[open] 7 AM, the usual morning lineup Start on the chores and sweep 'til the floor's all clean

[theblackstaff]

Characters: Ebenezar, and whoever wants to poke him
Time: One of the sunny days
Location: The Spertus Institute (next door to the Blackstone)
Content: Ebenezar's fixing the damage the Skinwalker did to the building the old fashioned way. And with a little magic.
Warnings: Grumpy old man.
Format: Prose or action tags. Not picky.

Comments

[legallygreen]

It was weird, to return to the place where she had been pretty much driven nuts. Jennifer was there though, walking along. It was probably an important part of therapy, or would be if a psychologist had recommended it and she had not decided to just do it on her own. The young woman just wanted to go back and look at the damage and remember she was not the only thing that had been broken.

She was surprised to see a familiar truck near the Spertus building, and an even more familiar grunt from a figure picking up heavy chunks of broken building, tossing them into the truck. Moving along with the cane, though not nearly as dependent upon it, she approached him, managing a small smile.

"Good afternoon." Jennifer said, picking up a smaller piece of metal and putting it into the truck bed, not a stranger to her own current limitations, but helping none the less. "I didn't expect to see anyone here."

[theblackstaff]

Despite Jenn's growing recovery, Ebenezar still frowned in mild disapproval when the woman began picking up debris. "Afternoon. Thought it was about time this mess got cleaned up," he answered, grunting with effort as he tried to tug a twisted metal spar out from under a block of concrete. "Since the fools who brought us here didn't decide to clean up their own messes."

Ebenezar eyed the stuck spar critically before gathering his will. Without a word, he reached released a portion of the stored energy in one of the steel rings on his thumbs in a focused burst, and the block of concrete broke in three with a satisfying crack.

[legallygreen]

"Not your mess to clean up Ben, but I can see why you'd want to get it taken care of. Bad memories linger when the destruction does."

She was thinking of New York, of the massive hole still there. And bad memories did tend to linger in places like that. Jennifer picked up another chunk she could manage, leaning her cane up against the truck to try something a little heaftier. She watched as he broke a piece of concrete into pieces.

"A strapping lad like yourself shouldn't be out here all alone anyway." She continued, moving to help him pick up a heavy piece.

[theblackstaff]

Ebenezar barked a laugh at Jenn's words as he picked up one of the three chunks of concrete. "Young folks these days all think they know everything," he grumbled with good humour as he heaved the chunk of concrete into the back of the truck. "Back in my day we ain't even talk to our elders. If we wanted to ask somethin', we carved it into rocks."

[legallygreen]

"While they road past on mastadons?" She teased, picking up another not so heavy rock.

Jennifer had to stop for a moment and lean back against the truck, catching her breath. "I'm sorry, the other half would be better at this but...I don't dare let her out right now. Not unless you want an entire city block or two to look like this crater."

[theblackstaff]

The good humour turned to displeased worry when Ebenezar turned around to find Jennifer catching her breath. "There's been more than enough destruction around here," he said, sounding more soul-weary than tired. He waved a hand at the cab of the truck. "Go do me a favour and get the Thermos out of the front seat, Jennifer. I could use a break."

It was a flimsy excuse to keep Jennifer from pushing herself, but Ebenezar didn't care particularly about being subtle in this case.

[legallygreen]

"Yeah...I'll do that."

So it was some flimsy excuse to get her to stop huffing and puffing like a steam engine twenty years past its prime. Jennifer appreciated the kindness of the gesture and got the Thermos like he asked, opening it up and pouring the liquid into the cap.

"Here you go." She said, offering it to him. "You take a break, I'll work on a few more of the smaller pieces of rebar."

[theblackstaff]

Jennifer got a glare as she handed him the cup. "Don't make me start calling you 'girl' again," he warned, leaning back against the truck. "You're old enough to know better than to hurt yourself."

[legallygreen]

There was just no way to not smile at that glare when she knew where it came from. Jennifer sighed and leaned back against the truck with him, giving in for the time being.

"Wouldn't want that. I suppose I'll keep you company this one time."

She moved her cane aside. "I wouldn't have hurt myself. I know my limitations being stuck like this."

[theblackstaff]

That got another snort of disbelief from Ebenezar before he took a sip of coffee. In his experience, most folks who said they knew their limitations still overestimated themselves. Wizards too.

"Then call it indulging an old man's whims," he grumbled, letting the coffee work its own particular magic. "Ain't much more to do anyway. Just haul the debris away before I try to get the facade back up."

[legallygreen]

"You're not that old. You shouldn't be able to get away with tossing that card." Jennifer groused good-naturedly.

She glanced over at him. "Nobody will probably take the time to tell you this, but thank you. Not having to look at the destruction here will help a lot of people heal a lot faster. It hurt so many that night."

[theblackstaff]

That got a long, genuine laugh out of him, and it felt good to laugh like that, to be happy about some small thing rather than laughing to keep from screaming or despairing. The laugh faded slowly, as if Ebenezar was holding on to the feeling for as long as possible. He didn't bother telling Jenn he remembered a time when Chicago had been little more than a scattering of campfires.

"I'm not doing this for folks to be thankful, Jennifer," he answered, draining the cup dry in one gulp. "I do things because they're necessary."

[legallygreen]

"You don't have to be doing it to hear a thank you. Everyone deserves a little gratitude for what they do for other people." She replied firmly, the rabbit ears of her winter had bobbing as she nodded her head.

Her intimidating lawyer frown had somehow slipped to her face while she was talking to him, perhaps because she expected him to argue with her and old habits died hard. Jennifer then attempted to smile a bit.

"And you should know it's appreciated, even if you're just taking responsibility because it's in your nature to be a responsble, crotchety old man."

[theblackstaff]

That ability to do what was necessary was what made him Blackstaff, made him the one man in the White Council who could flout its rules to protect what it stood for. Compared to that weight on his soul, the blood on his hands, hauling away debris and repairing a building... well, that was nothing.

No redemption, at least.

Ebenezar gave Jenn a curt nod, acknowledging her answer, and shrugged. "Think everyone will feel better once the facade's back up. It'll take longer to fix the inside."

[legallygreen]

It always did take longer to fix the stuff on the inside. Jennifer knew that all too well. Her insides were still getting back to something close to normal. Not that she would ever feel that way again until She-Hulk could be trusted to be next to her in her mind instead of pushed to the back.

She hid the corners of her mouth curving downward at the thoughs by stepping forward, picking up some pieces of rebar. "Well then we'll get this finished up as well as we can first."

[theblackstaff]

At Jenn's determined movements, Ebenezar nodded and replaced the cap on the Thermos. "Ain't much left but the smaller pieces," he said, turning around and setting the coffee back in the cab of the truck. He gripped his staff and began drawing in his will. "If you can get the last few pieces, I'll see what I can do about getting that facade back together."