TDM #4 - Aurora Borealis Bust? [REPRINT]

[pumpkinhollow]

Pumpkin Hollow Gazette February Issue

[Find our plain text version here!]

Pumpkin Hollow Gazette

2/8/24 | TDM #4 - AURORA BOREALIS BLITZ BUST? Content Warnings: "Further Details" section has independent CW labels.
Forecast: SEVERE BLIZZARD WARNING

REBUILDING HELP REQUESTED

By Cecil Gershwin Palmer

A photo taken of the damage.

ACROSS PUMPKIN HOLLOW - City government is requesting aid with repairs to public buildings and local fixtures after the recent earthquakes on Tuesday, January 8th. While there was minimal damage to Town Hall itself, several important buildings sustained damage, including the Magpie National Bank, the South Train Station and the Clock Tower, which is now stuck with hands at 8pm.

Regarding the cause of the earthquake, local biologist Dr. Elias Coldwood was heard to say “There's never been seismic activity here.” And he’s a scientist, so he would know! But clearly this is no longer the case. Perhaps Pumpkin Hollow has a mysterious tiny civilization underground worshiping a destroyer god, planning to attack through the bowling alley, the moment we create a bowling alley. Perhaps not. More on this story as it unfolds, faithful readers.

In the meantime, volunteers to help with the damage to city buildings are invited to meet with Mayor Hellen Poe for assignments.

AURORA TURNS VIOLENT - MYSTERIOUS BLIZZARD INTERRUPTS CHAOS

By Yorick Aberdeen

An artist's rendition of last year's view.

ABOVE MARROW ISLE - Despite our earlier report, it turns out that this year's annual aurora borealis season did not turn out to be a pleasant or romantic viewing experience. Instead, starry monsters based off of classic constellations have been attacking the town each time the aurora is in the sky! However, due to some extreme blizzards that have been occurring most nights each month since late January, the aurora has been interrupted more nights than not and the monsters intercepted. Still, the Pumpkin Hollow Safety Board would like to remind everyone to take appropriate precautions during inclement weather, and to tread carefully on clear nights as monsters may still be attacking until late February!

HOROSCOPES

By Cecil Gershwin Palmer

What do the stars say about you today?

Capricorn: Do you feel as if you’ve lost something? If not, it’s wise to double-check. Perhaps it’s not something like a button or a key, but your sense of wonder or your self-confidence. Remember, things tend to be in the last place you look.

Aquarius: Something about the year ending made you feel lighter, like taking off a heavy wool coat. Ride this burst of energy as far as it will take you, because the shiny of a fresh beginning tends to wear off quickly.

Pisces: Don’t worry, I don’t believe what everyone says behind your back. You’re not too sensitive or too naive. They’re just jealous. Really, most of the time when they’re whispering, it’s not even about you.

Aries: You’re the sort of warm individual that babies and animals are drawn to. Unfortunately, this may include hungry wolves and swarms of insects. But don’t let that bring you down! We need that sort of personality around here.

Taurus: There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be the best, until you work to stop others from also being the best. That’s called cheating and may lead to you being disqualified from competitions. If you get caught, that is.

Gemini: You know those riddles about the two guards, one who always tells the truth and one who always lies? Well, everyone hates those riddles with a passion. You’ll see for yourself, soon.

Cancer: Wouldn’t you like to know?

Leo: Your incandescent personality often makes you the center of attention. However, that’s not the only thing about you that glows. Moths may flock to you in the dark this week, and so might children afraid to sleep with the lights out.

Virgo: Be careful with your words–they aren’t just the precursors to your deeds, but the manifestation of your will. This is not a week for idioms and metaphors, not for you. Even something like bemoaning a lack of spoons may make eating cereal harder.

Libra: You are, inevitably, the first one heard to say a situation isn’t fair. And it’s not, nor will it ever be. Instead of getting upset, have you ever considered getting revenge? That’s usually more satisfying in the long run.

Scorpio: Ugh, Scorpios. The position of Venus means your usually volatile emotions will be in the doldrums instead. Enjoy this while it lasts I guess. Who knows if you’ll ever experience such peace again, given, well. You’re kind of an emotional mess and no one likes you.

