2023.03.23 Fiddlin' With a Fishtank
| 03.24.23 Fiddlin’ With a Fishtank | |
|---|---|
| Jack invites friends to hang out while fixing a fishtank; camping, marshmallows, and all manner of things are discussed | |
| IC Date | 03.24.23 |
| Players | Branton, Jack, Jackie, Mike, Trey |
| Location | Underground Tech Haven |
| Spheres | Garou, Bastet, Kinfolk, Sorcerer |
Community Garden - Underground Tech Haven
A stairwell located behind the counters in the building shell above leads down into a subterranean sea of tech and creation hidden under the vibrant gardens of the old factory property. The stairs let out into a large, wide open space filled with shelves, cabinets and cubbies stocked with any number of tools and supplies for electronic and mechanical work, with several large and well lit work benches set against the walls for anyone to use. Energy efficient bulbs cast a pleasant glow over faux hardwood floors and white painted walls dotted with living planters that spill bursts of greenery amidst the steel and plastics. The hum of computers and electricity sneak through the ozone scented air alongside whiffs of flower scent and the occasional chirp of a cricket that's found its way down here, and there are vents above 3D printers and autolathes to send fumes outside. A few small, fairly spartan rooms set off to one side are equipped with beds for short term stays or just for napping between projects. There's also a large closet housing cleaning products and solar batteries.
Through a set of doors is another large room, it's floor sunken down by several steps to create a very high ceilinged space fit for Crinos forms. This entire area has been given extra sound proofing beyond the natural earth surrounding it, protecting even the workshop from its noise levels, and visa versa. The floors here are stone and scored with scratches, with stone columns supporting the ceiling above. The walls and ceiling are covered in what amounts to massive plasma television screens creating a false view of lush forest, green fields and sky, or whatever is selected from the central controls. Elaborate and experimental sound and lighting systems have been installed throughout and a few small tables and chairs are placed near the walls. The room can be used for experimentation, bot battles, target practice, or even as an unusually high tech space for reveling or meditating city Garou. It has been known to break out some comfy chairs, controllers, and putting up a table with snacks and drinks so those who chose can play video games on those massive screens, including 'Untitled Goose Game'.
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Probably Jack's got Trey's deets in his phone, and if Trey is at all a texting sort of person, then he's had to deal with Jack being a gregarious and social sort that blurts out a WHAT'S UP! all the time. This may be how Trey knows there's a Glass Walker here in need of company. At the moment, Jack is sitting at one of the various work stations, dicking around with a fish tank filter set up and apparently trying to fix a broken piece. His brows are furrowed and he's making the occasional frustrated noise because this part of tech junk is not really his forte. But damn it there's tools and supplies and he NEEDS TO LEARN! While he works, he's got YouTube going on his phone, spittin out some sweetass Sublime music.
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When Jack texted, Trey was working at Sunhome a bit, refining some details on a bead design for a new piece of schwag. Or so he hopes. The new bike is much faster; he'll have to show Jack, tho' he sent pics. Those texts usually get either silly pics in reply, or YO! SUP! or whatever the last meme Trey's friend Casey sent to him was. Today, he got a 'Sure, something new? Wanna see!' Because of course he does.
Being the nosy kitty he is, he starts poking around all of the places he hasn't seen yet. He's not picking locks or anything, but if a door is accessible and not marked 'private,' he's looking it over. He seems particularly charmed and interested by the plexiglass habitat for Roach's children, though he admits that the lynx in him kind of thinks of them as 'mobile cat toys.' He bounces on the balls of his feet merrily with the music -- he likes music of all sorts, really -- and comes over to where Jack is working, peeeeering over his shoulder into the fish tank. "Snack bowl?," he asks cheerfully. "You could fit a lotta brine shrimp in there."
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Jack screams like a bitch, so startled by a sudden catman appearing out of literally nowhere. He just didn't hear the door or the feet on stairs or anything else, cause... well because he wasn't paying any attention, that's why. Honestly, his awareness of his surroundings needs work. "HOLY shit, B!" he says, the pudgy man taking a second to catch his breath before turning a grin on Trey. "Sorta! I gotta quarantine some fish, but my pump and filter aren't working, and I'll be damned if I'm just gonna throw this away and get a new one. It's something in the motherboard, but... Fuck, Mike is so much better at this part than I am! What's up?! It's good to see you, man! I hope you didn't get lost on the way over here."
