Log:In Formation
| In Formation | |
|---|---|
The Wyrd doesn't really do much on time outside of what it wants to do, but a season should work. For that time we work with and for each other, and if we should betray one another may the wyrd curse us." | |
| Participants | 5 December, 2018 The beginnings of a new motley. |
| Location | |
| Early in the morning and one of the recent hires is holding down the shop. Even better: the kids are at schoool. This means Raymond has one of those few things he's almost forgtten about at times. A true day off without a single worry and everything accounted for. He's not at work, nor is out fretting about something or other. So, he's put out a call to Lolly. To come by his place: no funny business nor anything too dangerous. Just potentially annoying. Raymond can be found sitting on the porch of the house, at least passingly seeming to be bothered by the cold of winter. A red hoodie, blue jeans, and tennis shoes. It's not much to normally keep out the cold, but he's not normal by any measure.
At this time of the morning, given how late she has to stay up most nights tending the club, Lolly is a sleepy potato, and one who just had to drive for a good 45 minutes plus to get here. Still, she at least gets SOME benefit from faerie 'heritage': her skin is just abnormal enough not to get saggy bags under her eyes from lack of sleep. That said, the flowers in her hair are a bit droopy, and even her green-rooted and lily-white hair itself, faux 'petals' that it tends to collect in, is somewhat limp and wilty when she, stifling a yawn behind one mittened hand, exits her cheap and rattly, broken down old car. It looks like it's one winter away from giving up the ghost, and the door refuses to latch until the third time she hip-checks it closed, sagging a bit on its hinges. Unlike Raymond, she's bundled up in her customary thigh-length puffy coat, scarf and somewhat oversized fur-lined hat, to keep her poor lilies less squished than a knit cap would do to them. The hat, at least, is taken off as she crunches her way up to the porch, and while her smile is tired, it's still friendly as she finally reaches Raymond and Charlie. "Hi... Making me jealous of your Court, mister." Even her poor little herbs and wildflowers are feeling the chill, paler than usual, despite their attempts to enforce a bit of Spring on her surroundings.
He slowly reaches under his hoody, gaze turning left bit by bit. He produces a knife from under there that's immediately pointed at Charlie as he twists in his seat. "Jesus Christ, Charlene, you gotta stop sneaking up on me," he exclaims with a swift arc that curves the knife down until its stabbed into the porch.
Lolly blinks at the shift in Raymond's demeanour, then squeaks, fingers tightening on her hat, when the man takes out that knife and ends up stabbing his front porch. "Remind me not to startle you," she mumbles, brows bunching, but her expression clears, hope filling undergrowth-green eyes at Charlie's offer. "Would you really? I keep worrying that it's going to pop off in the middle of driving down the highway, some day. Getting a new car would be great, but..." She lifts a shoulder with a crooked smile. "Strip clubs. Who knew they weren't a fast track to getting rich?"
Quite chuffed with herself, the Beast puffs up a bit before nodding to Lolly. "Of course. It's no trouble. I mean, most pins are just that, a length of metal that fits in a thing. Maybe a bit of shaping so it's a good fit. Least I can do for the advice on finding footing with Spring."
"Yeah, well. It wasn't exactly a career choice I intended, or one I'm super proud of, but, um. I'd rather be running The Plank than starving or homeless, soooo..." She sways a bit back and forth as if to indicate 'what can you do? life's life', smile tired and a little resigned. This close to the two of them, that meatcake gets the addition of the Flowering's natural scent, sweet lilies of the valley teasing the senses, heady and clean. The cake itself is given a look of mild concern, the expression of one seeing something Not Right (cakes are supposed to be sweet!), and she assures an honest, slightly anxious/amused, "More creative than -I- would have been, that's for sure. I, um, don't usually eat breakfast. There, um, the clouds are light enough for sun to...um. You know." She gestures vaguely at the sky, which is still leaking snowflakes.
"Is there trouble with the Plank, Lolly? Maybe I can help?"
Embarrassed by something about the situation, creamy green cheeks tinted with pink (at least her blood's still human enough to be red?), Lolly ducks her head, reflex, then makes as if to fake-swat her hat in Raymond's direction, playful. "Unless you want a Lollysicle for the kids, yes, please. Inside would be -wonderful-." Following them in, she ducks her head again at Charlie's question, an awkward nod. "I, um, yes. Right around the end of December, last year, I guess..." She looks around, momentarily distracted by the unfamiliar house. Visibly recollecting herself while Charlie's busy plating the 'cake', she explains a hasty, "I guess I was doing too much fairy stuff. Czcibor, he said that was why I was getting greener and stuff, why my skin was a little weirder. I just sort of stopped being all that hungry if I'd been in the sun a while, and I feel kind of sickish if I stay inside too long."
