use the sleeves of my sweater [ota]

[welcomeprofessor]

Who: X-Mansion residents, students, weather!refugees, whoever else.
When: Through July
Where: R5, Residence 15
What: Schooling nonsense, weather sheltering, general shenanigans, et. al.
Warnings: See individual top levels for applicable warnings.

Comments

[ota.]

[welcomeprofessor]

[ ｉ ｂｏｕｇｈｔ ａ ｔｉｃｋｅｔ ｔｏ ｔｈｅ ｗｏｒｌｄ ]
[ There are few times Charles is as thankful for the ridiculous design of this old (yet new?) house as he is with the onset of what he calls sweater weather. The idea is charming enough on its own: as temperature drops, the better excuse he has to ditch the suit jackets and pull on a small (growing now, but still small) collection of cable-knit sweaters.

Of course, it never comes "on its own," and as the power dies out the first time, the fireplaces throughout the house finally see their first use.

That, however, isn't the problem. The problem is that with the power off--however temporarily--Charles is quite literally stuck on the ground floor. Anyone who happens upon his office after that first night may just find that it looks a little more lived in than usual. As in Charles is very much still sprawled out asleep on the couch tucked into the room's alcove near its own fireplace. ]


[ ｂｕｔ ｎｏｗ Ｉ＇ｖｅ ｃｏｍｅ ｂａｃｋ ａｇａｉｎ ]
[ This is hardly his area of expertise, illustrated by the muttered string of frustrated obscenities that result in the dark. The power isn't quite out, but it dims, comes and goes, and as a refuge--with the space to offer it--he needs to keep it on. And without a resident scientist of Hank's caliber (god, how he misses his friend in this single frustrating moment) in the house, Charles has taken the task of generator upkeep on himself.

It doesn't seem to be going well. ]


[ ｗｈｙ ｄｏ Ｉ ｆｉｎｄ ｉｔ ｈａｒｄ ｔｏ ｗｒｉｔｅ ｔｈｅ ｎｅｘｔ ｌｉｎｅ？ ]
[ With the weather outside making venturing out increasingly difficult, he finds it best to focus on what he can help: these kids (and maybe those who aren't quite anymore) with these powers that exist, regardless of this world's politics or natural disasters. He had made an offer, and if they're to ever help out with the larger system at play here, know what they even can do is of the utmost importance.

For this purpose, he's set up space in the basement gymnasium: the space is large, insulated, and is more immediately welcoming than the intimidating space another floor down (space he doesn't quite trust getting to with the power coming in and out as it has been). It'll do for now. He has also left a note on his office door, directing anyone looking for a one-on-one session to meet him down here. ]

Generator

[morethan084]

[With no fireplace in her small home and already having a constant draft, Daisy had taken refuge in the place she worked most days. Not the it's much warmer in here, in fact she's wearing a jacket and hat indoors. Hearing someone cursing nearby, Daisy turns her flash light in the direction of the noise. She nearly jumps out of her skin when her light turns onto someone, even though she should've expected to actually see someone.]

Do you need help?

[She's had to use generators before and knows how annoying they can be.]

[welcomeprofessor]

If you know how this bloody thing works, that would magnificent.

[ It's just a hair shy of sounding short, but with light outside gone, the temperatures continuing to drop, and the power coming in and out unreliably, anyone would be on edge. He sighs and pushes back from the generator a fraction he turns toward the direction of Daisy's flashlight. ]

As nostalgic as using the fireplaces is, I'd rather we didn't have to use them exclusively. [ And then a grumble: ] Days like this make me wish I'd studied engineering instead of living sciences.

[morethan084]

[She doesn't take it personally. It's beyond cold and it's like they couldn't catch a break around here. First the toxic fog and now this. Smiling sympathetically at him, Daisy moves to hand him the flashlight.]

You never think it'll come in handy until something like this happens. Here. Could you point it over here while I look?

[Kneeling down, Daisy took off the air filter and immediately saw the problem.]

Do you have any carburetor cleaner?

basement

[shiro2hero]

[At some point, he hauls himself off the streets. Probably because someone back in his house made him. He's technically supposed to be resting. But this seems more important. Hopefully no one will miss him -- even if he's got his TAB on, just in case.]

[It's easier than expected to find the place (thanks Darin's mail). And he's a little surprised at how easily he gets inside. Maybe more people come and go more often than he'd thought. After some wandering, he finds the office, and then, the gym.]

[Still, knocking, once he's there. He's opted for regular clothes, layers of sweatshirt and jeans, as opposed to his armor, and his right hand makes hollow, metal sounds against the door.]

