"Nice To Meet You," Adrien Says With A Smile And Shaking Noah's Hand. "El Sent Me Over To Check On Things

Lucas returns the look and squeeze. Rae looks better than he did at the infirmary. Maybe it's the setting sun, or maybe it's just the relief after finally crying.

He chuckles. "Well, glad to know I rank above corpses as a conversationalist."

They reach the walkway up to Rae's house and they slow their steps as they approach the door. Almost like they both don't want this to end any sooner.

"Will you be okay on your own tonight? I could stay. Sleep on the couch."

“and you said it anyway,” rae half-muttered under his breath. he gave lucas a look, something between exasperation and fondness, as he squeezed his hand. then he focused back on his house in the distance.

“i guess i could use the help,” he relented. “plus it's hard to hold up a conversation with a corpse.” it would also cut the time in half, logistically speaking. he just hated asking for help...and accepting it. he'd been that way since he was a kid, even before losing his parents.

"No, no, don't apologize."

Adrien looks around and grabs a pencil and some scrap paper. He draws a crude but clear image of windmills on top of a building.

"I figured if we built them on top of tall major buildings, we would have less stress of the monsters trying things. Plus, if we’re strategic with which buildings, we could use those as reliable shelters in emergency situations."

He looks back up to her.

"What were you thinking? Because we'd still need water. Plus, you never know for extreme situations."

"I thought about that too, maybe using water, but that would require digging-" she said not finishing that thought. "Or we could try and use waste, too gross though for my taste- or induce, which would require a lot of...Sorry I did it again," she said standing up from where she was on the floor.

"Wanna show me what you've got in your head."

Lucas raises an eyebrow. Ana had said the talk with Cam had gone... as well as can be expected for the two women.

"I can do that, but I'm still going to tell her what's going on. She'd skin me alive if I didn't."

He can see on Cam's face that she's in the same emotional boat as Ana; which is to say: an old dinghy that's got more leaks than boards in the middle of the ocean.

"Maybe I should just take this all to Santi," he tries, testing how Cameron will react. He reaches for the folders he'd just placed down.

cameron nodded, "yeah, i have a feeling that the next few days are going to have a lot of work in store for us." they've never seen a storm like this before, who knows what slipped through the cracks when they were all locked inside for twelve hours. there were bound to be things they missed and wont even know about until they do a full count of everything in town. more work. "no let's just keep focusing on keeping everyone calm. no need to scare anyone and have people panicking." she could only imagine how some people would react if they saw the deputies doing rounds and watching them. "but hey, um, if something big comes up, can you come to me or santiago first? ana...she's dealing with a lot right now, i don't want too much going on her plate." she thought back to the things she told her at the bar and how defeated she was about everything. she wasn't sure what was going on between them but she will always look out for her wife.

Lucas chuckles.

"So I should maintain my regular professionalism with the undertone of, 'You're not good enough for my best friend, but you're still good for her' level of amicability?"

He raises a questioning eyebrow with his smirk, continuing the light-hearted tone they've moved to.

Anastasia feels a swell of gratitude for Lucas; he’s been her steady anchor since they both took on the responsibility of leading this town. She manages a smile, nodding at his statement of hope. “You’re damn right we are.”

As she watches him idly sort through items on the table, she’s caught off guard when he brings up Cameron. She gives a casual shrug. “We’re alright. I just went over to check on her… you know I still care, even if we’re not together.” She knows he understands; they’ve spent more than a few nights drinking and hashing out the complexities of her and Cameron’s past.

With a bit of a wry smile, she adds, “I don’t think she’ll be coming to game night, though.” She tries to keep the tone light, hiding the small sting of disappointment behind a half-joke.

Lucas nods toward the dried up bouquet and watches Hollis pick up.

Before he can walk away though, Lucas speaks up.

"Actually," he says, voice trembling slightly. "Could you..."

His voice trails off. He's not sure what he wants Hollis to do but at the moment, he doesn't want to be alone.

Hollis kneels beside the headstone, fingers tracing the edge of the carved lettering. His tools, a small brush and cloth, rest on the ground next to him, though his works seems more like a ritual than any overly needed maintenance. Hearing Lucas' steps, he straightens up, but doesn't turn right away, eager to finish what he's doing. Eventually he stops, lifting his tools and placing them back onto his toolbelt before finally looking over at Lucas, his face a strange mix of distant yet observant. "If you want me to...I can give you some space." He finally spoke, voice barely above a whisper, afraid to disturb the air. He gestured with a small wave of his hand to the marigolds in Lucas' hand. "Or, I can replace those for you? Out with the old..." His fingers spread out into a small claw, waiting for permission to remove any old flowers from the site.

