Give him a lonely heart like Pagliacci [open]

[granularity]

Who: Sandy Hawkins (granularity) & you! )
What: a bit of research in Wyver, and a return to Olympia
When: early to mid december
Where: wilderness around Wyver, the road to Olympia, Olympia
Warning(s): none so far
Notes: hit up yarnzipan if you'd like a specific starter set up or just tag in


[ jungle around wyver| plant harvesting | open ]
[ He's done a bit of exploring around both Olympia and Wyver for interesting chemicals and plants that he might be able to use, and today he's on the search for some blissroot. After all, while he'd gotten a couple of canisters of his sleep gas loaded into his mask and his gloves, that wasn't going to last him forever. It was a good excuse to start working on a new formula. Blissroot sounded like a good start to-

What was that? ]


[ the road to olympia | open ]
[ The fact of the matter is that he could be in Olympia in a few minutes time if he wanted to. He could. Traveling through the earth was a lot faster than traveling on it. But the fact of the matter is that he's not the only one traveling. And with more than a few people making the trek, he feels the need to make it with them, look out for them, just in case. He's not sure what he's expecting, what kind of trouble: maybe reading all those books and watching all those movies and playing all those board games have just convinced him that if there's a road and travelers on it like this, bandits or beasts or something are sure to pop up. But that's silly right?

Right?

Yeah, he'll keep his gloves on just in case. ]


[ neatening up | olympia | open ]
[ When he sees the state of things in the refugee housing areas, some of his intentions go out the window. This needs working on, after all, and he's not the sort of person who sees a job without doing something about it. Of course, he wants to do it as efficiently as possible, which is why he summons up a decent mound of sand and starts using it to sweep up the debris and the garbage and the nonsense and get it into piles.

...he has to admit, he probably looks a little weird, orchestrating a small, localized sandstorm to pick up junk, but if it works? Eh.

He goes through afterwards with a set of tools and some salvaged lumber to start working on fixing doors and windows (which is where some of the sand ends up going, even if he has a bit of trial and error when it comes to fitting the panes in). If you're coming back to check on your apartment, hopefully you're smart enough to realize that the guy fixing the door is probably not the one who decided to vandalize your home. ]


[ night patrol | olympia | open ]
[ He's less of a person and more of a shadow, slipping between the buildings and the alleys, making his rounds around the worst parts of the city as he takes in the damage. It still feels weird, not having a purpose, a place he's going, a person burned into his mind by benefit of the horrific nightmares that usually haunted him, but in a way, it feels comfortable. Normal. The sort of thing he'd end up getting asked to do on a Saturday night by whoever was feeling protective of New York City that week. He's wearing his mask, so it's unlikely anyone will recognize him. Or, honestly, want to tangle with him. But they'd have to see him first. And in this case, the walls literally have eyes, so hopefully, you're behaving. ]


[ helping out | olympia | close to Linneaus]
[ As he'd promised, he makes his way to the right house with a box of tools in one hand and a couple of pieces of lumber in the other. He's hoping he won't have to do any woodworking, since he's really not the best at it, but he's confident that he'll be able to at least leave him with a functional window.

Knock knock? ]

Comments

[granularity]

More than likely.

[ He dusts off his hand, a somewhat unnecessary affectation. ]

And it means I'm made of earth, silicon to be exact. The same stuff as makes glass. I can do all kinds of things with it, including what I did just now.

[inaurare]

How can a man be made of earth?

[when he shook his hand earlier, the gentleman seemed to be of flesh and blood. Is he not, then? Or is this just some simple concept Linneus doesn't know enough about to be able to grasp?]

I'm sorry, I don't understand...

[granularity]

[ He pauses, holding up a hand, that slowly separates into grains of sand that slowly fall down to the ground near his foot. The sand disappears again into his foot, seemingly before reforming of sand and re-solidifying into his hand. ]

Mostly I'm flesh and blood but I don't have to be.

[inaurare]

Mostly...

[No, he still doesn't understand exactly. He's not very good at all at these sorts of things...]

I've seen different kinds of - magic? - in my time here. Things that most wouldn't bat an eyelid at, but that would be deemed so, in the place I came from. I can only call them magic myself because they are so strange to me... but this isn't really magic, is it?

[granularity]

Not really. I'm what's called a 'metahuman'. Someone who's natural state is something other than a baseline human's.

[ He plucks at his clothes. ]

These aren't part of my body, but they're made of a special material so that I can use my power and not end up naked afterwards. But the rest of me is made of silicon, the same material glass is made of, the same way that baseline humans are carbon-based.

[ Sand doesn't mind explaining these things. It's just a fact of his life at this point. ]

[inaurare]

Meta-human.

[unfortunately Linneus does not have a lot of scientific knowledge at his disposal (humans are carbon-based?!)

Even the explanation about his clothing... that sounds like magic. It's not that he doubts that it works. He wants to know how, but he doubts that he would not understand a more detailed explanation.

A little shyly-]

My education is severely lacking, I fear.

[granularity]

[ He waves that off. ]

A lot of people don't know this stuff. Don't worry too much about it.

The long and short is that I'm made of sand a lot of the time, but not all of the time.

[ He pulls off a glove and offers his hand for Linneus to touch. ]

See?

[inaurare]

[repeating, though he's still trying to make sense of it-]

A lot of the time, but not all of the time.

