[OPEN] Moving

[graveling]

Who: Angel and Y'all
What: Moving Day and the Surrounding
When: Early December
Where: Yeah!
Warning(s):

1. So take your shaking bones
Eddie leaves on the ferry on a cold misty autumn morning, and Angel spends longer waiting for him to return to the farmhouse than it'll admit to afterwards, keeping a kettle warm on the stove for afternoon tea until the water's all boiled away and it's clear that how many lumps Eddie takes in a cup is irrelevant now, irrelevant ever again and Angel still doesn't want to admit it until it has to.

It has to.

And taking care of the farm, the bees and the temple all by itself just isn't going to be possible, it's not, even if its heart was hale and whole and beating in sync with Eddie's still, so something has to give.

Something has to.

Angel decides that it is going to move.

There are appointments with town hall to discuss possible new houses and apartments and townhouses (not homes, yet), and discussions of its beehives being transported into town, and paperwork to be filled out in a heavy, stiff, blocky hand as it figures out the work of transition, hoping that living in the city will be a replacement for the bustle of clucking hens and the nagging goat and it's going to need to get a stable situation set up for Arcadia, if the horse will forgive the relocation.

Angel is alone.

This is not work to be doing alone.

And that's before we get to the process of packing, of sorting through the debris of a life and a love and the twinge that reminds it that it can't cry every time it comes across a favored book or a shirt that still smells like Eddie, and that twinge is deeply painful enough to make it stop moving for seconds, perhaps minutes before it finds something to push it past inertia, even as it feels like some vital spark inside it is guttering and dimming.

This is not work to be doing alone.


2. And step out on your own
A sign on the bulletin board:

HELP WANTED MOVING. STANDARD PAY OFFERED: PIZZA AFTER WORK COMPLETE


3. Oh, the winter never stops
[This is your wildcard. It was meant for you.]

Comments

[graveling]

"Ah. Sorry. A pizza is a large round flatbread, baked in a brick oven with tomato sauce and cheese, and sometimes it's topped with meat or vegetables or even fruit." He gestures with both hands, the idea of size and sprinkling cheese and toppings on it. "It's eaten in slices, usually shared among a group."

[medekh]

"Oh- No, perfectly fine." Artemy says, he's imagining it, and trying to think of how it would be suitable as a meal. There must be something to it, "Well, let everyone else pick out what they'd like on top. I'm not a picky eater."

He says it like it's a verdict, and like he won't be persuaded otherwise. Artemy wonders why this is traditional after a move as the sign seemed to indicate.

"Do you have directions to your new lodgings? I can meet you there."

[graveling]

Angel gives the address. "It's close to the temple. I'll be able to walk to work easily."

[medekh]

Artemy gives a swift nod.

"I will meet you there."

He will be off to the store to find a suitable housewarming gift. And then he will meet Angel at his townhouse with said gift, two thick oven mittens with a loaf of freshly baked bread. It isn't wrapped or anything, but it's the thought that counts, hopefully.

[graveling]

Angel's surprised to see the gift.

"Naw, see, I'm feeding you all as thanks for helping. That's how this goes." Really, it's touched by the consideration, and doesn't know how to react, so this is what comes out instead.

[medekh]

"A housewarming gift is customary across several cultures, yes?" Artemy says, setting it down on a counter inside the townhouse without permission.

Basically, he's not taking no as an answer.

"I'm sure you'll use both bread now and the mits when you go to cook for yourself. Don't think about it too hard. Just let me know where you need your belongings put."