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TDM #12 - Give 'em Pumpkin to Talk About [FIRST EDITION]
Pumpkin Hollow Gazette
9/18/25 | TDM #12 - Give 'em Pumpkin to Talk About [First Edition]
Fall Pokémon Types - Ghost, Dark, Flying, Electric, Poison
WELCOME TO PUMPKIN HOLLOW
By Yorick Aberdeen
The crop for which the town is named.
Ahh, Autumn! The time of year when Pumpkin Hollow is at its most vibrant and beautiful. If this is your first day on Marrow Isle, then you’ve arrived at the perfect time!
Due to some unexpected weather difficulties, our harvest this year will be somewhat leaner than other years, but not to worry! Our local earth mages, druids, and garden witches have it under control! Now that the skies are under Mother Celestine’s jurisdiction once more, there will be plenty of food to enjoy over PumpkinFest--- which will run in Downtown Hollow for the entire season this year! Please grab yourself a festival schedule from Town Hall, the Oak & Iron, or the newsstand outside Pinhole Printing and Binding for more information about this season’s most treasured festivities celebrating the export which gave this town its name.
We invite you, as with all those who came before you, to enjoy your stay at the Oak & Iron tavern inn while you settle in. (Or the Autumn Leaves Dormitory House, for the newly arrived youngsters.) Please stop by Town Hall to discuss opportunities for work and more permanent housing! All newcomers get 100 Brass in their pocket upon arrival as well, so we encourage you to take advantage of this as well. Reach out to your neighbors for help if you need it, and don’t forget to pick up your copy of the Pumpkin Hollow Gazette whenever you need the local news!
A final side note before we get into seasonal updates --- the Pumpkin Hollow Gazette wishes to proudly welcome Mettaton to our writing staff! We hope that you enjoy his first contributions to our paper. Additionally, we wish to congratulate Melanie King and Phil Connors for their Outstanding Press Award, presented to them by Town Hall after the weather disaster that occurred in August. They deserve it! The remaining two writers, Yorick Aberdeen and Timothy Stoker, could not be more proud of our incredible colleagues.
Now, on to the news! Happy Fall, Pumpkin Hollow!
AUTUMN WEATHER REPORT
By Phil Connors
The views around Leeds Estate are gorgeous this time of year!
It's time for a change, folks, and you'll be happy to know that this one's a lot more gradual than last month! Summer's on her way out and it's Autumn's turn to move in. Start putting out your jackets and add a layer to your blankets. Early in the season we'll start seeing a rise in brisk, windy days, and more frequent light rains, but a lot less thunderstorms. As the season goes on the temperatures will keep dropping and we'll even start to see some morning mist, and even later, morning frost. It's a beautiful sight; just don't use it to decorate your cakes.
Not everyone is going to be all prepped for the weather, however. Clean-up from the last month's mayhem is still ongoing, and there's plenty to do. The farms need help cleaning up their fields and tending their animals, deliveries need to be made, and just about everyone needs repairs to their house and a brand new wardrobe. Check in at Town Hall--or just on your neighbors--for some guidance on where to get started.
A NAME SO NICE, YOU SAY IT THRICE (ACTUALLY, PLEASE DON'T)
By Timothy Stoker
As part of a recent string of incidents involving what appear to be beloved seasonal intellectual properties in some worlds, we’ve got some unexpected visitors out in Fall’s Promise Cemetery! A number of remarkably-tangible interdimensional dead (well, deader than us, anyway) have set up a wonderfully weird oddities fair on the cemetery grounds, where they appear to be trapped. The fair includes unusual scientific specimens, darkly unique art pieces, allegedly cursed objects, fortune telling, and chilling performances by talented spectral visitors. It serves as a properly spooky complement to the activities of Pumpkinfest.
