[PQ+] prose and cons

Deimos

It'd been a long time since the jailhouse was used.

Probably not since Neron’s brief imprisonment – save for a share of petty crimes back and forth. The Sword was not remiss to figure he, Noah, Ru, and any assortment of others involved in the coup, well before wars, probably would’ve ended up here. And not for long, given its structure and their own magical components, strengths, and adherences.

But that was neither here nor now – the present coincided with opening the door to musty, damp proportions, broken windows, rusted bars, and probably a hole somewhere ensuring snow had drifted in and caused some amount of structural damage. He wouldn’t be surprised if several animals had wound up here either. It’d been an easy building to ignore, unfortunately, over the past years and seasons, when there had been so many others things to occupy their minds and actions.

With a heavy sigh, and roll of his eyes, he settled towards the hearth, ensuring the fire was lit, eager and ready to dry things out, before the others arrived. Belial stood “guard”, in that he meandered around the door sniffing and snorting at the wooden frame, and Zuriel made herself at home in the front proportions, sneering at the state of the facilities.

--

This is the PQ+ to refurbish the jail! Please post your characters arriving and anything they’ll be bringing. We have until October 16th to finish this thread.

Deimos has everything listed on his profile, including companions.

1. Hotaru
2. Iskra

we exhume our enemy's bones
we are battling, hungry beasts

I will still be here, stargazing

"Do you have plans to use this soon?" Iskra asked pointedly as he slipped between the guards, Belial and Zuriel, at a wary distance. At his heels Goose wasn't so lucky and stopped short, the dog eying the creatures with a soft whine of complaint, his body dropping low as Belial snuffled around right where Iskra had stepped into the doorway. Iskra glanced back at the sound, but seeing Goose no worse for wear let the shy mutt deal with his own insecurities as Iskra refocused on the Warden - he had told the dog he could stay home after all and Goose had refused, albeit he'd likely believed they'd be doing their usual venturing into the snow to cut wood today.

Iskra wished that could be the case, but he had more or less volunteered to help. Not because Iskra loved refurbishing jails, but because he wanted to contribute a bit more to this city. Which, to be honest, was Goose's fault. Iskra was content to rot away in his bed all day until the dog showed him that maybe there was a reason to get up each day after all. So, he kind of hoped Belial ate Goose and then he could go back to sleeping in and ignoring the world.

Sighing under his breath Iskra moved towards an opposite wall from Deimos, reaching out to brush away the built-up grime and push at the strength of the room, testing just how difficult this task would prove to be. His hands slipped to his hips in a perfect dad stance as he regarded the structure.

--

Iskra has an axe with him and his pet dog, Goose.

Iskra

code by sky

Hotaru

Drowned on the blankets
Floral and fading

Swanning in last in a cloud of golden hair and loose, flowing clothing that seems out of place in Deepfrost courtesy of her Academy blessing and the low hum of magic as needed. The slight drain on her impressive stamina is worth the fashion perks it affords her. Iskra is faintly familiar in a way that usually means Ru has seen him around but never introduced herself, so the Valkyrie flits over to Deimos to squeeze his arm (shamelessly scenting him in a distinctly feline way, though nobody has called her out on it yet) emitting her greeting through the bond as much as through verbal means. It’s clear he’s aggrieved by the state of the cells, though Ru doesn’t see why. Isn’t that precisely why they’re here? They merely had to be grateful it didn’t need use in the interim. “Grumbling already? That’s not a good sign.” Her tone is lightly teasing, because in the privacy of the bond he’ll feel her calm encouragement - something she wouldn’t be caught dead expressing in front of a stranger.

Speaking of - Ru glides over to the Dad-posing newcomer with a radiant smile fit for a runway model show hostess. Overwhelming for most introverted strangers? Most definitely. It has never stopped her. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced. I’m Hotaru.” She doesn’t extend her hand just yet, feeling out the sort of temperament might be hiding behind his handsome face and whether it would be snubbed. Not that it impedes her smooth, regal tone or smiling face. Deimos will call her to task when he has an actual task list sorted, of that she’s sure. She can entertain herself until then.

