The House That Who? Built [Open, bendytimed to before archeology plot]

[bonnypiperlad]

There seems to be very little rhyme or reason to the buildings that make up the City in Stacy. Oh, there's a couple of places, like what has been become known as 'Religion Row', where certain types of buildings have been gathered together, but otherwise things are scattered about, just waiting to be found.

Over at the edges of Central Park - not too far from Religion Row, as it happens - there is an old, neglected Victorian-style house with a turret that looks as though it'd had seen its heyday even before being brought on Stacy. The windows have been broken, the porch covered in dried leaves and cobwebs. But it looks fairly sound, the mansard roof still intact and the upper porch railing only needing a little work.

Jamie and Victoria had found the house while out exploring the city, and while he has some experience in re-building things thanks to his clean-up efforts in the city and his engineering training, it's a daunting task to try and do on his own. And it occurs to him that maybe, if he can get some help (and something resembling some furniture, since there's not much to be found inside) he can maybe at least make a start at fixing it up, and give Victoria a place to sleep that's not the crew quarters or the creepy nostril beds while the TARDIS is being fixed.

In fact, he thinks, there's enough bedrooms that other people from there could move in as well, if they wanted. So, he sends out a message to see who'd be interested in coming to help out elsewhere. While he waits, he and Victoria start the work on their own - she opting to take the rooms on the top floor and he one of the ones lower down. He soon finds himself caught up in clearing out the debris, and loses himself for a time until the sound of footsteps catches his attention. Pausing in his work, he pushes his hair out of his face and looks at the new arrival.

"Well, what do ye think?"

(( OOC: Both Jamie and Victoria are around, so just mention somewhere in your tag which of them you'd like to interact with! ))

Comments

[thisclinchesit]

"...well, I wasn't sure if it was the right place, since I didn't see a gun on the building anywhere, but the broken windows and the noise inside were clue enough."

Someone's not familiar with the other kind of turret, it seems.

--

_{[OOC: Victoria's welcome to show up too!]}

[bonnypiperlad]

"Aye, well, Lash hasn't gotten down here yet, or that might change," Jamie says dryly. He half expects there to be one mounted on there by the end of the day if she's given half a chance.

"But what I meant was yon tower on the outside. Turret's just another name for it. I'm afraid I've not got any guns that would need fixing, if that's what ye were wanting to do. But I could use a hand with a few other wee jobs if ye don't mind."

[thisclinchesit]

Shoutarou can't help but chuckle at the comment about Lash, then shakes his head. "Nah, just here to help where I can. I'm no carpenter, but I can follow directions well enough."

[bonnypiperlad]

"Thank ye...Shoutarou, isn't it?" He's fairly sure that's the name - although he's not at all sure about the pronunciation. He hasn't had a lot of experience with names like Shoutarou's, so hopefully he's not too far off there. He glances around the room for a moment, trying to decide how to best get started with the repair work.

"Why don't we see about getting some of this debris out of the way first and see what's underneath? I've not really come across any weak spots in the floor, but I'd not care to find them the hard way."

[sonicscreamer.livejournal.com]

There might actually be a well timed row of dust falling above them as Victoria was upstairs, testing out for the very same thing. One could never be too careful, after all, and sometimes the termites could really destroy rotten wood without it looking too damaged. Granted, at her strength it probably still isn't safe, but at least she'll be able to walk across it.

either or both is fine!

[hi_there_aliens]

He craned his neck back, taking in the large house. Considering that they were on a living ship with technology way past their complete understanding, that and the abundance of mucus and snot, a Victorian style house was not what he'd have expected to find. When he picked up the comm message, this really wasn't what he expected to find. He gave the house another once over, just in case it might be better the second time around. It wasn't.

"It's..." Daniel tried very hard to find a polite way to put it and found there wasn't any. "...something," he finished lamely.

Spooky. A wreck. Dilapidated mess. Gone past "fixer upper" and into "rural ruins" territory. Not fit for human habitation.