However, fair-goers should be warned that there is a scam artist among the crowd. Reports of an individual persuading live residents to speak his name three times in a row have been flooding the constabulary, indicating that this unusual incantation allows this particular ghost to escape the cemetery. From there, he will drag his generous benefactor and potentially several other people along for his nonsense, which allegedly may include (but is not limited to) petty crime, destructive party behavior, wingmanning for unwelcome flirting, and somewhat sub-par stand-up comedy routines. The perpetrator, who constables have dubbed “BJ” so as not to accidentally unleash him by saying his full name, should be avoided at all costs. Unless the above sounds like a fun way to spend a Friday night. The Pumpkin Hollow Gazette would never deliberately encourage unhealthy or illegal behavior, but we are also not your mother. Who are we to tell you how to live your life?
All that said, though, the Pumpkin Hollow Board of Safety and the Department of Supernatural Affairs both have a great deal of concern regarding what this outbreak of fourth-wall-breaking dimension-hoppers could mean. “BJ” is not the only such example we’ve seen around--- offworld residents originating from more modern time periods have recognized at least a half-dozen iconic characters from Halloween classics just traipsing around the island. Port Authority has stated they have no record of any of these individuals arriving by ferry--- so where are they coming from? It seems only time will tell. We can only hope that this situation will not continue to escalate. But it probably will, knowing this place.
INEXPLICABLE HAUNTED HOUSE COMMITS PETTY CRIME
By Melanie King
Signs have already been placed on the lawn to dissuade entry.
If you've seen a new house on your street that wasn't there the last time you looked, don't worry, you're not going crazy—at least, not for that reason. All across town, from Downtown to Northwest Hollow and even as far as the Bluffs, a mysterious, rickety old house has been appearing in places it has no right to be and stealing objects it has no right to steal. Any stray belonging that crosses its boundary line is forfeit. Hats, balls, kites, stray shoes—if you can drop it, it'll be gone the second you so much as blink, leaving no trace except the slam of the shutting door.
Attempting to retrieve these items is not advised. Reports suggest that the house itself is alive and dangerous, its very structure and fittings possessed by some sort of spirit or energy that animates the building, attempting to trap and kill those who dare to step onto its porch. So maybe consider whether getting back that hat is really worth the risk—and, well, if you decide you really can't live without it, who am I to stop you? Just do us a favour and report back what you see on the inside if you chance it.
WARNING TO PROSPECTIVE FORESTERS: DON'T LOOK UP!
By Yorick Aberdeen
Best not.
As the leaves change colors in our own Lockwood Forest, many of our townsfolk may be inclined to take a trek into the woods for a myriad of reasons: mushroom-hunting, fruit-picking, or even just lovely strolls through the freshly-fallen leaves. However, Town Hall urges residents to take extreme caution with their ventures into Lockwood Forest, due to an unseen threat that prowls through the thickets.
Our reporters have only been given scarce information about the findings in the woods, but so far, we have come to understand that something in the forest is that something is hunting those who are alone and disorienting groups into separating through hallucinations and "flashbacks." Bodies of those captured are hoisted into the trees, in such a way that seems to hope to be discovered by some poor passerby. Those who have returned to tell the tale struggle to describe what killed them, but have said that they recall it being quite large, bearing hooves, strange hands, and massive antlers. (Ms. Leeds was approached for comment, and gladly quelled any rumors of potential involvement.)
Most troubling yet is that bodies are discovered in their passing moments, but sometimes well after death. Experts at Town Hall urge anyone who has the feeling of being watched to leave the forests as quickly as possible. If you or a loved one has seen something similar to what we've described, please alert the constabulary to submit a report of any sightings while the solving of this mystery is underway.
APPLES, PUMPKINS, AND POTLUCKS - OH MY!
By Mettaton
Doesn't get much better than this!
It's the most wonderful time of year, darling readers! (Or so we've been told.) The smell of fall is in the air, the leaves are turning, and the nights are coming along more quickly but that doesn't mean we need to stop celebrating and having fun!
