cape_kore | video; day 51; 004

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video; day 51; 004

[ Laura only really uses the network when she wants to talk to everyone - this is no exception. Pay attention, residents of Kore! She's offering up her services again - like hell if it's grave digging again though. This time it's far less morbid, and her cheerful demeanour says just as much. ]

So, fellow kidnap-ees! None of us like starving, and none of us like waiting on mysterious food drops for help? Well, a few people have brought it up, and we can't be stuck in winter forever, right?

[ She's been doing really well at super confident, dazzling smile up until now. It's slipping though, the closer she gets to actually suggesting useful ideas, the more nervous she seems to get. Laura is no public speaker, after all. ]

Basically, I lived on a farm my whole life. Like, literally. I worked on it my whole life too, and basically ran it the last year or so. So I figured, if anyone wants to learn how to do this stuff, I can show you, and if we start now? Well by the time we can actually start doing anything useful, everyone will know enough to help out.

[ She shrugs, offers another bright smile and gives a little wave. ]

Anyway, that's pretty much it so just, let me know okay? Okay.

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Oh! I wouldn't mind helping at all. I've done more flower gardening than fruits and vegetables, but I doubt that it's any harder.

Sounds great! Yeah, it's essentially just a bit bigger scale, but anyone with experience is going to be a big help. [ Seriously. She's super relieved that not everyone will be going into this blind - Laura doesn't exactly know how much of a teacher she is yet. ]

I mean, we can't do much until the weather warms up, but it can't hurt to be prepared, right?

Do we have seeds, or starters or anything else? There's no reason we can't start now.

The weather isn't good enough to get anything serious going yet, that's kind of why I thought I'd take the time we've got left to show everyone who doesn't know how to do it. That way we can all fend for ourselves, instead of relying on our oh so gracious captors generous donations. [ And that sarcastic smile that goes with that? Directed right at said captors. She might be giving the camera in the corner of her room the finger too, but it's just out of shot of the feed and all anyone watching will see is her briefly raised arm. ]

We've got some stuff in the store though, I took a look a few days back.

The houses are warm enough. We could do window starts. I do that with my flowers sometimes. Especially if all I have are seeds. It gives them a chance to be bigger before we put them in the ground.

[She's mostly just talking out loud, because she's taking notes just off screen.]

Well it certainly can't hurt. Pretty much everything you'll need is in the store. I mean there's not droves and droves, but there's enough to get started.

You think you can handle that? One less person I have to show the ropes the better, after all.

Alright. I'll see if I can head over there this afternoon. Maybe I can get Charlie to help.

I don't mind helping, if you need some. I've worked on gardens before.

Yeah? The more the merrier, so that'll be great!

What do you have growing, if you don't mind me asking?

Well, nothing yet. It's kind of a new project, but I think some other people are doing stuff? Maybe. I could have heard wrong.

[ One day she'll stop listening in on all the conversations in place of her usual TV time. Not today. ]

I need to check out what was around in the old store thing, but I'm pretty sure it's just basic stuff. Tomatoes, lettuce, carrots. You know, home grow stuff. The more we grow, the more we can plant though. Exponential growth and all that.

I can get behind that. So where do you need the help?

[She still wasn't fully familiar with the town, feeling vaguely creeped out by the cameras every time she went anywhere. They almost seemed less intrusive when she was in a house with bustling people.]

Right now? Just in generating interest. I want to see what we're working with first, you know?

Okay, well, you can write me up for helping out with the gardening if you want.

You lived on a farm? [ He didn't know that! ] It could definitely be helpful. Do we have the proper tools?

I lived on a farm. [ She grins as she echoes his words, giving him a small nod. ] See, you knew you kept me around for a reason, right? I went and checked it out a couple of days ago though, it's not everything but it'll certainly cover a lot of stuff. Better than nothing, anyway.

[ She can't really take complete credit for the, but she sounds so proud of herself when she tells him. Maybe even a little hesitant too though. She did too with this one, right? ]

I keep you around for many more reasons than just that, mija. [ He smiles warmly back. ] It sounds like a good plan. I've unfortunately never farmed anything, as sand tends to not be ideal for it, and cacti isn't exactly a delicacy. I'd be willing to learn, though. I pick up on things quickly.

Well. That's good! Or I might have to fight you too. [ Hah hah. Still too soon to be funny, so she presses on quickly. ] Oh I don't know, I think we could do with a little cactus here. They're cute. I can show you the ropes though. Like, garden club or something!

[ He lets the first bit go, and then smiles at the last. ] Garden club? Are we allowed to talk about it to other people? [ Forgive him, he has to make the reference. ]

No. [ She's really bad at poker face, but she's really trying to stifle that tell tale giggle as she mock frowns at him. ] There's only one other thing: you can't talk about Garden Club.