Sagittarius: There will never be another day like today. You must strive to make the day everything you want it to be. No mistakes, now! Consider your choices very carefully. Consider your choice to consider, very carefully.

SUNFIRE'S HEARTH

By Yorick Aberdeen

A photo of Mayor Poe's cats, Toffee and Butter, enjoying the view.

ASSORTED LOCATIONS - As the coldest part of the year settles over our fair isle, it is time for Sunfire’s Hearth--- an informal celebration of bonfires and hearth flames, for those unfamiliar! For the months of January and February, a raised platform for bonfires will be lit on weekends, and restaurants and taverns across town will keep their fireplaces lit. Unlike many of our other festivities, there is no structured celebration--- simply make some time during this time to bask in the warmth of a fire! You can even celebrate at home.

An additional benefit of this time of year is that Merrymeet is well on its way. So take this time and get snuggly in front of a fire with your special person to get in the mood for romance! (Or they could be platonic snuggles. Whatever suits you best.)

LOCAL ALCHEMIST REPORTS MISSING POTION

By Yorick Aberdeen

Some of Mx. Sallek's usual stock. Could stand to have better labels./p>

LOCATION UNCERTAIN - Early Monday morning, local alchemist Aeryn Sallek reported that a large container of magical potion has been swapped with another, and it would seem that the mistaken jug has been sent out for delivery. According to Mx. Sallek, they sent a number of jugs out for delivery in a case with our local delivery extraordinaire, Sam Porter Bridges. The jugs were meant to contain a harmless, potable freeze-resistance potion for our town’s various water sources, in the interest of keeping water reserves drinkable in sub-freezing winter weather. However, when they returned to the shop, one of these potions remained on their counter while a love potion they’d been working on went missing.

“‘Love potion’ is kind of a misnomer, honestly,” Mx. Sallek is quoted to have said on the matter. “But ‘emotional acuity’ potion doesn’t quite roll off the tongue. Basically what it actually does is enhance existing romantic desire and embolden the user to be emotionally open. But Yorick should already know all this, since he’s the one who ordered it.” [Editing note: don’t forget to cut the last part of that comment before publishing. Cecil, you don’t need to include personal statements directed at reporters from these interviews!]

It’s unclear which area of town this particular potion ended up being injected into the water source, but according to Mx. Sallek, the potion was not particularly intense to begin with. It should be significantly diluted as to be harmless. Still, if you notice any strange symptoms such as butterflies in your stomach, a desire to burst into song, or inexplicable yearning, please file a report with the Safety Board at your earliest convenience.

FOOD SHORTAGES PUT STRAIN ON ISLAND ECONOMY

By Yorick Aberdeen

MARKET DISTRICT - While there are many things to celebrate this time of year, Marrow Isle is not without its adversity. Over these past months, many new members of our community have arrived by ferry after our numbers remained small and stagnant for many years. And the presence of our newfound neighbors has been a boon to all of us. Many artisans have opened useful businesses, medical professionals have expanded our access to healthcare, and a new fishing vessel has taken to the seas. However, despite a few additions, our farming community remains quite modest and planting was not planned with such incredible new growth in mind.

The unfortunate result of this is that food reserves on the island this year are uncharacteristically low. As such, Town Council has made the difficult decision to allow for the temporary inflation of food prices and the rationing of food staples.

“We understand the hardship this will place on the residents of Pumpkin Hollow,” said Mayor Poe in a statement after this decision was made. “But please know that we are all in this together. We hope to be able to offer a better incentive package for those interested in farming in the coming springtime.”

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Further Details...

Aurora

The dead of winter sheds all colors of the trees and flowers across Marrow Isle, but tonight, there are no stark whites and grays and browns.

Tonight, in the sky sprawling with stars above the dreary town, there are lights.

Sprawling trails of violet and green twist and wave through the sky, brightening the earth below and the sea beyond Jack's Marina in magical colors. The return of the borealis is something many Pumpkin Hollowites look forward to, and their reactions are very clear: people scurry down to the shores to watch with wide eyes, many retrieve telescopes, and some even borrow the decks of ships, abandoned for the night at the docks, to watch the sights.

It doesn't take long for this to change, however; the sea nor land are safe from the curse, and it's made quickly apparent that the sky is no exception.