Among the many activities at the Pumpkin Festival, you can partake in Apple and Pumpkin Picking at the local orchard and pumpkin patch! Pick your fruit — which come in all sorts of fun shapes and sizes — and show us what you make!
Which brings us to the most important part of gathering all of those pumpkins and apples! A Community Potluck! Bring by your dishes and your recipes to share and swap with everyone!
GIANT WATERMELON REMOVED FROM TOWN SQUARE BY FLASH FLOODING
By Timothy Stoker
Welp. There it goes.
Coming to you just a bit late after the weather kerfuffle back in August--- the giant watermelon, which seemed to never rot and replenish itself overnight, that had been taking up a substantial amount of space in town square throughout the summer has at last been removed. As much as this reporter hoped to see it defeated by us banding together and eating the blasted thing once and for all, it seems this fate is not to be.
During the flash flooding which occurred toward the end of August, fast-moving waters rolled the building-sized watermelon down the streets of town, causing incredibly sticky property damage and scattering stray fruit everywhere. It then tumbled down to the beach, where it drifted out to sea. There it remains, floating aimlessly in the water surrounding the island where it is enjoyed by seagulls as a social gathering space. No one has been able to figure out what to do about it, so for the time being, it will serve as a humorous welcome wagon for any incoming residents. If anyone has thoughts on what can be done about Watermelon Island, please contact Mayor Poe's office with tips.
Thank you for reading!
Pumpkinfest!
Pumpkin Hollow’s premiere holiday! In celebration of the harvest of the crop that gave this town its name, this seasonal fair technically is only supposed to take place in October, but whatever, time is soup and fairs are fun! Here are all the activities available for the month(s):- Pumpkin Carving - Carve a Jack-o-Lantern outside Greymare Library, then place your work of veggie art along the library steps, or take it home! Maybe you and your neighbor can discuss designs.
- Wood Cutting Contests - Test your strength, speed, and skill in this race to chop up a stump faster than your opponent. The only prize is bragging rights and a fun little ribbon, but the firewood is donated to a family in need!
- Local Music - Dance the night away to local favorites and offworld acts alike, or volunteer to play for the crowd yourself. Additionally, mixed in with the other acts is yet another group of interdimensional visitors who didn’t show up by Ferry. Sometimes, towards the end of the night, you may find that the Sanderson Sisters take the stage to put a spell on you--- will you overcome the bewitching boogie, or dance ‘till you die? Employ teamwork, clever tricks, and dice rolls to decide. There’s no specific value to hit with dice rolls, so you can just use your best judgement and do whatever is fun.
- Smiling Jack’s Haunted Comedy Club - Those who have been around for a while may recall Smiling Jack, the subject of a Pumpkin Hollow legend who became a tangible menace two Halloweens ago. He has since been reduced to bottled pumpkin guts with a talking Jack-o-Lantern face, but has somehow managed to open a comedy club. Grab a hard apple cider and enjoy the macabre and hilarious comedy stylings of Smiling Jack himself, as well as a few other interdimensional visitors such as Elvira, Svengoolie, Wolfman Mac, and the like! Or volunteer to tell a few jokes, yourself. This particular crowd likes their humor a little dark. ‘Tis the season! (Also, if you’re interested in the context behind Smiling Jack, check out our first Halloween meme for Dahlia’s rendition of his origin story, located in Further Details under “Ghost Stories.” Mind the content warnings!)
- Food and Drinks - Of course, what festival is complete without street food? Roasted corn on the cob, caramel apples, pumpkin kebabs, and more will be available! Feel free to consider this part of your grocery budget or food vouchers, meaning there’s no in-game currency cost for enjoying the food. There’s also plenty of drinks to enjoy---- beer, wine, cider (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), hot cocoa, and a Marrow Isle recreation of the famous pumpkin spice latte!
- And more! - Feel free to just come up with other fairgrounds activities. Just make sure they stay setting-appropriate!
