Log - Restoring Bonnie's Flophouse: Part 1 - Open

[graveyounglady]

Who: Mercy Graves & OTA
When: Throughout July and August when things aren't going horribly wrong
Where: Bonnie's Flophouse
Summary: The first log for working on repairs to Bonnie's Flophouse that is part of a Player Plot. At the conclusion, the Flophouse will be a nicer residence to stay in than it currently is! For June/August, the focus is on fixing the roof/building exterior and the plumbing.
Warnings: Please just put them in subject lines if they come up!

I. We Feast
It's not a feast, precisely, but the spread that's been set up in the flophouse's communal kitchen is certainly enough food to feed a small army... one that's going to be marching on its stomach. When it seems like most people have arrived for the 'kick-off' of this month's activities, Mercy Graves finds herself a chair to stand on and hollers for attention.

"Thank you, kindly, for coming, brothers and sisters. I'm Sister Mercy Graves of the Spring Tide. May the spring bring life to you and yours... and this here building. I know plenty of you were in Wolf Pen with us a while back, and we did a fine job fixing up a home for some folk who was needing it. That was just one family. We got the chance to help more'n that, here. We got a chance to help ourselves.

"This place, this world, it's filled with plenty of darkness. Monsters and powers beyond any of our ken trying to rip it apart. Maybe we can't fix everything about that. Don't reckon we're the remedy this world needs on our own, but that means we can't do good while we're in it. The roof, the plumbing, the 'lectricity, and all the guts inside. Them's what we're fixing up here. We got some notion on an order, but if you got a talent for something particular, maybe you can start with that. For now, you eat, get to know each other. Maybe even take a look around the flophouse to see what we're dealing with.

"Ms. Bonnie said we can have the run of the place 'long as we're respectful to the folk actually living here. Maybe you can pick out a room you might like to call your own sometime. Once it's all fixed up... I'm gonna be moving here. ADI's nice, but they got more rules than you can shake a stick at. I spent more'n a year of my life trapped in a lockdown once. I don't intend to ever live through that again. So, I'd rather be here. Ms. Bonnie's got more freedom for us... maybe enough of it to do some planning for ourselves that we can bring to ADI later on, without them hovering over our shoulders. Thanks kindly! We'll be grouping up in pairs to start in a bit here. Just let me know if you need help finding someone to work with."

And so saying, she hops down and moves to grab a plate. The table is set with summer fair. A pair of big salads, hot dogs, ham, and baked fish. There are even a few tofu dogs for the vegetarians. Along with that is plenty of fresh fruit, whipped cream, freshly-baked bread, jam, and honey.

II. Raise the Roof
The state of the flophouse roof is, to put it mildly, bad. Characters who are willing to ascend to the highest points on the townhouse will find a thoroughly-neglected piece of the property. There are places where the insulation is fully exposed (and molding) because the shingles are just gone. It might even be possible for a poorly-placed step to break through the roof... and then through the attic, and down into one of the empty (or occupied) rooms. Step lightly, get ready to sweat, and make sure you have a buddy in case anything goes wrong.

III. Plumb the Depths
The plumbing inside the flophouse is a mix of old, rusting pipes, and poor connectors. There appears to be a sump pump system set up for the basement, but Bonnie's never been able to figure out how to get it to work. Some enterprising plumbers (and/or engineers) might want to take that job on while others have fun tearing into walls, ripping out damaged and molding insulation to replace it with fresh stuff and new piping. Unfortunately, all of this work does mean that there are hours when the flophouse has no water in it... that might start to get annoying if you're actually living there.

IV. Wildcard
Is your character pursuing a more solo-project or something that's not roofing or plumbing this month? Maybe they're on the hunt for materials... or a way to make extra cash for the job. Whatever it might be, have at it!

Comments

Mercy Graves | OTA

[graveyounglady]

I. We Feast
Mercy is tucking into food while she wanders the flophouse. She knows she needs to go back and be... leaderly in a bit, answer questions. Just for now, though, she takes a little breather after a full morning of food prep and gearing herself up for this whole thing. In any case, maybe Beau will take this as her moment to start handing out jobs. They'd talked about her taking point, after all. She has a look into one of the rooms and sees someone is already there.

"Oh, hey. Reckon this is one of the places we're gonna have to rip out most of the walls, judging on the mold. Know it ain't the part you're meant to enjoy, but I gotta say I'm looking forward to... demolition."

