[PQ] Seams Like Magic

Originally, the plan had been to take over Quanil's duties at the VlamVloed, but the bar's master was elusive, and Freina had no desire to work for someone she knew only by her sibling's reports of them. They were a good sort, too good sometimes, and trusted everyone until and unless given a reason not to. She didn't work that way. Besides, who was to say the owner would want her working there? No matter how she looked at it, simply taking over the amorphous "contract" her sibling had with Sunjata didn't seem right.

And she wanted a place and a job of her own. A business she could run as she saw fit; a door she could shut and lock against the world, with no one to gainsay her. She'd enjoyed sewing and dying curtains and sheets for the Loreseekers' Guild; it wouldn't be a bad way to earn a living, since nothing else had suggested itself to her.

So she had prowled the Domiciles until she'd found a two-story house that was aba- ...empty. (She hated that word, she'd never use it ever again if she had her way.) This one was dusty with disuse, but not moldy. She had discovered a weak spot in the roof (which is to say, she thought she saw a small part sagging, had poked at it with a broom handle, and a small hole had opened up), but that was the worst structural problem she'd found.

It had a small back garden, and she'd have to tend to that, as well. Grow some good plants for dyes, she thought, as well as a kitchen garden (some plants could even serve double duty for that). Of course, it was the end of Leafchange; planting now would be inadvisable. But pull out the weeds, start some seedlings in pots indoors... it'd be a start.

She'd gone around to the various merchants, trading her ideas more than her wares. Most of them either hadn't heard that she'd gained magic or didn't care. (Of course, merchants were an entirely separate breed of human, she was convinced: nothing mattered to them so much as coming out ahead. She could have sprouted two more heads, and they'd probably just tell her about the special they had going on hats.)

She'd spent the first part of the day clearing out cobwebs, dusting, washing windows, sweeping and mopping floors. This was going to be her house, true, but she also needed to turn the front room into a place of business. And people had to know that the business existed. This would take some work, but she'd just pushed up her sleeves and gone to it.

It was a sunny day, a little windy, only a little chilly. She'd opened all the windows and doors while she'd worked, and that had helped keep her from overheating. Now, she was leaning against the door frame and catching her breath. The clouds were coming and going a good clip, and it might rain later, but she'd a few more good hours yet, she reckoned.

Then stuff started arriving. The wagon with the new furniture; the wood and shingles for the roof; the seeds, pots, and gardening equipment; the sign, bell, and brackets she'd ordered.

Freina sighed as she looked at everything and thought of all the tasks she had to do before it got dark and/or started raining. She sure could use some help.

---

Help Freina get her seamstress business set up and ready to go! With just a couple of helpers, she could get everything done before it starts raining in that hole she accidentally opened up in the roof.

Physical labor for the most part: roofing, moving furniture in & out, weeding the garden and planting, and hanging the sign, that sort of thing. There may be some unexpected surprises but nothing dangerous or harmful!!

Two slots:
1. Jigano
2. Rance

The end of Leafchange always brought a million and one things to do to try and prepare for Deepfrost, and Jigano could never quite keep on top of them all, even when he cut back on sleep much to Rory's disapproval. The harvest was mostly in by now at least, hay baled and stacked high in the barn and enough to feed animals and two men through the winter thanks to his Healing of the earth earlier in the year.

He had a lecture that had he'd let slide too long that needed setting up, and he was on his way to the Temple to pin a Notice up when he passed by a previously-empty building, seeing a great deal of hustle and bustle. Curious by nature, he paused to peer over the wagons and bales of goods, Isuma circling overhead and peeping down as she sent an image of a young woman in white and yellow hidden behind the boxes and carts.

"Freina?" he called, making his way through the piles of stuff to try and find the young woman in the mental picture. "Do you need a hand with anything?"

Rance had found that, even with his responsibilities at the VlamVloed, he still had plenty of time to explore the city. A good thing, too, or he might have bucked at being in one place and working one job so long. But even without the owner around, the tavern had other employees. So, when he wasn’t being pulled to strange coastlines or reading in the Atheneum, he was walking around the main inhabited areas of the Hollow Grounds. Well, walking and flying, black wings carrying him easier and allowing him to listen in more often.

He was passing over a damaged roof of yet another seemingly-abandoned house — and, gods, there were so many — when he saw a silver head and familiar blue and white feathers. Jigano and Isuma. The former was talking to a young woman on the house’s front steps while behind them stood a number of crates and furniture, among other things. Curious and still feeling indebted to the Provost, Rance circled until he was beside the house, not hidden, but at least out of immediate view of the street. Whether or not being a shifter was accepted here, it still felt strange to change in public.