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Trey pffts and nahs. "I can follow the grid once I get onto the city streets proper. Sorry, didn't mean to make you fall outta your pants." Is that a saying? Apparently it is now! He backs up and chuckles, looking over the fish tank. "These things have motherboards? That's a really advanced fish tank." A pause. He frowns, and looks over the pump with a curious air. Like he knows? Hey, he could get lucky! "Well, you can always get one and then fix this one up with no pressure, if the money's there. I thought I saw some fish tank stuff at the Value Village the other day, looked to be in good shape."
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"A really simple one." Jack says, and turns the unit where Trey can see the top. "See, digital flow adjustment, on and off, and an onboard thermometer so I know if it's getting cold in there. I THINK the problem is in the flow adjustment. I think. Pretty sure a little smidgen of water got in there and shorted something out." He does not sound entirely sure about that. "Oooooh, fuck I love Value Village! They always have more weird random stuff in there than Good Will does. If we cant get this one fixed in a timely fashion, yeah, we'll just have to get a new one, and maybe have this as a spare. Or set up a whole new fish tank. Ooooh nooooo!" He'd be so thrilled to try and fit a new aquarium in the house. "What's up with you, mah man? What's your new thing that you got?"
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"A really simple one." Jack says, and turns the unit where Trey can see the top. "See, digital flow adjustment, on and off, and an onboard thermometer so I know if it's getting cold in there. I THINK the problem is in the flow adjustment. I think. Pretty sure a little smidgen of water got in there and shorted something out." He does not sound entirely sure about that. "Oooooh, fuck I love Value Village! They always have more weird random stuff in there than Good Will does. If we cant get this one fixed in a timely fashion, yeah, we'll just have to get a new one, and maybe have this as a spare. Or set up a whole new fish tank. Ooooh nooooo!" He'd be so thrilled to try and fit a new aquarium in the house. "What's up with you, mah man? What's your new thing that you got?"
Jack's at one of the work stations fiddling with a broken aquarium filter/pump set up, and Trey is there with him looking at stuff over his shoulder. The cat's arrival a moment ago startled the shit out of Jack and his scream could probably be heard, if faintly, up at the garden level of things.
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Trey grins. "Hell, three quarters of my wardrobe is from Value Village. Someday I may care enough to buy a nice suit or something, but since right now I pretty much wear jeans and t-shirts, it's good ol' VV. I find more stuff for my crafting there. I mean... tacky tops for women are a great source for shiny beads, and the bead stores charge a fortune for those. And if I only need a few, it doesn't make sense to make a batch myself." He grins and adds, "I got lucky. One of my Kinfolk from back east asked me if I needed anything. Told him I could dig an electric bike, help me get around. Well, one of the casinos in the area wound up with a used Harley Live Wire they had to upload, so it's mine. He... kinda went above and beyond. So that's my new thing. I get around so much faster now, I love it. Someday I may Spirit Awaken the bike, too. Irsa Hammer-Tooth's been teaching me how to do that."
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Branton comes down into the tech haven, carrying his periodic contribution to the spare parts bin in a cardboard box. Spying some dudes he says "Evening you two, what's up?"
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Jack is fashion illiterate, dude's wearing a band tee, board shorts, and flip flops. At any moment he might whip out a fanny pack. "See? You fuckin get it!" the foul mouthed Walker tells the Bastet when it comes to 'why waste money?'. "Oooooooh, NICE! We gotta get you a leather jacket with some sweetass patches and like a little skullcap helmet and stuff. Total biker look from the waist up. And some dude'll be like 'why you lookin' like a Hell's Angel?' and you'll be all 'peep my HARLEY, bruh!'" Surely this is exactly how all that will go down. Surely. "Oh hey!" he says when he spots Branton, "Trying and failing to be as good as my little brother at fixing electronic shit. How's it goin, man?"
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Trey laughs brightly with that, and says, "Well, I got a jacket, maybe I should make one custom with rash guards and all that in case I go over the handlebars. Of course, I regen in this form. So maybe better if I just try not to crash it." He chuckles and lets the Glass Walker envision his new look with a cockeyed grin. "Some point, should take you out on it, but the seat's tight, so ya know."
He looks over to the tall bald Kin sorcery master and waves amiably. "Hey man, not much, spent the day at that Sunhome work station... man, that is sweet. Kinda wanted to go out in the desert anyway, so..." He grins amiably. "You any good with motherboards?" He motions to Jack's problematic machine.
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Branton grins at Jack and Trey while he peers at the project being worked on "I sort of know how to do that kinda thing if I gotta but I usually hire it out or cheat with magic." Then to the question of his own activities "Got the sketches done for Jackie's spear and sent out for the materials I'm going to need that I don't have. So I'm taking a break to run around town for a bit."
