Logs:Home and Hearth

Home and Hearth
Dramatis Personae Ash, Erik
In Absentia Charles	2023-02-03 I guess I only think about people in their current occupation, yeah, you more so because... well.. Legend, but... wow.
Location <BOM> Magneto's Cabin - Ascension Island
Considerably reduced from what they must have been when this place was actually running at full capacity, there is nevertheless a hefty amount of garden space tucked away behind the main cabin of the compound. Somewhat haphazard in its organization, the rows of plants -- mostly vegetables, with some herbs lining the borders -- seem to be chosen somewhat at whim. Despite the disorganized mishmash of crop selection, the ground seems well-tended, fielding the occupants a decent cache of produce three seasons out of the year. To one side, a fenced-in area with a raised coop houses chickens, often noisily squawking throughout the day. On the other side of the garden from the chicken coops, just a little ways from the edge of the gardens, is the LAIR OF MAGNETO: a cabin much like any other on this island, save for its additional preponderous of metal in its construction. On the door, a stylised M is branded into the wood, faint horns in the style of Magneto's helmet pulling out of the outer legs. Inside, the last year has slowly returned the cabin to some sense of lived-in warmth after a long stint standing empty -- along one wall, a bookshelf now adorned with new editions of Lord of the Rings (and the DVDs!) alongside worn copies of The Once and Future King, Chaim Potok novels, a first edition of Solve for X by Xavier and MacTaggert, and more-- along another, an older style writing desk with art supplies decorated upon it. All of this is currently being pulled away from the walls, as is the plain bed, due to the task at hand -- the large spiderwebs of cracks emanating from a top corner. Was this recent, or just newly discovered? From the frown on Erik's face, proooobably the latter. There's a strong knock at the door before the handle is twisted and the expected presence of one Ash Campbell arrives, complete with tool box and belt. He's wearing a Carhartt coveralls, unzipped and draped over his belt at the waist, with a thick flannel shirt over a long sleeved thermal top. His nose and cheeks are ruddy with outdoor exposure and his skin a dirty tan, ever the dust bunny. "Hello sir!" the voice is warm and his smile is easy and he hovers close to the door. "Thanks for thinking of me with your construction needs. Uhh, do I need to put on.. shoe covers? Don't want to trample dirt on your personal space." The handle twists just a little smoother than it might otherwise under Ash's hand when he's comes in. "Mr. Campbell. You need only do what makes you feel most suited to the work -- come in, and behold this aggravation." Erik himself is wearing shoes inside -- black leather steel toes, tucked under the boot-cut of old denim, lavender satin dress shirt rolled to the elbows. Two bands of steel links circle his wrists, the inside of both arms bare. "Believe me, this place has been through more than dirt. Do you see this?" He points at the cracks, running one finger along a fine one at eye level. "Should be simple enough to patch, but as to what is underneath --" Erik sighs. "If there is mold within, I daresay I'll tear the whole thing down myself." The glance to Ash is not... pleading, exactly, but does convey a sense of hope that a younger eye will see a simpler solution. "Oh. That's a beauty alright." Ash's cheerfulness remains as he tilts his head to the side and draws closer to the problem corner. "you'd think that this would be a roof problem, wouldn't you -- but actually, it has more to do with the foundation. If we're lucky, the roof will have remained steady over the top and no water will have gotten in!" He squats down to set his toolbox on the ground and starts poking about inside. "First, we're going to have to take a peek underneath and see how it looks. No point in shoring up and making small fixes if you are going to be keen on a full uh... remodel." Ash's hands betray a little stiffness as he works, fingers dumber than usual, but his nerves are more evident in the way he speaks, switching into a chatter he rarely indulges in otherwise. "A full restart might be nice, though. I can imagine a bunch of interesting things we could do should we sweep away the old and go with something new. I know, it's a silly thought because keeping the buildings old and shambly looking on the outside is intentional. I just like building stuff." He selects a small drywall saw and quickly scores the wall around the cracks before cutting into the thickness of it and starting to strip it away to show the insulation below. One white eyebrow arches up, a twitch at the edge of Erik’s mouth that could be amusement. Nods at Ash’s first assessment but says nothing, just leans back against his desk while Ash gets set up. “A full restart,” he muses, glancing out the window to the island beyond. “I suppose this iteration of starting over is beginning to age, isn’t it?” His attention slides back to Ash. “What