Where: Chop Shop Mechanics When: The Days After The Storm Open Starter

Adrien sets the wrapped tech aside and stands.

"I mean, I'm not an expert, but I know how to handle them. I'm sure it's easy."

He wipes his hands on his jeans and follows Cam.

"Where to first?" he asks with a grin.

"that's good, stick by them and you'll be set in this place." el was always the best at getting new comers settled in. she understood why they would rather work in the shop than be a welcomer but they were the great at it.

"well, you never know, you could get it working and if we find the other one, it could be useful around here." she liked adrien's attitude, he always seemed to look in the bright side of things. they needed people like that around here. "how good are you with a hammer and saw? want to help me board up a couple windows? a couple cracked in the storm and i gotta get them patched up."

"Not stupid. Just an unfortunate honest answer."

He looks down at the ankle in question. It's still aching, though not terribly.

"It's fine. Becca wishes I'd stay off it for a bit longer, but I've got a job to do."

He nods in sympathy. After helping Rae on the morgue side, Lucas can only imagine how bad the infirmary is hurting.

"I know Ana is trying to figure out what we can do. Hopefully, we can keep the inventories steady for a bit."

"stupid question, hm?" she asked, a wry smile on her lips before glancing down at his foot. "how's the ankle?" she asks in turn before a long sigh makes it way from her lips, wincing just so at the reminder of how many they'd lost. "yeah, we're alright. took a few hits to the supplies from the storm but i think we'll manage."

Lucas purses his lips but nods.

"I get it, though I don't really understand it. I like some quiet."

Some people would say he likes it too much, but that's not important.

"So anything you want to share? It's been a minute since we caught up."

a twitch of her lips , followed by the twisting of her nose , josephine turned to the basket of cleaning supplies on the counter , setting down the beer she had been handed in favor of rearranging the plastic bottles and cut towels she used for her daily tasks . " that i can agree with , " she nodded , a reluctance in finding more common ground , meticulously twisting each of the sprayers nozel's from ON to OFF .

in the silence , josephine find's her eyes returning over her shoulder in his direction , noticing the invitation to have a seat . to relax . to stay a while .

dread coiled in her stomach , and she swallowed hard ; it'd be rude not to accept his offer , just as it would have been to turn down the beverage . with slow and weighted steps , josephine moved into the living room , using the cuff of her zip-up to twist off the cap of the beer she had returned to her grasp ; a hiss sounding from the carbonation as she sank her weight into the worn furniture .

" as good as one can be , " she replied simply , lifting pointed shoulders into a shrug . " the motel is . . . fine . sometimes it's noisy but . . . i often prefer noise to silence . somehow it feels safer . " knowing the people around me are alive , she added on in her thoughts .

RAFAEL SILVA at the Epic Cons Chicago 2 convention - September 15, 2024

Adrien perks up even more. There's a little shop here? His fingers already twitch, wanting to get work done inside.

"So when it comes to these talismans I've heard about, they only work if there's like an unbroken 'barrier?' So no open windows or doors?"

He's noticed some temporary solutions already up, but he's also noticed a lot of residents give those wary looks. As if they're expecting something to jump through them.

"hey, that's better than a lot of these kids around here," cam said with a laugh before opening the front door of colony house. "come on, i'll show you my little make-shift shop." really it was just a shed on the side of the house where she keeps her personal stash of tools so that no one in the house can steal them. god know everything else in this house goes missing and stashed away.

where: infirmary

when: after kina's autopsy

whom: @ludics Rae

Lucas takes a deep breath as he walks toward the morgue. It's been a long day, and he'd honestly love nothing more than to just head home, take a shower, and go to bed. As much as he wants to make sure everyone is safe, secure, and taken care of, he definitely needs time to himself.

Except there's one more person he needs to check up on. One he needs to handle personally.

He pauses outside the door, bracing himself for anything he might see, then knocks on the door.

"Rae?" he calls through. "It's Luc."

He waits, letting Rae set the pace though he's not taking "go away" as an answer that's for damn sure.

Lucas gives him a dubious look, not really believing him at his word but not really able to call him a liar either.

Then he eyes the bench, wary. If he sits, he's not sure he'll stand back up any time soon. But getting off his feet sounds so nice.

He sighs and settles down next to Muz.

"If I fall asleep, you better wake me up," he says with a relieved sigh.

'Lucas, baby, what d'ya mean, man? Full twelve hours, me. Sleep the whole night through.' Twelve hours total in the four months since landing in this town, a bit more likely. But he lets a smile slip. 'Need your beauty sleep, man. Come sit for a bit. Gimme company.'

Tanner Buchanan photographed by The Emma Experience, 2020

Rafael

Lucas nods, though he doesn't quite understand what he's saying. He does understand the emotions, though. They're feelings a lot of people here feel.

"They didn't leave a body," he explains. "Just a blood trail that disappeared into the woods. I didn't... get to say goodbye."

His breath hitches as he cries. Everything that's happened in the last few days has just opened old scars he was sure had healed.

Hollis watched Lucas silently, glancing down as the bouquet was placed. His fingers twitch at his sides.

"No," he answers, the word barely audible. He shifts awkwardly, unsure if he should say more, but, choosing not to feels like denying their existence.

"I mean...not here." His gaze dfits to the empty space beside the grave, trying not to dwell. "Not...here, exactly. But close."