[Video+Action, post moon-warp]

[wereperrito]

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.]

Comments

[hexrot]

My offer stays on the table.

[ even if he won't take anything now, he's opened to do something now that he's in debt. and if not anything engineered, anything that is needed of him at any point. eventually, jayce hobbles his way over to wherever jack is, in torn pants to accomodate his hooved legs, and a regular t-shirt that has been sewn to close at the torn neck, but god. it was done by hands that were untalented in tailoring. ]

Jack?

[wereperrito]

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."

[hexrot]

[ closing the rest of the space with some stiff, hulking steps, the click of jayce's intricate left leg brace accompanies him like a shadow. his head hangs a bit in mock dejection, but it's subtle and more reserved than it is an outgoing invitation. jayce was a very warm man for a corpse so cold, fairly playful during his golden days. he feels like an empty shell of that man, sometimes. he tries at times, but it doesn't feel like he could ever be the same person. he doesn't think he wants to, but he doesn't wish to be so frigid all the time. ]

I didn't get my mother's handiwork for fabrics.

[ he missed his mother. ]

[wereperrito]

Most men in more modern times do seem to not have learned much about mending, but honestly I feel like that shirt is mostly beyond saving at this point, even if you had learned.

[Jack is much older than he looks, and sometimes it shows. He beckons for Jayce to come and stand before him.]

Let me measure you, okay? And you can look at my fabrics and pick a few options. I'll make you two. Everyone should have a spare for when the first needs watching.

[hexrot]

[ when jayce huffs, it's . . . a bit nostalgic. bittersweet? a melancholy sort. ]

It's been ages since I've been measured.

[ reminds him of his golden days and pristine piltover white dawning his broad shoulders like a cape, a shimmer of his family crest on his arms and proudly carrying the colors red and gold around with him. he was a showstopper. for someone once rejected, he'd grown so used to being seen, to be in the spotlight. to have finely tailored fabrics that complimented his healthy bulk.

jayce is brittle compared to those times. wrinkled from stress and thinned by hunger long before he rotted to death at the back of his pick-up. he's a hollow shell of his former self. he doesn't know how to feel about it, and quietly keeps his head (and rack of antlers) in a reserved dip that can't bring himself to really be excited for new clothes like a once youthful jayce may have been. helpful, yes. not a luxury. a necessity. ]

Got any greens?

[ that may be his only quip— he wants to wear viktor's colors. ]

[wereperrito]

I do. You may not like the greens I have, but I have some.

[Brittle or not, Jack is going to be quick about getting and noting down measurements: shoulders, chest, neck, multiple measures of his arms. He's deft enough that he's clearly done this at least a few times now.

Ironically, Jack would understand. He very much likes fine clothes, ironic given his partly nomadic lifestyle, but still a thing he likes. Which is why he asks, while he works, inviting Jayce to share if he likes:]

You were measured for tailored clothes before?

[hexrot]

[ jayce didn't know exactly how much time had passed in the ravine. he had tried to keep count a few times, but it was terribly difficult to tell when the days changed when the sky was so overcast at nearly every opportunity to shine through the cracks. it was almost always dark. murky. cold. too much time had passed, that much he was certain. enough that he'd grown haggard and about ten years older than he truly was.

he keeps still for the measurements, only his ears flipping and flopping. ]

When I looked younger.

[ more presentable, really. part of him felt ill looking at who he'd become. the other part felt proud, in a sense that he's become more man than boy. more certain than fickle. another part of him was tired of caring. he didn't want to be presentable anymore. ]

Felt more like being a show pony.

[wereperrito]

Mmm, well, I will not be able to make you look like a show pony, at least. I can make you a shirt that will not be embarrassing to wear, but it will not be a very fancy shirt.

[He notes down a couple numbers, then continues.]

Do you need trousers, too? Do you have a spare set?

[hexrot]

[ actually . . . it'd help. ]

What could you do if I have, [ awkwardly, ] a tail?

[ speaking of awkward, his is that of a stag's, but unlike, jack's fan of appendages, his is a single tuft, hidden under the fabrics of his slacks but buldging out in a way that made it look stuffed and clumsy. it was weird to sit on, and sitting his waistband below it was just way too low for him. it was difficult to walk normally as is, including both hooves and brace. ]

[wereperrito]

Here, look at mine.

[He turns, looking over his shoulder at Jayce and showing him the way he's created a seamed cut in the back of the trousers for his multiple tails, and a strap that goes over the top of them to keep them on. It keeps the fit at his waist where it should be, but allows for freer movement. Given his incredibly active tails, swishing restlessly even as he tries to keep them still to show off his handiwork, it's pretty necessary.]

It would be much easier for you, I think. Yours must be much smaller than mine. You should not need as large a cut.

[hexrot]

[ oh, that. that is clever, and makes so much sense. jayce never had a tail, so, he never checked any fabrics with them with a close eye. there's an opportunity for a joke here, though, and jayce huffs some air from his nose. ]

You'll make me self-conscious like that. [ joking. he's joking. the little smirk pulling at his lips may be all the proof he needs. it's true that his deer tail is a deer tail and is, thus, much shorter than the twirling waves of fox tails jack has going on. ] Do you need to see it for the size?

[wereperrito]

Oh, no. No comparing. Not in that way, either.

[Jack laughs a little, but turns back around and gets back to work. He's almost done, anyway.]

I should see it, yes. Let me just finish this-- there. That should be the last I need for your shirt. Though I should do your legs if I am making you trousers as well.

[hexrot]

[ hahah. jayce gets to work in unfastening the button of his pants to get the waistband under the coil of the fluffiest deer ass. tail hangs out, but anything going past his thigh will be difficult to remove because of his brace. he'd then have to unfasten and unbolt every clasp upholding his leg. tailors back home never actually needed to remove things, but the brace was significantly bulky. ]

Do you need the brace off?

[wereperrito]

"No, no. I would measure over the brace, so you could wear it more easily under your trousers," Jack offers, giving the tail a quick measure in length and then along the top of its base, careful not to actually touch, given the delicate position. "Unless you would prefer to continue to wear it on top?"