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DOC PLUME'S OFFICE / HOUSE - LATE MORNING
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Maybelline slowly approaches the door, still feeling a bit uncertain of coming over unannounced like this, but it's late enough that she figures Doc would be awake, and it is business related, right? So, she's not making a nuisance of herself. She hesitates a moment, then rings the bell to the side of the door.
Narrator: The sound of the bell can be heard coming from the open upstairs window. The fact that it's not deafening means that Doc must be at home.
Doc Plume comes downstairs and opens the door, looking outside before glancing down and seeing May. They're dressed in trousers and an undershirt, clearly having had to throw on the trousers when the ring came. "May? Is someone hurt?"
Maybelline frowns as she realizes she probably just woke Doc up, "Oh uh, no. That is... no. This is more a business call? No emergency, I can go, if it's too much bother."
Doc Plume shakes their head. "No, no it's fine. Clinic business or something we can handle upstairs in my apartment?" They step aside to let May in, closing the door behind them.
Nesseth peeks through the door leading upstairs a short while later, having taken a little more time to dress himself properly. "Everything okay, Plume?"
Doc Plume smiles back at Nesseth. "It's just May, and not an emergency."
Maybelline's ears fold back further as she hears Nesseth's voice, "Oh it... just a bit of talk. We could handle that upstairs, but again, don't want to... interrupt."
Nesseth steps out into the office with a smile, looking properly dressed. "No, no, it's fine, May. Good to see you again."
Doc Plume shakes their head. "You're not interrupting anything, May. We were just sitting around. They lock the door and nod toward the stairs. "After you."
Maybelline waves a paw at Nesseth a little awkwardly, then smiles at Doc and heads inside and up the stairs, "Uh, thanks. Wasn't sure if it was okay for me to stop by like this."
Nesseth steps aside to give May and Plume space to head up. Once they start making their way up, he follows after, shutting the door behind him as he ascends.
Doc Plume follows May up the stairs and quickly grabs their shirt once back in the apartment, buttoning it up with practiced ease. "Can I get you something to drink, May?"
Maybelline stands a bit awkwardly in the unfamiliar room, "Oh, uh, coffee if you have any? Otherwise, I'm good."
Nesseth strolls through the room and makes his way towards the kitchen. "I can make the coffee if you happen to have any in your cabinets, Plume. Otherwise, want me to make some tea for you both?"
Doc Plume leads May to the couch. "There should be some coffee behind all the tea, Nesseth, thank you." They look to May again. "So, what's on your mind?"
Maybelline climbs up onto the couch and sits atop the cushion, not sinking in much. "Oh! Right, well, I talked with that trader yesterday, the one who welcomed me to town, Vix? And she had a really nice supply of parts and all... it cost me the last of my budget for the month, but it's going to save so much later! I just wanted to give you a revised parts list and everything."
Doc Plume blinks and smiles. "Oh, that's good..." They stand up again and move over to where there's a small lockbock on a shelf. "How much did they set you back?"
Maybelline chuckles, "Twenty-two gold, which, I mean, is a steal. Especially considering the added costs to get things shipped in from overseas. Vix wanted more, but... I couldn't really afford it, and she left me with two coins for food and all, even though I've kinda got that covered already."
Doc Plume opens the lockbox and counts out some amount of coins before closing it up again and slipping the key back into their pocket. "Understood." They return to the sofa and offer out a stack of coins to May. "Eleven, since I believed we agreed on an even split, right?"
Maybelline blinks, "We did, yeah. I didn't actually expect it for this, I just wanted to keep you appraised." She slowly pulls out her coin purse. "You're sure?"
Doc Plume nods. "I'm sure. I have money, May. This position came with a reasonable starting bonus." They look over to Nesseth as they watch him preparing coffee. "It's a shame that they don't seem to appreciate engineers as much as doctors though."
Nesseth steps out of the kitchen with a tray of coffee mugs and one teacup, all filled and steaming gently. He sets the tray down and passes May one of the mugs of coffee, then passes Plume the teacup. "Here you go, nice and hot!"
Maybelline smiles as she takes the coffee, "Thank you, ah... Nesseth, right?" She frowns a bit, "I guess the last engineer left a bad taste in the town official's mouths. Can't really blame them, considering the condition of things, and no one even seems to know what happened there."
