route666radio | [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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No, no... please stay.

[Jack frowns at her, but it's more one of concern than anger. He turns the burner down a little, gives the stew one more stir, and then comes to crouch in front of her.]

Faith, what is wrong? You are more twitchy than usual. Is there something I can do?

[Damn. She sucks at this.

She considers lying, but can't think of a good one. She considers leaving anyway, but that feels like a dick move, and she really doesn't want to do that.

So she opts, instead, to tell him the truth. She reluctantly tilts her head aside and tugs the scarf loose, revealing the hideous wound going all around her neck, as if her head had been severed but was still staying on her neck somehow. The wound still looked fresh. It looked like it should have killed her.]

Showed when the fur and the tail went away.

[She tries to keep her delivery flat and even, but her voice trembles, and she can't quite look at him.]

'Bout the same time as I got cold and wicked ashy.

[Jack squints at it with unhappy concern. He knows many legends of undead, lots of cultures have terrors of those who should be dead but are not, and of course he's seen a zombie movie or three. Plus there are in fact supernatural creatures that might qualify in his world. But seeing it happen to a friend, in person, is a little different. More worrying.]

That looks... not so good. It does explain why you smell a little bit like you might be dead, though... Um. Does it hurt?

[It would explain her dark mood, but then again, the changes themselves could easily do that. Jack knows he is one of a few who are mostly okay with this, and he doesn't have a great awful decapitation wound. He might be less okay with it if he had one of those.]

Doesn't hurt. Doesn't feel like much of anything.

[She sighs.]

Hasn't fallen off yet, figure it's a matter of time. And it, uh...

[She looks off into the distance, still not quite ready to meet his eyes.]

It leaks when I breathe. Especially when I smoke.

[She tries to force a smile again.]

Tried to tell the doctor you can't do a tracheotomy with an axe, but they just never listen.

[See? She's fine. It's funny. Look how funny. Ha. Ha.]

[Well, that's something. Jack hesitates a moment, then makes his favorite offer when someone is unhappy or upset.]

Faith, may I give you a hug? I won't make anything better, I know, but....

[But sometimes it makes the bad things a little lighter, having someone hold you for a moment.]

[She looks at him, gives a half-hearted smirk as she considers teasing him for the suggestion, but can't quite come up with anything to say.

Instead, she silently lifts one arm outward to invite the hug.]

[He settles down next to her, ducking under her arm and wrapping his around her, back, warm and tight. He kind of wants to let her leech some warmth into her, from him. He rests his head gently against her cheek, unafraid of the undeadness. She's still just Faith.]

I am sorry this is happening to you. But I do not think you are alone in changes like this, either. One of the poor turtle boys has his whole heart exposed.

Yeah.

[There's a slight sigh as her arm reflexively curls around him.]

Yeah, I know I got off light compared to some people.

[The dismissive deadpan and the neutral posture is at odds with the way her arms are around him a little too tightly, a little too intensely, like she's clinging to him just to keep herself grounded and trying desperately to pretend she's not]

And it's not like any of them deserve it, right?

[And there it is. There's a crack in her voice that ruins the illusion of detachment, and her breath hitches.]

Faith, no.

[He gives her a little squeeze.]

I do not believe in a fate that punishes us. And I do not believe in a fate that punishes us even more when we are trying now to be better. This change is not because you deserve something bad or good, any more than I deserve to be a funny fox person.

[If it's a fate thing for one, it must be a fate thing for all, and how could he explain the fox shape and the tails? He is hardly proper kitsune material, he's not a trickster in any way. And he's not even Japanese!]

Right. Course not.

[She manages a weak laugh, but she's decidedly leaning toward him a little more.]

Nah, you're like the nicest guy here.

[One of the nicest guys she'd ever encountered period, actually. The only rivals she could think of... well, one was a lot more on the tough-love side than Jack, and the other one wanted to turn into a big snake and eat people.]

... I normally don't go in for the touchy feely crap so much.

[Not that it was... awful, exactly. This was probably the least upset she'd felt around it since it happened.]

Oh, I don't think I'm that. I'm sure there are nicer people than me.

[He sounds pleased, though, because he does try to be a good person, and he's not always sure he does a good job. Mostly, sure, he's relatively realistic about the type of person he is, but even being kind and decent doesn't always go over the way he'd like it to.]

And you seem to be doing okay with it right now. Maybe you just need more practice.

[He does take the hint, though, and loosens his arm enough to sit back. And then he kisses the side of her head, in a very clearly brotherly fashion, before climbing back to his feet. There is still stew to dish out.]

[She gives a slight smile at the 'doing okay with it' line, but it drops at the kiss. She doesn't look offended or anything, if anything she looks... bewildered. She quickly averts her gaze to hide it.

But she neither objects nor moves to leave. Instead she just asks something... entirely out of left field, even for her.]

You cook for people back home?

[He'll take the subject change, and let her recover from the moment of intimacy.]

Sometimes. I am not usually hosting people, though, they are more often hosting me, so only if they have food around and are willing to let me cook.

[He makes an amused little noise as he collects bowls from a cupboard over the stove, and adds,]

My friend Ted is actually a better cook than I am, even if he has a ridiculous preference for take-out.

[Video+Action, post moon-warp]

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