When she's not wandering, she is amongst the group, smiling and offering thanks for their generous support of this effort. She's also here to answer what questions she can. Though, she may have to defer to others more experienced than her on some things.

II. Raise the Roof
"Look out!" The shout is panicked, and Mercy waves her arms at everyone in front of the building to move. She'd only caught sight of the nailgun falling from the roof thanks to catching the metal glinting just as it had teetered on the end. And then, gravity had taken hold. The tool crashes on the ground, shooting a few nails out wildly before going still.

"Everyone okay? You let me see your arm. Did it get you?" Mercy had brought her medkit for a reason, she'd just hoped she wouldn't need it. If nothing else, praise the Spring Tide, it had been the nailgun and not a body. "Be careful up there!" she hollers.

Maybe you're the one who accidently lost their nailgun or one of the people on the ground. Either way, Mercy is fretting.

III. Plumb the Depths
And here, at last... the demolition. With guidance, Mercy's obtained some safety gear for people who will be helping with removing the moldy walls and insulation, but with all of the things happening lately. The feeling of eyes, those things in the mirrors, the bodies on the beach... she needs an outlet. Gutting a wall so someone can build it back better seems like just the thing. She has a mask and some goggles on, but she still grins as she looks over at her companion, a sledgehammer in hand.

"You want the first swing, or should I?"

IV. A Grave Young Lady (cw: grave robbing)
Mercy's been putting what she can toward the restoration efforts for the flophouse, but it's not enough. Not fast enough. Not when she knows a tried and true method of collecting a bit of extra coin. Praise to the Brother and his Earth, there are bodies she's spied being buried with a substantial collection of finery. Aelwyn's offered to help, and Mercy will take her up on it some nights, but others... others you might see the good sister slipping out of the ADI apartments well past midnight with assurances to the guard she knows she won't be let back in. She's got a research bee in her bonnet and needs to check at the headquarters library before the thought flies out of her head.

Anyone caring to follow or catching her on the street will see her circling the block and heading away from ADI, though. Over to one of the parks on the west side of town. One that abuts a graveyard.

II

[abrightboy]

"Just grazed," Malcolm says, his gaze fixed on the wound until he realizes who's reaching for his arm and he stumbles back a couple steps anxiously, but plasters on a small smile. "Barely a scratch. Really."

[graveyounglady]

Mercy takes the flinching as him being in more pain than he's letting on. "I got a medkit here. We'll get it cleaned and some ointment put on, just to be sure." It sitting near the stoop, and Mercy turns to grab it without reading terribly much into the fake smile. "You up to date on your tetanus shots? Know there ain't like to be rust, but I don't want you getting the lockjaw."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm watches her warily as she moves around.

"I'm up to date on all of my vaccinations."

He comes from privilege. He doesn't move to make his arm available yet, watching what she takes from the kit first.

[graveyounglady]

She opens the kit and pulls out an alcohol wipe, a little package of ointment, and a band-aid. Her attention turns back to him and how he's still standing away from her. Mercy steps toward him. "That's good. Ain't much fun getting stuck. They filled me fulla things when I first got here. Said it'd help protect me. Can I have your arm, please?"

[abrightboy]

He looks at the things in her hands a moment like they might change into something else, then he steps forward half a step, holding his arm out, but still watching her cautiously.

III!

[lesbeau]

Listen, sometimes you just need to destroy things in order to feel good about stuff again. Beau gets it. Life is stressful and sometimes all you can do is beat it with a hammer to show dominance. So here she is, not wearing as much PPE as she probably should because she's used to wrecking shit, and grins while she gestures a wrist at Mercy.

"Oh, by all means. Let's see what you can do."

[graveyounglady]

The mask obscures it, but there's a fiendish glee in Mercy's eyes as she grins and heft the sledgehammer. She swings it in a way she might when preparing to chop firewood. The head goes in, and she rips it back out quickly before taking another swing and another. "There's our starting point!" There's a hole about as big as a dinner platter. "But... guessing we oughta be careful of all the other things in the walls we don't want hammering at."

[lesbeau]

Beau can tell that sparkle that only comes from getting wanton destruction, and she sure as hell isn't getting in Mercy's way. She does watch and make sure she's not about to brain herself, but she's got something good going, and gives a chuckle as she wails on it a few times.