- - -

Ru comes with herself, the weapons on her profile, and little else.

Painful lust
Two aching guts

Deimos

“Depends,” came along a slight grin at Iskra’s inquiry – though he watched Belial and the dog interact closely, warnings through bonds circumventing the carnivorous deer’s initial intentions. Unfurling his wings instead and screeching, it seemed as though the peryton was inviting the canine to play – though he presumed Goose would be smarter than that. Giving no more answer to that, for the contingencies did rely heavily on people and their actions, and his hope that some portion of the impending Stormbreak maneuvers would go smoothly.

Arching his brow at the Valkyrie, he shrugged his shoulders, knowing better but still more or less annoyed – perhaps at himself, for permitting the jailhouse to lay untouched for so long. He was half-inclined to sigh and warn Iskra of impending Ru-ness, but it scarcely mattered for when she was already preening and entertaining herself.

Glancing at both of them, and then the surroundings, his nose wrinkled slightly, vaguely unimpressed with what he saw, and knowing there were multitudes of work ahead. And while the latter wasn’t an issue, he was far more bothered by what could be lurking within. “We should investigate the area first. Look for any sort of damage. And I would not be surprised to find any animals living here.”

--

Pick one of the following rooms/areas to investigate. Deimos will take the last one.

- Cells – definitely something musty in there
- Office – big, big draft blowing in
- Storage – big room in the back, maybe there’s treasure (there isn’t), also kinda smelly

we exhume our enemy's bones
we are battling, hungry beasts

I will still be here, stargazing

Goose was having none of Belial's antics and gave a startled bark at the splayed wings and screech that emerged, the dog quickly barreling through to doorway to find Iskra and tuck behind his legs, leaning in for comfort as he avoided looking where he'd left Belial. Iskra bowed at the sudden thump against him and absently mussed the top of the dog's head before turning back around from the wall to face Deimos. Not too surprising that the Warden didn't give him a very thorough answer - such affairs were better kept abreast of the need to know, and Iskra was content to stay out of that kind of circle.

Hotaru entered much in the same way as she had in the town meeting, an eye-catching flourish of beauty and presence. She seemed to enjoy commanding situations, silently staring into your eyes and mouthing look at me, I'm the captain now. Well she could sail his ship any day, even if it was due to him being under duress. Iskra almost felt bad for Deimos for a moment as she immediately erased the distance between them, her closeness and familiarity so reminiscent of a partner Iskra felt inclined to avert his gaze, lest he be forced to recount events to Evie later.

Wait he hadn't been lured here under false pretenses, had he? Maybe refurbishing the jail was code.

Seemingly since Deimos remained unruffled (did the man know how to get ruffled?) after her good-natured ribbing, Iskra was next on her target list. At her approach, his attention swung back to her, after previously trying to find anything else in the room to be interesting enough to captivate him. She was beaming and Iskra responded in kind, a smile falling into place easily on his features, as if it always belonged there. "You must be the warden," Iskra said, only realizing the oddity of the term after saying it and fumbling a bit to correct what he meant since the actual warden was standing over there. "Er, that is to say, the jail expert." Iskra was only half joking - he didn't think that Deimos had built this place and while not impossible to believe Hotaru had, he did hope at least one of them knew what the fuck they were doing because he sure didn't. Iskra wasn't much of a craftsman, he was more like let me use brute force to snap this living thing into pieces so we can burn its bones, kind of guy. "I'm Iskra," he finished, offering her a hand he wasn't convinced she would take, but he'd be remiss not to get a chance to hold her even briefly.

At Deimos' instructions, Iskra's smile faltered. The job was real now, unfortunately. "Hopefully nothing worse than rats," Iskra groaned, not particularly keen on discovering something more terrible than cobwebs and loose stone today. "Goose and I will check out the storage room." It might be the only room with some boxes or crates of wood, which wasn't much, but at least it was something akin to his comfort zone rather than metal and rock. At this he whistled under his breath, perking up the dog at his feet with the promise of a job and (hopefully) distance from Belial.