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"I'll pawn it off on Mike when he gets here. Unless he's *already* here and just chasing down that poor Bacon Bot or something." Jack says, not entirely sure what lot he parked his brother in! Jack's at a work station and has a tank's pump and filter half disassembled so he could get at its simple motherboard to try and fix whatever's stopping it working. However, this is hardware, not code, so he automatically sucks at it. But he's TRYING, you gotta put in the sweat and tears to learn some new stuff, right? Right! Trey's right there with him, Branton's just arrived with a box of spare parts. "Nice!" he tells Branton, "I'd offer to help, but I dunno shit about shit, man. But I can hold your beer for you while you do amazing things!"
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Trey whistles at the mention of the spear. "That's gonna be a beauty," he says, "Did you guys go with the fire resistance in the end or no?" He raises an arm to wave at Mike as the other Glass Walker comes in, affable as always. He asks, "Is that Bacon Bot for real? I mean, if I hit the button, it rewards me with bacon? Is this a social experiment? Like the mice and the mazes with the cheese?" He pauses. "Damn, now I want some bacon."
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Mike freezes in place and ducks behind a pillar the second Trey spots him. His plan to sneak up on his Big Brother (tm) has totally been thrown for a loop -- can he recover? So many variables are in play all of a sudden. Mental wheels turn rapidly as he look around in a near panic, trying to decide what to do.
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Jack didn't notice a damned thing, there's already so much stuff happening around him that he doesn't notice a wave or realize where it's being aimed or anything. His brain probably translated that as using gravity and wiggles to get one's shirt sleeve up their arm or something. Instead, he says, "Here, say this... nice and loud." 'This' is a thing that he writes down on a piece of paper, that paper reading 'I'm Hungry'. "That'll summon the bacon to come to you. No buttons or anything, just a command phrase." His voice says he thinks that's cool af, definitely a good use for coding! God, if he could get his tanks to dispense delicious bacon, you just he would!
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Branton chuckles at Jack and grins "I haven't put a posse together in a while but there are times I have to go on missions for my spirit patron and unless she specifically says not to I like to bring a couple of shifters along as back up. Because why the fuck not? If something comes up though I'll call ya." Then he grins and shakes his head at Trey "I've got amulets and potions for fire resistance if Irsa thinks she should have one."
<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Mike rolls Dexterity + Stealth vs 6 for 2 successes.
2 5 +8 +9
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<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Jack rolls Perception + Alertness vs 6 for 4 successes.
+7 +8 +10 +10
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Trey takes the paper and regards it with something akin to disbelief, and then delight as he grins a toothy grin and bounces on the balls of his feet again. He doesn't wave at poor Mike again, instead letting him sneaksneak this time. He tilts his head to one side and regards Branton's summary of his trips. "If you ever need a cat dude, be happy to help out," he offers, nodding as punctuation. "And yeah, that's the best call, you don't always need that protection." He looks down at the slip of paper again, and hrms. "I gotta try this." And with that, he's off to the Bacon Bot, because cat is curious.
I don’t see that here.
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"I'm hungry!" Mike pipes up, popping up like a jack-in-the-box right next to Jack. "I tried to heat up some ramen and um... I didn't need to fire extinguisher, promise." Uh oh. He's said the magic words, summoning that which should be named unless you like forced bacon.
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Jack, used to having a Super Sneaky Metis Brother, spotted Mike out of the corner of his eye but feigns total ignorance of his presence until he pops up and blurts the phrase, causing Jack to startle SO BADLY! He shrieks, and grabs his chest as if to fight off a heart attack, all an act, but you gotta make your fam feel good about their attempts at sneakiness, right? Absolutely! Down some hallway in the Haven, the rhythmic purr/thud of tank treads can be heard as the nightmarish T-1000 Bacon Bot springs to life and stalks its hungry prey, preceeded by the scent of frying bacon. "Bacon..." it says while on the approach in a terrible (but awesome) machine voice.
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Branton chuckles and steps aside with a melodramatic gesture of fear "The beast has been summoned from its long slumber! Behold its crispy meat majesty! Its Sizzling Glory! And the Smell! The SMELL!"
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Trey blinks as the bot comes to life on its treads, and watches with rapt attention for about 3.5 seconds, which might be a record for him. He ohhhs and says, "Okay, this is some kind of awesome. I wonder if I could get a little one for--" And he stops. "No, would need the storage to be good sized, ah well, no pocket bacon bot for the cat." He inhales happily.
