[open] General Store

[flambeaux]

WHO: Louis de Pointe du Lac and YOU (new players welcome too)
WHAT: Opening the General Store!
WHEN: throughout February (at evening/night if you want Louis) + party on an Aurora night second half of the month
WHERE: General Store, Milton

Feel free to also use this setting as open starters or closed to characters other than Louis! Just indicate it if you do! His general store? No... Our general store...

A. Home Improvement

CONTENT WARNINGS: a little bit of vampire blood, talk of hunting animals for food

It started out of the practical need to store and barter goods. Louis's home is not a fit place to entertain anyone other than rats, and he doesn't want to disturb the people who live in the Community Hall.

Louis turns his attention to the thoroughly-looted husk of the General Store. Louis feels oddly shy about starting up anything, self deprecation rearing its ugly head. Lestat called his business back home a "human hobby."

He needs all the help he can get. There's the plumbing and leaks from the recent storm, trash to throw out, walls to paint, shelves to fix. He'd like to make arrangements for daytime hours when he can't be there. And finally, putting a new coat of paint on the GENERAL STORE sign with an addition:

Marché du Lac

How handy is he? Louis did small repairs at his club when a handyman wasn't available at night, he's fairly nimble... and he's never done construction in his life. But any fool can board up a broken window and repair shelves, he reasons.

"Fuck!" he hisses when he hits his thumb with the hammer. He automatically puts his thumb in his mouth, and the taste of that little bead of blood is shockingly good. He must be hungry. Time for a break.

He slips his hammer into the loop of some scavenged cargo pants. He might be terrible at construction, but at least he looks good doing it.

...Why is he working at night?

B. Having a Few People Over

To celebrate the reopening of Milton's only general store, Louis invites the town for food and drinks on the next Aurora night. At the risk of being accused of living in it, he wears his best 3-piece suit, the gray one from home. The place is well-lit, both due to the Aurora and every light source Louis could get his hands on. It's a myth that vampires don't like light. They just have a sun allergy.

Louis used to run a club, he knows how to plan a party. He doesn't know how to cook; he enlisted help for that. Among as much variety as Louis could get, the caterer Lalo Salamanca made a mushroom stew. Delicious--but watch out! A few special mushrooms may have found their way into the batch, possibly into a few bowls, and Louis has no idea...

He puts jazz records on and opens the doors. Empty shelves have been pushed out of the way for mingling or making music--he sorely misses live music. Louis would only request that it be good. (Louis reminds himself to explicitly instruct Lestat not to eat any musicians he deems bad.)

C. Open for Business

It's little more than a single counter and a few shelves worth of stock. Louis contemplates trying to bring in people to sell their own wares just so the rest of the shelves won't look so empty.

He arranges the odd collection of whatever he could scavenge and make presentable: dry goods, cans, candy, alcohol, cigarettes. The storeroom is depressingly half empty. The freezer, moved to an unheated room, is surprisingly full of meat.

In the window he puts up a passable copy of Tim's missing bunny poster. He sets up a little seating area where people can eat and drink if they wish. (It feels odd not to place the round little tables and woven chairs outside like at home, where the weather was mild enough.)

Louis emerges from the back room in an apron at the sound of the bell over the door. His suit and tie are so people won't mistake the owner/manager for a lowly clerk... as much as anyone can "own" anything in this scavenged town.

"Evenin', what can I get for you?"

D. Back in 15

Louis expects at least one teenager to take up loitering... Big mistake. If any hapless souls hang around too long and are trusted not to steal, Louis simply takes off his apron, dons his coat, and says without warning as he leaves,

"Mind the counter while I'm gone."

Congratulations, you now work here until he returns. He'll be back in a few minutes... right?

Do you:

1. Invite friends and avail yourselves of the candy, booze, and free aprons
2. Actually tend the store

Comments

AN EYE PHONE /FIVE/...

[m1895]

Yes, it did. Lots of selfies.

[ It's something else, finally hearing another person voice the amazement he'd felt but been unable to express to anyone else upon his introduction to the devices. It's a closeness he hasn't felt since coming back.

—but why were they taking selfies together? Didn't they just meet? Konstantin doesn't spend that much time outside of the cabin, most of the time he's just resting—when would he have had the time to befriend someone enough to be taking selfies with them?

Or maybe she was just demonstrating. He can easily see how his housemate would be delighted with such things. ]

Every year cameras are better. [ He cants his head toward Konstantin, tone light. ] You didn't tell me you had a friend here.

