tushanshu_logs

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Characters: Tess and YOU?
Date: End of December/first week of January.
Location: Various!
Situation: Various! I have written up three general starters, as Tess gets her feet under her and gets into the swing of life on the turtle. If there's something else you'd like to do with her to jump-start some CR, feel free to write up your own starter or PM/hit me up on plurk (

frodabaggins)!
Warnings/Rating: Option 3 involves some bad memories of the violent, gory, zombie-related sort. Also, Tess can be a potty mouth and is prone to violence if she feels the need. Otherwise I'll update this as necessary.

Option 1: shopping?!

[Tess is still wearing the clothes she arrived in, though they are a little cleaner than they were when she made her first network post. Laundry is one of the things she particularly relishes about the turtle. But the idea of having more than one change of clothes at a time is frankly kind of baffling to her after all this time, even with the weather as cold as it is, the most she's done is find herself a warm coat.

Now, however, she's in a shop, perusing racks of clothing with a somewhat bewildered look on her face – as though she's overwhelmed, which she kind of is. What the hell do people do with all these clothes, anyway? She knows logically that she used to be like that – as a kid she had a closet and a dresser full of clothes, and in high school she cared about fashion. But that life is like a warm, happy dream, rather than any kind of reality, or has been for twenty years.

She might actually need some help. Or maybe someone to laugh at her and snap her out of it.]

Option 2: baby turtles?!

[The little oddities of turtle life are things Tess has noticed, of course, but mostly has decided not to comment on or deal with – even weird shit like magic is much, much preferable to what she left behind, so she can't bring herself to care much, no matter how freaky it is.

And okay, being on the back of a giant turtle, maybe she should've been prepared for a few more reptilian encounters, but the oversized baby currently nudging her down the street is still a bit of a surprise.]

Uh, anyone wanna come get their pet?

Option 3: at the bar (potential trigger warning for mentions of zombie horror/gore/violence/PTSD)

[She can't sleep. You'll never hear Tess complain about being here, about being alive, because it's great. It really, really is.

But it doesn't stop the nightmares. It doesn't stop the awful goddamn memories encroaching on what should be peaceful sleep. Late at night, when it's too goddamn quiet in her suite and she can't sleep because sleep means reliving terrible things over and over and over again, she instead makes the trek to the Brazen Turtle. Because drinking is better than remembering. Drinking makes the world a little number, dulls the phantom pain of the teeth at her collarbone, the sharp ache in her chest at the memory of Joel's face when he saw.

She drinks hard liquor, straight up, clearly an old hand at it, even for a woman of her petite frame.]

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[It's still a little weird to have Ellie here - well, weird is relative in this place, in Tess' life, but whatever. She glances over at the familiar voice, though, and gives the girl a nod.]

Hey, kid. What've you been up to? Keeping warm? [It is, after all, pretty goddamn cold outside. Part of why she's here, too. She needs more warm things. Maybe some better shoes. But there are so many options.]

Pssh. Keeping warm's the easy part. [she still hated winter, but she could bluster through any and all feelings she had associated with this particular season, especially after a couple of months getting used to Keeliai. Still, the invitation given, she moves closer to Tess, practically dancing on her feet.]

I went hunting a little bit ago, sold some of the stuff I caught to one of the stores. Then, I'm gonna get some hot cocoa, because that sounds really fucking good right now.

So, whatcha shopping for?

You're a regular businesswoman.

[Tess is actually impressed - selling stuff to people, at her age? That's really smart, and a lot like what Tess has done in the past. GOOD JOB, ELLIE.]

I'm mostly just looking for... jackets, I guess. More gloves. I don't need to wear the same old thing every day anymore. Might as well take advantage of it.

I don't know if it's a business, but it gets me food, either way. [but she's grinning. Coming from Tess? Of the infamous shipping duo? That was a glowing review.]

Some of the clothes here are really weird. What about... that one?

[she points to what looks like a red sweater-- red was probably her favorite color, she was drawn to it for one reason or another. And she has no clue what to look for besides clothes basically fitting and not being too busted to wear.]

When you don't just have to worry about keeping warm and lasting more than a few months, you can come up with some weird ideas.

[She actually smiles a little as she inspects the sweater - it's got an impractical collar and wider sleeves, too. Don't need to worry about assholes or infected grabbing the sleeves. Damn, she could wear a dress if she wanted to.]

I used to spend so much time on this shit.

Fucking seriously? [she looks at her, appraising] That's... really surreal to imagine. Hell, any of this.

So, what're you gonna do now?

Yeah, I was just out of high school when the outbreak happened. [Revealing your age, Tess. Oh well. Still not as old as Joel.]

I guess I'll have to find work to do. Make contacts, find out what people need, or want. Find out how to get it.

You mean... pick up smuggling here, like back in Boston? How does that work, with the whole being on the back of a turtle thing?

[not that she doubted Tess could make it work, she just wondered if there was a need for smuggling things across the city. And what those things might be, honestly.

Probably illegal. Joel mentioned that.]