Nesseth sighs a bit. "That bad, huh? I suppose we knew it was bad, especially once the town's shield went down, but... None of us have the expertise to repair or maintain the generator. When the previous person left, we honestly weren't sure if the generator even got maintained at all."
Maybelline sips her coffee, then makes a face, "Wow, bitter. Uh, no offense. Do you have any sugar?"
Doc Plume stands up to fetch the sugar. "Of course. Would you like milk too?" They walk over to the counter and bring over the sugar bowl and a small spoon.
Doc Plume fetches a notebook and pen before returning to their seat. "So what parts are still missing?"
Maybelline nods, "A bit of milk never hurt." She sits back to think, "There's still quite a bit missing, I know the containment casing is cracked, plus the capacitor, and the arcanite fuses are long overdue to be replaced. I'd like to upgrade the wiring too, it's atrocious. But that's a wishlist itemm. The rest is still a must have."
Doc Plume writes down the list while standing up and heading to the icebox for the milk bottle. "All right, so, containment casing, capacitor, arcanite fuses, wiring if possible... did I miss anything?"
Maybelline shakes her head, "If I can get all that... I'm confident I can get the generator fully operational again." She adds a few more sugars into her coffee and sips again.
Doc Plume offers the milk to May as they take a seat next to Nesseth. "Sounds good. Are any of these parts going to be hard to find?"
Maybelline takes the milk and adds it in as well, then a few more sugars, "Hard to say... with the new stuff coming out, maybe it'll be real easy to find, and cheap, since at least in Sarn, everyone's switching over to AMP stuff." She frowns a bit.
Doc Plume sets their pen and notebook on the coffee table and takes a sip of their tea. "All right. Don't suppose you know anything about this stuff, Nesseth?"
Nesseth shakes his head as he idly sips at his coffee, to which he added just a bit of sugar. "I'm afraid not... Magitech is useful, but I only enough to keep my crossbow in working order. I doubt the tech on that comes close to the likes of a generator."
Doc Plume looks to May. "Is it? I have no idea..."
Maybelline nods as she sips her coffee, "Yeah. I've never really looked at Magitech weaponry before, but it'd have to be a pretty amped up crossbow."
Nesseth hums and nods. "It's pretty powerful, yeah. It definitely helps in keeping the wilderness at bay when the need arises." He shrugs, "But even then, it took a little while for me to figure out that thing's intricacies. I wouldn't even know where to start on a generator."
Doc Plume sips at their tea again. "Fair enough. All I know is how the autopump works and how to switch it to manual if the power cuts out."
Maybelline shrugs, "Well, I mean, that's the goal right? Designing stuff so that you don't have to think about it. I'm just here to keep it that way."
Nesseth takes another sip of his coffee and nods. "Yeah, I suppose that's true. We can't have the town at a loss for power, and you're already seeming a lot more, er... involved in the job than the previous engineer."
Doc Plume nods. "You're doing a good job from what I've seen. We're all happy to have you here."
Maybelline glances away awkwardly, rocking her feet a little. "I... I mean... it's not what I wanted, being here, with this job, not where I imagined myself going in life. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to do my best."
Nesseth smiles. "Hey, we all go wherever life might take us. Sometimes, what we imagine and want isn't always what we get, nor what's best. Trying our best is all anyone can ask."
Doc Plume nods. "I'm sure my family would rather I was working in some big city hospital... but here I am."
Maybelline stares down into her coffee, tapping one of her fingers on the mug and slowly smiling. "Yeah. This town, this place... it's so far outside my comfort zone, I'm kind of panicking a little." She laughs, and it's right on the edge of joking and serious, "But, I don't know. I've also never really..." She trails off, glancing away again and covering by taking a long sip of coffee.
Nesseth grins a bit over his mug of coffee. "That's where the adventure is, though. The comfort zone is nice, but there's just so much about the world to learn that stepping out of it even for a little while can be really exciting. It's kind of the whole idea behind the Explorers Guild."
Doc Plume sips their tea, blushing a little at Nesseth's words.
Maybelline nods, "I'm a long way from home... I still miss it. But everyone here's a lot nicer than in the city. People here seem like they actually have time to look down and see me."
Doc Plume nods. "Yeah. And no one just expects me to be another talking head for the family here..."
Nesseth nods. "The pace around here is a fair bit slower than the likes of big cities, and the community is a bit more tightly-knit, too. This place kind of reminds me of my own home in a way."
Maybelline mmhmms, "W-well, it doesn't feel like it to me... but maybe one day." She smiles, glancing between the two.
