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Jack texts Mel to meet him at The Cliffs, a large and burnt out husk of a 20th century mansion that's become a canvas for graffiti artists. It's in the southeast part of Fairmont Park, and surrounded by a meadow. Easy to see who comes and goes (as long as they're not Light-Shied, or in fuckin Twilight) and it's a beautiful day for wandering through the ruin and around the meadow, anyway.
Jack's arrived early and is leaning against one of the still standing walls, almost looking like part of the graffiti itself. His charcoal animation flickers and shifts, and he can't seem to keep still, bouncing his foot against the ground as he waits and periodically pulling out his phone.
They say Philly traffic isn't that bad, at least compared to places like Atlanta or LA, but Mel's never driven there, and in their opinion Philly traffic is bad enough, especially when you're trying to get somewhere on time. But they've made it, only a few minutes late. They try not to stalk as they head towards the meeting spot, but it is second nature to stick to shadows and move with a predator's grace, especially when trying not to be seen. They may not know what is up, but no one calls a Hue and Cry over nothing.
They notice Jack and purposefully step out of the shadows to cross over to him. They nod and then look around. "So. What's up?"
Jack stands upright when the other Changeling appears, bits of charcoal shuddering away from his form to dissolve into nothingness. As Mel approaches, his mantle rolls over her: the fresh smell of an oncoming rainstorm (a little incongruous with the bright blue sky above them), undercut by the faint scent of something more metallic.
"Mel, right?" He cracks a smile and holds a hand out to shake. "'M Jack." He's the type to stick to formalities, apparently.
Mel gives a single sharp nod and returns the handshake, the scent of decaying leaves with hint of nutmeg billowing up almost as if their Mantle is reacting to Jacks. "Yes, Mel." They look slightly awkward for a moment, like they're not exactly sure what to say next. "It's... a pretty nice day" they say, lamely. "Considering"
Despite Jack's somewhat shaky appearance, his handshake is solid enough, and he returns the nod.
"Could be a lot worse," he agrees, and runs a hand through his stylishly tousled hair.
"So." Pleasantries over with, he crosses his arms and leans back against a graffiti-covered wall. "You said you got a little union clout, right? You willing to use it to help with a...project for the Freehold?"
Mel shoves their hands in the pocket of their slacks and shrugs. "It's not much clout, but even a little can help. Especially if it's for the Freehold." They pull one hand out of its pocket and comb thoughtfully through the feathers on the back of their head. "I assume this has to do with the current mess? Things seem to have... escalated rather quickly." They let out a hoot of a laugh. "Just a couple of day ago I thought it was just some weird Hedge blight and now there's a full war on"
"Hedge blight?" Jack raises his eyebrows. "That might be a totally separate thing, here...'cause this is about Bridge Burners. Trying to build an iron dream catcher 'round a big chunk of the city, using housing developments with iron bars. 'S fuckin evil..." He shakes his head. "Anyway, I guess a lotta the workers have already been affected by it all, and they're getting hurt 'cause they're not getting sleep. An' of course management's pushing the pace and making it even more dangerous, the fuckers."
He grimaces, looking at the brightly colored wall instead of Mel, running his fingers along the edge of a large, thorn-wrapped fist, done up in psychedelic colors. The thorns almost look like spikey brass knuckles, and there's a name underneath the whole thing. LUX.
"Then again, might not" Mel points out. "The Hedge kinda feeds on dreams and stuff, doesn't it?" They fail to repress a shiver at the mention of Bridge Burners. "Bridge burning fuckers are more important though, you're right." They make another few passes through their feathers before shoving the hand back into its respective pocket. "Management's always fuckers. So whatcha need from us drivin' folk?"
"I was gonna see about getting these construction folx to strike - I don't think we can stop the project entirely, it's too far along, but if we can stall it for long enough...and getting support from as many guilds and locals as possible'll give the construction workers more of a backing to walk out, and fight for better protections. I was thinking about going there in person, to offer some personal support - with local 8 behind me, of course. You'd be welcome to join, dunno if you wanna get that close to that much iron, though."