He walked around to the front again, heading for where Jigano and Freina stood, hand raised in greeting. “Hey. Looks like a right mess out here. Anything I could help with?”

Jigano was the first one to get her attention. "Hello, sir! I... " She wanted to say she had this, she didn't need his help because she already felt so indebted to him personally, but the facts of the situation didn't allow for excessive politeness. So she admitted, "...could use some help, yes."

She was about to explain further when someone else joined them. She looked the young man up and down, glanced back to Jigano briefly, and made up her mind. She didn't know this man, but she believed Jigano wouldn't let him try anything, and she could be awfully kicky and scratchy when she wanted to be. She'd take the risk. "Actually, you two could be a big help for me. I have a lot to do and not much time to do it; with you both helping out, it'd get taken care of in no time."

She cleared her throat and, for the benefit of the stranger, introduced herself. "My name is Freina. I'm a seamstress and I also dye cloth and yarn. I'm setting up this house as a combination home and business, and I'd like to focus on the business aspect today.

"The first thing we have to do is deal with the hole in the roof. It's not large, but a hole's a hole. I have some wood and matching shingles... um..." She rooted around until she found them. "...here. I have a ladder inside that I hope is tall enough - and still sturdy enough - to get to the roof." Next year, she'd like to reshingle the whole thing; the newer shingles would stand out. But that was a cosmetic consideration she couldn't deal with right now.

"I got some extra wood and shingles because, well... I accidentally caused that hole." She cleared her throat. "Some of the second floor ceiling was sagging and I poked at it, and... it just fell in. So I want to check to make sure there's no other weaknesses like that before I find out the hard way in the middle of Deepfrost. While I'm poking around - literally - if you two could patch that hole and nail the shingles in, that'd be great. It doesn't have to look perfect, it just has to keep the weather out."

---

There's wood and shingles to fix the existing hole in the roof. There's no posting order AND you can post more than once, conversing while you fix holes. I may post occasionally if Freina finds a new hole (we'll see what the dice say about that).

We'll move on when we've run out of holes! ...that sounds terrible out of context.

Given her age, Freina was undertaking a major task and Jigano smiled encouragingly as she lt her common sense overrule her pride to accept his help. Before he could hear the details an increasingly familiar face popped up from behind a cart and the Provost's smile became a grin as he tilted his head at the raven-man in greeting. "Rance, good timing,"he called, then quieted so Freina could explain what all the fuss was about.

Quanil's sister was wasting no time in taking charge of her own destiny, it would seem, and Jigano nodded understanding of her wish to be independent and supporting herself. Wise beyond her years, she was already thinking ahead, and had chosen wisely in passing the roof off to others to tend. His smile turned a bit crooked at hearing that she had poked the hole in the roof herself, but he held back his chuckle at the rotten luck - literally - and contented himself with a nod of understanding. "I helped put the new roof on the Atheneum last year, so this shouldn't be too hard," he agreed cheerfully. "I'll head inside and see what needs to be done to reinforce it from below, if you want to take a look at it from above?" he suggested to Rance with an arched brow.

If the other man agreed, the bard would gather some wood and tools and head up to where Freina directed him to see what they had to work with.

"Might be easiest to take the shingles off the whole board and replace it," he called up after examining the problem from below. "Looks like a three foot rectangle, with the hole just right - ah, east - of center. If you clear the shingles we should be able to pry up the nails from the rafters and lift the board out in one piece." A more long-term solution than a messy patch, at least. "Though if you've got a better idea, I'm all ears!" Hadn't Rance said something about being a bit of a laborer? Maybe he knew some tricks the bard hadn't read about.

As the girl had accepted and Jigano had offered friendly greetings, Rance wove around the delivery carts to approach the building itself. Rance gave the latter a grin and nod in greeting, but before he could ask for more information, the young woman — Freina — was providing it in uncertain terms. Rance’s brows rose in surprise and admiration as she laid out her plans for the day, seemingly without worry that either man would argue. Then again, they’d offered to help and she did appear to know Jigano. Whatever had led her to start a business on her own at such a young age, it was bolstered by a lack of fear and the ability to steamroll ahead before anyone could think to disagree.

He stepped aside as Freina went to the carts and found the supplies she was talking about, baffled amusement in his expression. At Jigano’s reply, amusement was tempered with a more professional thoughtfulness. “Yeah, not a problem. I’ve patched a few leaky roofs.” He turned to Freina and gave her another grin. “Rance, by the way. Pleasure to meet you. Won’t waste time chattin’, sounds like you’ve got a lot planned. I’ll do my best to help out.” He could only assume that payment of some sort would be discussed at the end, if there was any at all since he’d stepped into this without trying to make an arrangement ahead of time.

