The full seasonal event can be read here! Below are the main seasonal items for quick reference:
1. A thread reacting to the season's weather in some ways.
2. A thread in the part of the city your character doesn't live in!
3. A thread relating to your vocation.
Of The Season
Quote
"Tell Dr. Nate that Gale sent you, and he still owes me for the mushrooms. Except that it takes you a while to reach the clinic, and by the time you do your fever is spiking, and so instead of the requisite message you instead tell the poor soul who greets you that 'A gale'a m'shrooms sent me cus'a my hands.'" - Zephyr in Oh help me, please doctor, I'm damaged
You don't need sympathy
They got a pill for everything
"That doesn't mean shit, I've had Enforcers grab me cos they didn't like my face that day." Adam said with a dimissive shrug. He didn't doubt at all that if someone wanted to, they could find something to arrest even the most upstanding citizen for - even Mallorie probably had something in her apartment a particularly determined Enforcer could use.
Turning as he hopped off the beam, Adam nodded. "Yeah, I mean. I know all these routes like the back o'my hand. I started using them when I was a kid...lotta people stop when they get older, but I'm still skinny and it's easier than the street, you know?" He didn't say out loud the most obvious advantage, that taking the rooftops allowed him to stay out of the eyes of authority, but he assumed it was a given. He waited patiently for Mallorie to make her own way across the beam, leaning on the rim of the wall and watching her way across (would he help if she fell? Could he? Who knew. Luckily they didn't have to find out).
Once she was back on solid footing Adam turned to the roof they were on and spread his arms in a 'ta-da!' motion; at first Mallorie would not see anything other than a boring roof with a wall in the middle housing presumably the stairs leading up this way. However, once Adam led her around it, she would see a large vent in the brick wall, which from the several ribbons tied into it flowing, was obviously pushing out air. "I dunno what this is like, a vent for, but it's so fucking nice when it's hot." Adam stepped right into the path of the vent's flow without hesitation, raising his arms and letting out a contented sigh as the cool breeze hit the sides of his torso.
Just take that dark cloud
Ring it out to wash it down
Breathe silently, make the ghostly voice surrender.
Mallorie hadn’t really thought much of the implication of what she said - she “hmmed” affirmatively at Adam’s point, ceding it as she concentrated on moving without slipping.
His explanation of the route made sense; she could imagine Adam had his reasons to learn and stick to these obscure paths even as an adult.
“I imagine it’s a little…liberating, to be able to move so freely, up high.” She said, careful not to state the obvious illicit uses of use paths. Mallorie figured she should probably take note of these routes, in case they came in handy in future. “Could do with a little liberation at the minute.”
She cleared her throat at the admission and focused on the feel of the solid ground beneath her, after the wobbly beam.
Adam’s gesture got little more than an unimpressed, flat stare; she followed him around the roof to his actual destination, and paused at the sight. She’d seen vents before, obviously. But in the middle of the heat, and with the ribbons flailing out like tendrils, Mallorie might as well be seeing an artwork beyond compare.
“You use this often, then?” She asked, the little voice that always nagged at her to be sensible demanding she at least get a faint idea of if this thing was putting out anything…chemically dubious.
Mallorie put out one cautious hand to feel the flow, and sighed, softly, at the cool wave that soothed over it.
You don't need sympathy
They got a pill for everything
"Yeah, and Enforcers can't see you up here." Adam replied, bulldozing right through any sublety Mallorie was trying to have about the nefarious use of rooftop paths. When it came to liberation, legal or not, he was all about it: a toothy grin was given at Mallorie as he lightly punched her arm, as if to say thats the spirit!
They'd make a Drencher of her yet, and so on.
The vent blew blissfully cool air over his skin and pulled through his hair; Adam spread out his fingers to feel the push between them, closed his eyes as he took in the precious moment of refreshing cold air. It was a temporary relief, and one that couldn't be indulged too long (after a few minutes it became unpleasant, no matter how much he wanted to spend hours there), but Gods, it felt good. Mallorie's question drew him from his bliss and he paused, staring for a moment as his brain got back into 'understanding words' mode.
"Oh, yeah. This and some others. And later in the year I know the hot spots, too. Haven't got all that fancy temperature control stuff they do up topside, so had to learn where to go." A little confused why Mallorie had not yet fully entered the space, he tilted his head. "You're not scared, are you?"
