Meeting those Who Helped Him ((open thread))

[losthunter]

Two weeks after Halloween, Hunter was finally feeling up for company again. And while much of what happened between him and Karlene (Electra) was still a blur in his head, he remembered the many people who helped him out during the whole night.

And he wanted to reconnect with those who were there. Get to know those who he had not met before. And answer any questions they might have had.

He sends out a few invitations over PINpoint to those who helped. And waited for a response.

Comments

[alittlehinky]

"Well," he says with a smile, "Marie took me to see the McDowell mountains in Arizona. Just for a while, on account of how I was missing home. I might go back sometime. Maybe even visit a couple other worlds."

He looks wistful, giving Hunter a lopsided smile. "My best friend back home. Jack Bondurant. Knew him since we was little. We both lost parents around the same time in the Spanish flu, and I reckon just sorta...bonded or somethin'."

"His brothers were a little like my brothers, too, some days." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the casing from a shotgun shell. "He gave me this," he says with a grin. "Picked it up after he saw Floyd Banner at a shootout."

[losthunter]

Hunter glances at the shotgun shell. And smiles. "If you wanted, I could put that on a chain, so you could wear it all the time."

[chiron_survivor]

"That's a lovely philosophy," Adia says, looking over at Caspar to see what he thinks. She's not surprised to see him a little closed off, taking a sip of wine instead of responding. "And it will nice to have some items on sale. Even if people don't understand the meaning behind it, the gold is a nice touch."

Caspar doesn't say anything because the philosophy touches a little too close to home. Except he knows, deep down, that he hasn't been fully mended yet. And he worries there's not enough gold in the world to seal those cracks.

"Where do you get the pottery to fix?" he asks finally. "Does it come broken or do you do the honors?"

[losthunter]

"There is so many stages of pottery, where anything can go wrong. A piece could fracture in the bisque stage, or the glazing stage, or in the kilns. So sometimes you work on a piece... and it breaks..."

"Or sometimes..." Hunter smiles. "You get to break pieces that you are not quite happy with, to see if something different can be done."

[chiron_survivor]

Caspar raises an eyebrow. "That part I'd be happy to help with," he says honestly.

"I have a hard enough time if I break a test tube," Adia confesses. "I don't know how I'd feel about a piece breaking before I'm done... but I guess that's part of the artistic process, right?"

[losthunter]

"But that is the thing... you are never truly done, until you feel the piece is right. And trust me, I have had plenty of pieces that turned out better because I broke them."

[chiron_survivor]

Never truly done. She thinks about this while she takes another bite of crisp. There are a lot of things in life that could apply to, not just pottery.

"Do you know why it's gold?" Caspar asks, looking over the platter in front of him again. He's already finished his plate of crisp, glad he saved room for it. Adia has really gotten a handle on the wood stove. "Instead of another metal to seal the cracks?"

[losthunter]

"Kintsugi does translate to golden joinery or golden repair. But there are repair attempts made with silver or platinum." Hunter grins.

[chiron_survivor]

Oh. Well, that explains that. "Guess they have to call it something else if you don't use gold," Caspar muses.

Adia smiles. "I'll have to stop by your stall to see everything." She glances at Caspar and her smile turns into a grin. "And to visit your bodyguard."

"Don't distract me while I'm on duty," Caspar teases her, and she giggles.

[alittlehinky]

Cricket is just really glad that whatever power brought him to the Nexus brought the contents of his pockets with him. He didn't have a whole lot on him at the time, but he had this.

"You could? I mean...if it wouldn't be no trouble? That'd be great. He's...I ain't likely to see him again, but I reckon I loved his silly ass."

[losthunter]

"I could even engrave his initials on it, if you wanted." Hunter offered. He chuckled when Cricket adds that he loved his friend.

"It is important to keep those you love close to you, even when you can't see them anymore."

[losthunter]

"You will be allowed a few distraction breaks..." Hunter teases the couple.

[chiron_survivor]

"You can swap it out with my lunch break because I won't need it," Caspar replies light-heartedly.

Adia's smile blossoms. It's nice to see Caspar relaxed around someone enough to joke around a little. "We'll behave, I promise," she tells Hunter. "It'll be good to see you more, too."

[losthunter]

"It will be good for me to get out more again." Now that he has no more obligations in his world, Hunter has more free time.

[chiron_survivor]

Adia knows that feeling. There were long stretches of time that she did not want to be in the Nexus, either. But ultimately, it was worth doing. "A lot of people will be glad to see you again. Especially everyone who helped you."

[losthunter]

"Yeah?" Hunter blushes a little. He was a little surprised by how many people came to help him. It was nice to know there were those who wanted to make sure he was alright.

"I can't wait to see everyone else too."

[chiron_survivor]

"Yes," Adia repeats emphatically, a smile on her face. "You have a lot of friends."

"If there's anyone you don't want to see, let me know," Caspar adds, already thinking like a bodyguard.

[losthunter]

"I can't think of anyone who I would not want to see..." Hunter pauses. "There might be some tension between me and Zandros..."

"But that is more his problem. Not mine."

[to_the_wolves]

"Because my powers are dangerous and misunderstood. I've accepted that they'll never go away, but it's difficult for me to make friends, because I'm afraid I'll scare them by accident."

She gestures for Hunter to sample some of the food before it gets cold. "The power is a part of you, thus it can't be taken away."

[losthunter]

"You could talk to me about your powers." Hunter offered softly.

He starts eating some of the soup. "I have come to accept that now..."

[chiron_survivor]

"Zandros?" Adia looks confused. "Why would he have a problem with you?" Hunter is an easy person to get along with. Is it because of his involvement with a goddess...?

"It's because of how you look, isn't it?" Caspar's tone is dry, but there's an irritated fire in his eyes. "Blondie can't handle another version of himself looking less than perfect. He's probably worried he'll lose his hair if he hangs around you too much."

[alittlehinky]

"His initials?" Cricket has to consider that seriously, something sober and a little sad creeping into his expression. "...nah, not that. I'm not sure how he'd feel about it."

It sounds too much like a token exchanged between lovers, and Cricket is pretty keenly aware Jack's brain didn't work that way where he was concerned. He smiles again a moment later, though, and asks tentatively, "Can you engrave 'invincible' on it? The word? Or is it too long?"

"See, there was this story about Jack and his brothers goin' around in Franklin, about how they couldn't die. And that'd be a good way to remember him, and maybe good luck for me, too."

[losthunter]

Hunter studies the item again. And then nods. "Yes. I can do that."

"Well, I hope it does bring you good luck."

[losthunter]

"Bingo..." Hunter nods at Caspar's assessment of the situation. "He did help find a puzzle piece. But it was more... his way of trying to make sure that I would not keep the 'Beastly' appearance that he saw."

[chiron_survivor]

Adia's gaze drops to her wine glass as she has another sip. She's disappointed to hear that Zandros is being so judge-y. But Caspar looks unsurprised. "Yeah, that sounds like him, all right. I'm amazed he was able to earn a puzzle piece at all, and didn't get turned into a squid along the way."

"He had Natasha with him," Adia murmurs. She sighs softly and looks up at Hunter. "I don't think Zandros was prepared for how differently people think in the Nexus. How something that's considered unattractive or scary on his world isn't somewhere else. I think if you give him time, he'll come around."

"And if he doesn't, I'll boot him from your stall," Caspar promises.