What was that Jigano and Sunjata had said about accruing good will and favors?

With some lingering unease — he still wasn’t used to having people accept his transformations as ‘natural’ for a ‘human’ — Rance shifted into raven form and fluttered up to the roof. He found the hole, circled it once by air, then on foot, balancing carefully with claw and wing, even tipping down far enough to duck his head past the opening, getting an angle his human body couldn’t manage.

Once Jigano arrived below and shouted up, he found a place that would hold his weight without worry of slipping and transformed back, replying, “That’s the place to start. We’ll need a get a brace underneath. A new board between the rafters for the patch boards to get nailed to. I'll hive the shingles up fast if you want to get that ready.” With that he flew down to find a ladder and a tool for prying off the damaged shingles. He could balance on the roof fairly easily, but even he wasn't stupid enough to assume he could get the leverage from every angle doing it that way.

Jigano tilted his head at the mention of a brace, nodding slowly. "I can do that," he called back, waiting until Rance had pulled away from the hole before flexing his fingers and calling on his earth and creation magic to make first a ladder to get him up to the rafters where he could examine them more closely.

Given the area they were intending to remove, he pulled a piece of twine from his capacious sleeve and the small pockets within and stretched it between the bracketing rafters to measure the distance, marking it with a knot he measured again to be certain, then headed downstairs to fetch a couple of boards and a saw. He was no Deimos nor Rory, but work on the farm had forced him to gain some carpentry skill, if only to repair the paddock fencing, and he soon had the board measured and cut.

With a hammer and a half dozen nails in tow he lugged the board upstairs, up the ladder, and soon had it securely nailed into place between the rafters at the spot Rance indicated. "Ready down here when you are!" he called up through the hole. "Want me to come out and join you on top? Or would I just get in the way?"

As her new and temporary workers set to it, Freina started getting back to work herself. She brought out the tall ladder she'd found in the house (for Rance), the small step stool she'd acquired (for Jigano... who it seemed didn't need it, so she held onto it for her own work), and what tools she had (split between them; plenty of hammers and nails, thankfully).

"Thank you. I'm going to see if there are any other weak spots I need to worry about. Oh, and if you need something to drink, let me know. I have water and apple cider." She picked up the broom & step stool and set about walking through the upstairs, carefully looking and poking at the roof.

It turned out there were many small weak spots in the roof. She found half a dozen that gave in easily (including two in the area she wanted as her bedroom). To Rance, it must have looked like her roof had gophers or something, with all the random holes opening up. Muttering to herself about getting a whole new damn roof, she returned to Jigano.

She peered up at the work he was doing. "I want to watch how you do the underneath part, so I can work on some of the other holes I've found. It'll go faster and I can't make you two do everything."

---

the one time I roll high... so there are now 6 holes of varying size in the roof, but the rest of it seems to be sound enough, at least for now. Round/Task 1: The Roofening continues!

Rance thanked Freina for the ladder and got to work. While Jigano worked on the brace, Rance pried up the old shingles around the hole. More than one broke or crumbled again as he slid them off the roof, a sign of just how neglected the building was. Freina was going to be fighting problems for seasons to come, he was willing to wager.

His assumption was proven correct a lot sooner than he'd expected as he heard a crack and a smaller hole opened up further along the roof. And then another. Sounds from the other side of the roof made it likely that they were over there as well. Brows knit, Rance straightened as the last shingle was pried up from this section of roof. "Well, fuck." Jigano had returned while he was working and called up at that moment to announce the securing of the brace. Rance looked back through the hole, seeing both the Provost and the young lady they were assisting.

"You might as well come up. Looks like there's more damage than we thought. You, too, miss, if you think you'll be steady on the ladder. The roof's not too steep, I can do without it if I'm not the only one up here."  He stripped off his jacket as he talked, rolling up his sleeves. "I'll start on the board for this hole if you want to bring the shingles up with you."

With that, Rance followed  word with action, flying down to the ground and bringing back the replacement board and the needed tools.

---

Rance is nailing in the board over the first hole and will move onto shingling once Jigano is up there!

Jigano heard muffled sounds of destruction from the other rooms upstairs and winced as he worked at his own task. Freina arrived as he was peering up through the hole and he smiled apologetically at her as he gestured to the beam he'd added between the rafters. "I've already put the first brace in, but you can measure the distance between rafters and cut a piece to go between them. That's what we'll nail the patch to from the outside," he explained. "I think we're done with the inside work on this one already, though."