Not sure how it works, but I can't imagine this place is so bountiful and free that nobody wants anything. [It's all Tess knows, really. The age she was when the outbreak happened, she never acquired anything like what most people would consider normal job skills.

And yeah, whatever she does, some or most of it will probably be illegal. Woops. And here she told Spock she'd be the responsible one. How about it, Ellie, want Tess to corrupt you and teach you the ways of evil smugglers?]

People always want most what they can't have - either because it's scarce or... for other reasons. Just have to find out how to get it, and sell it to 'em.

So... Who would you start talking to first? I mean, I've been here awhile, and I wouldn't even know where to start with something like that.

[she was just a simple seller of meat, and when she listens to Tess talk, it almost sounds easy. But it can't have been that easy.]

[It probably sounds easier than it is. Tess didn't get to be the most feared smuggler in Boston overnight, after all.

She starts sifting through another rack of blouses, squinting suspiciously at all the frills and other totally impractical little additions.]

Back home, I'd start with the ration lines. You always start with the ration lines, listen to what people are complaining about most, what it is they need most.

Here, I'll probably start at the bars.

[she nods, while watching her shift through all the racks. Clothing. Clothing was not something Ellie was good with. But Tess already knew that, based off her suggestion before. And her clothes, even the new ones, were already starting to wear in places.]

So, the bars. Okay. Then what?

I don't even remember what half this crap is.

[She's talking about the clothes, almost to herself. And huffs a little. But Ellie's questions are more to the point. Definitely more interesting than these racks.]

Most of it's talking to people. Or, well, listening. Find out what they want, what's in short supply. Then, we find out who's supplying it now, where they're getting it from. How much it costs, how much they mark it up.

I might have to go to work for one of the current suppliers, for a while. That can be a good way to start filching contacts, making some deals of my own. Do some undercutting, that kind of thing. Basically - get myself into the supply chain any way I can.

Pshh. You make it sound so easy. [It's super interesting-- Tess was talking about this more than Joel would have, so this was already a plus up in her mind.

She starts to thumb through the shirts, idling considering some of them, but they were all 1) too big, and 2) way too fancy for her tastes. She thought she saw a store that just had t-shirts somewhere in the Wood Sector. Maybe she could recommend that to Tess once she finished prying for details about smuggling.]

If they need any meat, you let me know. Some days it's a pain in the ass to sell anything around here.

[Tess laughs a little. She's always been more easygoing than Joel. And never a parent, which probably saves her from some of those concerns. Plus, Joel's not here, and Tess needs allies - partners - people on her side.]

I wouldn't call it easy. Even simple plans can be difficult to follow through with. I started with nothing in Boston and worked my way up - it took a lot of work, and a lot of time. It probably won't be much different here, though at least here I don't have to worry about keeping a roof over my head.

And if you're having trouble selling what you've got, it probably means either not many people want it, or there's already plenty to go around for cheap. Or both. You need to offer something unique - the lowest price in the neighborhood, or discounts for regular buyers, or a fresher product.

[She figured. They had to be good enough at catching their meat, by then. Just had to be, for god knows how long they've been on the turtle. So, instead, she just shrugs.]

There're these lizards that they pay a little more for. But they're rare, and they're kinda hard to catch. I don't know how, but they're practically invisible until you catch them moving, and then they're fast as fuck. But if I can catch a few of those, I can be okay for a couple of weeks.

So, maybe something like that is what I should be aiming for, huh?

Yeah. If it's a delicacy, a luxury - people will pay better for that stuff. The harder it is to come by, the more people tend to want something. And the more they'll pay for it.

[She tilts her head at Ellie a little, considering her.] I'm no expert hunter, but maybe traps would do better at catching them. Do you know what these lizard things eat?

No clue. I only catch sight of 'em occasionally. Guess I should stop killing them and find out, huh. [she's stating the obvious, but she only caught on once she was really low on funds, and she had to do something to stay fed. She didn't want to go back to starving forever, honestly.]

I guess I've got a little bit of leeway now, though. I could study them.

Well, if you need help with it, you know where to find me.

[She means it, too. Ellie is clearly a smart kid, and clearly cares a lot about Joel, which at the very least gives them some common ground, even in his absence. And she is still a kid.]

Or with anything, really. God knows I've got plenty of time on my hands these days.

Well... Okay. We've gotta stick together, anyway. I mean.

[she pauses and waves her hands a bit as she tries to think of the best way to phrase this]

I kind of hinted about home? Maybe told some people? But, I really don't think they get it. Which, lucky them. But... It's fucking annoying.

[Tess nods sagely. She totally gets that feeling, kid.]

Yeah, that's... probably how it'll be with most people. I figure most of 'em come from worlds a lot more like this. Or like how our world was, before the Cordyceps. It's like night and day, and if one's all you've ever known, it'd be really hard to understand the other.

[Even Tess finds herself surprised at it - she'd forgotten so many things about the way the world used to work, that seeing a lot of them here again, operational, is the strangest sort of deja-vu she's ever experienced.]

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