spellbinders | [HUB ISLAND | MANSION CLEANING]

Entry tags:

[HUB ISLAND | MANSION CLEANING]

Who: Coven members
Where: The Hub Island (the mansion, beach huts, etc)
When: Day 83
Open/Closed: Open to All

Not much has changed about the Hub Island since the first coven members ended up here, but there is an obvious unkemptness that's crept over the existing structures. Rains and winds have come and gone, flora and fauna have taken over some of the mansion and a few windows are broken.

In short, despite activity levels being low, a lot needs to be done.

First on the agenda is getting the mansion in working order -- there's also an incentive from Brie who doesn't want to do literally everything on her own. Helping with this task AND unloading the caravan means you get a boar roasted in your honor. Well, everyone gets one single boar roasted in their honor, but that's better than starving, right?

Door fixing
Sweeping and other cleaning busy work
Window repair

B ▢ If your character is less inclined towards hard labor, there are a lot of individual rooms that could use some sprucing up. Some of the Palai blankets can be used to make the multiple bedrooms more presentable, but a thick layer of dust exists on almost everything. From the kitchen to the bathrooms, only slight plumbing work needs to be implemented in order to get the water running again...but your character can also hole up in a bedroom and pretend to fluff pillows if your character wants to slack off. If your character's got a source of electricity, wink wink, your character can also help to power the lights, kitchen appliances and other electrical things in the house.
Plumbing repair
Dusting
Bedmaking
Sweeping (or vaccuming, if your character can find a way to power one)
Making the kitchen clean and functional

C ▢ The beach huts, on the other hand, are much less affected. While those pesky crabs that used to live in the bathhouse have fled into the wilderness, for the most part, some of them have taken up residence in these beach huts and aren't happy to see returning coven members back to claim their territory. In one beach hut, a boar has decided to have their babies there. If your character wants to clean out this particular home, beware that mom could come back at any moment for her piglets.

D ▢ If your character want to take on a true challenge, someone can find a way to start cleaning out the bathhouse. Your character may have a solution to the bigger problem of getting the heat back to the water, but the more pressing issue is the layer of pond scum covering everything. It's gross, but something should be done!

E ▢ There's a lot of things to be unloaded from the caravan and brought into the mansion after it's been cleaned out. From crates of shrimp to all of the supplies and gifts the Palai provided, someone with muscles needs to help with the heavy lifting! ...Or if your character has magic that can make this easier, they can of course use that.

F ▢ Later on that night Brie makes good on her promise of boar -- and it's that massive boar. It pays to have violent magic when it comes to hunting and gathering, although I'm sure someone's character could have helped with lugging the giant thing to the beach. For new coven members, unfamiliar with how boar meat is something of a meat to get used to, this meal could potentially make them ill. Either way, the work is somewhat done and it's time to relax under the stars...untill it starts raining, anyway.

G ▢ Wildcard!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Rewarding may not have been the word 9S would use, but he can't say it's wrong. There's a sense of fulfillment that comes of doing the things they were built for, where androids are concerned. And he knows it's very much by design. It just doesn't change that it's true.

His attention drifts to Jude's feet when they move, and it occurs to him that he hasn't actually seen him without shoes before. A small detail, but one he doesn't fail to note]

How's your ankle now? All better?

[It might be silly to ask, but he wants to verify all the same]

[ it's not silly at all. jude is surprised that he even remembered, until he realizes that this is 9s, not just anyone. ]

All better.

[ he stretches it out, just because he can. ]

I don't know what I would've done without you. I probably could have healed it right there, but...

Well. Thanks again. I'm glad I didn't have to.

You keep thanking me, but...

[Well, Jude knows the rest. There's no scenario in which he would've done any different. Not knowing what sorts of wildlife they might face, much less how aggressive it might be, it wouldn't have been safe to linger in one place for terribly long if it wasn't defensible.

This island is too much of a mystery to them still yet, and it sounds like some of the others have been here before. Maybe there wasn't enough time to secure all the information they needed at that point]

I'm just glad you're alright.

[That's what matters]

[ it's true. jude probably couldn't defend himself against any sort of wild animal besides maybe a squirrel in that condition. there's also the fact that the terrain was unstable. all sorts of factors. ]

It was just a little hiccup, but I'm glad I'm alright too.

