[OPEN] Life's flushest feather...

[wintershepherd]

Characters: Jack Frost & various
Date: Misc January
Location: Assorted around the city
Situation: Collection of threads for the latter part of January. Ping me if you want a starter!
Special Note: Jack will have Baby Tooth with him unless noted otherwise and her visibility follows the UPDATED!! belief guidelines as Jack's do.
Warnings/Rating: TBA in threads if needed.


I. WELCOME CENTER
After his announcement of the welcome center, Jack was pleased to find that visitors to it picked up considerably as did the number of volunteers who offered to help out. In fact more people than he had expected had agreed to lend their time and aid and Jack was currently sitting on the floor in front of the desk, legs folded up under him and back against the wooden front. A spreadsheet was in front of him and he chewed absently on the end of his pencil, trying to redo the schedule to give everyone some time and on a separate piece of paper was some jotted notes about finances. He was running the costs of the Welcome Center out of pocket while for the most part, the fishing shop generally broke even for paying his employees and necessary supplies.

He was all right with math but he'd been staring at this for a little while and rubbed his eyes, stretching his arms over his head. "Hey Baby Tooth," he said, twisting his head to locate the fairy. "You hungry? Seems like a good time for lunch."

II. PLAYTIME
Even with how busy things got, Jack always made time in the afternoons to stop by some of the playgrounds and hang out with the kedan children. They talked about what they were learning in school, how amazed they were to watch the turtle hatchlings trundling their happy selves all around the city. How they had learned how to shift their forms in a new way and proceed to show it off, for which Jack was always effusive with his praise and admiration. They'd practice alternations that increased their resistance to the cold so that they could romp around in the snow longer, the novelty of their first real winter having not yet worn off for them as it had for many of the adults.

Most of the time he'd just sit with them, enjoy their company and they his. When they got tired from their play, Jack would scoop them up and deliver them snugly to their homes and so it was not unusual to see the spirit carrying one of them around sundown through the various Sectors.

Comments

A. FOR DAMIAN

[wintershepherd]

Jack looked eagerly forward to each visit he got to spend with Taraja. The young turtle was developing in mental leaps and bounds, going from the mental equivalent of a toddler to a schoolchild's acuity in just a few short weeks. Her curiosity and craving for knowledge was almost insatiable and the spirit found a delight in being constantly asked to share his experiences on things he'd done and seen over the centuries. He tried to always specify if something was particular to his world and when he didn't know the answer to something, he was easygoing in admitting it, promising to look into the topic and share what he'd learned.

The hatchling was growing physically as well, so today Jack had used his staff and the Wind to clear snow from a large patch of grass, leaving a clear area for Taraja to sprawl with legs funny extended in all directions. The spirit was sitting atop her shell (which she had insisted multiple times that his cold was fine, she didn't even feel it -- Jack supposed that if Asti had entire frozen mountain ranges on his back, even a hatchling must have some impressive cold resistance to just his own temperature) and had with him a pair of buckets with a natural oil and some cloths. He had left a message for Damian to meet them here and waited for the younger one to arrive.

[demon_brat]

Despite the fact that he got nothing but contentment from Taraja (no reason to hurry), Damian arrived promptly. His face cleared into a small smile, when he caught sight of them (and not only sight, the welcome from the hatchling did feel good, it'd slowly started even his mistrust of things that felt good), and he waved, slightly.

"Is everything all right?"

There was also less pressure to the 'conversation opener' than usual, as the boy hurried over to the youngling and let her headbutt him as he stroked her leg. He took in what Jack was doing, and tilted his head. "And would you like that I join you in that?"

[wintershepherd]

"Everything's fine," Jack replied, draping the cloth he'd been using over one knee. He was smeared in oil all up his front where he'd lay down to reach some of Taraja's shell edges. The substance was in his face and in his tousled white hair as well, though he didn't care; he'd wash when he was done. He'd only gotten about a quarter of the shell area done, though he'd purposely been going slow to give Damian a chance to get here.

"And that's the idea," he added, gesturing for the younger one to climb up as well.

[demon_brat]

">Tt.< " Instead of dismissive, this time the sound was more of a sign of acknowledgment as the boy scrambled up the shell, picking up a cloth and repeating the motions he saw from Jack without argument.

Not without question, quite, however.

"Is this what... people who own small pet turtles do with them?"

Jack had to have gotten the idea from somewhere, right? And he'd probably gotten plenty of chances to observe people with any sort of pets.

[wintershepherd]

"I'm not sure," Jack replied honestly. "Turtles aren't really outside pets like dogs or whatever, so I didn't get the chance to see them that often. Not," he added with an empathetic burst of affection and pride at Taraja. "That you're a pet or anything. It's just that little turtles get taken care of by people sometimes."

