◜ looking for problems — open, joining ◞

[zayden]

[div style="width: 550px; text-align: justify; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 8.3pt; letter-spacing: .3px; line-height: 1.35;"][align=center]4 FEB 2019. / WORD COUNT 435 LISTENING TO THE GROUND WALKS by MODEST MOUSE / TAGS

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The stranger was comparably a child, all large eyes, porcelain features and hair kissed by fire. Angelic, one would hazard to say, haloed in fur that his freezing body envied. He had been foolish to think he could make the journey easily; though his presence was proof it was possible, it was no comfortable feat. Such callous disregard of mother nature's harshness made an example of many and he was loathe to hazard becoming another unfortunate statistic. Still, it spoke volumes that the spare clothes he had selected for the expedition were scarcely weather-appropriate either.

'I need your weapons, or I'm going to have to shove you back out there,' the girl told him, matter-of-fact, and the bluntness prompted a genuine smile, haphazard and uncertain as it was.

"That's fair," he replied, "but I'm unarmed." Regardless, it was smart to be wary, particularly in an environment as harsh as this. Scraps of hospitality alone were more than most would afford him — he had no right to be anything other than grateful. He hadn't anticipated such a lilting elocution — cold and Australian rarely married in his mind — but he reduced his response to a lifted eyebrow, preoccupied by the coat she wrapped around his shoulders. "Oh, thank you." Ill-fitting as it was, he knew better than to look a gift horse in its mouth.

'What's your name?'

"Zayden. What's yours?" His was a practiced introduction; he was no stranger to strangers, so to speak. Shoulders relaxed, a hand extended, and his smile strengthened to something lopsided and full of life. Many a time had his encounters began with an embrace — close contact with unknown individuals had been a part of his life since he was sixteen. This girl was already far more accommodating than many, circumspect as she understandably was. Something about her unyielding candour appealed to him immensely — she reminded him, uncannily so, of his cousins. Raving spitfires, the lot of them, refusing to let him catch his breath and keeping him on his toes. He attributed his affinity for heels to them.

'How the hell did you get so far up here like that?' she then asked. If he were to hazard a guess concerning her own arrival, judging by the knowing look she gave him, he'd say she'd stumbled here in the same state. It was a small comfort to know he wasn't the only dullard about, unique as he liked to be.

"I have my ways," he quipped, only half-joking. He'd say the gods smiled upon him, but he wasn't particularly their type. "But I think I'm halfway to hypothermia. It's freezing."

[HAYLEY]

[align=center][div style="width: 430px; text-align: justify; font-family: calibri; font-size: 8pt; color: black; line-height: 22px;"]☁  running into strangers like this was really no way to give off an air of authority. her hair was in a disheveled but somehow nice looking bun, her makeup was reduced to mascara, and her clothing consisted of a rather pretty dark blue sundress, with thin straps on the shoulders and stopping just below her knees, as the fire in her warm had made it more than a little hot. she held hope, in one arm, resting the baby against her hip, and hope in turn half held her small head up, half leaned it against her mothers arm. she had a very wholesome, suburban mother look to her in that moment, and she knew it.

she straightened a bit, clearing her throat as she approached the pair, nodding her head for the foreigner to enter, doing her best to look more authoritative and less... motherly. ❝welcome to the flintlock lodge,❞ she said, unsure if he'd come on purpose or stumbled across them by accident, ❝i'm hayley, the head of this place. zayden, was it?❞ she repeated to ensure his name, motioning to the couch closest to the fireplace, ❝you should sit down, thaw out. are you hungry?❞ she inquired, clearly well into the routine of new people stumbling across their arctic home to a point that she had it down to a script when they entered. twisting her head to face the hallway that lead to the kitchen, she'd call out ❝jack, grab some soup and tea, we've got a guest.❞ she said, and after a moment there was a vague shout back that almost sounded like okay.

turning her head back to zayden, she'd offer him a polite smile in greeting. ❝what brings you up here?❞ she inquired, unsure if he was passing through or there seeking residency.