[ And that's exactly as much as she has in her, promptly dissolving into laughter as she shakes her head. ]

[ Just her laugh makes him laugh as well. ] I'll be sure to remember it. [ Jet Star, outright joking? What is this madness. ] Hm. Perhaps we should call ourselves the Green Thumbs. Is that - ah, hip? [ Jet you're not even that old, cut it out. ]

Green Thumbs, dude that's great. [ Jet is the hippest guy in town everyone knows that. ] Everyone's going to want to join with a trendy name like that.

[ She's totally not making fun of him. no. Never. Who would think she'd do a thing like that? ]

Good. Green Thumbs it is. [ He says with a straight face. ] I would ask what our first order of business is, but I don't think we're allowed to discuss it.

Do we get a cool logo and stuff? [ Every cool group gets a cool logo. ]

Rules are made to be broken, my friend. I'm feeling a little rebellious today, after all.

Are literal green thumbs too corny for a logo? [ He asks in return. ]

Edited 2013-03-21 03:03 (UTC)

...Perfect!

[ Jet that is the worst idea she's ever heard. Ever. She snorts out a little laugh, and it doesn't take long for that to dissolve into stupid giggles. Cue flopping backwards on the bed (though she does adjust her arm enough for the feed to give a semi clear view of her face afterwards.

That shouldn't be as funny as she's finding it, of course, but she can't help it. It's entertaining her a lot right now. ] Remind me to not let you be in charge of design, alright?

[ There's a certain amount of fumbling and adjusting before he works out that the video is already recording. Go easy on him, Laura, he has a head injury. ]

Uh, learning how to plant stuff sounds good. I'm all for growing food so we don't starve. So, uh. Put me on the list, I guess. [ Have a slightly awkward smile. ]

List.

[ She pauses a moment, looking at him blankly, then suddenly grins. ]

Oh man, that hadn't even occurred to me! A list, why didn't I think of that. [ Excuse her while she just laughs at her own stupidity for a moment or two. ] You're a lifesaver and I don't even know your freakin' name.

[ ...There is no such thing as going easy with Laura. ]

[ The smile grows less awkward and more genuine at the easy praise. Seriously, everyone here is so nice, it's like he's tumbled onto the other side of the looking glass. ]

Ned. I'm good at lists. [ Which is probably going to be just about his only useful skill, in this freaky town. Her encouragement makes him bold (by Ned standards) and he offers ] If you'd like I can do an inventory of what supplies we have. Keep track of weather patterns. That sort of thing.

Ned, nice to meet you Ned. I'm Laura and I suck at organising anything. [ Seriously. No one should ever let her do anything. ] Want to be the brains of the machine? I'm seriously hopeless with all that.

I can try my best, anyway. [ Ned is used to doing his own inventories and keeping everything regulated and under control and predictable for himself; he isn't entirely sure how well he'll do if 'being the brains' means keeping other people organized, but what harm could there be in trying? Well, a lot of harm, potentially, but he's still going to do it. ]

This has got to be a pretty big change, then. If you were living on a farm before, I mean. [ He's actually glad to meet some more people here who aren't psychics or robots or otherwise out of the ordinary. The more he does, the more he begins to convince himself that, perhaps, he was brought here randomly. That the mysterious 'they' behind the cameras really don't know about what he can do. ]

I wouldn't ask for any more. [ So long as someone is willing to help out with organisation, Laura is happy. She's going to realise one of these days that doing all the things probably isn't the best idea, but that day is not today.

...And she's all ready with another big grin and witty retort, until he focuses on the farm thing. No one else has really asked - well, Jet, but he's different. He's allowed to ask those things and not get the brief drop of the smile and quiet pause. She screws up her face for a moment, and the video feed shakes as she shrugs before she scrapes up her smile again. It's a little weaker than before, though. ]

Yeah, it's...hugely different. Small town mentality is kind of the same, that's nice, but- yeah, it's different.

[ ~~Oh no, he killed the smile.~~ Ned can tell that what he said struck a nerve - probably didn't like being reminded of all the people she'd left behind - and isn't sure how to correct his mistake. Cue nervous ramble. ] I mean, of course it's different. There are cameras everywhere and sabertooth tigers and we're all trapped here by God knows who. I don't get how everyone's so calm about it.

[ She's very careful in her response, still smiling because it's what she does, but clearly proceeding with a lot more caution. ] I get the impression that quite a few of us would prefer this fucked up place to whatever it is we've left behind. I think that might be it.

[ Pause, awkward cough, and then. ] Sorry. Fudged up. I don't know man, I guess freaking out doesn't really solve anything, you know? Not going to get us home.