Hello? Professor?

[welcomeprofessor]

[ With the power still on, it surprisingly warm for a basement. Back home, this had been a partial result of his stepfather's incessant need to remodel a house that had not been remotely his own, and some of it Charles taking charge when the building needed to be carefully "preserved" (sometimes, historical committees were more pain than they were worth) and still overhauled to adapt to more residents than the handful that it had ever seen prior.

It seems some things, himself or himself responsible, hadn't changed, regardless of however much newer (by a couple hundred years) this house is.

What Shiro may not know, or recognize, is that Charles could easily bar him from entering, if that had been even a remote inkling (it isn't). He keeps careful, basic tabs on the mansion itself, a general empathic read of its comings and goings: if he is responsible for everyone in it, it simply comes with the territory. So by the time he even makes it downstairs, Charles is expecting company. ]

The door is open.

[ Which the note upstairs on his own office door had said, but the politeness is--while surprising--welcome. Inside, he's sat cross-legged on the floor, the chair just off to the side. ]

[shiro2hero]

[Living in fairly close confines with several other people for as long as he has puts a high value on privacy. Knocking is always necessary. But once he's acknowledged, he pokes his head in with little hesitation.]

Thank you. I didn't want to interrupt anything.

[He steps fully into the room, then. Surveying the area briefly, almost without realizing he's doing so, before his gaze actually finds the good professor again. Then he heads over, pulling something out of one of the big sweatshirt's pockets.]

Also, this is for you. One of my teammates made too much again -- figured I'd at least offer something.

[It's a thermos. With what approximated tomato soup inside. Thank everything for Hunk, really.]

sweater weather also i am not here

[el_paso]

[ Logan's stay in the mansion is temporary, his time allocated to ensuring the flues are clean, doors to non-essential rooms are closed so as not to waste heat, and there's enough firewood, kindling, and tinder for the next handful of days. Venturing into town is a shitty idea right now-- he's been bothered once already on the train by pissy Savrii out to take their frustrations out on a foreigner, and isn't too keen to expend the effort to be cordial if the natives are turning xenophobic.

Hauling firewood, taking care of the horses, running after Laura; having something useful to do is better for his psyche than getting into fistfights with bigots.

He's ready to head out into the cold, endless night when he pauses in the foyer, sure he sees a light at the end of the hall. Charles must still be awake--

Or not, he amends, once he's gently knocked and pushed the door open, spying Charles there on the couch. It's almost too small for him, and looks damn uncomfortable. A second's hesitation stays him, but then Logan walks over with his long, silent stride, crouching beside him. The fire is dying, casting an orange glow across the Professor's features. It makes them seem starker, older, a glimpse of the aging man that Logan once cared for. Something in his chest aches at the memory.

Well, he hadn't been in the habit of leaving him to fall asleep at his plants in Mexico, he couldn't really leave him squished here now. He touches his shoulder, thinking at first to wake him. Knowing the debate that might ensue, Logan simply gets an arm beneath his knees, another beneath Charles' shoulders, and picks him up as easily as a father might carry a younger son. ]

Sentimental ass.

[ Is he murmuring to himself? To Charles? Who knows. He should get him upstairs, in his own room. He can bank the fire on his way out and be back early in the morning, with Laura to help. ]

wow this is the rudest shit but there are totally not tears get outta here with that

[welcomeprofessor]

[ Halfway up that first flight of stairs, Charles stirs just enough to recognize the awkward position in Logan's arms, and shifts to throw his own around the back of his neck. The contact is warm and, from the way his head settles into the crook of Logan's collar, inviting too. He doesn't quite wake, even if there's something distant, at the back of his mind lost in a dream, that recognizes that something has changed. ]

'm fine. [ It's muttered low and slurred heavily, fading back into the hazy drift of sleep before he even finishes enunciating. ]

basement.

[athru]

[ Raven has never had too much of a problem with cold weather; she's always managed to find somewhere to hole herself up, away from the cold and the ice and the snow, and travelling around means she's more than a little bit accustomed to the nasty weather. It doesn't mean she enjoys it, though, and it doesn't mean she has to suffer it.

She goes to find Charles, and seeing that he's downstairs makes it easy for her to hunt him down. She's wrapped up in something a little warmer than usual - a proper set of trousers and a thick jumper, even over her blue skin - and she pushes open the door to the basement, slipping down and crossing her arms at the bottom. ]

I'm not sure if you're nesting or hiding.