"Eeh, guess we could check for that. Or..." She walks up, cracking her knuckles slightly as she knocks on the wall in one, two, three places. Once she finds one that seems sufficiently hollow, she takes about a half step back and then just slams her fist straight through the wall. With it still in there, she grins back at Mercy. "See, or we could do that."

[graveyounglady]

Mercy's brows rise. "Don't that hurt your hands?" She's no stranger to violence, but apart from spats with her brother, most of her intended fighting has been with weapons at hand. She and Ciaran had made the mistake of trying to take down the Abbot barehanded once. It really hadn't gone well for either of them.

"You got iron in your bones, Ms. Beau?"

[lesbeau]

She can't help the little grin on her face when Mercy asks, the 'heh' that escapes her lips as her shoulders bob. Beau pulls her hand back out, releasing her fist and wiggling her fingers to show she's not damaged.

"Nah, nothing like that. It's technique. See..." Her knuckles are taped like usual around her hands and her wrist, and she makes a fist again for Mercy to observe. "It's how you punch without hurting yourself. And the tape helps to steady it. Trick is in the way you do it, not the force, and it just kinda... works out. I'unno. I've been doing it for years."

1 We Feast

[bindlestifflost]

George turns when he hears Mercy coming into the room. He has a mask over his nose and mouth, having been told it'll help with the mold. It might, but he has to say he's not much enjoying how sweaty and itchy it is. He already has a sledgehammer in a gloved hand.

His grin shows in the crinkle of his eyes. "Sometimes it feels real good jes' to hit something hard, especially when you know it's for a good cause." He has no qualms whatsoever about finding this part more fun than some of the rest. He'll take his enjoyment where he can.

[graveyounglady]

Mercy finishes up a slice of peach, then grins right back before leaning herself on the doorframe. "Hitting, shoveling, they're things I know better'n most others. Feels right sometimes. You thinking of moving in here once we got it cleaned up and looking pretty as a spade that ain't seen dirt? This room wouldn't be bad for you and... who're you rooming with over at ADI?"

[bindlestifflost]

"I might, if Slick an' Hickey wanted to give it a go," he says. He doesn't like the curfew in particular. It isn't right, treating grown adults like kids. Not to mention a few of the other rules. Their household is comfortable and balanced, the three of them with some similar interests. He doesn't want to abandon either one of them.

He takes a step back and hefts the sledgehammer in his hands. "Here we go." Taking a swing, he drives it into the drywall, sending up a cloud of gypsum and exposing some blackened insulation behind it. "Oh yeah. All a' that's gonna have to go," he says, frowning. Now he's glad of the mask after all, sweaty or not.

[graveyounglady]

"Oh, I talked to Mr. Hickey. He's supposed to be coming 'round to help! Interesting fella, but I ain't sure what to make of him, yet." She'll fall quiet and cover her mouth and nose quickly as he takes a hard swing. Once everything's exposed, she nods to herself.

"Aye. Lemme go get some gloves and a mask and bucket. I'll start gathering it up while you hammer. Ms. Beau said the mold'd be setting its roots deep in here. Probably ain't bad looking to see if any of the wood's too far gone, too, and needing replaced."

[bindlestifflost]

"He ain't too bad." A little odd, maybe, prickly about some things. George has learned to watch that pride of his.

"Sounds like a good plan. I'll keep knockin' at it. I reckon we can pick at the wood with a knife, see how far the rot's set in." He turns back to the wall and keeps swinging, taking care not to drive it in too far and staying away from lines somebody has marked on the wall mapping out conduit.

A Grave Young Lady (cw: light stalking)

[whisperedone]

He's making his way towards ADI's gate when he picks up on the exchange. He might not have thought anything of it but for the fact he...earnestly doesn't remember ever hearing her research or study much at all. She was more of a doer.

Which told him she was out doing something and something she felt the need to lie about, something else that seemed off from his perception of her. Anyone else and he might have left it, but he likes Mercy and his curiosity was a sharp and hungry thing.

It really isn't hard to follow her. He lets her leave while he still keeps several paces back and away from the brighter glow of a street light. The head start serves him to keep his footsteps in line with hers without catching up and he's quick to pause as she does. The electric hum of lights are avoided and he largely keeps his focus on tracking her through her circuitous route and into a park. The crunch of grass makes his footsteps harder to match to hers the same way as concrete, and while it's darker out here, it's also more open, so he simply keeps himself quiet, leaving it to chance on if he's noticed.