He nodded up at Rance's directions, content to rely on the raven's expertise in building repairs after hearing how that was how the other man had made his living while traveling, becoming a jack-of-all-trades in his journeys. The bard headed back downstairs to collect a box of shingles and headed up the ladder on sure feet, balanced and graceful despite his burden, and he carefully made his way over to where the board was going into place.

With the two of them in position the shingling work over the new board would go much faster, and Jigano mimiced Rance's technique for hammering the shingles into place after watching the first few being nailed down.

---

Jigano brings the shingles up and helps Rance shingle over the new board once it's in place.

Freina looked at what had already been done. She'd seen the hole before, so even if she hadn't watched them do it, she could see the differences. She nodded at Jigano and went to work immediately. She was definitely a fan of the "measure twice, cut once" principle, so it took her a bit, but the piece she cut fit in perfectly.

"I can work from down here if you two can shingle, or I can come up there and someone else can come in here and work on putting in the boards from this side. However you're comfortable."

"Stay down there, miss. Better if  we're not all on the roof, don't want to cause more holes." He said the last with a touch of wry humor. At the very least, if the roof started to go underneath him or Jigano, they could fly out of the way. He didn't know if Freina was attuned or not, but he wasn't taking the chance that she has an escape route if the whole mess went unexpectedly. "If you can keep doing the bracin' from below, maybe cuttin' away the splintered wood, we'll keep priyin' up shit from here."

Patching the roof wasn't going to be fast, but so long as the other holes were small with no damaged beams beneath, they could probably get enough repairs in to last the winter. Glancing over at the other holes again and sighing, he glanced at Jigano, arching a brow. "This is goin' to have to be patched again come spring, if the winters here are harsh."

Still, whether or not the work would be long-lasting, Rance wasn't one to give up on a project. With Jigano's help, he'd do the best he could. Once the board was down and the shingles secured, he'd head down to strip the rest of the holes, ready to put in new boards where needed and shingles everywhere.

Rance was in charge as the one most experienced, and Jigano let him answer Freina's question as the two men worked steadily away on the shingles. Once the first hole was fixed the bard set back on his heels and gave the raven a rueful smile. "They are and it will, I'm sorry to say. Usually when people look for a building to move into they check the roof first... even if the interior needs more work, at least it's dry work that can be done in any weather." He shrugged, though, his grin turning a little lopsided. "Ah well. Consider it a learning experience for when you're ready to find your own place. If we can get her through the winter she should be able to gain enough work to be able to barter for more help come spring."

A learning experience all around, it would seem, but he had offered his help and he wouldn't stop now just because the job had gotten harder. With a quiet grunt he rose and picked his way delicately towards the next hole he could see, pulling shingles away to reveal the extent of the damage. He did that with the other holes as well, letting Rance follow behind to hammer in the new boards before circling back to help nail the shingles into place over the patches.

"I was just glad to find a place with no golems or bat guano," she replied. "And the roof looked sturdy. Deceptively, as it turns out." But yes, she was well aware it'd need more work in the spring. So long as she could make it through the Deepfrost snows, she'd be happy.

"I'll live downstairs if I need to." Might do anyhow, curled up by the hearth.

She moved on to the next hole that her "workers" were on, judging by the sound of them moving around. Measure twice, cut once. She worked as quickly as she could but wouldn't cut corners (or rather, she'd only cut them after she'd made sure she was doing it properly). "I promise all the other tasks I need help with are on the ground floor!" she called up.

They worked together to patch up all the holes she'd opened, and she called them inside (and down). She brought out fresh water and let them have as much of a break as they needed.

"The next task is a bit more laborious, so I thought we'd get it out of the way." She nodded her head to the old furniture inside. There wasn't much of it: an old sofa, two armchairs with ragged upholstery, an old, thread-bare rug, and a gnawed-up coffee table. "I need help hauling all this old stuff out and bringing the new stuff in."

She was referring to the cart outside which contained a new(er) rug, loveseat, one (slipcovered) armchair, and a desk & chair.

"This front room is going to be where I deal with customers, after all," she said. "And I think if someone tries to actually sit on any of this furniture that's been here for gods-only-know how long, they're like to fall through it."

---

Okay, sorry 'bout that. Round 2: furniture hauling! This stuff isn't moldy but it's old, likely to fall apart... and possibly inhabited. >_> No posting order or limit, but this one should go quicker than the last one!