singillatim | he's got that dog in him

"Great idea. I think I'd like to keep my fingers." Makoto's response is polite in tone, but it's hard to miss the joke. Or the genuine eagerness to feel productive at last. That is a sentiment from Makoto that Hickey likely faced the brunt of before they even made it this far.

His expression turns serious enough at the question. There's more determination than any disgust in his frown and slightly knitted brow now. Animals were a little harder than people that deserved it, somehow. In movies, of course.

"Yeah, I know," Makoto says it resolutely with a nod, "We've got to eat too. And it's not like we're the only predators out here either. But is it pretty quick--you know, them dying?"

This kid is very much a city boy.

"Depends on how quickly you kill them," he points out. "Slice across the throat in just the right way, they'll bleed out pretty quickly. If you're sloppy or you don't get the vein all the way, it might take a bit before they bleed out." Which he knows sounds terrible and he knows sounds heartless, but Hickey's just talking about it like it's a normal, every day occurrence. After all, Makoto's right: they've got to eat too.

"I've got a few snares set out in the woods. One of them should have caught a rabbit, now that game's back. I'll show you how to kill it, show you how to tie the snare, then we can check a few more before going back to process them."

"Right... that makes sense." Makoto agrees, mirroring Hickey's casual tone. This sort of thing will become an every day occurrence anyway, so he might as well get used to it sooner rather than later. Killing for food is hardly the most distasteful pill he's had to swallow in his life, even before he called Milton home. That doesn't mean he takes any joy at the thought of it.

"Oh, so you can just retie them after taking the rabbits? How do you even know where to set them up in the first place?" he questions, openly curious. A student more than a trapper in training, Makoto probably does seem young for his age. Being clueless about actual survival skills doesn't exactly help. Still baby faced into his late twenties, at least Makoto finally stopped being mistaken for a high schooler before waking up in the snow. Yes, he believes both Hickey and Billy to be much older than him, and it shows in his level of politeness.

"If the rope's still good, yeah. Sometimes it gets a bit too damp or too frayed, especially if the creature tried to chew it's way out of it. But a snare's just a piece of rope tied a certain way. Why couldn't you reuse it?"

At least, in Hickey's mind, you could totally reuse it. But then again, his experiences have been mostly trial, error, and hoping for the best.

"As for how to know where to set them up, I generally keep a look out for tracks. That's one good thing about the snow and ice in this place: it's easy to see where something's been. Dunno how I'd manage to do it if everything was summer."

"Sounds like we need a lot of good rope, just in case." he responds like he's jotting down notes, filing every piece of information he can. How do you even make rope? If there's one good thing about this place, every day Makoto is learning just how many things he used to take for granted.

"Well, then they would just leave tracks in the dirt or something like that, right?" Makoto guesses as his gaze falls to the snow around their feet, but the way the sentence drifts makes it more an open question to himself than one that begs an actual answer.

The next question, however, is accompanied by a look up to Hickey, "Do you rotate areas?"

Hickey nods. "Animals aren't stupid. If enough of their mates die in one area, they won't go to it for a bit. I'll rotate areas or go further out into the wilds until they get suspicious of that area. And then I'll swap back to the first one."

As they walk further out into the wilds, Hickey moves with surprising grace and ease. It's like snow doesn't matter to him, like the unsteadiness of walking on snow is a minor inconvenience. There's no stumbling or hesitation: he's walking like he's lived here and walked on snow his entire life.

Further into the wilds, Makoto is a sharp contrast to Hickey's grace. He stayed away from this much snow most of his life, and it shows in his heavier, slower steps. Each one is cautious without any practiced ease. He keeps up with Hickey through sheer force of will and purposefully longer strides. Makoto was even worse when he first arrived, for today there are no stumbles. When there is a person to glean from, Makoto is luckily a quick study. And glean he does, innately and without comical mimicry of Hickey, but progress is made the further out they get.

There's a pause before the next question, Makoto's gaze drifting again out over the wilderness. He isn't used to this either, the quiet lack of people. It's supposed to be peaceful, isn't it?

