Come Sail Away IC Inbox

[mistertwister]

After a few knocks on his cabin door:

"Welcome to Patty's Ranch, yer premier provider of beef an' bovines. If it ain't Patty's cow, it ain't worth a cow patty." And then, more seriously, "State your name an' business."

Comments

[theweakhavepurpose]

[ Before Okie wakes up, Pratt & Sharky's gift basket delivery service has come and gone, leaving a festive parcel outside his door. There's a tasteful notecard reading GET ALIVE SOON BUDDY.

Inside is various candies, a set of camping cups, an extremely tasteful sign that makes no sense, and various other odds and ends. Go wild picking things out.

Welcome back to the Serena Eterna.]

[mistertwister]

[Okie digs through the basket, filling the mugs with the candy to set aside, the sign up against the wall, and the wooden horse directly into his pocket so he can get to the fun stuff.

There's a copy of Mindfulness in Nature, which he guesses will be better used in annoying someone than taking seriously, a stuffed pig that reminds him of home, and a post-it notebook that he immediately has plans for.

He should remember to thank Pratt later.]

Text, possibly into action, January 22nd

[crushed_pearls]

Apologies for the sudden text and also not having any contractions like a fucking GPS this speech to text can eat eighty percent of my ass.

Helena informs me that you can sew cloth. I am in dire need of both emergency and general tailoring. Would like to discuss your services in that regard. Can meet wherever the reason will be obvious when I get there.

[mistertwister]

i can sew, yes. can discuss in the laundry in an hour. feel like its a given but if you need clothes fixed show up in your spares

[crushed_pearls]

There is no worry about that. I will be there.

And indeed Erin shows up, in her torn-up tank top with a pile of her more decent clothing to be altered, about thirty minutes early. She's in no rush; she brought a book.

[mistertwister]

Okie shows up ten minutes early, sees that Erin is already there, and tries not to actively flinch. Then he notices the wings and fails in his previous efforts

"Jesus. Howdy. I see what ya meant by obvious."

[crushed_pearls]

Erin flexes her new wings, morosely, and puts a bookmark in her book before setting it on the washing machine that she's sitting on. "Yeah, I thought you might. Which is gonna mean measurements and time and a lot of bother on your part, so...figure this is a good time to talk payments. Friends don't let friends work for free and I know I'm askin' a lot here."

[mistertwister]

"Well, uh, I generally take payments in answers or favors, but I don't got questions and a favor seems like a steep ask for sewin' I can't promise won't be shit. My main concern here is that I ain't an expert in tailorin' and I definitely ain't an expert in wing friendly clothin'." He takes a deep breath in and buzzes his lips out. "I'll give 'er the ol' college try an' we can way payment on if the job's any good, how's that sound?"

Some time during Nightmare March

[breakaleginhalf]

[So Gil doesn't actually know where Okie's room is.

Luckily he knows what a human hurricane smells like, and so he doesn't strictly need to in order to follow the - even for a Changeling - really unsubtle breeze back to Okie's cabin, and knocks on the door.]

Hey- Okie, right? You in?

[mistertwister]

[The door remains closed, but there are footsteps behind it, and a muffled voice peaks through.]

Who’s askin’?

[breakaleginhalf]

Name's Gil. [He's not making any plans to lie to the kid; literally he is here to prepare him for Changeling bullshit.] I'm Lost. Heard you might be too.

[mistertwister]

Now, when you say that, do you mean-

[The door begins to crack open.]

OH! Yeah, that is what you mean. Well, uh, what brings ya?

[He swings the door the rest of the way open and gestures for Gil to come in.

He's not quite what he's been painted as to Gil. Where a storm was promised, there are simple grey clouds. It's hard to tell if the weather's gonna get better or worse from there.]

[breakaleginhalf]

[Okay, well at least he's had some basics drilled into him. He can be taught.

Gil flicks him a brief smile as he walks in (it's hard not to make it about the fangs but he tries) as he moves into the room.]

It's not like, anything serious or anything, you don't have to worry. [His Aussie accent is mild, but distinguishable, his tone relaxed.] Erin and I were talking about getting all the Changelings on the same page for all the, like. Weird bullshit this place is? I just wanted to check in with how you're doing on things.

[mistertwister]

[Okie returns the smile, which comes through as a fork of lightning approximately where a mouth should be. So he kinda gets the vibe of not looking kinda weird trying to make normal expressions.]