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"Yes!" Mike says, shooting a fist into the air. "Oh shit!" he blurts out as Bacon Bot rapidly closes the distance. "Um, um.." he mutters, darting a look around. Bacon's amazing, but that thing is the pushiest robot in creation. He tries hiding behind Jack, but no dice! That thing is bearing down on the Metis quickly.
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The bot was made to look terrifying, all shiny chrome and red glowing eyes, roboting limbs bare and looking wicked dangerous. It hones in on the voice type it heard and begins to roll up on Mike. It grabs a recycled paper cup from its attached canister without crushing it in its robo grip and a second later some still sizzling bacon strips slide out of its cooker and are grabbed and put into the cup. That cup is thrust at Mike with a wild insistence. "BAAAAAAY COOOOOOON." it says. It only knows one word, but its tone says 'you will take this god damned bacon or I will destroy you, meat sack!'.
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Branton nods at Trey's thinking and grins "And its not like the world needs more than one Bacon Bot. I wonder how Billy's doing...That's the Glass Walker who built it originally. He left it behind when he left town."
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The bot provides... MEAT. Delicious BACON MEAT. At Branton's explanation of the bot's provenance, he says, "Man, it feels like this town needs a huge turnstile." Trey looks at the bot, admittedly a little intimidated at first. He then tells it, "I'm hungry," and then asks the others, "If I say it ten times, does it make ten times as much? Then it would be a picnic!" His idea of a picnic might be a little skewed. Just a smidge. "Seriously, is there something that causes people to just blow out of town like that? I keep hearing about this one or that one... and I didn't think Garou wandered *that* much."
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Doom has come to the halls of the Walkers of Glass this day, and it bears delicious gifts. Mike ducks his head, totally intimidated by this thing. He wastes no time in stuffing that bacon into this mouth, cup and all, and chewing nervously. "Ithgud," he mumbles to the others."Thooshudthrysum."
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Jack opens his mouth to tell Mike not to eat the cup but... I mean what's the point? At least he's getting a little fiber for the day, so that's a bonus. "I guess you'd get ten cups of bacon in a row!" Jack guesses. But Trey did say it, so the bot turns towards him and repeats the process, after a pause to let a new batch of strips cook. Bacon! "I dunno, I mean like some people would come to our old sept, but then there'd be some kinda problem somewhere and they'd go off to go be helpful or whatever? I didn't really pay attention to the comings and goings back home, cause... A lot of them were just dicks."
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Branton nods at Jack and adds "There's also the fact that there's so damn many Garou in this sept. Like a dozen or three full shifters is not a bad sized sept anywhere else. Around here though? That's why the community's felt smallish lately. We're under fifty gaian shifters in the local community these days. What I'm saying is they go looking for something else that needs doing, and especially when you get to be as powerful as Billy is you sometimes wind up with stuff only you can handle being way the fuck somewhere else."
<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Mike rolls Intelligence vs 6 for 3 successes.
2 +6 +8 +10
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<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Mike rolls Intelligence vs 6 for 3 successes.
2 +8 +10 +10
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Trey says, “I'll wisely not bogart the bacon from everyone else," Trey says with a sage nod. "I'll still share, though." He grins at Mike's wholistic approach to a snack, and says, "Eh, roughage, right? Everyone eats a little paper sometimes." Really? Seriously? Oh, right, cat. "A lot of people, in general, are dicks," he notes with a bit of a frown. "I'm glad you guys ended up here where people aren't as dickish. At least, in my experience." He looks at Branton, and listens, nodding. "That's really true, this place has a lot of people packed into it. There aren't all *that* many of my folks here, but even what, six, is a lot in one city for us. We tend to kinda... not pack up, and all."”
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"Who's being a dick?" Mike asks, shaking off the terrifying bacon encounter. He's not turning down more bacon when it magically reappears. "Oh, hey! What are you guys working on?" he asks, checking out Jack's work station. "Hi.. um. Branton and Trey? Yes! Those names. Oh, right! Garou moving around. Um.. we do, real wolves wander off all the time."
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"At our home sept, Glass Walkers were a minority, and also the Uktena aren't super thrilled about my brother being a metis, so..." Jack shrugs though and says, "Which was a great reason to say fuck Kickapoo, and come to Cali instead. Also, there's no surfing there." He scoots out of the way of the work strewn out on his table and vacates the chair so Mike can take over the captain's seat. "I think there's a short somewhere in the motherboard." he says of the opened pump/filter set up on the table, "But I don't have your keen eye or know how to fix it up." To Branton and Trey, "I heard that guy Billy, Very Good Boy-rhya, was a City Farmer. That's sorta what we're aspiring towards, assuming we don't get shanghied and turned into Wise Guys."