Taraja replied with an amused wave of understanding; she hadn't misunderstood what Jack had meant. Right now she was just basking in all the attention being lavished upon her shell and having Damian here as well had increased her happiness.

"But see where she's been growing," Jack said, tracing the groves between the segments of her shell. "It's getting stretched, and dry because of the air. Like people's hands when they're outside in the winter. I asked some of the kedan and they suggested this oil because it's made from fish and so it's natural."

Indeed, the spots where he'd attended already looked considerably different, soaking in the oil and resulted in a warm, healthy looking shine to the shell.

B. FOR CLARA

[wintershepherd]

Jack was glad that Clara had volunteered to help out at the Welcome Center. Not only because he appreciated the extra pair of hands but because what he had seen recently with her was that, like Jack himself, Clara needed to keep busy both mentally and physically when something was troubling her. And knowing what that something was didn't make it any easier, something that could not be changed from here in Keeliai... and depending on what information you believed, perhaps not at all.

So Jack was determined to at least give her something positive and productive to focus on, which ironically was exactly what the Welcome Center did for him as well. He'd said that she could meet him for a training shift this afternoon and was idly sorting some of the books that had been donated while he waited for her to arrive.

[parallels]

And just on time, Clara shows up at the Welcome Center. However, as she had to rush over from the bakery in fire, she arrives out of breath and coughing out cold air from her lungs. She leans against the door frame and waves at Jack before brushing some snowflakes out of her hair.

She's bundled up rather ridiculously in a huge coat and scarf and she has to walk slowly over to him to make sure she doesn't slip on the icy residue on her boots.

"Just in time."

[wintershepherd]

Jack smiled at her arrival, gesturing with an absent hand to turn the lingering water and slush on the floor back to flurries and out the door behind her. He winces a little at her cough.

"You didn't have to rush on my behalf," he said.

[parallels]

"I hate being late. Personal problem."

She coughs again and gently takes off her giant parka and scarf, still leaving a lighter jacket on, before going over to him. She still shivers, unused to the cold still after all these months, but her mood is lightened by the chance to do something new.

"Shall we get started then?"

[wintershepherd]

"Sure," Jack answered, stretching his arms over his head and then moving towards the one wall where paper brochures were displayed on racks.

"So most of the information that's been put together are in these little pamphlets. I tried to divide the information up by sector so that people aren't tracking things down all over the city. Places that have food that's... you know, on the more normal side. Places where you can buy clothes and such, and places where you can get stuff for their houses. The kedan do set the suites up with a good start but..."

C. FOR BOOKER

[wintershepherd]

Jack had been absolutely sincere when he'd offered Booker the option to stay in the WO-3A treehouse with him. The spirit had been given three levels on his arrival and used exactly a third of that space, only the topmost level. He wasn't sure if the man would take him up on the invite but he adjusted the temperature to be not so frigid inside just in case, at least until he heard one way or another.

[washitaway]

It was another day or so before Booker found it in himself to take Jack up on his offer. Chekov came by to yell at him, and eventually hit upon the idea of writing a letter. It was enough to cut through the depression and get Booker to sober up, at least. Once he'd passed the letter off to the kid, without a word, he found himself in need of a change of scenery. There was far, far too much in his suite to remind him of Elizabeth. She'd been living with him, after all, so the marks of her presence were still all over the place.

So there he was, knocking on his boss's door, feeling like death warmed over but at least sober enough now to regret his little network pity-party, and somewhat contrite.

[wintershepherd]

The temperature had leveled out by the time of Booker's arrival and Jack was actually puttering around the kitchen when the knock came. Though he didn't need to eat, he enjoyed snacking and was in the middle of slicing some fruits for he and Baby Tooth.

He went to the door and opened it, giving the man a smile that was neither surprised nor expectant that he'd shown up; non-judgmental, as though Booker had just dropped by out of the blue. "Hey," the spirit greeted. "C'mon in."

[washitaway]

"Hi," Booker said, trying not to sound as pathetic as he felt. "Uh, thanks - for inviting me over. Not sure there's many that would, now. Not after my little display."

If it's a little chilly in the suite, Booker doesn't comment on it - he barely notices things like that, anyway. After winters in New York, struggling to keep warm, he'd experienced much worse.

[wintershepherd]

The winter teen shrugged, shutting the door behind them. "Everyone needs a chance to fly under the radar sometimes," he replied. It was what Spock had offered to Jack after the most recent debacle with the magic in his snow and if Jack could offer that tiny bit of sanctuary to someone else, he did so with a full appreciation of what it might mean.