would you build first?” "That's a hard question -- especially coming from you." Ash drops the piece of drywall on the ground while his calloused fingers untuck the irritating material, checking for dampness. A straight edge blade comes out as he slices away a chunk and keeps probing deeper. "Can't just idly dream, you know? Gotta have a plan and a back up plan before it's good enough to suggest. Personally, I like building people homes. I know they need a lot and that each house takes a while and waiting for a home could cause stress for both the potential moving in people and the people who are next to get a house and the people after that who are just waiting for it to be done so they can have their house started and who says what the order should be? so there are probably better places to build first, for the appreciation of all." He pauses and turns his gaze back to Magneto as he sniffs the insulation. "Well, you've got some dampness and a mild odor. probably caught it soon enough to fix easily enough." The look on Erik’s face, invisible to Ash while he works, is warm and fond, nodding slightly at every declaration. “More houses and homes. Not a bad dream to start a plan with at all, in my experience. We could use a few more cabins here, could we not?” His lip curls with distaste — not at Ash, but the problem he has uncovered. “That I will trust your judgement on — my trade was the raising of homes, not the maintenance afterwards.” "Oh, I figure that is kind of like that discussion of determining counterfeit bills. You don't study what's wrong about things -- you just know how it should look and you're already on your way..." Ash pauses, his words trailing off as it dawns on him what the older man said. "You did house building? Had... a trade?" Both eyebrows lift now, amusement clear across Erik’s aged features. “I am 94 years old, young man,” he responds, gravelly and serious tone betrayed by the smile forming. “At some point in those long years, I did have employment other than being an enemy of the state.” Erik pauses. “A handful of trades, in fact. Yours is one I have fond memories of and waning expertise.” "Ohhh." There's an almost star eyed quality to Ash's gaze now, seeing Erik for the first time in a new light. His smile begins to shift from a nervous, safe expression to one filled with warmth. "I don't know. I guess I only think about people in their current occupation, yeah, you more so because... well.. Legend, but... wow." He absentmindedly stuffs the insulation in a trash bag he liberated from his tool box. "Could you... uh... Teach me?" He stands still, looking at the taller man with a gaze that can only be described as puppy eyes. "I know that you say your expertise is waning, but honestly, I think it's probably better than you know. These days, the materials are focused more on ease of installation rather than the solid construction you guys did. I mean, I bet you did solid wood floors and like... ornamental built in cabinets, yeah?" The corners of Erik’s eyes crinkle at legend, but this amusement does not resolve into a correction. “I suppose — we did not,” he frowns, thinking back, “spend very much time on ornamental cabinetry when building apartments in the Soviet Union, but solid wood floors, yes, after then. Not laminate. What I can teach better, of course,” Erik says, the bands of steel links on his left hand uncoupling and hovering in a stack above his open palm, “is how to build gates, thread iron and steel through walls.” Ash mouths the words 'Soviet Union' as he listens, falling into a companionable quiet usually reserved for his close friends. When Magneto demonstrates the more practical application of his powers, he smiles shyly and shifts his weight from right to left. There's a moment of quiet before the whole house starts to rumble, shifting as the ground below levels and settles into position, the gap between roof and wall closing. "I could provide some stone walls, if you want, to hold up those gates." There’s a brief flash of panic in Erik’s eyes, so quickly here and gone. Sensible to Ash, maybe, is the sudden thrum in the steel going into the ground, the old pipes snaking down from this cabin and then away. It’s only a moment — the expression passing over Erik’s face next is of slight confusion before Ash speaks. Then, slowly, a delighted smile. “How marvellous a gift. The earth moves by your will.” Seemingly forgetting about the problems with his cabin, Erik claps a hand to Ash’s shoulder, gestures to a window view of the gardens and the island beyond. “Look out and pick a plot of earth. There, young man, we will begin lessons.” "OH! Yeah! Uh Huh! Okay!" Ash emphatically nods, looking out the window, filling with a frenetic energy just bursting to be put to use. The only thing that stops him from bolting directly outside to start plot hunting is the bang of the trashbag against his leg when he raises his arms to prepare to run. "OH. Uh. I guess we should fix this first... though. I have some mold treatment sprays at my place... I'll go fetch it once the full extent of the dampness is explored."