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A truly gargantuan ogre is positioned quite like a boulder in the middle of the training yard. Covered in heavy plate armor with a greatsword the size of a small bus strapped to his back, the figure radiates the sort of primal heat and implied menace of a true scion of the Summer Court. Without his helmet, the figure is mostly bald, a face comprised of craggy granite-like stone, with eyes like two charcoal pits. Black scorch frames his eye sockets, and his brow is stained dark with the heat and soot which his eyes produce. So not only is this being massive, and with a mantle that he can't seem to hide on the best of days, he's also highly Wyrd. And he seems to always be scowling, too. That certainly doesn't help his first impressions be any easier. The pretty calico fabric flower, clearly hand made, presently tucked behind his ear does, though. It has a pink bow on it, even. Very cute.
Despite the fact that she's clad in Serious Business gothic plate armor in a scarlet (or commie, or panda) red, June doesn't come marching in or anything when she enters, it's more like a bouncing, skipping waddle. It's adorable and ridiculous, much like the armor she's wearing, which even covers her tail and has little perforated bumps for her ears. Once she's a few steps inside and not blocking the door, she pauses to reach up and undo the straps for her helmet and pull it off before looking around and spotting Peter. He's not hard to spot.
"... on this podcast I was listening to," explains Teagan, following June into the Hollow and walking alongside Sturm. The scene in the Summer Hollow now looks like 'small, medium, large, extra large' with about a foot's difference in height between June > Teagan > Sturm > Peter. "They found these, like, sling bullets in an excavation in Greece, and someone had carved a word on them, like 'dexy' or something... but the word translates to 'catch'." Their hands are tucked into their pockets, their stride long and lazy. "Which is fucking amazing. People have always been people. Snarky fuckers." One scarred hand rises to wave to Peter in greeting, as they're on their way toward him.
"That's fuckin' delightful. You'll have to forward that to me at some point so I can give it a listen." Sturm rolls her shoulders as she steps back into the Summer Hollow. Her hands are tucked into the pockets of her leather jacket as she walks, so she nods at Peter instead of waving. For, uhh. The second time today. Who knew she was such a social butterfly.
Gallowglass takes a moment to himself to adjust his clothing, to neaten himself as much as he can. His pale hair is in a neat bun; his clothing is clean, but it's certainly not any military dress. He found a crimson bandanna somewhere, tying it around the bicep of his right arm. With a deep breath, he trudges into the Hollow alone.
Peter slowly rounds about, cracking and rumbling as he does so, the sound amplified by the armor he's wearing. Little rivulets of fire can be seen just under the granite of his skin as his movements crack the surface. They dim in short order as his skin once more solidifies. "You should read the shit they wrote on the walls in Pompeii." Judging from his composition, he might have been there. Falling on it. "I put you three together, I got a full signal bar in here. That's handy. What can I dooze ya for, ladies and neither?" His attention shifts over to Gallowglass. Which is to say the burning coals in his eyes sort of shift to the left giving the implication of eyeballs.
June lets out a laugh at what Teagan's telling them. "Yeah, that sounds like people, alright. Thousands of years, same jokes!" Once delidded, she skips her way over to where Peter's hanging out and considers his bulk for a moment before saying, "oh, right, business. Sorry, I let myself get a little distracted wondering about something that's really not important, at the moment." She holds out a tiny, gauntleted hand. Well, the gauntlets extend to her fingers, and then open up to give way to leather gloves that reach the last knuckles of her hands, which are in turn tipped with wicked claws. "I'm June Desrochers, nice to meet ya."
"I will have to look up a podcast on what was written on the walls of Pompeii. I'm sure it was a lot of dick jokes. Romans loved their dick jokes." Teagan says to the man who named himself Peter Wood. "I like your flower." That is probably not a dick joke, but Teagan deadpans it all the same. Once June's offered her hand, Teagan does the same, the thick scar across their palm shown. Each palm has one of those, a big, old horizontal scar the width of their palm, as if at some point Teagan grabbed hold of something very sharp and it cut their hands down to the bones. "Teagan." Their head tilts slightly to the side, taking in the sight of Gallowglass with a similar blank expression as they offer their mononym as a general introduction.
