asgardeventide | the saddest yard sale advertisement you will ever see [video]

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the saddest yard sale advertisement you will ever see [video]

[Roland sits amid wood, nails, and wire, scattered in a few small piles across the overgrown back yard. A little ways behind him, eagle-eyed viewers might notice a chicken in the process of laying an egg.]

Fiona Gallagher's... gone home. She, ah-- [He shakes his head, starts over, nodding at the house his camera's not at the right angle to show.] Anything in there's fair game. Odin 107, I mean. I won't be needing any of it. The door'll be open. Probably food and furniture, mostly - anything in the cupboards or refrigerator, anything not nailed down, bar the refrigerator and stove. I think the place came with those. [He shakes his head again, realizing he might be starting to ramble.] Doesn't matter. Corn, beans, squash plants in the back. Take them. Can probably see 'em behind me somewhere.

[Another chicken starts to peck at his sleeve and he lifts his arm, blinking at it.] Ah. Couple chickens, if you can catch them. Is that all? I think... I could probably use a couple extra hands to get all this wood and a couple of these plants over to Freyr district. And I... to be honest, I could probably use the company.

Bowls. I'll need a few of the bowls to transport these plants in. Other than that... Plates, silverware, clothes, bedding. Doesn't matter. I'll be leaving once it's empty. If I'm not here, don't take any of the magic plants. I'll find you. [The tone of that last is too absent for it to sound like a threat. It sounds, if anything, like an afterthought.]

The door's open. Have I said... [He has, probably. Roland shakes his head again, grimacing at himself, and cuts the feed.]

(ooc: If your character would drop by, this post doubles as a log post. Either prose or this format works, I'm comfortable with either.)

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[ Allison's frowning a little. She didn't really know Fiona terribly well but: ] She seemed like a good person. It kind of sucks, knowing she's gone. [ Though it's also a good thing, depending on what home had in store for her. ]

You've my sympathies, Roland; Miss Gallagher was a dear girl, and we're all the worse off for her absence.

She- yes. That's a good word for it, I think. [Roland's heard the phrase 'that sucks' by now but never before has he been tempted to use it. He looks down at his hands, focusing on digging out a plant.] She missed her family. We'll be fine.

[He frowns at the screen a moment, then looks back down and hefts a bundle of wire and wood into his arms.]

We are. The school especially, I think. But things should continue to run themselves without her for at least a little while.

[She sighed.]

I don't really need a keepsake, but my life's going to be a little less loud these days. [She sounded a little sad.] She'll probably be happier not having to deal with the insanity of the war at least.

I'm sorry to hear that one of your friends isn't here anymore but...

Is there anything you really don't want to keep that is from her? As a little reminder?

[He shakes his head, kneeling and starting to dig in the dirt again.]

She won't remember.

[He's not going to try to fool himself about that. She'll remember neither this war nor her place in it, and she won't remember him.]

She won't miss her family anymore. If you change your mind about a keepsake- ah, I almost forgot. If I... go, I want you to have Ananael. I don't care what you do with it. Take the stock and let the rest rot, keep it open and try to find someone to run it, doesn't matter. I just wanted to make sure you knew.

[He grimaces at the camera, then looks back down at his work, and it's a moment before he starts a slow reply.]

I have all I need. A, ah. A letter. Otherwise, she didn't - doesn't - really keep anything if it's not necessary. Nor will I. Besides, there's plenty here others will get more use out of than I will. All of it still here, if you need anything.

[If she was interested in any of that she'd have mentioned it, and Roland's expression turns a little apologetic as he says it. Still, though he's been trying to spread word to the natives on his trips over to his shop, no harm in trying to get a few travelers over to take a few things, too.]

My sympathies.

[If he's even capable of sympathy. He's late to even answer.]

Has anyone come by to help yet?

Do you know what's going to happen with the school? [ It'd probably be best to offer her condolences since he seems to have been close to Fiona, but since he said they'd be fine, she figures that's the response she'd get anyway. ]

[Her lips turned in a distasteful frown. It wasn't something she liked to think about, but he was right. Her efforts to create protections against that had all hit road-blocks. They'd still forget no matter what.]

You had actually said as much before. I'll make sure that the greenhouse is kept up and that the shop sees use. We need distribution points, after all.

