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
A typical day started typically, with Adam waking up at 11am and blearily smoking out of the window, peering down at the street as he considered if he was hungry enough for breakfast. The few Lasti he had really ought to go to food, but he also knew it would be happy hour at the local club that night...taking in a breath and flopping onto his sill, he idly watched the people walking by.
By now, he knew most of the faces that would pass by. His job was looking and noticing, after all.
He'd also by now learnt to see when someone was new in town. They usually had a certain lost look, a fascination in their eyes that would surely fade after some time in the Drench. Since the lockdown, he'd seen less and less of that look, but he spotted it in the face of a man walking by. Adam straightened up, put out his cigarette, curious - with so little information coming in and out of the city, the chance to talk to someone new couldn't be wasted.
Eschewing the crowded street, he easyily climbed out of the window and up, walking along the rooftops until the man he was following came to a quieter corner - whereupon he jumped down to grab a ledge and dropped before him. "Hey! I'm not mugging you." Just in case being suddenly accosted by a man in a dark alley made him think that. "You new in town?"
Josef was exploring, he was getting the lay of the land and its streets nearer to the civilized roads than in the darkened alleys. It was partially to find a place where he could set up a stand or storefront, but it looked sparse given the foot traffic. At least he was clean, smelling less of bear scat and musk. Chewing some bark from a pine tree he helped cut down a few weeks before his travel, having kept shavings to clean his teeth and such. His boots thudded along the street as he felt as if he were being watched, the fireflies hanging in the jar upon his belt buzzing about.
Pushing passed the crowds and toward a quiet alley, he was going to confront whatever was watching him. As he placed a hand on the handle of his hatchet. As soon as the person dropped in front of him, he lifted his metallic left glove and sparked it into life as the bulb flashed with light in the darkness only for a brief second at high intensity. "Oh... really, well my apologies then" wondering if the person's eyes would be fine as he readied himself for some kind of ambush or racketeer scheme. "I was told not to say that I was, so I won't. Who are you and why you askin',"
Josef looked like a youth under his hood, now that all the mud and grime was washed away. But, he still looked like someone who lived all his life in the wilderness. Leather duster made from tanned hides of not altogether familiar creatures, hooded cowl, and strange devices as well as tools littering his belts. His scarred hand didn't go toward his axe and instead relaxed slightly. Still standing in a defensive stance in case the stranger threw a punch or something odd occurred.
"Agh, fuck-" In contrast to his elegant entrance, Adam threw up an arm over his face and stumbled back, trying to get away from the sudden bright light in his face. Like all Drenchers, he had a chronic case of 'Drench-eye', a tendency to find suddenly light enviroments challenging. Reaching out blindly with his other hand for the wall behind him, he found it and staggered over to lean against it, the arm over his face coming down to reveal a grumpy scowl.
Was he to blame for jumping down and surprising this poor newcomer? Was the surprise part of the point, that he'd wanted to sadistically scare the man a little bit? Maybe so, but that didn't mean he deserved any kind of retaliation. He was cool, he was allowed to do these things.
"I'm goddamn blind, that's who I am." Adam grumbled, rubbing his eyes and straightening out, not caring if it made much sense. "Just wanted to say welcome to the Drench, jeez. Didn't think you'd come out with a goddamn flash bomb."
Josef would have helped in normal circumstances, but, since he had moved to the Drench. Normal was relative, it meant that you don't approach strangers willy-nilly for better or worse. So he watched the man curse and stumble about, noting how effective the blinding flash was to the natives. It was the only thing that he could think of in his sudden surprise. "Well, hello blind..." he muttered in reply, "strange name if you ask me" a smaller whisper on his lips as he couldn't help but smirk. As he knew full well that this man was just annoyed now.