It looked like something out of an old horror movie. And he wanted to move in with Victoria? Daniel almost expected to see bats flying out any minute now. Jamie knew how to find them alright. "Are you sure it's safe?"

/gives you a Jamie to start.

[bonnypiperlad]

"Of course I'm sure," replies Jamie, in that same confident tone he had when he once told Victoria the Yeti that had been coming after them was quite dead. It hadn't been, of course, but he had believed it at the time. And he believes the house is safe now.

"It's quite sound," he adds, resting his hand on top of the banister next to the staircase leading up to the second floor. The large wooden knob atop it comes off in his hand, and his mouth promptly pulls off to one side before he puts it back in its place. "I think that it's likely it just took a wee bit of damage from one of the fights that have taken place around here."

He hasn't gone into great detail about those with Victoria yet, for obvious reasons.

"Anyway," he continues, "I've not found any weak spots in the supports or the floor, so I'd say it'll just take some fixing up. Although...I suppose it'll not hurt to have one of the other Engineers take a look. Maybe someone from Infrastructure, if they'll not mind. Until then, we can still work on getting things set to rights. That is, if you're still wanting to help."

Re: /gives you a Jamie to start.

[hi_there_aliens]

Yeah, 'sound'. About as sound as using Budge's for translations. The wooden knob rocked to a halt like a guilty reminder. With any luck that was the worst of the damage, but at this point, Daniel wasn't counting on it. Although he almost had to admire how Jamie blithely kept going, as if the house wasn't out to prove him wrong.

Daniel had to wonder just what Jamie's definition of a "wee bit of damage" was, especially when he didn't regard structurally sound the same way other people did.

"You should probably get one of them down as quickly as possible," Daniel interjected quickly. This wasn't like putting the laundry off. This was a run down house, and there were some many ways someone could get hurt. "I'd like to help but you don't want someone finding any weak spots by breaking a leg."

[bonnypiperlad]

Clearly Daniel hasn't seen some of the other buildings in the city they haven't had a chance to rebuild yet. "Ronnae said she'll be down after her shift is over," he points out. "And I'm sure Billy'll be by as well."

He can't suppose he really blames Daniel for being a touch wary given that last time in the TARDIS, but he can at least promise the man there won't be any puzzle doors or water filling any inescapable corridors, or whatever else Daniel might have come across in there while Jamie wasn't around. Well, unless there had been an infestation of dust, bits of furniture and broken windows.

"Look, if you'd prefer, we can clear some some space along the porch outside to store supplies and the like." That way if the roof is about to cave in, he can jump out of the way. "But I've been all over the first floor and I've not broken any legs yet. It's safe enough down here."

[ronnae.livejournal.com]

Ronnae left engineering as soon as her shift was over. She usually stayed a few hours extra to finish up any lose ends or start on projects that had been left for last minute, giving the team a head start for when they arrived in the morning. This time however, she had promised a friend she'd help with the house he had encountered.

She remembered how happy she was the day her and Billy had found the houses that would be perfect for her and Nokosi and was glad that Jamie would be going through the same pleasure.

Soon she found herself coming up to the property and smiled, it looked wonderful, well with a little work it would look incredibly better of course! It definitely reminded her of the houses from the Gilneas region and wondered if this was another building from her world.

At the sound of her friend she smiled, giving him a friendly nod before speaking, "It looks great Jamie! And it has a ton of potential~"

[bonnypiperlad]

Jamie smiles up at Ronnie, then gets to his feet, dusting himself off before turning to look at the house. "Aye, it does, doesn't it?" he replies, laying a hand on the nearest wall. It could be quite grand once they've gotten it in shape. "I just hope Victoria'll be happy with it when it's done. It'll be her place, after all. Well, hers and whoever she wants to have living here with her."

It's a fairly big house, and he doesn't think she'd want to stay in it by herself. He could see where it could get a wee bit lonely if someone did. Turning back to Ronnae, he asks, "So, how good are ye at determining what a structure's like? It looks fairly solid to me, but I'll admit a second pair of eyes would come in handy to see if I've missed anything."