"Hungry? I was getting some food out for lunch." Then he raised his voice to call into the other room. "Baby Tooth, we've got company."

D. FOR HAWKE

[wintershepherd]

Jack always tried to find a good fitting job for the new people who arrived to the city and normally he was able to, but sometimes he needed to know a bit more about them. Still, Hawke seemed to be of a good temperament and the remark about monster slaying had given Jack an idea so he had invited Hawke to meet him at the Welcome Center where he wanted to run an idea past the man.

[iwannabeadragon]

It took some exploring, but Hawke found the Welcome Center quickly enough. Sure he may have gotten distracted once or twice on the way there, found his way into the not-so-nice parts of the city, and met a local who needed a crash course in manners, but he made it without being extraordinarily late. The man still hasn't bought himself any civilian clothing and still wears his armor from when he arrived. At least he had the forethought to leave his axes in his suite this time. Of course he still has his throwing knife tucked into his best, just in case.

When he enters he takes a moment to look around. This place is nothing like he's ever seen before. Admittedly there's a lot of things in this city that he's never seen before but that doesn't make it any less impressive to him. Finally he notices Jack and gives the spirit a friendly grin. Clearly Hawke shows no problem in actually seeing him.

"So, I hear you've got some ideas for me," Hawke says as he folds his arms and leans against a nearby wall.

[wintershepherd]

Jack looks over and returns the grin, taking in the man's eclectic outfit of armor. "Look at you already dressing the part," he laughed. "And I haven't even told you what said part is yet!"

[iwannabeadragon]

"I do like to be prepared, especially when I don't know what's going on." Hawke pushes himself from the wall and crossed to Jack. He looks so young. Barely even an adult, but of course Hawke hasn't got a clue that he's actually speaking to a spirit. Right now he just assumes Jack is a very pale teenager that lacks a pair of shoes.

"Do I get to hear this plan now or do we start playing the guessing game?"

[wintershepherd]

"Much as I like games, I'll get right to the point on this one," Jack grinned. "I like spending time with the kedan kids, and they like my stories. I can make some of the visuals but when it comes to the adventuring type, I don't really look the part."

He gestures up and down his scrawny self with an amused smirk. "So I was thinking, I narrate the story, you get to act. Give the kids a show? I'll pay you for your time, until you find something more regular."

I. - WELCOME CENTER

[unetrustworthy]

Midii knew by now that there were two places where she was all but guaranteed to find Jack. Either in his quarters, or at the Keelai Welcome Center. The former seemed a bit too personal--there were a small handful of people at most whom she would consider intruding upon in such a manner--which left the latter.

In many ways, it was the more logical of the two choices, anyway, given her reason for wanting to see him. Her map was filled to the borders (and then some) with notes she had been taking about the City. The most cost-effective restaurants in Fire. Shops in Metal where she might be more likely to find items reminiscent of home. Routes that were safest to walk home, should she stay out past sunset. Things people don't always think about asking until they realize they need to know.

The tiny bell at the door alerted anyone in the room of her presence. She didn't even flinch this time--her months spent on the Turtle had eased her reflexes away from paranoia. No longer did she feel so nervous about letting other people know she was there.

"Hello? Is anybody here?"

[wintershepherd]

Jack looked up at the sound of the bell and grinned when he saw the girl standing there. "Hey Midii," he greeted, so that his voice would seem to be coming from lower because of his seated position. "We're here, Baby Tooth and I," he added, because he knew she could not see either of them; the faerie trilled her own greeting.

[unetrustworthy]

Not that long ago, Midii would have been completely thrown by the sound of a disembodied voice. Now? She accepted it as the new 'normal' in her life, using her eyes to follow the sound to a low chair in one section of the room.

A flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye. She blinked twice, staring curiously for a moment. Hmm. Must've been the light.

"I brought something that I thought you might be able to use." Business. A friendly business, but one with a very specific goal in mind. The twelve-year-old took out the folded piece of paper in her pocket, moving to find a flat surface to spread it out on. "I saw that there were people asking for more information about Keelai over the Network the other day. This map is a collection of sights and details about every place I've been to."

[wintershepherd]

The spirit perked right up at the description of the map, using one foot to hook the other chair out from the desk in an unspoken invitation for her to sit if she wanted.

"That sounds great," he replied genuinely. "There's so much around the city that every perspective helps."

[unetrustworthy]

The invitation was fairly obvious; she didn't see him pull out the chair, eyes still focused on the map, but a moment later, she looked up and saw two chairs. One for her.

Without thinking, she grabbed the map and instinctively went to the actually empty one.

"It's all still written in French, but I can translate everything to English now. I've been practicing." With some help. "Is there anything in particular you've noticed people asking about?"