At first, the sight seems like none more than an illusion, perhaps someone blinking and missing a strange shift of the lights. A glimmering outline forms around a cluster of stars, only slightly harder than any of the lines that define the aurora's rays. Several of these shapes form, each array of stars different from the last, some larger, some smaller.

And then, the stars begin to fall.

Seeming to peel off the painted sky, the ebbing colors surrounding the starlight drop, crashing to the world below. Some fall to the streets and beaches, while others fall into the forest, leaving view, or drop into the sea, leaving splashes and waves in their wake that ensure any watching knows full and well that this is not a trick of the light. At first, these shapes are unmoving, glowing masses of aurora-light with stars shining brightly within them. Most townsfolk are uneasy, but this seems to pale in severity to the other disasters, even if they lack any idea of what it could mean for them.

That is, of course, until the masses begin to move.

Each one is as varied as the constellation it stole from the sky: stars form suggestions of skeletal structures, and their "flesh", only consisting of swimming lights and liquid sky that steals any lights around them. Two identical glowing shapes rise to a face finally taking form, and slowly, moving more like gel than animal as it rises to freshly-formed legs, it settles on the closest living thing it can find.

There is no calculation in it, nor what seems to be a glimmer of thought.

It simply lunges with intent to kill.

Horoscopes
[CW: Altered emotional states ]

Cecil’s disconcerting horoscopes have the following effects for the next few days:

• Capricorn: misplaced things, particularly small objects



• Aquarius: zoomies!



• Pisces: intense paranoia



• Aries: Disney princess-like magnetism to local fauna



• Taurus: insatiable perfectionism



• Gemini: reversed truth values; lies come out honest, being honest sounds like a lie.



• Cancer: Pandora-esque curiosity, to the point of personal detriment



• Leo: radiant glow emanating from your person



• Virgo: figurative speech is manifested into the world with its literal meaning



• Libra: a particularly potent desire for revenge



• Scorpio: numbing of emotions (can be counteracted by love potion, partially)



• Sagittarius: incapacitating indecision

(Don’t know your character’s sign? Feel free to just decide on one!)

Love Potion
[CW: Altered Emotional States ]

Unbeknownst to the townsfolk, the “love” potion ended up in the water supply of the Oak & Iron. As promised by Aeryn, it is thoroughly diluted, as its recipients believed it to be a normal freeze-resistance potion to be mixed with their water.

The effects are not particularly intense. However, anyone who drinks any of the tavern’s housemade ale or cider, drinks the coffee, or eats any food that might require water to cook will experience symptoms of “emotional acuity”. This involves feeling more emotionally open, more receptive to positive feelings about others, a strong desire for physical or verbal affection, and the intensification of romantic or sexual attraction that you might already be experiencing. It will last about half a day. Just in time to help potentially land you a date for Merrymeet, a flower and fertility festival in early spring!

Famine
[CW: Starvation and food scarcity ]

Food rationing and inflation will have the following impact:

Grocery budgets for apped-in characters will be reduced in their efficacy.
Basic groceries will be only the most minimal of staples. You will likely go hungry if you do not find a way to supplement this.
Bountiful groceries will be reduced to the amount of food normally contained in basic.
Lavish groceries will not be available at all.
Your grocery choices from Activity Check are not able to be modified for this month unless otherwise stated.

Bonuses and Discounts associated with the Farmer and Fisherman jobs are also reduced.
Level 1 bonuses will be reduced to standard, which is to say how they would function for a non-Farmer/Fisherman character during a normal, pre-famine month. (ex. Whereas normally a Level 1 Farmer would get free Basic groceries, they will now have to pay the 50 Brass, but do not have the efficacy of Basic groceries reduced as described above.)
Level 2 bonuses will be reduced to that of a Level 1 Farmer/Fisherman. (ex. Whereas a Level 2 Fisherman would normally be able to have Bountiful groceries discounted to 50 Brass, they now must pay full price for Bountiful groceries. However, they can still get Basic groceries for free and don’t suffer from the famine induced efficacy reduction for either budget.)