Mel nods, slowly, obviously thinking things through. "That seems like a good idea. Fucking Uber and Lyft'll undercut anything my union tries to do, but it's the thought that counts right?" Their tone turns wry. "Know a couple of folks that got real sad they couldn't be involved in that whole fashion show kerfuffle a few weeks ago who'll jump at this chance"
Jack huffs in irritation at the mention of Uber and Lyft. "Poor fuckers gotta organize, too...and yeah, the fashion show was a whole Thing. Any support your union can give'll absolutely help, though. I'm not affiliated with the ironworkers or construction, but I'll give it all I got anyway. These folx deserve safe working conditions, and...we gotta stop this building project, too."
Mel sighs "It's shit all around with those companies. But folks gotta eat so..." They roll their shoulders in a shrug. "I'll see what I can do with my people. Nice thing is all us working class folk can sympathize with being worked too hard and being rushed on jobs, so it shouldn't be too hard to drum up support." They look away, staring at nothing for a long moment as they think. "I know the iron might be a problem, but has anyone considered... physically setting the project back?" They mime an explosion.
"I...think we've been trying to keep shit a little more subtle. Slow shit down without giving the bridge burners a tip off that we know what's going on, you know?"
Mel doesn't have eyebrows, but they still manage to give the 'I'm raising an eyebrow at you' look. "We're at war now"
"...Fair enough. I know I'm not the one to go to about physical setbacks, like that, my skills're more useful for protecting the workers. Worth looking into, though?" Jack shrugs.
"I'll ask around." Mel says with a nod. "My talents don't go that way either, but I'm sure someone's do." They make a slightly annoyed sound in the back of their throat. "Not to change the subject, but how much danger are we in? Like, day to day?"
"That? I dunno. Robin attacked..." He runs his hands along that LUX tag again, and his mien flickers and shudders as he frowns. "She had surprise on her side - and we're all on alert, now. But...fuck, I honestly don't know."
"Fuck. Well... fuck" It's obvious that Mel's not sure what else to say. They've never been great with words. "Well, better the enemy you know?" They don't sound too certain about that.
"And I mean, safety's all kinda an illusion, anyway. Robin just ripped away the curtain." He says it pretty matter-of-factly. "I'll get a start on pushing for a walkout, do you want me to coordinate with you, or just drop your name in conjunction with the drivers?"
Mel's hoot-laugh has no humor in it at all. "That's for sure." They shake their head as they pull out their phone. "I'll start texting people and see what I can rustle up. You seem like you've got a lot on your plate at the moment, so if you just wanna give folks my name and number, that's fine."
"This shit gives me something to do, keeps me distracted." Jack shrugs. "So I don't mind. I'll keep you in the loop on my end - you interested in going there directly, seeing what we can stir up together?"
"Sure, I'm off till this evening" They can't smile, exactly but there's an obvious look of excitement in their eyes. "Stirring up trouble seems like a worthy use of the time"
"Well. I dunno if it's gonna be right away. I wanna make sure that this shit is above board, and that my local knows what we're doing and supports it. But it'll be soon. Definitely." He nods, and sticks his hand out again. "Was nice to meet you, Mel. Looking forward to working this shit."
"Oh," They look briefly disappointed, but only very briefly. "Still, it shouldn't be a problem. Let me know." They shake the offered hand and nod. "Wish it'd been under better circumstances. But so goes"
"How it always seems to go, doesn't it? Maybe we can get drinks when all'a this is over, talk about shit that's not on fire." He pushes away from the wall with a small smile. "See you around?"
"Drinks are good. I think when this is all over, we'll all need drinks. Take care of yourself" Mel isn't quite the type to Light Shy out, but they are a Darkling, and, well, it's easy to just sort of melt back into the shadows.
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