[ronnae.livejournal.com]

"It certainly is too big for a single person, but then again, I've heard of mages who build immense towers for themselves and live just peachy, tho I also heard a few of them went a bit nuts."

She smiled, now that Jamie was off whatever he was doing, she moved over and gave her friend a warm hug before taking a step back.

"I can give it a look, yeah. I can used Boomy to do the assessin', he's much better at it. It'll jus' take him a bit to get here."

With that, she punched in some things into her comm and then looked back to the house.

"But from the outside it looks sturdy enough. Reminds me of Gilneas, and they really had some great construction as far as their buildings were concerned. Even after the Gilnean invasion, most of the buildings stood mostly intact, it was really impressive work."

[bonnypiperlad]

It's safe to say he's certainly not adverse to being hugged. It was disconcerting to see her all wrapped up in bandages like that, even despite all her protests that she heals quickly, and it's good to see her out of them. So he has no qualms about making it a proper one when he returns it with one of his own.

When she lets go, he looks around to try and figure what he wants to do next, and his eyes alight on a broken-down bookcase. - At one time it was quite tall, but now it's broken in pieces. It might be salvageable, for the wood if nothing else, but for now he thinks getting it out of the way might not be a bad plan. He turns back towards her as she relays the orders to Boomy.

"Aye, he can? That would be grand, Ronnae. Give me a hand with this, will ye? I want to check the floor underneath it. So Gilneas has a lot of houses like this? At one time, Earth had a fair amount like these, too."

(Either, whoever's least busy?)

[morphitudinous]

Billy had been happy to see the news that Jamie and Victoria would be moving into the neighborhood. He could always use another friend nearby, and it was a nice place. All they needed was to fix the house and make the pair of them comfortable.

Knowing he had a favor to return from Jamie's assistance months ago, he headed over to the house with his repair kit in hand. He hoped to see both of them around, though he was curious about Victoria. What was she like and how was she handling things?

"Hello?" he called upon reaching the house.

Jamie, since she hasn't met Victoria yet, hope this is ok Zoki?

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Kaya managed to get some time off med bay to come over and led Jamie a hand. It was great news for her actually: Ronnae and Billy were in one pace, Jamie and Victoria in another, and Nokosi was right there too! It made her more than a little pleased to have all her friends in one place.

And speak of the devil!

"Billy, hi!" She said, giving her Bond Brother a hug. "You got Jamie's message too? I'm here to help! Oh, and I have to admit, I'm a little curious to meet Victoria. Jamie would talk abut her from time to time."

That's fine! I'll grab Victoria in another thread :D

[morphitudinous]

Billy's face split into a wide smile upon hearing her voice. It felt like it had been forever since he'd last seen his bond-sister, and there she was. Maybe she'd been busy adjusting to life with Nokosi in her remaining spare time? He'd have to ask.

"Kaya!" He hugged her fiercely, so happy to finally see her. "I did, and I've been really worried about you. I owe you all a favor after you helped me move, so I'm here. And hopefully we'll get to see them. She seems to make Jamie happy."

Re: That's fine! I'll grab Victoria in another thread :D

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Oh Billy, Billy. If Kaya actually had spare time, she would loved to spend most of it with Nokosi and her friends. But being on staff in med bay, especially after the last mission, had robbed most of her free time, and sleep much of the time too. She was happy enough she;d been able to get this time away.

Oh, and that party Princess Celestia had thrown with her and Nokosi had been amazing too.

"Oh, I aws happy to help, just like now!" she said, laughing lightly. "As for me, I'm pretty tough. I can usually keep myself out of trouble if I don't have it plop on me out of nowhere!"

Better he didn't know about her contained anguish at Superman's funeral, or that attack in med bay. He might just worry more.

"Oh, I'm sure she would: Jamie's mentioned her more than once, even before she was here."