Oak & Iron Residents will only be able to receive bland, repetitive meals with their food vouchers consisting of simple broth, plain bread, bland potato dishes, and the like. It is enough to be fed and comfortable but it is incredibly unsatisfying. (This includes all new characters that are not apped-in.) Drinks, however, are still plentiful.

Characters who do not eat will find that their respective sources of fuel will be reduced to just barely enough to keep them functional, provided that they ration carefully. (Ex. Transformers may want to be less active. Vampires will find that victims cannot handle excessive blood loss without fainting and generally prefer to stay home.)

Characters who were present to fight the Mother Crab back in late summer and chose to can some of their crab can use it now!

Hunting, foraging, and fishing can help reduce the impact of these reductions, and people can share their food. You can absolutely die of starvation. After Merrymeet in February, food will return to normal.

Comments

Leon S. Kennedy | Resident Evil 4 (Remake) | Prospective player

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

1. Out of the frying pan

Leon's still not convinced that this place isn't some kind of fucked up construct of his dying brain, but as it turns out all the sitting in place and refusing to engage with any of this bullshit he can muster hasn't made him feel any more like he's going to wake up (or die) any faster. Begrudgingly, he follows the crowds out into the night, feeling sorely underdressed for the situation without any of his gear on him.

What was it the mayor's assistant said about some kind of terrible curse? Leon's no big believer in magic, but he's seen enough to know that all kinds of horrible things are possible, and he's not looking forward to seeing how that pans out here. Sure, the people here seem calmer and more put together than, say, the folks back in Valdelobos, but - oh yep, there it is

The minute the stars start to fall from the sky, Leon has his hand on a nearby steak knife left lying out on one of the tables at a nearby restaurant. He hesitates, waiting to see what the strange figures do, but as soon as the one nearest him rears back and poises its scorpion-like tail to strike, he leaps between it and anyone else nearby, brandishing the knife.

"Get back!"

2. Into a remarkably similar frying pan

Well, that probably wasn't the best introduction to this little community Leon possibly could've had, but it has confirmed for him that his one useful skillset is, in fact, still useful. It's with mixed feelings that he approaches the Enforcers' station - reminded both of his first wide-eyed and optimistic days at the police academy as well as that fateful night in Raccoon City, and then of being not-so-gently volunteered into military service. He thinks about the offer of building a new life here, a different one, while waiting to return to the old, and wonders if maybe he shouldn't jump back into the line of fire at the first opportunity.

But if not him, then who? Maybe people really can't die (double die?) here, but that doesn't mean they don't need protection from all the monsters apparently roaming around. And Leon is, if nothing else, very good at putting himself between other people and danger and coming out in one piece.

All this lengthy introspection to say, he's been standing outside the station for a good fifteen minutes now, frowning at the sign and the postings on the bulletin board thoughtfully.

3. Wildcard

Need something else? Feel free to hop in with your own prompt!

Into a remarkably similar frying pan

[maltesefalcon]

The door to the station opens, and out walks...a birdman. Tall, winged, his hands and bare feet scaly and tipped with razor sharp talons. He's wearing a dark brown coat constructed to leave his wings free enough to fly. At his waist, a pair of wicked sharp handaxes.

This is, of course, one of the Enforcers, who gives Leon a quick up-down look with steel blue eyes when he notices him.

"New to town?"

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

Leon considers trying not to stare for about half a second before realizing that that's just not going to happen. There's a bird man in front of him, talking to him, and he has never seen anything like it and he's just gonna blink a few times to make sure he's not seeing things.

(Not that he's sure even now that this whole thing isn't some kind of bizarre dream, but there's a hierarchy to what kinds of things he expects to deal with in a given scenario.)

"Uh, yeah," he says, after a long enough pause to be a little awkward, though to his credit he manages to stomp down his lingering confusion well enough to make eye contact once he's done gawking. "Just showed up last night. Really stellar welcoming committee you've got here."

[maltesefalcon]

"What, did Deirdre ambush you the moment you stepped off the boat? Or...oh, stellar, cute." Cerrit's crest perks with his amusement. It is a very birdlike mannerism, one of many. And yet, he offers his (incredibly sharp-taloned) hand to shake like a man.

"Cerrit Agrupnin, one of the local Enforcers. Originally from a city called Avalir."