Doc Plume cocks their head at May's look. "Yes... I didn't need any more reasons to stay, but I've found one, it seems."
Nesseth smiles again at May's look, though he blushes just a touch at Plume's comment. "Everyone's got their own reasons for being here, but they're all good reasons. I'm sure you'll find your reason to call Respite Falls home soon enough."
Maybelline sighs, "Don't know if I want that or not anymore. Regardless of if I do or not, I'm here for awhile. So, at least there's people like you two who I can call... f-friends, right?"
Doc Plume nods. "Of course. Like I said before, we're in this thing together." They raise their teacup to the stoat. "To friends."
Nesseth nods and lifts his mug in a bit of a toast. "To friends, definitely."
Maybelline looks back and forth between the two not really sure what to do. Hesitantly, she lifts her cup up too. "To... friends?"
Doc Plume sips from her mug and laughs a bit. "I guess your family isn't much for banquents?"
Nesseth chuckles as he takes another short sip of his coffee. "Don't worry, May. Just a bit of a salute of sorts, I guess you could call it."
Maybelline raises an eyebrow, "Bank-what nows? Those big feasts? Heh, not so much..." She pulls her mug back and nods, "Well, it's odd but sure."
Doc Plume shrugs. "Just a way to celebrate our friendship, really. It's something we all value, so we drink to it."
Maybelline glances down with a smile, "I'm good with that then. Thank you."
Doc Plume drains the last from their teacup and sets it down on the tray on the table. "You're more than welcome. And you're welcome to come visit any time. I have a lot of downtime during the day if you want to stop by the office."
Nesseth nods. "And as for me, you can usually find me here or around town on patrol. You're always welcome if you want to chat a bit about whatever."
Maybelline smiles. "Same goes for both of you. I'm... usually at the generator, since I work and live there too. I'm always up for a chat."
Doc Plume stands up and walks over to the kitchen. "I'm going to make more tea. Would you two like more coffee?"
Nesseth gives the remnants of the coffee in his mug a bit of a swirl, then shakes his head with a soft smile. "No thank you, Plume, I'm fine."
Maybelline glances down at the empty mug, "I'll take another cup, sure."
Doc Plume scoops a few more beans into the grinder and grinds them up as they put the kettle on to boil. "All right. So have either you see anything interesting around town lately?"
Maybelline smiles, sitting back to listen and banter with Doc and Nesseth as the three talk a bit of gossip and enjoy a pleasant afternoon, for the first time, with friends.
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MARKET SQUARE - NOON
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Froge is absolutely suffering. With the sun at it's highest point, the meager booth he is able to afford has no cover, and sits Southside to a building, leaving the poor amphibian at the mercy of the noonday sun. If he hadn't been prepared with a bucket of water and a towel, there would just be a booth manned by a piece of frog jerky! Still, despite nature fighting him, Froge wears a big smile on his face as people glance over the many glimmering corked vials spread out carefully across the bland tabletop, practically bouncing in place with a sopping wet towel draped over his forehead.
Damina wanders towards Froge's booth, clearly disturbed by something near her. A cursory glance to where she's looking doesn't reveal anything, though. She notices Froge and shuffles up to the booth, hoping some conversation may help.
Froge waves at another curious non-patron as they move on from his stall, turning his attention toward Damina as she approaches. He croaks happily, his eyes looking crosseyed as he tries to remember her name, vaguely recognizing her from his first visit. "Hello hello! It's been some time!"
Damina nods. "Hi, uh, how are you doing today?" She continues to glance around, but it's still not clear what she's looking for.
Froge glances toward where she glances, croaking curiously. "Hm, I'm doing well! Selling lots, I think. Got some coins anyways!"
Damina: "Ah, well, that's good." She leans in a bit. "Listen, uh. I don't know if this is true or not, don't want to make assumptions, but... I'm pretty sure someone is following me."
Froge: "Oh. Oh!" Froge lowers his voice, "And you don't want them to?"
Damina nods. "I don't know what they want with me. They have antlers I think? Just... be careful."
Froge glances about slowly as he takes off his head wetter, ducks down to wet it again. He turns the other way to wring out a bit of excess water onto the ground before putting the cloth back on his head and returning to talking with Damina. "Hm. I don't see anyone with antlers watching us, I guess they could be hiding though."
Damina: "Hmm... they're sneaky. That said, uh... what do you sell here?"