"Yeah," Sturm maintains her deadpan tone and surly disposition. "Dick jokes, but also pictures of dicks, and shit like 'I fucked Marcus's mom'. Y'know, like the junk that'd get carved on the desks at the back of class." She says all this knowingly. Like the Jotun, perhaps, carved numerous messages about screwing some sap's mother into many a desk during her wild unspent youth. "Sturm - but we've already met."
... and this time, her shirt is spotless so don't even try it, Peter.
Gal assumes the best; Peter's attention drawn, he offers a nod. There's an awkward moment where he's unsure, and the nod evolves to include a fist over his chest; after another agonized pause, Gal gives up and sketches a bow. He lifts his chin to Teagan in greeting as well, rubbing his palms against his britches. "Gallowglass," he confirms. "Just wanted t'meet others in th'Court is all."
Peter looks down at June. And down. And down some more. Then he carefully takes a half step backwards, bends his left knee, and sinks down to the ground in a half kneel. Even so he has to bend forward a bit to carefully accept June's much smaller hand in his much larger, gauntleted one. The stone fingers slowly envelop her hand and offer a gentle upwards and downward motion of shaking. The heat of his mantle-- of his person, really --is intense. Like standing in front of a fireplace. "How do you do, miss. Petah Wood." He carefully touches the flower behind her ear, adjusting it a bit. "Yeah, well. My wife made it for me. She said I'd scare all you if I didn't wear it. And if you think I'm scary, wait'll you get a load of what dragged my raggedy ass to the altar, yeah? You better do what she says, is all I'm saying." The fire in his left eye briefly extinguishes. Was that a wink?
"Teagan. Nice. Nice. Hey, Sturm. Nice shirt." His grin is crooked for a moment, sending a fissure of flame up the side of his face. He carefully pushes back up to his feet and sends a chin up towards Gallowglass. "I was waiting to see if you'd genuflect. C'mon over, kid, I don' bite."
"Scared? Us? Not so likely. Also not so likely? Just doing what people say," June answers with a grin that shows a bunch of teeth as she gives Peter's hand a careful shake. She has sharp claws, and she doesn't want to hurt him! "That tends to all come down to what they're saying and how much sense it makes, in the end. We," she starts saying with a glance around. "Well, Teagan and I anyway, we came to talk about positions we're interested in filling. Although now that I'm here, I'm also kind of debating with myself whether I'd be able to lift you off the ground, too."
The lanky Mirrorskin shakes Peter's hand and then steps back for a second, giving Gallowglass a chance to say his hellos. "Yeah, pretty much. I was partially domesticated by a red panda, but that's about as far as that goes." Teagan tucks their hands into their pockets, at least for a moment, and laughs softly when June muses about picking Peter up. But... there's no doubt on their face. "Yeah. Business meeting for office hours," they agree. "... but I wanna see June pick you up, I admit."
Sturm ponders the flower ducked behind Peter's ear for a moment, but then her frown slides back into place once the talk of business rolls back aroung once more. "Same," Sturm's brow furrows. I mean, she's seen June perform feats of strength but - come on - look at Peter, he's huge. "... but she probably can't though, right?" Beat. If June can lift up Peter, that probably means she can pick up Sturm, too. This does not bode well. "Oh, and yeah. Not here for shit. Just following these two around, so... pretend like I'm not here."
He does as he's told, the tension ebbing from his frame as he ambles closer to the group. He nods to the others as well, edge of his mouth kicking up. "No, no genuflectin'. Still practicin' at bein', uh...courtly. Courtier. Courtish. I ain't got any business that I know of, just, y'know. Well, no - yeah, maybe I do. M' happy t'wait my turn."