[ Okay, it's just going to take Ned a minute to wrap his head around even the idea of preferring imprisonment over anything - unless it were a different, more strict form of imprisonment. Ned has perhaps more than the average dose of healthy appreciation for his personal liberty. ]

I guess you're right. [ He makes this concession aloud but thinks, privately, that that doesn't mean freaking out is something one can just turn on or off, helpful or no. ]

[ She falls silent for a moment or two, eyes tracked pretty firmly on the floor as she tries to muster up something more than a sad smile, and then she just shrugs. ] You get used to it. Isn't much else to do now, is there.

[ And she's just going to hold that melancholy thought a little while longer before clearing her throat and beaming again. ] Wow, downer though! Let's uh, move on swiftly. So, Ned who's good at lists, tell me about where you're from. Bet it's way more interesting than a farm, right?

[ He isn't sure he's ever going to get used to it, but her reassurance helps, a little. Ned is at least able, for the most part, to keep himself composed if the people around him are coping ]

I don't know, I lead a fairly boring life. Sure, I live in the city, but I really don't get out all that much. I had just opened my own shop - a pie shop. That's what I do; I make pies. And other pastries, but pies are my speciality. [ Ned smiles a little, just at the corner of his mouth ] Not a really useful skill, here, what with the shortage of supplies.

Hey, if you can make pies I'm pretty sure you just made yourself a lot of friends.

[ Maybe. She knows they've got things to put in them, but - well, how do you make pastry again? Hopeless Cooking 101 classes are held by Laura every day in her house, after all. ]

I will fight every mechanical bear in that damn forest if it means getting an amazing pie, not going to lie.

[ He could do without vegetables, but beggars can't be choosers, and yeah, he'd rather not have to starve. Farming is probably the last thing he'd ever choose to do, but if he can pitch in, then he should. And he knows he's strong and can handle a lot. And isn't farming hard or... something? Manual labor, sweating, dirt... Plants... ]

I could help out. Never done anything like this before but I'm a fast learner.

[ Oh hey, it's the tactless guy from the funeral. He's a familiar face though and that's enough for her to flash a smile his way as she responds with a quick nod. ]

That's cool man, I'm probably a crappy teacher so we'll see how this goes. I need more muscle for this operation to work anyway. Show me how to bulk up again or something in return?

[ She's laughing like she's joking, but honestly, she needs it. Lack of food has ruined pretty much any muscle tone Laura had, and now the girl who spent her whole life on a farm has turned into a scrawny little wisp of a thing. It sucks, big time, and she's going to be pretty useless at doing much if she doesn't fix it soon. ]

Eat more chicken? Or, you know, meat in general. [ Laura, Dean's not the person you should come to when you want to eat healthy. Okay, alright, he knows basic things, and he knows that maybe she's a little too skinny for her own good. ]

Is there something for that? A hunting group? Can't have meat and potatoes without the meat.

Yeah well. About that, I kind of...can't? Like- okay, not like vegetarian. Definitely not, no way. [ She shrugs, pulling a slight face as she continues. ]

I just don't know how to hunt. Never learned, never had to or whatever. Probably should get on that before iron deficiency cripples me or something, right?

[ This totally isn't her subtle way of fishing for information to see if Dean knows how to. Not at all. ]

I could teach you if you're interested in finding out. Maybe that's something everyone here ought to learn. You head up the produce, I head up the meat. [ That last one is more thoughtful. Anyway. ]

By the way, don't ever mention the v-word again. [ He shudders. ]

Yeah? [ She probably shouldn't look as thrilled as she does, but well...she does anyway. A grin that can't be described as anything less than stupid creeps onto her face, and she's quick to nod her agreement. ] I would owe for like, ever if you'd do that. Seriously, like- I can't even begin man. I just don't want to get stuck relying on other people all the time, you know?

[ But, despite her inexpressible gratitude, the smile drops into a slight smirk and with a teasing chuckle she adds: ] What...vegetarian?

[ She looks so thrilled; it does a lot to lift Dean's spirits, and he grins too. ] Yeah, sure, no problem. I totally get that.

And yes -- that one. [ He shudders again, though it's clearly an act. ] Sounds like hell on Earth.

You're telling me, man. Trust me, I don't get it - like, at all.

[ But whatever, teasing Dean is hilarious but she's excited now. She's going to learn some really useful skills here! ]

Okay, so I've got like a billion things to sort out for this, but how does next week sound? I will steal the hell out of you and make you show me all of this crap, and it'll be great. Plan?

[ Notice how she's not giving you much room to argue here. ]

If you need any help organizing or putting this together, I'd be happy to help. Though, it probably wouldn't hurt to learn how it's done.

I grew a yam. Once.

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video; day 51; 004

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