Rebuilding Efforts
The major plot event from August caused a great deal of property damage around Pumpkin Hollow. Tornados, flood water, and extreme temperatures hit rapid fire, and many homes, businesses, and municipal buildings were impacted, as well as crops from farms. It’s all hands on deck to try and get things patched up before the next thing that goes spooky and terribly wrong in Pumpkin Hollow--- the town needs your help!Extant players are welcome to create toplevels directing helpful characters to their damaged homes, but there are also plenty of public spaces and NPC homes to help out with. Your help means a lot!
Also, we like to present new arrivals with opportunities to make a little extra pocket change to get them started. For the months that this TDM runs (September, October, and November) any new character that participates in a rebuild thread during the month they apply can get an extra 300 Brass when they turn in their first AC, provided the thread reaches bonus length as described on our Activity Check rules. This is only applicable for the AC taking place in the same month one apps in, can be applied to new characters apped in by extant players, and threads can occur between two new characters or one new character and one extant character. (The extant character does not earn the bonus.) This bonus can only be used once.
Example, for clarity: you TDM a new character in September and reach a thread length of 10 comments by the end of the month, then you app in said character by the end of September. When you go to turn in September AC, which will be that character's first, notate that you are eligible to claim an extra 300B on your AC post. You may not claim this bonus for the same character in October or November. You may not claim this bonus if you app in a later month, unless you achieve 10 tags specifically in the month in which you apped. You may not claim this bonus on a character that was already a game member, as this bonus is specifically an incentive for new characters. Please ask in the threads below if you have questions!
BJ and Associates
In Fall’s Promise Cemetery, whose entrance is located on the path down toward the beach from town, one will find the colorful dead from the iconic “waiting room scene” from Beetlejuice hosting an oddities fair! For those unfamiliar, oddities fairs are sort of a modern (and more tasteful) “freak circus”. They showcase unusual taxidermy and other unorthodox works of art, medical curiosities, unusual antiques and curios, jewelry and other items made of teeth and bone, extreme body modification, and performances of uncommon talents such as contortion, fire-eating, sword swallowing, or other circus arts. They’re a lot of fun, but not for the faint of heart, especially when hosted by visibly dead and mangled people! Be generous with content warnings! Attendees will walk away with a free copy of the Handbook for the Recently Deceased as a souvenir.Additionally, the titular Ghost with the Most from the aforementioned Halloween classic is our scam artist. As mentioned, he will be attempting to get people to say his name three times in a row, which will allow him to escape the cemetery and live it up for the next 6 hours--- and you’re tied to him, so you have to go along! Drag your friends into it, get busted getting up to no good, wingman for BJ or have him wingman for you (badly). Eat, drink, and be scary!
Beetlejuice himself is a prop NPC, meaning that his actual interaction with the thread can be handwaved or written by one or both players in a given thread. Players with Beetlejuice journals should feel free to play him if they’d like--- even if there’s already another one kicking around. Multiple versions (film, cartoon, musical) are all fine. It’s just for fun, after all! Happy Halloween!
Haunted House
An unfamiliar house has popped up in Pumpkin Hollow! Perhaps it seems familiar--- this is another visitor from a Halloween favorite!Per the film, the Monster House is possessed by an angry human spirit who is not particularly fond of anyone, but especially not children. The spirit can manipulate the house itself, the surrounding trees, and the lawn as if they were its own body, with the door functioning as a mouth, the main hall as a throat, and the furnace as a heart. It will make attempts to lure in unwitting humans to devour them by stealing their things.
Those consumed by the Monster House, interestingly, do not die--- at least, not right away. They will be held in the basement. When the house is asleep (and it does indeed sleep), you may be able to explore a bit more if you’re careful and quiet. And of course, if you get desperate, there is always the hanging lamp in the front hall --- just make sure to note content warnings for emetophobia!
