Let winter go out with a bang

[folklorist]

Who: Everyone who wants to join in!
What: Snow Sculpture Competition
When: Early afternoon around 11am-6pm
Where: Just outside the town square
Summary: Snow sculpture competition! How good are your skills?
Rating: PG


If anyone is walking by today past the outer edges of the town they'll notice large snow pillars holding up a banner. Its white with dark blue letters painted on it that say "Luceti's first Snow Sculpture Competition!" Beyond said pillars is an open space large enough for numerous people to gather around and make things to their hearts content. Off to the side will be tons of tables set-up holding hot beverages and foods and the like to keep the cold out and everyone energized as they work on their sculptures.

A simple, fun, little competition to make use of all the snow they've gotten this year. And who knows it might end up in more than just a competition (a snowball fight perhaps?) anything is possible in Luceti after all.

Comments

[redjacketthief]

Yeah. Don't do that. [He's smiling, though. Annoying, yes. But it's also nice knowing someone cares at least a little bit.]

[fleurdesel]

If I don't, you won't take them, you'll be in more pain than you need to and then you'll be wandering the village, pissed because you're tired and angry, and causing trouble. Perhaps enough that you'll be injured, again, and it will take even longer for your to recover. So.

[A pointed look.] I will remind you by whatever means necessary.

[redjacketthief]

Dellie. Remember those bullet scars? I took down a dictator a week after getting one of those. This? It's nothing.

[smile.] Do whatever makes you feel better though.

[fleurdesel]

You did not have me on hand at the time, Lupin. If you are to do- [She sighs and lowers her voice.] If you are to do anything about finding a way out? You need to be well. I don't doubt you could do it thus injured, or far, far worse. But at the moment this is all I can do to help. Let me.

I'd rather you were well. Please.

[redjacketthief]

...you don't know what I'm going to do or not going to do. [She was perceptive, uncannily so. It made him uncomfortable, made him waver.

Instinct said to bail, keep his distance, but his rational thinking knew that she'd just follow him anyway. He sighs--so much to think about!]

Fine, fine. I'll be good. For a while.

[fleurdesel]

True. [She's quiet a moment, digging a small hole into the snow between them. Just. Something for her to do with her hands since she's quit smoking. It's only when she blinks she realizes it could be a very tiny grave, and that pulls a rueful laugh out of her.]

I'd help all the same. You know that. Do you really believe you're the only one who cannot stand this? Were I able I'd find my own way out. I can't. All I can do is help those that can.

[She looks back over, relaxing a little at his acceptance. A soft nod and she's less weighted. At least for the moment.]

[redjacketthief]

You know, Dellie... [He pauses, watching her hands and listening to her words. The sentiment was very appreciated, but his skewed moral compass still gave him reason to waver.

He didn't like not being certain. It wasn't a good mentality, especially under these circumstances.]

I'm starting to think that it'll be the reverse, and that you'll be the death of me.

[fleurdesel]

Not if I can help it. Why risk your neck for a dead woman Lupin? As far as pawns go I'm fairly expendable. [Not self depreciating, not accusing, just stating a fact.]

Besides. I'd be a terrible doctor if I got my patients killed doing something stupid.

[redjacketthief]

....

[dammit, she saw through him and got right down to it! He was busy making allies in this place--those weren't the same as friends.

he may as well be a chess player, for all of his planning.

He pulls himself into a standing position, painfully determined to get his body moving again. He was getting that feeling again, that restlessness, that lingering weight in his chest of his frustration and determination. He'd find an answer--a good one.

For everyone.]

...People do stupid thing all the time, Adele. Look at the history books if you want proof. People live and die as easily as they breathe...

but no one is that expendable.

[fleurdesel]

[Eventually she'll learn to keep her comments to herself. Maybe. It was odd to see him struck silent from something she knew to be true, and had stated as such. Of all the allies to be made here, she was the least useful for his purposes. He and his were accustomed to working without a medic, and that was her one skill currently. If he had to sacrifice a pawn, she wouldn't mind it, or blame him for the move. It was the logical choice.

She stands with him, not quite reaching out to help, though she wants to. It's plain on her face, but now? Now it wouldn't be welcome.]

You would be surprised Lupin. [Now her smile is a little bitter, but without accusation. For now, she was. And that was something she could accept.]

[redjacketthief]

[He watches her, serious but unwavering. Carefully, hesitantly, he drops a hand onto her shoulder.]

Dellie, just stop. You're putting me in an awkward position here. [He leans in, as if they were flirting, and continues speaking sotto voce.] The less people who know things, the better. Less chance of info getting out, less chance of things being sabotaged.

...I like you decent enough, okay? You're a good person. I don't want to see you used against me. If I need you in on something, I'll let you know.