Peter's eyebrows shoot up at June's boasting. The act causes air to rush into the pits of his eyes with the result of a gout of fire rolling up his forehead and sparks shooting out of his face. Then his mouth cracks open, and the roil of magma inside sheds a good deal of light as he just laughs. And laughs. "Oh, kid. I like you. I like you." He asides to Sturm, "Watch this one. She's goin' places." Demonstrating his ability to delegate, he looks to Teagan, "Why don't you tell me what the hell you wanna do for the court while she tries to heft me off the ground." He looks to Gal, "And while they're doing that, tell me what you're good at, kid. Don't be shy about it, but don't lie, neither." He then shifts his weight into a settled position. Apparently as game for this exercise as everyone is. "What're youse all gonna give her if she can, though? I says if she can, you gots to call her the Mighty June for like a week. June, Mover of Mountains. June, Raiser of Wood" A beat. "Not that one. That one-- no, bad. One-a the others."
June laughs too, and then just shrugs. "I mostly wanted to drop by to say I'm not ready yet to be the Sun's Tongue for our Court, but it sounds like the right job for me, so I'm going to go get the skills I need to make that happen and come back looking for the job. That's it." Then she moves aside a little to put her helmet down and rubs her hands together, psyching herself up to try to lift a mountain.
"I'm aiming for Unseen Sun," Teagan answers Peter, straightforward and direct to the point, taking a step back to make some room for the Peter-raising. If he falls, after all, that's a lot of rock to get clobbered by, and Teagan is not in favor of being the victim of clobberin' time.
Yeah, that's right. A metatextual Thing reference about Peter Wood. Deal with it.
"Not quite ready for the job yet, from what I've read, but it's similar to jobs I've had elsewhere, and, well, I'm a sneaky fuck who causes death from the shadows, so, uh, yeah." A roll of their shoulders. "That's where I want to be."
They stare at Peter for a moment, and then totally deadpan, "No, the last one's right." He asked for it.
The Jotunn purses her lips in anticipation of the nonsense that is sure to ensue in the wake of Peter's accidental dick joke... but it isn't as bad as she anticipated. Maybe Sturm's given Teagan too much gremlin credit? "Incorrigible," she mutters to the Mirrorskin - also taking a step back. Y'know, not that she's not confident in June's abilities, but... "Five bucks, June - and that way you can just hand it back to me when you lose our other bet."
Gallowglass flicks cracked-marble eyes from changeling to changeling, drinking in their statements to assemble into blueprints for his future. Arms folding across his chest, he squares his shoulder to address the Victor with esteem. "I'm...yeah. Actually, I'm a good fighter. A real good fighter, if I had t'guess. I don't know where I might fit movin' forward, or if I'll just be a page, but I know..that I need some direction. Been a real shithead and it's time t'get it together. So...th'direction I'm thinkin', I...it's new t'me, but I think I'd be pretty good at protection, too. And that's what I wanna do."
"Sun's Tongue's not really my department, kiddo, you're lookin' for l'il Alice the crow lady. She's the left hand. I'm the stabby-pokey guy. But I'll pass the word along to her that we got a candidate in the works. And I can tell you what she'd tell you; qualifications ain't mean shit if people don' respect your ability to mediate. So have some examples in your pocket of doin' just that, and maybe seek out that sort of role within the court, here. Solve some problems, talk some shit through. Do that, and we'll probably come to you askin'."
He then squints over at Teagan, "I'mma tell you what I told Ianthe. That position comes with the authority to raise the Hue and Cry. So just being able to tick the boxes ain't gonna hack it. You're gonna need examples of your discernment. An awareness of what rises to the hue and cry and what don't. And explain to me what you think would merit it, you know? You're a mirrorskin, so I know you got the disguise bit down. But I don't know shit about know from the shadows shit. We'll probably give you a name and a location and, well. You bring back the head, and job's yours. You work alone? When it comes to the rubbin' out, I mean?" Clearly they have a Motley.
He then turns to Gal again, "A real good fighter if you had to guess? What'd I say about not selling yourself short, kid. You're good or you ain't. Guessin' ain't got shit to do with it." His words aren't intended to be mean, clearly. It all has the air of coaching, really. "But, hey. As a reformed shithead, myself, I get it. Sometimes finding something worth protecting out in the thorns is your key to the good life. Was for me." He plucks the flower from behind his ear and leans forward to carefully pin it to Gal's chest by the ribbon pin. He gives it a pat once it's put in place. "I think you need this more'n me right now, kid. So listen. I got a spring healer. Little bird name of Petra. She's a fragile little thing, but plucky. And I just bet she's gonna need some healing fruits before too long. You arm up, requisition gear if you need to, and you stick to her like glue when she goes out searching. Make yourself available to folks for that purpose. Stick to the trods, though. No wandering off. You do that, come on back, tell me how you're feeling about just gettin' out there and doing some good."
