A Real Scorcher

[Donovan Ackerman]

Now for secret details: Donovan’s mother is deathly sick and his fetch is spending a lot of money (resources 5) to keep her alive. The fetch and mother are both aware of what the fetch is but still consider each other family and love each other. The mother is responsible for the brothers being taken due to a deal with the Gentleman she didn’t fully understand but due to raising identical triplets recognized almost immediately the brothers had been replaced by look alikes. She has become a proficient occultist over the years researching her mistake. The sickness she has is actually caused by the brothers escaping Arcadia. The fetch is only barely able to keep it in check with experimental treatments. There are three ways of curing her; a hera pear, merging Donovan with his fetch, or Donovan returning to Arcadia.


The sun beat down on Donovan. It always did but there was a difference between his mantle and when the actual mortal sun was over your head. There was an even greater difference when it was over 100 degrees outside. It was a day when the pavement heated so that it could blister through callouses and second degree sunburns were only ten minutes away from forming. A day when everyone hid inside with their air conditioning and closed the blinds to keep out the scorching rays.


The perfect day for Donovan to work.


Southside Park Community gardens were abandoned to the heat wave. No one was coming out here at high noon on a day like this to tend the plants. Not when just touching the black iron fence gate felt like holding coals. Which suited the Woodwalker just fine.


He’d hopped the fence without a care and as he worked one of the plots all by his lonesome, he wasn’t even sweating. Invisible glamour shimmered like sunlight in the air. For the Summer courtier the record setting day felt like a balmy seaside holiday. The black iron gate was cool to the touch. And without prying eyes the soil and plants almost did the work themselves.

Not to mention he wasn't actually signed up to work the garden plots. The wait list was several years long and he wouldn't have been able to sign up anyway with his real name. Not having anyone around made it so people didn't ask as many questions. At least today he didn't have to come in after dark. He could work in the open. Under the sun as it warmed him gently.

Glamour expenditure

2 Glamour Cloak of Elements
1 Glamour Son of the Hearth 3 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2017-09-10 09:44:06		Donovan rolls 5 to Survival+Wyrd (8 Again)		5, 1, 2, 10, 7, 10, 10, 2		3 successes

2 Glamour Brownie's Boon

Gardens

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[Quick]

Today isn't a day for deodorant. No, sir. Quick wouldn't even step outside to his usual rounds without applying a mean layer of fresh-scented antiperspirant. Sweating while running is one thing; sweating from stepping into an oven is another entirely. And Quick has no intention of being seen in public with big dark wet spots under his arms. His public, such as it would be today, seem to know better than him. Though he had spotted a few shirtless guys on his walk, most of the people he's seen have been in the comfort of their cars. With AC.

As the Wyrd would have it, the lightning is drawn down a pleasant path through Southside Park. The one with the gardens. Like he'd mentioned to that farm-boy Donovan. The one who'd beaten him in a race. Beaten. Living. Lightning. It still stings, though Quick is more angry at himself than Donovan. Let him have his win. He earned it. Unlike the Levinquick himself. Quick blinks a few times. The black iron gate to the Community Gardens lay just ahead. How did he get here again?

"Donovan?" he calls out, noticing the subject of his mental tangent for the first time. Hell, what is he doing out here today? Looking no worse for the wear from the heat of the sun. The plants should be frying out here as well as person crazy enough to be here. And, yes, Quick is here too. But he doesn't have to explain that to anyone. Except maybe Donovan.

[Donovan Ackerman]

Donovan’s gardening efforts slowed to a crawl. It happened from time to time. It just meant someone was watching him. Usually it didn’t last too long. A car passing. Someone peeking out a curtained window. However when he heard his name called, he knew this was different.

Looking up from his weeding, there was Quick standing at the gate.

“Howdy Quick,” he called back, brushing his hands on his pants leaving streaks of brown on the denim and yet not seeming to have any less dirt on his hands.

He got up and started walking over, smiling to see the masked Changeling. Gardening forgotten. He gave a nervous scratch that left another streak of mud above his eyebrow.

“What are you doin’ runnin’ on a day like this?” the Woodwalker still knew it was hot even if it didn’t bother him. He’d spent enough time in the Arcadian fields to know the dangers of heat exhaustion and dehydration. The fact that Quick's shirt wasn't plastered to his chest with sweat was both disappointing and a little worrying. The smile took on a bit of concern. “You got water? There’s a hose over yonder if you’re thirsty.”

[Quick]

Quick returns the smile, looking down at the Summer's hands and back again. "Real dirt this time, huh?" he asks, imagining Donovan hard at work. Real dirt isn't as off-putting as fae-fashioned clods, and the Woodwalker had mentioned being fond of working with his hands. If Quick is honest with himself, Donovan comes off as an oddly honest type of drifter. Not everyone on the road needs to survive on wits and the misfortune of others, it would seem.

The Levinquick shrugs. "It's what I do. Keeps me grounded." It'sa pun he's slipped into by accident so often he's made it a thing. Eyeing the hose, he nods. "Probably a good idea. One sec."

He makes his way over to the hose and gives the spigot a few spins. Waits for the air to escape and let some cool water out. The slightly metallic taste of hose water is like an old friend - something he never outgrew the taste for. "Mmph-- um..." He pauses to wips his mouth, still slightly stooped over to keep the flow away from his shoes and clothes. "Want some? While I got it running?" He gives the hose a lift towards Donovan's direction. Looking back at the Summer, Quick marvels again that he seems unfazed by the heat. Hadn't he mentioned something about that, though? Beating the heat? Another few blinks.