[blake k.]

[align=center][align=center]

'Cause I'm a hooker sellin' songs and my pimp's a record label

thes code

[b]the flirt ♥

Blake Kegan - a poly pan nineteen-year-old who identifies as genderflux and uses she/they pronouns. it should also be stated that she drinks (not addictively) and smokes. she's very flirty and tends to not have serious relationships. she usually carries two katanas and a rather large knife as weapons. other than flirty, personality wise she's both childish and mature as well as maturnal, sort of taking in those younger than her and who let her, treating them as her children (regardless of age difference).

aa

She raised a skeptical eyebrow at the claim of being unarmed, but said nothing further about it. Though she did have intent to stab this guy the second he tried to do something, especially since it would incline he was a liar. A terrible choice around here, especially since they were all armed.

"No problem, might as well warm you up" she explained, she could wait to go out later, she was in no rush. At the question about her name, she ran her hand through ginger hair to fix it after wearing a hood "Blake" they stated knowing being Australian alone was something to be remembered by. Not many foreigners around for obvious reasons, but there were a few of course.

At the arrival of Hayley, Blake backed off a bit. This was more her thing than theirs. However they did have Hope, so maybe they should stick around. Ehh...decisions. "Want me to hold her, Hayley?" she offered, glancing to Hope with a gentle smile. She figured it may let Hayley be their welcoming leader a bit easier, plus Blake loved Hope.

[table]

[zayden]

[div style="width: 550px; text-align: justify; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 8.3pt; letter-spacing: .3px; line-height: 1.35;"][align=center]7 FEB 2019. / WORD COUNT 488 LISTENING TO MARIE ANTOINETTE by CURVED AIR / TAGS

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Admittedly, being unarmed was an unwise decision, but the apparent abundance of weapons in this new world had never made itself available to him. How others carried countless guns and daggers was a mystery to him, for aside from the occasional kitchen knife, he had yet to stumble upon something usable by those with more talent with weaponry than he. Though it increased his chances of being robbed, given how easy of a target he was, he had managed to avoid attacks largely by taking the long route and relying on friends he made along the way. If you couldn't be a thug, you could always charm a few into helping you out, or so his desperation to survive had taught him.

He wasn't stupid enough to think that Blake believed him, but he trusted that she would begin to see his honesty the longer he spent in her presence. If it came to it, she was free to search him — the most dangerous thing he carried was probably a mean stiletto... heel. Her semi-reluctant attempt at being welcoming prompted a tiny, amused huff, but he widened his smile regardless, dipping his head gratefully. He'd say it was nice to meet her, but this encounter was frosty, pun only slightly intended. He was sure she was a lovely girl — some people just needed to break the ice before they thawed. (And now he was laughing at his own internal monologue, but that was nothing new. He smothered the surge of mirth and focused on warming his hands.)

A clearing throat drew his eyes to another approacher — another woman, albeit older, notably more motherly-looking and holding a baby. Later, he would register her appearance and be strangely delighted by it, but he was so utterly captivated by the child that he scarcely noticed. "Yeah, Zayden," he confirmed warmly, flashing her a smile and giving the tot both a cooed "Hi!" and a little, fluttery-fingered wave. Following Hayley's motions, he settled down by the fire, stretching out his long limbs and groaning in pleasure at the sudden alleviation of weight from his feet. "Thank you, Jack!" he called after Hayley.

'What brings you up here?'

"I wanted to get away from the city for a while," he confessed. Though it was the environment he worked best in, his thoughts had grown so loud that focusing had become an impossibility. "I heard that Flintlock isn't as peaceful as a lodge in the mountains might seem, but it's certainly not as... loud." Permanency had never been a part of his life, as much as a sliver of him yearned for it — it seemed unrealistic for him to expect it here, but if Flintlock could restore his creativity, then he would appreciate it. "I'm not expecting to stay here for free, so if there's anything I can do, I will, but... I really would love to stay." For a while, if not forever.

