therookery | Crystal;

Entry tags:

Crystal;

FORM: Crystal
SENDER: Jude
RECIPIENT: All y'all
NOTES: The first Sunday after New Rifters got dumped in LARPville.

[Jude's voice is low and entirely too damn cheery. Fucker's a morning person.]

Announcement's mostly for the new folks, but for the old folks too: it's pancake Sunday. If you can drag your ass down to the kitchens before noon I will get you a plate. If you come after that, you roll the dice.

This week I'm making home fries. Rifter delicacy. If you have a request, don't be shy about it.

There's a few of you newbies floating around and I know at least some of you from Orientation, so I'll make it easy: if you're new to the Gallows, this invite is especially for you. Come meet some people.

[ooc; Jude is the acting personnel officer, and the touchstone person for new arrivals, especially Rifters. Feel free to say they've met.]

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Welcome.

[Jude listens, taking the pan off the hot stove for the moment so it won't burn, leaning his elbows onto the counter.]

Down south is where most of the foodstuffs come from, war's coming from the north. Mostly we're getting hit in paper and cloth, not at the table level.

And oh, we all miss indoor plumbing.

[A light pause, where Jude's eyes linger on the second plate, and then-]

Viktor says you're a friend of his?

[ Well, that adds another dimension to the conservative donation of clothing. A soft huff of amused agreement re: plumbing, but he's otherwise content to let their fledgling conversation lapse as he tops off his plate with strawberries and reaches for the other--

Jayce glances up. ]

Yeah. Yeah, [ attention returning to the second plate, Jude's intuition correct, ] we're friends. We've been working on a shared project for years. [ Syrup, a respectable dollop of cream, strawberries, and a soft curiosity that borders on warm. ] Do you spend much time together?

[ Has he branched out? Jayce almost hopes, though in the past several years he cannot recall ever seeing Viktor voluntarily in the presence of anyone besides himself and Sky for more than a few hours. Then again, who is he to know what Viktor does (or did, rather) when he disappears? It never seemed appropriate to ask. ]

[It warms Jude, the thought of Viktor connecting with people. He's a wily sort when it comes to socializing, dry and teasing one moment, distant the next, vividly warm and excited when talking about his interests, and prickly as hell when it comes to any consideration for his needs.

Jude likes him. And he can instantly see that Jayce obviously cares for Viktor too.]

As much as Viktor spends time with anybody.

[The smile that accompanies that isn't unkind, though. Jude's a man with many soft spots, but he has a big one for Viktor.]

I bring plates to him in the library when I haven't seen him for a while, take the old ones away, ask a question or two if he looks like he's about to boil over.

We met during an evacuation drill. Stairs, you know -- Captain thought it best if Viktor had someone to assist. He wouldn't let me carry him, but- I am a shifter.

[Little head tilt.]

He wasn't averse to try riding a wolf.

[ Another amused exhale of agreement, the plates set aside as he works on obtaining coffee next. He listens with more attentiveness than what might be seen, Jude's response soothing some of Jayce's curiosity regarding how Viktor, lonesome and exceedingly focused as he is, has fared in his time here so far. I'm the same, he'd said; small wonder the answer failed to reassure.

A wordless nod accompanies 'someone to assist'; a more notable, sympathetic nod accompanies the next because Jayce honestly isn't sure if Viktor, faced with mortal peril, would voluntarily choose to perish rather than allow another person to carry him. Then, the next.

Shifter. Wolf.

Jayce stares at him with shameless fascination. The coffee is still pouring from the mug. This trope is being used, also shamelessly. ]

No way. [ A boyish grin. ] I've only heard stor-- [ A tiny hiss of sucked in breath cuts it early, the overflow of coffee singing the tips of his calloused fingers on the mug's handle reminding him to multitask. Carefully, he sets down the carafe and sips as one does with hot liquids until he can set the mug down without risking another spill.

And then, without skipping a beat, ] How does that work? Is it a physiologic function or a spell, or...?

[Viktor had suggested, and Jude's not disappointed. While he's familiar with how humans usually react, the sheer childlike excitement rather than fear is always... well. Validating. He grins widely. All human, by the look of him right now.]

Physiological. A hereditary thing, not something that can be passed along to humans.

[Jude passes over a cool washcloth -- both to mop up the coffee and soothe that burn a little.]

No full moon madness either, we're not werewolves.

[ A small 'oh' and an equally small nod of thanks as he sets the mug down to accept the cloth. More importantly--

-- an expectant look, hanging onto the next that doesn't come-- ]

...where wolves what?

[ ??? ]

[Jude laughs, though it's at himself rather than Jayce.]

Not a thing where you're from, then.

My people are wolf shifters. We have a human form and a wolf form, live in bonded extended family groups called packs.

We're not so different from humans, just occasionally fuzzier. I'll show you, sometime.

[But for now, he makes an urging gesture with his hand.]

When it won't mean Viktor getting cold pancakes.

[Not that Viktor eats anything hot, but it's the opportunity that counts, right?]

[ Jayce is nodding along before Jude has even finished his explanation, drawing parallels. He's about to share when Jude redirects his attention. ]

Oh! Oh, right. Yeah. [ The cream is melting a bit, but there is still one more vital task to perform: add an offensive amount of sugar to Viktor's coffee. As he does, thoughtfully enthusiastic: ] I've read about shifters. They're not called werewolves, they're... well, I'm not familiar with their living arrangements. They're from a different region, a place heavy in magic. I've never been.

[ That last bit carries a note of regret. But anyway, cradling the plates with his arm and chest and gripping the handles of the mugs in his other hand (is he used to holding many things at once? Yes.)-- ]

Thanks, Jude. [ Genuine gratitude. ] Let me know if you'd like help cleaning up.

I'd like to hear about what you do know, when you get a chance. But later.

[Jude winks, makes another urging motion.]

I'll take that. You're a good one, Jayce.

[ 'Later' may well be, in fact, when Jayce returns with their used dishes and makes good on his offer to help Jude with clean-up -- in which Jude may learn of a secluded, jungle region rife with magic called Ixtal, wherein its inhabitants, long ago, took a look at the state of the world and said, 'nah, fuck that,' and have since lived in guarded isolation.

Kind of like elves.

]

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