route666radio | [Video+Action, post moon-warp]

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[Video+Action, post moon-warp]

Hello all!

This is Jack, from my little nook in the convoy where I make and repair clothes.

[He smiles at the camera, showing off the fluffy little fox ears he is now sporting instead of regular ears, and the white streaks in his blue-gray hair, then turns his radio device around to show the little shop. It is, frankly, less like a shop and more like a workspace, with fabric in cabinets on the walls and a pair of tables and some chairs, with more fabric strewn across them, some in good condition and some in less-good condition.]

I just wanted all of our new people to know that if the moon warp ruined your clothes, I can probably help. I have mostly figured out trousers, I think, and I am still working on proper shirts, though I can make, um, cloaks and drapes and things.

[He sets the camera down on one of the tables, and sits down to face it.]

I did want to, er, also tell everyone something else. I know we are all... changing. Into something we might call monsters, some of us. I just wanted to say I was a monster before I came here. Not a-- not a bad person, no, not a cruel person, but a werewolf. I turn into a beast once a month on the full moon, like moon warps here.

So. So I just wanted everyone to know, I have done this before. This changing, this becoming something else for a time. I don't know if it will help anyone, but if it can-- I wanted everyone to know.

[He has "come out" piecemeal to various people, here and there, and it's gone well. But now he's doing it to everyone, to people he's never talked to. It's a little scary, but he's doing it.

And now that he's done it, he hesitates, then fumbles for the radio to turn it off without further comment.

He will be available in his shop most evenings, for people to come by to get clothing repaired or measured for, or for people to ask questions, and of course he's around the convoy or in his van during the day when they're on the move.]

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I am afraid I definitely do not know how to make boots.

[He heaves a sigh.]

Making shoes is much more complicated than making clothes. I could at most manage sandals for you, but probably not anything else. I will try to work on that once I have enough patterns for clothes, but I cannot promise much.

But if you do want gloves, I could manage that.

Jack looks up from his sewing at a table further in, takes in Jayce's appearance, and winces in sympathy, ears flicking back. He remembers how ragged he'd looked after his first moon warp, trousers torn from the tails... "Hello, yes, come in. I can definitely see you need a little help."

Jack is already on his feet as Leo starts coming in, and he blinks, then winces in sympathy. Those are some very awkward changes. "Hi Leo. Please, please, come in. Are you all right? Please tell me none of that actually hurts?"

[He's not sure if he can make something for a buzzing voice, but god help him, he will try!]

Maybe! Come down and see me and we can talk about it?

"Surprisingly, no," Jack says, flashing Serph a warm smile. Things have been awkward since the moon warp, but he refuses to let it sour anything, dammit. "Or maybe not so surprisingly. With everyone going through changes, and so many people from different worlds, no one has even specifically brought it up." He's rather more surprised by that, he at least expected some questions, but still. Not complaining.

We are not doing sandals.

[His typically sarcastic tone is even more blunt at that.]

I can draw out something simple for footwear, I've got some tire treads to cut out soles, I just don't have material for the rest of it.

Serph nods. Good.

Now that his primary concern has been addressed, he lapses into awkward silence, practically hovering by the entrance. Things have been awkward since the Moon Warp and he doesn't like it. But he's also not able to see a clear path forward to fix things. The uncomfortable feeling of uncertainty dogs him during every waking moment, haunting him when his time is idle.

It feels almost as bad as wanting an answer to the question of what his dead human self had done. Except... the big difference here is that he can actually talk to someone about it, even if the prospect of it makes him feel entirely more vulnerable than he ever has been. But he doesn't want to repeat the cycle and it's that determination that has him pull back his wings as he straightens.

"...Can we talk?" It isn't usual for him to seek this sort of permission, typically asking his questions directly without any preamble.

Good deal.

[She's gonna drop that into the basket- she actually manages a little bit of a smile at that.]

Look at you, thinkin' ahead.

[She gives a nod toward the basket.]

I didn't even consider where I was puttin' this crap, I just tossed it in my backseat and hoped for the best, yo. Seemed clean. Mostly.

I've never made anything from scratch, though I could make alterations. Though I was mostly taught embroidery.

"No, it doesn't hurt." He comes the rest of the way, giving everything a cursory glance. "Just... feels kinda weird if I... touch the gap."

Not that he's tried much. He has some sense of self preservation!

"Anyway, what'cha got for me?"

Okay.

[Oh, the buzzing is the least of it.

It doesn't say so, because it - Jack will see. It takes longer than usual for SecUnit to show up, and that's entirely because of these new changes, as it picks a time when most of the humans will be away from this part of the Convoy, and scans for them on its way through.