"How far out have you gone? Ever run into any wolves?" he asks without sounding afraid. They probably aren't moon touched at this point in time, but wolves were the first animals Makoto heard when arriving here. So now the thought suddenly rings as he listens for them. At least this time he's armed and insulated, not that anyone here has seen whether Makoto knows how to shoot a gun or not yet.

Edited (+ comma, paragraph break unsettled me) 2024-07-12 03:07 (UTC)

"Not yet," Hickey muses, in response to the wolf question. "Wolves attacked a while back but that was different. It wasn't as...out there as we'll go. Honestly, I think something drove them closer."

Also, when Hickey dealt with the wolves, he killed one and ate part of it and got violently sick so he's just keeping that to himself for the moment.

"But I've gone out pretty far. Farther than I should some days. That's the most important thing, keeping an eye on yourself and trying not to over exert yourself."

"Really?" Makoto keeps his gaze ahead, off into the wilds, as he goes on, "What do you think was driving them closer?"

He doesn't hide the curiosity, even as he swallows the foreboding implication of something worse than what the wilderness usually holds. None of the people brought here were welcomed by nature, he's figured that much out.

"Got it. I won't push myself too hard. By the way... I really appreciate all of this. I mean it. Both of you know so much, I can't help but want to learn as much as I can."

"Good."

That last statement, wanting to learn everything he can...as far as Hickey's concerned, that's a good sign. He doesn't want to deal with anybody here who twiddles their thumbs and relies on the goodness of others for help. Nah. Forget that. They're in a situation where everybody needs to help, where everybody needs to grow, and just sitting in the community center feeling sorry for yourself won't cut it.

"This place...it's better than what I had to deal with back home, but it's challenging in it's own way. If you don't learn that much, if you don't better yourself, you'll end up falling behind. And when all the cards are on the table, when there's barely any food left and everyone's out for themselves and their own, it's the stragglers that are going to get ignored."

"That expedition was rough for you too, huh?" It's a passing observation, lacking in any judgment. There's no intended pity either. People hurt to varying degrees, no matter what world they're from. It's a truth Makoto knew even before showing up here.

"But if we're smart about managing resources--if we work together, then less people will have to be stragglers in the first place, right?" His optimism hasn't flagged a bit, even with his practical approach to the number of new things he has to worry about. There are calculations behind his eyes, wondering how much food can be preserved and how much they'd need for everyone. Or almost everyone. Who even gets to decide? People with no friends getting left behind feels unfair enough to him that Makoto's frown returns.

"Absolutely right," Hickey nods. And truth be told? He doesn't have much faith in the people here to work together—or at least, to work together with him. He plans on focusing on himself and on Billy Gibson over anybody else. That being said, Hickey's not an idiot. He knows that it's best for the group as a whole if people weren't ridiculous about the matter and could at least take care of themselves.

The problem, of course, is people in general.

"That's why I'm glad you're smart enough to ask around and learn more. It's good to see someone with that level of drive."

"Thanks, I'm glad you think that. I'm surprised more people aren't trying to learn this kind of stuff."

The compliment has Makoto standing a little taller with his next step and his chin tilts higher. A wave of confidence works its way into his voice.

"There's a lot to learn, but just leave it to me. I bet I'll be your best student in no time." Makoto says it genuinely, before a little laugh breaks it. In its short wake, he adds more."I'm guessing you haven't had that many though."

"You're my first," Hickey admits, with a little shrug. Which is a bit embarrassing! But he's ignoring that. After all, he's wonderful and phenomenal and totally has this down pat.

"Though granted, that means you'll obviously be the best."

"Of course I will," Makoto asserts, confidence clearly still buoyed, "Hopefully I won't be your last either. Maybe I could even help with the nex--"

With his eyes on Hickey instead of where he's going, Makoto nearly tips forward when one foot sticks in the snow a beat too long. It's a blip in his stride, cutting off his sentence with a soft, stunted sound. It's easily recovered from without coming close to falling, but awful hard to miss. Time to try and smooth it over--

"But that also means you'll be the best trapping teacher I've ever had too, you know. I'll take any advice you've got for me."

Hickey can't help it: he lets out a little chuckle as he spots Makoto almost wipe you.