"As long as I'm not like a hyena and going to sprout some sort of psuedo-cock, I suspect we'll be alright." Bomb dropped with a straight face, she grins, showing off pointy teeth. "Do you ever know what will come with it? And, uh, will going to the Hedge.. I mean.." She HAS been sneaking off quite a bit to find new scars.
Lolly picks a seat at the table to drop into, once she has her coat and mittens off, listening to Raymond and Charlie. One advantage of working at a strip club: you get really, really used to nudity and body-related conversations. Charlie's bombshell gets a brief choke and a squeaked out, "I hope so too. Finding pants would be awful," before she nibbles on her lower lip, frowning a little in thought. "From what he said, um, it's like, if you do more stuff to reinforce how weird you are, you'll just be adding little pebbles to the pile. We're -always- changing, no matter whether or not we can see it, or feel it. It's just that sometimes we go too far, you know?" Glum, her opinion of going 'too far' is fairly obvious. She's not happy about it. "He said Fate, the Wyrd, um," her nose wrinkles, "it doesn't make it easy for us to go back. Like, don't use any magic at all, using the fruit, even using the little tricks we can do with our own power, for an entire year or something, or we'll have to start all over again. Sucks big-time, but...I want to help people, and I can help them better as a weird green flower person." She shrugs, self-deprecating, but smiling.
It's not as bad as he was expecting, and he takes a few more bites. After clearing his throat he looks between the two women. "Speaking of helping, that's why I wanted to talk to the both of you ladies at once. Easier for me, and simple enough to get it out of the way. Both of you know about Fate's Harvest, right? The freehold."
"Is it terrible that.. I want to know what'll come next? If I'll get scales or horns or something?" she says, then sighs. "What do you need a hand with, Ray?"
Lolly nods to Raymond, agreeing, "That's what I figure. I, um. I heal people, mostly, or try to make them feel better. I help out at the hospital when I can, but I have to be kind of sneaky there." 'Lolly' and 'sneaky' don't really belong in the same sentence. "Czcibor, he said it was all the time I spent messing with the fruits, with the healing stuff, that was making me more fairy-like and all." Giving him an odd look when he mentions the freehold, the decidedly NOT freeholder Spring nods, expression a blend of patient confusion and willingness/encouragement. She's listening. To Charlie, she supposes aloud, "I dunno if I'd call it terrible. It's your life, you know?"
"I'd love to be able to heal again. I've been having discussions with fire and metal in my shop. I think we've come to an accord." "And I have plans for a greenhouse, but it'd have to be in the Hollow, wouldn't it, Ray?"
Lolly makes a face once it's clear Raymond's playing the role of recruiter, but doesn't interrupt. Nibbling on her lower lip again by the time he's done, she just shakes her head. Czcibor said there were lots of fairies, um, lots of them who were pretty far gone, in the freehold. Not many like Vorpal, wherever he is, but..." This is serious concern here, and she's looking at Raymond like he has the answers to the universe. "How is that -safe-? Like, he took me to the Wayhouse. I've seen the promise, the, um," word, word, what's the word, "pledge people take, all the rules you have to follow. None of them stop those people from, oh," she looks frustrated, and afraid, "burning down your house in a fit of pique. It just says they can't kill you. How are we supposed to -trust- them?"
Lolly doesn't look like she's been swayed quite yet, but at least she hasn't said an outright no. Frowning down at her hands and fiddling with the fingernails, currently painted with little happy whales and seashells, she picks at the polish, then gives Charlie a worried look when the other woman acts like that. "Are you okay? What happened? Do you need some help?" Looking to Raymond, the sweetly-scented Spring tries to explain, "It's, like, yeah, I know there are big scary things out there, but why would they go after me when -- no offense -- the freehold's chock full of much more, um, you know, 'interesting' stuff to get? It just...it just feels like I'd be painting a giant target on my back. Like, heeey, we saw you at that freehold meeting. You're one of THOSE people." She shifts her weight in the chair, uncomfortable and vaguely afraid.