Additionally, the house is quite lonely without its original tenant, who was very dear to it. Perhaps some friendly and patient folks can give this restless spirit some closure and company, and console it about its dramatic canon end. Who knows? Maybe by the end of this TDM’s run, the house will be a source of harmless mischief rather than genuine terror. Just don’t vandalize it!
Creature in the Woods
[CW: gore, cults, unreality, hypnosis, mind control. Also, googling the monster will result in images featuring body horror and headlessness.]
Last on our lineup of visitors from spooky modern IPs is Moder, the jötunn hiding a cult in the woods of Northern Sweden in the film “The Ritual.”For those who have not seen the film, but plan to, the spoiler-free version of what you need to know is this: the creature in the woods is massive, and old, and shockingly stealthy for its size. It cannot leave the woods, but while you are in its domain, it only wants two things from you--- despair and blood. Moder can access your memories, especially traumatic ones, and can cause hallucinations where these memories haunt you and cause you to act in ways that are out of touch with reality and difficult for those around you to understand. Then, when you are feeling your lowest, it will mangle your body and use it to decorate the trees of Lockwood Forest. Why do the bodies stay, you might ask? Aren’t they meant to disappear? The answer is yes, they do disappear.
But only if they aren’t being watched.
For those familiar (or who simply don’t mind the spoilers), a refresher course.
Moder loves to be worshipped. To its previous cult members, it was seen as a loving god who could offer eternal life and protection for those who didn’t mind a bit of human sacrifice. The same remains true, though immortality isn’t exactly as valuable here as it was back home. So what can Moder offer you here?
How about the inability to die in the first place?
For those who are marked by a set of puncture wounds on the chest as one of Moder’s chosen, if they are willing to worship their new god and aid in the sacrifice of their neighbors, they will become completely unkillable until Moder’s departure at the end of November. For players who are members, this will come especially in handy for upcoming events… but are you willing to accept the price? Especially when your victims will come back the following day?
Those who reject being chosen by Moder will, of course, face its wrath. It won’t kill you, because it still wants to try and force you to worship, but it will torment you relentlessly with nightmares, unreality, hallucinations, and non-lethal violence. You are left with only two choices--- submit, or escape.
U-Pick Fall Crops & Potlucks
Let’s end on a lighter note, shall we?Farms around Pumpkin Hollow are open for self-pick apples and pumpkins! Both food-pumpkins and carving-pumpkins are available, as well as apples of all sorts. Be sure to stop by Starr Orchard for some of their delicious “ghost apples”--- bright white apples (with some pink freckling) that are extra sweet and crisp. Great for baking! And be sure to leave some berries for the Mr. Mime who tends the trees. Other varieties of apples will also be available throughout Northwest Hollow.
Which is great, because the grounds outside the Temple of Sacred Roots will be hosting fall treat potlucks every weekend throughout autumn! Bring whatever you make with your pumpkins and apples, along with any other fall delights, out for a delicious sampler. Excellent for cultural exchanges and making new friends!
no subject
"And you didn't tell North this?" No, of course not. Why would she, if it didn't benefit her? "You let him believe whatever lie you told him, strung him along, all to get your own AI? Did you seriously believe they'd give you one?"
After what happened to Maine? To the Project itself? No. The Director was in no position to go doling out AI— and definitely not to South. Too risky. All of it, too risky.
"So," she says, flat. "You were a double agent. Like CT."
no subject
South slams her first down hard against the bar and imagines it's Carolina's nose.
"Shut the fuck up—I didn't fucking abandon anyone!" Not until the end, at least. Not until she'd already stuck by North for two damn years, covering for him and trying to get him to see fucking sense. "I did what I had to fucking do, alright?! Long as I was with North, I could tell them he was somewhere else entirely and keep them off our damn tail! And no, I didn't really fucking believe they'd give me cockshit, that's why the second I got the chance I stole one and fucking left."