Just take that dark cloud
Ring it out to wash it down
Breathe silently, make the ghostly voice surrender.
Adam was, as ever, a verbal battering ram. It was a trait that Mallorie found oscillated between irritating and endearing - in this case, luckily, the latter. She flinched at the arm punch, and found she had to hide a wry something curling round her mouth.
“If that the sort of force you pack I can see why the Enforcers think you’re a threat.”
Joking aside, it was good to know this route existed. She might not have much at the minute, but such a path would likely be useful for surveillance, among other things. She pondered at how much handy information was tucked away in the mind of just about as opposite as person to her as possible.
Temperature control…such a simple thing and it made life so much more tolerable in the heat. Little luxuries, she thought mockingly.
“I suppose I’ll owe you one again, come winter.” She said, stepping forward.
His question made her consider the risk of inhaling noxious, nebulous fumes from the airflow, versus the odds of her snapping the Kivan heat. Mallorie stepped properly into the vent’s path, and glorious, instantaneous coolness that made her sigh and shut her eyes in relief. Sod it, if she could survive drinking Adam’s swill beer she could survive one vent of dubious origin and purpose.
“Not afraid. Cautious.”
Mallorie cracked open an eye to peer at him.
“A concept I’m sure you’ve at least brushed up against.”
You don't need sympathy
They got a pill for everything
"That's why I got this." Adam said with a flourish, gesturing towards the gun on his hip. He was well aware the knots one might call 'muscles' in his arms lacked the right kind of girth to be any good for punching - pulling himself up buildings, sure, but he'd never trained to be a boxer. With his gun, though? Despite all the engravings and fancy filigree, it was actually functional, and he did know how to use it.
Not that he ever had, but that was beside the point.
Whooping as Mallorie took the plunge and stepped into the air, Adam moved a little to the side so she could be fully embraced by whatever toxic gas it was they were indulging in. Upon hearing the sigh of relief he grinned and clasped her shoulder momentarily (he suspected any longer than that might be dangerous). "Nice, innit?"
He took his step back then, to where the cool air could still be felt but wasn't quite so forceful in the face, to give his eyes a chance to wet themselves again. "I mean...being a lil bitch and waiting around all the time is how you don't get anything down here. Gotta learn young to just jump in, y'know? I've made it this far. They teach you to hang back in Enforcer school?"
Just take that dark cloud
Ring it out to wash it down
Breathe silently, make the ghostly voice surrender.
Mallorie eyed the gun Adam gestured to. She’d seen similar pieces in her old life, all flash and no bang. Knowing Adam, however, she assumed this one was at least capable of firing.
“It’s something, at least.” She looked at his skinny arms and added, drily, “You’d be better off running than scrapping.”
She’d only had some basic training with funs, always preferring the solidity of trading direct blows. Perhaps, she thought, she could offer Adam a few pointers, as thanks for his help?
His whooping distracted her from this train of thought though, and Mallorie rolled her eyes before she could stop herself. Nodded, made a noise of agreement, enjoying the cold blast like she’d never known coolness before.
“What you call being ‘a lil bitch’, I usually call being careful.”
She grimaced, minutely, sensing the chance for a falling out if she continued this tack. Not that she disagreed with Adam outright, just...just what exactly? Adam, given all Mallorie’d seen of Drench life, wasn’t actually wrong. Mallorie just wasn’t sure how she felt about the fecklessness behind such a willingness to thrown oneself into the lion’s den.
She stared at the ribbons dancing in the flow of air, and eventually spoke.
“Being an Enforcer taught me that I should always hesitate if my…colleagues were too willing to run in.”
And it was only now she bothered to examine that particular instinct.
You don't need sympathy
They got a pill for everything
Other men would have been offended by Mallorie's less-than-complimentary assessment of Adam's muscles, but he just laughed, jokingly holding up an arm and trying to flex what little lump there was there into something more impressive.
"A careful lil bitch." He cheerfully contributed, hopping in and out of the cool air as it became too overwhelming and then desirable again, turning it into a little dance. Mallorie's moral quandry went ignored, the looming chance of an argument not entering Adam's mind. The only thing that did enter his mind was that he'd quite fancy a smoke, though given it was inherently incompatible with staying in the cool air, he resisted for now.