"Look, mister, your lucky that I'm not the violent sort. Shouldn' sneak up on people like that, especially in the Drench" Josef wasn't a native, but he learned quick enough, and watching how unguarded the fella was, he wondered if they were just a little eccentric. "It wasn't a bomb, bombs explode. It was more like a high-intensity flash from my weldin' tool" Yeah, that was the best way to explain what had happened without giving too much away. He wasn't going to say much else about his tools, as the last person who he had discussed it with, laughed.
Still, Josef didn't look too concerned about what was occurring. Whoever this was, a welcome to a newcomer was strange in itself. Wondering if there were others about or what business this man had with him in reality, not the simple truths that could well be lies. But, he had to give them the benefit of the doubt as that was Palladol's kind of decency. So, he waited for the gentleman to compose themselves as he watched curiously.
"Mmmmgh." Adam respondedly grumpily to his new name, rubbing his eyes. "I know how the Drench works." Truthfully, at least half of his irritation was due to Josef catching him off-guard before he could feel suitably superior.
Since his dramatic entrance was now entirely blown, he leaned against the alley wall and fished a badly-rolled joint out of his pocket, producing a battered lighter from his sleeve for it. "Well, I'm Adam, anyway. If you need stuff around here - I can help you, most of the time." Probably not himself, but he had connections; he always knew a guy who knew a guy. Josef, just from the looks of him, looked a shady sort. Why else would he wear a cowl and flash well meaning parkourists? "Especially with things to make the time pass quicker."
He drew in and blew out a ring of smoke to punctuate his point. True, Nate was the one with the substances, but he could always ask for a cut for directing a new customer his way.
"...So what's your name?" Trying to look relaxed and cool against the wall and pretending he wasn't still blinking too much, he raised his eyebrows at the newcomer.
Josef understood that the other man was disorientated, he'd used that method to deter a lot of people in the darkness including animals now that he thought about it. The burning sensation that you received when the transition of light was too much, was a good deterrent for ongoing actions. The man seemed a bit snippy as they replied, Josef giving a non-commital 'uh huh' as a response before the stranger introduced themselves to him. "Stuff, that is a most helpful type of description of whatever service you provide" He said with emphasized sarcasm as he chuckled. Personally, Josef wasn't the shady type, though he had done shady things before, he'd never classify them as such.
Though the continuation caught him off, why would anyone want time to pass quicker? He thought about it and watched Adam smoke away, Josef recognized the scent and shook his head. "Names Josef, and before you ask, I'm a tinkerer... I fix and make things" he said with a small smile as he watched the stranger lean up against a wall, his eyes obviously irritating him. "Do you always try to surprise people in the dark? in all seriousness, that will likely not end well one of these days" Not really trying to judge or condemn, just more to provide a friendly reminder to the man.
He could still hear the sounds of people along the other street, the sounds of water splashing as well as the scents of damp mold, a tinge of rusty metal, and the herb that Adam was smoking. The world continued to move all around them and here they were just chatting in the relative dark of the Drench. If they weren't strangers, he'd have offered to go somewhere else to chat. Yet Josef was trying his best to figure out what the other person wanted.
"Stuff." Adam repeated, his expression seeming to say that Josef ought to obviously know what he meant. With a sigh (smoke curling up out of his lips and above his face as he opened his mouth), he took a quick glance outside to see if any Enforcers were lingering then decided to be about as frank as he could be. "Drugs, dude. Stuff to smoke and drink and stick up your ass, whatever your choice of poison is." Pretty much everyone in the Drench was on something - it was simply polite to get someone started off when they first arrived.
He waved his cigarette vaguely in the air. "More than that too though. Need to talk to someone, get something in particular, get to somewhere...I can probably help ya."
As for not jumping on strangers in the dark, it was good advice, which mean Adam chafed against it naturally. "Usually they don't have goddamn bulb things to flash in my face. Usually they're all-" He mimed a scared face, holding up his hands and shaking them. "- Then I can be all 'be careful in the Drench, do you need help'." That was the usual script.