"Oh yeah, that all makes sense to me," June says with a nod and a sharp-toothed grin. I'll have to come looking for her too, some point or another, but all the same... like I said, I'm not there yet, but I will be."
Then Peter moves on to talk to all the others who have business, and she moves on to limbering herself up. She mostly seems to be biding her time more than actually preparing herself for the task ahead, and as Peter is talking to Gallowglass, she meanders up more or less behind him. And when Peter seems to be finished saying what he's saying, she crouches down behind him, grabs his tree trunks of legs below the knees, puts her back into it, and lifts him right up off the ground. All 4'10" feet of her, clad in plate armor, picking up the 8 foot tall mountain of an ogre. She can barely fit her arms around his legs enough to get the grip she needs to lift him, but lift him she does. She only holds him up for a couple of seconds, long enough to show she's not about to collapse under the weight, and then she puts him back down and moves back. "Couldn't resist," she says.
The Mirrorskin tips their head from one side to another. "I've cut a briarwolf in half with a single swing. Pop out of Light Shy, cut 'em in half. Led patrols into the Thorns, brought 'em all back out again. I'll gladly go talk to Alice, yep." Their hands stay tucked into their pockets, and they nod along. They already said they weren't there yet, so they're just acknowledging everything that Peter's saying. "Aight."
"Mostly I do. Depends on the job. Sometimes you need a van full of people a block away, and sometimes it's better or safer to do everything on your own. Really depends on the job. Situational."
And then there's the flower-handing-over and the corners of Teagan's mouth curl up a little bit... but then June sneaks around and picks Peter up and they laugh -- the sound is bright, like light on broken glass, and in deep contrast to the stillness they'd had previously. "Told ya. She's a treat for getting Wood up."
Maybe Sturm was right about Teagan's goblinosity.
Glitch comes quietly striding into the Summer Hollow, wrapped up in his black clothing, shades perched on his nose, the edges of his pixellated face shifting and flickering. He approaches the gathering, pauses, and goes from being discreet and polite to just watching June lift Peter clear off the ground. That gets him to reach up and remove his shades to stare with a bit more awed of an expression. He reaches down to unzip his jacket and fish his phone out from an inside pocket, revealing a black band shirt underneath with DIO in large and proud letters. It's a bit baggy on him.
"Okay, then." Sturm blinks a couple times, and her face remains entirely expressionless... but she nods. Game recognizes game. "That's dope, but... no. Don't like that." Beat. "...and, again. You are in-fuckin'-corrigible." Not to be corrected, improved, or reformed. Not even a bit. The Jotunn hooks her thumbs into the pockets of her jeans, and inclines her head when Glitch begins his approach. "Nice shirt. Know where I can get one?" Maybe there's a bit of a knowing smirk there. Maybe.
Gallowglass watches Peter throughout, eyes wide; when the little flower is pinned to his shirt, his vision condenses down to little more than the delicate petals. He lifts a large finger to touch it carefully, exhaling, and then his posture straightens. He nods, clenching both fists. "Find Petra. Protect her with my life. Got it. Anyone needs protection on the trods, I'm their man."
"JESUS FUCKING SHIT ON THE POPE'S DICK!" Peter bellows as he's lifted off the ground. It's not so much that he doubted that June was strong. She's pretty obviously that to be bouncing around in plate armor. But he's huge. And clearly hasn't had more than one foot off the ground in many, many years. He stops short of cartwheeling his arms before being returned to the ground, much to his profound relief. "Holy fucking shit, kid! You don't skip leg day, do ya? Fuck me. Wait'll I tell Chollie about this."