[ jude sort of curls in on himself closer, the island breeze rustling his hair and making him shiver. he can smell oncoming rain in the air, but he's not ready to go back to camp just yet. he wants to stay here, wants to stay with 9s. ]

You know how helpful you've been, right? Mapping out the island and all.

There's still a lot more ground to cover, but...it's good to be useful.

[As he speaks, he's unbuttoning his coat. And by the time he's done, he's shrugging his way out of it. Considering the cool night air, it seems an odd choice, at least until he leans to drop that coat over Jude's shoulders. The material is thicker and warmer than his lab coat, he's sure]

Don't get sick.

[It's all the explanation he thinks necessary to provide. The same possibility had concerned him when Flynn was out in the rain, and unable to do anything for his human associates if they become ill, prevention strikes him as the best course of action]

[ jude turns his head away to hide the flush creeping onto his cheeks. he's not sure whether it's 9s' coat or the heat washing over him that's keeping him warm. what is with him? what is he getting so flustered over borrowing a coat for? feelings are the strangest things. that sentiment is no different between a human and an android's perspective, jude is certain. ]

I won't get sick—

[ he pauses, cutting his argument short to wonder something aloud. ]

... Do androids get cold?

[ another pause. ]

What about... Do androids get sick?

[Lately, it seems to him that Jude's face becomes redder on certain occasions. He's not too sure he's figured out a pattern, aside that it's observable at increasing frequency, but he thinks better of calling attention to it. At the least it doesn't seem to be a health issue.

Even if he'd thought about checking on that, he's been posed a couple of questions he should answer. Interesting, how they're the same sorts of queries that he got when he loaned out his coat last time]

Androids can get cold...but we can also regulate our body temperatures more than I imagine a human can.

[Which makes becoming cold less of a prospective issue. As for the second topic, he's clearly reluctant to answer. Still, he tries]

A virus exists that can affect androids, but it's not the same as human illness.

[ something tells jude, a gut feeling, maybe, that he shouldn't ask about said virus. so he doesn't. instead, he just nods, hugging 9s' coat closer. it smells like him. clean. ]

Well, just tell me if you need it back, okay? I mean it. I'll be fine.

[ but, in a smaller voice: ]

Thank you, though.

[ jude rests his hands in the sand, too, letting sand slip through the cracks between his fingers and watching. it feels nice. jude is one to take pleasure in small, simple things like this. ]

[9S shakes his head. That's very Jude, isn't it? Just as he'd pointed out, putting others before himself. In this case, there truly is no practical need for it though]

It's not a problem.

[He's warm enough, and he's capable of producing more heat if he really needs to. For the moment the evening air doesn't bother him, and it lets his hands drop to the sand to rest at his sides...

Or that's his intention, anyway. One lands on something else, and he has to correct himself. He'd planted his hand right on Jude's by mistake]

...Sorry.

[Not that he hadn't held his hand before, but just dropping it there unceremonously is a little different]

[ jude glances down between them at 9s' slightly smaller hand before he moves it, and then jude's eyes flicker up to 9s'. ]

No, it's—

[ it's fine.

he's not sure why this feels... different. maybe it's the intent behind it. the intent that he wants to hold 9s' hand, just because he can, just because it feels nice, just because. he'd never even thought about it before, just went ahead and did it, but right now he very much is puzzling over it.

so his hands inches closer, and his fingers brush 9s'. he doesn't grasp his hand just yet, instead grazing the backs of his knuckles with his thumb. hesitating. ]

Is this okay?

[ jude can't even look at him. the tips of his ears are burning. what if he says no? what is he even doing? this is uncharted territory for him and, he's certain, for 9s as well. ]

[In this moment, Jude seems so nervous, and 9S can't quite place the reason for it. He doesn't think he's done anything particularly strange or different, and he doesn't help matters by watching the other boy in thoughtful silence as he tries to determine the cause.

They're becoming more frequent, moments like this. Ones that he can't read, and that he can't decide the reasons behind. But he doesn't think that it's the mark of something negative like fear or wariness, rather...

Well, he'll sort it out in time, he's sure]

Yeah, it's okay.

[He wants to ask why it wouldn't be, but the odd weight that comes with that question makes him think better of it. Whatever's given Jude cause to be that furtive, it seems best to answer plainly]

Unless you prefer sand or something.

