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+---- Thread: [PQ] It ain't broke yet, but damn it needs fixing (/showthread.php?tid=11938)
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It ain't broke yet, but damn it needs fixing - Colt - 08-21-2025
The ruin the fire left behind has since been dismantled and cleared. The char of it stains the nearby ground with darkness, an outline within where wood and metal had once stood until they were consumed or warped by heat too intense to ignore. She has had time to clear the smoke from her mind about it all, but still, looking at the silhouette of the loss makes her sigh heavily through her nose. Work she did not need. A hit to her pockets she's nervous to recoup.
Yet, an opportunity too.
For a long time this had been her parents' ranch, the Winchesters. Though she still carries her father's name, or rather, has resumed carrying it after burying love in the dirt, it feels like maybe it's time to make this her ranch. Her name.
She put out the request for help, her ranch hands too busy trading far and wide for feed that she'd had stockpiled until the glutton of the flames wiped her out. The ground is cleared and ready, the lumber stockpiled, the tools assembled and waiting for willing hands. Not easy work, none of the kind she has ever is, but it's doable. [say]"Hey,"[/say] she greets easily as the willing answer the call. She nods, motioning to an arrangement of drinks (beers and sodas) and some freshly baked brownies. [say]"Help yourself."[/say]
Welcome to Colt's profession HQ PQ where we will rebuild her feed shed and entry gate. Please post your character arriving and what they've got with them.
1. Colt
2. Maea
3.
RE: It ain't broke yet, but damn it needs fixing - Maea - 08-21-2025
The problem with impulsively setting off on unexpected journeys was that expenses had a tendency to creep up on you. What could have been a completely free trip by wing suddenly turned to skyship rides requiring coin she didn't really have, and unplanned layovers that extended the need to eat and sleep - and at some point the funds simply ran out. It seemed like just desserts to work for the pleasure of returning to a home she never should have left, and so Maea took the first job she could find without complaining.
She came bearing little but the clothes on her back, a somber looking robe of a flimsy silk that didn't match the sturdy wool cloak she had borrowed off a sailor. Fortunately it was her hands she was to offer here, not fashion sense, and so she approached Colt with a polite nod; glad if she could be recognized for her participation in the rodeo and nothing else.
[say]"Hello Colt, it's nice to see you again. Happy to help however I can."[/say] No carpenter was she, but over the years she had helped with enough projects to at least know her way around a hammer.
Helping herself to a soda and a snack, she munched away quietly in wait for other volunteers to show up; it was good, enough to warrant returning for more if this place ever needed anything else done.
------
Maea arrives empty handed, but willing to work - especially since there's food.
RE: It ain't broke yet, but damn it needs fixing - Damien - 08-25-2025
Damien came in from the road with his coat buttoned against the chill, steps steady and unhurried. The land here was softer than Halo, but even fertile hills could wear a man out if he wasn’t used to them. He wasn’t one for showing it, though—he moved like someone who’d made long treks before and would again.
A faint rustle shifted against his chest as the snow leopard cub tucked in his inner pocket decided she’d had enough of the jostling. Aria’s head poked out between the folds of his coat, pale eyes blinking at the strange new pasture as though she owned it already. Damien kept a steadying hand over her without much thought, the way you might keep a satchel strap from slipping off your shoulder.
He let his gaze sweep the ground, the outline of what had been lost. Ranch work he understood, at least enough to lend his back to it. More than that, though, he knew a rebuilt gate or shed wasn’t the end of the work; livestock and trade needed keeping, feed needed hauling. For a rancher, that meant steady need, and steady need meant steady work. His interest sharpened at that.
Colt’s greeting was met with a small nod, his tone even. [say]“Looks like you’ve got it lined out. Happy to lend a hand.”[/say] His mouth tugged at the corner, just enough to soften the words into something less stiff. [say]“I’m Damien. Good to meet you.”[/say]
Only then did he catch sight of a familiar figure near the drinks. It took a beat for recognition to settle, but when it did, his brow rose slightly. [say]“Maea,”[/say] he said, surprise pulling warmth into his voice before he reined it back into something more measured. Of all places to run into her again, he wouldn’t have guessed here. [say]“Didn’t expect to see you this far west.”[/say]
He didn’t press, though. Just shifted Aria higher against his chest when she gave a protesting chirrup, as if demanding her own introduction.
Damien arrives ready to work! He didn't bring much tools this time but he did bring a cute baby cub
RE: It ain't broke yet, but damn it needs fixing - Colt - 08-25-2025
Colt isn't in the habit of asking for help, but sometimes the workload is too big to manage, a lesson she seems to never quite keep with her long enough to avoid the frustration of still trying to. She's always nervous when she does ask, because who among them doesn't have a host of their own problems that'd readily take up her own too, coin or food or virtue never seeming payment enough to her to shoulder more burdens. 'Course, she'll offer her own strength when it's needed, even when it's not, like she can't quite see weakness in anyone else but her.