Froge shrugs, his experience with stalkers pretty much zero., but he lights up at the question. "Ooh, I have something we gather back home, it's really useful! The best firegas you could need, I promise!"
Damina: "Firegas?" That piques the cat's curiosity. "What's that?"
Froge: "It's just like it sounds! Invisible gas that burns hot and bright! You want to see?"
Damina shrugs. "Yeah, sure. Gimme a demonstration."
Froge croaks out a little chuckle, more than prepared this time around. From under the table he pulls a tong-style flint striker and a very small glass vial. Stepping to the side of his display, he holds it upside-down and flicks the cork out.
Damina is watching, wondering what happens next.
Froge prepares the striker at the end of the vial, then in one motion turns it and strikes the flint. He continues turning the vial as the gas escapes, igniting in a small arch of orange flame, like a miniature infernal rainbow that dissipates without any smoke.
Damina: "Hmm..." She's quite impressed but it's hard to tell since her mind's become occupied with... practical uses for this.
Froge chuckles, pleased with his own demonstration. He steps back behind the booth, placing the vial into his satchel under the table with the other empties. "It can burn slow, too, for cooking, or boiling water..."
Damina wonders something. "What happens if you make it burn... really fast?"
Froge tilts his head, smiling. "Beauty, of course!"
Damina: "Really now?"
Froge nods vigorously, then stops. "But it's kind of dangerous, you have to be holding it like I was to strike the gas with a spark. Also, a little wasteful, you can only carry one in a vial."
Damina slowly nods. "Ah, I think I get it..."
Froge fusses about his display for a moment before looking back up at Damina, and then past her shoulder briefly.
Narrator: A red-eyed figure that stands tall amongst the crowd stares back.
Froge shudders, something about the other person unsettling Froge as he turns his gaze back to Damina.
Damina looks behind her after noticing Froge's behavior, but sees nothing there. "Uhh... right. Anyway, uh, I'm Damina."
Froge lets out a nervous croak, settling back down. "Oh, yes that's right! I'm sorry, I forgot your name, we met the first time I came to town! But yes, I am Froge."
Damina lets out a strange laugh. "Well, it's nice meeting you... again. Hehehehe..."
Froge shudders again as Damina laughs, equally bothered by it as the stranger's stare. "Hm... Yes. Well..."
Damina prepares to walk out, but actually turns back. "How much for half a dozen of those vials?"
Froge puts on the best smile he can manage at the moment. "The little ones, you mean? Ah... Fifteen coins?"
Narrator: Before Froge finished his sentence, Damina already had emptied her coin pouch on the counter.
Froge eyes the coins, then counts out the amount he offered them for before retrieving six small vials from his pouch, each stoppered with a cork of dried Sapwood. He holds the vials out to Damina, croaking a little more happily at the sale. "Here you go, and thank you~!"
Damina quickly takes her purchase and wanders off, eyes darting round.
Froge shakes his head, watching her go before glancing around again for the creepy figure. "Hm... Maybe that's enough today... Wonder what the Minnow has today..."
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THE THIRSTY MINNOW - LATE NIGHT
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Annika: A perhaps familiar sight now, as Annie half walks, half staggers through the door, before slumping into a couch. At this point, she's done this enough times that the barkeep knows to bring over some cheese on toast, and some juice for her. She looks at it blankly a moment, before nodding in thanks, slowly pulling her aching and bruised body up to get some food into it
Maybelline walks into the bar, stretching her arms over her head. She's cleaned up slightly, not in her work overalls, but still smudged up a bit from working to get some of the new parts installed in the generator today. She's feeling pretty good about it all though, but needs a break, ordering a coffee before she spots Annika on the couch. "Oh! It's you!"
Annika: "It is?" she blinks at May stupidly "I mean..yeah...it is.." She nods to her, slowly taking a drink of juice "Sorry..um..I'm kinda tired. I..uh.." She thinks "We've met before..right..yeah..here, was it?" She rubs her head, trying to think. Her dress is pretty scuffed up, and she's not had her shower, so all the marks from working all day or on display, leaving her rather dishevelled.
Maybelline frowns as she takes in Annika's appearance, "Uh, not here. Out in the street not far from here, actually. I was... drunk. Maybe not really drunk, but drunk enough. I was hoping to run into you so I could say sorry but... are you okay?"
