said surprise, instead of burying it down the way she usually does.

But, look. She just didn't expect Break to start about this out of nowhere. That's why it managed to genuinely catch her off guard so much.

Ange frowns, but then does indeed decide to continue with the same statement she was trying to make a moment ago. ]

You're considering eternally being stuck as a frog, and the first thing you think about is your boyfriend?

[ Sorry for saying the b-word in front of god and Break's newly created butt-shaped doorknobs.

But to be fair, she says it in front of Qrow just as easily. ]

That's so sappy. [ Pause. ] That's way too sappy.

[ Said as if she and Break don't share sap on the regular. ]

[ The spinning is making her a little dizzy - and that makes her worried enough to move her arms to cling onto Ruby to make sure she isn't being flung right out of the other's arms by accident.

The last thing they need is an incredibly dumb construction site accident like that, thanks. ]

They'll totally know! They'll know!

[ Of course Ange is still going to protest. She knows how the gossip network in this place works. Someone finds out eventually, and before you know it, the entire town is in the know. ]

Do you have any idea how many other people are working here?! [ Too many, that's how many. Maybe they should've invited a few less people.. ]

Ange huffs. "That girl is too obsessed with working out."

.. okay, maybe not really too obsessed at all. It's why it doesn't sound like a genuine complaint, just something that Ange can say with a relatively casual tone as she shakes her head.

It's not like Ange dislikes the fact that her girlfriend is so strong, after all. It's rather charming, even if Ange is the complete opposite in that sense.

"You really don't want to give her more ideas. She often spends movie nights trying to benchpress me."

Yes, that's said pretty casually too.

She's used to it, and she's comfortable enough with Shiro that discussing her date nights with her girlfriend doesn't really feel weird when she's talking about it with him of all people.

Anna wasn't great at smashing shit, but she was definitely good at being the brute force. Having a robot body meant that getting tired was something she didn't often do, and she recognized it as basically her only strength here. When she caught eye of NP slowing down and looking like she wasn't totally present, she left her own wheelbarrow where it was and came over to check.

She pointed at NP, then held out a thumbs up gesture and waved it in a small circle in front of her. "You okay?" she asked, using her voice so she didn't exhaust all three or four sign language gestures she'd tried her damnedest to learn. "Something on your mind?"

[Michael cackles lightly.]

Okay, okay. Regular stairs it is. I'm not really a clock guy, you know, you may have to get someone else to set all that up.

Not really relevant for the plans, but - yeah, you're right.

[He'll write that down - "not green"]

"Yeah, the other form is my natural form, but this is better for land!"

Said like it's the most normal thing in the world.

They're probably in the big pile of supplies; I thought they might be good for hammocks!

[ Off she goes - and of course, Alice has shifted gears and thus lets go her darkblooding - the chickens have momentum going for them at this point and are in fact birds, but the collection of lumber clatters to the ground around Ruby. Yikes, look alive! ]

Expressions typically wear themselves muted in the demon; he doesn't emote the way humans do. But there's something of confusion that etches in, slowly. The subtle knit of a brow, the slight frown at the corner of his mouth.

"I am taking... better care. Of him." It isn't said as a challenge. He will not challenge this being who may have things to teach him. But it's true — he does not actively harm his vessel the way he used to. And he keeps him protected from outside threats now, keeps a close watch on him. But he looks back up to Duty, realising that perhaps the concern was the boy collapsing. Oh, that? It's fine! Peter collapses all the time.

"He is not injured. From the fall."

Oh, leave an old man be. I like my boyfriend. I like having one at all; it's amusing and novel and a bright spot in this silly hellhole.

[Unlike Qrow, Break is not afraid to say the b-word, and while he is respectful of said boyfriend's commitment allergies there is no reason to be coy about it when it's just himself and Ange just now and she said it first. As she well knows, sometimes Break is even inspired to be brave and say the L-word!! He is doing very well.]

The important bit is, if he were that much cooler than me I should never hear the end of it. He'd go flying about doing all kinds of bird tricks and he'd tease me terribly while I was stuck on the ground all hop-hop-hop. He already gets to be my hero far more often than I am his, so I really can't lose at the teasing, Miss Ange.

[This really isn't as bad as it could be. Break could be likewise plastering himself dramatically against the wall, on about how Qrow could never love a frog. Apparently looking dumb next to him is a much bigger problem.]