And you're right. She's not away from her family anymore. That at least is good.

Oh. I- [He runs a hand over his face, only realizing after the fact that he's just spread dirt all over it with the gesture.] Pardon. I'll remember better later, I'm sure. The greenhouse I'm rebuilding behind the shop. Should be done soon enough, mostly the same as before. You shouldn't have any trouble getting anything you need.

As I understand it, after Mr. Snape left she decided things should be run by a faculty, rather than one person. Things should continue to run, though they may have more paperwork now. Or maybe less. If things should begin to fall apart in her absence, I'm sure the rest'll figure out something. Mr. Dumbledore would probably be the person to ask, rather than me.

[Roland gives a brief shake of his head.]

There's not much that needs to be done. Whatever's not gone by the end of the day is getting left here. The only things that need to be moved are the plants for the store, and the different parts of the greenhouse.

...It'd be good to see you again, if you've a mind to come.

We came to that decision right after all those memory loss issues. Honestly, it's a miracle I remember in the first place. I think between the three greenhouses we have, we'll at least be able to do something in a siege. I worry about long sieges though.

[Mostly, he's thrown himself into proper work, building simple lasers, of all things, and repairing other stuff. He doesn't like to take breaks, unless food is involved.]

I have some time, and I am able to help.

These shortages will have prepared us for something like that, at least a little. People will already be finding ways to make for themselves anything they might need.

[Except for Roland, who is abandoning his plants and chickens and entire steady food supply that he'd been building up specifically in case of a siege, for... totally logical reasons.]

Between you and I and a little luck, we should be able to keep our own supply going. As long as neither of us has trouble with the same plant at the same time, we'll be alright.

If I'm not here, just, uh... [He raises the bracelet, realizes he can't film it because he's filming with it, and shakes his head. Someone's a little absent-minded today.] Just call me. I'll be nearby, probably.

[Turns out Roland isn't alone. One of his chickens has taken up the sworn duty of hassling a bird kid standing a ways back. (Guess who else got a letter.) (Yeah, that's right, this kid right here.) It might even be the chicken that was laying an egg, only now the egg is laid, the bird kid is perplexed, and it wants to peck his shoelaces.]

Hey, back off.

[He tries to nudge it away, but the goddamn chicken isn't having it. So Davesprite irritably squats down and gives it a deadpan stare from behind his shades. It clucks a couple times and pecks at his shoes some more, before he finally picks it up and carries it over to Roland. He holds it out to him, bobbing the bird up and down a couple times out of pure, deadpan amusement. It's head stays fixed in place, eyes beady and staring between both of them.]

Your chicken is a menace to society. [Sorry, Roland. He'll try to be more serious shortly.]

That's what I'm hoping. A few minor shortages can teach you what you actually need. I've been stocking up on jerky and hard tack myself. It does the trick for a carnivore, so I can work with it. The more people get this into their minds, the better.

In the end, though, I want to make sure we're all stocking and growing firebloom. All the rest are good, but the more we have of that, the better. I fully expect we'll run out before the end, since it's the one for basic poultices.

I'll make sure to keep an eye on that one. Should one of us go by the medics, make sure they're growing some of their own?

[At about the time Davesprite arrives, Roland's decided he's only got a couple more trips to Freyr before he finishes, so there's little else to do but sit and wait for sundown, when he'll leave. He's slinging his purse to the ground and following it down as Dave approaches the yard, and divides his time between digging through the purse for rolling papers and idly watching Dave. When the bird's held in front of him Roland looks at it a moment, then up to Dave.]

Society will have to adjust. Looks like that one likes you, though.

[Come on, you know you want to keep it.]

Yes. Goodbye.

[Not for long--he knows where Roland is and he'll be walking up unobtrusively soon enough.]

[Unobtrusive, but not invisible; Roland looks up, stands, wipes his hands over his pants to get the dirt off. He opens his mouth, visibly hesitates a moment before speaking, and isn't quite sure why. As he speaks Roland grips one of September's upper arms in greeting, and though the physical contact's brief, it helps.]

It's good to see you. Thank you for coming. I know we're all a little busier these days.

[Oh god, he already has rapping flowers and a cat fan club.]

Are you trying to suggest I should keep your chicken.

[He tilts the bird upward and they both stare at each other a moment.]

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