<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Mike rolls Intelligence + Technology vs 6 for 2 successes.
3 3 4 4 +6 +7
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Branton nods at Trey "Oh yeah. And I'm not even counting the Rokea I know live off shore or the Mokole that I'm pretty sure are still around somewhere but mostly keep to themselves." Then to Mike "Hey bud." and to Jack "oh yeah. You should be clear to roll how you want around here, there's very few hard limits. Like, no drinking vampire blood just because no one specifically told you it was a bad thing, No Firing silver bullets into a melee that a pregnant Garou is participating in, no starting sloppy whisper campaigns to get people mad at the elder who chastised you for being an utter fuck up." A brief pause and then he adds "Yes that all has happened at least once."
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Trey tilts his head to the side and hrms, looking at Mike, and offering over the cup o' bacon after taking a slice for himself. Mmmbaconnnn. He noshes happily on it, and says, "So why wouldn't you just be what you're good at? I mean, I saw the setup at your place, it looks pretty impressive." As Branton explains the degree of stupid in the past, he says, "Oh, *man*, and I thought the castle story was bad." He facepalms and says, "Is it wrong to say I'm glad I missed all those things?"
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Mike does a little victory dance and takes Jack's seat. "Oh, I see what the problem is," he tells his brother, sliding over the motherboard so everyone can check it out. "See, you can see where one of the capacitors is starting to go. That means there'll always be a surge when the power is on. Give me two secs, I'll get a new one in there in a jiffy." He whips a pair of wielder's goggles out of his shirt and steals some of Jack's tools. Sparks fly and metal sizzles as he works. He happily noshes away on Trey's offered bacon.
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Jack points the index finger of both hands at Mike's back while he sets to work, giving Branton and Trey both a silent but expressive look that says, 'SEE!?' "I've heard a couple stories, but to be fair, I drink a lot of beer and might have forgotten some. But why dwell on idiots of the past when we can make newer, way less stupid stories in the present! For instance, our business is doing pretty good, we're not about to make the cover of Fortune magazine or anything, but we can afford a few fun toys, and we're gonna go get our scuba on once the water's up to spring temperatures! You guys should come with us, we'll take some sacks down and pick up some trash down there. Maybe we'll see mermaids or somethin!"
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Branton nods at Jack and grins "That sounds like a real interesting time. Underwater isn't my best environment but I'm good give whatever the hell a decent try. That....oh that could work. I just got an idea for something that might be pretty useful. Probably a belt buckle or amulet with spells invoking Proteus, mythic reference of shapeshifting and adaptation."
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Trey nods, "Oh, that's good news, to hear the business is doing well. Scuba sounds like fun!" He notes the 'See!' look and thumbs-up for it, completely getting it. "The water's fine by me right now, but I'm insane." A pause as Branton whips out the huge magic brain and makes the cat just oooh in awe. "That sounds like it would be really useful. I gfot to breathe underwater once and it was so much fun. Went fishing in lynx form. Had a crab pierce my nose. It was hilarious." He adds to the Frog Bros, "At some point I was gonna offer to take you guys out for some wilderness training if you wanted. It'd help with the patrols, I figured. Little stealth, little hunting, some tips on survival without comforts."
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"Can we have those turkey wasabi burgers, like you made that one time?" Mike asks his brother, without looking up from his soldering. "Those were so good, dude. Perfect amont of char. I must have had what, five of those things?" The reflections of electrical sparks flicker in the lenses of his goggles. "It's really, really important to pick up trash!" he agrees. "The earth doesn't like being dirty, that's why we have volcanoes and stuff! Um.. wil we need to bring a tent?" he asks Trey. "Or sleeping bags?"
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Jack moves his mouth as though he were repeating Branton's words, but anyone with basic lip reading skills can probably tell that he's mouthing gibberish. He frankly has no idea what Branton is saying, even though he's sure those are English words, and it shows on his face! He sympathizes with Trey's insanity though and says, "I just like lookin at all the cool little fishes and plants and stuff. I wanna meet an octopus and become its best friend some day. They're super smart and can be really social if you're not an ass to them!" He finger guns at Trey then and says, "We would *love* that. We've bugged Branton about the same thing, but we haven't gone yet cause we're only just now coming out of hibernation. Aaaaaand procrastinating, really. Sorry, B! I hope you're not giving us the mental thumbs down about it!" He adds, "Oh heck yeah, bro, we're gonna grill like our lives depend on it!" and then looks to Trey and Branton about the tents and sleeping bags.