[ OK. Now they just gotta corner the ringleader, right? ]

Sure. I'll go left-

[ He darts one way, trying to herd the chicken back in Ruby's direction. ]

[ Battler probably understands that, honestly. He worries a lot about Ange and what's going to happen to her. About how things will be for her in the future. About how she's managed without him in her life. But there's nothing else for it. They just have to keep moving. So he smiles and does his best. ]

Relax, I'm not going to cut my own hand off.

[ He braces himself with a laugh as she joins him and then there's the harsh, rasping, rhythmic sound as the saw starts to bite. ]

See? No problem.

Curious though Duty is how Knowledge cares for his vessel, certainly he believes it is true in some way, that isn't the topic at hand. He waits because an ounce of waiting, giving Paimon the practice to figure out what the topic is, is worth more than telling him. He gets there, even if he doesn't get the point.

"Your relationship could be," Duty answers. "It looks thoughtless and uncaring. It harms his dignity and leaves him vulnerable." Intangible harms matter for relationship building.

They wont, they wont!

[Ruby is just laughing at this. And honestly. It makes her feel pretty light to just torment Ange with a simple moment like this.]

A whole bunch, I know. And you made me promise I'd hold your hand the whole time.

This is just a step up from that, you know?

The demon considers these words for a long moment. "My vessel's body crumbles so... easily, from my power. It happens many times. He goes into Sleep. But I will not allow it to be damaged beyond that."

There are much more severe ways Peter could be damaged from him, and he knows not to take it that far. Not to sear him with raw power, to be cautious with how much he exposes his host's internal state to.

"...He is fine. What else could be done? I can not stop him from collapsing."

Edited 2022-10-04 03:20 (UTC)

[Willow is on her way to attempt to cast a protection spell around the boundary of the property to at least try to keep out anyone who might still be looking for a second chance at murder and arson when the chickens run by, with Ruby right behind them.]

Calls for a demotion, I think!

[Willow also has a strong interest in making sure the plans for the kitchen don't involve surprise explosives, or anything else that might lead to any more accidents than what they can already expect by virtue of their housemates.

She glances towards Shortcake, and can't help but recall if it wasn't for Oscar's help in Deerington, she probably would have been afraid of the large black horse. Instead, she finds herself rather fond of him.]

I think he missed you while you were gone. You know, we could try to put in a Dutch door for him to the kitchen. Kind of like Mr Ed?

And Shiro laughs, again. That genuinely amused sound of his, that wipes a few years off his features. "You really need to meet Adam, I swear you guys are too much alike."

In that they both complain about how much their significant other works out. Though Adam usually says something about Shiro being a 'meat dorito'. But it's funny, the comparison.

His grin doesn't so much as flicker. "She does not, you're kidding me." Even though he knows better Ange wouldn't make up something like that. Regardless, the mental image is pretty great.

Good to know he won't get bruises faceplanting or break his spine falling down stairs. It's something. Anyone else collapsing as much as Peter would look like they'd gotten on the wrong side of a lot of fights.

"Can you tell when he will collapse?" Duty asks, rather than immediately answering the question, "How much in advance do you know?"

Ah, well, admittedly..... bruising does happen, and at times, a sprain or two might...... but Paimon's threshold for "damage" is perhaps a bit skewed, considering... what damages he'd inflicted on the boy a few years ago. Peter had to be quite literally broken open in order for the demon king to be able to permanently possess him, after all. Perhaps it is better Duty doesn't know about that just yet.

"Yes," the demon answers, looking once again down his host's body as he seriously considers it. "Some moments before. I know everything about how this body... functions."

....But while it takes him a moment or two to grasp certain implications, this one comes quickly, and he tenses slightly.

"However, I will not temper my powers to prevent it from happening. I have been... caged from them long enough."

Lance has used the horse cart he managed to get a while back to transport lumber and anything else large and heavy and needed in large quantity. It's the last week of September since week two he was deaf and stuck in Upside Down Trench a lot of the time and week three, he was blind. So… useless for helping with this, though he did bully Keith into helping him cut down and transport things while he couldn't see. He promised he would, after all!

This week, he is no longer blind, he just can't feel a thing. No touch sense. Which is only a problem if he fires a nail into his hand. Which he likely will at some point, but right now is not that time. Right now, he is securing a metal structural post somewhere in the center of the house and is getting up to weld it with his powers.

And then Shiro and his warmblood ass walks by and the beam is now red hot and melting all over…

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 8 of 27

11 . clockhouse rebuilding!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

demo

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

:3