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

Having his joke acknowledged gets the tiniest hint of a smile out of Leon, who's used to pretty tough audiences by now. He doesn't comment on it beyond that though, just reaching out to shake the birdman's hand and willing to trust that he won't get his own shredded in turn by those talons.

"Cerrit Agrupnin," he repeats with a nod, wanting to make sure he's got it right, the sounds unfamiliar to him. To his credit, he doesn't stumble over the pronunciation too hard. "I'm Leon Kennedy. I was just considering heading inside and asking about job openings with the enforcers here."

Wildcard

[graveling]

There's a dead guy in the Oak and Iron one night, while Leon is getting his dinner. He's pallid beyond normal human paleness. Not breathing, not blinking, expression pretty blank. Not a lurching or running zombie, no smell of rot about him, but. There's something incredibly off about the fella ordering dinner and taking a seat at a nearby table.

Investigate?

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

Thankfully for everyone involved here, Leon has the trigger discipline not to jump to any violent conclusions on seeing someone who, by rights, does look a lot like they're in the early stages of some kind of Umbrella-related nonsense. He's not happy about whatever's happening here, pretty visibly unnerved, but he's not about to whip out the steak knife he's still carrying around or anything just yet.

Instead, he slows to a stop as he passes the man's table, frowning in concern.

"Hey," he says, gently, trying to get the guy's attention. If he was able to order dinner and sit down at the table without falling over or trying to eat someone else's face he's already doing leagues better than any T-Virus infectees Leon's encountered, so he's just gonna assume the guy's got it together until proven otherwise. "You doing alright there?"

[graveling]

The corpse turns his head to stare at Leon, still not blinking. And after a moment, he smiles. It is not an easy or natural smile, instead formed slowly as if the dude's moving each muscle individually. And it doesn't last, as if his face is too heavy to hold a smile long.

"Yeah, not bad. Why?" His voice is low and rumbly, and we're not thinking too hard about how he uses it without breathing.

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

"Oh, you know. You were just looking kinda..."

Leon trails off a little, unsure of how to politely put his observations. It's good that the guy can talk, and... make facial expressions, even if Leon would not describe the results as 'a successful smile,' but this whole thing still feels kinda concerning.

"Out of it," is what he concludes, and that's maybe an understatement but how else do you go about informing someone that you almost mistook them for a very well-preserved zombie? He probably knows that something's up already, right?

[somebodychildofanyone]

Homie there is a whole-ass elf walking by on the street with a skeletal wolf. Not "a wolf that hasn't been fed properly", this is-a bones, the skeleton war is here, this wolf is fully prepared to spook them fuckboys, it's a-rattling and a-clicking, can't emphasize enough that this wolf is fuckin' dead.

Also it's pulling a wagon with some boxes in it.

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

"What the fuck."

In this scenario Leon's hand does wind up in the pocket where he's hiding that knife from earlier, because bone wolves get a little less benefit of the doubt than guys who only look a little dead. He does not pull the knife, but it's a near thing, stopped only by the fact that no one else seems all that concerned about it, and the wolf doesn't seem all that aggressive?? Maybe?? Hard to read dog body language when there's not much body left.

Either way, he seems pretty freaked the fuck out by all this, stepping to the side to give the thing a wide berth and completely failing to notice the elf as he sidesteps directly in their way, too busy watching the skeleton to mind his manners as a pedestrian.

[somebodychildofanyone]

An extremely warm palm gets pressed against Leon's chest; gentle, but firm, there to stop the impact. "My fuckin' guy," she says in a musical accent, her voice lilting, "eyes on the road, not the dog."

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

Leon jerks slightly in surprise at the hand on his chest, attention snapping to its owner. It takes him a half-second to register what's been said to him, but to his credit he does look pretty sheepish about the whole thing once it does.

"Sorry," he says, taking another step out of her way this time. He considers just nodding his goodbye and letting her go, but curiosity gets the better of him. "That, uh. Is that your dog?"

Out of the Frying Pan

[skeletonkeay]

Gerry's minding his out business, getting himself a dinner of Depressing Cabbage Soup from the Oak & Iron, when some blond dude with a noticeably thick ass starts posturing like he's gonna fight Scorpio with a steak knife.