[he reaches out carefully - both hands, as if the man's hand is going to come off, or slip through his fingers]

[granularity]

[ The hand is just a hand, albeit one that's clearly used to hard work and training. He smiles as Linneus touches him; most people don't, which is as much his fault as anything else's. ]

See? Just a hand.

[inaurare]

Except for when it is sand?

[with a little smile. He might... be starting to get his head around this, if a little.]

It's still very strange.

[perhaps he can move them on to something a bit more familiar, at least for him. He moves away, stepping carefully over broken porcelain to search for a kettle]

Do you drink tea...? Or-- possibly hot water, I don't know what I have yet...

[granularity]

I do drink tea.

[ That's simple enough. His preference if coffee, but caffeine is always good. And it's less of a requirement now. ]

And if you don't have anything, I could grab a few things from my place. I brought them from Wyver.

[inaurare]

[a check of the cupboards quickly proves he has nothing - no tea, no coffee, no honey, even. Not that Linneus had had time to get much more than the bare essentials, but it looks like someone simply just swiped the shelves into a waiting receptacle to sort out later.

A slightly shy smile as he turns and closes the cupboard]

...we may need it.

[...this is poor hosting, but perhaps it can be forgiven, under the circumstances]

[granularity]

[ He takes a look at the window and then at Linneus, before glancing towards the door. ]

All right, give me a minute and I'll be right back with a few things. It'll be good for you to have something on hand anyway.

[inaurare]

[he's all set to protest - so much so that it's visible, the way he has to catch himself.]

A-- all right. That would be very kind.

[He struggles with asking for help - accepting help - when he needs it. It was already enough that he went through with putting up the video post, and more kindness than he'd anticipated to have Sand come and fix his window.

The very least he can do while the man is away is to build a fire and bring some chairs in closer. The window is still stuck (he tried in vain again to close it and barely moved it a half-inch), but at least there's some heat in the house now? He can keep himself warm righting furniture and cleaning up broken things for a little bit.]

[granularity]

[ He takes about a half an hour before he returns with bag of groceries, including a rather nice tin of tea that he'd gotten to host with that'd never actually gotten opened. Some of these things were canned goods that he'd left in his house, which no one had thought to pillage since he'd walled it up. The rest he'd brought with him from Wyver.

He knocks on the door, wincing as he realized he hadn't actually closed the window. He takes a moment to try and do that where he is as he waits for the door. ]

[inaurare]

[There's no one at the door when Linneus goes to open it - it isn't until he hears the rattle at the window that he thinks to pop his head out and crane down the side of the house.]

Oh--!

[he'd distracted the man from that particular objective, what with all of his questions. But the glass was fixed, at least, the window intact. Just... not quite functioning as it should.

He steps out, careful of the snow and ice-]

Can I help...?

[granularity]

[ Sand takes a look at the... he's honestly not sure if Linneus has specified their pronouns to him and he won't assume. Either way, they seem very nice and they clearly aren't used to cold weather, so he lets go of what he was working on and walks over with the groceries. ]

How about you put these away and I'll finish working on this while you make some tea?

[inaurare]

[It wouldn't be the first time he's been mistaken for a women...]

Oh--

[startled, but he takes the bag with care in both arms with a thankful little dip of his head]

Thank you... I'll have something ready for when you are finished. Please tell me if you need me.

[granularity]

[ Nothing assumed. He'll wait till he's told or Linneus makes it clear. He'd lived in New York his whole life, after all. But the offer makes him smile. ]

That'll be nice. Should take me too long. I'm an old hand at old mechanisms.

[ Once Linneus has the bag, he'll let himself sink partially into the wall to get into a good spot to fiddle with the mechanism. ]

[inaurare]

All right.

[another of those little dips of his head and he backs up into the house before Sand slides into the wall - just as well; despite the man's explanation, it would probably have alarmed him.

There's more in the bag than he expected, but he goes for the tea first - the tea is what he knows, and it's ready by the time Sand gets back. He has some sugar and... no milk, unfortunately, but they'll be able to make do. There's a tray being carried over to the table; mismatched cups and a teapot with a chipped lid.

It isn't the prettiest, but it all still works]

[granularity]

[ He could slip through the wall, but that strikes him as rude, as well as unhelpful to someone who's had their home invaded in one sense or another. That's why he knocks on the front door again once the job is done. ]

Hey, should be all fixed up. Mind if I come in for some of that tea?

[inaurare]

[it's a good gesture that he knocks rather than waltzes in - Linneus is quite thankful for it, but quick to open the door and show the man back inside]

Certainly, certainly, it will be almost done steeping...

[the house... might be starting to get almost cosy, now, especially with the table and chairs he's pulled up for them by the fire. Though it is still a little basic, a little spartan in terms of decor and furniture.

He doesn't sit until Sand does, reaching for the pot to pour]

Thank you for all of this...

[granularity]

You're welcome.

[ He bows his head in acceptance before leaning in to get a whiff of the tea. ]

I always oversteep. I get distracted or I forget about it. Too used to coffee.

[inaurare]

[a little smile at that, holding off briefly to let Sand smell the tea]

I think it's something one develops a sense for. Different teas need different times but three or four minutes is safe.

[he is a decent enough judge of time, but generally he has other things to occupy himself with - arranging cakes or snacks or plates on the tray. But he's brewed more than enough cups to be able to manage it in his head.]

[granularity]

So I've heard, though I always just drink the black stuff, I'll be honest.

[ This is nice, though, and he gives him a smile and a nod as he reaches over to take a sip. ]