"I guarantee you that you'll be my best student. Now here. This is a good spot. Watch what I'm doing and follow my lead."

And then Hickey explains how to make a basic snare. Tie it off so that if something steps in it and tries to walk away, it pulls tight, trapping the animal still. Hickey goes through explaining the knots, step by step. And honestly? He's not half bad as a teacher. Though whether this is because Hickey knows what he's doing or he wants to show off, jury's out.

Makoto steadies himself, returning that chuckle with a slightly sheepish one of his own. The trick is learning from every slip. But then instruction starts, time to be serious.

"You got it, teach."

It's said light enough to be a joke, but with far too much raw sincerity.

Makoto's expression shifts as he pays close attention, nodding with sounds of agreement. As the demonstration goes on, he frowns slightly more in concentration than displeasure.

He isn't half bad as a student when Makoto puts his mind to it, especially with visuals. Deft work like knots aren't that far out of his wheelhouse. Makoto's already used to working with his hands. Technical, detailed work; digits accustomed to moving tools, cards, wallets. Some of it may be noticeable in how well his first attempt goes once he finally gets to try one. It might not be as good as Hickey's, but it certainly isn't bad. And Makoto knows it. With pride written all over his face, he grins over at Hickey.

"Not bad, right?"

When Makoto finally gets it, when his second attempt goes a lot better, Hickey can't help but grin. He reaches over to give Makoto a light punch on the shoulder before laughing, "There you go! Bloody well have it, don't you? More practice and I'm sure you'll be able to keep you and yours fed."

Makoto doesn't see the punch coming, but it's light enough that he doesn't shift. It does knock a laugh out of him too. One that continues right into his words.

"Well, that's only because I had such a good teacher."

His laugh falters off when he remembers what comes after the catch.

"So, what's next?"

"Well, we'll check the remainder of the traps. Carry this corpse with us while we do so. And when we get back home, that's when you do the butchery."

Hickey shrugs a little before pointing out, "Some people might do it in the forest. But then you've got to carry the pelts as well as the meat and that's just too much work."

And Hickey, at his core, is super lazy.

"Right. How many do you think we'll find?"

Makoto nods. But he doesn't offer to kill the next one, unless prompted, though he will offer to carry the next corpse with a raise of his hand. There's no excitement in it, but it seems that a level of professional resignation has melted his distaste away. He still can't quite look them in the eyes yet.

"Depends. Normally I find one or two. Some days there's nothing. Other days there's four or five. It's enough to keep me and mine going, but I'm never swimming in meat or pelts."

There's a moment before Hickey continues with,

"Managed to catch a deer once. Dunno how, I suspect the thing broke a leg trying to get out of the snare. But it's usually rabbits and occasionally one of those fat little birds."

Ptarmigan. The word you're looking for is ptarmigan.

Makoto follows Hickey's lead again, his attention back on the wilderness around them as they go. There's an awed sound at the mention of the deer and he's clearly ready to ask about it until he's distracted by that last sentence.

"Oh, you mean the white ones? Do they taste any good?"

"Pretty good," Hickey nods. "They're kind of game-y in a way? Like other fowl, but you can tell there's more to it."

Which is a terrible description but it is what it is. Hickey is nowhere close to a food connoisseur.

"Rabbits are more useful, in my opinion. You can save the feathers from that bird for down or to stuff a pillow, but I haven't found much other use for them."

"Like game-y chickens then, am I right?"

More nodding to the rest of Hickey's thoughts, but there are more gears turning again.

"Well, you can make stock with the bones of either of them. And even if you can't eat the feathers, there's got to be more ways to use them. Don't people use them for lures and stuff? You know, for fishing? I think some coats get stuffed with them too." A shrug, "But I totally agree, rabbits seem more useful around here."

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fair warning: my urban ass is BULLSHITTING LIKE HELL for the specifics of how this works

my equally urban ass will not know the difference. I'm so sorry he's curious

we shall struggle together

:handshake:

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sorryyy about that delay :(

don't worry about it! <3

<3

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I always think I'll be able to tag at airports and prove myself wrong

nothing kills one's motivation like an airport

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okay. I'm really back this time I swear.

dude, don't worry about it!

\o/

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