Smoking obnoxiously with his black boots kicked up on a chair across from him, perfectly nonchalant. "Get back inside, jackass, before you get hurt." He exhales smoke as he speaks. "Just wait for the rain."

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

"Yeah, and when's that supposed to be? You got the weather forecast handy?" Leon snaps, willing to accept that this is somehow a problem that rain will solve but not willing to not be a dick about it.

Everyone else who'd been out and about is now scurrying inside, but Leon's got the scorpion's attention now, and it lashes out with its tail only for him to parry it with the knife, knocking it away and slicing a hefty notch out of its stinger. It hisses, scuttling back and seeming to reassess the situation slightly.

Weather music courtesy of Sols!

[skeletonkeay]

Gerry snorts. This guy's an asshole. That's respectable. Still, he does not rise from the outdoor table, puffing away.

"Three, two, one..."

Distantly, a low, smooth voice can be heard saying something about the Weather. And then music begins to play, and rain begins to pour. As soon as clouds cover the skies and obscure the aurora, the monsters in the streets begin to fade into glittering dust, collapsing onto the wet cobblestone.

"Ta-daaa," Gerry sings dryly.

Living in that frying pan...

[theresalwaystheview]

Bart knows better. He knows better than to go out after dark lately, but unfortunately he has a bad habit of getting too caught up in work to realize the time. It means that he's running at a dead sprint with his research notes clutched against himself when the creatures start coming down on the clear night, only glancing behind him when he hears the sound of one getting closer. The hissing of the scorpion-shaped creature draws his attention before the blonde man and his steak knife does, and he only just looks back around in time to stop himself from careening straight into Leon and losing his papers in what would otherwise be a comical meet-cute sort of scenario.

"Sorry, sorry!" he stammers, and spins in place to get around the man before realizing that they're flanked on either side, an amorphous humanoid shape stalking toward them from behind. It means that his back ends up pressed against Leon's. He's shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. "Nonono not again-"

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

The papers go flying, but fortunately Leon's an incredibly solid individual who barely budges when bumped into, glancing over his shoulder at the new arrival to the fray while keeping one eye on the scorpion. This does mean he sees the humanoid shape starting to form too, so hey, blessings in disguise, but he has to do some quick mental math to figure out how he's gonna keep this guy safe armed with just a knife.

"Hey, no problem, the more the merrier," he says, deadpan. "You got any idea what these things are? It'd be real helpful if they happen to have some secret weakness I don't know about."

[theresalwaystheview]

In stark contrast, Bart is tall but slender, obviously quite young, very much not the soldier type. He sticks to Leon's back, eyes darting back and forth to try and find an escape route.

"They come from the stars, possibly the starlight itself, impossible as that sounds. They may actually be antimatter in their nascent state, it would make sense considering how they come after anything living," he replies in a shaky voice. "Don't get close enough for one to touch you, it'll try and absorb you. Projectiles have been effective, Comrade Jean has themself a company of archers and other distance fighters, and explosive force seems to work well enough."

Sorry if you didn't catch all of that, Leon. He's got a tendency to rattle off a lot very quickly.

Wildcard

[thelatechrisfreeman]

At some point, a person who throws themself into battle is either going to get hurt, or be accompanying hurt people who need medical care. We'll assume that this happens after Chris, our dear not-a-doctor-but-everyone-calls-them-that-for-convenience Dr. Freeman, is healthy again after the bout of flu that took them out circa Merrymeet.

In any case, it's a decent reason for Leon to meet some medical personnel -- one who just happens to also be one of the nice genderfluid folks.

"Is it you who's hurt?" Chris Freeman asks, with an upward nod of acknowledgement toward Leon when he enters the clinic.

cw: blood

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

Fortunately Leon's pretty good at getting out of Situations in one piece, but sometimes that piece has some holes in it. He makes his way into the clinic, looking around with open curiosity at the sort of setup they've got here, a hand pressed to his upper arm to stem the bleeding. There's not a lot of blood, but it's enough that the red stain on his ferryman-issued shirt is spreading slowly.

"Yep, it's me," he sighs, nonchalant if a little tired-sounding. "Don't think I'm gonna need stitches, but I was told in no uncertain terms to come here."