It was all a selfish choice, in the end, if one that for a while was meant to help keep North alive. By the end, by the time she'd already dug the hole too deep and made that final mistake... well, taking Delta was just the principle of the thing.
no subject
Guests turn their heads toward the noise, largely indifferent. South's fork jumps a little with the force. It's a miracle Carolina's lap isn't covered in the remnants of what she hasn't eaten.
She crosses her arms, tells herself enough and forcibly untangles her nerves. She won't argue with a drunk woman. She won't jab any harder than she has to. However deep in denial she is, South knows what she did— and she wouldn't be getting day wasted if she didn't feel something about it. Still. Facts are facts. And the fact is, she's no better than CT, by South's own standards.
"Wash said it was a set-up. Frankly, I think he has his own problems and I didn't entirely believe him."
no subject
The white hot flash of rage fades back to a flickering light in the back of her eyes and she huffs, slumping against the bar once more.
"Oh he has his own fuckin' problems, alright, but no. He was right about that much." Not that it was Command that told her to shoot him, but she'd had the thought in her head from the moment they told her the plan and, well... he made it so easy. "Trusting me was his fucking mistake."
Maybe it was North's mistake too.
"Not like he didn't get back at me. Fucking asshole. Delta sure didn't have to work hard to get him to shoot me in the fucking face."
no subject
Trusting me was a mistake echos a scene she's tried to forget for a long time; plasma guns raised, staring Agent York in his visor. But you can't trust me. She doesn't know what to say, probably because it's true. They shouldn't have trusted them. A mistake to rely on Agent Carolina and Agent South Dakota for anything that wasn't what they wanted. She frowns, bites her tongue. Tells herself not to go heavy on the consoling. Not right now.
(So, she doesn't know. How could she? Dead after the first shot. No idea what lengths Washington went to destroy her body.)
"You staying here for a while then? I've got a place, up in the farmland. Gym equipment and stuff. It's not great, but if you need to hit something, it's there. Getting used to all this old-timey crap... sure is an experience."
no subject
Carolina pivots the topic and South sees no reason to object, doesn't much want to spend her time thinking about the barrel of an M6 pistol and her own brother's screams.
"...m'crashing on North's couch," she says, somehow feeling like an admission. She picks up her cutlery. "Juniper— something, his place, I dunno. It's farmland too. Guess it's close by."
This is pointedly not an acceptance of any offer to use Carolina's equipment, but it's also pointedly not a rejection, either.
no subject
She didn't say no. Good start.
Mutedly pleased, Carolina leans sideways in her chair.
"So that means I'll see you slinging hay bales and taking care of animals, right? You know North's gonna want something. The farm stuff's not bad work, though. Simple. If that's what you're looking for. You'll smell like manure forever, but at least you get to pet something cute. Unless you plan on couch surfing vocationally."
no subject
South rolls her eyes loosely. "He's the one who's getting into all the farm stuff. M'helping him with a few things but the animals are his problem. But I'm better at fixing shit than him, so."
An equally loose shrug. Things around the place that need a bit of fixing up, she can help with that. Maybe sometimes general labour, too, helping move shit around. But the animals, the gardening stuff, none of that appeals to her. She doesn't even really understand why it appeals to North.
"Not in a rush to throw myself back into a stupid fucking job."
no subject
"Oh yeah?"
Fixing stuff. She didn't know. Funny, how that happens. You spend years working alongside someone and can't name five facts about them, aside from the obvious. One: platinum-purple hair, obviously dyed. Two: pain in the ass. Three: twin. Shouldn't that have come first? Whatever. Four: tall. Five: hits like a freighter. Dead: a bonus fact. She knows her name. She knows, roughly, how old she is. That's all to say— Carolina knows nothing, and feels nakedly stupid for it.
"We had a few weeks of— bad weather. The wind tore up my house. Roof and everything. I'm working on fixing it, but it's been a process. I'm not really good at that stuff. I keep hammering my fingers."