Annika: "Oh..um..maybe I did..that's okay..and, I'm fine! Really. Just had a long day of work, there's nothing more to it" She pulls her sleeves up "It's perfectly okay, I'm not upset at you or anything. People deserve to relax"
Maybelline blinks, "Err, no, that's not quite... I mean, I'm glad you're not upset too, I don't remember it all, but..." She bites her lip, thinking silently a moment. "I wanted to thank you too."
Annika: "Oh! Right. That's fine. You're uh..welcome? I suppose. Uh.." She looks a little confused "Why are you thanking me?"
Maybelline smiles slowly, scratching behind her head in a bit of embarrassment, "Cause... I don't know, this probably sounds stupid, but, you made me realize my drinking wasn't making me happy. I'm not used to people caring, especially strangers... which reminds me, I don't think I ever asked your name. Or told you mine. I'm May."
Annika: "Oh, I'm..uh..Annika" She smiles wanely "It's nice to meet you May, I'm..glad that I could be of help"
Maybelline shifts a little uncomfortably, rubbing her hands together in front of her a little nervously, "Annika. Good to meet you too." She glances at the bruises, "Long day at work, you said? Can I ask what you do for work?"
Annika: "Oh, you know..just cleaning, house work. A bit of cooking. That sort of thing. Nothing too complicated"
Annika is very nonchalant about the whole thing, defensivly so
Maybelline: "You must be working really hard at it then... you uh,, I mean, no offense, but you look pretty exhausted."
Annika: "Well, it's long hours..and I want to save up, right? To buy my own place..it..doesn't really pay much per hour, so I need to work long, so that I can afford it. I just want to work hard, is all"
Maybelline nods, "Well, nothing wrong with hard work. My Dad always said, the most honorable thing is an honest day's work." She pauses, "You... want to buy your own place. So, are you renting a room at the inn, or... do you have other living arrangements?"
Annika: "Renting a room, for now. It's cheap enough..and..uh..comfortable" Now that she's talking about the Inn, and not her job, she seems far more relaxed, tension in her shoulders easing considerably
Maybelline twitches her nose, noting the immediate difference. "Okay, that's good." She laughs nervously, "Y-you know, this is going to sound silly, but if you were going to say you didn't have anywhere, I was going to off you the couch in my quarters. The engineer living quarters isn't huge, but neither am I, and sharing it wouldn't be hard."
Annika: "Oh..um...that's very kind! But..uh..Well, I have this place here, and well, it's nice, and I come home late a lot so I'd be bothering you coming in, and waking you up, and leaving at odd hours. I don't want to be a bother!" She puts her hands up "And..well..the other thing is..I..uh..I don't want to be a bother" She's very tired, so her excuses are distinctly b-tier "There's no need to care about how I'm doing. It's fine!"
Maybelline blinks and raises a hand to Annika, "Whoa whoa, it's fine. I've got all sorts of weird hours, and you'd have been in the main room and I'd have had my own room and it wouldn't have been weird or a bother at all, I swear!" She turns her head slightly, now feeling really embarrassed, "And, I don't know... you cared about me when I was drunk, so only seems right I care about how you're doing, and you just... seem really beat up, and I want to help."
Annika: "It's fine. Really" She says, with a little bit of desperation "I..just..don't..I..don't want your help!" She cries out, a little desperately before rising to go "Just..drop it. Okay!"
Maybelline startles, stepping backwards at the outburst, her ears folding back, but she's not so timid as all of that! Quickly digging in her feet, she straightens up, "If you really, really want that, then sure. I'm not trying to make you feel bad, I just want to be a friend."
Annika: "Look! I..want to be friends..but please..just..don't push this..okay? I..just.." Her own ears are back, and she's in near tears. Fear? Something like that anyway "I..just....please. I'm fine. It's fine, okay? I..just..have to go. I need to get some sleep. I'm back at work in a few hours"
Maybelline lets out a sigh, then extends a hand slowly, "...Okay. I won't push it. I'll let it drop, Annika."
Annika heads up (Flees) to bed! She wasn't lying about the fact that she needs sleep!..Though she won't get that much tonight.
Maybelline lowers her hand slowly, watching the stairs where Annika ran, with a gut full of mixed emotions leaving her feeling all sorts of bad about how things just went down, especially the fear that she came on too hard to be the fox's friend, and the growing sense of unease that Annika may be in some terrible trouble she can't discuss.
Maybelline sits down at last, letting her coffee grow cold as she worries and ponders what to do.