He sidles a bit to the side. Away from the terrifyingly powerful tiny dynamo that is June. "Let's not get dramatic, kid. Nobody dies, everybody comes home. That's an order. Nobody dies in this outfit unless I say so. Anyone disobeying that order'll be shot." Peter's humor is a bit on the dark side, but it's still humor. "Find her. Tell her I said you're to look after her while you both go looking for fruits. Feel free to drag some of the other pages along with you. Tell me what you think of 'em. Arthur, I know, was looking to lend a hand. Little mousy kid. He's got a stutter. I find out you teased him about it, though, I'll make June lift half of you while I sit on the other half. And I gotta tell you. I fucking love baked beans."
Teagan is considered for a moment. "Well. You and I both know hackin' a briarwolf in half ain't the same thing as lobbin' off the heads of Privateers. I heard about the house you took out, though. That's good work. So. Yeah. When you're qualified, come back to us. We'll spin the rolodex of names we want to be obituaries, and if you do good with it, well. Congrats."
Then he's watching Glitch, rather like Sturm. "Just a rainbow in the dark, there, kid?"
June can't help but giggle a little at the way that Peter responded to her, but she baked up away from him so that he doesn't have to be worried about being hoisted into the air a second time. Or, like, flipped ass over teakettle or something. "Hell no, leg day's the best part of my workouts. I fucking love squats." Feeling victorious she goes to scoop up her helmet, then skips over to Teagan and leans against them. "You didn't doubt me for a second, did you?" she asks them, before flashing a devious grin at Sturm.
The Sprite's digitized gaze settles on Sturm first, and the pixels at the corner of his thin mouth turn up at one end in a restrained smirk. "Yeah, I got it from this cool ogre lady, she's been to all their concerts. Pretty cool. Could probably beat you up." He turns to Peter at the quip before walking further forward to join the group.
"I haven't been left on my own in a long time. But when there's lightning, you know, it always gets me down."
Another round of that brilliant broken-glass laughter at Peter's reaction, and Teagan stretches out an arm to welcome June in for a hug and a kiss on the top of her head. "I did not doubt you for a moment," they assure her, laughing softly into her red curls. The appearance of Glitch means that Teagan scoops up the little Sprite, kissing him on the corner of his mouth before setting him back down. It will probably ruin his image, but oh well.
"I do know," Teagan answers Peter, with the sort of weight in those three words that means 'I have killed a man. At least one.' "I'll be back when I've met the items on the list."
"Less doubt, and more hope." She pops her lip, emphasizing the p. The giant glowers down at June - but it's (probably) pretty easy to see that her grumping is just for show at the moment. "... but now I've gotta worry that you might do that to me when I'm not expecting it, so. That's a thing I've got to deal with." She flashes a blink-and-you'll-miss-it smirk at Glitch, but otherwise just leaves the statement alone.
Gallowglass shakes his head; his lips tug upward on one side in a confident grin. "You said I wasn't supposed t'brag, so I didn't say before - I'm really fuckin' good at not dyin'. My life's all I got, other'n my oath to th'Freehold. Don't mean I'm plannin' on givin' it up." His attention drops back to the little flower for a moment and he nods once, folding his arms loosely.
"It ain't bragging if it's true, kid," Peter says of his personal ethos in the arts of healthy masculinity is concerned. "That's smart, though. Not giving your life up, I mean. Keep on doing that." His grin returns, causing more fissures in the granite of his face which ripple with fire. "So let's see. You got marching orders, you got marching orders, you got marching orders, you don't want marching orders, which leaves..." He gestures at Glitch, realization dawning on him. "You must be Glitch. He/him, right? I'm Petah Wood. I'm your boss. A boss? One of your bosses." He shrugs his massive shoulders. "To be honest, the arrangement confuses the fuck out of me, too. But hey."
Glitch makes no protest when he's picked up off his feet by Teagan, like another pair of dancers to match June and Peter. Dangling off the ground, he frames the mirrorskin's face with his hands and leans in to continue the brief kiss into a much more commited one, nose against nose, before being set back down.
"If you do that in front of every court leader we talk to I'm gonna start slapping your ass," he offers to them, before turning to regard Peter. "Hey," he beeps. "Glitch. I haven't sworn yet. Player Two here finally convinced me to." He rolls a shoulder slightly. "But it...makes sense. I was in denial."
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