"I don't mind cause Ray digs scars." "Think of it like a pack. You're always safer with many than one. If only because there's more for the bad things to chew on first."
Uh oh. Fear evaporates, exasperation taking its place. "Charliiieee. You're a healer! You know the damage under the skin's always worse than what shows up where we can SEE it." Her first attempt at scooching her chair back fails, by dint of the leg getting stuck on the floof of the coat she has dangling on it, but she gets up the second time and moves to stand near the other woman. "Let me help you." Yep. That's a demand. "Please." Softened (barely) to a request? Barely. D'aww. Big earnest eyes. Glancing back toward Raymond with a twinge of guilt for ignoring him, Lolly brushes a few strands of lily-white, sweet-scented hair out of her eyes, then heaves a mildly disgruntled sigh. "'Normal' wouldn't be eating sunlight."
Grabbing the edge of her shirt, she pulls it up enough to display the long cuts form the centipede that tried to mangle her and Signe. They've been cleaned and smeared with her go-to green goop, but left out to breathe uncovered.
"Maybe when Winter comes around," Lolly concedes, reluctant. "Autumns are a little creepy." So sayeth the Spring, diametric opposite that she is. The prospect of giving the freehold a test drive doesn't appear to thrill her, but her expression's no worse than vaguely unhappy. Once Charlie gives permission, the green-skinned healer rolls her eyes and points out, "I'm a plant person, goof ball. You're the furry one. If I have a messy plate, I'll let you lick it for me." She tries to keep a straight face, but ends up giggling, then shakes her head. Lifting her hands up to tighten the two messy buns she wears, long bangs a straight fall on either side of her face, the young woman closes her eyes, then frowns in concentration, lower lip between her teeth, getting to work on Charlie's cuts. It takes her a little under half a minute, what with the occasional verbal check with Charlie to see how it's feeling, whether she's gotten it all. When she's done, drained, she whooshes out a quick breath and plops back down into her seat. "Phew. Reminds me why I work with fruit potions so much." She laughs, half at herself, but seems pleased to have succeeded. "That stuff's exhaaausting."
"Can you teach me how to heal? Or do I need to spend more time meditating on Spring in general, like for that bit of working that can refresh someone?" Yeah, wasn't JUST the tea, Ray!
Spring is cool, yo. Charlie gets a nod and a brief, "The second one. It's an extension of the same sort of thing," before she looks to Raymond, too. The Summer's question gets a brief shake of Lolly's head and a blush, along with a correction of, "Not -new-, just stupid." Thinking, counting on her fingers, she quickly adds, "It's been, like, almost four years since I got out, but I, um. I didn't know anybody else like us. I'd, um. I didn't even know how to get into the Hedge, you know? Or do the strengtheny hidey stuff, or that freeholds were a thing. I know motleys are, like, people pledged to help each other out, but not much else. Czcibor had mentioned his, back in Vienna."
"Four years, Lolly? Have you got any of your memories back?" she asks, tilting her head - trying to gauge the physical changes to what the other lass might've regained.
"Oh, gosh." Lolly's brows jolt up and she blinks at Raymond, surprised, then narrows her eyes in sudden suspicion, trying not to smile. "You sure you aren't asking just 'cause we can heal you?" Turning her head to waggle a hand in a so-so tilt, side to side, she admits, "The dreams have been getting stronger the more, um, the more fairy-like I get. I...um." The sweetly-scented lily shifts her weight, uneasy. "They scare me. I can remember stuff about being back in, um, fairy land-" some education gaps still exist, clearly, "-with the fairy who took me away."
"The, the forest for me." Subdued, Lolly nibbles on her lower lip. "The smell... it's, I can't describe it. There were other people, other flower people, and plant people. My name is Lily, and I remember having to, um." Whatever it is, she swallows and skips past it. "I could tell when IT was coming, we could always tell, because it...it was like me. I don't know what flower it was, or moss, or greenery, or-" she's frustrated here, frowning, "-whatever the heck it smelled like, but sometimes, I wake up, and all I can smell is that perfume. She's quiet a little while, but eventually agrees, "I, um, I think I'd like that. The pledge, I mean."
Gulp. Lolly squirms where she sits, straightening a bit when Raymond starts to speak the pledge. Serious stuff time. She glances at Charlie, then back to the Summer, confirming, "I agree to this pledge," before looking back to Charlie again, expectant. | |