[ Smiling, she walks over and drops down to cross her legs under herself, watching for a moment. ]

[welcomeprofessor]

[ Given the way that he's settled on the floor, chair just off to the side like a hovering, ever-present reminder, huddled into his sweater, it's more the former than the latter. He glances over at her with a quiet scoff. ]

I'm doing a poor job of hiding, I think.

[ Even if the inclination sometimes comes easier than he wants to admit. ]

I just needed a change of scenery, that's all.

[athru]

I didn't realise it was supposed to be a secret, especially with that very secret sign.

[ She walks over, finally, moving to settle down and offer him a small smile. ]

A change from the office? That's not like you. Is the cold catching up with the professor?

[ It's now that she finally sits down, settling and nodding her head. ]

sweater weather

[seeingscarlet]

[Wanda still has a lot of the extra blankets and pillows from her time on the Moira stashed in her Pac-Disc, more than she or the rest of the house would need in normal circumstances. It hasn't become as bad as that time the ship lost power and literally began to freeze, but she's decided it's definitely time to break them back out and distribute them among her friends.

She can sense that Charles is sleeping, and although it would be better if he slept in a real bed, she's not willing to wake him if she can avoid it. Wanda drapes two extra blankets over him as stealthily as she can and then turns to prod at the fire with her powers. It's still a bit cold in here.]

aww

[welcomeprofessor]

[ There is a part of him--distantly thrown into a dream, the kind of formless, shapeless sort that hasn't quite made up its mind yet--that understands that something around him has changed. He shifts under the slight extra weight of the blankets. It comes complete with a quiet, frustrated noise at the lack of space--the space he's made for himself--and a dreamy sigh.

Another minute later, he's blinking blearily, only half awake as his brain struggles to center itself between sleep and the world his body occupies. ]

'hat happened?

[ It barely sounds like words. ]

[seeingscarlet]

[Wanda reaches out with a gentle thread of thought, enough to let him know who's there and that everything is okay.]

Hush, go back to sleep.

[Maybe he needs another pillow? Could she even get another pillow under him without actually waking him up? That really doesn't look comfortable even with the extra blankets...

Of course, it would be best if she could get Charles to an actual bed, but she'll only insist if he fully struggles awake. He's been under enough strain without the added shock of waking up floating through the hallways.]

a few days after the initial blackout

[specifications]

[ Charles will get a text from Arthur, seemingly suddenly and very much without prompting. Arthur, on his end, is not in a good situation. ]

is your house safe

pls to forgive my inevitable autocorrect errors

[welcomeprofessor]

[ After that extended conversation they'd had on Arthur holing himself up, it is very unexpected. Charles had assumed he would need to be the one upkeeping contact throughout this minor disaster. But, of course, the house itself has taken some of his attention, and the drama within. He finds the message in the middle of a makeshift class, and dismisses himself immediately.

Perhaps he shouldn't, but that question speaks far more in the volumes it doesn't openly express. ]

To my knowledge, yes. What's happened?

the bane of all phone tags

[specifications]

can i come there

[ Sorry, Charles, that's a bit more important right now as he tries to find some sort of way to get there. While being barefoot in the streets and not nearly prepared for this kind of cold. He had on at least three layers but those had been sufficient inside his apartment. Not nearly enough outside. ]

ota

[culver]

how can you be as nice as me [in and out and about]

The power in the Undercity had never been exactly reliable. Even though Bishop said the church was on some kind of special grid (a remnant from the long-forgotten functional government), there were still days when the entire building would dim in and out. It was never so bad during the day, with the fluorescent lights in the stone "ceiling" keeping the entire underground alight; but at night, those lights went out and there was no telling who, or what, could come knocking.

So Nill is calm, but understandably cautious when walking alone, carrying an appropriate precaution.

Regardless, she tries to go about her daily business, but with the added inconvenience of doing most things by candlelight. Homework isn't so bad, but navigating the halls of the mansion is. To make things harder, she isn't used to being so bundled up. One moment she's steaming in her jacket, and the second she takes it off to cool down, she's half-frozen. At least when she ventures out to the market for supplies (something Badou had told her not to do, but of course she's going to ignore him because that's what teenagers do), she doesn't have to worry about overheating.

you're not from the same slice as me [adventures in cooking]

Cooking over an open flame is not Nill's area of expertise. In fact, she's used to quite the opposite: finding propane in the Undercity was near impossible without a lot of cash to throw around, so most kitchens had outdated electric stoves. She'd gotten used to the equipment in the mansion's kitchen, but since the power was so unstable, she didn't feel like it was a good idea to use them and test her luck against sudden surges.

Then again, flames aren't that easy to control, either.