[fleurdesel]

[Even when it was very obviously telegraphed. Even when it was Lupin, even today? She still flinches. It's subtle, but present. Adele drops her head a moment, listening. Things she already knew. Things she'd considered. Possibilities that would have to be planned around. Nothing that hadn't crossed her mind at least several times before she ever went to ask Lupin if he was planning anything.

Though that. The last. That pulls a real bitter laugh from her, and she has to look up again. He didn't have to like her to use her. He didn't know her well enough to tell if she was a good person. And they didn't know each other well enough for her to be a liability to him in any way.]

I'm not. Good, Lupin. I haven't been for years. But. [That flash of misery, that very brief moment of vulnerability was tucked away behind a placid mask.] Just. Put me where you need me, when you need me there. You won't have to explain.

[redjacketthief]

[He's got good instincts when it comes to girls--he can tell if one is good or not, especially after as many conversations as they've had. Rougish knave or not, he had a knack for reading people. Her basic nature didn't go unnoticed, nor did her reaction to the sudden touch and the underlying harshness of his words.

He pockets his hands, removing physical contact yet simultaneously distancing himself.]

I'm not that kind of guy, Adele. [He doesn't use people for the sake of using them, not without reason, and not without informing them somewhere along the line. There was a deep fragility to her, hidden under the barbs and the wit...

Though he didn't want to involve her, he would have no other options if she kept on involving herself.]

[fleurdesel]

You would be the first I've known in your line of work that isn't, Lupin. [Soft and only slightly uncertain. A thief that is kind and gregarious? It's possible. Very rare, but possible. Lupin could very well mean what it is he says. It's quite likely that he does. She's just not quite willing to trust it yet. Past experiences have...made such a gesture difficult.

Remy. Bartholomew. Degas. Others, more than she could count. None of them meant to, none of them intended harm, and yet, well. Adele takes a deep breath and reaches for whatever it is she gains when she speaks to Ben. Her ability to let things go. This fear, this wariness. Lupin didn't deserve it. He's done nothing to deserve it.

A heartbeat, two, and she's managed to let go a little. Not all, but...enough for her to manage a faint smile and mean it.] And yet? I do not doubt you in the slightest.

[redjacketthief]

I'm Lupin III, you better not doubt me! [There's a smile, there's humor, but he's serious. The one thing he knew no one could ever take from him was his faith in his friends, and his desire for people to have the same faith in him.]

Just trust me, okay? That's all I ask for. If I need you, I'll let you know. You don't need to worry, so stop anticipating actions that aren't even on the horizon. It's not good for you--you'll get wrinkles from worrying so much!

[He makes jokes as easily as he breathes, but her anxiety was problematic and potentially a liability if he told her more at this point in time. However highly she spoke of her experiences in pathing her world's criminal underground, it left something with her. He was a nice man; he couldn't allow something like that to continue if he could help it.]

[fleurdesel]

[Trust a master thief. That was...she didn't know if she could. It was harder to convince herself that she shouldn't. Far too accustomed to bracing herself for the worst, for preparing for any possible failure, and far too little to giving into hope. To having faith. Adele hadn't had faith of any kind in years. She didn't hope, she didn't trust easily and now here stands Lupin. Brilliant. Cagey. Terrifying, a little, in his own way. Asking her to trust him.

...

Well she's done stupider things during her stay here. What's one more? She shakes her head with a soft sigh and her smile widens.] I may doubt your sincerity when you say you'll listen to me about resting, Lupin. But in general? Never. You have my word.

...and my trust. [Please, god, please, don't break it.] And I will try to stop envisioning every way in which anything done here can go terribly wrong.

[redjacketthief]

[It was a start. A tentative, rough one that was still valid nonetheless. Lupin didn't ask for much, and didn't want to ask for her aid at all...but sometimes events move beyond anyone's prediction, and choices must be made. If this keeps her safe and out of trouble, then it's worth slipping some of his thoughts out every once in a while.]

Positive thinking, Dellie. That and resolve--they'll help you. It's not a lack of fear that keeps me going, it's my resolve.

...and thanks. Now, you have to promise me you'll keep out of trouble as it concerns this, all right?

[fleurdesel]

I don't make promises I don't think I'll be able to keep Lupin. But. I will do my best to keep my nose clean. Will that suffice?

[Optimism's never been her strong suit, but resolve? That much she understood. That she had in spades. That's what kept her going for the past six years. Here, though, the uncertainty of anything and everything was whittling away at that bit by bit. She'd have to try to bolster herself up again somehow.]

[redjacketthief]

It will. I'll try to keep out of trouble too.

[As best as he could--which only guarantees that he won't go picking fist fights anytime soon. He's smart enough to avoid a few things, smart enough to learn from stupid mistakes.

Still. Friendly smile.] Deal?

[fleurdesel]

No you won't. You'll just be more careful about the trouble you do get into. [Still she huffs a laugh and takes Lupin's hand in hers, giving it a shake.]

Deal.