Turns out if you save someone's life from a big scorpion they start to feel a little concerned about your well being! Weird!

"You run this place?"

[thelatechrisfreeman]

The clinic, Marrow Isle Health and Wellness, is colloquially referred to as the Winterbottom Clinic, after the owner (retired doctor, Agnes Winterbottom). Early on evenings that show signs of star-beast attack, volunteers for the medical teams gather to get their assignments. And now, with the attacks and recovery in full swing, the clinic is quite busy.

More experienced volunteers have gotten good enough at triage that they can sort wounds that the nurses-in-training can handle from those that require that of a doctor (or in Chris's case, close enough). Chris lets the newcomer skip that process when they gesture him to come closer -- that slowly spreading stain of blood is sign enough for Chris.

"If you do need stitches, I'm a decent hand at them." It's a light joke, because Chris Freeman is looking very official and boss-like in that nice white labcoat they are wearing, with their surname stitched above the breast pocket. They guide Leon over to a seat that's free, and a volunteer follows after to deposit disinfectant and gauze within reach.

"I do run this place, with my brother," Chris replies. "I'm Chris Freeman. And you are?"

(While they are speaking as casual as you please, they are also inspecting his wound and getting it clean.)

Into a remarkably similar frying pan

[graphomaniac]

The whole time that Leon's been frowning at the bulletin board, Lev/Lyubov has been watching him from the Greymare Library steps. Initially, it was just to have something to pay attention to while they smoke—they'd never smoke in the library, after all—but then as Leon stayed standing rooted to the spot, they started getting genuinely curious.

For one, it's a chilly, blustery day. For another, they've never seen someone glower so at a mere bulletin board. Eventually, curiousity gets the better of them. They're telling themself that they're just going to see if the new guy needs any help, but that's only half of it, of course—they're feeling like indulging their nosiness.

They extinguish their cigarette, tuck it behind their ear, and pick up their walking stick. Since Leon appears pretty much mesmerised by the job postings, they make a point of stepping firmly, so as to give Leon the best chance of not being caught unawares.

Lev/Lyubov stops a couple of feet away, clears their throat and then taps the walking stick against the cobblestones.

"Nu like," they say, their alto voice a little hoarse from the recent stresses, "bulletin bites not. But speaks not, neither. Need'st thou help?"

cw: well-intentioned misgendering

[nothingbadeverhappensto]

"Huh?"

It does take until the tap of Lev's walking stick to get Leon's attention, as thoroughly lost in thought as he was. He looks up, blinking owlishly at the person addressing him.

"Oh, uh, nah, I'm fine. Just thinking about some things." Weird existential crisis about his life being a cycle of violence and paperwork things, mostly. You know. Normal stuff. He shakes his head. "Thanks for the concern, uh. Ma'am?"

He realizes midway through saying it that he could've just left off the honorific and spared himself the awkwardness, but it's too late now. He's pretty sure that's what this person is going for, at least? Which makes it real fucking rude that he sounded as unsure about it as he did, and he kicks himself mentally, the conversation with Angel still fresh in his mind. Taking on the aspect of a deeply apologetic deer in the headlights, he looks at Lev and hopes he didn't fuck up this interaction too hard already.

[cw: not exactly misgendering, but well-intentioned misunderstanding of gender??]

[graphomaniac]

Lev/Lyubov raises an eyebrow at the "ma'am". Okay, that's interesting. They would've expected "ma'am" and "Miss" from some of the others here, but not from someone as thoroughly modern-looking as Leon. Hell, never mind modern—by Lev/Lyubov, Leon looks like something out of a fantastika novel, almost. Maybe one of ones that, in Lev/Lyubov's view, and in the view of their husband, put admirable effort into setting up the homoeroticism between brothers-in-arms in the same trench (even if the trench is on a far-flung plenum among the stars and not upon the Bones), only to squander it all on never noticing that's what they set up.

"I appreciate thy consideration," they say, and they can't help grinning, "but like, really, nu? I rather doubt I'd be a woman to thee." They pause, rewind the sentence in their head, consider how it sounds, and with some annoyance at their own hastiness add, "I mean like, unless thou'rt overwintering, and this isn't how thou wish'st to look, nor how thou wish'st to be seen by others?"