singillatim | a late summer catchall

[ Her response earns her a friendly smile from Makoto. He's seen her before, probably. But it's doubtful that he knows her name, and he's certain they've never really spoken before now.

Cue friendly new neighbor tone of voice-- ]

Well, I guess you could say that. It's been a few months already, but some of you have been around way longer than that, right?

Yeah. I got nabbed just before the new year, so like… eight months and a bit?

[Almost a year. Christ.

She extends a hand.]

Chloe Frazer.

Oh, then you must be a pro by now.

[ Makoto removes one dusty scavenged glove before standing and extending his own hand to shake hers. ]

Makoto Edamura. Nice to meet you.

[ He might not look like he has it in him, but the shake is firm enough from confidence without any attempt at being overpowering. ]

So, have any advice for fixing up the place? I mean, it's livable, [ A glance back as he retrieves his hand to scratch at a cheek. ] I think.

[ Well, it's noticeably better than when he first started at least, but he is clearly no carpenter. At least it's one of the smaller houses on the block. ]

As much as you can be when everything changes every couple of weeks.

[Really, this is not the worst carpentry job that Chloe has seen here, though that's not saying much.

Unfortunately her own strategy is mostly to flirt with people until they do it for her, and she's not sure if that would work for this guy.]

Not the most beautiful, but if it keeps you warm that's what matters, right? The cops might be able to help you out. Raylan lives on this street and I know he was looking for work.

Right...

[ Makoto's short laugh at that response is a bit of a broken, sheepish one. It's not like she's wrong, but as far he's concerned things have largely been looking up since the violence that erupted not too long ago. ]

Yeah, that's what really matters. I even fixed up the fireplace first and everything. Well, after I made sure I wasn't falling through the floor any time soon. [ A blink. ] Cops? [ The rest is almost under his breath as he trails off looking behind him at his new house again-- ] Do we really have any actual laws to uphold around here?

But all right, that sounds like a great idea. Think he'd work for food?

Cops back where they came from, but a bunch of them love to “patrol” here too. [Yes, she does the air quotes.]

I think he’d work just for a chance to get out of the house. Anything else is gravy.

Oh. Well, I guess that's a "nice" idea if they're just looking out for people. Actually arresting anyone without laws would be pretty unfair though, wouldn't it?

Is he really that bored?

I'm more worried about someone getting trigger-happy, personally.

[A lot of those guys carry guns and they're not the most emotionally stable bunch.]

He sounds like he's going pretty stir crazy. This is the poker guy.

Oh I agree, but what can the cops really do to prevent that?

Really? I'll have a lot for him to help with then. Poker guy, huh... [ There's a pause, as Makoto puts some pieces together before sounding sure of himself. ] I know-- he wears a cowboy hat too, right?

I mean the cops themselves! A lot of those guys patrolling carry guns.

Yeah, that's him, the cowboy hat guy. He lives on our street.

Oh. [ Makoto blinks at that-- ] Well, they don't sound like very good cops then. But cop or not, most people carry guns around here anyway, don't they?

[ It's probably noticeable by now just how hard his accent in English is to place. Fluent and understandable, but a mishmash of different dialects cobbled together by someone that learned from people who came from very different parts of the English speaking world. ]

I'll be sure to ask him, thanks for the tip Ms. Frazer.

[ Yes, that title is used with full sincerity. And so he continues to believe most people he's met are older than him. At least this time he's right. ]

Sure, lots of people do. [Chloe’s had guns pointed at her twice so far here in a way that had felt like they might really shoot her.] Mostly for the animals, though. The wolves here can be aggressive.

[He is younger than her but it's still weird! The only people who call her that are from super far in the past or doing weird BSDM stuff with her.]

What year was it, where you're from?

Yeah, I've heard them a lot more than I've seen them though.

[ As a human, at least.

Also don't tell Makoto that, Ms. Frazer, he'll never live down the embarrassment once he remembers what BDSM stands for. ]

Oh, uh, 2020. So are you from Earth too? Most people seem to be around here, from some time or another.

Yeah. They were coming into town pretty brazenly for a while, but that was before either of us got here.

[Now there are different concerns about wolves anyway.]

Yeah, I'm from Earth, too. You're a bit ahead of me, though. 2018.

Well, I hope they don't do that again.

[ He isn't advertising that he's probably part of the concern. ]

We're pretty close then, that's pretty cool. Where on Earth are you from? If you don't mind me asking.

[No, they're different! They're nice wolves who don't glow and bite people. But for now they won't recognize a fellow wolf.]

Well, as you can probably tell, I grew up in Australia. [She has a pretty noticeable accent.] Moved there from India when I was ten.

You?

Yeah, that was my guess. I just think it's polite to ask anyway.

[ Considering how many times people have called him Korean back home. ]

Japan. But I traveled all over the world for business. Never made it to Australia though, sorry.

Business, huh? What do you do?

[Maybe he's in the business too, who knows?]

No worries. My heart’s in India anyway.

Oh, I tried a lot of different kinds of work. Before this place though? It was trading, import and export, mostly across Asia and the Middle East. That includes India, by the way.

[ Another smile at that-- ] Mine will always be in Japan, I think. Even being stuck here won't change that.

So, what kind of work did you do before all this?

Might be a similar kind of thing. I find stuff for people.

[She’s a treasure hunter, and a thief on top of that.]

Really? What kind of stuff?

[ Said with genuine, non-criminal interest. ]

Stuff that's lost, mostly, or hidden. Before I got taken here I was in India retrieving an artifact for the Ministry of Culture.

[She’d only decided to offer it to the Ministry at the end, after everything had happened, but whatever. They're getting it.]

Oh, that already sounds way cooler than rugs and statues.

So, did you find it?

Yeah, but it got sold out from under us and then almost exploded. We got it in the end, though.

[ A blink. ]

Exploded? That sounds pretty dangerous for an artifact.

I'm glad you got it, but what was it anyway?

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