<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Mike rolls Intelligence + Repair vs 6 for 4 successes.
2 2 +6 +7 +10 +10
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Branton nods at Jack and Trey "A bed roll of some kind, we could build a lean to or whatever but a tent is probably a safe call. Especially if we're planning on overnighting it. I figured we'd get to it when we get to it, no worries."
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Trey looks at Mike mmms at the sound of Turkey wasabi burger. "I just got wasabi peas for the first time the other day and they are so pizza burny but so good." At the question, he chuckles. "We can fish or hunt for dinner, I can show you how to forage, how to find safe places to sleep." He looks over to Branton and says, "Sorry, man, didn't mean to step on toes there -- just figured I'd offer." The respect is clear in his words.
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"All done!" Mike says cheerfully, sliding his goggles up to perch on his forehead. "Good as -- better than new," he amends. "I don't know why they always go cheap on components for these motherboards. They'd make more money if the quality was better." He sets the soldering iron aside. "Um, do I need to be in homid?" he asks. "I don't mind doing it, just.. not all the time. It makes me itch."
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"Heck yeah, little bro! Hang on, I'm gonna go test it." he says, and pulls the fixed thing towards him so he can reinstate its housing and what not, and make sure it's sealed up nice and tight so water wont seep in to where it's not supposed to go. Before testing though, he starts going over all the seams with some water repelling sealant. Just in case. "Little fishies are gonna be happy to get quarantined with this bad buy circulating in there, I just know it!"
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Branton shrugs at Trey "Oh its cool! We should all go, it'll be great. Most of my camping strategy is around gearing up and throwing logistics at the problem. I didn't camp basically at all before I found out I was kinfolk." Then to Mike "We can be sure to be out nearish to the septlands. Way away from where mortals would be. That's not the lesson we're trying to figure out yeah? I can't say for sure he'd be up for it but Pink might come too."
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Trey shakes his head. "I was figuring you'd be lupus for at least some of it. And yeah, kinda know the feeling. I'm actually more comfortable in Sokto, but I can't run around like that." He shrugs it aside, and nods toward Branton. "Cool, I can show you guys how I lived for a few weeks when I first got here." He's not at all bothered by having lived in the woods or on the beach or whatever. "Yeah, I'd say near the sept, just for the sake of not having to worry as much about outsiders. And hey, if Pink wants to come, why not! Maybe I'll even buy you guys some marshmallows, even though that's not really part of the lesson." He remembered, though.
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"Whoa whoa whoa, who said marshmallows aren't part of the lesson??" Jack says as if Trent had just tried to derail the whole camping train! He grins though and says, "Yeah your kid's a cool little dude, I wouldn't mind having him around. And good for you for being such a good dad to a little metis kid, man!" he offers fist bumps to Branton, "Not a lot of kinfolk are badass enough to do that." To Trey he asks, "You ever seen a fat wolf wheezing and out of breath after like a quarter mile run?" He points both thumbs at himself and pats his round beer gut. "Probably should exercise more..."
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Branton nods vigorously "Marshmallows are totally part of the lesson. The whole camping experience. Sausages and marshmallows, things on sticks cooked over fire. Also strict lessons in fire safety. Its always important when camping but especially around here."
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Mike sniffs, smoke's gone clear up his nose from the soldering session. "Lupus is pretty all right," he says. "It's so weird, all the colors you don't see and all the things you smell. I don't like how everything hurts your ears, but swimming is fun!" He offers a hand up to Jack for a high-five. "It'll be nice if Pink comes. I really like him," he say to Branton. "Hey! Does he like flavored marshmellows? Those are THE BEST."
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Trey agrees, "Things on sticks over fire is the best part of it," with a thoughtful look. "I wonder if there's good rabbit out there..." There's a hint of dreaminess in his tone. "That's my favorite. But I share." He ohhs and says, "You get more colors? I got less when I'm a cat. Only about half as many. But everything is much more clear." He tilts his head to the side again. "Flavored? Flavored like what? Like beef and chicken and fish like pet treats?"
<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Mike rolls Intelligence vs 6 for -1 successes.
-1 2 3 5
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Jack tells Trey, "Mostly muted colors, except reds are brighter and blacks are deeper. Highlights poison or blood, andshows easier if something moved." in terms of colors to lupus eyes. Mike will handle the flavoring question, while Jack in turn perks up to ask Branton, "Sausages, you say?" If any part of him was on the fence about camping, this just helped ensure he definitely wants to get out there and do it. "The fuck are we sitting around *here* for when we could be rockin the sausies!?" Meanwhile, he picks up his pump/filter and takes it to the bathroom to test it out in the sink.