[Maybe a stab at humor will help]

[ jude breathes out a sigh of relief he didn't know he'd been holding, and slips his fingers between 9s'. there shouldn't be anything special about it, but his pulse quickens anyway, and all he can think about is how smooth 9s' skin is compared to his callouses. even though 9s likes them.

that thought flusters him even more.

there's a hitch in his breath when he replies, but he sounds faintly amused. ]

No, I prefer this.

[ jude laughs lightly. ]

I just wanted to... hold your hand. Just because.

[ he swallows, averting and refocusing his gaze. for once, he's glad 9s has the goggles on. ]

[And just like that, the tension seems to be gone. 9S is relieved for that, unsure how he'd remedy it otherwise. He can only wonder when something as commonplace as touching his hand came to have a different air about it, but it appears to now.

He glances down at their hands as he considers that. Just like occasions previous, what he notices most is simply how warm it is]

Just because? [he echoes the words, not entirely certain what they mean] Well, you can anytime you want to, you know.

[Not like he'd ever object to it]

Yeah. Just because.

[ that makes jude smile. he gives 9s' hand a light squeeze. ]

This makes the stars even nicer.

You think so...?

[That prompt 9S to glance back up at the sky. It's strange, seeing a starry sky through the atmosphere, rather than their cold sharpness in space. Somehow, they seem softer this way, filtered as they are.

Actually, this makes him wonder about something. If holding his hand makes a difference to Jude, then—]

What does the sky look like, where you're from?

[ there are two possible answers to that question. ]

It depends on which world you're talking about. On Elympios, it looks more like this. Dark, with bright stars dotting the sky, constellations and all...

On Rieze Maxia, the sky is different everywhere.

Do you mean...it depends on the region?

[9S could relate, in a way. With the Earth's rotation arrested, half the planet remains locked in perpetual, dusky day, and the other half remains in unending night. He's never seen the dark side of the planet, and so, night itself was a novel concept to observe in Aimintas.

But it's so much darker here]

What about where you live?

Yeah, it does. For example, it could be dusk in one region and dawn in another. It's an interesting phenomenon.

Where I live... I only just moved to Elympios, but before that I lived in a huge city called Fennmont. It's where I went to medical school.

I.. can't even describe it. Something called a spirit clime cloaks the city in perpetual nighttime, but the city is so rich in spirits, they light up the trees and cast the streets in a constant glow. There were always stars there. Everywhere.

Edited 2017-10-01 03:37 (UTC)

...Just a city?

[Something that incredibly localized is a shocking notion. And then there's those spirits again, something elemental that can somehow take human form if powerful enough, which is far more difficult to imagine.

But the lights make him think of the Amusement Park, the way it was before the machine network was driven mad]

Half the world's in perpetual night, where I'm from. But I was never deployed there.

The capital, but still, just a city.

[ jude nods, absently rubbing his thumb in little circles against the skin of 9s' hand. it's soothing, something he doesn't even realize he's doing. ]

Where were you deployed?

[On the other hand ~~no pun intended~~ he's very aware of that minute movement]

An area around the North American continent.

[Despite the presence of clearly Japanese items, 9S is nevertheless shown heading toward this continent from the Bunker, so that's the best one can surmise here. He imagines that the location won't mean too much to Jude, but names still make places feel more concrete]

The planet's rotation ceased a long time ago, so it's always daytime. Not as bright as here or Aimintas though.

I see...

[ he doesn't see entirely, but it's enough to just imagine it. ]

I mean, our worlds are different, but they do have their similarities, too. There are places in Rieze Maxia where it's always daytime.

... I wish I could show you Fennmont one day. I think you'd like it.

If it's the place you lived, I'm sure I would.

[It must be a nice enough place, after all, if Jude decided to stay there. If he could, he'd certainly be interested in seeing it for himself, curious as he always is. But he doesn't know if they're bound to ever visit the places they came from.

Still, it's a nice enough thought that he can't help smiling. Unfortunately he's not sure there's anywhere for him to show Jude in return, if he had a way to go to his own world. It'd surely be too dangerous]

[ jude smiles back, sincere, as always happy to see 9s' smile. ]

Just because I lived there? Really?

[ his smile takes on a teasing turn. ]

[He hums]

Yep. Just because you lived there.

[That makes it relevant to his interests, of course]

So long as I had you to show me around, anyway.

[Although he's made for scouting, he'd like to see what Jude would consider important]

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this is the only icon i can use

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