(no subject)

[whereabout]

who: Joshua and ~you~ (and a closed one for Estelle in the comments)
where: Outside the Bluobros house. I just named it that now. Whatcha gonna do about it.
when: In the days just after Forest Disaster Fun, I guess? It's not that time sensitive.
what: Fun with water filters, and sick harmonica jams! (If neither of these is your bag, but you have a better idea, hit me up! I don't mind throwing together a starter for you.)
warnings: Nothing yet, will edit as needed.



i.
[ Since they all (figuratively) washed up here, Joshua's made the executive decision that his first priority is the water supply. The shelter available could use some work, but it's serviceable, so given that it takes longer to starve than to dehydrate - it just makes sense.

So he spent those first few days rigging up a few water filters, to run the water first through a layer of sand, then charcoal (nobody misses the chairs that died for the cause, after the cleaning incident, he's sure), and last some wadded up cotton. After all of that, it's ready to be boiled, but today, he's looking back and forth between the output of two of the filters with a frown.

He's been running through water from both the well and the harbor - separately, in hopes of figuring out if one's more potable than the other. And they didn't seem too different, at first, but now...

...well, one is starting to look a lot better than the other. ]

That's new.


ii.
[ ...or, if you happen to pass through while he's just poured some water in and is waiting for it to make its way through, you might instead catch him playing the harmonica. Enjoy. ]


iii. (wildcard)
( TELL ME YOUR HEART'S DESIRE. We can work something out. )

Comments

closed to estelle: let's murder some wolves YEEEEAAAAAAH

[whereabout]

[ It's been an hour out in the woods, looking for wolves, and so far...not much luck.

While Joshua had been deeply unsure about taking on the forest again, after the way the mass expedition had gone down, there's been nothing so alarming this go-round. Not even those oddly precise tricks of the foliage to separate him from Estelle again.

Curious.

He will absolutely look that gift horse in the mouth, sooner or later, but right now, he's focusing on the task at hand, and he holds up a hand to signal Estelle to stop while he takes another look around them for signs of...anything, at this point. But wolves would be great. ]

Re: closed to estelle: let's murder some wolves YEEEEAAAAAAH

[brightlyshines]

[And Estelle... well, she's going to put this fortunate state of affairs up to her genius idea of linking together a few of Joshua's fashion disaster belts to make a makeshift leash tether she can hold onto. It's safer this way, she reasons, and if they can keep hold of each other, the forest can't separate them.

Totally logical! To Estelle, at least. Joshua might think otherwise, considering he's the one yet again subjected to her wacky ideas.

She stops in place when he holds up his hand, glancing around quietly along with him. She didn't hear anything yet, but....]

[whereabout]

[ Only Estelle could come up with such a ridiculous idea, and only Joshua could think this and yet still not argue with it, because he's seen exactly how far arguing with Estelle ever gets him.

(And maybe, deep down, he does find it reassuring to have her so firmly hanging onto him.)

He hasn't heard anything yet, either, but he crouches to take another look at the ground. They're faint, but there are definitely footprints from some kind of animal. About the right size for a wolf. It has claws.

Jackpot? ]

[brightlyshines]

[Listen, it is a brilliant idea, and Joshua should just admire her genius instead of complain. At least she's putting those belts of his to use for once.]

Hm....? Oh!

[She's quiet about her exclamation, at least, when she bends down to look with him. Her brows furrow for a moment before she follows what she thinks the direction the prints head with her eyes, pointing in that direction.

Follow?]

[whereabout]

[ The belts are an important means of self-expression and a way to clue the world in to what a tortured soul he is, okay.

But anyway.

As usual, she's right on his wavelength, and he flashes her a quick smile as he nods and straightens up. Thataway! ]

play that funky music white boy.......

[passio]

[ dextera is more than aware that joshua has been taking care of the water filters, so that part isn't particularly crazy or interesting to him now that he's figured out the science of it. it's the harmonica that catches his attention, and he first peeks out their shitty broken window to find the source of the noise, and when he realizes it's joshua after all, he's quite quick to the door to get a better listen.

his eyes are wide... is he excited? scared? it's hard to tell, but he's definitely intrigued. (and, truthfully, probably not scared. joshua hasn't given him much reason to be.) ]

[whereabout]

[ Joshua notices, of course - even with his attention (mostly) on playing, he's never really dropped the habit of keeping one eye on who's coming and how he can get the drop on them, if need be. There hasn't been much need here, though, so when he catches Dextera in his peripheral vision, he's not at all alarmed, and takes the moment to finish the last few bars before glancing over. ]

Hey.

[passio]

[ dextera nods a greeting in return, now thoroughly, visibly impressed by joshua’s playing. minato has exposed him to music via an mp3 player, but hearing a live performance is different and exciting. he gestures to the instrument, and cocks his head.

harmonicas aren’t exactly a standard religious instrument. this is new to him! ]

[whereabout]

It's called a harmonica.

[ He holds it out, turning it so Dex can see it from every side. ]

ii.

[messianic]

[That's...a sound he hasn't heard in awhile. Minato can't remember the last time he heard a harmonica being played, and certainly not live--he has to follow the sound, expression somewhat curious.