Branton's EFFECTIVE CRIMINAL_RECORD is at least 2
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"It's weird not seeing them, like I can in my birth form, " Mike says to Trey. "Crinos sees colors, but Homid? That makes colors pop more than anything. I know Smooshed Blazer'rhya was surprised to see me working in Crinos here that one time, but its honestly the best thing for tech. Your senses are way better for it." He nearly jumps out of this seat when people ask about marshmallows. "Yes! Oh man, you don't even know. There's Chocolate, Strawberry, Jolly Rancher, Cotton Candy.." he rattles off 5 more flavors, and won't stop unless he's interrupted.
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Branton grins broadly "He loves flavors. Though I don't know if he's had flavored marshmallows yet. At home we make our own of a lot of stuff because we can and its more likely that Mercy will be able to have some when we are a hundred percent sure what's in it."
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Trey nods again, and says, "Red looks a lot like a different octave of black in cat form, weird as that is. A little more yellow, if that makes sense. And I like Sokto - near man - for crafting for the dexterity." He also perks up at Jack's interest in the sausages. "Gotta love neat little bits of meat in a handy shape. Thumbs are a good thing." He's surprised at the many variants on puffy little sugar pillows, and says, "Jolly Rancher. That's candy, not people-flavored, yeah?" He pauses and looks over at Branton, and says, "I was wondering. I know she prefers veggie food if she can. But she ate the fish and crab when I went fishing. I didn't want to ask because it seems like a tender subject."
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Jack doesn't try conversing from the bathroom but he keeps an ear open so he's not lost when he comes back. There's no talking, but there IS a burst of "HAHAHAHAHAHA!" when he hears Mike lose track of Brooke's name, and his snickers are much quieter though completely continuous as Mike falls into Bubba's 'name all the shrimp dishes' trap. When he comes back, looking happy about a successful test, he literally sings his praises to Mike.
"Mike's gonna fix your stuff as fast as he can!
And with a marshmallow sandwich and a gallon of flan!
He's gonna make your camping trip the best it can be!
Just watch out when he's drunk to much he gets fully of peeeeeeeee!"
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" -- salted caramel marshmallows, banana, coconut, popcorn, Earl Grey, beer, Cinnamon Toast Crunch..." Mike finally, FINALLY runs out of flavors by the time Jack reappears. "Oh, and there's also peppermint patty marshmallows, I forgot that one!" He hops up and down as Jack sings, turning into the gangliest Crinos ever. He's waving that soldering iron up in the air like it just don't care.
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Branton nods at Trey "Correct, it’s not people flavored. It’s actually a brand name that comes in a large variety of flavors. Beware the apostles of Sour Apple, they are heretics and don't know the great truth of grape flavored. Which doesn't actually taste like a real grape."
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Trey really, really tries not to crack up at the snickers, but damnit, they're contagious. And the litany of flavors continues. Trey is... amazed? Appalled? Amused, it seems, because he loses whatever composure he had and floods the air with a series of snorfgiggles that are VERY undignified at Jack's song of Mike's praises.
The summary of the flavor of a Jolly Rancher -- or the many flavors of same -- makes Trey hrm and then say, "So it's grape the same way grape soda is grape?"
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Meanwhile, Jack and Mike take a rock break, which is a very important part of one's day. There's some two man moshing, some air guitaring, which includes a lot of vocalizations of course, and badass chorus of, "MarshMALLOWS! And sauSAGE! MarshMALLOWS! And SauSAGE!"
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And an epic rock break it is: the Gods of Rock must be looking down from the heavens and totally throwing up horns of praise. For the Win howls along with Jack --completely off key of course-- and with a final downward riff across his imaginary frets goes into a full-on power slide.
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Branton grins broadly at Trey's understanding and nods enthusiastically in his own moment of nerdy passion "And Grape Kool-aid. Exactly like. I'd go so far as to call it a cultural touch stone that is so pervasive it doesn't occur to most people that its not universal. The fundamental difference between something being grape flavored and something tasting like grapes."
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Trey chuckles and regards the Frog Brothers with a grin and turns back to Branton. "So it's... grape flavor designed by someone who's only had a grape described to them," he decides firmly, "Because grape soda tastes nothing like grape juice. Or wine, for that matter." He blinks at the power slide, and then offers a sharp whistle of approval. "Nice one!"