It doesn't want to be stared at, and these changes are exactly the kind of thing humans will stare-at-without-staring, which is the worst kind. So it even takes a few moments to steel itself before walking into the piecemeal stalls. Jack's not bad as far as humans(?) go, so that kind of makes anticipating his reaction worse.

The moment SecUnit steps into view, it's obvious the Moon Warp has gotten to it - usually its face is the most human-looking part of it, but now its mouth and jaw are - changed. The skin has gone gray and chitinous, inflexible and platelike, and framed by four small segmented mandibles, currently folded flat against its cheeks and jaw.]

Is there... any part of how it was like, that you want to talk about?

[Jack helped them, not so long ago. V could at least return the favor, be a shoulder to lean on.

That, and they don't exactly have any clothing requests at the moment.]

It is not that I do not know the shape of a boot, Donnie. It is that you have to affix it in certain ways, shape it to fit a foot without collapsing, and size it right to not pinch or rub.

Cobbling is very different from tailoring, especially when working with scraps instead of a full piece of material. I could make you something, yes, but it would be more like a very stiff sock with rubber bottoms than a real boot.

If it doesn't hurt, Jack is not going to poke at it, either. Instead, he picks up the folded blue fabric on his table and shakes it out, holding it up for Leo. It really is a cloak with a hood that can fold up or down, and it should provide pretty good coverage when tied closed, down to about mid-shin. "Here. I hope this will be okay. It's too long for me, but I did try it on, and it has good lines. Better for you, I think, since you are wider than me."

Given both muscles and shell.

Well, SecUnit and I had a discussion about laundry washing, and when I saw this in a house, I thought, well, if I am cleaning as well as mending, I will need it, yes?

[He sets it down and crouches to sift through the offerings more closely.]

It does look in good condition. Who knows how long it has been out there. I suppose moths of a normal kind no longer exist here... unless now they are monster-moths.

[Jack is anticipating something already, something SecUnit wants to hide, so he's not exactly surprised when SecUnit comes in. He's seen a turtle with an exposed heart today, though, and Jayce with his antlers, and Faith looks positively dead, and, well, he's got fox ears and six tails. It's different, but not horrible.

What he does is frown and get up from his table to come look a little more closely, considering face masks and protective shields of various materials.]

This is new? You had a helmet you wore before, but your voice had not changed before, either.

Have you never heard of tabi? They are basically that. Putting soles on them is an upgrade. I think anything actually separating our feet from the ground is an upgrade, and after all those thorns, I don't want my brother walking around near barefoot.

I had never made anything from scratch before I came here, either. I am still not great at it, but I can make something serviceable.

[He sounds weary but a little proud of himself for figuring it out, too.]

And embroidery means your stitching will be neat and even. Those are good things. Do you want to come down and look at what I am working on?

It's only been a few days since the moon warp, so it hasn't been too long with things uncertain, but Jack is also unhappy with things being uncertain. So having Serph hovering, clearly wanting to say something, he thinks might be a good step? Maybe? Unless he wants to say something bad. Jack waits, trying hard not to fill the silence with words like he usually does. It's very hard not to just say "out with it".

So he's got his hands busy and his eyes looking at Serph sidelong when Serph finally asks, ears perking up from their skewed angle to something that perhaps looks hopeful. He puts the mending down and looks at him more fully. "We can always talk, Serph. I will always want to listen to what you have to say." Even if it's "we shouldn't sleep together anymore" or "I want John not you". He can take both of them if he must.

I have been this way for a very long time. I accepted how my life was going to be long, long ago. I do not know that I need to... work through anything, really.

Mostly I want everyone else to know that-- it is not the end of the world, being something a little bit monstrous. You can still be you. We can still be us. And people can still love us. You know?

Yes, I do know what those are. I lived in Japan for-- oh, two years, I think? I wore some. I have mended them, but I have never made them.

[He looks thoughtful, tapping one set of fingers on his tabletop idly.]

Those are in fact more like stiff socks than boots... but the toe might be more tricky. If you are patient if I do not make them right first go, I can give it a try, if you bring me the rubber soles.

Have you seen our feet?

I'll cut the soles out so you know what the base shape is. And if you need measurements, I can give those too.

I have seen them, sure. But seeing them is not the same as cutting fabric that will not pinch them or cause blisters. So... yes, I would like to measure, if I may?

[He collects his tape measure from the table, ready and willing!]

True. Where do I find you? My feet and Leo's are pretty close, size-wise, so you can measure my feet.

[V manages a small smile, which does come through in their voice:]

You're right. And it's worth saying, time and again. So we don't forget. We are given challenge enough from being here; why make things more difficult for ourselves?

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