"Last one back from investigating has to jump naked into the Sea of Glass!" Iskra called out playfully as he abruptly raced down the hallway to where he (assumed) the storage room was, Goose hot on his heels. Gods knew he needed something to motivate him, and if the others played along, what he wouldn't given to see either one of them forced to skinny dip.

- -

Iskra is running to the storage room to check it out

Iskra

code by sky

Hotaru

Drowned on the blankets
Floral and fading

Iskra has her number immediately and she doesn’t even know it, though clearly his perceptiveness is not a sufficient defense against her charm given the way he endearingly bumbles over his word choice. Encouraged beyond all measure, her grin goes Cheshire as her eyes gleam, positively feline. “Once, yes. Briefly. But I am quite the expert with bars and bondage, sharp eye.” Wink. Now let’s be clear Ru has never sought to reclaim her crown, nor has Noah, so she is understandably flippant over having held the title once upon a time. Being a nuisance and tying the newbie in knots is far more appealing than drudging up ancient history anyway.

Delighted when he offers her his hand, she takes it smoothly, her skin soft and free of callouses (through both magical and medicinal means) in contrast to his own, which she can tell are the hands of a hard worker. “Iskra,” she repeats in a soft croon, thumb swiping over his inner wrist as she pulls her hand back with a devastating smile, “pleasure to meet you.”

And though she’s happily taken, Deimos’ intervention still feels like cockblocking, a mouse snatched scant inches from her claws. Only pouting once Iskra has departed in an infuriatingly adorable manner with his dog, Ru huffs and glides past Deimos - who will surely know it’s all for show - and goes to investigate the cells themselves. Whatever open air she can feel will be better suited to Deimos’ structural enchantments, and the cells require a keen eye and penchant for cleanliness that the Valkyrie is happy to provide.

- - -

Ru investigates the cells!

Painful lust
Two aching guts

Deimos

Rolling his eyes at Ru’s antics and Iskra’s blunders of Wardenship, he ignored the other course of actions, and simply turned towards the office, trusting the rest would be capable of their own investigations, sending Belial to the roof as some form of a task as well.

If Iskra yearned for rats, he’d be sorely mistaken. The storage room opened in a pile, an array, of the usual – mops, buckets, dust pans, brooms once leaning on the door, collectively falling to the floor. They clearly hadn’t been used in a while, given the state of dirt, grime, and filth, but the more intriguing notions were in the corner of the small room. Beyond spare tables and chairs, was a small hole in the corner, some tiny bones, and a nest of…some animal, though it’d yet to return to its home.

While Hotaru had a penchant for cleanliness, and given the state of the prior room, the cells clearly didn’t. The musty odor lingered within, probably from the office’s current state, until everything around seemed to hold a damp, stank, mildewed quality. Puddles had managed to form in the deeper portions of the prisons, bars slightly warped or rusted, and windows all for naught, the glass long since gone and departed.

Which meant, of course, some ningos had roosted at the top of some bars. They cooed down at her as she approached, completely unbothered.

The Sword’s discovery would yield the same sort of results – the draft was all the more obvious as he approached, and beckoned from a large perforation in the outer wall. Predilections and machinations might’ve spurned towards prior war antics – either in dragon assault or banshee decree – but it scarcely mattered now. This threshold wasn’t immaculate or unblemished either; snow had piled itself in the corner, papers were scattered and torn, and there may have been a desk under more piles of…stuff.

The other two could probably hear the sigh wafting from his current confines, but he approached where they’d all met before, waiting for the reports, and inevitably, where they needed to start. “What did you find?” echoed against the building, brow arching at the impending news. Couldn’t be any worse than what they’d received lately.

--

Report your findings to Deimos and then we’ll figure out where to start! No post order!

we exhume our enemy's bones
we are battling, hungry beasts

Hotaru

Drowned on the blankets
Floral and fading

Though she isn’t expecting the cells to have five-star level accommodations for their future prisoners, it’s certainly far from acceptable, in fact it’s barely hospitable. Unless you count whatever rodents and pests must surely be taking advantage of the disarray. Including the family of ningos that coo down at her, unbothered by her presence. Wrinkling her nose, her sharp eyes take in every cell one by one, mentally noting the changes that will need to be made to bring them up to a satisfactory level of cleanliness.