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For the Win manages to yap out "Thanks!" in a growly voice, right before he skids into a cart filled with parts and tools nearby. Metal clangs, plastic flips and rubber bounces everywhere as For the Win flails around helplessly.
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"Oh shit!" Jack says, and stops his rock out with his filter out, setting the equipment down a bit gingerly before rushing to his brother's aid. It'd probably be easier to help if he was also crinos, but that doesn't occur to him. Instead, he tries helping up, in homid, the guy that weighs way more than him, while there's a veritable caltrop factory around their feet. "I gotchoo, Mike!"
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Branton steps forward to help catch the Crinos, at least holding on enough to steady him. He moves easy and sure, bracing rock steady. He gives Jack a grin "I love these bracers, I made a pair for an ahroun once. Dedicated so they'd shift with him and it got super scary. On me though it just helps me help."
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For the Win sneezes as he sits up, flailing around even more as he gets tangled up in electrical cords. But then his big brother comes to his rescue, and he's standing upright once more, sneezing his head off. Crinos eyes water and boggle as his ears flatten against his skull with the force of the sneezes. "I meant to do that," he growls in a sniffly voice. "Where my bag, where my bag ...." he pads over to pick up his messenger bag and gets out a bottle of overly-large pills.
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Trey is duly impressed. He watches Branton help Mike and is about to try and step in, but it seems like they have it resolved -- probably just as well, as Trey's still in homid himself. "You okay?" He looks around to try and find some bottled water -- he knows that pills need water, usually.
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"Ohm'gawdthankyou!" Jack breathes at the kin while helping. Honestly Branton's probably MORE help with his bracers of strongatude on, but you do what you can, you know? He sets about trying to clean things up and steal cords before they can trip Mike up again, which is easy enough, but trying to work out where exactly they go on the cart - once it's righted - is a while 'nother nightmare. Fuck it, when in doubt, treat it like cleaning your room. When no one's looking, just start cramming things into boxes and hope no one notices what you're doing.
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Branton is basically as strong as a crinos with the bracers on but is very mindful of allowing shifters to save face, embarrassment and frustration can both be frenzy triggers after all. Not that Jack or Mike are likely to Frenzy but best not to take chances. So Branton just smiles and offers Jack "You're welcome."
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Jackie ducks down on the staircase to get a view of the ruckus without coming all the way to the bottom. She looks back and back with wide eyes incredulity. "Uh... What's up?"
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"Sure am!" the Metis growls at Trey. He tosses a couple of pills into his mouth and chomps them down, making a face at the taste. "Medicine time. See?" He holds up a small electronic kitchen timer shaped like a frog -- it lets out a loud froggy belch as the the alarm goes off. "Jack present, two years back. Reminder for meds." His ears perk up when Jackie arrives. "Fixing things! Show?" he asks his brother.
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Trey moves to help with the cleanup, at least, coiling cords as neatly as possible and trying to make things go where... well, if it's labeled, where they belong, If not, well, who the hell knows where they'll end up? "Okay! Cool timer." He grins and offers Jackie a "Hey, how goes?" With that, he keeps on helping with the toppled cart's contents.
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Oh shit, they're looking this way! Jack jumps up from where he and Trey definitely weren't making that cart an OCD Garou's nightmare and steps away from it. "Oh!" He trots quickly over to the table, flip flops slappin' away, and picks up a fish filter and pump, "Good as new! Busted electronics bit, fixed by For The Win! Now we can quarantine some sick fishies and keep the water quality top notch!" He offers his oversized fuzzbrother a high five for taking his pills on time, and offers one to Trey and Branton as well for their help with all of the things.
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Branton nods as things get set right and sorted out, offering to Jackie as he steps back "Everything is fine. Just some stuff fell over but its fine now. How are you? Oh! I have some proofs for you to look at." And he takes out his phone to show some pictures of spear designs to Jackie.
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Jackie comes down the rest of the stairs, watching out for any stray mess to trip over. She looks at the designs and smiles. "Well, they look fancier than I expected. going into a little tube, I figured it would be more of just an extending staff with a sharp point or something."
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For the Win blinks around, looking at the others. "Sleepy," he announces. "Coffee gone, bed time." He gathers his things and begins to shift back down to human, the Veil's a thing. "See you at home, bro!" he calls to Jack, and waves farewell to the others.
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Check it out! This wolf-like thing just turned into a dude, whaaaaat?
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"Crash out in the van, I'll drive us in a minute, kay?" Jack tells his med-sleepy brother, and watches to make sure he gets up the stairs fine. When he does, he comes to look over shoulders and have a gander at the pictures unless they're being held in a super secret way.