[desperate_times_right]

I guess you just get so used to it, huh? I document everything to show my friends so often at home that here I still do it.

[She’d been taking aurora pics because Nadine had mentioned wanting to see the northern lights in the future.]

I don't know if they'll believe me about most of this, though. Even with pictures.

[sputnik]

It must make documenting things so convenient.

[ He would absolutely be one of those people to upload every single thing he does and an aesthetically pleasing photo of every meal he eats to Facebook. ]

Ah yes, I've been getting to know the locals! [ He chuckles to Vasiliy, amused and delighted and covering up anything worse than that as his eyes flit to Chloe. He... does feel bad about what happened last time, but if she's not bringing it up then he won't... He doesn't want to ruin the conversation! ]

It turns out the people here are from all over... You said you were from India, right?

[ Clearly he hardly knows a thing about her — their conversation was cut short by the aforementioned vomiting debacle — but Konstantin, ever the social butterfly, is perfectly comfortable with the assumption that Chloe is "a friend." ]

[m1895]

[ It's surprising that he's found the time to get to know anyone, given how rarely he leaves the cabin, but Vasiliy supposes that's a testament to just how affable and extroverted his companion is—even on a limited time, he's managed to make friends.

He used to be like that, back in his own time. Not so much any more. Even in Russia, he hadn't been; something changed when he died. ]

Yes, all over world. A lot of Americans here. [ He looks over at Chloe - the city she mentioned does sound like it might be a Hindi word. ] India..?

[desperate_times_right]

Yeah, I was born there. Moved to Australia when I was ten. [Whenever she says she's Indian, it's inevitable that someone will ask about her accent.] I was back there before all this happened, sorting out some family stuff.

You're right about from all over, it's pretty wild. All the people from the eighties, the Northwest Passage guys, the Viking girl... And then that like, robot kid from the future.

[sputnik]

[ As he listens, Konstantin switches his drink to the other hand, still holding it comfortably despite not taking a single sip, attention fixed on the topic of conversation. His interest in their fellow "Interlopers" runs multiple avenues: in general, he likes to know about people, who's around him, what they're like.

But there's the deeper part too, the matter of why specific people were brought to this impossible place. ]

Robot kid from the future? Do you mean Tobi? [ Yes, he's been getting around... meeting people... He shoots Vasiliy a brief little smile as though amused.

In truth, he isn't sure the young man he'd spoken to is the one in question here; he hadn't seemed like a robot... but there's a certain delight in being familiar enough with people's names and situations that he can bring them up in conversation. ]

[m1895]

[ Vasiliy watches with interest and—slight bewilderment. He doesn't get around nearly as much as his housemate does, which says something, considering the difference in physical ability between them. There was a time when he knew everyone—he was, as they say, the life of the party. Had he been asked at that time if someone extroverted by their basic nature could transform into someone much more reserved through external events, he never would have said yes.

He catalogues the fact that she was born in India for later consideration—she's white, and has ties to the former British asset of Australia, so it seems likely that her parents were Imperialists. And if that's the case, there's a decent likelihood that she could be right-leaning, at least by Vasiliy's own standards. He'll need to be wary around her until he knows more of her background; there is, fleetingly, a moment of awareness and gratitude for his own class background, his parents' unknowingly strategic choices. It certainly made life easier for him, less dangerous. He tucks away the brief impulse to take the photograph of them together from where he keeps it in one of the books on the shelf in the living room and re-memorize their faces for later. ]

A robot? Here?

[desperate_times_right]

[Chloe blinks, surprised.] No, I don't think I've met Tobi. I was thinking of Uzi. Tiny little thing, dresses like a goth teenager from the 90s and drinks motor oil.

[It’s hard to deny someone’s… robothood or whatever you want to call it when your first encounter with them is seeing them guzzle oil straight out of a car.]

I hadn't realized there was more than one robot here, though that probably shouldn't come as a surprise. We don't have anything like that at home.

[Chloe can't help watching the roommate here with a bit of interest. There's something there, not suspicion really but a kind of protectiveness that seems at odds with Kostya’s more gregarious nature. Maybe he's just trying to keep his charge from wearing himself out.]

There's Renny, too. He's from a fantasy world or something. Lord of the Rings shit.

[sputnik]

[ "Uzi" is a name he doesn't know, and the description is certainly something he wouldn't have forgotten. Konstantin blinks, stunned by the "drinks motor oil" part, but in a way that grabs his curiosity and propels it forwards. He's leaning towards Chloe with enthusiasm, brows lifting. ]

A genuine robot? I was half-joking about Tobi — he's from the distant future, but I don't think he's actually made of metal. But— a real robot?