[say]"Maea,"[/say] she greets, hoping she got the pale rider's name right. The smile she offers is warm, but light, their familiarity thin, but she's no less grateful for it. [say]"Appreciate you coming."[/say] The stranger that rolls up though, earns a welcoming nod and a slide of her gaze to the creature nestled against his chest. She's got animals a plenty here, but she can't quite keep the scrutiny from her mind that he'll be babysitting the kitten instead of swinging a hammer—perhaps he'd prove her wrong. [say]"Howdy, Damien. I'm Colt, owner of this ranch."[/say] Just in case the request for help hadn't been clear or he thought he was talking to the wife of whatever cowboy was running late to greet them, a common enough assumption for a man.
A few other folks strolled in from the town, returning favors they owed her or just trying to help out a neighbor. The brownies and drinks soon whittled down, and chatter lifted like crickets in the evening, louder than it should be. [say]"Alright!"[/say] she calls them all to attention, hooking a thumb in her pocket and pointing with the other to the problems at hand. [say]"We'll start with the entry gate and sign, then move on to the feed shed. Grab a shovel and start setting holes for the posts."[/say]
She'd marked the spots to dig with small, bright flags stuck in the ground. She nods towards some gloves and shovels, ones that are specialized for digging posts, needing the ground to stay firm enough to hold the wood that gets fitted in. They're near the stacked rails and posts ready to be assembled once the ground is opened up properly. The townsfolk spread, each gathering up a tool, and Colt mixed among them, leaning her hand into the work as much as her eye and voice.
Round 1: dig holes for the new entry gate and fence line.
RE: It ain't broke yet, but damn it needs fixing - Damien - 08-26-2025
Damien let Colt’s introduction settle without comment, the name and title filing neatly into the mental ledger he kept of people he might work with—or trade with—later. He gave a brief nod, the faintest acknowledgment that he hadn’t assumed wrong. He wasn’t one for social niceties beyond the necessary, and a quick clarification was enough.
Aria chirped from his chest, as if voicing her objection to being kept in there any longer. Damien eased her out carefully, letting her land on the cleared ground. She padded forward, sniffing at the flags marking the post holes, before flopping onto her side in the sun, tail twitching in idle curiosity. He allowed a small, almost imperceptible smile. She’d mostly stay out of the way, though her interest in passersby and the tools scattered around meant he’d keep one watchful eye on her.
He stooped to grip a shovel, testing the weight before stepping to the first flagged spot. The earth was soft in parts, stubborn in others, and he set his shoulders, planting his boots firmly. His movements were methodical, careful—dig down, shift the soil aside, keep the hole vertical, steady, straight. Work he could measure, work that would leave a tangible result.
[say]“Looks like we’ve got a solid start,”[/say] he murmured to no one in particular, voice low, as he began digging. Aria let out a small, playful chirrup from the grass, rolling onto her back, paws batting at a stray clump of dirt.
Damien grabs a shovel and starts digging! and the cub is just sun-bathing... for now
RE: It ain't broke yet, but damn it needs fixing - Maea - 08-26-2025
Caught off guard with her mouth full of brownie, Maea's eyes widened in shock at being addressed. It had been too dark to make out most of Damien's face the furst time they met, but his voice was distinct. Above all, he recognised her, which was fairly unusual from a strranger. Swallowing hastily, she wiped her mouth with the back of a sleeve. [say]"Could say the same for you."[/say] His accent spoke to her of the Halo tundra, nostalgic to a former resident; but given where they had met last time, perhaps she shouldn't be surprised that he traveled. Her gaze fell to the bundle in his arms, adding the arch of a pale eyebrow to her startled expression. [say]"You never mentioned having a kid,"[/say] she murmured, intrigue warring against amusement at the sight of keen feline eyes peering back at her.
Joining the flow of bodies towards the gathered tools, Maea pickes a shovel, a pair of gloves that were at least two sizes too big for her hands, and set to digging. Watching the snow leopard cub wriggle about in the grass made the tedious work go by faster, though the ancient mamde a point of being thorough in her work. It was one thing to half ass what she built for herself, and something else to do it with someone else's projects. With the sting of thoughtless behaviour still fresh on her mind, if she was a bit slower than the rest, at least her holes would be dug clean and straight and perfectly aligned with the rest.
Maea digs her holes with meticulous precision.