Finding the source to be Joshua is...still pretty curious, but he's at least polite enough to wait until Joshua's song is finished before he says anything.]

[whereabout]

[ Minato catches him just after he finishes one song and starts another, so he's got a few minutes to wait. Joshua's noticed him, sure, but since Minato seems to be making a point of letting him finish, he doesn't rush through it.

When the last few notes are hanging on the air, though, he lowers the harmonica and nods to Minato.

Sup, bro. ]

[messianic]

[Sup.

Minato waits for that cue--and then he approaches properly, nodding in response, appreciatively.]

I didn't know that you played.

[whereabout]

My sister taught me, a long time ago.

[ Even offering up that much information, scant though it is, feels...strange. Awkward, almost, because he's hardly spoken of her in years, and even then only to Estelle, and only after she had the story from Loewe.

But awkwardness aside, it also feels almost...like a relief? To just - say it, instead of dragging it around like an anchor. ]

i

[appraiser]

[ Admittedly, drinking water is one of the furthest things on Ryoji's mind- things like food, water, warmth, etc that he doesn't need in order to survive- so what catches his attention isn't the end results of Joshua's experiments, but everything that went into it, the little setup of sand and charcoal and cotton. ]

What is all of this?

[whereabout]

Water filters.

[ It's not surprising to Joshua that some people don't know what goes into making water drinkable, honestly, so he doesn't find anything odd about the question. ]

The sand catches big particles of anything that's gotten into it, and charcoal absorbs a lot of things that might be floating around in there but aren't really obvious.

[appraiser]

[ The explanation does not help at all, but Ryoji crouches down in front of the sand anyways, head nearly brushing the ground with how low he has to sit. ]

How cool...! Have you caught anything yet?

[ As if the purpose is what's left in the filters, not the clean water that passes through it. ]

[whereabout]

I'm sure I have, but you can't see most of what got pulled out.

[ It's...all itty bitty, after all. ]

i. YO ROOMIE

[nascere]

[ Fixing the water supply is the smart thing to do, honestly; you die much faster of thirst than of hunger, and Noctis attempts to help as best as he can, whenever he's around. Gotta help his new roommates, right? They've been pretty cool about having Ignis stay over, and Noctis has come to like Joshua and Dextera one hell of a lot.

So Noctis is close by, helping Joshua out however he can -- turns out Noctis is very good at taking instructions without complaint -- and he stares at the difference in the water as well, pleasantly surprised. ]

Oh. And looks less likely to kill you.

[ Probably. Does it mean then that it's ultimately more likely to kill someone? ]

[whereabout]

[ Noctis is a lot like Joshua in that respect - an obliging set of hands that doesn't feel the need to take charge of someone else's project or whine about the work involved - so it's very easy to get along with him. Joshua can appreciate that. ]

It does.

[ He...isn't actually sure whether to smile or frown, then. ]

Until I had a point of comparison, it was hard to realize just how bad that stuff looked.

[ they have been drinking that shit for a month ]

[nascere]

[ Joshua is similarly laid back, easygoing and not prone to unpleasantly loud outbursts, which suits Noctis just as well. And he doesn't seem to mind the fact that their apartment is pretty crowded, what with Ignis and the chocobos and all -- and Noctis likes Estelle well enough.

He's frowning, definitely, and it's at this time when Spot the chocobo, in all his magnificent ebony plumage, saunters over to check out just what they're looking at. The immense bird had been obediently out of range the whole morning, but seems to finally be curious. ]

The question is, why aren't we dead yet?

[whereabout]

Not everything bad will kill you right away.

[ Although honestly, he can't help but wonder, too. It's hard to buy that water that looks like that isn't actually doing anything too horrible, and it's all cool, really.

He reaches up to absent-mindedly scritch Spot's head. ]

i

[swordfucker]

[Guren doesn't live here, but he stops by to see Dextera often enough that Joshua has probably seen him come and go a few times. That makes it... slightly more than just their quick conversation before and after sparring match ups. This time, Guren actually stops before he leaves completely, taking a look at the water with clear interest.

He's exhausted from all of this forest stuff, and he still has a ton on his plate, but water filtration is very important, and a difference in the water is even more so.]

Where'd you get the clearer looking water from? A specific source?

[whereabout]

[ Dextera seems to bring out everyone's protective instincts, so there's nothing unusual about anyone stopping by to check on him (and especially Guren, since as Joshua immediately noted, Guren cares way too much for someone who so frequently claims not to).

So Guren passing through is...like part of the furniture, almost, by now. ]

It's from the well, but it wasn't this clear before.

[ He gestures to indicate the murkier water. ]

When we first got here, it came out looking the same as the harbor water.

[swordfucker]

So it changed. Like the food that gained its color back, too.

[Berries, he noticed first. He peers closer at the clear water.] I wonder if it's less chilling like this. It has to be better than that stuff in the harbor...

[whereabout]

Well, there's one way to find out.

[ And that's to try drinking them side by side...although he's not rushing to do that until he gives both samples a boil, because he's leaving nothing to chance. ]