The weird bullshit has, like, mostly been fine, honest. Woke up after I died, free food, downtime. Definite improvement o'er the last time some magic pee oh ess kidnapped me. I know that ain't gonna be a universal opinion but I reckon I don't hate this place.

[teethoftherisk]

Hello Okie. This is Siffleur. Ava told me that you are working on her wedding dress. I have offered to help. Let me know if there is anything I can do to assist you. I have gathered all white items in the TB and taken them apart to help make patterns. If this would be of use to you, I can bring the items to you.

[mistertwister]

howdy siffleur

how much white clothing is "all?" if i need to grab some boxes or bags or something and come to you i can

if not im in 130. just text first to make sure im actually there

[teethoftherisk]

It is a large box of clothing. I can bring it to your room at 4pm tomorrow if that works.

[mistertwister]

sounds good to me, see you then

Okie makes sure he's in his room at 3:55, door open to watch for Siffleur, sketches and notes for Ava's dress in front of him for review. Most of what he's heard about Siffleur is that he hunts people in the TB sometimes, so he's a tad nervous about this meeting. Then again, if Ava sent him...

[teethoftherisk]

Siffleur shows up at 4pm on the dot, carrying the large box in his hands of various white folded fabrics. It's a relief to see that Okie is waiting for him, and he gives the man a nod. "Hello."

As usual, Siffler's raided the TBs for his wardrobe of the day, wearing a patterned maxi dress since he has no plans of hunting. He tips the box so Okie can see inside at what Siffleur's done. Inside are folded sleeves, front pieces, back pieces, bodices, skirts, laces - anything and everything white that he could find and dismantle. There's also a few dresses half-put together that Siffleur was working on, held with laces and clips taken from Sundries.

"There's the pieces I found for making patterns, there's two dresses I started on for her to try, see if she liked the idea." He points to the top one, where he's laid the lacy pattern from a beach coverup over another dress bodice to attempt to make it look fancier than it is. "Use them if she likes them, and don't if she doesn't."

[mistertwister]

Okie shoots to standing as soon as Siffleur hits the doorway. He's visibly a little nervous, up until the point he sees the inside of the box. All apprehension is immediately replaced by professional interest, and he leans in to inspect the haul. Pre-scrapped, that's nice, and a lot of it. The half-made dresses pique his curiosity, and his hand is halfway in the box before he stops himself and remembers his manners.

"May I?"

The Cabin

[treadwater]

Undine doesn't sleep well at night, and recently she hasn't even been trying to sleep at all at night.

It's not night, though. It's like three in the afternoon, and Okie came back to the cabin for something or other and Undine is here, on the couch, curled up tight in a tiny ball with an arm over her face to shield her eyes and she's not making any sounds, but it's not because she's dead, it's because she's finally managed to find the oblivion of sleep for a moment. Just a moment. Just a tiny moment of complete exhaustion taking over her.

[mistertwister]

Okie wonders for a moment if this is how people find him when he sleeps out and about. He decides it isn't, of only because he's developed an instinct to build a nest whenever he feels close to total exhaustion.

His plan, then, is to build a nest around her. He decides against a pillow, because lifting her head might wake her, but he does move to his bed to grab his quilt and the stuffed pig from the resort. He tucks the pig under one of her arms (while whispering "alrighty, bud, mandatory overtime"), throws the quilt over her, and sits himself down on the other end.

He'll just be here until she's up. If he drifts off in the meantime, so be it.

[treadwater]

Undine does stir slightly, but it’s to curl closer, letting out a soft whimper as her usual issues with nightmares come to bear. She’s had issues with them since long, long before the ship, and now is no exception.

[mistertwister]

Okie wishes he could do something about her nightmares, be in there with her somehow. But wait. He can, he realizes. He hasn't tried it before, but he can give it a shot.

He places a hand on her head, focuses on breathing in time with her, and attempts to step through the Gate of Ivory.

[treadwater]

There is a moment when he goes from stepping...

...to falling.

It is dark, and gravity's going in another direction, pulling him down, down, down into an ocean (though he doesn't find himself struggling to breathe) lit by large, distant, colorful jellyfish.

colorful, distant, large jellyfish?

distant, large, colorful?

jellyfish

But this, this is only a barrier, an entryway, a threshold. The darkness of THE DREAM yields to a dream, instead, with even the slightest pressure, like walking through a spiderweb.