RE: It ain't broke yet, but damn it needs fixing - Colt - 08-26-2025
It's good they've gotten to this work before deepfrost has had a chance to firm the ground up more. It yields to
She motions towards the pile of assembled lumber and the hammers and nails that are there. Two very large, rounded posts await the delivery for the main gate, one that will be wide and beautiful, allowing stock to be carted through easily, and the sign will hang above it. The rest is square posts and flat, rectangular panels, quick and easy as these sort of rails need replacing every so often as woodpeckers, rot, and untruly beasts sap their strength. She'll be adding the barbed wire to the bottom of it as they go up, a necessary line to try and keep the fence alive a little bite longer.
Round 2: set the entry gate up! You can either set the posts in or nail in the cross rails.
RE: It ain't broke yet, but damn it needs fixing - Damien - 08-26-2025
Damien leaned on the shovel a moment as Maea’s words carried over. His gaze followed hers down to the pale head nosing through the grass at his feet, and a huff of quiet amusement slipped past him.
[say]“She’s new,”[/say] he said simply, voice steady but softened with a note of pride he didn’t bother hiding. [say]“Her name’s Aria, and she’s quite friendly if you want to say hi.”[/say] Almost on cue, the cub rolled upright and padded toward Maea, chirruping as she went. Damien only shook his head and let her go, knowing well enough that keeping her tethered wasn’t worth the effort.
Colt’s call pulled his attention back, and he stepped toward the stack of lumber. He picked out one of the heavy rounded posts, testing its balance before hauling it up against his shoulder. His boots bit firm into the churned soil as he carried it to the hole he’d dug earlier, lowering the weight down carefully. Planting it straight, he braced it with one hand while reaching for the packed dirt with the other, tamping it down around the base until the wood stood upright without his support.
It was solid work, the kind he trusted himself with, though his eyes lifted briefly at the sound of a muffled rustle behind him. Aria had abandoned Maea in favor of investigating Colt, trailing after the rancher with an eager bounce in her step. She darted at the hem of Colt’s trousers, batting at the fabric with a soft growl like she’d found a great enemy in the swish of cloth.
Damien exhaled through his nose, a small, rueful smile tugging at his mouth. [say]“She’s helpful, too,”[/say] he said under his breath.
Damien starts working on setting the posts! And Aria introduces herself to Maea & Colt.
RE: It ain't broke yet, but damn it needs fixing - Maea - 08-27-2025
Given little choice in the matter as the cub came waddling over, Maea knelt and spent a while fussing over the young leopard. Amalia came to mind as they played 'don't touch my belly', leaving a bittersweet wistfulness behind once Aria shot up and chose Colt for her next target.
Slow to get back on her feet, she found a hammer and strolled over to help secure the pillar Damien raised, by hammering in the crossrails. [say]"She's adorable. A companion?"[/say] It was common enough to bond with young animals, so she didn't really question it. Her own wisp was waiting for her in the Greatwood, faint as the memory of a scent against her min; a presence only insomuch that she knew it was alive, and in a general westerly direction. Distance choked out all else. Another incentive to go home as soon as she could, not that she needed one.
Maea works on the crossrails!
RE: It ain't broke yet, but damn it needs fixing - Colt - 08-28-2025
There's something to building—watching disorganized piles of cut wood turn into beams and rails, patterned into functioning fences and gates beneath the encouragement of hammers and nails. It's a testament to the creativity of man, who isn't content just to live in the world, but means to shape it, playing a bit at being divine. Where some see trees, there's instead the ingredients for a house, or in this case, a fence.
[say]"DAMIEN!"[/say] she shouts as her ire rises to find him among the crowd. [say]"Your cat's fixin' for a broken leg running free among work like this. The hell you thinking?"[/say] Colt might make a living out of animals, and her heart is softer for it than she lets on, but every animal she's got works, same as her. No one eats for free around here, and when they're too young to be good they stay on a leash or out of the fucking way.
Muttering under her breath, she resumes the work, until the fence is done. [say]"Onto the feed shed!"[/say] she announces to the gang, shovels collected by one man, hammers remaining in the hands that have them. It's a bit of a march down the road, but the burnt ground and started framing await them, panels of wood stacked nearby. Like reverse locusts, they descend, hammers and nails ready to chew the lumber into something useful.
Round 3: start to assemble the feed shed walls
RE: It ain't broke yet, but damn it needs fixing - Damien - 08-28-2025
[say]“She will be,”[/say] Damien answered Maea as he steadied the post while she set the rails. His tone carried the weight of certainty, like it was a matter of time rather than doubt. [say]“Not yet. Aria’s still young, and there's a few things we need to do first. But one day.”[/say] The cub’s name came out with an ease that hinted he’d already said it aloud more often than he’d realized.
That “one day” came quicker than expected. Aria’s bold pounce on Colt ’s trousers turned into a tangle of swears and barbed wire, and Damien’s head snapped up at the sound of his name being barked across the line. The cub darted back toward him at once, tail bushed out and ears pinned in half-guilty, half-excited confusion.