[tomorrow]

JUST STANDING WAITING FOR THE PUNCHES

The appearance of strangers showing up on their doorstep like half-drowned cats was becoming quite normal, and Tomorrow barely batted an eye when he walked into the small sitting area to see a new person, already spinning their tale as Blake and Hayley hung around.

Slipping over to the fireplace, Tomorrow sat down and felt Jeremiah lay down next to him. He quietly warmed his hands, not engaging the situation for now; Hayley would ultimately decide if this man stayed or not, though he doubted she'd turn him away. He seemed, for the most part, harmless and willing to work for his stay.

//this is real bad i'm sorry

[zayden]

[div style="width: 550px; text-align: justify; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 8.3pt; letter-spacing: .3px; line-height: 1.35;"][align=center]4 FEB 2019. / WORD COUNT 246 LISTENING TO OLD FRIEND by ELDERBROOK / TAGS

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ooc: this is rather rushed, sorry! i was just excited to have this up — i haven't even finished his tags!

Evergreen branches bowed to the bitter wind; overhead, a lone bird circled, searching for food. Disturbed by human footsteps, a nervous hare skittered through the snow, bounding into the deep forest.

Unperturbed by the gnawing cold, Zayden pressed forwards, trudging up the mountain. Forbidding as the landscape was, its beauty stole away discomfort, and passing the halfway mark made the promised lodge ahead more enticing than the warmer valleys below. Food, too, was a powerful motivator, and childhood metropoles seemed far less alluring when distance was accounted for.

Had he been told, mere months ago, that he would find himself willingly stepping into winter, he likely would have laughed. Nomadic as the last few years had been, he was to warmer climates as a moth was to a flame — impossibly, unbearably attracted, even despite any potential danger. Admittedly, there was something exciting about deep winter — and it certainly brightened Christmas. Songs of winter wonderlands and snow never quite had the same affect in the heat as they did in the hypothermic wild.

Restless, Zayden rubbed at his arms as though the half-hearted movement would repel the cold. When it didn't, he buried his hands in his jacket and quickened his pace until the lodge emerged from the tree-line like a mirage, an oasis in a sea of white. Rustic and warm, it pulled him in as though he was leashed and he stopped at its door, lifting an ice-blued fist to knock against the heavy wood.

[blake k.]

[align=center][align=center]

'Cause I'm a hooker sellin' songs and my pimp's a record label

thes code

[b]the flirt ♥

Blake Kegan - a poly pan nineteen-year-old who identifies as genderflux and uses she/they pronouns. it should also be stated that she drinks (not addictively) and smokes. she's very flirty and tends to not have serious relationships. she usually carries two katanas and a rather large knife as weapons. other than flirty, personality wise she's both childish and mature as well as maturnal, sort of taking in those younger than her and who let her, treating them as her children (regardless of age difference).

aa

The lodge's Australian was the one to open the door, coming face to face with the stranger. He had gotten far without someone stopping him, she was a bit surprised. She had been on her way out, warm puffy black jacket zipped with the fur trimmed hood up. He seemed cold. She couldn't...let him inside could she?

They did, they may get scolded for it but they did. He was already at the door and he was cold. She'd feel bad otherwise. Blake pulled the stranger inside, taking off her jacket and putting it around his shoulders "I need your weapons, or I'm going to have to shove you back out there." the flirty young adult paused "What's your name?"

She glanced around for Hayley, or well, anyone that was supposed to talk to newbies. That was Hayley right? They had no idea, but they were hoping he'd comply. She'd hate to shove him back outside or take out her own weapon. It was nothing too impressive but it would work if he decided to try and attack her.

"How the hell did you get so far up here like that?" Well, he did seem close to frost bitten, but she was still curious. Not that she had any place to ask, she had shown up in almost the same state of almost frozen.

[table]