Only then does she return to Deimos.

“The cells are filthy and we have an infestation problem. Ningos.” Which is her way of saying, with a singular word, that at least it’s not something more clever or difficult to kill. Praise be. “More importantly, the windows are all broken and the bars rusted. Unclear if they’re salvageable.” Given their weight and material it will be far more difficult to replace them if they can’t be, but that would have to be determined with some elbow grease.

Painful lust
Two aching guts

I will still be here, stargazing

Iskra noted that he didn't hear either of them react to his challenge. He might have looked back, but he was hellbent on winning it so he didn't spare a glance, and hoped that their silence was due to their rush to engage and rise triumphant.

Goose and he arrived at the storage room with too much speed and energy, both of them skidding to a late stop that sent the varied tools of mops and buckets and brooms clattering to the ground loudly. Iskra swore under his breath, trying to reach out and grab as many as he could, while Goose let out an undignified (and completely unwarranted) yelp of surprise. The dog leaped out of the way, jumping further into the room, and regarded the spilling equipment with raised hackles and suspicion. "This is your fault," Iskra said pointedly to the dog, once again wishing he was back in bed and not toiling away under the supervision of the scariest man he knew and now one of the more frightening women he was getting to know. Goose snorted in response and turned away from the doorway, his nose scenting something far more interesting in the back of the room.

After rearranging the spillage, Iskra knelt next to Goose, his hand rubbing the sleek fur of the dog that nosed at the empty nest. "Hmm," Iskra said worriedly, patting Goose's shoulder as an acknowledgment to leave it and head out. With less exuberance, but still at a run, the two headed back to where Deimos and Hotaru had already gathered.

Shit, did that mean he lost?

"It's dusty as fuck," Iskra reported as he leaned on the doorway, Goose sitting next to him. "Lots of old cleaning tools and some tables. Not sure if the tables are worth a damn under the grime, but the tools could at least help us, assuming they don't snap in half." Goose sneezed and a bond dropped from his mouth; one he'd swiped from the nest. "Oh yeah, and something is living there. It's got its buffet graveyard and cozy little nest, but I'm no tracker, can't say what it houses."

Iskra

code by sky

Deimos

It was difficult fighting back the eyeroll when the ningo infestation was determined – because it always seemed to be them - but the filth, windows broken, and bars rusted made his nose wrinkle and curl regardless. Iskra’s report about dust, grime, and some other weird creature left him much more inclined to strive for other projects first. Motioning back towards the office with a jut of his jaw, he added his own discoveries. “Office has a giant hole, snow, papers, and far too much stuff.” His gaze went from the others and down towards the prison rooms themselves. “We can start with the cells. Seems we may be there a while.”

When Belial had nothing to note on from the roof, and had started entertaining himself by running across, and Zuriel content by the hearth, he walked towards the enclosures, unfurling another massive breath when he saw the state of the bars. “I can work on this,” pointing at the nasty, rusted features, presuming his elemental incantations could do something, and if they couldn’t, he’d be making new ones anyway. “One of you can tackle the grime,” maybe those cleaning supplies Iskra found would come in handy. “And the other can start replacing the windows.” The ningos could wait – stupid, but harmless. One cooed down at Goose with apparent glee.

--

Deimos will work on the rusted bars! You have a choice of tackling the grime or replacing the windows (all supplies will be available nearby). No post order!

we exhume our enemy's bones
we are battling, hungry beasts

I will still be here, stargazing

Both of them had stiffened with the work, likely just as unthrilled as Iskra about the tasks to be completed, but considerably more interested in the end result to make the progress worthwhile. Maybe it was some holdover teachings from his mother, but the woodcutter did wonder if it wasn't better to find alternatives than caging people. Rehabilitation perhaps, or if he wanted to be just like his family, an eye for an eye.