(South might find this a miracle: Carolina openly admitting to being bad at something. And in it, another subtle proposition. A come out, if you want. A your company's not as awful as you think. The question now: is hers?)
no subject
"...it's so fucking weird to picture you living in an actual house." She knows Carolina already mentioned it, with her stupid yard full of equipment, but it's odd. Imagining any of them in nice little houses is odd. Every time she walks back into the farmhouse it's like stepping into some weird kid's picture book.
Anyway. She narrows her eyes a little, trying to gauge if she's hearing this right. Did Carolina seriously just admit to being so fucking bad with a toolbox she keeps busting up her fucking hands?
She tugs her bottom lip with her teeth. "How bad's the remaining damage?"
no subject
She laughs, then. A sharp, almost self-reproachful noise. The briefest flicker of darkness over her features. More truth to that statement than South could ever know. "Yeah, trust me. I get it. I still don't know what I'm doing." Never will. "How to decorate the rooms— how to make it feel like an actual place." It won't. "I was picking my stuff out of the grass for weeks. All my ammunition, scattered."
Looking at nothing, Carolina takes mental stock of the house.
"I got most of the exterior frames put up. Part of the first floor collapsed into the basement, and that's not finished yet. Second floor's a wreck. The roof—" she grimaces. "—It's... something. I tarped most of the rain out, but other than that..."
no subject
South whistles low. Damn, really must have been some shitty weather—or maybe old-style houses are just easier to break, the buildings back home withstood some horrid wind and snow storms over the years with maybe a busted window or two at worst. Or maybe it's both things.
"Yeah, you're gonna want that roof sorted before winter fuckin' comes calling, that's for fucking sure. Trust me, snow gets fucking heavy." She'd know. Their colony had plenty to go around and a longer winter than most. "You got the materials?"
no subject
"Yeah, that's what I'm worried about. I'd prefer not freezing to death, if at all possible." Already tried that once. Wasn't fun.
"I have the stuff. This place is pretty generous about that. They'll give you things for free, or trade for something else. Money's easy to save, if you do get a job. Just putting that out there. It's nice not having to worry about that, on top of everything."
no subject
"Long as my food's covered and I get something every month that's already more than I've been working with the last few fuckin' years," South says, waving a hand vaguely. Being on the run doesn't exactly pay well.
She drums her fingers against the bar.
"...I can probably help with that. Bigger than the shit I used to do but eh." Same principles, right? Just applied to a bigger area.
no subject
"Sure. And if you make it without punching a hole through anything, I'll give you a bonus." More brass, probably. Something to eat, if South doesn't mind another ex-boss sponsored dinner at the Oak & Iron— a scenario even she finds bizarre to imagine. (She'll keep a little slip of paper on her lap, tally up all her fuck's and present the number to her later. For fun.)
Baby steps. A little manual labor to boost a radioactive morale.
"No drinking on the job, though."
no subject
Deadpan: "I promise I won't neck three beers before swinging a fucking hammer around on your roof."
She can avoid a drink for long enough to do some work. Probably. Just have to save it for after. That's fine. It's only when it's been over a day her hands start shaking. (Yeah, yeah, that's not good, but fuck if she cares.)
"Just— let me know when you wanna get to it I guess."
Wrap?
Racketing the same tone, but with a smile; "Right. It'll be four."
Carolina stands and pushes in her chair, a too-smooth motion for something so simple. She's inclined to consider this a success. One that came at the short cost of almost getting punched (not really— too slow, too sloppy), but she knows what to expect from her old cohorts.
Don't be a stranger, she wants to say. Don't drink yourself to death, come back to life and drink yourself to death again. Take care of yourself. As if South knows how. As if she isn't sat here doing the complete opposite.
"I'll call you." (Weird to say out loud.) "Tell North I say hi."
wrap!
South rolls her eyes, but snorts. Watches Carolina stand mostly in her periphery, rather than look dead-on.
"Sure. Will do," she says with a backwards wave. "Thanks for the stew, I guess."
Carolina's not wrong. As reintroductions go, this really could've gone much worse.