He was a little intrigued by what she said, the informant in him that was meant to collect Enforcer intel pricking up it's ears. "Yeah? Like...run into what? Cos I gotta say, the Enforcers I've seen mostly seem to run into being dicks to people and hold back when anything's actually going on, but...I mean, I dunno what they do on the Plates." Trying to give her some wiggle room or benefit of the doubt, he took a couple of steps back from the vent to finally give in and fish a badly-wrapped joint from his back pocket.
Just take that dark cloud
Ring it out to wash it down
Breathe silently, make the ghostly voice surrender.
Adam’s fidgeting was distracting but, thanks to the relief of the cool vent air, at least not annoying. Yet.
His flexing of “muscle” earned an amused eyebrow raise, though Mallorie politely didn’t comment. She ignored his assessment of her cautious nature, stepping back to let him have the bulk of air flow, and sat down where she could still feel the benefit of the breeze. She was beginning to feel a little more human now, in spite of everything else.
“I see you’re already familiar with the Enforcer’s brand of enthusiasm,” she deadpanned, fanning herself absently as she watched him doing…whatever it was he was doing. “They generally run into the faint idea of civil unrest just as happily as a dog chasing its own tail”
Among other things.
Mallorie stretched, clicking her shoulders satisfyingly, and looked toward the awful sky above them.
“If you want specific examples, I might need my memory jogging.”
She studiously stared upward, fully aware that Adam was well-versed in quid quo pro. She’d learned enough in her time down here that she needed to learn its intricacies herself…and who better to practise on?
You don't need sympathy
They got a pill for everything
"Hard to live down here and not be familiar. Shit, I'm sure you'll come up against it soon enough." Being an old Plater, being an Enforcer even - it didn't matter. As soon as you were in the Drench, you were beneath the boot and just as susceptible to the bullshit as anyone else. In some ways, it was a rite of passage, something everyone had to go through once they started living down below. "I'd hope they don't recognise you."
If there was one thing Enforcers hated more than Drenchers, it was their own who had chosen to go back to the Drench.
Adam didn't seem aware of the grim omen he'd just spoken, still performing his odd dance in and out of the cool air for a few more moments and his face caught in a neutral expression as he considered what Mallorie might do when faced with an Enforcer patrol. Maybe she had secret magic powers or epic fighting abilities she could bring out. Maybe.
Finally giving up on the breeze in favour of tobacco (and secret ingredients), he flopped down opposite Mallorie on the roof as his joint lit up, leaning back with one arm behind his head as the other held it and knocked off the ash as he smoked. "Y'know, when people say that down here they're usually looking for a bribe. But I'm gonna assume you don't mean that, cos you gotta know by now I don't have any fuckin' Lasti to give you." With that assumption made, Adam thought back over events in the last few years...though of course his mind was drawn to something that had happened much earlier. "Y'don't remember the 1225 riots, right? I uh-dunno how old you are..."
Just take that dark cloud
Ring it out to wash it down
Breathe silently, make the ghostly voice surrender.
Mallorie had to admit that she hadn’t really thought about encountering her old colleagues down here. Somewhat distracted by everything else, she supposed. But now that Adam mentioned it, she knew he had a point; she wasn’t just a Drencher now, but a traitor. She looked, thoughtfully, at her hands where they rested on her bent knees. She’d have to keep on top of her game, get some practise in somewhere.
Well there’s another thing to make note of, she thought. Her notes were in the hundreds already.
Adam’s continued inability to remain still pulled her away from her thoughts, and he seemed a little more serious this time - if only momentarily.
“Less a bribe and more mutual exchange. I could always use a few headers on where someone might need my particular brand of help,” she explained, “or information to facilitate said help.”
She’d had no real work since coming down, and that which she had had? Had been short-lived and low paying.
His question made her pause. It was odd for Adam to ask her a question directly, unless he thought it would cause her embarrassment or irritation. Mallorie stared at him, flat but a little…probing.
“I remember them. I wasn’t exactly in the thick of things though, Enforcers don’t tend to hire fourteen year olds.” She scratched her nose idly. “Insufficiently intimidating.”