VICTORIA ONLY okay no Jamie and anyone else who is n the house and wants to join her

[thewunderkind]

Lash arrived a little bit later than most of the others, but she had a perfectly valid excuse makeouts with Zetta okay no...or probably at least some. Having no Neotank at the moment, she had taken to using one of the old vehicles in the hanger as a sort of mule to carry all of her things. She arrived, jumping off the large, hulking vehicle and opened the back, displaying numerous metal reinforcement beams and some of the tool sets she'd gotten from the Galilee mission.

"Oh wow! this is definitely going to need a lot of upgrades," she told no one in particular, stepping in. "You can smell that old wood smell!"

[bonnypiperlad]

"Aye, that's the point," Jamie comments dryly, setting down the tool he's been using to test the walls for any signs of weakness or rotten wood. "Believe it or not, some of us like it that way. And before ye go and get any ideas, I'd prefer to keep as much of that around as we can."

He realizes that given the nature of the available supplies on Stacy, there'll likely have to be some compromises along the way, but he wants to keep as much of the character of the place as possible.

"Glad ye could make it, though. I was beginning to think you'd changed your mind about coming over."

[thewunderkind]

"Yeah I guess if you like rotting wood, that's your choice," she comments back (even if the wood isn't that bad). At his other comment, she gives the truck a small kick.

"Hey! Not my fault the Neoneotank exploded during that last battle." Except it was, considering she had suggested it in he first place. She gives him a playful punch on the shoulder before looking at the house again, muttering a bunch of math that Jamie most certainly wouldn't understand.

"But if you want to go all boring I guess we can place metal supporters, there, there, here, here and over there." She points to directions over the house that are meant to be from inside, but it is hard to do so from here. "That way nothing will fall on you for a good thirty or so years, at the very least."

[bonnypiperlad]

"Oh, aye, of course it wasn't. Had nothing to do with the fact ye decided ye wanted to use it to blow up the Ohm." Even though he still thinks it was a completely mad idea, he can't deny it was an effective one. It's just as well she hasn't gotten around to rebuilding the thing, though, all things considered.

His eyes glaze over a little as she makes the calculations, the process reminding him a bit of Zoe when she used to do the same sort of thing. Fortunately it doesn't take long for Lash to finish, and when she speaks up again he promptly re-focuses on her, then nods in agreement.

"Aye, and by then we'll have time to get some good sturdy wood to add to it." Or, with luck, the Ohm'll have been defeated and they'll have their own universes to go back to. He goes to pick up one end of one of the reinforcement beams.

"Give me a hand with this, then, and we'll get started."

Anyone!

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Oh, this house looked like it might be haunted. Zouichi appreciated that in a future dwelling.

"Nice place. It does look like it could use some fixing up, though. Can I help with anything? I don't mean to brag, but I'm fairly strong."

[bonnypiperlad]

"Maybe a wee bit," Jamie admits, a touch dryly. Saying the house needs fixing up is rather like saying he's a wee bit Scottish, but he does appreciate having any extra help he can in this instance. And bragging or no, having a second person around right now is extremely useful. He nods over towards a pile of supplies that have been set down nearby, then gestures with a thumb in the opposite direction.

"Help me carry this beam over there? There's a section there I don't like the looks of, and I'd like to get it shored up just in case."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi nodded, then picked up the beam, bracing it easily against one shoulder. Okay, Jamie had said 'help', but he could throw his back out lifting heavy things! And then who would fix the house? Clearly Zouichi should just lift it up himself and save Jamie the trouble.

"Just show me where to put it."

[bonnypiperlad]

So maybe it wasn't bragging after all. Jamie blinks a little at the ease which that heavy beam is carried about. "I'd not realized that ye were quite that strong," he comments, before moving over to pick up the tools he also needed. "Was it...no, wait. The last time I saw ye was on that mission, wasn't it? I suppose that might have made a difference if ye were able to do that or not."

Being stronger would certainly be handy now, however. He points, indicating that suspicious looking area he'd noticed earlier. "Er, just over there. Although...if you'd be able to hold it while I make sure it's in place, that would save a bit of time, I think."