Lucas looks to see Marama studying him curiously.

He chuckles. "A little yeah. This was the biggest sized shirt I could find to fit the costume. I think Ana's happy I'm showing off more than she is. Or she's jealous. I couldn't really tell."

He shrugs and sips his drink.

"You having fun tonight?"

closed event starter @patroclusblossom

marama didn't understand the concept of dressing up for halloween, maybe because she was only seven when she came here and has never been able to watch tv or movies like everyone else so she never understood the references, but it also just seemed odd to her. some people dressed up for these things, with outfits they make themselves. she never did. "why is your stomach showing?" she asks lucas with a confused look. "are you warm?"

RAFAEL SILVA

Adrien waits for the little girl to leave. God he really hope he didn't scare her anymore than she might've already been.

His false smile drops and he looks back at the guy, staring up in shock as he answers the questions.

"What the fuck? Are you serious? Is that door gonna hold?"

He looks at the door. It does look solid, but this place just feels... off. Maybe those things have super strength and could blast the door off with a light tap?

with  the  door  locked, the  talisman  still  secured  on  the  wall,  and  bella  out  of  his  arms  to  roam  freely,  daehyun  could  finally  turn  to  inspect  the  newcomer  who  had  scrambled  in.  the  questions  weren't  anything  new--he  had  answered  them  a  hundred  times. taking  in  a  deep  breath,  he  moved  to  the  other,  offering  a  hand  out.  "  those  things  want  to--do  some  really  awful  stuff,  so  it's  best  you're  not  outside  right  now--or  at  night.  "  it  was  as  gentle  as  he  could  be  in the moment ,  as  his  adrenaline  was  still  racing.  and  when  bella  seemed  to  make  herself  known  once  more,  daehyun's  attention  quickly  turned  to  the  girl.  "  hey  princess  ,  head  upstairs  and  see  if  grandpa's  awake,  okay?  "  there  was  no  objection  from  the  toddler,  who  scurried  to  the  stairs  and  ventured  up  at  her  father's  instructions.  now,  with  tender  ears  upstairs,  daehyun  felt  he  could  finally  speak  freely.  "  we're  all  stuck  here.  don't  know  why--don't  know  how.  and  those  things  outside?  they've  killed  a  lot  of  us.  "

Adrien laughs and nods in agreement.

"Your ass definitely looks good and you're rocking it."

He even salutes her before bursting into giggles.

"Yeah, it seems like it's hard to cobble together even basic costumes. I'm honestly surprised they even bother with the dress up part."

THE DESCRIPTION HAS CHERRY STARING FOR A BEAT OR TWO . " wow . okay ." cherry has to shake her head as if to clear it, her hands on her hips as she squints at him in disbelief . " the fuck ?" but before they can get further into it cherry is waving a hand dismissively as she says, " you know what ? the bullshit hollywood is doin' doesn't matter, i am a fuckin' soldier, thank you for askin' ." cherry gestures to her camo shorts with a pleased nod . " mostly because it was quick and easy and my ass looks good in these shorts ." she shrugs before adding, " i wanted to be a hooters girl but i couldn't find a lotta orange to be honest ."

Adrien nods, sitting down and starting to carefully pull the phone apart.

"Anything is useful, just gotta figure out what use it's for."

His tongue sticks out as he manages to pry the phone open without making more cracks.

"Yeah. They basically run the place. They're really cool. You met them?"

He glances up and smiles at Charlie.

"I'm settling fine. Really crazy. Like I'm honestly surprised I'm even here crazy. How about you? Where'd they put you up at?"

charlie shrugged, it was weird because two days ago, her phone was her whole life and now she was stuck in a place where it was basically useless. at least to her, if they could use it for something else, then more power to them. she had no clue how things worked around here. "yeah, no problem. i just figured it could be useful in some way. i mean, who knows?"

she looked around the shop, taking everything in. this place was still so new and confusing, she wondered how this other new guy was taking it. he seemed so chipper but maybe he was just better at holding things together than she was. "el works here?" she asked, looking back at him. she thought back to how el talked about helping people and it being their duty. this made sense considering what they talked about their old life.

"how are you settling in?" she dares to ask, mostly just killing time before she has to be alone with her thoughts again. "crazy first night, huh?"