That made no sense to Josef, as the man emphasized 'stuff' again. Was he meant to know what Adam was on about? perhaps, but it wasn't quite clicking as the look he gave the other man showed evidence of this. Then clarification came and Josef finally understood. "oooohh..." you're a criminal, but he kept that half of the sentence to himself as he glanced around, wondering if he was going to get tied into whatever Adam was up to just by association. Then again, something the smoker had said caught him off guard. "Wait, up your ass, what the heck do you Drenchers do to your what now?" Shaking his head as he lifted his naked hand to wave the image away.
"Okay, Okay... I get the picture," Josef said as he tried to get the picture of people stuffing things up their butts like bears for hibernation. Adam described the same type of people who got him into the city, no wonder he thought Josef was the sort of person who hung out with these crowds. Sighing, he nodded and continued to try to see Adam's point. Utterly illogical as some folk would have fight responses and he'd have been stabbed sooner or later. "If'n I was the type to have my axe out instead of my tools, you'd be sporting a bloody wound. Some people would probably do the same with whatever item they had at hand" Shaking his head, he returned the conversation to what Adam did for a living. "So you find things? Interesting, would you be able to find any abandoned workshop equipment? Lathes, industrial cutters, machining tools, things like that?"
Josef wanted to start up a business and couldn't well afford any heavy machinery that was selling from stores. However, if he could find equipment that he could salvage, it would be an entirely different story and he'd be able to start up his workshop. Hoping that the exchange for information like this could just be work to be done, like building people stuff and the like.
Had Adam known he was being called a criminal, he would have made a show of pushing his hair back and proudly claiming the title. As it was, he just matter of frankly clarified on the topic of ass-drugs: "Yeah man. Not my thing, but some people take these capsules with real thin linings then you just-" With very little care to prudish attitudes, Adam mimed pushing such a capsule right up his ass.
At the end of the day, if people were willing to pay for it, he'd sell it. Whatever. Everyone's butt and what they put in it was their own business.
"Eeehh." He shrugged. "Had plenty of fights in my time. Can usually get away quick enough...or get 'em to stop with my charm." This was followed by a grin that was meant to be devilish and daring, but depending on Josef's perspective could look rather goofy. It was true, though; Adam had astonishing luck for wriggling himself out of trouble. Half the reason he'd lived as long as he had was dumb luck, though he'd attribute it to his own marvelous planning and importance.
As for the request, Adam's eyebrows raised as he tapped out a little tune on the brick wall behind him. "Probably. Problem is that stuff's heavy, so I'd have to get a couple guys to help lift it. Might cost you more. You got the Lasti for that?"
Josef just gave Adam a look, a general state of 'Right...', without needing to put it to words that it wasn't something he needed to know about some Drenchers. Their drug habits were not his concern and as soon as he had asked, he knew it was a mistake. Knowing full well that he'd never be able to remove that thought from his memories. Josef wasn't a prude, he'd just never heard of people doing that before, hell, he'd heard of butt sex, but that was done by teens with no form of contraceptive. Or so he believed, either way, he was going to leave that line of thought alone.
"Right..." This time he said it aloud, in response to Adam being in plenty of fights. He'd seen hard men and women who'd probably break the man like a toothpick. "Well, you're lucky that I'm not the type to harm people without a good reason" replying to the statement as he watched the goofy look the rogue put on, wondering what he was trying to do with his face. Giving a shrug and then a sigh as the mention of Lasti' was aired. "If I had the Lasti', I'd not be asking a corner merchant like you. I'd be in a fancy factory somewhere, I don't need new, heck, I don't even need working. I just need it to be repairable. In return, I can make you somethin' that you or others may need"
He couldn't really do much else in the state he was in, new to the Drench and without a true workshop as of yet. However, once he had the machinery to back his skill, he'd be able to craft a good bit. Though, his specialty was with triggering mechanisms and things that were fairly dangerous in nature or the downright mundane like hinges. Wondering what the fella in front of him would even ask for given the chance.