She tries the fireplaces, using an old tripod she'd found at the market to suspend pots of soup over them. When the rooms with the fireplaces are too crowded with cold students to cook, she takes her work outside on to the lawn. A library book had shown her how to make a fire pit with rocks, and that works a little better for her. It also opens up the opportunity for a new delicacy one of the other students had introduced her to: s'mores.

where do we go from here my friend [wildcard]

[hit me up for anything!! my plurk, as always, is watchet.]

it's been a real slice

[welcomeprofessor]

[ Nill is so unusually quiet--more than her sole lack of speech--that Charles has taken to forgoing one sense altogether to rely on his sixth when it comes to keeping unspoken tabs on her. It's a large house with a lot of coming and going: it certainly isn't foolproof attention, but today, it eventually leads him outside to the frigid lawn, where she's currently setting up what looks like a firepit. ]

Are you sure you're not freezing out here?

[ By way of greeting. He doesn't ask her why: the relatively new sense of crowding in the mansion speaks to that, as well as the all-too-frequent power outages that cause that crowding to flock to certain areas of the house. But it has been growing colder out here, every day seemingly more frigid and dangerous to traverse.

He worries. ]

[culver]

[The rocks are heavy, and when he interrupts her work, Nill is huffing a little from the exertion. Even though she's been attending Erik's self-defense classes, she still isn't as strong as she likes. But she convinces herself that every day she improves a little, and it's what helps her keep going. The future was never something she tended to worry about back in the Undercity, but here it's almost a certainty. It's so strange to her, having a future life. She still can't really imagine what to do with it.

Her breath is visible in little puffs in front of her face, and she smiles a little. He is a worrier, and it reminds her a little bit of Heine. Even though he'd never say it to her face, she knew he asked after her when he met with Bishop or Granny Liza. It was his own little way of dealing with a connection he'd never planned to make.

Shaking her head, she gestures to the fire pit. It's nearly complete, and her face is pink from more than just the chill outside. If she didn't know she'd immediately start to freeze, she'd take her jacket off for a moment to cool down. One more stone finds its place, and she throws her hands out to put her creation on display. Ta-da!]

this is so cute hdu

[welcomeprofessor]

[ He smiles immediately in response to her accomplishment; worry or no, a goal is always something to be celebrated. Even if minutely. ]

So. I see the pit; what do you mean to make in it?

OTA

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Entrance Ceremonies Are Always Boring
[With the sun having up and disappeared, and the weather taking a turn for the frigid, Darin didn't go out as much. He was from a port town, and winters were usually a bit more mild where he came from. That said, he didn't exactly enjoy the cold.]

[But the idea of attending school for the first time in his twenty five years of life? Now that was worth leaving the house for.]

[That said, Darin's entered the mansion and pulls his cloak aside. He shakes the ice and snow build up from his bright blue hair and looks around. He'd seen guild halls before, but he'd never seen a school. Not quite like this. He's got his acceptance letter in hand and he's eager to get to learnin']

Hello? Uh...can anyone direct me to...enrollment? I guess?

The Sun Won't Come Out Tomorrow
[With the onset of seemingly eternal night, Darin wants to do his best to keep the school maintained as best as he can. It's the least he can do for the opportunity he's been given. So he's tending to the light fixtures, flashlight held in his mouth with his teeth, as he changes out and subsequently juggles light bulbs while standing precariously on a ladder. A ladder which, for all intents and purposes, is not the sturdiest. He's swearing under his breath, but it comes out as a garbled sound as he tries to screw in a new bulb.]

[Unfortunately, the small flashlight slips from his mouth and clatters to the floor, illuminating only the legs of the ladder and not much else.]

Uh...

...Anyone?

...Little help?

The Sun Won't Come Out Tomorrow

[morethan084]

[Daisy is on her way to the stairs to head up when she hears something small crash to the floor followed by someone calling out for help.

Footsteps hurrying towards the sound, Daisy spots the abandoned flash light on the floor and picks it up to aim it up where the ladder was.]

You okay?

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[Darin...may have been looking down at the light when Daisy flashed it upwards, momentarily blinding him.]

G-Gah!!

[He lurches backward and attempts to shield his eyes, which sends the ladder rocking. He quickly tries to readjust his balance, but now the ladder is rocking the other way. All the while, he's juggling four light bulbs.]

W-Whoa! Whoawhoawhoa! W-Watch out...!

[The ladder kicks out from under him, and he quickly reaches out to grab the light fixture, which is now the only thing holding him up.]

Uh...! I guess to answer your question I've been better...?