"Got something on your face, too. My hands are clean. If, you know, you want me to get it." he offers. Stupidly. Like Donovan cares about a little dirt.

[Donovan Ackerman]

“Real dirt,” he confirmed with a smirk and a shrug. Even the constant manure smell seems less. Though it seems to have been more replaced by the smell of mulch and compost than anything else.

“Grounded, I get that.” Though the fact that it was supposed to be a pun escaped Donovan, never having seen Quick’s mein. Still, gardening held the same sort of feeling for him. Though, the fact that he had stopped tending the beds was only one reason he felt less grounded now as he followed Quick over to the hose.

When offered the hose he simply said “Can’t hurt.” As he took it from the Elemental. He took some big gulps and gave a satisfied sigh when he finished. Unlike his fellow, Donovan didn’t wipe his mouth.

Although, Quick’s comment of something on his face did have the Woodwalker wiping his nose to check. Which only succeeded in getting more soil on his face in a different spot. The offer to help clean him off seemed to catch Donovan off guard, since Quick knew it was more part of the Wizened's mein than anything. There'd always be more.

“It don’t really… umm… erherm,” he cleared his throat. “Sure?”

[Quick]

Quick's face screws up into an embarrassed smile, watching Donovan make a bigger mess of his face than before. At this point, helping clean the Summer up would be a moot point - but dammit if it wasn't meant to be a kind gesture. Pushing the pointlessness of the task aside, Quick rubs at the spot of mud above Donovan's brow.

"There. Better." But not really. Still, the Levinquick smiles to cover before getting back to his train of thought. "Oh! Um... that thing you mentioned? At the riverfront. You doing it now? You're not sweating. Like at all." One hand strays to his hip as he gestures for the hose. "Summer's almost over and all, but I wouldn't mind. Learning how to do it."

[Donovan Ackerman]

Donovan’s skin tingled where Quick touched it. The farm boy stood a bit awkward and silent, while looking at Quick rubbing a thumb across his brow, which furrowed slightly.

“Thanks,” he replies with a small half smile. The Woodwalker seems about to ask something but the look disappears when Quick remembers about the offer to teach contracts.

“Ah right. That,” he says as if surprised to find he is indeed not sweating through his clothes when he glances down. Then looking around to make sure there isn’t anyone else around.

“Yeah, got two contracts to help with heat. One with fire, and one with Summer.” He glanced around again “If you want to hang around, maybe lend a hand. I can teach you while I work. Did you have one were you thinkin' you'd want to learn? Or do you know what each does? Weren't really able to go into detail before.”

[Quick]

That could have gone worse. "Sure." All awkwardness aside, there's nothing wrong with treating someone who's lost something like they haven't. Even if that thing lost is the ability to be clean. Or... so Quick tells himself.

Donovan's explanation leaves Quick with a wicked grin. Even if the prospect of getting his hands dirty isn't that appealing. "Got Fire covered. Another friend, while back. But I'm guessing the Summer one makes you comfortable?" He shrugs. "You can tell me about both if you want."

Gesturing out towards the plants in the garden, Quick asks "Where do I start? Can't say I've gardened before." ​

[Donovan Ackerman]

“Probably best to stick with weedin’. This late in the season you don’t gotta worry ‘bout pullin’ up sprouts not knowin’ what they are. Just go for any of the smaller stuff creepin’ up. Try and get any weeds by the base too. Less likely to leave roots in the ground so they can grow back.” Donovan strode over to where he had been working and squatted comfortably down on his heels and began combing the woodchips for dandelions and unwrapping morning glory from stems.

“You got fire down, so agreements with seasons… It makes things more comfortable is the long and short of it. It don’t help in extreme situations. Ain’t goin’ to get you out of a burnin’ buildin’ without burns. Temperature gets too high, or too low, Summer’s goin’ to have a hard time keepin’ up. That said it does go both ways. It helps in the cold as well as the heat. And with a bit of effort you can warm or cool a whole room, not just yerself. Though harder to heat a warehouse than a hut. Make sense so far?" That was just what it did. How to do it, like any magic, was the tricky part.

[Quick]

Following closely after, the Elemental attempts to stoop down gracefully but eventually just ends up kneeling. Good thing he'd worn shorts. "Alright, sure." he says, looking for the closest thing that looks like a weed. He grips it with one hand and tries to pluck it like a carrot, buy only succeeds in ripping a few of the leaves. He huffs in frustration. His second attempt goes a little better, and he's able to rip the weed out from the base after bracing his hand next to it. Tossing the vanquished plant aside, his eyes search out Donovan's. "Alright, so... maybe I've never weeded before." He tries to smile and shrug it off, though he can't help but feel a little stupid. How hard was it to tend a garden?

"Right. Burning buildings would be Fire's job. Pushing the flames back, or whatever. So... you're telling me I could use this and what? Walk out to the beach on a cold December night with no jacket?" An enticing idea, now that he's voiced it. The beach was pretty any time of year, but the waterfront always made the air cooler. Winter was just too damn cold to stay by the water for too long. "How do I do it?" he asks, reaching for another weed to pluck. This one goes smoothly enough. He laughs lightly, not knowing why.