"I'd hate for you to get soiled," Iskra said with a grin flashed at Hotaru, even going so far as to dip in a mild bow for good measure in the hopes it might invite a smile in return. He turned abruptly and strode back the way he'd just come, whistling a tune that ought to have drawn Goose back to his side, but the dog was entranced by the pale bird above. The dog stood up on its hind legs, testing for a balance that wasn't there before swiftly dropping back down and giving a soft whine of want as he paced in a circle beneath the ningo. Iskra didn't hesitate in the beast's absence, instead getting right to work (the quicker he did it the quicker it was done, right?) and grabbed one of the brooms from the supply room.

Inhaling deeply, Iskra began to plunge the bristles every which way, knocking off dust and debris in a fine cloud that his lashes worked furiously against.

- - - -

Iskra is sweeping up the storage room, Goose is waiting to eat the ningo.

Iskra

code by sky

Hotaru

Drowned on the blankets
Floral and fading

Though Deimos is in more of a mood than herself, Iskra’s antics do indeed prompt a grin, spirits not so much lifting as brightening upon being redirected toward a less morose party member. “And I’m sure you look much more dashing when you are,” she flirts plainly, envisioning him sweaty and mucked up. She has a wonderful, vivid imagination, so Ru is confident in claiming she’s correct with that estimation.

Of course she’ll likely get rather soiled lifting windows (though her strength stat is nothing to sneeze at let’s be honest) but it will be the natural sort borne of sweat and exertion. Given how important proper weatherization of windows is in Halo, this is far from the first time Hotaru has had to do this, so unless luck rolls her literal dice on the side of failure she’s rather experienced in not shattering the panes or leaving any gaps along the frame for moisture and air to seep in. The work sounds echo strangely in the large empty building, and Goose’s excitement is equally loud, but it makes the work feel less lonely and oppressive even from a distance.

- - -

Ru works on windows!

Painful lust
Two aching guts

Deimos

So in turn, they settled into their work – at least, as best they could. The banter could wax and wane all it wanted; in the end, the accomplishments would still have to be rendered through effort and achievement.

Like for instance - Iskra. While the ningo teased and taunted Goose from above, to the point that one would have to wonder just how dumb the animal was, the Abandoned’s flurry of movement and motion should’ve sent dust and debris into the thresholds of dust pans. Instead, it seemed to cling to the watery, wet surfaces, clustering together into a clumped mass of grime. Which – maybe that would be easier to take care of? Regardless, those methods weren’t currently working. Perhaps something else?

And to be fair, Hotaru was correct in her assertion – she’d had enough experience and done this many multitudes before, that the windows fit in decently. Nothing broke. Nothing strained. Nothing fell to pieces. However, she’d find it wasn’t all perfection; as some were still gapping along the sides. Without tending to that, future problems would probably unfurl…

Deimos, concentrating with all his might and not tending to the conversation at all, still found the bars to be challenging pieces. Some aligned with the strength, might, and tenacity of his incantations, straightening out, and removing the rust adornments. But others broke under the pressure, leaving him to scowl in the midst of his silence, and start creating them from scratch.

--

Iskra’s attempts have made…piles of grime? Best try something else!

Hotaru has successfully put in the windows, but there’s some gapping issues along the sides of several.

Deimos has re-aligned some of the bars, but others will need to be replaced entirely.

No post order!

we exhume our enemy's bones
we are battling, hungry beasts

Hotaru

Drowned on the blankets
Floral and fading

Pleased when no glass shatters, no panes wobble, and no other form of destruction or bad luck emerges, Hotaru pins in a few wedges to hold them while she investigates their edges. A few have some gaps, which make her tsk her tongue and consider her options. Confident in her pins, she marches off to the collection of tools and finds a tube of caulk. A triumphant noise emits from her throat, and she returns to the windows with more pep in her step.

It’s hard to use caulk in the cold of Halo, so she tries to warm it gently with her fire magic in her palms, trying to make it easier to work with. Once the bead is streaming easily she begins to fill the holes around the edges of the frame, smoothing it with fingers and magic alike, heedless of the mess that will surely dry there.

- - -

Ru caulks the gaps in the window frames!

Painful lust
Two aching guts