At least until his mental map provides a possible destination ahead of them.

"Are we going to the graveyard?"

[graveyounglady]

It's a very good thing Mercy doesn't have her shovel, yet, or she might have flung it at Garner's head. As it is, she draws in a sharp breath and darts behind a tree. Like that's going to help when someone has obviously spotted-

That's Garner. What in the seas and mountains is he doing following her? How was she stalked by a blind man? That's just embarrassing. She's clearly fallen out of practice with some of her sneaking.

"I was just... taking a nighttime stroll. Visiting them that live below. What're you doing up and following a lady?"

[whisperedone]

Oh.

Yes, he should have thought of the ramifications of sneaking up on someone. Now he feels a little bad as he hears her dart off. Well...sort of bad, she also just lied bold faced to him, so.

"Ah...so...not off to research as you stated before? I had been curious what research there was to find in the park." Or the graveyard, perhaps. There's a pause and his brow arches high. "Is there a reason you're trying to deflect me?"

[graveyounglady]

He'd overheard that, had he? Mercy makes a face to herself. How much can she trust him? She trusts Aelwyn with this secret implicitly, but there's a reason she and Colm had always kept quiet about their moonlight activities. They might have no issue with it, but many would.

"Decided to take in some air afore that. I'm only deflecting 'cause I don't like people stalking me. That a common thing you do?"

I. (THE LATEST)

[punched_hitler]

Steve hasn't been to the flophouse before; he listens intently as Mercy speaks, then can't help but grab something to eat - everything looks so good, and he doens't need to eat as much as he used to, but he can still appreciate good food - and decides to take a quick look around before he finds someone to shadow, since he's more an extra pair of hands for this part than an actual skilled laborer.

He smiles at her, though, because, "You know, demolition is awfully fun. Especially when it's for a good cause.

Never too late!

[graveyounglady]

Mercy has to admit, he is a fine looking man. Those arms. She's been trying not to stare at him. But when talks to her... well, that's an excuse, isn't it? Her smile widens just a bit.

"Ain't no better than getting a good shelter for folk who need it. Well... right after getting their bellies full. Me and my family took in a fella who needed some help with both of those things a few years back on account of his crops failing and his house going up in smoke. He tried stealing from our Abbey, but we gave him a home and tuck enough he wasn't turning into a scarecrow, and he was just the nicest fella, willing to help out anyone.

"Good work and a kind turn breeds more of its like."

Steve does have a habit of it anyway XD

[punched_hitler]

Steve nods - he lived through the Depression, and while he lived in a city, he's still familiar enough with people losing everything. And what it can make them do. What a little kindness can do to change that.

"I think you're right," he agrees. "It can be hard for someone to take that first step, but I think it's worth it, too." He glances around. "Maybe if this goes well, we could help out other places in the area, too." He can't imagine most people would be averse to someone showing up offering to fix a leaking roof or repaint a peeling wall.

[graveyounglady]

"That'd be nice. Seems like this city gets battered with a whole mess of things thanks to ADI being here. Or Dogtown? Don't rightly know which of them come along first." That gives her pause, actually, as she considers. "You don't think that's important, do you? I don't think I actually know the answer. Reckon the wood come up first, though..."

George Milton | OTA

[bindlestifflost]

II. Raise the Roof

George is already topside on his knees and watching his partner for this climbing the tall, extended ladder. "Jes' take your time," he calls down encouragement. He's in a harness, tied off, as he's heard it called. It seems like a lot of fuss over nothing to him. He has been on higher roofs in worse shape, but one of the construction guys seemed awfully fussy about it until he caved and agreed.

"It's real bad up here. We's gonna have to tear out some a' this insulation and roll more in before we can start on the subroofing. Doubt we'll get to the shingles today at all."

IV. Wildcard

George is in front of the house, but for once he's not moving toward the ladder for roof work. He's waiting for somebody else to get there, pacing a little bit in the process. When someone approaches, he says, "Hey, I know you done showed up to work on this, but I got a little lead on a side project down by the docks. Feller said if I helped him scope out a shipment, he'd give me a hundred fifty bucks. Might be a little dangerous. Extra pair of eyes wouldn't hurt."

Might be illegal for all he knows. He didn't ask.