[ Imagine!!! He's turning his head to give Vasiliy a wide-eyed smile, delighted, amazed, before he looks back to Chloe. Another name he's familiar with.... ]

Ah— Renny! He's a wonderful fellow. I was hoping to see him here tonight. [ He cranes his neck for a moment, eyes scanning the little crowd of minglers for any sight of the other man. He'd be easy to lose in a crowd... ]

We'll have to step up our game, Vasya. In comparison to all of our new neighbours, we must seem so boring. [ He smiles at the other Russian, playful. ...Of course, one of them has inexplicably returned from the dead and the other has a giant worm from outer space in his body so they're a pretty colourful pair themselves, but. ]

[m1895]

[ Vasiliy's seen hospital robots, things that clean the floors or bring medication to patients' rooms, but the whole idea of robotics is still one that fascinates regardless. Science has come so far, even with the restraints of operating within a capitalist society, and it's amazing to see.

A sentient robot, though, one with thoughts and feelings—AI in a metal chassis—that's something he hasn't seen before. He's not sure how he feels about it, truth be told; it seems like it would be awfully easy for the robots' flesh-and-blood creators to enslave them in an even more brutal pantomime of capitalism, given the complete lack of rights such a creature would have. ]

You? No—you've been to space. That's not so ordinary for the rest of us, Kostya, you're just used to it. Robots, though...?

[desperate_times_right]

[Good news Vasiliy, Chloe’s pretty sure a robot uprising is exactly what's going on with Uzi, though she hasn't spoken much with her about it.]

Yeah, Renny’s great. He came with me to explore that prepper base or whatever, by the waterfall. Sounds like he's an adventurer at home, too.

It definitely seems like everyone here has a story to tell. The aurora won't touch anyone boring, I guess.

[sputnik]

[ Konstantin can't help the reaction that comes at Vasiliy's comment — a sort of perking up that brightens him all over, and maybe something mostly seen in the eyes. It's a genuine happiness, something he's not sure he's felt in a long time. And while he doesn't verbally respond, there's a brief moment where he looks to the other man and sends that smile specifically to him: a response of its own. ]

The aurora...

[ He lifts his glass thoughtfully towards his mouth, though doesn't drink from it, only lets the rim of it brush his lip for a moment before lowering it again. The lights... ]

That's what they say brings us here, right. ...It sounds like we've all definitely been drugged, to me.

[ He gives another laugh (because of course he does), torso tipping forwards a little, an expressive man with his amusement. ]

[m1895]

[ He doesn't miss the smile—of course he doesn't; it makes his breath hitch midway down his throat with the renewed wave of warmth that rushes through his chest—just being in Konstantin's presence, listening to him talk, watching him subsequently laugh after he takes a drink feels like basking in the rays of the sun on a bright day.

It's incredible, that one person could be so magnetic, so charismatic—he really is exactly the sort of exceptional, larger-than-life person one expects a cosmonaut to be, the kind of man whose shadow Vasiliy has always stood in without minding much. ]

I wish I knew more about the universe. I don't think we're drugged right now—when people dream on anaesthesia it is not usually like this. [ He looks over at Chloe in particular. ] What is the last thing you remember?

[ He doesn't share his growing theory that some of the population, beyond just himself and his housemate, might just be dead or pulled from their worlds and crudely transplanted through time without explanation just as he had been—he had assumed upon his arrival, albeit more waveringly these days, that he'd somehow died in his sleep back in Chicago. A gas leak, a heart attack, a pulmonary embolism. Some unremarkable, silent death he wouldn't remember. Konstantin's arrival had both corroborated the theory and disputed it—he'd awoken completely alone, last time, a stranger taking first steps on a desolate alien planet. This is a lot more communal than his experience of dying.

And there's the matter of the darkwalker, and the woman's voice—some sort of entity may have just... brought them here, deliberately. ]

[desperate_times_right]

[Chloe’s still wearing that same broad smile, but her shoulders tense a little. Something about this is starting to feel like an interrogation, and that makes her nervous even though she didn't do anything. Is this some kind of good cop bad cop thing they've got going on?]

Like I said, I was at a party. We’d just got word the civil war was ending, and everyone was out in the street celebrating.

[Depending on where he comes from, the EMT is current enough that he might even know about it.]