Damien crouched low to scoop her up before she could get herself into more trouble. He set her on his shoulders instead, her little claws hooking carefully into the heavy wool of his sweater as she clambered up and settled there like she’d been born to ride it. His mouth pressed into a thin line that twitched faintly at the corner—Colt tripping over a half-weaned cub wasn’t a story he’d risk telling out loud.
[say]“Sorry! Won’t happen again,”[/say] he called, voice carrying. The kind of apology that promised he’d keep better reins without wasting words on it. A steadying hand brushed over Aria’s flank where she perched on his shoulder, and she blinked down at the rancher with all the innocent solemnity of someone who’d absolutely do it again if given the chance.
When Colt called them onward, Damien fell in step without hesitation. The feed shed’s charred outline was a different kind of work, heavier than digging posts, but work he knew well enough. He gathered a section of wall frame, bracing its weight against his body as he carried it into place beside the skeleton of the structure already rising from the burnt earth. Aria clung easily to his shoulders through the shifting, her head swiveling to watch every nail and hammer strike as if she were supervising.
Damien set the frame upright, boot heel grinding it steady against the ash-hardened soil. Then he picked up a hammer again, lining the first nail against the beam. The rhythm came back quick—strike, adjust, strike again—each blow solid and sure. Aria perched like a sentinel and the smell of resinous pine was thick in the air.
Damien puts Aria atop his shoulders and starts working on the shed!
RE: It ain't broke yet, but damn it needs fixing - Maea - 08-29-2025
Grimacing in second hand embarrassment as Colt's reprimand cut through the din of hammers on nails, Maea turned a sympathetic smile towards Damien and melted back into the crowd to turn her own focus back to the work at hand. Her confidence was too bruised by recent events to hold up under criticism at the moment, and from the sound of it Colt wasn't one she wished to be on the wrong side of at the best of times.
Fortunately there was plenty of ways to make herself useful. With a hammer in hand she clambered onto a ladder and began nailing down the planks people on the ground couldn't reach. It was a relief to find that her recent fall hadn't instilled her with a fear of heights - at least not at this level. It was the dragon that failed her, not the agile crow; if she fell, those wings would still be there to catch her.
-----
Maea helps with the shed, choosing to climb up high to nail down the boards out of reach from the ground.
RE: It ain't broke yet, but damn it needs fixing - Colt - 08-29-2025
The multitude of hands at play here turn long and heavy work into something that moves faster and lighter for it. It's motivating to see it all come together—wood and effort taking on a familiar form, almost seeming to appear at your side as your focus lent itself to one part of the whole. It offers more after just a bit of focus from one. Everyone's stronger, not worn out on struggling and fighting with something a little too heavy, or having a spare hand reach in to help if they are.
It's still not easy, and it's still been hours, but it's coming together faster than if it'd just been the three of them. Maea's perch maintains a good flow with the workers on the ground, and
She's grateful to all the help, because this really isn't a task that could wait. A few people still fuck up and have to strip the progress and rework it, most of them not professional builders, but she'd take that risk over letting her livestock starve because weather and vermin got into her freshly purchased supplies.
Exhaling heavily, Colt steps back to survey the walls they've built and raised up, and a weary, sweat-marked smile slips in. [say]"Almost done! Y'all on fire. Must be hotter than a billy goat in a pepper patch!"[/say] he cheer rises over the throng of people. [say]"Now we got roofing, vents to install, and the front doors."[/say] She'd worry about a coat of paint later. She nods her head towards the tar and shingles, with ladders, hammers, and nails all around and available. The vents are cut metal not far off from the tar, needing to be slotted into place and affixed with some screws. The doors had handles and hinges that needed adding, and several strong hands to wield the large panels to fit them upright and in place to swing.
Round 4: final round! You can either help with the roof, the vents, or the doors - 1 per task.
RE: It ain't broke yet, but damn it needs fixing - Maea - 08-29-2025
Dropping down from the ladder with a bit more spring in her step than when she arrived, Maea spared a moment to bask in the praise and admire the progress that had been made. Stretching out her shoulders, she looked between the remaining tasks and settled in with a group that sorted out the doors.
Armed with a pen and a measuring stock, Maea marked out where the hinges needed to go, and learned from a more experienced woodworker how to chisel out the area where the metal would sit, so that it became flush with the rest of the door. Hesitant at first, then with growing confidence she finished one spot, attached the hinge with hefty screws, then moved on to the nex; so focused on her job that she entirely missed what the others were doing.
Only when the doors had been hauled up, attached to the posts and been properly leveled did she have time to look for Colt and Damien again; out of everyone present, they were the only names and faces familiar to her, and she kept looking to make sure they didn't simply vanish on her. Unlikely, but such was the way of the irrationally anxious.
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Maea works on the doors with a group of other workers.